Luther Coming to Town

A few years ago there were a couple of teams in the league who were automatic wins, as long as we came out did our thing and played a decent game.  This league is different this year.  Luther comes to town with a 2-7 record and they have been in every game but one in the conference this year.  They do a fantastic job, of keeping the score down with their defense and excellent shot selection.  In my opinion, Mark Franzen, who is in his 2nd year, does one of the best jobs of coaching in our conference.  Luther brings athletic posts and has a real good scoring threat in Austin Bildstein.  Our defense and offensive execution has to be solid for us to get a win.  

Last Saturday at Dubuque was one of our better defensive performances this year.  Our team really took Tyler Daugherty out of the game.  Rahn Franklin and Jeff Bissen guarded him most of the night, but it is everyone’s responsibility to help and make his shots tough, and we did that.  We got off to a hot start, and it was an uphill battle for Dubuque from there.   Any time you play on the road, it gets tough, but we responded well.  

Our team still has improvements to make.  We can still shoot a better percentage from the floor.  We still have not hit our peak offensive rhythm yet, and we are still inconsistent on the rebounding end.  Some games are great, others are not.  Our turnovers are getting better and better, but that is a weakness that can get you on any given night.  Kyle Stribe has been out for 4 games, and is now practicing and will play this week.  We are not sure about his conditioning yet, and his fundamentals, so we will work him in slowly, but make no mistake we need him.  We need his long arms on defense, and need his outstanding 3 point shooting.   Our guys have done just fine without him, but we want to continue to grow as a team.  It is still January, and there is a long way to go in the league yet.  One practice at a time, one game at a time, and enjoy every minute of it.  We are fully aware that one bad week can change everything, so we will try to keep improving.

I am just sitting here thinking, I pay almost all of our bills in our house, and I haven’t paid a bill in 3 weeks.  You get in the middle of a season, and everything that doesn’t mean much to you gets thrown out the window.  So maybe since the weather is bad today, maybe I should pay a couple of bills before they disconnect everything we own.  My daughter has one more week of games before tournaments start.  Their team has won half of their games, and most of the time, there are at least 3 freshmen on the floor.  The future looks bright for her team.  She even scored a career high 12 points at Storm Lake St. Mary’s on Friday night.  That gym is where she grew up, as I was at St. Mary’ for the first 2 years of her life.   Time flies when you are having fun.  

Go Beavers!!

Coach VH

Posted by phelpss [Men's Basketball] ( January 29, 2008 02:38 PM ) Permalink | Comments[1]