Augsburg men's basketball update, courtesy of head coach Aaron Griess:We’re just past the halfway point in the MIAC schedule, and so far, we’ve not failed to disappoint the thrill seekers in the crowd. Five of our 11 conference games have been decided by three points or less. We suffered some heartbreaking losses and we’ve been fortunate enough to come out on the winning side of some real nail-biters. Through it all, we feel as though our team has grown immensely. With so many inexperienced players on our roster to start the year, there were several question marks. We’ve finally found some answers to those questions and we’ve settled into a comfortable rotation.
The work ethic of this group of guys has been tremendous. As a coach, it’s great to have guys who come to practice early and others who stay late in order to get some extra work. That’s where individuals get confidence from -- those extra reps they got when nobody else was there. When it’s their turn to step up in a game, they’ll be able to draw confidence from those moments when they put in the extra work.
The work hasn’t all been in the gym for this group. As a team, we set a goal to earn a 3.0 grade-point average in first semester classes. When grades came out in January, we saw another positive outcome of our work ethic -- a 3.3 team GPA! Needless to say, I’m really proud of this group. They’re displaying the character and work ethic that makes people succeed and makes teams win.
As we enter the home-stretch of the 2008-09 season, we’re looking for continued improvement. We all feel as though we can play better, coach better, and work harder. Our seniors -- Nate Alm, Brian Jungwirth and David Olson -- have put a great deal of time and energy into making this program better. I’d like to make this season special so that those three seniors can finish their college careers with some incredible memories of a program that they helped to reinvent.
