[BasketballAlum] Newsletter 1/3/06

[James Kuronen]

We left Fort Myers, FL having a good experience. We lost our first game 
on Dec. 29th vs. U of Montevallo, who was ranked #2 nationally in the 
most recent DII poll. They have lost once on the year. We battled well 
the first half and hit a shot at the buzzer to go into half-time tied 
at 30. To start the second half Montevallo hit some 3's in the early 
going and got up by 10 and it stayed right there with us eventually 
losing by 13. They were a very good team, a team that played much 
tougher in person than they looked on film. There is a reason they're 
ranked high and went to the Sweet 16 of DII last season. We had 
difficulty in our offense because of their physical strength and 
quickness. I had a coach tell me during scouting they were a 
"renegade-type" team, but one that plays very good defense and that was 
exactly true.
On the 30th our team spent about 2 hours on Fort Myers Beach enjoying 
75 degree weather before our 8pm game. We came out and played as well 
as we have all year. We moved the ball on offense, looked for each 
other, and made open shots. The first half determined the game as we 
went to the locker room up 50-24. Florida Gulf Coast Univ is moving to 
DI following the 06-07 season and they have a lot of talent. They came 
out the second half very determined and tried to pick up the pace of 
the game. We had a few turn-overs but kept our heads and FGCU never got 
closer than 12 points and we won by 16. Bryan Foss (Jr.-Osseo, MN) hit 
two huge 3's in the last 5 minutes of the game to take the wind out of 
their sails. John Emerson (Sr.-New Richmond, WI) was named 
all-tournament for his efforts.
We leave tomorrow for our first NCC game of the season at MSU-Mankato 
Thursday night. MSUM is 11-3 non-conference and has won 7 in a row. 
Luke Anderson leads the NCC in scoring with 23/game and MSUM as a team 
is 1st in scoring margin, rebounding margin, and FT %.
Your Bulldogs rank 1st in Defensive Rebounding, we are 2nd in FG % 
offense, scoring defense, and 3 point FG %. Obviously the Conference 
stats will change as everyone hasn't played a common schedule. Our 
goals involve FG %'s both offensively and defensively, and rebouding 
magins. We think if we can get a high percentage shot, hold our 
opponent to a low percentage shot and rebound the misses effectively 
we'll have a good chance to win every game.
Following our game at Mankato we return home on Saturday 1/7 to host St 
Cloud State in their NCC opener.

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