2023-24 NSIC Season

[GHawks]

Same for Malik Willingham (119 GP, 84 GS). So I went with Cofield since it feels like he's been around longer than those two, haha.

You’d think Malik would be the most experienced guy on the Mavs with those numbers……nope. Elijah Hazekamp in his 6th year of college also has 119 GP and 103 starts in his career (80 GP and GS at Truman, 16 GP at North Dakota and then 23 games this year so far). Obviously not all in the NSIC like everyone else in this thread but point being I’m tired of trying to keep track of who has eligibility left. I think next year might be the last of the Covid years? Or is there 2 more classes?

I live close enough to Sioux City (about halfway between Sioux Falls and Sioux City)that I remember Cliff and Elijah playing against each other in high school. Feels like 15 years ago, lol

[Purple Mav Man]

This year's "Wait... This Guy's Still Playing?" All-Stars (aka the "Max Cody All-Stars"):

T̶h̶e̶ ̶e̶n̶t̶i̶r̶e̶ ̶D̶u̶l̶u̶t̶h̶ ̶s̶t̶a̶r̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶5̶.̶ OK, but really...

Team Captain: Drew Blair (Duluth) - 5 seasons: 133 GP, 133 GS
Dane Zimmer (MSUM) - 5 seasons: 131 GP, 119 GS
Jack Middleton (Duluth) - 5 seasons: 132 GP, 100 GS
Isaac Fink (Augie) - 5 seasons: 124 GP, 108 GS
Cliff Cofield (SMSU) - 5 seasons: 115 GP, 115 GS

Shouldn’t this be named after Luke Anderson or Clayton Vette?? :)

[MrMustang]

I used to be very annoyed with Krazy Kaminksy's yelling. But now that I've seen so much coach yell-whining about calls, Kaminsky's general "energetic dog" yelling at his team is pretty innocent!

Wieck's whining is just so bad. It's really sullied his reputation to a lot of folks, which is a bummer.

his whining was nonstop and awful in Marshall. It was so annoying. Made Mike Leaf look like he never said a word

[MrMustang]

Shouldn’t this be named after Luke Anderson or Clayton Vette?? :)

absolutely! Luke played 9 years Clayton 8

[Moorhead123]

Figured I write some more about how impressed I have been with the Dragons new young coaches. While they had some talent to work, for sure, it is still impressive how they were able to take over the team and barely miss a beat. That is not always an easy task.

Dragons working through some injuries at the moment, and regardless how the season ends, Coach Bergstrasser and his staff deserve a ton of credit for the job they have done the past few years!! It really seems like these coaches do things the right way. It looks like Coach Walthall built a quality program and let it in good hands for the future.

[Mark Emmert's Burner]

A very fun and very "phew!" ending to last night's Minot-MSUM game. Dragons were down 1 with 8.7 seconds to go, and Ja'Kair Sanchez hit a go-ahead 3 that went in with 0.6 seconds left. The next play Minot's Connor Hollenbeck launched a quick turnaround 3 that BANKED IN!... but was waived off, Dragons win.

A great matchup of two very talented teams, whose limitations last night were consistent with the rest of their season. For the Dragons, it was getting enough separation on shots (4-12 from 3, and probably around 30% on midrange). Minot's perimeter defenders are so good about making guys work hard to get a clear eyeline to the basket. For the Beavers, it was the lack of an inside defensive presence. The Dragons were so dogged about attacking the rack last night, and Minot had no one to really deter them or keep them off the O-boards. So many times there would be a driving Dragon missing a layup and Logan Kinsey was there for the OREB + putback/get fouled (he had 6 OREBs & was 8/8 on FTs last night). The Dragons have really turned on the O-boards recently, averaging 13.1 for the last 7 games since their Sioux Falls loss.

A shoutout to Ja'Kair Sanchez, playing very well these last 4 games. He was the main reason they came back against Mankato, and has been the Beaver-killer these last two games. He might be making a push for a 2nd-team All-Conf spot if he can keep this up.

[Purple Mav Man]

Mavs win at home over Augustana 89-81. Fun game, both teams had dominant runs. The Mavs were the deeper and more talented team, and they had more runs than the Vikings. Graves was fun to watch. So was Hazekamp. Augie will be a strong team going forward.

[Mark Emmert's Burner]

Wanted to take a moment to give Winona a shout-out for their last few weeks of play. Since Jan. 26 they've gone 6-1, with good wins against the Dragons & Vikings at home and the Cougars on the road (the loss was to the Mustangs on the road).

When I did my tiers list a few weeks ago, I put Winona as 11th and in the 'Just Trying to Get to the Pentagon' tier. Their main issues at the time was how much Connor Dillon was dominating the offense while not shooting especially well, making them super one-dimensional. In the last 7 games, we've seen both of those things improve. Dillon has shot 15.1 FGA/g in the last 7, accounting for 27.4% of Winona's total FGA. Before this stretch, those numbers were 17.6 FGA/g & 31.3%. Other than the CSP game (where he shot 28 times), you've seen an offense that alternates between him and other guys, with 3 games where Dillon was not the leading shot-taker. It's a lot more of Brock Voigt getting to the FT line and Olumide Adelodun taking guys 1-on-1 to decent success.

But even more noticeable than less shots per game is Dillon's effectiveness. In the last 7 games he's shot 54.7% FG (58-106) & a blazing 52.8% from 3 (28-53). He was at 45.9% FG & 32.5% 3PT before this stretch, so this is an awesome improvement. Kudos to Dillon for giving up the ball more (more AST/g, too), but also hitting a higher rate when he does pull up.

On defense, the Warriors have defended shots & rebounded a bit better, too, though those numbers are still not super strong overall. I wouldn't say this team is contending for a conference tourney title, but if they keep up the more egalitarian offense and Dillon stays hot (or even cools off just a little), I would definitely now put this team up into the 'Could Upset a Contender' tier.

[MrMustang]

Wanted to take a moment to give Winona a shout-out for their last few weeks of play. Since Jan. 26 they've gone 6-1, with good wins against the Dragons & Vikings at home and the Cougars on the road (the loss was to the Mustangs on the road).

When I did my tiers list a few weeks ago, I put Winona as 11th and in the 'Just Trying to Get to the Pentagon' tier. Their main issues at the time was how much Connor Dillon was dominating the offense while not shooting especially well, making them super one-dimensional. In the last 7 games, we've seen both of those things improve. Dillon has shot 15.1 FGA/g in the last 7, accounting for 27.4% of Winona's total FGA. Before this stretch, those numbers were 17.6 FGA/g & 31.3%. Other than the CSP game (where he shot 28 times), you've seen an offense that alternates between him and other guys, with 3 games where Dillon was not the leading shot-taker. It's a lot more of Brock Voigt getting to the FT line and Olumide Adelodun taking guys 1-on-1 to decent success.

But even more noticeable than less shots per game is Dillon's effectiveness. In the last 7 games he's shot 54.7% FG (58-106) & a blazing 52.8% from 3 (28-53). He was at 45.9% FG & 32.5% 3PT before this stretch, so this is an awesome improvement. Kudos to Dillon for giving up the ball more (more AST/g, too), but also hitting a higher rate when he does pull up.

On defense, the Warriors have defended shots & rebounded a bit better, too, though those numbers are still not super strong overall. I wouldn't say this team is contending for a conference tourney title, but if they keep up the more egalitarian offense and Dillon stays hot (or even cools off just a little), I would definitely now put this team up into the 'Could Upset a Contender' tier.

completely different team from the first time we played them. way better and played harder

[Augieholic]

Wanted to take a moment to give Winona a shout-out for their last few weeks of play. Since Jan. 26 they've gone 6-1, with good wins against the Dragons & Vikings at home and the Cougars on the road (the loss was to the Mustangs on the road).

When I did my tiers list a few weeks ago, I put Winona as 11th and in the 'Just Trying to Get to the Pentagon' tier. Their main issues at the time was how much Connor Dillon was dominating the offense while not shooting especially well, making them super one-dimensional. In the last 7 games, we've seen both of those things improve. Dillon has shot 15.1 FGA/g in the last 7, accounting for 27.4% of Winona's total FGA. Before this stretch, those numbers were 17.6 FGA/g & 31.3%. Other than the CSP game (where he shot 28 times), you've seen an offense that alternates between him and other guys, with 3 games where Dillon was not the leading shot-taker. It's a lot more of Brock Voigt getting to the FT line and Olumide Adelodun taking guys 1-on-1 to decent success.

But even more noticeable than less shots per game is Dillon's effectiveness. In the last 7 games he's shot 54.7% FG (58-106) & a blazing 52.8% from 3 (28-53). He was at 45.9% FG & 32.5% 3PT before this stretch, so this is an awesome improvement. Kudos to Dillon for giving up the ball more (more AST/g, too), but also hitting a higher rate when he does pull up.

On defense, the Warriors have defended shots & rebounded a bit better, too, though those numbers are still not super strong overall. I wouldn't say this team is contending for a conference tourney title, but if they keep up the more egalitarian offense and Dillon stays hot (or even cools off just a little), I would definitely now put this team up into the 'Could Upset a Contender' tier.

I don't think there's a more fun name to say in the NSIC right now than Olumide Adelodun.

[Mark Emmert's Burner]

I don't think there's a more fun name to say in the NSIC right now than Olumide Adelodun.

I'll say it out loud at random moments just to delight my fiancé. It's the best couples therapy you don't have to pay for.

[DapperDan]

I don't think there's a more fun name to say in the NSIC right now than Olumide Adelodun.

The turnaround coincides closely with Adelodun recovering from injury and being able to play. He’s a very good player whose presence gives others space to be better as well.

[Augieholic]

The passion in the voice of the Crookston announcer is extremely impressive considering the quality of basketball he has endured.

[NSU4LIFE]

If only we could hit threes like this every game....lol

[NSU4LIFE]

Wolves give up a 16 point lead, Moni hits a potential game winner with 1.7 left for his 40th point of the game and Winona hits a 3/4 shot to win....yuck