MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[ziggy]

I see this in hockey and soccer all the time.

Jean-Sebastian Giguere, Mikka Kiprusoff, and Dwayne Roloson come to mind...

[realist]

Sac:  I pretty much agree with your thoughts on this weeks games.  I am a little surprised that you did not mention the potential impact that some of the injured players may have on the outcomes. 
Looking at the season to date results in the pick-em contest is proof this is not a typical MIAA season, and the main point is no clear-cut 3/4 team at least at this point.

[hope1]

sac  of all the teams you posted there i think adrian  will go 2-0  both home games and i think olivet will go 0-2  with the  touhgest  at hope at adrian

[ziggy]

Looking at the season to date results in the pick-em contest is proof this is not a typical MIAA season, and the main point is no clear-cut 3/4 team at least at this point.

I already put my picks for saturday in, and they were the hardest set I can remember in the last few years.  Assigning confidence points to those games is no easy task, let alone picking a winner.

[NW Hope Fan]

We've recently discussed the merits of the leading candidates for league MVP. I wonder, If Hope or Calvin should win the season championship, but somehow Adrian pulls off the tourney title and get the AQ, does that increase Desmond Young's chance of the title, or does that get voted on before the tournament? Has that ever happened before??? This year is as good a chance as ever for this scenario to work out...

[goodknight]

Hi everyone. Just a few thoughts. First, I'm glad folks here love their teams so much. I think that's great. And I have learned A LOT from the many posters here, especially since I'm relatively new to the MIAA. Second, I enjoy reading constructive analyses of the games. Unfortunately, the good stuff gets bogged down with all of the petty arguments and wisecracks, etc. So...I'm wondering if, in the name of good sportsmanship, we all could feel secure enough to cheer on our team and coach, etc. without needing to tear down someone else's team and coach, etc. I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to make some sarcastic remark but have checked myself because it doesn't help anyone and it doesn't really add anything positive to the discussion. So, just a friendly encouragement to stay positive, let things slide, and help make this board an informative, good-natured site that we can all enjoy.

I strongly agree.

[realist]

NWH: 
Only once since 2000 has the MVP come from a team other than the MIAA champion.  06 Dupree MVP, and Calvin champion.
5 times since 00 the team that won the tourney did not have the mvp.
If memory serves correct the MVP is determined before the tourney, but I can't find the selection criteria on the MIAA site.

[ChicagoHopeNut]

GVW's interview with the Press after Hope "lost the score, but not the game."

WTH is that supposed to mean? Complete nonsense.

Thanks for the post.  I asked myself the same question.  I think this one goes on the  list with moral victory etc. etc. etc.   

In sports (especially basketball, hockey also comes to mind..)) it is possible to completely outplay the other team and lose the game.  GVW means...he is happy with how Hope competed and how they played...except for the shooting percentage.  That is something that happens in a season.  You will have a game where NO ONE is making anything....

Bob Knight said it best:  " In a 30 game season, you will have about 6 games where you shoot so good, you cant believe it, 6 games where you shoot so bad, that cant be your team....and the rest is who your team really is." 

I see this in hockey and soccer all the time.

I'd been thinking those two sports for awhile. In hockey a goalie playing possessed can keep a terrible team in a game all night. Soccer has the same potential plus its a low scoring affair typically so one or two good counterattacks may be all a team gets in a game but that is still enough sometimes.

[GoKnights68]

Calvin will have opportunity to validate the game at least one more time this year.  If Hope shoots 3 for 24 on mostly unguarded 3 pointers again, they will probably lose again.   

Some grumpy people on here today....

I pretty sure the game was validated on 1/17 when they won.  Maybe they'll beat hope again, maybe not.

Does anybody know which MIAA teams give up the most open 3's?  This could be an interesting statistic.

I checked the box scores but they don't show the number of open shots taken.  For some inexplicable reason it only lists shots attempted and shots made.  Calvin leads the league in FG% defense, but since they obviously just give up open shots they must be doing something unorthodox.  Perhaps KVS has developed some sort of aura or force field that causes opponents shot to miss for no reason.  I would suggest the Knollcrest dining hall food has something to do with it, but this is a pretty veteran team so they aren't fed on campus.  The mystery continues...

responses like this one are a major reason this isn't a very fun place to talk basketball anymore.

A joke about Calvin's dining hall food offends you?

[calvinite]

Hi everyone. Just a few thoughts. First, I'm glad folks here love their teams so much. I think that's great.  So...I'm wondering if, in the name of good sportsmanship, we all could feel secure enough to cheer on our team and coach, etc. without needing to tear down someone else's team and coach, etc. I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to make some sarcastic remark but have checked myself because it doesn't help anyone and it doesn't really add anything positive to the discussion. So, just a friendly encouragement to stay positive, let things slide, and help make this board an informative, good-natured site that we can all enjoy.

Sac and Goodnight have already expressed their agreement with this post, but I also wanted to express my thanks for the quoted post. For some of us, posting can be very intimidating. The bickering can be very tedious--especially on very subjective opinions that won't ever be resolved anyway. I enjoy these posts, but let's try not to make the arguing personal. I'm interested in why, for example, Calvin didn't play well; I'm not all that interested in the "I told you so", the sarcastic comments, or any of the bravado. I don't want to be 'negative' in a post where I'm asking others not to be negative, but it would be a shame to lose posters because of a few negative posts.

Thanks.

[GoKnights68]

NWH: 
Only once since 2000 has the MVP come from a team other than the MIAA champion.  06 Dupree MVP, and Calvin champion.
5 times since 00 the team that won the tourney did not have the mvp.
If memory serves correct the MVP is determined before the tourney, but I can't find the selection criteria on the MIAA site.

I am pretty sure you mean Brandon Crawford in '06.  In 2005, Dupree won the MVP and Albion won the league outright.  In 2006, Calvin won the league, and Crawford won the MVP/

[KnightSlappy]

A hockey goalie is a participating member of a hockey team just like forwards are.  If a goalie is making rediculous saves then he and his team are outplaying the other teams.  No points are awarded for a shot that would have light the lamp in 99% of situations.  You tried hard you didn't connect. In the same light, no points are awarded for taken "open" shots all night long.  If you can't stay focused and knock down the shots you don't get points.  Of course, you can take positive things from a loss just like you can find negatives in a win.  You can outplay the other team for 39 minutes but if you lose because of the other 1 minute, you got outplayed for the game.  I don't believe in moral victories, I just believe in getting better.

I wish there was a place where rivals could be rivals.  Poking fun at each other and taking schoolyard cracks is part of the reason why I post here.  Feelings shouldn't be hurt and offense should not be taken over things written in on a message board.  We don't always hold hands and sing songs and I think that makes it fun.  If you don't like a comment, don't respond.  I know that many posters on here respond or comment just to "stir the pot."  sac, among others, usually has great analysis of games and MIAA history and I love reading about other games that I didn't see but I also love to see him go back and forth with ziggy about whose comment was more rediculous.  Loosen up people.  D3 basketball is fun.  Getting your rival school's posters all riled up is fun. Posting is fun.  Reading other people's posts is fun.

[HopeConvert]

In sports (especially basketball, hockey also comes to mind..)) it is possible to completely outplay the other team and lose the game. 

I strongly disagree.

With all due respect, then you probably didn't see the recent Hope/Calvin hockey game.  In almost all aspects and categories, Calvin did outplay Hope through the three regulation periods, the overtime period and the Shootout, with the exception that Hope's goalie won the game by stopping one more Shootout shot than Calvin's.  We're talking semantics here, however, I think that many people would agree with dz.

Goalkeeping is part of the game, no? And the goalie, despite his idiosyncrasies, is part of the team.

This is a case where the word "almost" means a lot. To me, the quintessential example of this dynamic is the '85 NCAA DI Championship game. I don't think anyone doubted that Georgetown was the better team, and that they would beat Villanova 9 out of 10 times they played, but Villanova had one of those ridiculous shooting nights against a team that was legendary for holding teams to low FG%. No matter how you slice it, however, it was Villanova holding the walnut and bronze and not the Hoyas. So in a sense none of the other stuff really matters. It's something you tell yourself to make yourself feel better, and there's really nothing wrong with that, so long as you don't take it to the point of delusion. I don't sense that any posters on this board, or coaches in the league, have lost touch with reality.

[oldknight]

 I'd welcome a mature discussion of the Hope/Calvin game, or the Albion/Calvin game (which I saw in person but won't discuss here).  Maybe some day...

I was pleased when sac attended the Albion/Calvin game and shared his thoughts. I think visitors to this board would also like to read your comments on that game.

[ChicagoHopeNut]

Loosen up people.  D3 basketball is fun.  Getting your rival school's posters all riled up is fun. Posting is fun.  Reading other people's posts is fun.

Picturing Dick Vitale yelling this quote at the top of his lungs while a vein pops in his forehead really adds some zest too. And its fun baby!