A Quick Look At: CSB

Got a very nice reply from CSB Head Coach Mike Durbin yesterday on my inquiry to him about his squad this upcoming season.  His analysis was pretty much what I had expected as his squad went 16-11 overall last season (11-7 in MIAC play).  Durbin acknowledges that there's some holes to fill with the graduation losses of Annie Dittberner, Alison Newton, Macy Kelly and Grace Pouliot.  Still there's reason for optimism as the Blazers return a solid core of players that bring a lot of experience (not to mention length) for the 2017-18 season.  First, let's look at the roster that Durbin provided me as practices are now underway up in St. Joe:

Practice Roster   Position   Hometown/ High School
4 Danee Voss   Forward/Wing   Minneapolis, MN (Southwest High School)
5 Bre Gates   Wing    Big Lake, MN (Red Wing High School)
10 Haylee Fingalsen  Wing    Rogers, MN (Rogers High School)
11 Maddie Schmitz  Forward/Wing   St. Martin, MN (Albany High School)
12 Megan Thompson  Post    Inver Grove Heights, MN (Holy Angels)
13 Sophie Koeppl  Wing    Edina, MN (Providence Academy)
14 Chelsey Guetter  Wing    Wabasso, MN (Wabasso High School)
15 Shae Olsen   Post    Plymouth, MN (Wayzata High School)
21 Sidney Schiffler  Point    Albany, MN (Albany High School)
22 Hallie Euerle  Forward   Litchfield, MN (Litchfield High School)
23 Taylor Fields  Forward/Wing   Brooklyn Park, MN (Champlin Park)
24 Courtney Nelson  Wing    Big Lake, MN (Big Lake High School)
25 Sarah Ouimet  Point    Mundelein, IL (Mundelein High School)
31 Sarah Carney  Post    Traverse City, MI (Glen Lake High School)
33 Jo Merten   Wing    Rice, MN (Holdingford High School)
34 Megan Anderson  Post    Omaha, NE (Marian High School)
35 Alex Johnson  Post    Becker, MN (Becker High School)
41 Niki Fokken   Forward/Post   Oronoco, MN (Pine Island High School)
42 Kate Banovetz  Post    Minneapolis, MN (Holy Angels)
44 Jenna Steichen  Wing    Overland Park, KS (St. Thomas Aquinas)

And here's a closer look at the actual roster the way things are shaping up right now postion-wise although this is certainly not a depth chart:

Point Guard:

Sidney Schiffler (so)

Megan Thompson (fy)

Sarah Oimet (fy)

Shae Olsen (fy)

Sarah Carney (fy)

Wing:

Chelsey Guetter (sr)

Courtney Nelson (jr)

Breanna Gates (jr)

Taylor Fields (so)

Haylee Fingalsen (fy)

Jo Merten (fy)

Sophie Koeppl (fy)

Jenna Steichen (fy)

Forward:

Niki Fokken (sr)

Maddie Schmitz (fy)

Danee Voss (fy)

Post:

Kate Banovetz (sr)

Alex Johnson (so)

Megan Anderson (fy)

Hallie Euerle (fy)

As I mentioned, although Durbin certainly hasn't pegged a depth chart as of yet; much less a starting five, you can pretty much bet that things will revolve around Guetter, Fokken and Banovetz.  Schiffler appears to be the heir apparent at the point guard spot and she got some valuable experience with considerable playing time last year.

So what are the strengths of this team?  Here's what Durbin has to say about that:

 Strengths

Overall - senior leadership more depth, especially in the back ct, more athletic, a very good defensive team, good rebounding team
Front court - experienced, talented, deep (Kate Banovetz, Niki Fokken, Alex Johnson, Chelsey Guetter)
Pt guard - Sidney Schiffler, logged lots of minutes last year (started last 4 games when Ali got hurt) 

Areas that need to develop
Overall - need to improve from the arc and FT line
Back court - inexperienced based on minutes played (Sidney, Bre Gates, Courtney Nelson)
 - back ct depth will come from first year players 
Need to replace 19 pts from 3 graduating seniors 

When I take a look at this roster, there's no question that CSB appears set on the front line with Guetter, Fokken and Baonvetz.  And I think Schiffler will eventually settle in and feel confident at the all-important PG spot to make things run smooth.  But again, as Durbin points out, the Blazers need to find a way to replace all those points that Dittberner, Newton and Kelly provided.  For me, it will be interesting to see who emerges at the off-guard position to bolster the backcourt.

And, as you likely noticed, Durbin has a lot of new, young faces coming into the picture as well.  Here's how he breaks that down:

Top Incoming Players:

Maddie Schmitz

Megan Thompson

Haylee Fingalsen

Jo Merten

Megan Anderson

Obviously, getting a new group of freshmen feeling comfortable at the college level and learning a totally new system does not happen overnight.  I don't know any of these players personally but knowing Durbin's ability to get quality recruits into CSB, I would expect that he'll develop these players into solid performers with work and experience.  

Outlook:

For the most part, CSB's early season schedule appears favorable as they open things up in mid-November (unfortunately for me, the very same weekend as the UCLA-USC and LA Rams-Minnesota Vikings games) with home dates against UM-Morris out of the UMAC and then the following day against UW-La Crosse - both winnable games for the Blazers.  They then get UW-Superior at Claire Lynch three days later on 11-21 which they SHOULD get through without too much trouble.  The bigger tests come right after Thanksgiving as the Blazers head down to my home state of Iowa where they'll first take on Buena Vista on Friday (11-24) and then host Simpson on Saturday (11-25).  If the Blazers can come out of those two games against IIAC opponents with at least a split, they should feel pretty good about themselves going into their game against UW-Eau Claire in the friendly confines of Claire Lynch on Wednesday (11-29) before they dive head-first into MIAC play against Bethel; again at home in Claire Lynch on Saturday (12-2).