[BasketballAlum] AFI Classic

[gary holquist]

Bulldog Basketball Alumni and Friends:

The American Family Basketball Classic was a huge success. Thanks again 
to everyone from American Family Insurance.  The four games played were 
very competitive, featured potential All-American candidates playing at 
high levels, and provided fans excellent college basketball action. 
The 'Dogs played well on Friday night against Northern Michigan 
University but lost in the last possession.  We had a shot to tie it, 
but it rimmed out.  Overall, I liked the way we played in the lost.  On 
that evening we were beat in a well-played game.  (Coaches and players 
can "live" with those type of defeats!)  I liked our aggressiveness and 
effort, how we attacked offensively, rebounding margins, and getting to 
the foul line for twenty free throws.  The only point of contention was 
that we had two crucial turnovers in the last two and a half minutes 
that hurt us in a possession-by-possession game.  After watching the 
film, I thought we could have done a better job with our helpside 
rotation when we dug the ball out of the post as well.  As I 
anticipated, containing Ricky Volcy was the key to the game.  He had a 
great night scoring 32 points.  He is tough to double on because of his 
ability to see the floor and pass effectively out of the double team. 
He engaged two effectively and found open people.  He created threes 
for his team mates-many were contested; they hit tough shots-14 of 26 
from the three-point line.  We were satisfied with how we played-not 
the outcome.  Saturday we defeated Michigan Tech University 80-76.  It 
was a very physical game.  We played with a lead the majority of the 
game and made free throws down the stretch to secure the victory. 
Ironically the staff thought we played more effectively in a loss 
against NMU-but anytime you can defeat MTU is an outstanding win.  Tech 
took away any chance to score in the paint by doubling and tripling our 
block touches when our bigs were in the scoring area.  As a result, we 
had good clean looks on the perimeter and made shots.  Bryan Foss had 
an impressive stat line as he was named Co-MVP of the classic, along 
with Volcy.  Foss was 7-14 from the floor with 2 threes, 10-11 from the 
free throw line, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, while playing 37 minutes.  He 
did a great job defensively the last seven minutes of the game on MTU's 
go to guy, limiting him to only three points, while they kept trying to 
give him scoring opportunities.  Jordan Nuness was also named all 
tournament after scoring 23 the first night and 19 the second.

The last ten days have been fast and furious.  We played six games in 
ten days.  Our record is 5 and 1, heading out to Colorado State 
University-Pueblo for a tournament.  As previously mentioned, both of 
these games are regional contests and will have an impact on our power 
rating as the year continues.  I look forward  to being able to 
practice and not prepare for a game the next few days.  Fundamentally, 
we need to keep improving.  We will spend time in the weight room this 
week and go light while we are on the court.  Emphasis will be placed 
on individual skill the first part of the week, before we start 
preparing for CSU-Pueblo.  They are off to a good start and will be 
tough in their home arena.

Hope Thanksgiving was enjoyable for you all!  We will be back for four 
in a row at home the last two weeks before the holiday break.  Go 
Bulldogs-come see us compete!





Gary W. Holquist
University of Minnesota Duluth
Head Men's Basketball Coach
218-726-6185