WBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletics Association

[Dark Knight]

The knights had a 99-36 victory over a very weak Rochester (MI) team last night, but the game wasn't as close as the score would suggest.

The score was 58-19 at halftime. Apparently Ross told them to cool it a bit, because the knights didn't go for any fast break points in the second half and they toned down the intensity. The starters played an average of 10 minutes, first half only.

Calvin had possession right near the end of the game with 97 points, and the fans cheered loudly for a three-point attempt, but the players wouldn't go for it.

I'm not sure how much this game helped the knights--and I'm not sure the that scoring lots of points against the MIAA's last-place team constitutes momentum building for Hope, either.

[wiz]

Very classy job last night by coach John Ross.  Not only did he refuse to let them go for the century mark (a lesson for GVW), but he also noticed early on that the opponent was inferior and managed the game accordingly.  The starting five players averaged on 10 minutes of playing time while all of the reserveds played and averaged 21 minutes of playing time.  Very classy!

[Dark Knight]

The Knights are 4th in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage as of 1/21, at 38.5%, but they don't have any players showing up in the NCAA's top-50 list.

That's because they have three outstanding shooters, not just one or two, and none of them takes enough 3-point shots to show up in the list! You need two scores per game to be shown.

Freshman Allison Griswold leads the Knights (and the MIAA) at .492, on 31 of 63 attempts. Brummel and Zimmerman aren't far behind, at .448 and .444.  If they had a few more shots, they'd be 4th, 12th, and 14th in the nation, respectively.

If Griswold can hit 5 treys in her next game, she'll show up on the list. If she goes 5 of 8 or better, she could lead the nation.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Very classy job last night by coach John Ross.  Not only did he refuse to let them go for the century mark (a lesson for GVW), but he also noticed early on that the opponent was inferior and managed the game accordingly.  The starting five players averaged on 10 minutes of playing time while all of the reserveds played and averaged 21 minutes of playing time.  Very classy!

Of course - everything Calvin is always so much more classy than anything Hope.  Give me a break.  You're talking about one game that the Lady Knights have had this kind of a blow out.  Hope's men have had 5 or 6 in their last 7 games.  At some point you have to not just be concerned about the feelings of the other team - you have to keep your team ready to play the tough games. 

The other thing you'll find is that in most cases, the team on the losing end of a blowout is less embarrased by everyone just playing out the game, than they are by being "protected".  There are of course exceptions, and I think every coach in the MIAA handles that well.

[admittedlydutch]

Very classy job last night by coach John Ross.  Not only did he refuse to let them go for the century mark (a lesson for GVW), but he also noticed early on that the opponent was inferior and managed the game accordingly.  The starting five players averaged on 10 minutes of playing time while all of the reserveds played and averaged 21 minutes of playing time.  Very classy!

Of course - everything Calvin is always so much more classy than anything Hope.  Give me a break.  You're talking about one game that the Lady Knights have had this kind of a blow out.  Hope's men have had 5 or 6 in their last 7 games.  At some point you have to not just be concerned about the feelings of the other team - you have to keep your team ready to play the tough games. 

The other thing you'll find is that in most cases, the team on the losing end of a blowout is less embarrased by everyone just playing out the game, than they are by being "protected".  There are of course exceptions, and I think every coach in the MIAA handles that well.

Have to agree with Flying Dutch -- when the third string is in for the last 8 minutes of every game, they should really try not to score. 

[oldknight]

Very classy job last night by coach John Ross.  Not only did he refuse to let them go for the century mark (a lesson for GVW), but he also noticed early on that the opponent was inferior and managed the game accordingly.  The starting five players averaged on 10 minutes of playing time while all of the reserveds played and averaged 21 minutes of playing time.  Very classy!

Of course - everything Calvin is always so much more classy than anything Hope.  Give me a break.  You're talking about one game that the Lady Knights have had this kind of a blow out.  Hope's men have had 5 or 6 in their last 7 games.  At some point you have to not just be concerned about the feelings of the other team - you have to keep your team ready to play the tough games. 

The other thing you'll find is that in most cases, the team on the losing end of a blowout is less embarrased by everyone just playing out the game, than they are by being "protected".  There are of course exceptions, and I think every coach in the MIAA handles that well.

I assume FDF's comment that there was "one game that the Lady Knights have had this of kind of blow out" is just hyperbole intended to make a point because a comparison of statistics doesn't quite support that statement. For the entire season Hope's men have outscored their opposition by a margin of 17.7 points per game (80.9 to 63.2) while Calvin's women have outscored their opponents by 22 points per game (74.1 to 52.1). To be fair to your comment I will say that Hope's men have had a couple more "blowout" wins than has had Calvin's women. If we use a win by 25 or more points as the accepted definition then Hope has had seven blowout wins and Calvin five. If we use 35 point wins as the accepted definition of a blowout then the two teams are even with three apiece.

Blowout wins are always problematic for the winning coach and they're why almost all coaches hate them. I think almost all coaches are sensitive to the fact that we need to show respect for opponents and the need to do that is even greater when the opponent is suffering through a really bad game. The winning coach wants his kids to play hard  without causing further embarrassment to the losing team and finding creative ways to accomplish those twin goals is no easy task.

Although winning big does have the advantage of allowing you to rest your key players and it allows coaches to give their subs major minutes, it compels coaches to find ways to keep the score down by not doing things their players are trained to do in practice and most other games. These include things like not pressing, not double teaming the ball and not looking to run the break. The winning coach will typically tell his kids to play hard--as if it's still a close game--but when players realize they are not allowed to utilize the full range of offensive and defensive options they ordinarily prepare to use in games it leads to inevitable on-the-court sluggishness. In the long run this isn't good for the winning team because it leads to bad habits, particularly a loss of game intensity and intensity isn't a quality that can be turned on and off like a water faucet. Players think it can but years of observation have led me to conclude that it can't. It takes time to work your way up to peak intensity and when you come down from that mountain it takes time to climb back up to the top. Therefore when you do get into a scrape with a quality opponent who has started the game with maximum intensity--and you haven't--you find yourself in a dogfight.

This is why blowout wins are poor preparation for the tough games you inevitably will have down the road. Add to that the fact that coaches have to suffer through the inevitable criticism that they merely are unnecessarily embarrassing an opponent and you can see why they hate these kinds of games. Having said all that I do think a coach does need to rein in his players and instruct them not to do anything that could arguably be seen as showing up the losing side. When the winning side winds up with a breakaway late in a blowout win I'm always far more impressed with the player who simply lays it in softly off the glass rather than calling attention to himself and soaring in for a monster slam. A dunk in a 40 point win may make the home crowd happy and be seen by the winning side as "all in good fun" but to me it takes some of the luster off the win and exudes a certain classlessness.

[wiz]

Very classy job last night by coach John Ross.  Not only did he refuse to let them go for the century mark (a lesson for GVW), but he also noticed early on that the opponent was inferior and managed the game accordingly.  The starting five players averaged on 10 minutes of playing time while all of the reserveds played and averaged 21 minutes of playing time.  Very classy!

Of course - everything Calvin is always so much more classy than anything Hope.  Give me a break.  You're talking about one game that the Lady Knights have had this kind of a blow out.  Hope's men have had 5 or 6 in their last 7 games.  At some point you have to not just be concerned about the feelings of the other team - you have to keep your team ready to play the tough games. 

The other thing you'll find is that in most cases, the team on the losing end of a blowout is less embarrased by everyone just playing out the game, than they are by being "protected".  There are of course exceptions, and I think every coach in the MIAA handles that well.

So, you don't think the actions of John Ross were classy?  It was a week where two teams appraoched the century mark.  One coach did it right, the other allowed it to go another way.  I just think John Ross is a class act and it showed in his actions.

[Dark Knight]

Very classy job last night by coach John Ross.  Not only did he refuse to let them go for the century mark (a lesson for GVW), but he also noticed early on that the opponent was inferior and managed the game accordingly.  The starting five players averaged on 10 minutes of playing time while all of the reserveds played and averaged 21 minutes of playing time.  Very classy!

Of course - everything Calvin is always so much more classy than anything Hope.  Give me a break.  You're talking about one game that the Lady Knights have had this kind of a blow out.  Hope's men have had 5 or 6 in their last 7 games.  At some point you have to not just be concerned about the feelings of the other team - you have to keep your team ready to play the tough games. 

The other thing you'll find is that in most cases, the team on the losing end of a blowout is less embarrased by everyone just playing out the game, than they are by being "protected".  There are of course exceptions, and I think every coach in the MIAA handles that well.

So, you don't think the actions of John Ross were classy?  It was a week where two teams appraoched the century mark.  One coach did it right, the other allowed it to go another way.  I just think John Ross is a class act and it showed in his actions.

Not trying for the century mark at the end of the game was definitely classy, but telling the players not to go for the fast breaks is a more difficult judgment call, for all the reasons oldknight mentioned. Don't want them to practice bad habits, and it's also not clear that the opponent will feel better knowing they didn't play their hardest.

[Oval]

MIAA scores
Saturday Jan 27

Saint Mary's 83, Tri-State 66
Calvin 67, Adrian 46
Hope 101, Kalamazoo 53
Albion 68, Alma 55

[KnightSlappy]

I do believe that Lisa Winkle passed the 1,500 point career mark on saturday.  No listing on the D3hoops milestone page though...

[Dark Knight]

Key game for the Knights tonight at Albion, ranked as the third-best MIAA team and #55 in the nation by Massey. They've been playing well lately, except for the hangover loss at Olivet.

The knights come in ranked #3 by both major polls, with Hope at #4 in the coaches' poll.

Calvin is currently #1 in the nation according to Massey, but then Massey thinks that Calvin has a 63-point win against Rochester, NY. I'm a frayed knot.

[sac]

They've been playing well lately, except for the hangover loss at Olivet.

Huh?  Calvin beat Olivet by 24

[Dark Knight]

They've been playing well lately, except for the hangover loss at Olivet.

Huh?  Calvin beat Olivet by 24

Albion's hangover loss, after the victory against Hope. They shot something like 20%.

Massey says Calvin 67 Albion 57, by the way.

[Oval]

MIAA scores
Wednesday Jan 31

Calvin 75, Albion 65
Hope 87, Adrian 53
Saint Mary's 81, Olivet 72
Alma 71, Tri-State 65

[Pat Coleman]

I do believe that Lisa Winkle passed the 1,500 point career mark on saturday.  No listing on the D3hoops milestone page though...

E-mail is more effective than a sniping post on a board I might not read for days, Slappy.