Hoopsfest Kicks off Today!!

Hey Warrior fans, well we are out here in Sioux Falls all ready for the hoopsfest to begin today. So far the event has been wonderful, we got into town last night around 4:30 and headed right down for a dinner with the other 7 schools in a big ballroom. The dinner was excellent for a buffet style meal which was surprising as it can be hard to make a real good meal for so many people but they pulled it off. After that we had some down time so our guys relaxed in the rooms and got a good nights rest. This morning we were up early for shoot around at 8 am, the focus was great and I think we are ready to go. Unfortunately we will not be playing today with CJ Erickson. CJ sprained his ankle at the end of practice yesterday and it ballooned up pretty good on him so he is a no go today and probably tomorrow. So we will have to have other guys step up and fill in for him while he is out. Today's game will be a good challenge for us as UM Crookston is much improved over last year. They have a couple of great scorers that we must contain and we will need to be patient on the offensive end working for that great shot. If we do the little things right, rebounding, taking care of the ball, making the extra pass to the open man we should be good but if we do not it will be another long night. It will be a great day of basketball out here and we are looking forward to our match up at 2 pm. Then we will be able to watch many of the other talented teams play tonight, it is a full day of basketball. Until after the game...........GO WARRIORS!!!

Game Time Versus Concordia St. Paul Changed!!

Hi Warrior fans, sorry for being so slow on the blog this year I am trying to pick it up here and I should be full go again here soon, it has just been a very buys beginning of the season for me. Anyway just so everyone knows the game time for our game at Concordia St. Paul has been changed from an 8 pm start on Saturday Dec 5th. to a 3 pm start on Dec. 5th. The change will mean a quick turn around for the Warriors as they play the night before up in St. Cloud at 8 pm. The reason for the change is due to the Concordia St. Paul volleyball team hosting the Division II National Championship. Hope this does not change many plans and look forward to seeing everyone as usual up in St. Paul as we again invade the CSP campus turning it purple and white. Check back very soon as I will have a preview of the Hoops Fest that takes place this Saturday and Sunday for the Warriors. Until then.....GO WARRIORS!!!!

Warriors Win Opener, Host Tournament This Weekend!

Hi Warrior fans! Well the Warriors were able to come out on top Monday night as they took care of the UW Stout Blue Devils 83-66. The game was a sloppy one on both sides of the ball as the two teams combine for a total 39 turnovers during the game. While the pace of the game was uptempo the Warriors must do a much better job taking care of the ball going forward or it could doom them on many nights.

A couple of highlights from the game against Stout for the Warriors first had to be the shooting percentage from the field. The Warriors shot the ball at a clip of 30-59 (50%) for the game along with hitting 9-23 (40%) from the 3 point line. The Warriors at times were able to have great spacing on the floor which created good driving and passing lanes. This lead to many open shots that the Warriors were able to knock down. Another area were the 19 assists on the 30 converted field goals on the game. When a team is able to get almost 66% of the made field goals from assists that shows the team was sharing the ball and finding open people during the game. It is good to see the Warriors sharing the ball and making the extra pass to find the open man. A final positive area was the free throw shooting where the Warriors went 14-16 (88%). As any basketball person knows free throws are a key to any victory and the Warriors were able to convert free throws in this ball game at a high percentage.

Some areas where the Warriors need to continue to work on are areas that were listed to the keys of the game. First the Warriors must talk much better on both ends of the floor. Not talking once again gave Stout many open looks from the 3 point line and under the basket for easy lay-ups. The second area was again rebounding, even though the Warriors won the battle on the boards they cannot give a team 13 offensive rebounds a night and expect to win many games. The final area the Warriors struggled in was taking care of the basketball, as stated earlier the Warriors had way to many turnovers during the contest and many of them were turnovers that should not have happened. Too many times on outlet passes the Warriors were not reading the defense and making passes right to UW Stout. On other occasions they would not sweep through being aggressive taking care of the ball and tips occurred which ended up with a steal for Stout. We must value each possession that we get during a game, taking care of the ball has always been an area of success of the past couple of seasons for the Warriors so we must do a much better job in this area as we move forward.

Looking ahead for the Warriors they are hosting the Merchants Tip-off Classic this weekend. Teams included in the tournament are Clarke College (Iowa), Cardinal Stritch (Wisconsin) and Palm Beach Atlantic (Florida). All three teams are quality programs and should bring in some good talent for Warrior fans to watch. Game will start Friday at 5 pm when Cardinal Stritch and Palm Beach Atlantic take the floor. The Warriors and Clarke College follow at 7 pm. Hope to see you all there this weekend for the games!! GO WARRIORS!

Warriors Open Season Tonight!!

   The big day is finally here Warrior fans!!!  The Warriors kick off the season tonight as they take on UW-Stout at 8 pm in McCown gym.  It's is an exciting time for the squad as they have been working hard since last seasons loss in the NCAA Regional Tournament.

   Keys for a Warrior victory tonight:

1.  Talk, talk, talk.  One of the biggest obstacles any basketball team has is communication out on the floor.  This will be a key to every game for the Warriors and it starts tonight.  This group can be a good defensive team when they talk to each other out on the floor, it is when the communication breaks down that the defense starts to struggle.  If the Warriors want to have a great game tonight and a solid season they must talk from the beginning to the end of the game.  If they fail in this area it will come back to haunt them if not tonight but down the road.

2.   Crashing the boards.  As any Warrior fan knows rebounding was a huge downfall of last years squad.  Well so far this year the Warriors have been out rebounded by every team during the exhibition season.  That stat is going to have to change as the Warriors will be running into teams that are very good on the boards here in the future so they need start now by controlling the boards on both ends.  

3.   Stay patient on the offensive end.  The Warriors have many weapons on the offensive and as they always have five guys on the floor capable of scoring from anywhere on the floor.  While this is a great weapon to have on the offensive end of the floor it can cause issues if we are not taking a great shot.  Staying patient, making the defense work and making the extra pass will all be keys for Warriors tonight.  When they work for a great shot they usually are able to get a great one over the 35 second shot clock but sometime we rush shots or take contested shots that we could pass up or take later on in the possession if really needed.  

Finally the key for the season will be going out and having fun.  This is a game that all of us love to play and you must always keep the game fun.  It is going to be an exciting season and we cannot wait for the tip off at 8 tonight!  GO WARRIORS!!!

   

Warriors Conclude Exhibition Season Tonight!

Hi gang, sorry for the late post on game day but was really busy today with stuff.  Well tonight the Warriors close out the exhibition portion of the season when the host the St. Thomas Tommies from the MIAC.  This game should be another great game as both teams have there sights set on having good seasons once again.  

As many of you remember St. Thomas was the only squad to come in and beat the Warriors back during the 2007-08 season.  While the defeat might have been a blessing in disguise as the Warriors used the loss as a huge learning tool and did not lose another game that season as they went on to win the schools seconds national championship.  Well that was two years ago and many of the players on both side of that game are no longer around.  

For the Warriors tonight's game will again test them in many areas where improvement needs to be made.  First off the Warriors will need to contain there man one on one.  The Tommies really look to break there guy down one on one so we must contain our man and not allow dribble penetration.  We will also have to talk better on both ends of the floor.  We will see a ton of ball screens and hand offs tonight if we do not talk we will end up having two guarding one guy which will leave them a ton of open shots.  On the offensive end we need to communicate better as we must keep good spacing and take care of the ball as we will see some full court pressure.  If we do not take care of the ball and keep going spacing there pressure will get us causing for a long night.  This game will be a great final warm up for our guys as we will see a quality opponent that would do very well in our conference.  The guys have had a good week of practice but now we must carry over what we have been doing to a game situation.  It should be fun one as tonight at 7.  Hope to see you all at the game.  GO WARRIORS

Winona State vs UW Eau Claire

Hi Warrior fans, well tonight is a new night for our Warrior basketball team so hopefully we can put the struggles behind us from our opener and play much better in our game tonight versus UW Eau Claire.
Tonight's game will once again test the Warriors on a variety of fronts as we must show improvement in almost every area of the game. The main areas of focus will again be on shutting our man down one on one and team rebounding. Those two areas need to be improved dramatically if the Warriors want to play well tonight against a good offensive and rebounding team. Tonight we will once again by playing a variety of line-ups on the floor as we are looking to find the right combinations of guys who can play together. Finally what will be interesting to see is if we can carry over what we have worked on the last two days in practice. Both days were excellent days on the floor but if we cannot carry over what we have done then we will be making little progress as a squad. Carry over is a must and we must start that tonight to have a successful season. Tonight's game should be interesting so I hope to see all of you fans there at 7 o'clock when the ball goes into the air. GO WARRIORS!!!!!

Warriors Struggle in Opener

Hi Warrior fans.  Well the new season did not get off on the right foot last night as the Warriors struggled in every area of the game in falling to UW-LaCrosse.  The game was a tight game throughout as neither team had a lead larger then 9.   The Eagles controlled the game and tempo the entire night as they worked for getting great shots on the offensive end, while the Warriors rushed and took many difficult shots.  The Eagles were also able to own the boards as they out rebounded the Warriors by a 38-35 margin and had 8 more rebounds then the Warriors in the second half.  While the loss is not something that Warriors wanted to deal with they now know the areas that they must improve and work on as a team.  Rebounding, containing a man one on one and working for a great shot on the offensive end are just a few of the main areas will continue to concentrate on.  Thursday nights game against UW Eau Claire will be a huge measuring stick for the Warriors to see if they have cleaned up there mistakes from this game and to bring back confidence to the squad.  Thanks to all the fans who showed up for the game and we hope to see you this Thursday as the Warriors take the floor again.  GO WARRIORS!!!

Exhibition season kicks off tonight!!!

Hey Warrior fans!!! Hope everyone is getting ready as our new season is approaching quickly and the exhibition season kicks off tonight when the Warriors host UW-LaCrosse Eagles tonight at 7.
This will be the third straight season the Warriors and Eagles have met to begin the Exhibition season. If you remember last year the Eagles took the Warriors down to the final minute but the Warriors were able to hold off the Eagles to come out with a 76-73 win.
For the Warriors tonights game will be a great opportunity to step out on the floor for the first team as a new team and to see where they are at as a squad. Expect to see a variety of different line-ups on the floor throughout the game as the Warriors will be working on meshing the returning players with the new players. The exhibition season is a great time to find out what works and what needs to be worked on. While the Warriors return many players, new faces will be seeing the floor for the first time tonight. Newcomers Xavier Humphrey, Zander Culver, Kellen Taylor and CJ Erickson will be hitting the hardwood in Warrior colors for the first time along with three red-shirts Jordan Fischer, Dan Kratz and Clayton Vette. These seven along with the returning eight players from last year give the team a ton of depth and talent. It should be an exiciting night in McCown for this years squad.
As for UW LaCrosee, they return a ton of talent including there top 3 scorers from last season. Look for Tony Mane and Trevor Stratton to lead the way for the Eagles as both avered right around 17 ppg last season for them. Along with those two guards, the Eagles return 6'9 post player Andy Merklein who finished the year averaging 9.7 ppg and 6 rpg. The Eagles also have many other returning players who saw action for them along with some talented freshman.
Check back tomorrow for a recap on tonights game, until then GO WARRIORS!!!!