MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[Flying Dutch Fan]

He got 23 in just 25 minutes, so he is now at 1,002 despite playing BOTH Johnson and Wales!

Since Hope was blowing them out early, the bigger question may have been would the coach leave him in long enough to do it!

Harrison has been that kind of efficient all season thus far.  In 9 games he is averaging:

28 min
22.7 pts
6.7 reb
2.3 ast
1.7 stl

while shooting

.641 FG (75-117)
.538 3FG (7-13)
.746 FT (47-63)

[KnightSlappy]

He got 23 in just 25 minutes, so he is now at 1,002 despite playing BOTH Johnson and Wales!

Since Hope was blowing them out early, the bigger question may have been would the coach leave him in long enough to do it!

Harrison has been that kind of efficient all season thus far.  In 9 games he is averaging:

28 min
22.7 pts
6.7 reb
2.3 ast
1.7 stl

while shooting

.641 FG (75-117)
.538 3FG (7-13)
.746 FT (47-63)

Blackledge is one of the few MIAA players right now who is excelling in both the quantity and quality departments in terms of scoring.

Arbitrarily selecting 100 total FGA as a cutoff point:

Ewing, Eric: 96 PPWS+
Dixon, Will: 101 PPWS+
Harris, Davonte: 99 PPWS+
Blackledge, Harrison: 127 PPWS+
Hawkins, Dante: 98 PPWS+
Washington, Aaron: 100 PPWS+

These other high-volume shooters are only about league average in terms of converting attempts into points. Blackledge has converted his attempts into points at a 27% above average clip.

[WUPHF]

Please forgive me for posting a non-basketball article in a basketball thread, but I thought this was a great article on Albion College that discusses how Albion hopes to survive and thrive by investing in the community.

A few other Division III colleges are mentioned...

http://www.wsj.com/articles/to-save-themselves-small-colleges-offer-lifeline-to-their-hometowns-1482316200

Maybe someday I'll just start my own Business of Division III thread...

[WUPHF]

Also have wished for years that Hope would open communications with Wash U and perhaps set up a series so that both schools' fans could see these top notch programs.

I like this idea a lot.

The volleyball teams meet up from time to time.  Let's get the basketball teams together.

[oldknight]

I came into tonight's game against Anderson knowing nothing about the Ravens other than they are coached by Owen Handy and they play in the HCAC. When I saw the visitors warm up, I said to myself, "Wow, they're small; they must play a perimeter game." They do and they play that game quite well. Fortunately, the Knights were up to the task, ruled the boards (39-21) and shot just well enough from inside the arc to come away with a hard fought 89-86 win. Anderson has a terrific point guard, Trevor Lucas, who does pretty much everything well. Lucas really fuels Anderson by scoring (22), rebounding (6), assisting (4), and defending (3 steals). The nature of the game and the way Anderson approaches it on offense forced Calvin to play at least 3 guards for most of the game and the Knights sat starter Austin Bykerk who played only 11 minutes. The biggest negative from this game is Calvin's continuing turnover woes, with the home team committing 20, with a startling number being offensive fouls. This team needs to learn how to establish post position without clearing out the defender with the off arm. Other game notes:

--Freshmen Tony DeWitte had an outstanding (k)night and Calvin would not have won this game without his contributions. The youngster from Calvin Christian not only scored 14 on 5-8 from the floor, he added 7 assists and hawked 3 steals in 26 minutes of action. It's increasingly obvious he will be called on to be the key sub the rest of this season. Last year it was calvinite, I think, who told me that Tony is a really smart kid. It shows on the court.

--A big game for Cam Denney who had a double/double, going 19 and 14. The kid from Bluffton is an exasperating player to watch as he intersperses even his best games with some shot selections that just boggles your mind.

--Another freshmen with a nice game was Derrick DeVries who was very effective in 14 minutes, scoring 7 important second half points when Calvin really needed them.

--Two players who once had a prominent role off the bench, Siegel and Drews, have completely dropped out of the rotation. I don't see them returning to significant minutes anytime soon.

[sac]

North Park 84  Albion 65

NP was the superior team pretty much all night long.  Albion didn't help itself with a really tough night from behind the arc and generally being 50/50 at finishing shots around the basket.  I'm actually a little surprised the stats aren't as lopsided as they felt watching the game.  Albion simply can't win when its two best players go 2-17.

This game kind of turned chippy late and the last 9 minutes felt like it took nearly 30 minutes to play with close to 15 fouls called.   I continue my neat streak of seeing things I can't recall ever seeing, only tonight I got a two-fer.  Albion's Corey Wheeler was assessed a technical for throwing a ball at NP's Juwan Henry.  The official had a change of heart brought the two players together and they hugged it out I guess and the game went on without a T.  A few minutes later Colin Lake for NP was assessed his technical and in the players-getting-together-to-talk-things-over-portion-of-the-evening official Bart Wegenke decided Albion should sub out for Arshawn Parker.  I'm sure its well within a referee's rights to ask a coach to remove a player he feels is volatile but that was a first for me that I can remember.

On a lighter note, I got more of kick out of it than North Park's Tom Slyder but at one point in the 2nd half we had been in the double-bonus for about 3 or 4 game minutes when NP was sent to the line again and 2 officials signaled 1 for 1.  Its little things like that you really have to get correct.


As for assessing Albion's play, I'm not sure Albion was bad tonight as much as they were just matched against a more superior and deeper team.   But this teams got problems that might have blown into something deeper tonight.  At one point in the 2nd half during a timeout Jody May really laid into his team which I was told later may have even been directed at one player, but yeah, issues.    I've seen  Albion 4 times now and they just aren't getting much from their front-line other than Kurt Douglas.  Wheeler and Fordham have been really inconsistent.  They play hard, get after it on the boards but offensively they've really struggled around the basket game to game and even half to half.  Not sure exactly what to think of the Brits and where they'll place in the league other than to say you really just can't expect to walk into Kresge and walk out with a win without a pretty tough fight.

I just don't know what kind of fight it might be, tonight it was almost a literal one.

[Gregory Sager]

On a lighter note, I got more of kick out of it than North Park's Tom Slyder but at one point in the 2nd half we had been in the double-bonus for about 3 or 4 game minutes when NP was sent to the line again and 2 officials signaled 1 for 1.  Its little things like that you really have to get correct.

Yeah, I had forgotten about that. You could almost see cartoon steam shoot out of Tom Slyder's ears when those two officials signaled one-and-one. NPU had actually shot double-bonus fouls (i.e., fouls not assessed in the act of shooting) a couple of times prior to that officiating faux pas.

Another referee highlight came in the first half, when it appeared that NPU's T.J. Cobbs got away with a double dribble not once, but twice within a 30-second span. As he was bringing the ball up the side of the floor across midcourt an Albion player came over to pin him against the sideline. Cobbs passed the ball forward to NPU center Joe Biko, but Biko had his back to Cobbs and didn't turn around to receive the pass. So Cobbs simply caught up to the ball and resumed his dribble. No call. A half-minute later he threw a baseline pass that went over the heads of both NPU's Darius Brown and Albion's Jason Zahran, scooted over behind the two of them, again picked up his own pass, and again resumed his dribble without a whistle.

fI've seen  Albion 4 times now and they just aren't getting much from their front-line other than Kurt Douglas

Personal highlight for me: When Kirk Douglas and Robert Ryan were on the floor together for Albion I got to announce that the Britons had their "movie-star lineup" in the game.

[KnightSlappy]

Matt Trewhella was not on the bench last night and is no longer on Calvin's roster.

[sac]

Maybe he wasn't before and I hadn't noticed but Kevin Gamble is not on Alma's roster.  I know there was an injury and the possibility of his return discussed earlier this year.

[HOPEful]

So Hope is planning a Purple Game in support of the Van Andel Institute. Awesome.

However, it's scheduled for January 28th against Albion, the only purple team in the MIAA! Will be interesting how many fans of the Dutchmen will or won't be wearing the away teams colors.

[maroonandgold]

I came into tonight's game against Anderson knowing nothing about the Ravens other than they are coached by Owen Handy and they play in the HCAC. When I saw the visitors warm up, I said to myself, "Wow, they're small; they must play a perimeter game." They do and they play that game quite well. Fortunately, the Knights were up to the task, ruled the boards (39-21) and shot just well enough from inside the arc to come away with a hard fought 89-86 win. Anderson has a terrific point guard, Trevor Lucas, who does pretty much everything well. Lucas really fuels Anderson by scoring (22), rebounding (6), assisting (4), and defending (3 steals). The nature of the game and the way Anderson approaches it on offense forced Calvin to play at least 3 guards for most of the game and the Knights sat starter Austin Bykerk who played only 11 minutes. The biggest negative from this game is Calvin's continuing turnover woes, with the home team committing 20, with a startling number being offensive fouls. This team needs to learn how to establish post position without clearing out the defender with the off arm. Other game notes:

--Freshmen Tony DeWitte had an outstanding (k)night and Calvin would not have won this game without his contributions. The youngster from Calvin Christian not only scored 14 on 5-8 from the floor, he added 7 assists and hawked 3 steals in 26 minutes of action. It's increasingly obvious he will be called on to be the key sub the rest of this season. Last year it was calvinite, I think, who told me that Tony is a really smart kid. It shows on the court.

--A big game for Cam Denney who had a double/double, going 19 and 14. The kid from Bluffton is an exasperating player to watch as he intersperses even his best games with some shot selections that just boggles your mind.

--Another freshmen with a nice game was Derrick DeVries who was very effective in 14 minutes, scoring 7 important second half points when Calvin really needed them.

--Two players who once had a prominent role off the bench, Siegel and Drews, have completely dropped out of the rotation. I don't see them returning to significant minutes anytime soon.

As usual, I find myself looking forward to Old Knight's accurate and insightful description of the game, and this, too, was right on.   the only point on which I have a minor disagreement has to do with the officiating, which was really poor for the first half, highlighted by a horrible charge being called in a situation in which the defender was not even close to being in position and set.  The ref certainly appeared to get the message spoke in an apparently embarrassed fashion to Wilks on whom he had made the call.  After that they seemed to over officiate, calling fouls on plays in which there was barely contact.   Many of the off arm clearing the way calls did not have any clearing involved, it appeared to me.  Other offensive foul calls were very questionable, too.

[KnightSlappy]

I came into tonight's game against Anderson knowing nothing about the Ravens other than they are coached by Owen Handy and they play in the HCAC. When I saw the visitors warm up, I said to myself, "Wow, they're small; they must play a perimeter game." They do and they play that game quite well. Fortunately, the Knights were up to the task, ruled the boards (39-21) and shot just well enough from inside the arc to come away with a hard fought 89-86 win. Anderson has a terrific point guard, Trevor Lucas, who does pretty much everything well. Lucas really fuels Anderson by scoring (22), rebounding (6), assisting (4), and defending (3 steals). The nature of the game and the way Anderson approaches it on offense forced Calvin to play at least 3 guards for most of the game and the Knights sat starter Austin Bykerk who played only 11 minutes. The biggest negative from this game is Calvin's continuing turnover woes, with the home team committing 20, with a startling number being offensive fouls. This team needs to learn how to establish post position without clearing out the defender with the off arm. Other game notes:

--Freshmen Tony DeWitte had an outstanding (k)night and Calvin would not have won this game without his contributions. The youngster from Calvin Christian not only scored 14 on 5-8 from the floor, he added 7 assists and hawked 3 steals in 26 minutes of action. It's increasingly obvious he will be called on to be the key sub the rest of this season. Last year it was calvinite, I think, who told me that Tony is a really smart kid. It shows on the court.

--A big game for Cam Denney who had a double/double, going 19 and 14. The kid from Bluffton is an exasperating player to watch as he intersperses even his best games with some shot selections that just boggles your mind.

--Another freshmen with a nice game was Derrick DeVries who was very effective in 14 minutes, scoring 7 important second half points when Calvin really needed them.

--Two players who once had a prominent role off the bench, Siegel and Drews, have completely dropped out of the rotation. I don't see them returning to significant minutes anytime soon.

As usual, I find myself looking forward to Old Knight's accurate and insightful description of the game, and this, too, was right on.   the only point on which I have a minor disagreement has to do with the officiating, which was really poor for the first half, highlighted by a horrible charge being called in a situation in which the defender was not even close to being in position and set.  The ref certainly appeared to get the message spoke in an apparently embarrassed fashion to Wilks on whom he had made the call.  After that they seemed to over officiate, calling fouls on plays in which there was barely contact.   Many of the off arm clearing the way calls did not have any clearing involved, it appeared to me.  Other offensive foul calls were very questionable, too.

Both Vande Streek and Handy were quite upset at the officiating. Never good when both coaches are yelling at you!

[GreatScot!?]

Maybe he wasn't before and I hadn't noticed but Kevin Gamble is not on Alma's roster.  I know there was an injury and the possibility of his return discussed earlier this year.

He was re-evaluated in early December and he's going to have surgery over break, rough setback for the improving big man and the Scots.

[oldknight]

I came into tonight's game against Anderson knowing nothing about the Ravens other than they are coached by Owen Handy and they play in the HCAC. When I saw the visitors warm up, I said to myself, "Wow, they're small; they must play a perimeter game." They do and they play that game quite well. Fortunately, the Knights were up to the task, ruled the boards (39-21) and shot just well enough from inside the arc to come away with a hard fought 89-86 win. Anderson has a terrific point guard, Trevor Lucas, who does pretty much everything well. Lucas really fuels Anderson by scoring (22), rebounding (6), assisting (4), and defending (3 steals). The nature of the game and the way Anderson approaches it on offense forced Calvin to play at least 3 guards for most of the game and the Knights sat starter Austin Bykerk who played only 11 minutes. The biggest negative from this game is Calvin's continuing turnover woes, with the home team committing 20, with a startling number being offensive fouls. This team needs to learn how to establish post position without clearing out the defender with the off arm. Other game notes:

--Freshmen Tony DeWitte had an outstanding (k)night and Calvin would not have won this game without his contributions. The youngster from Calvin Christian not only scored 14 on 5-8 from the floor, he added 7 assists and hawked 3 steals in 26 minutes of action. It's increasingly obvious he will be called on to be the key sub the rest of this season. Last year it was calvinite, I think, who told me that Tony is a really smart kid. It shows on the court.

--A big game for Cam Denney who had a double/double, going 19 and 14. The kid from Bluffton is an exasperating player to watch as he intersperses even his best games with some shot selections that just boggles your mind.

--Another freshmen with a nice game was Derrick DeVries who was very effective in 14 minutes, scoring 7 important second half points when Calvin really needed them.

--Two players who once had a prominent role off the bench, Siegel and Drews, have completely dropped out of the rotation. I don't see them returning to significant minutes anytime soon.

As usual, I find myself looking forward to Old Knight's accurate and insightful description of the game, and this, too, was right on.   the only point on which I have a minor disagreement has to do with the officiating, which was really poor for the first half, highlighted by a horrible charge being called in a situation in which the defender was not even close to being in position and set.  The ref certainly appeared to get the message spoke in an apparently embarrassed fashion to Wilks on whom he had made the call.  After that they seemed to over officiate, calling fouls on plays in which there was barely contact.   Many of the off arm clearing the way calls did not have any clearing involved, it appeared to me.  Other offensive foul calls were very questionable, too.

No question the officials had a tough night, Travis Plain in particular. The funniest moment of the game came in the second half when an Anderson player began his dribble from the perimeter well after beginning his penetration to the hoop. Pretty much every Calvin fan roared "Walk" in unison. After reaching the hoop, the offensive player picked up his dribble, executed a text book perfect pivot, and Travis blew his whistle to call the walking he missed. It was an obvious make-up call that exasperated Owen Handy and simply left KVS shaking his head.

As for the Calvin players establishing post up position, I'm not saying everyone called was right, but there is definitely an art form to doing it well. The worst call of the night was by Plain's partner--who was not in position--but called a double foul when Welch got pulled down by the Anderson player being blocked out. It happened right in front of me and the baseline ref who I'm pretty sure knew the call was wrong but couldn't tell his partner that on the court.

[KnightSlappy]

I came into tonight's game against Anderson knowing nothing about the Ravens other than they are coached by Owen Handy and they play in the HCAC. When I saw the visitors warm up, I said to myself, "Wow, they're small; they must play a perimeter game." They do and they play that game quite well. Fortunately, the Knights were up to the task, ruled the boards (39-21) and shot just well enough from inside the arc to come away with a hard fought 89-86 win. Anderson has a terrific point guard, Trevor Lucas, who does pretty much everything well. Lucas really fuels Anderson by scoring (22), rebounding (6), assisting (4), and defending (3 steals). The nature of the game and the way Anderson approaches it on offense forced Calvin to play at least 3 guards for most of the game and the Knights sat starter Austin Bykerk who played only 11 minutes. The biggest negative from this game is Calvin's continuing turnover woes, with the home team committing 20, with a startling number being offensive fouls. This team needs to learn how to establish post position without clearing out the defender with the off arm. Other game notes:

--Freshmen Tony DeWitte had an outstanding (k)night and Calvin would not have won this game without his contributions. The youngster from Calvin Christian not only scored 14 on 5-8 from the floor, he added 7 assists and hawked 3 steals in 26 minutes of action. It's increasingly obvious he will be called on to be the key sub the rest of this season. Last year it was calvinite, I think, who told me that Tony is a really smart kid. It shows on the court.

--A big game for Cam Denney who had a double/double, going 19 and 14. The kid from Bluffton is an exasperating player to watch as he intersperses even his best games with some shot selections that just boggles your mind.

--Another freshmen with a nice game was Derrick DeVries who was very effective in 14 minutes, scoring 7 important second half points when Calvin really needed them.

--Two players who once had a prominent role off the bench, Siegel and Drews, have completely dropped out of the rotation. I don't see them returning to significant minutes anytime soon.

As usual, I find myself looking forward to Old Knight's accurate and insightful description of the game, and this, too, was right on.   the only point on which I have a minor disagreement has to do with the officiating, which was really poor for the first half, highlighted by a horrible charge being called in a situation in which the defender was not even close to being in position and set.  The ref certainly appeared to get the message spoke in an apparently embarrassed fashion to Wilks on whom he had made the call.  After that they seemed to over officiate, calling fouls on plays in which there was barely contact.   Many of the off arm clearing the way calls did not have any clearing involved, it appeared to me.  Other offensive foul calls were very questionable, too.

No question the officials had a tough night, Travis Plain in particular. The funniest moment of the game came in the second half when an Anderson player began his dribble from the perimeter well after beginning his penetration to the hoop. Pretty much every Calvin fan roared "Walk" in unison. After reaching the hoop, the offensive player picked up his dribble, executed a text book perfect pivot, and Travis blew his whistle to call the walking he missed. It was an obvious make-up call that exasperated Owen Handy and simply left KVS shaking his head.

As for the Calvin players establishing post up position, I'm not saying everyone called was right, but there is definitely an art form to doing it well. The worst call of the night was by Plain's partner--who was not in position--but called a double foul when Welch got pulled down by the Anderson player being blocked out. It happened right in front of me and the baseline ref who I'm pretty sure knew the call was wrong but couldn't tell his partner that on the court.

Which play led to Welch's fouling out. The scorers table announced the fifth foul but the refs started initiating play unawares. This caused Handy to yell "would you please administer the game?!" to the men in stripes.

The ref was not happy, and I think Handy was warned, but it was clear he was embarrassed by the way things had progressed.