The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

[MrAugustana]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Congrats to Coach Billeter and the Vikings on what I would assume is the final media award of the year from last year's run.

http://goaugie.com/news/2016/12/27/m...sociation.aspx

Men's basketball earns year-end awards from South Dakota Sportswriters Association

[vikingfaithful]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Well stated Mr A. We are a glimpse of Big-man Andy Kerkmans potential in the Doane game. 10-2 is great thus far.

[MrAugustana]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Some thoughts and ramblings as we head into the break:

1) I certainly wasn't expecting the Vikes to be 10-2 heading into the break. (Bonus thought: I also didn't expect one of those "2" to be against Minot...oh well...) Really glad to see Augie avoiding a major drop-off after last season. While I will admit that, as always, Augieholic was right and we do have a better-than-I-thought team this year, I still think we're a reasonable distance away from doing damage in the Regional--if we make the Regional, obviously. That being said, if our young guys keep coming along like they have been, I will feel much better about our odds come February/March.

2) I continue to be glad the Vikes picked up Busack in the offseason. I think there are going to be nights where I shake my head and wish he'd stop forcing shots, but I also think there are going to be nights when his 12, 15, 17, etc. will be exactly what we need to win close games. The fact that he didn't try to overdo it against Mankato a few weeks ago was a big boost in my confidence toward Busack. I assumed he'd come out and force everything trying to put up 20+ points against the Mavericks. Instead, he showed a lot of maturity and did exactly what the Vikes needed him to do to get the win. If we continue to see that maturity combined with his decent offensive IQ, he will continue to be a pretty major asset for us.

3) I hope we're able to get Jordan and Adam's minutes down as the season goes on. I can't remember the last time Coach Billeter had a guy near the top of the "Minutes Played" category in the conference statistics (McCaffrey, maybe?), but Spencer is up there. Would love for him not to be worn out entirely by the time the end of the season comes around. Beyer isn't playing quite so many minutes (often times due to early foul trouble), but I would still love to see his minutes go down a little bit too. Plus, if that's happening, it means it's because some of our other guys (Jansen, Saugstad, John Warren, etc.) are carrying the load, and that wouldn't be a bad thing at all.

4) Should be an interesting post-Christmas stretch in conference play. Some nights the pick 'em goes exactly how you'd expect it to. Other nights I just shake my head and wonder what is going on in the NSIC this year. I know there are always upsets each weekend, but I don't remember so many nights where I have no idea what to expect in 6 or 7 of the 8 match-ups. Especially with Mankato's sudden drop-off and Moorhead playing so many close games--and, until last Saturday, generally escaping with (some semi-miraculous) wins. I'm hoping Augie will have enough in the tank to ultimately beat out SMSU's veteran group for NSIC South supremacy, but the Mustangs have looked good and have proven they have the grit to win the close games, so that might not be an easy task.

Like I said, I'm happy to see the Vikes at 10-2 heading into Christmas break. I was convinced we'd be looking at a minimum of a 9-3, possibly even an 8-4 record or worse at this point. Here's to hoping the guys get some rest and come back guns blazing after the break. Should be a fun start to second half of the 2016-17 season.

[MrAugustana]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Nice article from the Argus. We haven't seen much from them this year (not their fault, as their staff is beyond overworked), but it's nice to see a feature article from Zimmer: http://www.argusleader.com/story/spo...ions/95609906/

[vikingfaithful]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Proud to hear our National Champion Vikings for life men doing well in their post college careers!

[MrAugustana]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Came across this tweet from Cody Schilling and figured I'd post it here. Congrats to Al Richter on leading his team in scoring in the first game of his professional career up in Canada. 20 points on 8-12 shooting (3-6 from three) isn't a bad start.

20 points in 24 minutes of action for @alrichter31 in his first professional pre-season game. #NBLC @islandproball @AugieMensBball https://t.co/4g0FO9ScPi

— Cody Schilling (@schilling_cody) December 19, 2016

[MrAugustana]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Congrats to future Viking Tayt Vincent:

Augie signee Tayt Vincent had 22pts/10asts/8rbs in Sioux Valley's 93-34 W vs Baltic. He's now the school's all-time leading scorer (1,445).

— Ryan Deal (@RyanDeal_DR) December 16, 2016

[laker]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

You got me good.

I see that MSU has games at home with Waldorf at 2 & 4 that afternoon. Seems like an odd time to schedule- can't imagine more than a handful of people there. Graduation was Sat. so students will be home. I wouldn't expect big crowds for the Dec. 30 & 31st games either.

[MrAugustana]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

They probably wouldn't do very well with a game very close to Christmas either. :)

You got me good.

[simple as a $3 bill]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Just saw this on Twitter and thought it was cool. I'm sure Doane College a few days before Thanksgiving wouldn't exactly have been a sell-out anyway, so going with free admission is a pretty fun way to bring in whatever fans are still around:

They probably wouldn't do very well with a game very close to Christmas either. :)

[MrAugustana]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Just saw this on Twitter and thought it was cool. I'm sure Doane College a few days before Thanksgiving wouldn't exactly have been a sell-out anyway, so going with free admission is a pretty fun way to bring in whatever fans are still around:

Join us on Mon. Dec. 19 at 7pm in the Elmen as @AugieMensBball takes on Doane College. Admission is FREE for all fans! #WeAreAU pic.twitter.com/mAWypLVgUY

— Augustana Vikings (@GoAugie) December 12, 2016

[MrAugustana]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Something I did not expect to see in the win/loss column this year:

Minot State - L - 88-84.

Hope the Vikes come out with a little more intensity this evening. Going 0-2 on this trip would be very disappointing.

[laker]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

20 miles north of Minot

I think it was back in 1997 when some older lady's house near Marshall was buried. Neighbors came to dig her out. Lucky the chimney wasn't covered.

[Stanger86]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Interesting challenge this weekend. Heard the weather/roads are still pretty rough up north, which should make the Minot/Mary trip fun for the team, as I'm sure it always is.

20 miles north of Minot



http://abcnews.go.com/US/winter-stor...ry?id=44033477

[MrAugustana]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Interesting challenge this weekend. Heard the weather/roads are still pretty rough up north, which should make the Minot/Mary trip fun for the team, as I'm sure it always is.

Minot has played well against decent competition with a few wins and a 4-point loss to Northern in Aberdeen and a 9-point loss to Moorhead in Moorhead last weekend. Tyler Rudolph seems to be playing exceptionally well, putting up 22 points per game and grabbing almost 9 rebounds per game and shooting 43% from the 3-point line. Definitely 1st Team All-NSIC numbers if he can keep it up all season long. They seem to have a few other decent scorers, but Rudolph seems to make things go for the Beavers.

Hopefully Busack and/or Huisken are prepared to put in work defensively tomorrow night. I think if we can contain Rudolph a little bit (mid-teens or below), we'll have a good chance to win by double digits, as some of our perimeter guys (Warren, Beyer, etc.) seem to be playing well on the defensive end.

Mary is still tough to figure out, as they have also had some close games and they have two solid scorers in Bryan Jefferson and Damonta Henry.

My biggest concern is whether or not the Vikes will be mentally ready to take care of business. If they're flying a little too close to the sun after taking down the Mavericks, they could be in for a rude awakening up north. If they handle things with the mentality of last year's team, I feel good about things. I suppose Mary taking down Northern at home Saturday night might wake them up to the fact that neither Minot nor Mary should be overlooked.

Either way, I'm looking forward to the games this weekend, even if I (and every other sane person from this area) happen to be watching from a distance.

Go Vikes. Let's snag two more wins on the road.