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!!!!

Warriors Looking Good!!

   Hi everyone, well the season has begun and we are off to a very good start.  The guys are picking up on stuff quickly and we are making good progress everyday.

   One thing I think many people forget is how important that team chemistry has to be on the court to be successful.  Each year is a new team so it takes time for everyone to get used to playing with each other, know each others strengths and weaknesses.  With this team while we do have a lot of returning players we also have four new players so getting them all on the same page will take time.  You can see progress being made everyday as we are showing more trust in our teammates on the defensive end and offensively we are learning to work together to get a great shot each time down the floor.  One item that has really improved in a week is the passing on the offensive end.  The first couple of days we saw a ton of turnovers but the guys have slowed down and they are getting used to playing with each other.  A key for this team, as with all of our team in the past, we want to take care of the ball and limit turnovers.

    This past weekend we had our first purple/white scrimmage along with our annual family day.  It was a great day all around as our scrimmage went as well, Coach Browns team won 3-1 over Coach Gove, but Coach Gove team lost by a total of 3 points in those 3 losses.  In each session the guys were put onto different teams so many different combinations were out on the floor, which gave us a ton of looks of different line ups we could have this season.  A team strength for this year will be our depth, we do not have one guy that we would not be afraid to put on the floor.  After the scrimmage the team and parents meet down at Bub's Brewing Co. for the annual lunch.  It was a excellent time as it was an opportunity to see many old faces along with many new faces.  Every had a great time and each player did a good job of introducing themselves along with the family that was in attendance.  

    Looking forward we are closing in on that first exhibition game of the year which will take place November 2nd versus La Crosse.  We still have a ton of work ahead of us but we will have a couple more team scrimmages to get ready for the game and we will really start to focus on items we need to clean up on both ends of the floor.  The guys are working hard and excitement is in the air as we cannot wait to get out on the floor for the first game of the season.  

    This is it for now, until next time.....GO WARRIORS!!!

Warriors Kick Off New Season

Hi Warrior fans, well it is official we have started practice and the 2009-10 season in underway. The first practice of the year went well as the guys gave great effort and focus during the day. After our first official practice we had a little bit of time off before coming back on to the court last night for our "Warrior Madness" event. The event as excellent and we thank all the fans who showed up to support both men's and women's teams along with giving money to Winona Health's breast cancer center. The night started off with the introduction of both teams with the women's team then taking the floor for a 10 minute scrimmage. After that it was our turn to get out and give the fans a view of this years squad, our scrimmage ended up a tie at 29-29.
At the conclusion of the scrimmage both teams put out some of their top shooters to square off in a 3-point contest. The winner of the contest ended up being, senior David Johnson, who was able to out shoot one of the women's new freshman players. In between the 3-point contest we also held a dunk contest. Luke Doedens stole the show with the dunk contest, Luke was able to complete a variety of entertaining dunks including throwing a ball of the back wall behind the basketball hoop, catching an bounce ally-oop pass that was thrown from in the middle of the padded stands by Brad Meyer and finally a pass off the side of the back board from Jon Walburg.
Overall it was a fun night and we look forward to doing this again next year. Up next for the Warriors we will be holding our first scrimmage of the year this Saturday, October 17 at 9:30 am in McCown gym. The scrimmage is open to the public and we invite all of you to come and watch. Finally this weekend is Family Weekend at WSU, we look forward to seeing all you parents at the scrimmage and then lunch afterward. GO WARRIORS!!!

Follow John Smith in Portugal!

Hey Warrior fans, I hope everyone is getting ready for the season as we are only 8 day away!

We have some great news that former Winona State star, John Smith, is now playing professionally over in Portugal. He left a couple of weeks ago to take part in per-season activities and his season will be beginning soon. For those of you who want to follow John he has set up a blog at the following site - http://johnsmithbasketball.blogspot.com Just copy and paste that in your web browser and it should take right to his web site. I will also be putting a link in our "links" area here for you to follow him through that as well. We wish John the best of luck on his new journey and look forward to keeping in contact with him as he blogs back to all of us. Good luck John!!!

A quick update on a couple of items that will be coming up soon for the current Warrior squad. First we will be holding "Warrior Madness" on October 15th. The event, which will also include our women's basketball team, is in part to raise money for breast cancer and is in conjunction with Breast Cancer Awareness Weekend here at WSU. The door will open for the event starting at 6:00, admission for the event is $1 with that going to Winona Health Mammography. Also a meal will be offered from Hy-Vee from 6-7 pm, the cost of the meal is $5 with $2 from the meal going to Winona Health Mammography. Finally at 7 pm the men's and women's team will take the court for a 3 point shooting contest, dunk contest and short scrimmage. Also during this time there will be a ton of different give aways and drawings for those in attendance. Then on Saturday October 17th we will be holding an open scrimmage to the public starting at 9:30 in the morning. Admission is FREE and we will be going up and down for around an 1 1/2 hours. This will be a great opportunity to see the players in full action for the first time of the year. We hope to see all of you at both of these events. GO WARRIORS!!!!