MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[John Gleich]

Calvin plays at UWSP, as expected.

The matchup I wanted to see eight years ago...

UWSP kept up their end of the deal. Calvin just couldn't get by Rochester.

[wiz]

Calvin plays at UWSP, as expected.

The matchup I wanted to see eight years ago...

UWSP kept up their end of the deal. Calvin just couldn't get by Rochester.

Remember that game with Rochester well.  Unfortunately, Ricky Schilts was on the bench at the end of that game and Calvin missed his ball handling ability and leadership.  This year's team appears to be more talented and unified.

[sac]

Nice dunk from the Northwood/Saginaw Valley game yesterday

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RexYViwP9U&feature=youtu.be

[calvinite]

Kevin VandeStreek will be on Hoopsville tonight

[arena]

Kevin VandeStreek will be on Hoopsville tonight

any idea what time?

[calvinite]

Kevin's on next -- about 8:20 pm est

[almcguirejr]

Calvin plays at UWSP, as expected.

800 miles round trip.  13 hours on the road.  Might be a trip to my "dad's" old home state in my future.  Maybe Realist could pay a visit to the dairyland and see where KVS spent his formative years.

[HollandKnight]

did anyone else watch the post game. the rhit crew made a ton of mistakes such as introducing tom snikkers and "tyler dykstra" when bryan powell came to the booth

[Happy Calvin Guy]

Calvin (Massey #6) at WI Stevens Point (Massey #4), plays the winner of Wheaton (Massey #9) at St Thomas (Massey #1).  Here are the probabilities for our beloved Knights, according to Mr. Massey (rounded to one decimal place):

69.0% probability Lose to WI-Stevens Point
20.6% probability Lose to St Thomas in Sweet Sixteen round
7.6% probability Advance to Elite Eight in Salem
2.9% probability Lose to Wheaton in Sweet Sixteen round

I don't think this tells a completely accurate story, however.  Focusing on this weekend's game, consider the following:

Team A 1.000 winning pct, +12.8 scoring margin
Team B .893 winning pct, +17.6 scoring margin
Team C .737 winning pct, +9.6 scoring margin

Team A is UW-SP with Tyler Tillema in the starting lineup, Team B is Calvin, and Team C is UW-SP without Tyler Tillema in the starting lineup.  I would assume that Tillema is not slated to play this weekend, given his injury recovery status and the potential sacrifice of his medical redshirt season if he did come back and play for the first time since December.

Now compare these two teams:
Team A .889 winning pct, +19.8 scoring margin
Team B .571 winning pct, +6.6 scoring margin

Team A is Calvin from 1/30/13, team B is UW-SP starting the same date.  While the WIAC is definitely a tougher conference than the MIAA, Calvin's schedule since 1/30 has included two games vs Hope, plus Adrian, Trine, and Rose-Hulman.  Not exactly a cake walk, and we've been blowing teams out.  Calvin's starting lineup averages 3 inches taller per man than UW-SP's.  I certainly don't underestimate UW-SP, just pointing out that Calvin has a very reasonable chance on Saturday night, even on the road vs an excellent team. 

Last point...against Rose-Hulman both Mickey DeVries and Mitch Vallie looked as good as they have all year.  I know that this is not an appropriate time to look ahead, but sometimes my mind drifts ahead to the future.  I've felt that the biggest holes to fill for next year are an outside game for DeVries (or whoever starts as the "3"), and a second guard to pair with Brink.  DeVries showed such good range on Saturday that the RHIT announcers actually talked about him multiple times as an outside threat, and Vallie showed excellent ballhandling and decision making, and we've known for some time he's got a good outside shot when given the chance.  Any possibility we start Brink-Vallie-DeVries-Dykstra-Kruis next year?  That lineup would average 6 feet, six and half inches across the starting five....wow.

[KnightSlappy]

Any possibility we start Brink-Vallie-DeVries-Dykstra-Kruis next year?  That lineup would average 6 feet, six and half inches across the starting five....wow.

I've thought about that exact lineup the last couple of weeks, but I think the ball handling ability will leave too much to be desired. The height would be outstanding, however.

The improvement of Dan Stout this year has had me thinking as well. I think Calvin is going to want him playing more than 12-14 minutes per game next year -- both because he's becoming quite good and because he'll most likely need to play a bunch of minutes the following year upon the departure of Kruis -- so I think we could see 5-8 minutes per game of Kruis-Stout on the floor for Calvin (because you're not increasing Stout's minutes at the expense of Kruis). I think that also means that Tyler Dykstra sees a bunch of minutes -- maybe even the majority of his minutes -- at the "three" position. The starting front court could very well be Dykstra-DeVries-Kruis.

Taking Brink and Parks (because he's taller than Nadeau) as the back court would yield an average starting height of 6-5.4. Nadeau instead of Parks would make it 6-5.

[GoKnights68]

Calvin plays at UWSP, as expected.

The matchup I wanted to see eight years ago...

UWSP kept up their end of the deal. Calvin just couldn't get by Rochester.

Remember that game with Rochester well.  Unfortunately, Ricky Schilts was on the bench at the end of that game and Calvin missed his ball handling ability and leadership.  This year's team appears to be more talented and unified.

I still think about that game once in a while.  Perhaps it's just because I am biased, but I think Calvin beats Rochester at least 7 times if they were to play them 10 different times. Rochester was hitting their big shots down the stretch and Calvin was not. 

If they were to have then gotten to the NC game, I believe WSP would beat Calvin by about 10 points.  That is one of the best D3 teams I've seen in the past decade, IMO.

Anyways, that was a big win for Calvin on Saturday night.  From 2005 to 2008 the MIAA made two final fours, two elite 8s, sweet 16, and two 2nd round appearances.  It'd be nice for the MIAA to return back to form in making some nice runs in the tourney.  Lets go Knights.

[scottiedawg]

If you're needing to kill any time in Stevens Point, make sure you bring a good book or some electronic devices. I've been 2-3 times? to see Hope play and the area leaves a bit to be desired......

[ziggy]

Calvin plays at UWSP, as expected.

The matchup I wanted to see eight years ago...

UWSP kept up their end of the deal. Calvin just couldn't get by Rochester.

Remember that game with Rochester well.  Unfortunately, Ricky Schilts was on the bench at the end of that game and Calvin missed his ball handling ability and leadership.  This year's team appears to be more talented and unified.

I still think about that game once in a while.  Perhaps it's just because I am biased, but I think Calvin beats Rochester at least 7 times if they were to play them 10 different times. Rochester was hitting their big shots down the stretch and Calvin was not. 

If they were to have then gotten to the NC game, I believe WSP would beat Calvin by about 10 points.  That is one of the D3 teams I've seen in the past decade, IMO.

Anyways, that was a big win for Calvin on Saturday night.  From 2005 to 2008 the MIAA made two final fours, two elite 8s, sweet 16, and two 2nd round appearances.  It'd be nice for the MIAA to return back to form in making some nice runs in the tourney.  Lets go Knights.

I, too, believe UWSP would have beaten Calvin that weekend but I also believe (and the final top 25 poll agrees) that Calvin was the second best team in that final four. Rochester had a fine team and did what they had to do to win and Calvin did not. York (PA) made it more of a Final Three plus one than a Final Four.

[sac]

D3 competition, its baseball so it takes awhile to get there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeKp8e88ZyI&feature=player_embedded

[almcguirejr]

D3 competition, its baseball so it takes awhile to get there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeKp8e88ZyI&feature=player_embedded

The coach in blue handled his pitcher very well and diffused the situation.