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November 16, 2004
Piper men’s basketball aims for playoffs
Under the new leadership of Barry Wohler, Hamline’s men’s basketball team looks to rebound from last year’s disappointing season and jump back into the mix of the MIAC.
Wohler, the former head coach at Marshall High School, believes that his team has the talent in place to turn around a program that went 6-19, 3-17 in the MIAC last year.
By season’s end, Wohler believes that his team can finish in the top six of the MIAC, which would mean a playoff berth for Hamline, something they haven’t done since 1994, which they were predicted to do last year.
“I’m very excited about the upcoming season. I think we have a good nucleus of players coming back and some talented players coming in,” said Wohler.
He added, “We want to improve throughout the season and play well enough to qualify for the conference tournament. I think we can finish some where in top six of the conference.”
To get there, he’ll rely on a young group of returning guards and a mix of newcomers. Wohler believes one key is transfer Sam Weiner at point guard. The sophomore came from NCAA Div. II Southwest
Minnesota State, where he started 13 games as a first-year. In his first year of play, Weiner averaged 3.5 assists per game.
Also in the mix for playing time are junior Ryan Montgomery and transfer Jesse Hendricks, who both can play point and shooting guard. The Pipers will also look to Nick Novak to add depth to the point-guard position.
Montgomery and sophomore Travis Jacobs both played valuable minutes last season at shooting guard.
Montgomery averaged 4.8 points per game, while Jacobs added 4.2 ppg.
Also in the mix are juniors Ayan Hargrove, Jon Viemeister and first-year Joe Smock.
Wohler brings a new aggressive style of play to Hamline, saying, “We will play an up-tempo style with aggressive full-court pressure on defense. We will look to fast-break whenever possible and play an inside-out game in the half court if the fast-break isn’t there.”
In the half court, Wohler will look to get the ball inside to open up his outside shooters, and on the Pipers’ front line, senior forward Brandon Aukes is one of the key returners. Aukes is the leading scorer back, and he averaged 8.0 ppg and 4.5 rebounds per game last season.
Hamline will also rely on Paul Muenchow, who tallied 5.3 ppg and 5.0 rpg a year ago.
Junior centers Charley Good and Andy Grossbach will be expected to continue their support on offense this year and contribute. Good scored 5.5 ppg, and Grossbach added 4.9 ppg a season ago.
Others battling for playing time this season will be senior Ted Gehring, junior Greg Koba, sophomores Adam Hakanson and Kyle Foster, and first-year Kory Kelzer.
Posted by msveum at November 16, 2004 11:36 AM
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