WBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletics Association

Roundball999 · November 26, 2012, 08:39:30 PM

Calvin ranked #4, Hope at #9 in the latest D3Hoops poll. Good to see two MIAA squads in the Top 10.

wiz · November 26, 2012, 08:46:12 PM

First season rankings are out. Calvin fell from pre-season rank of #1 to current rank of #4. I think that's about right. USWP lost to St. Thomas, St. Thomas lost to Calvin, Calvin lost to UWSP. It is early and still some sorting out to do. Hope will climb with some w's against formidable opponents.

sac · November 27, 2012, 05:31:27 PM

Hope's women's preview with Brian Morehouse

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRxE99rlQ-U

Roundball999 · November 29, 2012, 06:58:42 AM

Very strong league start by MIAA favorites Calvin (at Albion) and Hope (at Kzoo). Seems the games followed similar patterns, similar victory margin, over early, limited minutes for the starters, lots of PT for the bench.

Watched the Flying Dutch, they looked very strong against an overmatched Hornets team. It was over before halftime, with the score 50-22 at the half with 10 players already in the scoring column. At the end, everyone had played at least 10 minutes and no one played more than 18. All 15 active players scored, with 51 total bench points and a 58-28 rebounding margin including a 25-4 margin on the offensive boards.

The biggest take-away for me was the strong play of Meredith Kussmaul. She appears to be improving rapidly in her come back from ACL surgery and had a very nice 14 pt (6-9 fg including 2-4 3 pt), 5 reb, 3 asst game in limited minutes. This bodes very well for the Flying Dutch down the road.

northb · November 29, 2012, 01:18:38 PM

Quote from: Roundball999 on November 29, 2012, 06:58:42 AM
Very strong league start by MIAA favorites Calvin (at Albion) and Hope (at Kzoo). Seems the games followed similar patterns, similar victory margin, over early, limited minutes for the starters, lots of PT for the bench.

Watched the Flying Dutch, they looked very strong against an overmatched Hornets team. It was over before halftime, with the score 50-22 at the half with 10 players already in the scoring column. At the end, everyone had played at least 10 minutes and no one played more than 18. All 15 active players scored, with 51 total bench points and a 58-28 rebounding margin including a 25-4 margin on the offensive boards.

The biggest take-away for me was the strong play of Meredith Kussmaul. She appears to be improving rapidly in her come back from ACL surgery and had a very nice 14 pt (6-9 fg including 2-4 3 pt), 5 reb, 3 asst game in limited minutes. This bodes very well for the Flying Dutch down the road.

I have a coaching strategy question for the wise minds of this board. What do you think would be the pros and cons of selecting 1 or 2 starters from the superior team in these types of games and having them stay in and play a complete game? For instance, if I am the Calvin coach, would I want some of my players to have more "full game" expereinces, so that when Hope comes to town, my players will have some greater expereince with playing out the full game? If a player goes from playing limited minutes game after game (i.e., "no more than 18" above), then I need her in for the full game against a better opponent, have they lost something by not having many of those games? Obviously, the down side would be the situation where my team is up by 35 and my star gets injured. Thoughts?

realist · November 29, 2012, 03:14:04 PM

NB; I think the lack of game time doen't matter much in the regular Wed./Sat rotation. Where it does come to play is in the NCAA when you have a Fri./Sat. series against tough teams. Calvin beat UWSP last year, and ran out of gas versus St. Thomas in ot. the next day.
Sports Illustrated had an interview with a h.s. football coach from a small school in
TX that was taking a lot of heat for beating teams by 50-60-70 points. When asked why he was still playing his starters he answered for 3 years none of his starters played in the 3rd or 4th qtr, and his teams got beat in the play offs. He siad he wanted his kids ready to play 4 qrtrs when they needed to, and there is only one way to do that. None of the other coaches found fault with this logic even though their teams got pasted.
Coach Ross said in his preseason remarks this year he wanted his team to have the back to back experience early this year, and he got it with St. Thomas and UWSP.

Roundball999 · November 29, 2012, 03:25:09 PM

I'm not sure leaving the starters in against a very outmatched opponent would do much good; the intensity and skill level just doesn't mimic the top tier team so I'm not sure the full-game experience would be all that helpful. If starter conditioning is a concern, I think that can be at least partially offset by well structured practices. As you mentioned there is the possibility of injury in a situation where the starters are not needed. It reduces development playing time opportunities for young players.

I agree that just about any additional playing time in live game situations would help the starters improve, but against a much weaker team I think that improvement is limited and not worth the costs. Just an opinion, I'm no coach

pointlem · November 29, 2012, 05:42:50 PM

Good question, NB. I'll wager that most coaches would say that many practices are as challenging and taxing as games . . . or more so . . . and serve to prepare players for 40 minute games. Moreover, for Calvin and Hope women's teams, I suspect that intrasquad scrimmages are at least as challenging as what the starters would experience if left in to run up the score against a Kalamazoo or Albion (not to mention nonstarters deserving the opportunity to play and develop).

Roundball999 · December 01, 2012, 05:32:25 PM

Hope had a big win over Trine 72-35. Trine came out hot, hit their first handful of shots including 3 threes and after that both teams were a little sloppy with the ball and shot poorly. Hope began to assert itself in the last 8 minutes of the first half, led 30-22 at the half and put it away quickly at the beginning of the 2nd enabling lots of PT for the bench. Most striking thing was a +31 rebounding margin for the Flying Dutch.

sflzman · December 01, 2012, 07:40:39 PM

Alma wins the battle of the bad up here today. Kassidi Adams had a huge game for the Scots. Kalamazoo is awful.

Alma 65 Kalamazoo 44

jspiii · December 01, 2012, 09:19:28 PM

Hope had a girl on crutches on the bench today, was wearing a walking boot. All the roster players seemed to be accounted for. Seemed about 6'1" or 6'2". Anybody know who this might be?

pointlem · December 01, 2012, 09:28:57 PM

jpsii, you perhaps noticed in the opening circle that her head actually rose above those 6' 1" players. She would be (from the volleyball roster):
Jordan Scholten Fr. MH 6-5 Byron Center/Covenant Christian

Her injury precluded her playing volleyball, so she'll have four years eligibility for both VB and BB after this year, should she wish to use it.

Quote from: jspiii on December 01, 2012, 09:19:28 PM
Hope had a girl on crutches on the bench today, was wearing a walking boot. All the roster players seemed to be accounted for. Seemed about 6'1" or 6'2". Anybody know who this might be?

wwjjdd · December 01, 2012, 11:14:16 PM

Quote from: pointlem on December 01, 2012, 09:28:57 PM
jpsii, you perhaps noticed in the opening circle that her head actually rose above those 6' 1" players. She would be (from the volleyball roster):
Jordan Scholten Fr. MH 6-5 Byron Center/Covenant Christian

Her injury precluded her playing volleyball, so she'll have four years eligibility for both VB and BB after this year, should she wish to use it.

Quote from: jspiii on December 01, 2012, 09:19:28 PM
Hope had a girl on crutches on the bench today, was wearing a walking boot. All the roster players seemed to be accounted for. Seemed about 6'1" or 6'2". Anybody know who this might be?

She injured her foot early in the volleyball season and had surgery late in the volleyball season. FYI, her coach in High School was Gracia Kamp who played for Hope on the teams with Bria Ebels, the other Ebels and Ellen Wood,Julie Henderson, et al, and graduated just before the National Championship year.

oldtimer1937 · December 02, 2012, 08:59:38 AM

What do you guys think? Looks like Calvin and Hope again as usual, the rest is just fodder for sleepwalking through season. who is going to win the Calvin/Hope league (MIAA)?

Roundball999 · December 02, 2012, 09:17:48 AM

Quote from: oldtimer1937 on December 02, 2012, 08:59:38 AM
What do you guys think? Looks like Calvin and Hope again as usual, the rest is just fodder for sleepwalking through season. who is going to win the Calvin/Hope league (MIAA)?

Agree that Calvin and Hope are again in a separate tier at the top of the league but as Hope saw last year with losses to Albion and Trine, league games are not gimmees and an unexpected loss can keep you out of the tournament.

I still have to give the nod to Calvin as league favorite. They have nearly everyone back, Verkaik is Verkaik, and Engelhard is playing really well. That said, Hope is playing really well too and their across the board balance, size and depth is enough to give anyone trouble. Kussmaul's continued improvement from ACL is a wild card, she didn't play in any of the Calvin-Hope games last year. But basically in my mind it's same as last year: Calvin as the favorite but no huge surprise if Hope pins a loss on the Knights.