MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[sac]

There's certainly been years with a clear division between top 4 and bottom 4 but I can't remember a 3 game gap basically at the halfway point and only 1 win by a bottom 4 over a top 4.

I feel pretty uneasy things will go chalk the next couple weeks and yet they might.


---Adrian and Olivet are now effectively tied, having split their two games. 
---Alma can get to the #5 spot with Kleiver back but has to turnaround all 3 games vs Kzoo, Adrian, Olivet.  That Trine win is a big tie-break advantage.  Any loss by Alma to Kzoo, Adri or Oli likely eliminates them from the #5 spot.
---I don't know if Olivet will ever get back to the team that played vs Platteville, Hanover, Wheaton tough.
---It seems unlikely to me Kzoo will be able to slot higher than 7

Top 4 vs Top 4 games to be played:

Hope: @ Trine, Calvin
Calvin: @ Trine, @ Hope, Albion
Trine: Hope, Calvin
Albion: @Calvin

Barring an upset, the league should be settled between Wed of next week and the following Wednesday.  Depending on results the Albion @ Calvin game may be a game where one or the other or both can win a share of the league or outright or its just a game for seeding.

[oldknight]

Calvin with a comfortable  95-84 win at Olivet. Calvin effectively won the game the opening half, holding a 53-28 lead at the break, a lead fueled by a combination of hot shooting from the arc, and 12 Olivet turnovers. The final score was the closest the Comets ever got, as the home team posted 18 points the final 3 minutes of the game. While I'm not totally sure if Calvin made 3 free throws in a row, TitanQ would be pleased to know that at one point, the Knights did drain 3 consecutive shots from the arc.

Morrison with 30, Bult 19, Egekeze 16, and Sensenig 11 for Calvin. Thigpen led the Comets with 23.

[wiz]

What's up with Hargreaves?  Is he on the hot seat?  Sam seemed on edge and quite intolerant of Calvin coaching staff.  Didn't appear to shake hands with coach Sall after the game but came back to center court to give coach Warners an earful. 

[TUAngola]

Trine wins at Alma.  Not pretty, but it's a 'W' against the Scots who beat the Thunder last month in Angola.

Stat of the day:  Trine with 3 assists...for the game!    I wonder if any college team has had a lower team assist total overall or has had a lower team assist total and won the game.  They go from tying the school record 2 games ago with 29 assists against Olivet to 3 today.

[ziggy]

What's up with Hargreaves?  Is he on the hot seat?  Sam seemed on edge and quite intolerant of Calvin coaching staff.  Didn't appear to shake hands with coach Sall after the game but came back to center court to give coach Warners an earful.

Just as the announcer said his goodbye the mic in the arena picked up a very clear "F#$@ You!". I'm not sure the source but it certainly got some of the Calvin coaching staff and players to turn around as they were exiting while at least one Olivet player was swept back by his teammates to keep him from moving toward the Calvin contingent that was near the half-court circle by that point.

Couldn't tell from what the video showed what if any part Sammy played in it but he was definitely not out front of the Olivet handshake line as the head coach typically is. That being said, he was shaking hands with Jordan Katje when he entered the camera's view and then the exchange noted by wiz took place.

[oldknight]

What's up with Hargreaves?  Is he on the hot seat?  Sam seemed on edge and quite intolerant of Calvin coaching staff.  Didn't appear to shake hands with coach Sall after the game but came back to center court to give coach Warners an earful.

Just as the announcer said his goodbye the mic in the arena picked up a very clear "F#$@ You!". I'm not sure the source but it certainly got some of the Calvin coaching staff and players to turn around as they were exiting while at least one Olivet player was swept back by his teammates to keep him from moving toward the Calvin contingent that was near the half-court circle by that point.

Couldn't tell from what the video showed what if any part Sammy played in it but he was definitely not out front of the Olivet handshake line as the head coach typically is. That being said, he was shaking hands with Jordan Katje when he entered the camera's view and then the exchange noted by wiz took place.

Can't say I carefully watched the last five minutes, but in retrospect -- and after verifying my suspicions by reviewing the PBP -- I think at least one team breached an etiquette. Calvin obviously had the game in the bag, and Olivet had no hope of winning, but the Comets left their starters in to the bitter end, pressing all over. Normally, a team in Olivet's spot would have waved the white flag at the 3-4 minute mark, thus allowing both teams to empty their bench, but that didn't happen this afternoon. The last two minutes Bill Sall subbed in the end of his bench, while Hargraves never did. Not sure if there was any Calvin trash-talking the second half that irritated the Olivet coaches, but it certainly isn't a good look to have a game end that way.

[sac]

Hope 82  Adrian 68  F

Hope led for 40 minutes, were only mildly and irritatingly threatened in the 2nd half when Adrian hit a hot streak and got the lead down to 10 for a couple trips from a high of 22.  Otherwise the quietest 2,200 crowd in DeVos history saw Hope leisurely dunk 5 times and casually salt away a victory that was fully deserved. 

Adrian was missing Fr. Andrew Larson and when  leading scorer Conner Pelham left the game mid-way through the first half trailing by 10 you sort of had to figure the hill was going to be a bit to big to climb for the Bulldogs today.

Hope was paced by Evan Thomas again, 18 pts, 11 rebs, 3 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks.  Its not the 36 he had down at Adrian but was a very nice day with a much more balanced Hope attack.  Hope was pretty sharp most of the night defensively and matched a season high with 7 blocks and had 11 steals.  Only noteworthy negative was 20 turnovers, but they had 22 down at Adrian and both of those are Hope's two highest turnover games of the year


Hope:  Thomas 18, Wiegerink 14, George 14, Bikus 13, Dykhouse 10
Adrian:  Price 17, Chrismon 14, Watkins 11

Looking way ahead to next year, watch for Adrian to make a strong case for top 4.  The Bulldogs have several good looking Freshmen and are anticipating the return of PG Victory Sheffey, all-miaa forward Kendall Bellamy and possibly Robert Warrick.   

[sac]

Albion 73 Kzoo 62
Trine 62 Alma 56

+1 for road win/ -1 for home loss

Hope     8-1  +3
Calvin   8-2   +3
Trine     7-3   +2
Albion   7-3  +2

Adrian   3-7   -1
Olivet    2-7   -3
Kzoo     1-6   -2
Alma     1-8   -5


Next week is really about the two games in Angola, Indiana.   Hope on Wednesday night, Calvin on Saturday.   Results either way will dictate clearly what the last weeks games mean for everyone.  Buckle up.

[almcguirejr]

What's up with Hargreaves?  Is he on the hot seat?  Sam seemed on edge and quite intolerant of Calvin coaching staff.  Didn't appear to shake hands with coach Sall after the game but came back to center court to give coach Warners an earful.

Just as the announcer said his goodbye the mic in the arena picked up a very clear "F#$@ You!". I'm not sure the source but it certainly got some of the Calvin coaching staff and players to turn around as they were exiting while at least one Olivet player was swept back by his teammates to keep him from moving toward the Calvin contingent that was near the half-court circle by that point.

Couldn't tell from what the video showed what if any part Sammy played in it but he was definitely not out front of the Olivet handshake line as the head coach typically is. That being said, he was shaking hands with Jordan Katje when he entered the camera's view and then the exchange noted by wiz took place.

I was watching at the end of the game and saw the kerfuffel. I wanted to go back and watch it again but, the video of the men's game is not posted.  The video of the women's game is.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Couple of recruits (per Twitter) over the weekend:

Brady Ewing - 6-7 PF Petoskey to Calvin

Logan McKenzie - 6-7 PF Byron Center to Trine

[ziggy]

Couple of recruits (per Twitter) over the weekend:

Brady Ewing - 6-7 PF Petoskey to Calvin

Logan McKenzie - 6-7 PF Byron Center to Trine

The four Calvin commits I'm aware of hail from Petoskey, Traverse City, McBain and Alma. I'm not sure if it is random or strategy but there is a strong northern Michigan flavor shaping up in this class.

[HOPEful]

The four Calvin commits I'm aware of hail from Petoskey, Traverse City, McBain and Alma. I'm not sure if it is random or strategy but there is a strong northern Michigan flavor shaping up in this class.

Almost like they have a coach with ties to northern Michigan or something

[sac]

Kalamazoo 98  Olivet 92 F

Fun one down at Cutler tonight.  Some pretty unreal shooting by both teams but much more so for Kalamazoo.  For the game the Hornets finished at 67% but they were up over 70% for most of the night and over 80% for some of it.  Ty Horky finished with 38 on 14-18 shooting but he was 5-5 for 3 and at one point 11-12 from the floor before missing a couple drawing fouls late.

As a team the Hornets went 15-22 from 3 and that pretty much explains this game.

Kzoo:  Horky 38, Courtney 13, Broadsword 12, Atwater 11, Sharp 11
Olivet:  Johnson 26, Wiswary 16, Ali 13, Martin 12


First time seeing the young Hornets and I have to believe this was their best all around game of the year by quite a distance.  A handful of good shooters but so so young.  Freshmen seeing a lot of game time.

As it stands tonight your 5-8 in seeding order would be 5. Adrian 6. Kzoo 7. Olivet 8. Alma
These two will tip it off again Wednesday and I bet Kzoo doesn't shoot 67% from the floor again.
 

[almcguirejr]

Kalamazoo 98  Olivet 92 F

Fun one down at Cutler tonight.  Some pretty unreal shooting by both teams but much more so for Kalamazoo.  For the game the Hornets finished at 67% but they were up over 70% for most of the night and over 80% for some of it.  Ty Horky finished with 38 on 14-18 shooting but he was 5-5 for 3 and at one point 11-12 from the floor before missing a couple drawing fouls late.

As a team the Hornets went 15-22 from 3 and that pretty much explains this game.

Kzoo:  Horky 38, Courtney 13, Broadsword 12, Atwater 11, Sharp 11
Olivet:  Johnson 26, Wiswary 16, Ali 13, Martin 12


First time seeing the young Hornets and I have to believe this was their best all around game of the year by quite a distance.  A handful of good shooters but so so young.  Freshmen seeing a lot of game time.

As it stands tonight your 5-8 in seeding order would be 5. Adrian 6. Kzoo 7. Olivet 8. Alma
These two will tip it off again Wednesday and I bet Kzoo doesn't shoot 67% from the floor again.

Kalamazoo probably won't shoot 67% again, but, Olivet will likely give up 90+ and struggle to win.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Kalamazoo 98  Olivet 92 F

Fun one down at Cutler tonight.  Some pretty unreal shooting by both teams but much more so for Kalamazoo.  For the game the Hornets finished at 67% but they were up over 70% for most of the night and over 80% for some of it.  Ty Horky finished with 38 on 14-18 shooting but he was 5-5 for 3 and at one point 11-12 from the floor before missing a couple drawing fouls late.

As a team the Hornets went 15-22 from 3 and that pretty much explains this game.

Kzoo:  Horky 38, Courtney 13, Broadsword 12, Atwater 11, Sharp 11
Olivet:  Johnson 26, Wiswary 16, Ali 13, Martin 12


First time seeing the young Hornets and I have to believe this was their best all around game of the year by quite a distance.  A handful of good shooters but so so young.  Freshmen seeing a lot of game time.

As it stands tonight your 5-8 in seeding order would be 5. Adrian 6. Kzoo 7. Olivet 8. Alma
These two will tip it off again Wednesday and I bet Kzoo doesn't shoot 67% from the floor again.

Kalamazoo probably won't shoot 67% again, but, Olivet will likely give up 90+ and struggle to win.

Yeah, not exactly any stellar defense last night.  Calculated points per posession in that game were:

Kalamazoo: 1.446
Olivet: 1.376

I mean WOW!!!