MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[sac]

I guess we have some fun weather heading our way......

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=grr&storyid=63327&source=0

This could impact Wednesday night's game, any cancellations would really make this a fun week in the MIAA.

[oldknight]

Calvin's loss was tremendously disappointing but don't confuse the MIAA board with the Big Ten board. Now MSU, that's a sickening mess of a team that is truly clueless as to what to do. Play 35 minutes of crappy ball every game followed by 5 minutes of wild catchup. When you saw the Spartans play Wisconsin, the MSU huddle was chaos. Everyone was talking and Izzo couldn't get in a word edgewise. Then look in the Badger huddle--Bo is the only person talking, and everyone else is listening.

http://www.mlive.com/spartans/index.ssf/2011/01/turbulance_from_korie_lucious.html

If Calvin had entered the season as the national runnersup with all its key players back and a Hall of Fame coach at the helm, I could understand all the nuclear weaponry being detonated by some fans right now.

You miss the point of some of your fellow Calvin posters.

Smite me all you want  

As for your opening comment, no truer words have ever been written on this board.

But I don't smite posters just because I happen to disagree with their opinion.  Some people do, but I don't.

Can someone educate me as to why Shuster does not play inside more?  He is usually the tallest guy on the floor, with an incredible wingspan, yet spends most of his time on the perimeter?  Is he not strong enough to hold position in the paint?  It seems like he would change the other team's defensive scheme alot if he tired to post up everyonce in a while.  He'll get his 3's but then we lose alot inside.  

Schuster just isn't suited for the traditional, inside banging type of game we normally see from a big man. Brent is tall but he's not big. Occasionally, they post him low but he's pretty effective on the perimeter and I think Calvin uses him about right. Besides, Snikkers fills the normal post up role quite well. The reason Calvin lost is due entirely to a lack of ball security. You can't make 13 turnovers in 20 minutes of play and expect to win.

[oldknight]

-I think Coach VandeStreek's predetermined subbing rotation has its advantages, but in a game like yesterdays with extra timeouts, it needs to be done away with.

-Calvin needs an inside presence. 24 of Calvin's 55 field goal attempts were 3's. The box score says points in the paint was  26-24 in favor of Hope, but how many of the 24 points were actual post moves or layups that weren't drives to the basket? Six?

-Points off turnovers: Hope 24    Calvin 8

Taking the above comments in order:

-KVS "subbing patterns" didn't fit the rubric against Hope, especially in the second half. Three Knights played at least 30 minutes for the game--Hope only had two players play that much. After the break both Schuster and Rodts played 19 of 20 while Salo and Snikkers played 16 and Tom missed some time after drawing blood. For the game Calvin's starting five played three more minutes than did Hope's.

-For the conference season Calvin has only taken 9 more attempts from the arc than has Hope, and the Knights are the best shooting team in the MIAA from the arc--nearly 40%. If Calvin is getting the ball to the basket it doesn't really matter if that is accomplished by drives or dumps to someone in the post.

-You've put your finger squarely on the reason for this disappointing loss. It's all about ball security.

[GoKnights68]

Perhaps Brad got the playing time because he was one of the few people the second half that realized it was still necessary for Calvin to play and score.

He definitely shouldn't have been in the game in the final 2 minutes.

[GoKnights68]

I take it no ones wants to try the "they'll right the ship" argument anymore?.....Sad part is that this team has more pure TALENT than they know what to do with, and that's the problem, they don't have a single clue what to do.

Exactly, this team has way more talent than say, the '06 Calvin team, yet '06 Calvin finished 13-1 in the league because they played as a team, played defense, and kept their egos in check for the most part.  This is the most undisciplined Calvin team I have seen in years.  They force turnovers, but they are not good at moving their feet or defending the perimeter.

[oldknight]

  This is the most undisciplined Calvin team I have seen in years.  They force turnovers, but they are not good at moving their feet or defending the perimeter.

I won't argue your point on the offensive side of the ball but I think you are underrating Calvin's defense. For the conference season, Calvin is fifth of eight teams in three point field defense and second in overall field goal defense. The conference leader is dead last in three point field goal defense and seventh in overall field goal defense.

[sac]

I won't argue your point on the offensive side of the ball but I think you are underrating Calvin's defense. For the conference season, Calvin is fifth of eight teams in three point field defense and second in overall field goal defense. The conference leader is dead last in three point field goal defense and seventh in overall field goal defense.

I looked at conference only efficiencies before this past weekend and Calvin was #2 behind Adrian on the defensive side at 96.9, and #2 in offense at 111.1 
Jumping ship on this team seems kind of rash.

The Hope game will hurt those numbers a little, Hope's eff for the game was 112.6, Calvin's 102.

Just for reference, Hope was #1 in offense at 114.5, and tied for #5 in defense at 104.4

[goodknight]

Jumping ship on this team seems kind of rash.

And yet completely in character for some posters on this board.
Some, I suspect, are not jumping ship on the team, but rather on its head coach.
There's a lot of basketball yet to be played.

[AndersDY]

I was curious enough to add it up myself and the first vs. second half performance from Hope has been as distinct in results as it has seemed watching the games. Hope has trailed at half during the conference season by an average of 36.6-39.3 with the only halftime leads coming against Alma and Trine. The second half has flipped with Hope winning it by an average of 42.3-32.5.

The only game in which the second half went worse than the first was in the very first conference game against Calvin while the only game where the two halves were comparable was the next game against Trine. Since those first two conference games, every second half performance has far exceeded the first half. I didn't go back before the MIAA season, but it seems like this team needs to be ready from the opening tip and they could really put some solid performances together.

[calvin_grad]

Jumping ship on this team seems kind of rash.

Not jumping ship at all.  I will be forever faithful to maroon and gold.  I do have a right as a fan to be extremely frustrated with their inconsistency and turnovers this year.  They could catch lightning in a bottle and win the post-season tournament, but they'll have to do it in Holland.

[KnightSlappy]

Attendance of 4680 marks a Van Noord Arena record (I believe). Is this the official basketball capacity?

[Flying Dutch Fan]

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. 

True, but with a single win against the Knights on 1/29 he will blow past KVS Hope/Calvin record

Called it   

Sorry, just couldn't resist.  Too bad I'm not as good at predicting games on the Pick 'Em.

[Happy Calvin Guy]

Attendance of 4680 marks a Van Noord Arena record (I believe). Is this the official basketball capacity?

There seemed to be a few fans wearing their empty seat costumes on Saturday afternoon,  but maybe attendance is calculated on ticket sales instead of turnstile count.

I'll take this opportunity to again say how impressed I continue to be with the Dew Crew.  Thanks for showing us all what great, spirited, loud, organized, POSITIVE fans are all about.  The most dirisive things we heard all day were the good natured "Carrie's better" chant towards Tom, and one instance of Air-ball.  The Dark Knights seemed on the other hand were not effective in generating energy for the Calvin student section at all, and the little things they did seemed to be just trying to poke fun of or provoke Hope. 

[ziggy]

I think the increase in 2nd half fouls was due to both teams going to the basket more, otherwise I didn't think the refs did a bad job.......and I'll add they looked to get all the charging/blocking calls right, which never seems like it live.

Interesting observation and something I probably missed live. Calvin was seemingly rejecting everything Hope attempted close to the basket in the first half to make it pretty much three ball or bust. I would have said that the biggest difference in Hope's second half offense was the effective use of a mid-range game. Perhaps the image of David Krombeen foul line extended right that is burned into my memory is skewing my perception.

Where does Calvin go from here? If they can build upon the last two first halves and keep getting better then there is no reason to doubt their ability to win the MIAA tournament. They won't go into it as the favorite but they are capable of winning it. The important race to watch will be for the 2 seed. There will be a pretty darn good team that ends up as a 6 seed that would make for a difficult first round game in the conference tournament for the team that ends up seeded third.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

FWIW - my take on this Hope team is that they are in some ways like a boxer.  

In the early rounds (aka first half) they attack cautiously while getting a feel for how their opponent will be attacking them.  Sure, they get hit in the process, but this team can take a punch, and then learn from it.  

In the later rounds (aka second half) they attack with counter-punching, and are able to defend their opponents attacks quite well.  They seem to know what's coming and are ready to defend it.  They also seem to have done a really good job of identifying where their opponent is "weak" and attack it vigorously.

Maybe a bit of a stretch, but I think reasonable.