[BasketballAlum] Dec 15 Newsletter

[James Kuronen]

Since my last newsletter we've completed six games in the span of 13 
days. We know what an NBA team feels like. Our record was an excellent 
5-1, but, as usual it's the 1 loss that was hard to take.

Nov. 29 College of St Scholastica- we did exactly as we hoped we would. 
Jump on them early and have an easy game where our bench was able to 
play signigicant minutes. We won 81-59 and all 12 players played. We 
had balance scoring with no one getting more than 13 points. We 
out-rebounded them soundly and held them to 30% shooting from the field.

Dec. 1 Northland College- Coach Holquist and I were anticipating a more 
difficult game than CSS and we got it. Northland is not as talented as 
CSS but is very well coached and very discliplined. We knew they would 
run the shot clock down on each possession. We won 65-48 but it had the 
feel of a closer game.

Dec. 3 at MSU-Moorhead- Two days later we had a big road game in 
Moorhead, MN, a team that was undefeated. They have a few transfers two 
of which are very good, both of them are seniors and will only be in 
Moorhead one season. Moorhead plays a difficult match-up zone and can 
really keep a team off balance. Last year with several seniors they 
went 8-20 and when we scheduled the game we thought there'd be a good 
chance it would be a semi-easy win. With bringing in a few transfers it 
was anything but. We came out making shots and scoring on our first 6 
possessions to get a lead and played very well the first half but only 
led by 4. In the second half our defense stepped up. John Emerson 
(Sr.-New Richmond, WI) guarded what may be the most talented player 
we'll face all year and did a great job on limiting him to very few 
open looks. He played in position very well and was unable to be 
screened. Bryan Foss (Jr.-Osseo,MN) played an outstanding all around 
game leading us in scoring (25 pts) and rebounding (12). We lost Matt 
Rawley (Jr.-Milwaukee Lutheran) to a freaky sprained ankle in the 
second half. On a 2 shot foul MSUM missed the first shot and their 
players all played the ball as though it were live. Rawley was standing 
there knowing it was a 2 shot foul but came away with a twisted ankle.

Dec. 7 at UM-Crookston - UMC is another team we've traditionally 
struggled with in Crookston. It seems our games in Duluth are easy wins 
and struggles where we're lucky to win if we do on their court. UMC has 
the best team in Coach Oseth's tenure there, with good size across the 
board and a very physical aggressive style that can be difficult to 
play against. We again came out shooting very well and built an early 
lead shooting 55% the first half we went to the locker room up by 8. 
The second half we allowed UMC to shoot 67% from the field, by far the 
most a team has done against us, and we were still able to out score 
them. We ended up winning 82-69. Without Matt Rawley, Matt Hockett 
(Jr.-McFarland, WI) stepped up big and gave us good minutes guarding 
players much bigger than him. We had good balance scoing again with 
Jordan Nuness (So.-Eden Prairie, MN) and Bryan Foss each scoring 17. We 
also had three other players in double figures.

Dec. 10 Northern State- NSU came into Duluth undefeated (8-0) and 
ranked #8 in the most recent NCAA DII poll. They are a big deep team 
with several seniors. Coach Don Meyer has over 800 wins. It was a great 
game, the best we've put together this season. We came out on top 
84-78. We played exactly how I picture us playing in my head. Staying 
in position in defense, not giving up open, high percentage shots. 
Helping each other and not giving up penetration into the lane and 
forcing help. Offensively, watching the film was a joy, if someone was 
open they got the ball and when we got guys open they made shots. 
Jordan Nuness came off the bench on fire and led us with 25 points 
shooting 8-13 including 5-7 from the 3 pt line. John Emerson made 5-10 
3 pt shots to score 16 and Bryan Foss got inside NSU's zone to score 
13. Sean Seaman (Sr.-Duluth, MN) played his best game of the season 
scoring 9 points, and tying a career high 14 assists. We out rebounded 
NSU 39-33 getting 10 offensive rebounds in the process. Matt Rawley 
showed a lot of heart and courage when he came off the bench to play 
some great defense and score 7 pts after not practicing since his ankle 
sprain. Again, in what we hope is a pattern, we held NSU to 41% from 
the field, while we shot 49%. We spend time talking about getting the 
best % shot we can, while limited our opponent to the lowest % shot 
each and every possession.

Dec 11 Southwest MN State- Here's the one that hurts. The next night 
after the big NSU win we had to come back and play a tough minded 
opponent who may not have as much talent as NSU but plays mentally and 
physically tough on every possession. We reverted back to some bad 
habits and selfish play in this game and were beaten 57-54. We were led 
in scoring by John Emerson with 12 points and John Vaudreuil 
(So.-Bloomington Jefferson) with 11. We held SMSU to shooting only 41% 
but could only make 39% of ours. Our percentage was a direct result of 
us not looking for each other but everyone trying to do it themselves. 
We are not physically talented enough to get into games of one on one.

Tomorrow we play a very tough Concordia-St Paul team on the eve of 
beginning finals Saturday morning. Concordia is 7-2 and good. They also 
have a big senior transfer who instantly makes them a tough team. We've 
had very good spirited practices and some good film sessions with our 
team and hopefully we can get back on track. We finish before break 
playing Michigan Tech on Wednesday Dec. 21.

We wish you and your family the best of the Holiday Season.

Butch Kuronen
Assistant Basketball Coach
University of Minnesota Duluth
218-726-6199 (office)
218-591-7618 (cell)
jkuronen at d.umn.edu