NSIC Play Opens This Weekend

Hi Warrior fans, well the NSIC schedule opens tonight as we are up in St. Cloud getting ready for out game against the Huskies. It should be a great atmosphere and hopefully a fun game. The team just completed it shoot around and we are now heading to a local Subway for our usual pregame meal while on the road.
As for tonight's game we are expecting a hostile environment and loud crowd. St. Cloud St. always has good crowds for basketball games and with this being the conference opener I would expect maybe a couple more people then usual to see this game. The game tonight will be a great challenge to us as we are taking on a team loaded with talent both inside and out. As many Warrior fans remember last year the Huskies had our number and they return all players but 2 from last years squad. Along with the returners they also have added some other nice players to make them the favorite to win the NSIC this season. On the outside they have a trio of great shooters in Taylor Witt, Josh Ortmann and Brett Putz all can have huge games from the 3 point line so we cannot let them get going. Inside they have All-American candidate Matt Schneck along with wing/post player Andrew Bernstetter. The focus for tonight's game will once again begin on the defensive end where we must continue to improve on shutting our man down one on one, also tonight we must be aware that they will want to get the ball inside as much as possible so we will need to have great defensive rotations. Off those rotations we will also have to make sure we are getting a body on the weak side rebound and not giving up a ton of offensive boards like we did last weekend against Mankato. On the offensive side we will need to get scoring from a variety of players. We cannot just hope that DJ continues to have huge games and other guys will need to step up to the plate. Hopefully we can learn from last weekends game and have a great showing tonight in front of a great crowd. GO WARRIORS!!

Pre-game Alumni social event @ O'Gara's Bar 12:30 to 2:30, free appetizers! :)

    Hey Warrior fans, well it was an up and down weekend for the Warriors as we went 1-1 out at the Hoopsfest.  It was a fun event and our guys learned a lot from playing against two quality teams.  Hopefully we can care over what we have learned to this coming weekend as we will be playing two very tough, talented teams.  

    As for this weekend.  On Saturday before the Concordia St. Paul game there will be a Pre-game Alumni social event at O'Gara's Bar and Grill from 12:30 - 2:30.  This event is open obviously to all former alumni along with parents, family and fans of Winona State.  For those of you who do not know where O'Gara's is located the address is: 164 Snelling Ave. North, St. Paul, MN.  If you need more information on the place here is a link to there website: http://www.ogaras.com/.  Just copy and paste it into a web browser to go it.  Finally at O'Gara's on Saturday not only will it be the spot to gather for Warrior fans it will also be the spot to grab some free appetizers as they will be available while they last.  So let get everyone together to catch up on old times and then head on over to Concordia St. Paul to cheer the Warriors onto victory.  GO WARRIORS!!!

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