MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[arena]

In Calvin's last seven games this season they went 3-4.

I think its time to drop the Calvin peaks late in the season theory untill they're able to prove otherwise in the future.

Does one season create a new trend?  I'm not sure it does. 

Are you willing to say that GVW is  not a great coach until he wins a National Championship?

[scottiedawg]

Are you willing to say that GVW is  not a great coach until he wins a National Championship?

If that's how you define great, then yes. 
If numbers mean anything, we know how that stacks up.

[sac]

eh......one man's peaking in March is anothers wasting 3/4ths of a season.



The SS John Calvin has left port on another fishing expedition.......they aren't biting today.

[wiz]

I heard from a reputable source today that there are coaching changes pending at both Hope and Adrian.  Can't tell you yet where I heard it, though.  More later...

[Civic Minded]

Greg, I feel like I've seen some other big man in the last few years shoot his free throws with enough of a lift to slide a ream of paper under his feet.  Was it Derek Reich at Chicago?

Pretty sure you're right on that one, petemb.  At least that's the one I remember as well.

[sac]

Greg, I feel like I've seen some other big man in the last few years shoot his free throws with enough of a lift to slide a ream of paper under his feet.  Was it Derek Reich at Chicago?

Pretty sure you're right on that one, petemb.  At least that's the one I remember as well.

Doesn't John Mantel stand about 6 in behind the line....maybe the key to being an all-american center is a quirky FT setup?

Being mentioned with Reich and Ruths is pretty good company in any category.

My point is not to say Mantel will do the same thing. He will have to continue to make progress as a player. If he doesn't, others will pass him by. But my experience with big bodied players is that they usually do progress the longer they play college ball and I thought John did show improvement this year. His numbers for his first two years aren't that bad, particularly when you recognize the fact that this year they were a guard dominated team on offense--too much so IMHO. It wouldn't be all that surprising if Mantel winds up being the best post player in the MIAA the next two years. If he is, Calvin will be a tough opponent.

I think John's biggest advantage at least when it comes to MIAA competition next year is other than Olivet the other MIAA teams all lose significant parts of their interior lineup.  He's now the veteran big guy in the post, and clearly the one with the biggest upside.

[Pat Coleman]

Being mentioned with Reich and Ruths is pretty good company in any category.

Academically or athletically.

[scottiedawg]

I think John's biggest advantage at least when it comes to MIAA competition next year is other than Olivet the other MIAA teams all lose significant parts of their interior lineup.  He's now the veteran big guy in the post, and clearly the one with the biggest upside.

Hope graduates Marcus Vanderheide and Ryan Klein; returns Zach Osburn
Albion graduates Andy Reule; returns Drew Yancey
Tri-State graduates no interior player of significance
Adrian graduates Ian Weber
Olivet graduates no interior player of significance; returns Michael McClary
Kalamazoo graduates Mat Kellogg; returns Henry McCain
Alma graduates no interior player of significance

[sac]

I think John's biggest advantage at least when it comes to MIAA competition next year is other than Olivet the other MIAA teams all lose significant parts of their interior lineup.  He's now the veteran big guy in the post, and clearly the one with the biggest upside.

Hope graduates Marcus Vanderheide and Ryan Klein; returns Zach Osburn
Albion graduates Andy Reule; returns Drew Yancey
Tri-State graduates no interior player of significance
Adrian graduates Ian Weber
Olivet graduates no interior player of significance; returns Michael McClary
Kalamazoo graduates Mat Kellogg; returns Henry McCain
Alma graduates no interior player of significance

......to rephrase, no one has anyone returning who should be on John's level other than the McClary's.  I don't really think McCain and Yancey matched up much with Mantel. 

[scottiedawg]

wasn't contradicting, just giving some specifics.

[Gregory Sager]

Greg, I feel like I've seen some other big man in the last few years shoot his free throws with enough of a lift to slide a ream of paper under his feet.  Was it Derek Reich at Chicago?

Pretty sure you're right on that one, petemb.  At least that's the one I remember as well.

I don't remember Reich getting off the ground on his free throws. However, his immediate predecessor at center for Chicago, Craig Kelleher, took full-fledged jumpers when he was at the stripe. He launched himself upward as if it was a fifteen-foot field goal attempt. As I remember, he wasn't that bad of a FT shooter, either.

[hopehoopfan]

I heard from a reputable source today that there are coaching changes pending at both Hope and Adrian.  Can't tell you yet where I heard it, though.  More later...

  That is the lamest attempt at an April Fool's joke that I have heard in a long time. I was at the basketball banquet last night and there was no implication of any impending changes for the Dutch braintrust.

[goodknight]

Being mentioned with Reich and Ruths is pretty good company in any category.

Academically or athletically.

Mantel is an engineering major, and an outstanding student in a challenging discipline.

[ChicagoHopeNut]

Being mentioned with Reich and Ruths is pretty good company in any category.

Academically or athletically.

Mantel is an engineering major, and an outstanding student in a challenging discipline.

Some of the talk about Mantel reminds me a bit of past Hope center Eric Voison (also known as "he will not be named" in certain circles ). I draw the comparison because of the desire from many to see Mantel assert himself more in the post and take fewer outside shots. Voison was the prototypical attempt at a European bigman, ie Dirk Nowitzki. He was the biggest player in the MIAA and almost never used that to his advantage. A game I remember as the "wow, that's what he could have been" was against Albion and Brandon Crawford, the best big in the MIAA at the time, at DeVos in 2006. Voison came out of nowhere to assert himself, had a big jam over Crawford and went for maybe 16 points. If he had done that all year I think that team would have beat Witt in the Sweet 16 and gone to Salem. Instead he never played that well again and produced an astonishing 0 pt, 0 rebound game against Witt despite about 20 minutes on the floor! (Honestly! In 20 minutes anyone over 5 foot should get a rebound if only by accident!)

I think Calvin fans should be excited that in my opinion Mantel is already a level of play above that and has shown serious potential. I think the expectations for him were very high at first and I suspect he'll be scary good as an upperclassmen. It took Overbeek until his jr and sr year to really assert himself in the paint. It seems rare that a true center asserts himself in the MIAA from day one on campus. As a Hope fan I think the Mantel, Veldhouse combination has the potential to do some very impressive things next year.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Thought I would take a peek at the affect of graduation on each team.  I took minutes played, points socred, and rebounds for each team's seniors, and then calcualted what percentage of their team they represented.  Not surprisingly, Hope has a lot of holes to fill.

Team	Minutes	Points	Rebounds
Hope	57.73%	63.84%	53.72%
Albion	43.24%	45.9%	46.3%
Olivet	47.72%	44.46%	27.71%
Adrian	38.18%	37.66%	47.03%
Kalamazoo	26.19%	29.6%	30.35%
Calvin	13.94%	19.83%	11.17%
Alma	20.26%	19%	10.12%
Tri-State	14.65%	10.86%	13.84%