The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

[Augieholic]

Do any Augustana faithful have any opinions on the state of men's team? It is early in the season and the USF loss was brutal. The young Iowa triplets are showing promise, particularly Mop headed Brayson Laub with scoring prowess. Seems sophomores need to step it up and be accounted for.

It's been inconsistent at best. The USF loss was a debacle from the opening tip, they had no response for USF's ball pressure and couldn't make a jump shot for most of the game.

I enjoyed the change on Saturday with Laube taking Otto's spot in the starting lineup. I think their offensive identity for now, with the exception of Kirkman and Helgren, needs to be shooting a high volume of threes. Everyone else in the lineup has proven, or looks, capable of making a few each night and they have a large rotation now so the odds are that one or two guys will be hitting their shots most nights.

This coming weekend offers no room to coast, Concordia appears to be an offensive juggernaut and obviously UMD was the preseason pick to win the league. I'm betting Drew Blair will be trying to parlay his recent weekend in the UP to another POW.

[vikingfaithful]

Do any Augustana faithful have any opinions on the state of men's team? It is early in the season and the USF loss was brutal. The young Iowa triplets are showing promise, particularly Mop headed Brayson Laub with scoring prowess. Seems sophomores need to step it up and be accounted for.

[Augieholic]

There is still some clunkyness to the offense and Augie only had 3 assists yesterday, but most importantly they're 3-1 after four straight road games. Graves, Fink, and Akoi continue to lead the way most nights but the others continue to figure it out. Caden Kirkman has come a long ways since the first game vs Mo West, Helgren continues to patrol the paint when he's not in foul trouble, and Sam Rensch has found the rhythm I figured he would with more reps.

Another shout out to the NSIC for scheduling one Augie vs USF game this season and putting it on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving ensuring there would be little to no students in attendance. Fantastic work by all involved.

[vikingfaithful]

Size difference between Vikings and Hardrockers is noticeable, Good to see freshmen getting minutes. Akoi having nice game.

[Augieholic]

Watched the live stream against BHSU, (no audio) Vikings came back to take lead for good with 8 minutes left in 2nd half for the 76-70 win. I'm eager to see stats. Jadan Graves and Ahrman Lewis looked good and Sam Rensch got plenty of minutes.

Whatever was discussed in the locker room at half time should be bottled up and sold. In the second half Augie shot 63% FG and 71% from 3 while holding BHSU to 40% FG. Jadan carried the offense for the first 30 minutes or so before Ike and Rensch showed up to seal it. Tough game for the bigs as none of them found a rhythm on either end. Five assists as a team isn't sustainable but it's always better to say that after a win rather than a loss.

[vikingfaithful]

Watched the live stream against BHSU, (no audio) Vikings came back to take lead for good with 8 minutes left in 2nd half for the 76-70 win. I'm eager to see stats. Jadan Graves and Ahrman Lewis looked good and Sam Rensch got plenty of minutes.

[Augieholic]

Saw that Sam Rensch got very limited minutes over the weekend. Does anyone know if he's hurt? I expected him to be a solid contributor at the least, given how he played during the back half of last season, and possibly a starter.

It's only two games, but Arhman Lewis has been a pleasant surprise. I almost forgot about him amid the buzz over the three Iowa recruits, especially Dallas Bear.

As an angel investor in Rensch Island I too was disappointed with this development. I heard rumblings he a couple health related issues during fall camp so that could be a factor. Hopefully he can ramp up that time in the coming weeks and resume his ascendance to glory.

It's obvious that Akoi, Jadan, and Ike are going to play 30+ minutes each night and Helgren's delightful emergence makes him eligible for 25ish minutes a night assuming he can avoid fouling out of every game. Besides that it's obvious that the minutes are totally up for grabs. This roster gives Tom the ability to go big or small, at one point Friday he had Laube, Arhman, AND Jadan out there! That's the type of versatility every team wants assuming the minutes are productive.

BHSU is clearly down compared to the last two years and Mines is usually a gettable win, so the opportunity for 2-0 this coming weekend is there if Augie can avoid the 15 minute slump that cost them the game vs Mo West last weekend.

[Blue Ridge Viking]

Saw that Sam Rensch got very limited minutes over the weekend. Does anyone know if he's hurt? I expected him to be a solid contributor at the least, given how he played during the back half of last season, and possibly a starter.

It's only two games, but Arhman Lewis has been a pleasant surprise. I almost forgot about him amid the buzz over the three Iowa recruits, especially Dallas Bear.

[Augieholic]

Augie was too inconsistent to win tonight. Offense played well in the first half and then went ice cold for most of the second half. The defense was bad until the last five minutes when they forced several turnovers with a full court press. Fink had a terrible first 30 minutes by his standards until he found his game for the final stretch.

Ahrman Lewis was incredible for a true freshman on both ends. He played solid defense and had some really nice finishes. He did miss a semi contested layup that would've tied it with 90 seconds but other than that he was fantastic.

Brady Helgren stole the show. He's still awkward and lacking rhythm most of the time but this was his best game in an Augie uniform. He used his size defensively and showed some actual post moves offensively.

[vikingfaithful]

Well crap. Lose close on a big comeback. This Augustana team will be good.

[vikingfaithful]

Go Vikings hard charging comeback. Jaden Graves. wow

[vikingfaithful]

Mo. Western has an advantage of a exhibition game against Benedictine.

[Augieholic]

The Mo West coach spends more time on the court than most of his players.

[Augieholic]

Augie starting Fink, Graves, Akoi, Brady Helgren, and Bennett Otto vs MO West. I think this team should be able to score with anybody on the perimeter but there are concerns down low and defensively. I cant wait to see Dallas Bear and Brayson Laube make their debuts.

[vikingfaithful]

Well will be here soon. Vikings men picked 5th seems appropriate. Team is very young 2 grad students, 1 senior, 1 junior, 3 soph. and 6 fr. Viking men's webpage has been updated with all photos. Looking forward to Augieholic and MrAugustana take on upcoming season.