MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[oldknight]

I was able to pick up a portion of the post game with KVS and one comment he made really grabbed my attention. He obviously had mixed feelings because the high and low points in play demonstrated by his guys seemed to be a bit frustrating; but Coach openly stated that what he saw this weekend makes him believe this team could be even better than he thought they might be. He then added (this is a bit of a paraphrase because I'm going from memory here): "We found out that when we play with a sense of urgency and rebound with some passion, we can beat any team in the country, and when we don't anyone can beat us." Bold words from a someone who normally keeps his strongest feelings close to the vest, but I found them to be encouraging. KVS doesn't have a history of overstating the qualities of his teams. He expects a lot from this group and that's fine with me because so do I.

[KnightSlappy]

Trine's gonna beat North Park. Up 8 with under a minute to play. A good win for the Thunder.

[sac]

Trine 83 North Park 74

Ian Jackson led the way with 33 points, Tim Pearcy 10...Trine shot the ball at a nearly 60% clip.  34 of NP's 57 shots were 3's

Trine is now 6-1 and carrying the in-region record load for the MIAA very nicely at 5-1.



Adrian 68  Notre Dame (Ohio) 62  OT

Adrian lost a double-digit lead in regulation, which saw neither team score a single point in the last 2 minutes.  In OT Adrian scored the first 12 points to lead 62-50 and hung on for the win.

Cody Barnes 12, Mitch Gabriele 12, Wesley Reed 11, Delano Collins 10, Ray Reed 10.........Collins also had 10 assists.



The weekend puts the MIAA at 23-24.......I believe its also 11-8 in-region.  Some pretty tough games at the end of next week, including Albion/Carthage, Trine/DePauw  and Olivet takes on GVSU and Spring Arbor.

[Dark Knight]

Carthage outrebounded Calvin 18-15 in the first half, and in the second it was Calvin, 28-15. In that first half, Carthage got 9 offensive boards to Calvin's 8 defensive nabs. It looks as though if Calvin rebounded as hard in the first half as the second, they'd have won. As it was, they made a very nice comeback in the second half, outscoring Carthage 46-32 in an 18-minute span of the second half.

I have to agree with VandeStreek's sentiment: when Calvin plays well, they can play with anyone in the country. But they are young, make lots of mistakes, don't run the offense very effectively at times, don't rebound as hard as they can at times, etc. That will improve over the course of the year and they have the potential for playing very well by the end of the year.

Hope has the potential for playing very well as well, and based on the last two games are playing better than Calvin. Unfortunately for Calvin, that could mean they are going to have to get a Pool C bid to get into the tourney. Fortunately, all of their losses are out of region!

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Thoughts from the games at Carthage:

Hope has continued to improve every game. I was extremely impressed with Hope's ability to learn from Friday - losing an 8 point lead in the last 5 minutes - yet in the same situation on Saturday they finished strong, despite feeling like every call went against them. This Hope team never quits and really plays hard.  Great to see such valuable contributions from the sophomores.

Interesting to note that in the 4 games at Carthage this weekend no team that outrebounded their opponent won a game.

[devossed]

This Hope team never quits and really plays hard.  Great to see such valuable contributions from the sophomores.

...which means kudos to carlson, kopas, and aldrich for their preparation of these guys on the JV level last year!

[realist]

Can any Calvin supporter give me a reason why this stat line is in the box score from yesterday?

22 Brian Haverdink.....    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   3   0  1  0  0  0  24
Is this guy allergic to the ball?     In 24 minutes he misses the one 3 pt shot he takes, gets no rebounds, commits 3 fouls, but does serve up 1 assist.

[hoopdreams]

did not attend the games, but if Snikkers took 22 shots, powell 7-8, etc... that doesn't leave many extras to go around.  If I were a Calvin fan, I would be concerned with scenario's where they forget the "team" concept, and settle for 1 on 1 stuff- Snikkers, Powell, and schneyders (sp) preference of attack.  When this occurs, it leaves those really unable to create their own offense (Rodts, Haverdink, etc..) to stand on the perimeter, and well, stand on the perimeter.

[KnightSlappy]

I'll be concerned with Tom Snikkers taking too many shots when he stops shooting well over 50% in doing so.

[oldknight]

did not attend the games, but if Snikkers took 22 shots, powell 7-8, etc... that doesn't leave many extras to go around.  If I were a Calvin fan, I would be concerned with scenario's where they forget the "team" concept, and settle for 1 on 1 stuff- Snikkers, Powell, and schneyders (sp) preference of attack.  When this occurs, it leaves those really unable to create their own offense (Rodts, Haverdink, etc..) to stand on the perimeter, and well, stand on the perimeter.

The irony of your post today is quite rich. KVS must have anticipated your question because he answered it in yesterday's post-game. He mentioned that when the Knights spread the scoring around they get cricticized for not having a go-to guy and when someone scores 33 they get criticized for not being balanced.

[realist]

Nice try hoopdreams!  However, the failure to get either an offensive or defensive rebound reflects more on that specific player than it does on how others play.  Thanks for helping me make the point.      
Does one really want a guy who "can't [won't] create their own offense" playing 24 minutes?  
If, a guy, who averages 22 minutes p.t. per game, averages 5 points per games, and 1.9 rebounds per game is one of your 7 best players, and merits the p.t. (logically becuse he is better than those getting less p.t)  doesn't this tell you a great deal about the teams depth and talent level?
If a guy is getting 10+% of the p.t. is it asking so much for him to carry part of the load?  I don't think getting 13 out of 282 rebounds is doing a fair share.  4 others with  less p.t. have higher rebound totals.

[hoopdreams]

sometimes I think stats are a bit misleading, and it amuses me when coaches grab the stats at half and huddle up.  Maybe Haverdink didn't grab any boards.  More importantly, did the person he was defending, or the person in his area where he boxed out, gather any offensive rebounds?  He may not (insert anyone's name) have any steals but does he rotate defensively and take away a scoring opportunity or force a contested shot instead of giving up a clean look?  There are lots of things a stat line cannot possibly show and those little "unnoticables" often times are the difference in tight games.  No disrespect, but the player in question (cannot talk negatively) is pretty limited with what he brings to the table.  He does one thing well, but like every other shooter, has his ups and downs.  What is Powell shooting % from the floor the last 4 games?   

[hoopdreams]

not to upset anyone, my previous post should have closed with..... "what is your starting pg/sg shooting % the last 4 games?"  He'll respond and have some huge games.  That's what shooters do. Ride the hot hand

[realist]

Quoting Hoopdreams: "He does one thing well, but like every other shooter,........."  BH. is a shooter?  He averages .387 (well below the team average of .444).  BP averages .370.  One might justify some p.t. if BH is doing all those other things you listed Hoopdreams, but with his shooting % he should really pass the ball off to TS, and spend his time doing those "unnoticables" he excels at doing.   BH definitely leads the team in "unnoticables".  

"No disrespect, but the player in question (cannot talk negatively) is pretty limited with what he brings to the table. "   Thanks once again for making my point. 
A shooter that doesn't shoot, a rebounder that doesn't rebound, and a guy that plays 24 minutes with no impact on the game are all of equal value.

[Civic Minded]

I know this board attracts at least a few diehard followers of Chicago's National League ballclub, so it seems appropriate to mention the passing last night of Ron Santo at the age of 70.  Santo was the Cubs' third baseman in the 60s and 70s and more recently has been a color commentator well known for bleeding Cubbie blue in the WGN radio booth.  Santo died of complications from bladder cancer, according to the Chicago Tribune report today. 

R.I.P. Ronnie.  Thanks for many, many great childhood memories.  You'll be missed.