Bethel Comes to Town

Our weekend was an interesting one. We had a little bit of a hangover from the first game of the season. Wilmington did a nice job against us, and really limited the good shots we have been getting all year on offense. We got out fast, and Wilmington adjusted and we didn’t. We as coaches and players must handle adversity and adjustments better. On Saturday, we did not play a great game. We feel our defense slipped some. Luckily our guys stepped up and had a great last 12 minutes of the game and went on a 30-10 run to finish the game and win by 18. We had some guys really step up for us. Trent Fisher, Cole Darrow, and Mike Elming came off the bench and played really well when we made our run. They had that look in their eye. Our depth will be a big help for us this season. Andy Puhrmann had a great weekend and ended up making all tournament by making 29 points on Friday, and came back and had 9 assists on Saturday. That is leadership. Mike Kaufmann got injured on Saturday and could not finish the game, so Andy stepped up. Mike is a game time decision tonight with a shoulder stinger that is still providing muscle spasms. If out, our guys will make up for his absence.

Bethel brings in a team tonight that is 2-1 and almost beat River Falls, that is ranked in the Top 25 on Saturday night. Taylor Hall is the best 6’8” player we will see this year. He can shoot it, and make a lot of plays. We will have our hands full and look forward to the challenge. They also have a nice deep team, I would expect they will have a good year this year. We will also, we just need to keep improving and going after it everyday. I am excited about some of the improvements by our returners. Our freshmen are also doing well. They won their first JV game against Gustavus and played great. It is an excellent passing group, and a solid rebounding group. Our posts of Greg Sibenaller, Tyler Kastantin, Brett Heitkamp, Alex Ralston, and Karl Ahrendsen are doing very well. They run the floor well, and Savage is an excellent transition passer at the point. Tyler Pleiss also played well. He is a transfer, and he is coming off an injury and playing better lately.

Happy Thanksgiving to all and enjoy your time together with your families. We are heading to Leighton for Thanksgiving Day, and will be back for our practice at 11 on Friday, and then we leave for Stevens Point after practice.

GO Beavers!!

Coach VH

Athletics at It's Finest

We love to watch and talk about sports as something goofy in the world of sports is always happening. The game last night will always live in the memory bank of all those who watched, coached, and played. For 30 minutes, this group of BVU players had not played better in their career. They played hard, passed it, shot it, defended it, rebounded it, and communicated it all night long. But the last 10 minutes will always be the part that is remembered. We lost our poise and it all snowballed from there. Give Gustavus credit, they did all the right things down the stretch. Actually give Seth Anderson credit. Seth Anderson is not the prototypical basketball player, in fact, he would fit into my era of the mid 80’s with his pull up jumpers off the dribble and shooting a fantastic 10-15 foot jump shot. Many of the shots were very well contested, but he really had it going for 45 points, and you have to give him credit for that. He led their team, as all the other things that Gustavus was trying did not seem to work. But he worked and worked well. One of the things I believe that we will be good at this year is our turnover ratio. We have not turned the ball over much so far this year, and even was a strength of our team last year, but last night in the last few minutes, we had some turnovers that weren’t like us. It is way too early in the year, to label this team as what we are or what our weaknesses are. But we will take the road of realizing that we can have a real good year this year, if we play like we did in the first 30 minutes. We will work better together, coach the guys better, and we will have better poise together. But it is a process, and it is something we have to slowly improve. I believe in these guys.

Typically I am a guy that can handle stress pretty well and take life as it comes, but there is something about the season. In the last couple of weeks, I have not slept as well. I have dreams, wake up, and can’t remember what I dreamt about, but it keeps me up for awhile. Although one of the dreams was that I got in a bad car accident and it scares me awake. Well it happened this morning, I am driving into work out with my trainer, Jenny Wiebers, and I hit a deer. I did not even brake. It sprinted across the road out of a cemetery and hit my right front of my car. Actually if you think about it, we could use that deer in our post. He runs very well and has a good stride. The bad part of this is this. I just bought this car. It is a silver 2004 cadillac that was owned by my friend Steve Berg, who lives across the 4 Fairway. His father is 90 and doesn’t drive anymore, so he had this car for sale. It has just 55,000 miles and purrs like a kitten when you drive it. It is my best car, even my dad is impressed, as it takes a lot for him to be impressed by cars. So the last thing I want is to be away from my car for 3 weeks. By the way first deer hit ever. Anyway, my wife and I had lunch today, and I told her about all the dreams and she said she has been having the same thing, and only remembers one dream and that dream involves snakes. Snakes hanging from the ceiling and big snakes crawling all over. She woke up with her heart beating in a panic. Since I am dreaming of a car accident, she now figures she is going to come into the house, open the trash can and find an live Rattler. I will let you know if that happens.

Onto Chicago. We are looking forward to our trip to Wheaton to play in their tournament this weekend. We play Wilmington, from Ohio, and we do not know much about them, in fact, nothing. All we know is that they return a couple of guards that were all conference last year, and one of them is a Pre Season All American. We will bounce back well and come to play with a great attitude on Friday. We haven’t been on a bus together yet this year, and truthfully, this is the funnest part of our season for us. We love the bus rides. It is a chance to get away from school and be together. This is a close knit group, and they have fun together. Poker will be in effect, and satellite TV will be on. We will be able to watch ESPN and watch the NFL football game that is on Thursday night. Makes for easy bus rides.

Go Beavers!!!

Coach VH

Scrimmages Over

We have had our 2 scrimmages and we are now in our last stages of preparation for the season. We have a couple of things to put in yet on both sides of the ball, but we are getting close to being ready. We had a scrimmage on Saturday against Nebraska Wesleyan and then had our JV scrimmage each other after that. We invited all of our parents and then had a supper for them. It was a great event and it was good to see all the parents again. Our first half against Nebraska Wesleyan went very well for us, the 2^nd half we got exposed a little bit, which was good for us. It made us look at the way we do some things on both sides of the ball. So in essence, it was a very good scrimmage for us. The 3^rd half was dominated by our next 9 players, and I am very excited about our newcomers. They have very good IQ’s. It seems like we only have to tell them something once and they adjust. Each freshman player is better than I thought they would be, and I thought they would be good. All of our players have improved and this will be a fun and challenging year.

We are getting more and more healthy. We got good news on the Wes Nordquist front. He does not have a stress fracture, just a sprain of the ankle joint. It came along slowly at first, but it getting better a little quicker the last week. I think he is about ready to go. There is no doubt that we need him, as he brings that low post presence that we need. But his being gone, has also helped us develop our other posts. Being a post player is extremely difficult. You don’t touch the ball like you want on offense, people are draped all over you, and you are the last line of defense on defense. It can be a thankless job, but the guys are improving all the time. Our posts had a great practice last night. Now we are looking for consistency.

We are just trying to go one day at a time and continuing to improve our team. I think this group has been great so far with this. We never talk about a week from now, we just talk about right now and preparing for tomorrow when the day is over. We haven’t mentioned one word about playing next Tuesday. We will be ready for that, but need to shore some things up first. We have a very challenging schedule the first 11 days with 5 games, and all but one had winning seasons last year, and 2 of them played in the National Tournament last year. A great way to start. We will know where we are when those 5 games are finished. At that point, we will be prepared for the conference opener. But first things first. Let’s have a great week this week, and then we will get going and be more prepared for next.

The 2 best meals in Storm Lake for me are:

1. The chicken salad sandwich at Grand Central Coffee House.

2. The beef Sancho at Bozwellz.

Those are the 2 meals that make me the happiest.

Go Beavers!!!

Coach VH

Week #2 Coming Up

The guys have been working hard. We just got done with our weight training this morning, and practice at 1:00 today. Our campus is on fall break for the next 2 days, so the guys are getting some rest and still getting practice in. It is time for us to put a little push in at this point. One of my weaknesses is continuing to put new stuff in. I have to constantly remind myself that we need to keep moving forward and keep adding new things.

We are in better shape this year, with the help of our Strength and Conditioning Coach, Ron Thomson. He comes to us from Purdue, and he stays after our guys and the guys are starting to like and appreciate him. He has worked out Drew Brees, Robbie Hummell, and many other Purdue athletes, and now is doing a fantastic job for us.

We have a few injuries early on like normal, but for the first time, I have a player out for the year with and ACL injury in preseason. I had went 15 years without one. The only ACL injury I have had is Brandon Kies his junior year, and that happened about half way through the year. Troy Ticknor is out for the year and I feel very bad for him. He has come in with renewed life and is bigger and stronger. But we still need him. He needs to be a leader on our team in other ways.

We are happy with the skill level of our newcomers. Not one of them has disappointed, and quite frankly, a couple of them are a lot better than I thought. They are good guys also, and have been led very well by our seniors. Our seniors are due for an excellent year. They deserve it.

Talk Soon,

Go Beavers!!!

Coach VH

Welcome our Newcomers

We have had 4 practices so far and all has gone very well. We have had a couple of injuries already and will see how that progresses, but overall the guys have been great. The first couple of days are always a little ugly, but then we start to see things take shape, as we did especially last night. We have one more practice today, then we are taking a day off. I think the guys will be ready for a day off.

Our newcomers are really looking good. We have a real nice group of freshmen, and what I love the most, is that all of them are a little bit different, and play different positions.

Cole Darrow – Glenwood – Cole had a great year last year and was a 2^nd Team All Stater. He is a slasher and has worked hard to make himself a better shooter. As he gets stronger, he has a chance to be very good down the road.

Tyler Kastantin – Dallas Center Grimes – Tyler is a long armed post player that needs to get a little stronger, but is a very good athlete. He is a communicator and real good defender. He played on a very good high school team last year and was their leader, that is his best attribute. He was a 2^nd Team All Stater.

Greg Sibenaller – Westwood – Led the state in rebounding for most of the year last year, and was also a 2^nd Team All Stater. He plays very hard and is very active on the glass. He is more athletic than I thought, and we are excited as he develops.

Alex Savage – Dowling Catholic – Alex had the most assists of any senior in 4A last year. He is a true point guard, and has had a nice first few days. Alex does not have awesome athleticism, but he is tough and always under control. He is never rattled by quickness, and I love his attitude and leadership.

Grady Gallagher – Woodbury Central – Grady had a fantastic year last year. In fact, in his last game as a high school player he scored 46. He is tough and a very good shooter. He reminds me of his uncle Marty. When I first moved to town 22 years ago, I played city league with Marty. Marty was never scared and always made big shots. As you can tell I have known Grady’s family for years, and they are Cubs Fans. I appreciate that. I am trying to teach Grady some NHL knowledge and get him fired up about my Philadelphia Flyers.

Jake Bjorkgren – Urbandale – I have a great appreciation for Jake. His cousin, Nate, played for me here and graduated in 1998, and I have known Jake’s dad, Brad for many years, as he is the Head Coach at Urbandale. Jake has a little knee problem right now, but he is a fantastic shooter. He came in right away making shots. He has had some knee issues the last year or two, and when we get that better, we look forward to his abilities as a shooter.

Brett Heitkamp – Johnston – Brett is a developing player. He is 6’7” and still getting better. But no one blocks shots like him in our practices. He dives on the floor for loose balls, and we have high hopes for his future. He is a guy that might take a year or two before he gets on the varsity floor, as he needs to refine his overall game, but if he commits to it, I have no doubts about him.

Tyler Jass – Ankeny -- Tyler comes from a very good team last year, that made it to the Semi Finals in the State Tournament. He is a good shooter and a little bigger wing. He has mono right now and will be out for a week or two, but anxious to get him back.

Tyler Pleiss – Omaha Ralston – Tyler transfers into our program as a Junior. He plays hard and is a physical wing. He will play for us before he gets done here. He is a very nice guy and fits in very well with our guys. We look forward to his development.

Chad Francis – Pocahontas – Chad was at Iowa and transferred in this year as a sophomore. He is a point guard and knows the game very well. I played with Chad’s uncle in college and have known his dad and grandparents for many years.

We are glad to have all these newcomers in the program. We have 28 guys total, and not one of them doesn’t belong out there. This is a solid group of players and people. We are excited about our team and have high expectations for a great year.

Are we really going to have to wait for Theo Epstein this long to be our GM for the Cubs. I am tired of a bunch of rich guys arguing over spilled milk. My Flyers are also off to a great start. Jaromir Jagr is a great addition to the team.

Go Beavers!!

Coach VH

I Will Be Back Real Soon

Hello everyone. I have done a horrible job of blogging, but my life has been a little different with the Interim AD job. I can not wait for practice on Saturday. I am ready to be around the guys full time again. The guys have had a great work ethic so far this fall, in fact, it is the best fall I can remember. The dedication is awesome.

This is a great group of guys who want to have a great year this year. We expect a lot of ourselves and are looking forward to the competitive schedule again this year.

My last blog said I would talk about the newcomers, and I will hold off on that until later in the week. I have a meeting today, and then Barb and I are off to Decorah to watch Courtney play volleyball. Barb does not get out to Decorah very often, so we are going to make a day of it before I get going in our season.

Just want all of you to know that I haven’t forgotten about you, and that I will be back twice a week by next week.

GO Beavers!!

Coach VH

Welcome to Another Year

We are excited to have all of our guys back on campus and excited to get another year underway. We had 32 at our first meeting, which is a few more than normal, but we have 7 seniors, which is quite a few. We also have 8 freshmen, and a couple of transfers, so that makes our team a little bigger.

I have taken a little more responsibility this year, as I am now the Interim Athletic Director. That has taken a lot of time over the last couple of months, but I have enjoyed it and seen how things work at BVU from a little different perspective. I have learned that I like the job, but don’t love it. I love coaching and I love being around 20 yr. old kids. They keep me young and I want to be a coach, not an athletic director. I still have that burning desire to compete everyday, so I am looking forward to our season.

We have 4 different candidates coming on campus in September for the AD job, so I think we will have someone in place for sure by January 1. Then I can go back to my old office and my 47 inch TV and enjoy watching more tape.

Also a change is that our house now has 3 people in it. Courtney is a freshman at BV this year, so it is a little different having only 3 of us, and probably a little quieter. But she seems to be happy, and loves her roommate and her new friends. Personally, I am jealous of her. Her life is only beginning and she can set sail however she chooses. All of us who are in our 40’s and higher really get locked into where we can go, and what we can do, and how much money we can make. It would be a lot of fun, to start all over again and see what we could make of ourselves.

Off on a recruiting trip tomorrow, then going to Rock Island, Illinois to watch Courtney play her first college volleyball game on Friday. It will be fun and exciting.

Next time, we will talk about our new freshmen and newcomers. We have a really nice class of Frosh, and I can’t wait to see what they can accomplish.

GO Beavers!!!

Coach VH