MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[sac]

Hope 71  Olivet 68 F

Pretty good game at Olivet this afternoon.  I thought Hope had this one on the edge of being a pretty comfortable for a road game win in the 10 to 15 point range.  But Olivet had two bursts of consecutive 3 point baskets.  One  was a 9 points stretch in the first half that took it from a 12 point Hope lead to 3 in just over 1 minute.  After a strong OC start to half two, Hope seemed to be in control leading 58-51 and then Olivet hit  3 more  in a row and 4 of 5 over a 2 minute stretch and we were tied at 63.  A couple clutch shots by Clayton Dykhouse  and another by Evan Thomas gave Hope a two possession lead.  Both teams missed a key FT in the final minute that could have altered possession but we ended up with Olivet down 3 and the ball and around 16 seconds left.  Hope played terrific deny any three defense and Olivet could really not get up much more than a desperate heave from a long way out that fell short.

Physical game with first contact rarely being called a foul which made for some messy looking possessions and some real fights under the basket to get shots off.


Hope:  Thomas 17, Quillan 16, Dykhouse 13, Wourman 11
Olivet:  Johnson 16, Upshaw 15, Ali 14

[sac]

(Ive deleted a lot of thoughts on Albion)

I only have one wish and thats for Albion College leadership, faculty, staff, students and student athletes to have a positive dialogue moving forward and everyone can find a common resolution.   Whole thing sucks for a lot of reasons.


Trine 92 Albion 61  F
Albion played with 7 guys.


Kzoo 87 Adrian 86 F 2/OT
video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTCJKNwI5rQ
All 3 shots by K were fun but the shot at the end of regulation is something.   I love the announcers astutely pointing out K has its best 3-point shooter inbounding the ball, which was not true.

Final thoughts:
"its bitter and it sucks for Adrian"

[sac]

Hope at Olivet
video:  https://portal.stretchinternet.com/olivetcollege/portal.htm?eventId=717820&streamType=video

1:52:20   This week in bad MIAA officiating.....or is it?

Watch Olivet sub out #50 after the 2nd missed FT.  Then watch Hargraves immediately regret that and looks like he asks the official if he can sub #50 back in, I can't tell if the official says anything, looks like he has his whistle in his mouth.  But #50 subs in after the 3rd FT make for the shooter #1.  This raised my eyebrow, and I can only guess either the table or Hope's bench notified the same official that yo buddy you can't do that mate.  I should note I thought of the 3 zebra dudes, this guy was the least interested in being a good official on this day so he saunters over to probably head crew guy Todd Frazier who's been around awhile and probably says yo I think I screwed up man. 

The two agree that yes that can't be done and Olivet is forced to put #1 back on the floor for #50.  Given the length of time this all takes I couldn't decide if it was a legitimate mistake by Hargraves, who surely knows the rules, or if it was a clever free breather for his guys.   The other possibility is that #50 was not supposed to check himself in after the 3rd make but did anyway he is a Freshmen after all, but it worked out as a quick free moments for Olivet and Hope to catch their breath and gather themselves for the two missed shots to come.



subpost:  On the topic of language and words used around MIAA basketball this week, there was a great moment late second half when Greg Mitchell known for riding zebras harder than a circus clown let out a really loud gosh darn it in frustration (love ya Greg).  It was to me, just friggin' perfect in that particular gym (Hi Steve).

subpost two:  there were also a couple moments of one coach yelling over the other coach and indirectly or very directly yelling about that coaches propensity for getting on the officials to one of the other officials and even the same official.  It was an odd couple interchanges, curious about professional courtesy and all, but this seemed kinda on the no no scale of 1 to 10 about an 8.

subpost three:  This requires video at 1:37:10
  I was not necessarily upset at the officiating it was pretty obvious physical play was A ok with these guys, one hack you're good but twice nope.  Gabe Quillan here falls down (upon another look it looks like maybe he takes a dribble down.....maybe), and there's no call at all.  So I cleverly yelled, that's either a travel or a foul you can't just stare at it fairly loudly.  Play goes on and Olivet gets tagged with a foul on the other side.  Sam Hargraves is pretty upset at the no travel, and I'm like right behind you Sam.   You can probably note its the same zebra I mentioned above.   

A man of clear Hope stature up to my left starts yelling in mine and Sam's general direction 'That's a fine call, a great call' which caused me to briefly wonder if this man was confused about my allegiance and was yelling at me.  I think the orange sweatshirt is a tell dude.  Because yeah, I just like to see good calls both ways and I'm pretty sure you can't do that or that that caused it.  Any way I confidently just stared off into the void and eventually convinced myself that yes he was yelling at Sam. 

[Grutte Dirk]

Adrian v. Kalamazoo
• end of regulation LINK to timestamp
• end of 2nd OT LINK to timestamp

[TUAngola]

It appears that Jody May has the support of the Albion College administration to resume coaching the Albion MBB team effective today.  So what happens now with the players who boycottted last Saturday's game?  Do you think they will be back for Wednesday's game or will some/all decide to sit out more games?

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

It appears that Jody May has the support of the Albion College administration to resume coaching the Albion MBB team effective today.  So what happens now with the players who boycottted last Saturday's game?  Do you think they will be back for Wednesday's game or will some/all decide to sit out more games?

Albion's President released a letter yesterday indicating a basketball alum and current Trustee of the school is facilitating communication between players and administration.  Seems like they've got a path forward, if nothing else.

[sac]

Michael Williams '78 and Steve Scheckell '92 are the only two trustees I recognize as former Albion basketball players.

[FyteOnne]

From this outsider's perspective, Michael Williams has been involved with/helpful to the team on other occasions in the relatively recent past.

https://www.mlive.com/news/2023/01/repeated-use-of-n-word-by-michigan-college-hoops-coach-prompts-player-boycott.html

I don't really have anything of substance to add-- the whole situation is so upsetting.

[HOPEful]

https://athletics.hope.edu/news/2023/1/9/mens-basketball-the-rivalry-renews-this-week-at-devos-fieldhouse.aspx

Bret Bakita and Drew Neitzel is a welcome departure from Ryan and Tom. I don't believe either have ties to either team, so both should truly be neutral.

[MaroonKnighty]

I know a lot of my comments are snarky but in regards to the Albion scandal, I'm seriously not sure what's going on.  Is the whole thing over a player said something racist to another player, May sent him home, May, when asked, told the rest of the team what was said by the racist player a couple of times, and then got in trouble?  If this is accurate, how would Coach May get in trouble for repeating what someone else said?  Is there more to this story or is this all that happened?  I have no allegiance to Albion by any means but if this is all that happened then give me a break.  Why would May even apologize for quoting one of his players?  There must be more to this.  I always thought May was a pretty good guy.

[KnightSlappy]

I know a lot of my comments are snarky but in regards to the Albion scandal, I'm seriously not sure what's going on.  Is the whole thing over a player said something racist to another player, May sent him home, May, when asked, told the rest of the team what was said by the racist player a couple of times, and then got in trouble?  If this is accurate, how would Coach May get in trouble for repeating what someone else said?  Is there more to this story or is this all that happened?  I have no allegiance to Albion by any means but if this is all that happened then give me a break.  Why would May even apologize for quoting one of his players?  There must be more to this.  I always thought May was a pretty good guy.

I think there's probably a way May could have indicated why he threw the player out of practice without saying *the word* and repeating *the word* multiple times. I would submit that it's possible to say something offensive to someone even when you're "just quoting" someone else.

I hope there's a path for the administration, coaches, and players to reconcile and move forward together, and for the players to have a positive end to the season.

[HOPEful]

I agree with what Knightslappy said...

We learn in elementary school to say "the _ word" rather than actually saying the word. A 50-year-old white male in charge of leading a diverse group of college aged young men should have the maturity and cultural understanding to be able to articulate to his players what happened without repeatedly dropping a racial slur. A diverse campus like Albion should have policies and procedures in place so that when events like this take place, they are met with a swift and appropriate response that allows for everyone to feel respected and heard. It feels like this whole situation could have been kept "in-house" with a better and more appropriate response from the Albion administration; but the players felt like the optics around the dedication was more important to the school.

The whole situation sucks. I too hope there's a path for the administration, coaches, and players to reconcile and move forward together, and for the players to have a positive end to the season.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

A nasty situation for sure.  While Coach May was only repeating what was said that led to the player being kicked out of practice, according to the players he said the word 4 times.  As others have posted, there are ways around saying it that would communicate what happened.  I would think that even him repeating it once would have set off some internal bells in his head that said  "that was wrong, I can't say that" or something similar. 

[Greek Tragedy]

Obviously a sensitive issue. I'll tread lightly. Is there any further discipline for the student who originally said the racial slur? Is it not a racial slur if a black person says it? I've always been curious how a black person can use that word without a care in the world but then once a non-black person says it, the person should lose his job, career, reputation, sponsors etc. By no means am I saying anyone has a right to say that, but a racial slur is a racial slur no matter who says it.

[calvin_grad]