MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[realist]

Aquinas 70
Olivet 63

http://www.aquinas.edu/athletics/box111610.html

Olivet outrebounded by 11.  McClary only 5 rebounds

Interesting both Olivet, and AQ are showing starting 3 guards.  

2 of 6 is .333   I was really thinking Olivet had a good shot against a weaker than normal AQ.

FWIW I got an e-mail from a guy at Davenport, and he couldn't get their web site on his computer at the scorers table either.

[oldknight]

For anyone at the first ever Calvin/Davenport game it's hard to believe the Knights outrebounded the Panthers but that's what the stats say. Down the stretch Calvin repeatedly broke down on defense thereby giving up easy second and third shots or fouling Davenport players. After what I thought was a good first half of defense when Calvin gave up only 32 (and that included several fast break layups after turnovers) the Knights could not sustain the intensity. The last 12 minutes of the first half when Calvin really took it to Davenport, we saw the type of team Calvin can be but they're a work in progress right now and will be for while.

[Knight2Day]

For anyone at the first ever Calvin/Davenport game it's hard to believe the Knights outrebounded the Panthers but that's what the stats say. Down the stretch Calvin repeatedly broke down on defense thereby giving up easy second and third shots or fouling Davenport players. After what I thought was a good first half of defense when Calvin gave up only 32 (and that included several fast break layups after turnovers) the Knights could not sustain the intensity. The last 12 minutes of the first half when Calvin really took it to Davenport, we saw the type of team Calvin can be but they're a work in progress right now and will be for while.

Can't say I understood the subbing by KVS.... Brink plays steady the whole game at PG, Vallie plays well for the 5 mins he saw, Deboer plays steady, Haverdink plays well....yet he plays Powell who was turnover prone at times and somewhat out of control and Schnyders who maybe saw 4 minutes in the first 30 and then played (from what I remember) the last 5 minutes of the game. I'll try to keep myself from ranting however, it's only the first game of the season and the Knights are working out the kinks in the armor but at times they most certainly looked promising. Was pleasantly surprised by Deyoung for the Knights, he's going to need to play well for the Knights especially playing against teams such as Olivet and Hope.

[Happy Calvin Guy]

I made the trek down to DU last night.  Here's a few thoughts:

--It is GREAT to be watching Knight basketball again.  It was so much fun to be there and contrary to some of the early posts, I am very encouraged by what I see in this young team.
--DU has a really nice facility, and it was easy in and out of there.
--Team defense had some breakdowns but it seems that everyone is buying into the system and I expect to see those breakdowns decline as the season wears on.  DU had a big size and quickness advantage and was able to exploit that a few times.
--Turnovers were a huge problem.  This was the difference maker.  There were lots of sloppy passes, bad decision making, and miscommunication by the Knights and DU took advantage.
--We outrebounded DU, which is great to see since DU is big on the front line and that is a concern losing the size of Mantel/Veltema/Campbell (great to see Matt V roaming the sidelines by the way!)
--I was generally impressed by the play of our freshmen Brink and Vallie.  None of the other freshmen played.  Does anyone know if Kruis was hurt?

Grading out the Knights:
--Tom Snikkers:  A-.  He could be the leader this team needs.  Doesn't matter that he doesn't have "Sr" after his name.  Played with great intensity and heart, and was rewarded by top scoring honors.  We even had him bringing the ball up the court some during crunch time.  3 missed FT's, otherwise I'd give him an A.
--Danny Rodts:  B+.  Danny is Danny and I believe he is a very good player.  Quietly fills the stat sheet and is very reliable.  Great quick release.  Point total was padded by a couple in garbage time in the last minute.
--Brent Schuster:  B.  Held his own against the bigs of DU, got some great rebounds and hit a few shots.  Would love to see something of a post game though.
--Bryan Powell:  C-.  Way too many turnovers and many should be avoided.  Dribbling a lot into triple teams.  did have a nice finish on a couple of hoops.  Took a huge hit that he was called for a blocking foul.  Great toughness to bounce back from that full speed collision.
--Jordan Brink:  B.  Could have been our most reliable ball handler on the floor, great poise for a freshman.  Hit a great fall away three pointer that could have been a four point play if the ref called the foul.  Did rush a 3-ball early in the shot clock after a great offensive board by the Knights.
--Adam DeYoung:  A-.  Great defense, improved quickness, and the bulk we need down low.  Had some great flat-footed rebounds due to just taking up space.  Great confidence on a made 15 foot jumper that was his only shot attempt. 
--Brad Schnyders:  B-.  Great to see him hit 4 of 4 free throws.  He appears much more comfortable at the line than last year, which is important since he gets to the line a lot.  Nice arc and rotation.  Also he had a nice dish for a bucket on a fast break--nice to see him looking to pass too rather than just take it himself.  Still a couple of bad turnovers. 
--Brian Haverdink:  A.  Great shooting, confidence.  After reports of him hitting a bunch of 3's in the scrimmage, I believe it after watching him last night.  Played a solid game all around and could be a nice surprise for the Knights this year. 
-Matt DeBoer, Mitch Vallie:  Not many minutes here so tough to grade but I'm impressed with what they brought to the table. 
Trent Salo:  hate to see him on crutches, not putting any weight on the bad leg.  Get well soon!

[Happy Calvin Guy]

From MIAA.org:

Calvin Leads Commissioner's Cup Standings
Overall Standings: 1. Calvin 90. 2. Hope 86. 3. Adrian 63. 4. Alma 55. 5. Trine 52. 6. Olivet 48. 7. Albion 47. 8. Kalamazoo 39.

Men's All-Sports Standings: 1. Calvin 41. 1. Hope 41. 3. Adrian 35. 4. Trine 34. 5. Albion 27. 6. Alma 17. 7. Olivet 16. 8. Kalamazoo 13.

Women's All-Sports Standings: 1. Calvin 49. 2. Hope 45. 3. Alma 38. 4. Olivet 32. 4. Saint Mary's 32. 6. Adrian 28. 7. Kalamazoo 26. 8. Albion 20. 9. Trine 18.

[oldknight]

Some random thoughts following Calvin's loss to Davenport:

-What a surprise to see that Lee Lamberts covered the game for the Holland Sentinel. It's a pretty fair report too.

http://www.hollandsentinel.com/sports/x290100098/First-opponent-for-Hope-mens-basketball-beats-Calvin-improves-to-5-0

-As others have noted, playing NAIA teams in November--whose practice and regular seasons begin several weeks before D3--creates a pretty uneven playing field. This game would have had a different result if played after January. To his credit, Davenport's coach acknowledged this in his post game comments in which he is quoted as saying:

"I think us having four games under our belts and them not having any was kind of telling in the last five minutes of the game," Davenport coach Burt Paddock said. "In a tough game like this, I don't care what you do in practice, you can't put them in a situation where they are that tired."

-We will notice improvement in the Knights when their defense and turnover situations get settled. The second half was miserable and a disappointment after a pretty decent showing in the first half. You can't win games when your opponent scores 56 points in just 20 minutes--24 of them in the last six. Even with Calvin turning the ball over 21 times they would have won with just a little better effort on the defensive end.

-The new offense KVS has installed seems likely to result in more assists. Last year, Calvin had 311 assists in 28 games--just over 11 per game. The Knights had 15 against Ferris Saturday and 20 last night.

[wiz]

Grading out the Knights:

Not so sure this is an appropritate route to take with these young student athletes.  Certainly not after one game.

[Knight2Day]

Grading out the Knights:

Not so sure this is an appropritate route to take with these young student athletes.  Certainly not after one game.

Really wiz? Might not want to hurt anyone's feelings with telling them what they can do better, that might lead to the players actually correcting mistakes...oh my....

[sflzman]

From MIAA.org:

Calvin Leads Commissioner's Cup Standings
Overall Standings: 1. Calvin 90. 2. Hope 86. 3. Adrian 63. 4. Alma 55. 5. Trine 52. 6. Olivet 48. 7. Albion 47. 8. Kalamazoo 39.

Men's All-Sports Standings: 1. Calvin 41. 1. Hope 41. 3. Adrian 35. 4. Trine 34. 5. Albion 27. 6. Alma 17. 7. Olivet 16. 8. Kalamazoo 13.

Women's All-Sports Standings: 1. Calvin 49. 2. Hope 45. 3. Alma 38. 4. Olivet 32. 4. Saint Mary's 32. 6. Adrian 28. 7. Kalamazoo 26. 8. Albion 20. 9. Trine 18.

I would love to be Calvin in the Men's Standings - so good you don't even need football to finish first....

[sflzman]

Grading out the Knights:

Not so sure this is an appropritate route to take with these young student athletes.  Certainly not after one game.

Really? So what's the difference between the 22 year old senior in college getting graded, and the 19 year old NBA rookie being graded? Does anyone complain about that? They're adults....not kids anymore.....

[ziggy]

Grading out the Knights:

Not so sure this is an appropritate route to take with these young student athletes.  Certainly not after one game.

Really wiz? Might not want to hurt anyone's feelings with telling them what they can do better, that might lead to the players actually correcting mistakes...oh my....

Dodgeball is not an MIAA sanction sport, coincidence? I think not.

[sac]

Here's a list of the in-region games MIAA teams will be playing this season.  Game's in ()'s are potential matchups in tournaments.

Adrian
Dec 15  @ Defiance

Albion  1-0
Albion 66 Ohio Wesleyan 57
Nov 19  vs Kenyon
Nov 23  vs Heidelberg
(Dec 30  @ Defiance)

Alma
Dec 8 @ Heidelberg
Dec 10 vs Oberlin
Dec 17 vs Finlandia

Calvin
(Nov 20  vs either Heidelberg or Ohio Wesleyan)
(Nov 27 vs Hope at Aquinas)
(Dec 30 vs DePauw at Elmhurst)

Hope
(Nov 27 vs Calvin at Aquinas)
Dec 4 vs Wheaton at Carthage
Dec 21 vs Lake Forest at Orlando
Dec 22 vs Dominican at Orlando

Kalamazoo 0-1
Defiance 90 Kalamazoo 76
Nov 20  vs Anderson
Nov 23  vs Manchester
Nov 27  @ Bluffton
Dec 4    @ Kenyon
Dec 6    vs Oberlin
Dec 9    @ Elmhurst
Dec 11  vs Chicago
Dec 29  vs Geneva at Case Western
(Dec 30  vs Earlham or Case Western at Case Western)

Olivet
Nov 22  @ Anderson
Nov 27  @ Case Western
Dec 1    vs Elmhurst


Trine   0-1
Franklin 89 Trine 86 OT
(Nov 20 at Mt. St. Joseph)
Nov 23  vs Mt. Union
Nov 27  vs Heidelberg
Dec 1    vs Ohio Northern
Dec 4    @ North Park
Dec 11  @ DePauw
Dec 21  vs Dominican


29 for sure  matchups 7 more maybe's,  16 involve Trine or Kalamazoo...So root hard for the Hornets and Thunder.

[Happy Calvin Guy]

Grading out the Knights:

Not so sure this is an appropritate route to take with these young student athletes.  Certainly not after one game.

Sorry to offend anyone.  I tried to keep everything pretty positive and since a good number of Calvin fans probably weren't at the game, I thought that folks would be interested in how the guys looked, individually as well as collectively.  My grades were based simply on last night's performance and not on the players in general.  Either way, I can refrain in the future if this type of post is frowned upon. Again, sorry.

[wiz]

Grading out the Knights:

Not so sure this is an appropritate route to take with these young student athletes.  Certainly not after one game.

Sorry to offend anyone.  I tried to keep everything pretty positive and since a good number of Calvin fans probably weren't at the game, I thought that folks would be interested in how the guys looked, individually as well as collectively.  My grades were based simply on last night's performance and not on the players in general.  Either way, I can refrain in the future if this type of post is frowned upon. Again, sorry.

I think you did about as good a job as anyone could with this and my intention was not to call you out personally.  I just think it's playing with dynamite to get into a grading system at the DIII level.  I know sports writers like to do the grading thing all the time.  Many of them, however, are people like me that couldn't make a college basketball team if our dad was the coach.  I just think we leave the grading up to the coach.  That's my personal opinion and I know many will disagree but I just don't think it's helpful.  Enough said.

Moving on, I was pleased with the comments of KVS as I think he put it all in good perspective.   This is a young team and let's look at them again after they get about 10 games under the belt.  That's a long ways into the season but I suspect the team will look quite differently.  Good to hear that those who saw the game all thought there is great potential here and that the new offense looks like it will be a bit more exciting this year.  His defense is difficult to learn and always seems to be late in the season before it starts working the way it should.  And with the scheduling of game experienced NAIA teams in the early season, I think Calvin fans will just need to get used to the fact that Calvin will often go into the conference season with an overall losing record.  But, hopefully that too helps with the "process" that KVS says cannot be cut short.

[arena]

Grading out the Knights:

Not so sure this is an appropritate route to take with these young student athletes.  Certainly not after one game.

Sorry to offend anyone.  I tried to keep everything pretty positive and since a good number of Calvin fans probably weren't at the game, I thought that folks would be interested in how the guys looked, individually as well as collectively.  My grades were based simply on last night's performance and not on the players in general.  Either way, I can refrain in the future if this type of post is frowned upon. Again, sorry.

keep up the good work.  It was an interesting read and I appreciate it.  Too many here appear to think that these players are mentally weak and may break like ancient china at some perceived slight.