MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[gohope]

It is amazing how there is no respect for anyone in the MIAA if they are not from Calvin or Hope.  Many great players from the league: Yancey, McClarey brothers, McCain, Michael Staley, and Desmond Young.  There were 10 posts on Remick (a great player by the way) scoring his 1000th pt (in a 4 yr campaign) and only a mention by bulldogallum that Desmond scored his 1000th pt in only his 55th game (barely more than 2 seasons). 

That and then happy calvin guy talking about adrian being an automatic W for Calvin.  Adrian is always a threat and now they are showing they are battle tested and can win the close game.  I feel this will be a close pivotal game in the conference this week

AC Alum - 

First of all, WELCOME to the board!!!  I'm really happy to see another person bringing some thoughts, comments and ideas to the board.

Although I hear what you are saying, I think that the majority of posters are from Hope and Calvin and that is probably why there were so many comments about a single subject!  I would LOVE to see more posters from other schools, but its just not happening. So please keep your thoughts shared and your posts coming!  And let your fellow Alums know about this board. It should be quite the year!

[hoopdreams]

For what its worth, I am also reluctant to give any program or coach credit when they allow one player to continually be disrespectful, disruptive and an embarrassment to the program.  I don't remember his name from a year ago but he had 20+ technical fouls in his career (quoting a former Bulldog player), threw a ball off the wall underneath a basket at Adrian after giving up the layup himself, and told his coach to "F$#% off" during the game last year. Yes, I heard it myself because I was sitting behind their bench with an adrian parent.

If there is someone else at the helm, I'll whipe the slate clean. Otherwise, in my eyes, that program will never get my respect, regardless of who they defeat or how many wins they attain.

Mr. Young is tough and deserves his props!

[almcguirejr]

For what its worth, I am also reluctant to give any program or coach credit when they allow one player to continually be disrespectful, disruptive and an embarrassment to the program.  I don't remember his name from a year ago but he had 20+ technical fouls in his career (quoting a former Bulldog player), threw a ball off the wall underneath a basket at Adrian after giving up the layup himself, and told his coach to "F$#% off" during the game last year. Yes, I heard it myself because I was sitting behind their bench with an adrian parent.

He was practicing for the next level. 

[Dark Knight]

A little time with a spreadsheet and the MIAA results so far (together with a few gross assumptions, some dragon teeth and newt's eyelashes, etc.) yielded the following:

Team	Relative strength	Expected wins
Hope	15	12.3
Calvin	12.2	11.5
Olivet	6.3	9.5
Trine	4.3	8.8
Adrian	-6.3	4.6
Albion	-9.2	3.5
Kazoo	-9.3	3.5
Alma	-13	2.2

So far, it's looking like there is a big gap between the top half and the bottom half of the league.

Of course, things will no doubt change dramatically after the next round of games.

[HopeConvert]

A little time with a spreadsheet and the MIAA results so far (together with a few gross assumptions, some dragon teeth and newt's eyelashes, etc.) yielded the following:

Team	Relative strength	Expected wins
Hope	15	12.3
Calvin	12.2	11.5
Olivet	6.3	9.5
Trine	4.3	8.8
Adrian	-6.3	4.6
Albion	-9.2	3.5
Kazoo	-9.3	3.5
Alma	-13	2.2

So far, it's looking like there is a big gap between the top half and the bottom half of the league.

Of course, things will no doubt change dramatically after the next round of games.

I don't know that they will change dramatically. With the possible flipping of Trine and Adrian, it looks to me that you've produced a likely prediction of how things will turn out. It seems weird not to pencil Albion in the top half, but I think they are looking at a down year this year.

[Civic Minded]

Well, friends, it has been a sad week in the Civic household.  The person most responsible for my love of basketball, my grandmother, passed away on Friday.  She lived in central Indiana, and was a huge Hoosiers fan (the team, not the movie).  Every time we'd go to visit during basketball season, there would be a new report on what Bobby (Knight) was up to, what the new players looked like performance-wise, etc.  Her sheer enthusiasm for the sport and that particular team rubbed off on me, and look what it's gotten me into -- hanging out here with all of you.  

I remember a couple of basketball moments in particular.  One was a typical run-down on the new season and new players, with a very enthusiastic endorsement for this new freshman pg "with the cutest smile" (Isaiah Thomas -- she was a grandma after all, and was won over by the smile as much as the talent).  The other was a moment my sister-in-law just reminded me of -- my grandma (along with most of the state of Indiana at the time) was sure that Bobby had been "framed" when he was fired.     We Hoosiers do tend to be passionate about our basketball, blinders and all.

Thanks, Grandma for the memories, and the love of the game.  I'll do my best to carry on the tradition for you.

[OC_SID]

Civic Minded: my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. God Bless!

[hope_hoops1]

Sorry to hear the news, Civic Minded.   It's never easy to lose a loved one, but thank you for the reminder to appreciate those that have instilled in us values, passion and happiness, both towards life and the game of basketball.

[Happy Calvin Guy]

Happy CG:  I think it'll be important for the Knights to make sure not to look past Adrian this week.  Easy to do as Adrian has tended to be an automatic W in the past, and Hope looms on Saturday.   
  Not sure I agree with you on the above quote.  Perhaps you forgot Jan 10, 2007 when Calvin lost 79-75 at Adrian.

Didn't forget that one, just also didn't forget every other time the two teams have met in the past 4 yrs.  Maybe I shouldn't have used the term automatic but it's been over 80% consistently.  my point was that despite that Calvin should be careful not to look past them this week because I think they are an upset threat. 

[gohope]

....I'll do my best to carry on the tradition for you.

You already are!  And she's smilin'!!!

Our prayers are with you!

[GoKnights68]

It is amazing how there is no respect for anyone in the MIAA if they are not from Calvin or Hope.  Many great players from the league: Yancey, McClarey brothers, McCain, Michael Staley, and Desmond Young.  There were 10 posts on Remick (a great player by the way) scoring his 1000th pt (in a 4 yr campaign) and only a mention by bulldogallum that Desmond scored his 1000th pt in only his 55th game (barely more than 2 seasons). 

That and then happy calvin guy talking about adrian being an automatic W for Calvin.  Adrian is always a threat and now they are showing they are battle tested and can win the close game.  I feel this will be a close pivotal game in the conference this week

Happy Calvin Guy said that it's important for Calvin to NOT look past Adrian, because Adrian has usually been somewhat of an automatic W in the PAST...key word...past.

I am definitely worried about the Adrian game.  Carrying over from last season, the Knights seem to have a tough time playing on the road no matter who it is.  

I agree with oldknight in that Saturday's game did not feel like a 26 point win.  Their just wasn't a lot of offensive rythme.  I think Calvin's key to getting their good 3-point shooters open looks is by dumping it into Mantel and then having him look for the open shooter when necessary, so maybe that was a big reason why their wasn't a lot of rythme on offense.

[realist]

Welcom AC alum.  Like the other posters have said the majority of posters are either Hope or Calvin fans.  Reading back over the last 20 pages will give a person the realization that posters vary considerably in bball knowledge, and bias.  Like many long term posters I wish we would hear from more AC fans, not to mention Alma, Olivet, Albion, and don't know if anyone has ever identified themsleves as a Trine fan.
At this point I think Adrian is more than capable of knocking off most MIAA teams at home, and may snag a surprise road win or two as well.  

[sac]

It is amazing how there is no respect for anyone in the MIAA if they are not from Calvin or Hope.  Many great players from the league: Yancey, McClarey brothers, McCain, Michael Staley, and Desmond Young.  There were 10 posts on Remick (a great player by the way) scoring his 1000th pt (in a 4 yr campaign) and only a mention by bulldogallum that Desmond scored his 1000th pt in only his 55th game (barely more than 2 seasons). 

That and then happy calvin guy talking about adrian being an automatic W for Calvin.  Adrian is always a threat and now they are showing they are battle tested and can win the close game.  I feel this will be a close pivotal game in the conference this week

Welcome to the board!

For one thing, none of us were made aware that Desmond Young was nearing 1,000 points, its not an easy thing to keep track of or look up.  We have one consistent Adrian poster and he mentioned Desmond's accomplishment in his write-up,  just as the Hope posters mentioned in theirs.   I try to keep track of such milestone's myself but its not easy I and sometimes forget them,  I happened to remember Jesse was close and looked it up the night before the game, maybe that was divine intervention but it might have just been lucky.

If we had more Adrian posters, I'm sure there would have been plenty of talk.  People are going to talk about the players and teams their familiar with.  For instance I haven't seen Michael Staley play, I'd like to be able to talk and read about what impact he's having but I can't because I haven't seen him and no one has posted anything about it. 

This is very similar to the Kzoo posters who would spend the first two months of the year talking about their team and complaining about all the Hope/Calvin talk.......then disapear the minute Kzoo lost a few games.   Its been my experience that I or other Hope/Calvin posters could talk about other players on other teams, but its never enough to satisfy the other side of the fence.   I think we've had plenty of praise for guys like Michael Thomas, Travis DePree, Brian Schaeffer, Billy Collins over the years, just to name a few. 



For the second part about Adrian being 'automatic', yeah that was begging for  some research.

2004   Adrian 76 Calvin 62
2005   Calvin 70 Adrian 69
2006   Calvin 90 Adrian 69
2007   Adrian 79 Calvin 75
2008   Calvin 79 Adrian 67

But, Calvin has usually won these games by double-digits.  The last 5 trips to Adrian have been tricky for them.

[hope1]

civic  you will be in our prayers to 

[bulldogalum]

Good Grief, it looks as though I've stumbled upon a train wreck involving my alma mater.  I guess I must note that I really disagree with hoopdreams' characterization of this Adrian team, particularly if hoopdreams has not seen Adrian play this year.  Time will tell, of course, but I think Adrian is better than a "can beat you if they have their best and you're at your worst" kind of team.  Matter of fact, I think the Bulldogs can beat anyone this year if they bring their best stuff.  Again, time will tell.

Also, hoopdreams, I think the attacks on Coach Riley are unwarranted.  Clearly, you're entitled to your opinion, but I certainly wish you'd not be so quick to made a judgment about the character of a coach with as many years of experience as Coach Riley has.  I wonder if you've ever met the guy, been to practice, or whether you're familiar with the situation concerning the player in question.  To completely lose respect for a program because of one ugly incident and a few hearsay statements is, to my mind, unfortunate.

As for hype leading up to or following Desmond's 1000th point, to be honest, I had no idea until they announced it after the game.  Had I known, I would have mentioned it in a pregame post.  I think most everyone on this board would agree that Desmond is one of the better players in the league, and by virtue of being a 2 time first team all MIAA player, I would suppose that it's at very least an accurate view to hold.  Whether he winds up being the MVP or not will, sadly, depend largely on how the Bulldogs fare in the conference this year and on how he does against the other great players in the league.  I haven't seen Reimink play this year (though I'm looking forward to it), but I can't imagine he's head and shoulders better than Desmond.

As for Staley, I know many posters here haven't seen him, and I'll be interested, as we go through the league, to hear what you folks think about him.  I think he's an All MIAA kind of player, but we'll see how the season develops.

Regarding the Calvin game in a couple of days, I hope that Calvin looks past us and considers it an automatic win, but I'm sure they won't do that.  This is a veteran Calvin team, and I think they know better than to look past anyone, especially on the road, in this league.  The key matchup for me, if it develops, will be to see how the Adrian big guys play against Mantel.  I know Mantel is a heck of a player, but so far this year, I've been happy with how Adrian's big guys (especially Wayne, Asher and Primley) have showed up and competed every game.  If they're successful against Mantel, or if Mantel doesn't play, I've got to believe Adrian has a great chance to get to 3-0.