MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[goodknight]

A pleasingly improbable win tonight at the Van Noord --  made possible only by a clutch three-pointer from Mitch Vallie in the waning moments of regulation, and a soaringly beautiful long bomb from Tommy Snikkers to send it to a second OT period.  Mickey DeVries was, as mentioned, really good on both ends of the court, and he showed some welcome intensity.  I'd welcome seeing him push Tyler Kruis a bit.

[oldknight]

I didn't watch a lot of the first game tonight but I expect Saturday's game against Willamette will be a very different affair than Calvin's bruising battle with the Bible Tigers. The Bearcats opener with D'Youville appeared to be a game in which neither team looked to have any semblence of a coherent offense or defense, leading to what I believe was the first game played at VanNoord where both teams scored at least 100 points.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Sounds like a couple of blowouts coming at VanNoord today then

[maroonandgold]

Powell again lost the ball several times, and that really hurt.

Why must we always try to convince ourselves that Bryan commits lots of turnovers? The box score only lists him with 2 TOs tonight. That's not too shabby for 29 minutes.  I was going through last season's box scores today, and found that in Calvin's final 17 games (the conference season plus MIAA Tourney), Bryan committed only 20 turnovers.

Interesting question.  I looked through last night's box score and noticed that he had only 2 turnovers as did Rietema.  It seems to me that Powell's turnovers are so much more noticeable because so many of them come on passes that so obviously never stand a chance of getting through and therefore they tend to be remembered more.  That was the case with at least one of them last night.

[goodknight]

Sounds like a couple of blowouts coming at VanNoord today then

We'll see about the blowouts, FDF.   It's safe to predict at least a couple of blowhards inside the VNA again today.  I sat in close proximity to a couple last night

The Willamette-D'Youville game had a frantic feel to it -- like both teams were playing with a 8-second shot clock.  There were some talented individuals on the court, but not a ton of team play on either the offensive or defensive ends.

[WAlum]

A betting man would say D'youville gives up over 100 again today.  First three games they have allowed 101, 141, and 108.  That's a ppg allowed of 116.7!!!!!!!!!!!!

[KnightSlappy]

Bad news for the Knights: Anderson lost to Ohio Wesleyan by 15 or so last night.

[Dark Knight]

Sounds like a couple of blowouts coming at VanNoord today then

Massey makes Calvin a 12-point favorite vs. Willamette at home. I don't think that qualifies as a blowout waiting to happen, especially since it's not clear how this year's Knights squad compares to last year's.

[calvin_grad]

23 turnovers, but Calvin wins 81-76.   

[oldknight]

A betting man would say D'youville gives up over 100 again today. 

Being a hypertechnical kind of guy, I would have to judge a betting man loses the bet. D'Youville lost to Grace 100-67 and therefore did not give up over 100.

[sac]

Grace 78 Albion 67.....Grace now 6-0

[goodknight]

Both teams played hard.
Again.
Tyler Kruis had a career-high 19 points with 11 rebounds, yet he struggled to catch the ball.
Tommy's shot didn't want to fall, but he managed 16
Matt DeBoer had a really quiet 15.
Vallie hit double-digits again with 10.
This was a game the Knights could have, and should have, won by a far larger margin.
More turnovers than Pillsbury.

[wiz]

What has been nice to see this year is Calvin's composure and ability to finish games off.  I think the games they had with Grace and Willamette and even the exhibition game with Ferris would have all gone the other way a year ago.  These young guys are poised and will fun to watch through the season.  They were a little rattled on the press a few times but that was a great experience for them as well. 
Three games for the Knights next week, all on the Beltline.

[pointlem]

I see that 92.7, contrary to their program listening, is not carrying Hope's game.  But Spring Arbor has a fine broadcast at http://www.893themessage.com/node/5

[Happy Calvin Guy]

I enjoyed an afternoon of Knight basketball at Van Noord very much today.  I'm much more excited about the '11-'12 Knights after seeing them in person.  I came away impressed with Calvin's two-headed monster at point guard.  40 min on the floor for Powell/Rietema and we see 13 assists, 11 points, and 5 steals.  Powell's 2 turnovers are deceiving too, since they came on successive (questionable) charging calls.  I am now firmly in KnightSlappy's camp regarding Powell as a legitimate PG (great decision making and passing today), and wonder if we might be better off starting both these guys and bringing Havs off the bench.  They create so much for others, big improvement in this area over Salo.  It seems like Powell spent a few hours in the weight room too, he looks like he's in the strongest and best shape of his life right now, and Rietema is a fantastic athlete.  With all due respect to Krombeen/Overway/Bunn/Neil, etc, I will need to retract my earlier comments that I think Hope will dominate Calvin in the backcourt.  I'd still give the edge to the Dutchmen, but not by as wide of a margin.  DeBoer and Vallie have grown into solid MIAA starter-level talents, and Kruis just seems to keep growing--he looks huge this year. 

I agree with the earlier post about these types of games being losses a year ago.  Yes, we should have put away Willamette earlier in the game, but the fact that we faced adversity down the stretch and prevailed says something about this team's character.  Go Knights!