MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[sac]

Final D3hoops.com top 25 is out.

http://www.d3hoops.com/top25/

[ChicagoHopeNut]

Wow, a very solid final ranking for Hope. #5, first team ranked not to make the Final Four and I think it was well earned. Can't wait for next year although it just won't be the same without Cramer. It will be fascinating to see who steps up on the team over the next 12 months.

[NW Hope Fan]

Final D3hoops.com top 25 is out.

http://www.d3hoops.com/top25/

Old School will not be happy with this... Considering what he thinks of Hope and all! 

[ChicagoHopeNut]

For those of us still perusing the board once in awhile here is an off season question for discussion and make the time until tip go faster.

What is the one thing your team (or any MIAA team) needs most to improve on this year? I.E. Post player, a particular player on your team steps up from this year, etc.

I don't intend this as a discussion of who you want recruited specifically but an answer may be. "Hope needs to recruit a dominant 5 that can do..." Or "Calvin needs to see Mantel step up and produce [in this particular way]"

[sac]

I do find Hope's rating at #5 strange considering Stevens Point spent many weeks at #1, while there seemed to be great doubt about just how good Hope really was throughout the regular season, including by me.

Stevens Point was the most physically impressive team in Wisconsin but not overwhelming, no center, and obviously prone to poor shooting nights like Hope but an extremely thin bench.  Carroll was the 4th best team there but it wasn't  by much.  On any given night I think all 4 of those teams could have beaten each other.

I'm guessing Stevens Point was getting overly punished for their big loss to Washington and Hope may have gotten the benefit of playing a much tighter game with Washington.  I don't know really.  Still a number 5 rating is outstanding for a team most of us thought wouldn't win the MIAA this year.  Certainly much to be proud of, seems like #5 is a maxed out rating.

[sac]

What is the one thing your team (or any MIAA team) needs most to improve on this year? I.E. Post player, a particular player on your team steps up from this year, etc.

Across the board, jokingly I would say everyone needs to grow taller.  These are without really considering JV callups or obviously Freshman.......there will be 3 or 4 impacts Frosh next year.  Also not necessarily one thing but my initial thoughts on next years teams.

Adrian

----Lose Kubish, Thornton, Evans, Rowekamp, Rairigh...........kind of the last remnants of some pretty good Adrian teams.

-----key returns   Desmond Young, Ryan Gallus, Lamar Cardenas, Ian Weber

Overall looks like Adrian will be trying to rebuild some depth, haveing Young for a full off-season/pre-season/pre-conference will help them develop some chemistry and a few non-con wins, some confidence.  Matt Wayne can probably step into Kubish's role, but this looks mostly like its going to be Young and Cardenas running the show.  Developing a bench looks key for the Bulldogs.  Looks like they have a decent starting 5 though.

Albion
lose-----Silas, Hilton, Way

key returns-----Yancy, Holms, Cash, Raven

I saw some better things from Albion latter in the year, for sure their gaurd play improved and I'm sure the Brits will be looking to be more solidified at that position to start the year.  Leising, Mocini, Clark, Thomas all looked capable at that position but overall this group still has to improve greatly to match past Albion gaurd production.  The frontline like all MIAA frontlines is pretty bare, David Bunn a little used Soph could fulfill his HS potential and become a solid MIAA F, Andy Reule played well enough to put the Sr. Way on the bench for much of the MIAA campaign.  Overall though interior depth is lacking, and if Albion needs to do just 1 thing to get better its hit the weight room HARD.

Alma
lose----Isaac Smith

key returns-----?

Pray!


Calvin
lose----Meckes, DeVries, Snoeyink

key returns-----Veldhouse, Griffen, Mantel

Calvins only real tough replacement will be Meckes, he had an ability to really influence the defensive side of things.  We've talked alot about what a terrific player Veldhouse is and as a Junior its probably time Caleb became the best in the MIAA.  Calvin's offense to me this year just didn't seem to click much and relied more on who was hot or cold, an off-season together will benefit this team greatly.  They have capable scorers in Griffen, Veldhouse and the soon to be stud Mantel, throw in Veltema, Zoerhof, Smith.  The offensive pieces are there, they just need to work on overall teamwork, improving foot speed (ie defensive recovery) couldn't hurt either.  Add a couple Fr like Mantel and/or Veltema and Calvin will be loaded next year.  Englesma should be able to replace DeVries and Snoeyink.  For the first time in a couple years Calvin's roster will be loaded with upperclassmen, it should be a very good year.

Hope
lose----Cramer, Richardson, Partridge, Jager, Woolpert

key returns----Vanderheide, VanSolkema, Reimink, Klein, Kratz, Wolfe

Hope is basically replacing 2 starters and 2 bench players.  There are some nice pieces returning and a penciled in starting 5 of DVS, Wolfe, Reimink, Klein and VanderHeide looks pretty solid.  If Kratz improves as much as Klein did this season Hope could be pretty good inside, esp on defense.  Zack Osburn and Dan Holt have the biggest opportunity to improve the Hope squad, they could add some really solid interior depth albeit still lacking in height, but they both have work to do.   A top priority is replacing the backup point position where Brett Jager was steller this season.   Certainly there are some holes to fill, but Hope will potentially have 7 Sr's next season and big Sr classes generally have done well for Hope.  It will be a different looking team, that will probably still rely heavily on outside shooting, the starting 5 will be asked to play more, still no center and not quite as deep.  Reimink, VS, and VH will be asked to carry the offensive load.   However this 07 team won a lot of games without Cramer scoring 25 points, I wouldn't put it past the Dutchmen to be right in the thick of the MIAA race.  With 5 spots on the varsity to fill there will be opportunities for a JV player to step up or 3 or 4 good Fr. and Hope is overdue for a solid Fr class.

Kalamazoo
lose----Krohn, Goetz, Greer, Garfield, Worst, Brinkman, Weaver, Bezemik

key returns----Clancy, Orozco, Kellogg, possibly Henry McCain

Replacing 8 Sr's is a formiddable task, but doing so and improving is even more difficult.   Clancy, Orozco and Kellogg is a nice place to start, the addition of McCain could be huge if he does indeed return.  Beyond that I don't know enough about Kzoo's talent.  Overall though I think the Hornets are looking at a rebuilding year.  Lots of new faces means they'll be struggling from the start with chemistry.  Could be a long year in Kzoo, but McCain returning could ease the pain.


Olivet
loses----none (except cuts)

key returns----Cooper, Way, Sierminski, McCoy

I got the impression the Comets struggled internally a little this season, with 8 Fr and 3 soph's thats understandable.  Olivet will be a better team next year, the question is how much.  Defensively the Comets still aren't up to snuff with the Hope, Calvins and Albions.  Offensively they need more than Brandon Way.  Another solid group of Freshman though could really turn Olivet into a formidable team.  Sierminski is a prize and if he can develop a solid inside game to compliment his outside 3 ball.....lookout.   Sleeper player could be Joel Childrey, at 6-8 he has the height, just needs to improve the skills.    I think there are some nice pieces at Olivet its just a matter of which ones return, which ones survive inevitable cuts and what Fr show up at Soderberg's door.  Still lots of room for the Comets to improve, and like Albion could use some extra weight room sessions.


Tri-State
lose----Brookins, Guy, Kinzie, Lee

key returns-----Benford, Moore

Rob Harmon has a nice group of Freshman to build a team around.  The graduation of Brookins breaks up the two headed monster of Benford-Brookins that was the primary offense of the Thunder.  John Moore looks to have scoring potential at the point, Alfieri shows promise in the post but needs to be in better physical condition in my opinion, significant improvement from those 2 is needed.   TSU will need to be a much more balanced offensive team, and like Olivet needs to improve defensively to challenge Hope/Calvin.   It will be a young TSU squad with only 3 upper classman next season and I think TSU will be hard pressed to improve on this years 3rd place finish, esp if the MIAA improves overall.  Another solid Freshman class could put TSU in an interesting postion in their final year in D3 no mans land.

[sac]

While writing that preview a few thoughts crossed my mind.

If I had to predict next seasons finish at this time I would go

1. Calvin
2. Hope
3. Albion
4. Olivet
5. Tri-State
6. Adrian
7. Kalamazoo
8. Alma

Overall I think the league will be better but only slightly, still not up to the previous 3 or 4 seasons.  Calvin should take Hope's spot as a regular in the top 25, while Hope may start there and depending on their non-conference schedule could be floating around the bottom 1/3 of the top 25 or "others receiving votes".  Albion will no doubt be better even with Silas gone, Olivet could really make a big jump,  TSU and Adrian might not be as good but both could have better non-conference results next year.  Kzoo will not be as good and Alma has serious potential to be the worst MIAA squad in a very very long time.



Olivet, Tri-State and Calvin should all have very solid teams in 08-09 if everyone stays around.

[KnightSlappy]

I think that Hope will have a very hard time replacing Kramer next year.  It seemed like everytime they needed a big bucket, he was able to come up with a big one.  Not only will they have to replace Kramer, but also that deep bench that they had this year.

[ziggy]

I think that Hope will have a very hard time replacing Kramer next year.  It seemed like everytime they needed a big bucket, he was able to come up with a big one.  Not only will they have to replace Kramer, but also that deep bench that they had this year.

True about Kramer but I think Vander Hide and Van Solkemuh have the potential to step up in the crucial bucket situations.

[Mr. Ypsi]

I think that Hope will have a very hard time replacing Kramer next year.  It seemed like everytime they needed a big bucket, he was able to come up with a big one.  Not only will they have to replace Kramer, but also that deep bench that they had this year.

True about Kramer but I think Vander Hide and Van Solkemuh have the potential to step up in the crucial bucket situations.

I heard "Kramer" was likely to get thrown out of school anyway, after that racist meltdown at the comedy club!

[Gregory Sager]

I think that Hope will have a very hard time replacing Kramer next year.  It seemed like everytime they needed a big bucket, he was able to come up with a big one.  Not only will they have to replace Kramer, but also that deep bench that they had this year.

True about Kramer but I think Vander Hide and Van Solkemuh have the potential to step up in the crucial bucket situations.

I heard "Kramer" was likely to get thrown out of school anyway, after that racist meltdown at the comedy club!

Giddyup!

[hope1]

I heard "Kramer" was likely to get thrown out of school anyway, after that racist meltdown at the comedy club!
[/quote]

thats not funny   mr  ypsi 

he was not about to get thrown out he is really a nice guy you dont know anything about him

[goodknight]

I heard "Kramer" was likely to get thrown out of school anyway, after that racist meltdown at the comedy club!

thats not funny   mr  ypsi 

he was not about to get thrown out he is really a nice guy you dont know anything about him
[/quote]

ROTFLMAO

[ziggy]

I heard "Kramer" was likely to get thrown out of school anyway, after that racist meltdown at the comedy club!

thats not funny   mr  ypsi 

he was not about to get thrown out he is really a nice guy you dont know anything about him

ROTFLMAO
[/quote]

I still don't think Kramer gets enough credit for his quarterback skills.  I mean, come on, he took the lions to the NFC Championship game.

[HopeConvert]

The Poster's Poll had Hope at 13. None of the voters there had Hope in the top 7. Five seems high to me (not that it really matters that much in the end). 13 may be low. Fact is, this is a team that went further than many of us thought it would, but also could have gone further still. Given how horrid they played WashU in the first half, and given what WashU (Laundrymat!) did in the final four, one is inclined to think this Hope team could have made a serious run at it. But that could be said of a lot of teams. TitanQ made a convincing case that Elmhurst could have made a serious run, and they weren't given the opportunity.

Could it be we have reached a point where Seinfeld is to college students now what Dick Van Dyke was to my generation? Today's college freshmen were born two years before the premiere of Seinfeld. They were 10 when it went off the air.