MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[Grutte Dirk]

...And no, I don't see the 2022-23 team as national champs.

Maybe the 2025-26 team though if everyone stays 4 years?

Only if Calvin can get past Holland.  Year-after-year bringing in solid classes.  After a deep run this coming March, one wonders how high the Dutches' ceiling is?

[goodknight]

...And no, I don't see the 2022-23 team as national champs.

Maybe the 2025-26 team though if everyone stays 4 years?

Just FYI I don't think Bill Sall is going to call it good and stop recruiting.

Sage observation from such a young man!

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Evan Thomas out for 6-8 weeks with a hand injury sustained during the Wed night game at UWW. Marcus Wourman starting tonight versus North Park.

[Gregory Sager]

Hope 80
North Park 73

NPU battled back from a 20-point deficit and held multiple leads in the second half, but the Vikings went ice-cold down the stretch. Hope's shooting, on the other hand, never wavered, as the Dutchmen had a superb shooting line of .556/.389/.920.

I think Hope will be OK without Thomas. Your trio of Schoonveld, Dykhouse, and Quillen are special players.

[pointlem]

Hope 80
North Park 73

NPU battled back from a 20-point deficit and held multiple leads in the second half, but the Vikings went ice-cold down the stretch. Hope's shooting, on the other hand, never wavered, as the Dutchmen had a superb shooting line of .556/.389/.920.

I think Hope will be OK without Thomas. Your trio of Schoonveld, Dykhouse, and Quillen are special players.

And North Park impressed with its quickness, persistence, and intensity . . . forcing 28 Hope turnovers . . . despite Hope having what may be its quickest-ever guards. I expect North Park to win a bunch more games this year. An exciting game.

Yes to Quillan, seemingly Hope's most improved player this year. He has displayed more agile footwork--rotating to the basket--and a nice shooting touch (after four games: 4 of 8 three-pointers, and 70% of free throws).

And yes to Hope, with lots of talent, being okay without Evan Thomas. But they'll be better than okay when their best player returns.

[sac]

Hope 80
North Park 73

NPU battled back from a 20-point deficit and held multiple leads in the second half, but the Vikings went ice-cold down the stretch. Hope's shooting, on the other hand, never wavered, as the Dutchmen had a superb shooting line of .556/.389/.920.

I think Hope will be OK without Thomas. Your trio of Schoonveld, Dykhouse, and Quillen are special players.

And North Park impressed with its quickness, persistence, and intensity . . . forcing 28 Hope turnovers . . . despite Hope having what may be its quickest-ever guards. I expect North Park to win a bunch more games this year. An exciting game.

Yes to Quillan, seemingly Hope's most improved player this year. He has displayed more agile footwork--rotating to the basket--and a nice shooting touch (after four games: 4 of 8 three-pointers, and 70% of free throws).

And yes to Hope, with lots of talent, being okay without Evan Thomas. But they'll be better than okay when their best player returns.

Really like to see Hope's bench become more of a scoring factor.  Excited to see Ethan Crabtree getting some good minutes.

Even an improved and dare I say potentially pesky North Park squad, they were still picked 7th in the CCIW, will have a hard time cracking the top 6 in that league.  Without Thomas, Hope will have more difficulty with the last 5 or 6 non-conference games which are practically all top notch  NCAA tournament, regional ranked type teams.

6 weeks puts Thomas back maybe for Babson after Christmas break
8 weeks puts Thomas back maybe for Calvin on that Wed. night, but potentially missing Trine, Olivet and Albion as well.
That's a pretty long haul and really the meat of Hope's schedule.   

[Gregory Sager]

Hope 80
North Park 73

NPU battled back from a 20-point deficit and held multiple leads in the second half, but the Vikings went ice-cold down the stretch. Hope's shooting, on the other hand, never wavered, as the Dutchmen had a superb shooting line of .556/.389/.920.

I think Hope will be OK without Thomas. Your trio of Schoonveld, Dykhouse, and Quillen are special players.

And North Park impressed with its quickness, persistence, and intensity . . . forcing 28 Hope turnovers . . . despite Hope having what may be its quickest-ever guards. I expect North Park to win a bunch more games this year. An exciting game.

Yes to Quillan, seemingly Hope's most improved player this year. He has displayed more agile footwork--rotating to the basket--and a nice shooting touch (after four games: 4 of 8 three-pointers, and 70% of free throws).

And yes to Hope, with lots of talent, being okay without Evan Thomas. But they'll be better than okay when their best player returns.

Really like to see Hope's bench become more of a scoring factor.  Excited to see Ethan Crabtree getting some good minutes.

Even an improved and dare I say potentially pesky North Park squad, they were still picked 7th in the CCIW, will have a hard time cracking the top 6 in that league.

Sixth (and, thus, a CCIW tourney berth) is quite doable. Won't be easy, but it's doable. Carroll is a mess, Carthage doesn't appear to have improved -- the Firebirds might've taken a step backwards, in fact -- and Augustana is a one-man show (although that one man is a likely first- or second-team All-American) that can't handle dribble penetration or quick guards. But in order to make it happen, NPU needs to do a much better job of finishing when the Vikings get to the rim, as well as improving their percentage on midrange shots.

[HOPEful]

...And no, I don't see the 2022-23 team as national champs.

Maybe the 2025-26 team though if everyone stays 4 years?

Just FYI I don't think Bill Sall is going to call it good and stop recruiting.

That was somewhat facetious on my part. And by everyone, I really meant Jalen. Jalen has all the makings for a guy that bigger programs would want from the portal. A 6'9" freshman that scores 34 points with 11 rebounds against the #3 team in the country is sure to turn heads. Would love to be in the know of who comes calling and what level, if any, interest Jalen has in entertaining those calls.

He also has all the makings of developing into a guy that can carry Calvin DEEP into the playoffs. Maybe not necessarily this year, but if he sticks around...

[WUPHF]

and Augustana is a one-man show (although that one man is a likely first- or second-team All-American) that can't handle dribble penetration or quick guards.

Are you officially moving your prediction to Augie no longer has a chance to be really good in 2022-2023?

[Gregory Sager]

and Augustana is a one-man show (although that one man is a likely first- or second-team All-American) that can't handle dribble penetration or quick guards.

Are you officially moving your prediction to Augie no longer has a chance to be really good in 2022-2023?

Absolutely. Neither of the two guards whom I thought would supply much of Augie's outside scoring this season, Nate Ortiz and Carter Duwa, chose to return to the squad for their senior seasons. And the other guy whom I thought would supply a generous portion of Augie's offense, Nic Giliberto (Augie's best shooter), is coming off of the bench this year and is only averaging 5.3 ppg in 14 mpg, probably because on defense he's become a matador without the red cape and fancy drip.

As a result, Augie has turned into all-Daniel-Carr-all-the-time. He's even second on the team in trey attempts (and he's by far Augustana's best trey shooter now) -- and when your 6'9, 240 center whom you rely upon for high-percentage inside shots as well as rebounds suddenly becomes your primary three-point threat as well, you've got problems.

[WUPHF]

Neither of the two guards whom I thought would supply much of Augie's outside scoring this season, Nate Ortiz and Carter Duwa, chose to return to the squad for their senior seasons.

OK, but you did stand by the prediction even after I said that key players were missing.

[Gregory Sager]

You weren't specific when you said "attrition" -- I thought that Duwa and Ortiz would be back.

The other thing that I will say was a mea culpa on my part was that I thought that all of those Augie freshmen from last season would be better as sophomores, given how much playing time they saw in 2021-22. That has not been the case.

[Middle of the Mitten]

Alma Head Coach Mike Fitzpatrick earns his first victory as a head coach on the road in Defiance last night!
Let's go Scots!

Alma's top two players are transfers...Gonna be an uphill climb for the Scots but they are playing hard.

[ziggy]

It was announced last Friday night that the 2023 Great Lakes Invitational will be held at Wittenberg and Calvin is part of the 8-team field. Also participating with Calvin (and host Wittenberg) will be La Roche, Marietta, Illinois Wesleyan, UW-Oshkosh, Middlebury and Redlands. No matchups announced yet but at least we know Calvin will have 2 of those 7 on the schedule next year.

[oldknight]

Calvin with a comfortable 91-61 home win over an over matched Hiram squad. After some back-and-forthing the first 10 minutes, Calvin's size advantage began to takes it toll, and the Knights headed into the locker room with a 44-32 halftime lead. The Knights quickly pulled away the second 20 minutes and were never challenged. Jalen Overway led with 21 points and 16 rebounds, but only scored 2 points and grabbed one board the second half, as Hiram eventually realized the big freshmen from Holland needed special attention.

Egekeze scored all 14 of his points the second half, while Varnado added 11 and transfer Matt Ambrose also scored 11 in only ten minutes of action. Calvin heads into a two game weekend with a 5-0 record.