The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

[laker]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Of all the days during my battle with Augieholism this is one of the darkest.

[MrAugustana]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

We need Tyler Riemersma (a fellow Navy transferee) and Bennett Otto (a fellow Champlin Park alum) to put the full-court recruiting press on Strong to lure him to Augie.

Seriously, he looks like a suitable replacement for A.J. Plitzuweit, who the more I think about it could have been at the top of a lot of all-time Augie record books had he stayed.

Looks like we are going in a different direction for Plitzuweit's replacement: https://mobile.twitter.com/RyanJames...50120896827392

[Blue Ridge Viking]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

I hope they look at Josiah Strong from Brooklyn Park, MN.He played PG at Navy last year and will be transferring after his freshmen year.

We need Tyler Riemersma (a fellow Navy transferee) and Bennett Otto (a fellow Champlin Park alum) to put the full-court recruiting press on Strong to lure him to Augie.

Seriously, he looks like a suitable replacement for A.J. Plitzuweit, who the more I think about it could have been at the top of a lot of all-time Augie record books had he stayed.

[vikingfaithful]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Im sure Tom is deep in the transfer portal game and he'll find someone we can use to try and make us forget the hurt.

My largest concerns going forward are two fold:
-AJ was literally the only above average dribble drive creator on the roster. He was the only one who could puncture a defense to open up space for the multitude of knock down shooters on the roster. Without him the offense had a tendency to stagnate and revolve around contested jumpers.
-Perimeter defense was a HUGE issue for Augie last year and contributed heavily to their first round demise at the hands of Crookston. AJ wasnt a lock down defender by any stretch but he had multiple moments where you saw the potential of someone capable of executing the game plan in a more than adequate way. Now he'll be replaced with someone new to the system (obviously this applies offensively as well) and while they may have better, equal, or worse athletic qualities the lack of system familiarity will take time to overcome.

Always enjoy your analysis as I do not have a high basketball IQ.

[Ole.]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

I hope they look at Josiah Strong from Brooklyn Park, MN.He played PG at Navy last year and will be transferring after his freshmen year.

[Moorhead123]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

On the one hand, this is probably still true. Unless one or two more leave, the Vikes have a chance to still be pretty respectable next season.

The bigger bummer in my opinion is the fact that every Freshman of the Year under Billeter's tenure has gone on to break one of two major records in his time at Augie.

-Cody Schilling was Freshman of the Year and broke the career scoring record at Augie.

-Cameron McCaffrey was Freshman of the Year the next season and broke Cody's freshly-broken record.

-Dan Jansen was Freshman of the Year and obviously broke both of their scoring records.

-Jordan Spencer was Freshman of the Year and shattered Augie's career assists record (and is still fairly high up on the scoring record list, I believe).

Now, statistically, when you compare them to Plitzuweit as a freshman, he basically beats all of them:

Schilling's freshman stats: 11.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg, just under 2.0 assists per game in 817 minutes played.

McCaffrey's freshman stats: 12.9 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 1.8 assists per game in 623 minutes played (which is really impressive...and he only started 1 game)

Dan Jansen's freshman stats: 11.1 ppg, 6 rpg, 1 assist per game in 756 minutes played

Jordan Spencer's freshman stats: 11.5 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 6.3 assists per game in 1,003 minutes played (lots of minutes for a freshman...but he was a redshirt freshman at least)

AJ Plitzuweit's freshman stats: 14.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 4.16 assists per game in 789 minutes played

Obviously there are a thousand factors that impact a player's career. He could've had a career-ending injury jumping on a trampoline this summer or something. But in terms of the on-paper trajectory of Plitzuweit's career at Augie, he was statistically on path to break the career scoring record and probably finish pretty high on the career assists record as well. And instead of seeing that potential realized with an outstanding career as a Viking, Augie fans will have to regularly see his name in the paper for 3+ years at a school most of us hate or at least strongly dislike.

So yes, we do still have talented players on our roster and for all I know we may get an amazing transfer or something who comes in and immediately replicates Plitzuweit's numbers, but as a fan who was clearly excited about what the next few years have in store for Augie, it's the lost potential of Plitzuweit's full career as a Viking that really stings right now as much as the impact it will have on next season alone.

And if it does influence any other players to consider leaving, it definitely will be even more disappointing. My hope is that the fact that he was going back to his hometown, having his mom coaching at USD, etc. makes it more of a unique situation than just a kid who wants to go D1 and is scared of the D2 to D1 transition.

Freshman of year still bit of a sore spot with this Moorhead fan as thought Baumgartner was just as deserving. I think Fink can definitely come in next year and pick up some of the offensive loss for Augie.

[Augieholic]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Im sure Tom is deep in the transfer portal game and he'll find someone we can use to try and make us forget the hurt.

My largest concerns going forward are two fold:
-AJ was literally the only above average dribble drive creator on the roster. He was the only one who could puncture a defense to open up space for the multitude of knock down shooters on the roster. Without him the offense had a tendency to stagnate and revolve around contested jumpers.
-Perimeter defense was a HUGE issue for Augie last year and contributed heavily to their first round demise at the hands of Crookston. AJ wasnt a lock down defender by any stretch but he had multiple moments where you saw the potential of someone capable of executing the game plan in a more than adequate way. Now he'll be replaced with someone new to the system (obviously this applies offensively as well) and while they may have better, equal, or worse athletic qualities the lack of system familiarity will take time to overcome.

[MrAugustana]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

On the one hand, this is probably still true. Unless one or two more leave, the Vikes have a chance to still be pretty respectable next season.

The bigger bummer in my opinion is the fact that every Freshman of the Year under Billeter's tenure has gone on to break one of two major records in his time at Augie.

-Cody Schilling was Freshman of the Year and broke the career scoring record at Augie.

-Cameron McCaffrey was Freshman of the Year the next season and broke Cody's freshly-broken record.

-Dan Jansen was Freshman of the Year and obviously broke both of their scoring records.

-Jordan Spencer was Freshman of the Year and shattered Augie's career assists record (and is still fairly high up on the scoring record list, I believe).

Now, statistically, when you compare them to Plitzuweit as a freshman, he basically beats all of them:

Schilling's freshman stats: 11.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg, just under 2.0 assists per game in 817 minutes played.

McCaffrey's freshman stats: 12.9 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 1.8 assists per game in 623 minutes played (which is really impressive...and he only started 1 game)

Dan Jansen's freshman stats: 11.1 ppg, 6 rpg, 1 assist per game in 756 minutes played

Jordan Spencer's freshman stats: 11.5 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 6.3 assists per game in 1,003 minutes played (lots of minutes for a freshman...but he was a redshirt freshman at least)

AJ Plitzuweit's freshman stats: 14.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 4.16 assists per game in 789 minutes played

Obviously there are a thousand factors that impact a player's career. He could've had a career-ending injury jumping on a trampoline this summer or something. But in terms of the on-paper trajectory of Plitzuweit's career at Augie, he was statistically on path to break the career scoring record and probably finish pretty high on the career assists record as well. And instead of seeing that potential realized with an outstanding career as a Viking, Augie fans will have to regularly see his name in the paper for 3+ years at a school most of us hate or at least strongly dislike.

So yes, we do still have talented players on our roster and for all I know we may get an amazing transfer or something who comes in and immediately replicates Plitzuweit's numbers, but as a fan who was clearly excited about what the next few years have in store for Augie, it's the lost potential of Plitzuweit's full career as a Viking that really stings right now as much as the impact it will have on next season alone.

And if it does influence any other players to consider leaving, it definitely will be even more disappointing. My hope is that the fact that he was going back to his hometown, having his mom coaching at USD, etc. makes it more of a unique situation than just a kid who wants to go D1 and is scared of the D2 to D1 transition.

[Moorhead123]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

A painful loss for sure, not just because of his BB skills as he is a quality young man as well. Generally when one door closes another opens, Augustana has a great group returning and highly touted recruits coming in. Maybe a surprise transfer coming AU way.

[vikingfaithful]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

A painful loss for sure, not just because of his BB skills as he is a quality young man as well. Generally when one door closes another opens, Augustana has a great group returning and highly touted recruits coming in. Maybe a surprise transfer coming AU way.

[Moorhead123]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Of all the days during my battle with Augieholism this is one of the darkest. Even though it's been rumored since AJ committed to Augie the reality of it stings harshly. This is right up there with the loss to SCSU in the 2010 Regional Final and NWMo in the 2015 Regional semifinal. An absolute gut shot for a potential NSIC, Regional, and National contender next season.

Ouch!

[Augieholic]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Of all the days during my battle with Augieholism this is one of the darkest. Even though it's been rumored since AJ committed to Augie the reality of it stings harshly. This is right up there with the loss to SCSU in the 2010 Regional Final and NWMo in the 2015 Regional semifinal. An absolute gut shot for a potential NSIC, Regional, and National contender next season.

[MrAugustana]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

My gut tells me A.J.'s gone. Most recent follower on his Twitter account is assistant coach at USD.

Guess we need to view him as our version of a one-and-done. Appreciate what he did for Augie while he was here and wish him the best.

Now all Billeter needs to do is go out and get a true point guard.

Excited to come home! Go Yotes pic.twitter.com/aIN5Liyw14

— AJ Plitzuweit (@ajplitz_21) May 2, 2019

I've always hated USD (more than SDSU or any NSIC schools) because they were our biggest rival during my time at Augie. Now it just gives me more reason to dislike them. And hope that we get a chance to play them at the D1 level before too long.

[Blue Ridge Viking]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

My gut tells me A.J.'s gone. Most recent follower on his Twitter account is assistant coach at USD.

Guess we need to view him as our version of a one-and-done. Appreciate what he did for Augie while he was here and wish him the best.

Now all Billeter needs to do is go out and get a true point guard.

[Augie Boy]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Just watched a St. John's/ Syracuse game from the 90's on ESPN U (probably because of the Felipe Lopez 30 for 30 that premiers tonight). Got to see a young Texas Tom on the sidelines.