MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[sac]

around the league


Alma 76 Trine 75

quite a shocker, chalk it up to tough to win anywhere on the road in the MIAA these days.    Alma came back from 11 down with just under 13 to play to win.

Trine:  Ian Jackson 22, Scott Rogers 15, Noah Veach 10
Alma:  Brett Lackie 16, Greg Silverthorne 14, Cory Schneider 12, Tommy Erickson 12



Adrian 62 Kalamazoo 48

Adrian took away Prepolec and Clark, Kzoo's primary offensive weapons.  46 turnovers between the two teams.

Adrian:  Delano Collins 13, Jovon Mosley 11, Wesley Reed 10
Kzoo:  Eric Fishman 21



Albion 77 Olivet 69

Looks to be a close game throughout.  Albion went to the line 41 times, and made 8 more than Olivet for the margin of victory.  Albion holds Nathan Jennings to just 2 points.


Albion:  JC Cruse 22, Chris Hutton 17, Kyle McDonald 14
Olivet:  Michael McClary 29pts, 12 rebounds   S-T-U-D,  Andre Evans 14


Standings  +1 for road win/-1 for home loss
Adrian  1-0     0
Albion   1-0     +1
Alma    1-0     0
Calvin   1-0    +1
Hope    0-1    -1
Kzoo    0-1   
Olivet   0-1    -1
Trine    0-1


Saturday, January 8
Alma at Albion, 3 p.m.
Kalamazoo at Calvin, 3 p.m.
Hope at Trine, 3 p.m. 
Adrian at Olivet, 3 p.m.

[sac]

A couple of things I learned from the radio and TV guys (not fact checked): This is the biggest Calvin win in the Rivalry since 1995 and the biggest ever loss by Hope at DeVos. Also, VandeStreek's record in MIAA openers remains perfect--he's now 15-0.

Actually Calvin beat Hope in the 2005 MIAA tourney semi finals by 21 points.

I guess maybe they met this was the largest margin of victory for Calvin for a regular season Calvin/Hope game, which, of course, isn't including pre-conference match-ups, conference tourney, or national tourney match-ups in this case.   

I'm going to guess the radio guys mis-spoke and meant 2005, since Hope was unbeaten in the regular season in 1995.


The previous biggest loss at DeVos was 12, to Aquinas 2 years ago.

[GoKnights68]

A couple of things I learned from the radio and TV guys (not fact checked): This is the biggest Calvin win in the Rivalry since 1995 and the biggest ever loss by Hope at DeVos. Also, VandeStreek's record in MIAA openers remains perfect--he's now 15-0.

Actually Calvin beat Hope in the 2005 MIAA tourney semi finals by 21 points.

I guess maybe they met this was the largest margin of victory for Calvin for a regular season Calvin/Hope game, which, of course, isn't including pre-conference match-ups, conference tourney, or national tourney match-ups in this case.   

I'm going to guess the radio guys mis-spoke and meant 2005, since Hope was unbeaten in the regular season in 1995.


The previous biggest loss at DeVos was 12, to Aquinas 2 years ago.

Ah I should have thought of that right away, considering Hope never lost to Calvin from '95 to '98.


a random side-bit:

I went to the wiki page for the Calvin/Hope rivalry a half hour ago and it actually said 89-86 that Hope leads the series, which means it was 2 games behind (it was 90-86 going into tonight's game).  Hope now leads 90-87... and yes I updated it.



Well good luck to everyone Saturday.  I hope all the injured players can all heal has quickly as possible.

[arena]

This was probably the first Calvin/Hope game where I was not concerned with Hope maintaining any run and putting Calvin away.  I really didn't see the intensity on the defensive end the entire game.  From my view, most of Calvin's turnovers were due to extremely poor ball handling and decisions by Calvin's guards.  When Hope made their only run of the game at the end of the first half, we saw the best Hope had that game.  (Not to say we won't see better play the rest of the season.  In fact, this game may be a wake up for Hope in what they have to do to win consistently, but time will tell.)

Brad Schnyders baffles me.  He plays with such intensity.  But he makes some poor decisions.  I'd like him to tone it down a bit, but that would take away from what he does best, be intense.  As long as he makes his free throws he gets from driving wildly to the basket, I'm ok with what he does.  

Let Schuster shoot whenever he wants and from wherever he wants.

Ty Tanis will break someone's heart when he hits a game winning three sometime this year.

[maroonandgold]

With all the discussion about size being or not being a factor, I took a look at the stats for last night's Calvin-Hope game.  Since the largest numbers of rebounds for Calvin were 10 for Schuster (the tallest player on the court) and the second largest number for Kruis (the second tallest), the evidence appears to say that height did make a difference.  I had found it interesting that for quite a noticeable time, both Schuster and Kruis were in the game together.  That appeared to be a strategy of taking advantage of size. 

As far as the comment reflecting one coach coaching better than the other, I find less evidence of that than of senior leadership really being a big factor.  Senior leadership showed in scoring, protecting the ball near the end of the game (with exceptions), and keeping the team focused to avoid the terrible stretches that have plagued Calvin throughout the pre-league season.

[sflzman]

Although it is never a surprise whatever happens in a Hope-Calvin game, it comes as a big surprise that Alma won after Trine had such a strong record before the league season.  I think many of us expected a stronger start from Olivet, too, after they had played such tough competition even though we know that Albion is always competitive.   I have to agree that the league games will be a dogfight all the way, and the league champion may have more losses than we are used to seeing.  It would not surprise me to see the champion with three losses or more.

I know most wouldn't beleive 100% a person with an oblivious Alma bias, but when they're playing the way they can play, there's not a team in the conference they can't play with.  Terry Smith's last recruiting class was great, and this Men's Basketball team is starting to do what I've said our Alma teams have needed to do for a long time: Get the best players from Northern Michigan and the UP...that's our one advantage recruiting over every other team in the conference and we don't use it with most of our teams...

Charlie Goffnett is also a great coach.  He's past his prime, and no longer, in my opinion, has the desire to put in the hours to recruit a good basketball team, but he loves to coach, and knows what he's doing. He's coached one of the 4 teams all time to ever win a nation Championship game.  This Alma team lead by a lone senior, and two juniors, ahs a great freshman class, that will contribute greatly this season...we are undersized, but know how to crash the boards, and actually out-rebounded Trine last night.

[maroonandgold]

The comments about coaches remind of the fact that was mentioned earlier that since Coach Vander Streek has been at Calvin the team has won every single MIAA opener.  Although I did not credit the coaches as being the big factor in the Calvin-Hope game, that record of winning opener must be a lot more than just luck.  I have also noticed that Calvin seems to get stronger as the season progresses on a rather consistent basis.  So even though I would not take one game as being all the coaches, I do think a record like that over many years speak loudly.

[Happy Calvin Guy]

some on this board have disputed my comment that KVS outcoached Neil last night.  Here's where I draw that conclusion from.  

1.  Intensity and desire.  Where does this come from?  usually it comes back to a head coach mentally preparing the team and motivating them properly for an important game.  Rebounding is the litmus test, and it was decisive as I've ever seen in a Calvin-Hope matchup last night.

2.  Calvin has superior speed, athleticism, and depth.  How to exploit this?  Push the ball, shoot early in the shot clock, don't get bogged down in a half court game (knowing that we don't have a "true" point guard compared to Hope, who has a wonderful point guard in DK).  Calvin clearly dictated the tempo and had a game plan for doing so.  This was evident from the first possession of the game and credit goes to coaching.

3.  Why would you have arguably your most important player (Krombeen) guarding Brad "human foul generator" Schnyders when DK already has a couple fouls?  Crazy matchup decision that led to Krombeen sitting on the bench some very important minutes.

4.  Hope went to a zone defense (1-3-1?  not sure exactly) in the first half that gave Calvin fits.  two possessions, two turnovers and Calvin's guards looking clueless about how to attack it.  Then, I never saw that defense the rest of the game.  Why would you not use your most effective defense until Calvin proves it can handle it?  (note to KVS, work on press break and your offense against the zone, just in case Neil watches film before the second matchup)

5.  Generally, I have always felt that in crucial moments in the past, regardless of personnel, I was always scared of the Hope team's mental discipline, solid passing, tough defense, etc.  In other words, the fundamentals.  They would not make mistakes.  The team we saw last night (I know, small sample size, one game) just had a different feel than Hope teams of yesteryear.

So I'll cut Neil some slack, he is a rookie head coach in his first MIAA game as head man and I'm sure very talented as a coach.  I'm sure brighter days are ahead for the program than last night's game would indicate.  But last night, for one night IMHO KVS outcoached him.  

Kudos to Kevin, who has also taken some flak recently on this board.  Great job last night!

[almcguirejr]

http://www.hollandsentinel.com/sports/x2135348763/Hope-mens-basketball-loses-to-hot-shooting-Calvin

[goodknight]

I know most wouldn't beleive 100% a person with an oblivious Alma bias, but when they're playing the way they can play, there's not a team in the conference they can't play with. 

I tried, but I just couldn't resist:
It's completely oblivious to me.

[Happy Calvin Guy]

I know most wouldn't beleive 100% a person with an oblivious Alma bias, but when they're playing the way they can play, there's not a team in the conference they can't play with. 

I tried, but I just couldn't resist:
It's completely oblivious to me.

As Mike Tyson would say, Alma is going to fade into Bolivian.

[Knightmare]

Looking forward from last nights game, I heard on the internet video post game interview with Danny Rodts that Trent Salo is expected back with in a week or so, possibly even this coming weekend.  With that bit of information, what will his role be defined as?  Will he be re-inserted into the starting lineup, or even start at any point this year.  Or will he be a situational sub bringing leadership when needed in chaotic situations?

Just curious on the thoughts of what his role will now be and how the playing rotation will shake out.  I don't think you can probably take any minutes away from either Powell or Brink.  What happens?

Also on the Hope side of things, what is the ETA for Andy Venema's return to to game action, if at all?

Also, for Rodts that was the game of his life putting up 30 pts. in 30 min. of playing time on an ultra efficient shooting performance.  Didn't even take that many shots to light up the scoreboard.

[goodknight]

OK, I'll try to resist the temptation to be glib, and I certainly won't gloat, but we got a taste last night of what the rest of the season could look like for Calvin.  The Knights came out with some fire and purpose, and, although Hope knocked them back on their heels a number of times, they showed the  ability and maturity (maybe for the first or second time this season) to weather the storm.  It's clear to me that there are enough offensive weapons to compensate for a dreadful night from the usually dominant Snikkers and the often-contributing Powell and DeBoer. 
It was senior night last night -- but there is talent aplenty in the underclassmen.  Many of us are still waiting for the full emergence of Jordan Brink as a key offensive contributor, and let's hope that happens as soon as the Knights get a true point guard into the rotation.  As oldknight has mentioned, Kruis is steadily developing into a force with which to be reckoned.  A Hope poster asked if that was as well as Calvin can play.  I strongly suspect it is not.

[KnightSlappy]

some on this board have disputed my comment that KVS outcoached Neil last night.  Here's where I draw that conclusion from.  

1.  Intensity and desire.  Where does this come from?  usually it comes back to a head coach mentally preparing the team and motivating them properly for an important game.  Rebounding is the litmus test, and it was decisive as I've ever seen in a Calvin-Hope matchup last night.

I'm not sure I agree with #1 here. I subscribe to the philosophy that coaches coach and players play. Coaches cannot play with intensity for players. Coaches can prepare players with scheme and matchups, and yes, mental preparation, but the players themselves have to execute it. I'm sure Neil wasn't writing this one off to his team.

But, in the end, he is 0.000 against Calvin. 

[KnightSlappy]

I heard on the internet video post game interview with Danny Rodts that Trent Salo is expected back with in a wee or so,

That's a height joke, isn't it?