MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[sac]

With so many tough head-to-heads left it really is going to be nearly impossible for one of the 4 loss teams to catch Hope.  It would take 3 losses by Hope, and whatever 4 loss team made the run would have to get through their own schedule unscathed and that to me just doesn't look like it will happen.

Calvin has the only realistic shot (imo) and with no head-to-head games remaining with Hope the Knights will need some help.  In a weird way, tonght's results almost worked perfectly in Hope's favor. 

Everything is in Hope's hands now.

Calvin needs to do whatever it takes (beg, borrow, cheat and steal) to make sure they finish the regular season as the two seed. The first round of the MIAA tournament should feature two comfortable games and two very uncomfortable games.

It is absolutely in Calvin's best interest for Hope to win out in the regular season.

These may be words never uttered in public before. 


---------------------



On the subject of the tournament, it is of course way to early to go through and figure out all the tie-breakers but........

Olivet holds the head-to-head with Adrian, this would be the deciding factor if those two tie.

Kzoo and Adrian at the moment hold the best wins of anyone vying for 3-6 with their wins over Calvin.



Lastly, is matching up with Trine in the tournament any better really?  I know Trine has only won one league game but I think as a matchup for the #2 seed they look pretty tough.  It might be one of the toughest 2-7 matchups we've seen in the tournament.

@ Calvin, this doesn't scream cakewalk
http://miaa.org/mbb/stats/1011/0122catr.htm

[KnightSlappy]

Lastly, is matching up with Trine in the tournament any better really?  I know Trine has only won one league game but I think as a matchup for the #2 seed they look pretty tough.  It might be one of the toughest 2-7 matchups we've seen in the tournament.

@ Calvin, this doesn't scream cakewalk
http://miaa.org/mbb/stats/1011/0122catr.htm

Easier certainly doesn't mean easy, but the lead was nine points in that game with 0:48 left. Ian Jackson hit a couple of desperation attempts to close it down a bit.

Out of all the other options though: Albion, Olivet, Adrian, and Kzoo, Trine seems the 'cakewalkiest' to me.

Certainly not excited about seeing Kzoo again, don't want to ever play McClary, Adrian beat Calvin earlier, and who ever would like a first round matchup with Albion.

[Knightmare]

Sadly the subbing thing is but one symptom of the basic problem with KVS.  The root problem is KVS is rigid, and inflexible, and his mind is made up, and who are you to question anything I do, because...........................?
Matt Neil knew exactly what KVS was going to do in the second half, and he coached his team to counter exactly what he expected.  Every coach in the MIAA knows what KVS and Calvin are going to do.  See the Kalamzoo game, and tell me R. Passage didn't know what Calvin was going to do?

Correct me if I am wrong, but my impression is that you would agree that Matt Neil knew what Calvin would do in the first half as well. What was the problem with the way the first half went?

Couple of unsolicited observations: (of course all observations on this board are:)

1. When Calvin wins, the players were awesome..when Calvin loses, KVS stinks.

2. Tom Cleary may be the most negative announcer in the history of basketball announcing.  (at least that I have heard) Every call by officials is questioned and every play by a player is met with "why didnt he....." maybe Billy Packer taught him everything.

3. Coach Neil is a great interview and I would want my kid to play for him.

Observation #1 is spot on and I'll use this opportunity to explain my theory on why posters often are guilty of that (not just here either but in most all sports and with most any coaches).

Most of the blame from fans (such as ourselves on this board) falls at a coaches feet because we all are great armchair quarterbacks and analysts that when seeing or commenting on a game plan or strategy think to ourselves one of two things regarding the coach.  First we believe after a win that we could've, and would've, come up with that same exact game plan to win that our coach did or two occurring after a loss is that we could've, and would've, formulated a better strategy and game plan than the coach and that's why we lost, clearly we could "see" what should have in fact happened from the stands or the TV.  The reason these thoughts occur regarding the Coach is because coaching doesn't take any athletic skill or ability, just some knowledge, that as fans (short for fanatics) we've all got just enough of to make us dangerous.

Players on the other hand aren't questioned because even when a loss may be blamed or pinned on them for lack of execution (mentally or physically) of a very sound game plan there is a factor that comes into play in the relationship with fans.  That factor is that even on most of these players worst playing day they are probably still better than almost all of us fans would be on our best playing day.

For this reason we know that we couldn't execute a players job better than them (even when they are doing it poorly) but a coach on the other hand we can foolishly convince ourselves that we could've come up with a better strategy or adjustment if confronted with the same situation as our respective coach did.  I know I'm guilty of this as are most others on this board, it's the reason we come to this board in the first place  .  It's also the reason that often times coaches are made the scapegoat professionally and collegiality for a situation that may have been the players that inadvertently (and sometimes intentionally) sabotaged themselves.  Now there are certainly legitimate times when a coaching change is in order but more often than not it is always just easier to blame and replace one coach than a whole team of players.

[hoopdreams]

well said and spot on Knightmare!

Players sabotaging a season Exhibit A:  Michigan State 
Izzo suddenly can't coach? Nope his passion for excellence could not be transferred to a team, that as a whole, cares only about themselves. They're all going to the league.

FWIW- I have a friend whose son is currently on the MSU roster.  The recently dismissed player really enjoyed landscaping, and they couldn't keep him off the grass on campus.

[KnightSlappy]

We often treat coaching decisions if they're 100-0 propositions.

You leave Ryan Clark open and he hits a three, or you can defend him so he doesn't.

It's easy to pin those three points for a made three point attempt on a poor game plan, but that shouldn't be the case because he doesn't have a 100% chance of making an open three and a 0% chance of making a contested one.

Maybe the real probabilities are closer to 60% and 30%. In this case, you could only blame the coach for the difference in probabilities. In this case, that's 30% of 3 points, or 0.9 points. The rest of the 2.1 points should be credited against the players on the floor.

[oldknight]

The K broadcast team was noting how Snikkers was abusing his defender, Tyler Stewart, and several times wondered aloud if Ryan Clark might do a better job on Tommy.  
Evidently, KVS is not the only rigid head coach in the game.

It's obvious now that Snikkers is close to being unguardable in the MIAA if you don't double him a lot. Kolen Kazen's frustration bubbled over in Albion's 31 point loss because he wasn't given much help and had no chance. Hope gave Tom quite a bit of extra attention but there were times Bowser was left alone to guard Snikkers and Will got abused every time that happened--and I consider Bowser to be a pretty good one-on-one defender. Snikkers still gets careless with the ball from time to time but as a scorer he's pretty scary and requires a lot of game-planning by an opponent.

[KnightSlappy]

Snikkers still gets careless with the ball from time to time but as a scorer he's pretty scary and requires a lot of game-planning by an opponent.

The only frustrating thing for me about Tommy's game is when he tries to dribble through an obvious double team. That has been a source of many of his turnovers.

One-on-one though, his combination of size, speed, and strength are usually too much for the types of players that are defending him.

[sac]

I don't suppose its much of surprise, nor right or wrong that most teams will be measured by what they do vs Hope and Calvin in this league.

Kalamazoo has presented itself as a pretty good team this year and their results vs these two certainly are proof of that.

Kzoo 73 Calvin 68
Hope 100 Kzoo 95 OT
Calvin 72 Kzoo 69

[ziggy]

With so many tough head-to-heads left it really is going to be nearly impossible for one of the 4 loss teams to catch Hope.  It would take 3 losses by Hope, and whatever 4 loss team made the run would have to get through their own schedule unscathed and that to me just doesn't look like it will happen.

Calvin has the only realistic shot (imo) and with no head-to-head games remaining with Hope the Knights will need some help.  In a weird way, tonght's results almost worked perfectly in Hope's favor.  

Everything is in Hope's hands now.

Calvin needs to do whatever it takes (beg, borrow, cheat and steal) to make sure they finish the regular season as the two seed. The first round of the MIAA tournament should feature two comfortable games and two very uncomfortable games.

It is absolutely in Calvin's best interest for Hope to win out in the regular season.

These may be words never uttered in public before.  

All based on the fact that Hope winning out ensures that Calvin has the league's best win should any tie-breaking situation come down to that. A neutral site semi-final and a true road game in a potential tournament championship game would be a nice finish to the SOS resume should it come down to that. Don't worry, my point was all about what is good for Calvin rather than Hope. 

[oldknight]

It is absolutely in Calvin's best interest for Hope to win out in the regular season.

These may be words never uttered in public before.  

Probably not in private either.

[Busted Stuff]

Sadly the subbing thing is but one symptom of the basic problem with KVS.  The root problem is KVS is rigid, and inflexible, and his mind is made up, and who are you to question anything I do, because...........................?
Matt Neil knew exactly what KVS was going to do in the second half, and he coached his team to counter exactly what he expected.  Every coach in the MIAA knows what KVS and Calvin are going to do.  See the Kalamzoo game, and tell me R. Passage didn't know what Calvin was going to do?

Correct me if I am wrong, but my impression is that you would agree that Matt Neil knew what Calvin would do in the first half as well. What was the problem with the way the first half went?

Couple of unsolicited observations: (of course all observations on this board are:)

1. When Calvin wins, the players were awesome..when Calvin loses, KVS stinks.

2. Tom Cleary may be the most negative announcer in the history of basketball announcing.  (at least that I have heard) Every call by officials is questioned and every play by a player is met with "why didnt he....." maybe Billy Packer taught him everything.

3. Coach Neil is a great interview and I would want my kid to play for him.

Observation #1 is spot on and I'll use this opportunity to explain my theory on why posters often are guilty of that (not just here either but in most all sports and with most any coaches).

Most of the blame from fans (such as ourselves on this board) falls at a coaches feet because we all are great armchair quarterbacks and analysts that when seeing or commenting on a game plan or strategy think to ourselves one of two things regarding the coach.  First we believe after a win that we could've, and would've, come up with that same exact game plan to win that our coach did or two occurring after a loss is that we could've, and would've, formulated a better strategy and game plan than the coach and that's why we lost, clearly we could "see" what should have in fact happened from the stands or the TV.  The reason these thoughts occur regarding the Coach is because coaching doesn't take any athletic skill or ability, just some knowledge, that as fans (short for fanatics) we've all got just enough of to make us dangerous.

Players on the other hand aren't questioned because even when a loss may be blamed or pinned on them for lack of execution (mentally or physically) of a very sound game plan there is a factor that comes into play in the relationship with fans.  That factor is that even on most of these players worst playing day they are probably still better than almost all of us fans would be on our best playing day.

For this reason we know that we couldn't execute a players job better than them (even when they are doing it poorly) but a coach on the other hand we can foolishly convince ourselves that we could've come up with a better strategy or adjustment if confronted with the same situation as our respective coach did.  I know I'm guilty of this as are most others on this board, it's the reason we come to this board in the first place  .  It's also the reason that often times coaches are made the scapegoat professionally and collegiality for a situation that may have been the players that inadvertently (and sometimes intentionally) sabotaged themselves.  Now there are certainly legitimate times when a coaching change is in order but more often than not it is always just easier to blame and replace one coach than a whole team of players.

I do agree with your observations.  However, I think some of this has to do with certain posters blaming losses solely on KVS, while the majority of Calvin posters probably do not share the same sentiment.  It's hard to give the coach all the credit for a win, it's easy, though, to blame a loss (especially an eighteen point lead flop) solely on poor coaching or a lack of game-plan adjustments; therein, in my opinion, lies the discontinuity.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Hope gave Tom quite a bit of extra attention but there were times Bowser was left alone to guard Snikkers and Will got abused every time that happened--and I consider Bowser to be a pretty good one-on-one defender. Snikkers still gets careless with the ball from time to time but as a scorer he's pretty scary and requires a lot of game-planning by an opponent.

Abused, really?  Certainly not what I remember seeing live or when I watched it on DVD later.  Guess I'm going to have to watch it a third time   

[Flying Dutch Fan]

I do agree with your observations.  However, I think some of this has to do with certain posters blaming losses solely on KVS, while the majority of Calvin posters probably do not share the same sentiment.  It's hard to give the coach all the credit for a win, it's easy, though, to blame a loss (especially an eighteen point lead flop) solely on poor coaching or a lack of game-plan adjustments; therein, in my opinion, lies the discontinuity.

There would also seem to be a lack of credit given to the opposing team in this case - specifically one that has been dominant in the 2nd half for the majority of its games this year.

[Happy Calvin Guy]

There would also seem to be a lack of credit given to the opposing team in this case - specifically one that has been dominant in the 2nd half for the majority of its games this year.

I agree with you FDF.  In the first halves of games this season, Hope is +20 in point differential, Calvin is +80.  In the second halves, Hope is +142 and Calvin is -1.  This could be attributed to many things (conditioning, ability to make in-game adjustments, bench strength, etc etc) but it the difference here is huge and much more than just random variation.

[sac]

Snikkers still gets careless with the ball from time to time but as a scorer he's pretty scary and requires a lot of game-planning by an opponent.

The only frustrating thing for me about Tommy's game is when he tries to dribble through an obvious double team. That has been a source of many of his turnovers.

One-on-one though, his combination of size, speed, and strength are usually too much for the types of players that are defending him.

Tom has more turnovers than any other player in the league.   He touches the ball alot obviously but probably not more than any of the other 'star' player on any other team like Cruse, McClary, Bowser, Prepolec. 

The difference is Tom puts the ball on the floor more often, but as a stat geek his turnovers stand out like a sore thumb, and in last Saturday's game that was also painfully obvious to anyone watching.  Perhaps he feels like he has to create something more often than others, I did think Calvin got caught standing around a little vs Hope last weekend.  Of all of Calvin's players, there is little doubt I think he gets the most defensive attention which I'm sure also contributes to the turnovers.

In MIAA play
Tom Snikkers, Calvin 33
Deon Thompson, Trine 30
Michael McClary, Olivet 25
Ian Jackson, Trine 24
Will Bowser, Hope 23
Nate Snuggerud, Hope 23
Delano Collins, Adrian 23
Kolin Kazen, Albion 22
Mark Ghafari, Kzoo 21


Overall
Tom Snikkers 70
Deon Thompson 57
Ian Jackson, Trine 54
Kolin Kazen 54
JC Cruse 52
Delano Collins 48
Will Bowser 45
Mark Ghafari 45
David Krombeen 40
Michael McClary 40