MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[almcguirejr]

Fulton was down by 2 at the end of the third, got outscored 27-12 in the fourth. Anybody happen to be attending the game?

I went to the games Friday and Saturday.  Tri-Unity was better than Fulton.  Tri-Unity got down 10 (14-4)very early in the game and then their defense started to make a difference.  In the 4th quarter Tri-Unity was very aggressive and really took it to Fulton and Fulton did not respond very well.  Tri Unity sophomore Joey Blauwkamp is a very good player and only a sophomore.  He is very strong and I thought was the best player on the floor in the "D" game.

The Class A games left something to be desired.  There was a lot of athleticism but not much skill.  Percy Gibson (6'9") from Detroit Southeastern (going to Dayton) looked good , but MSU recruit, Brando Kearney was unimpressive both days.  Bay City Western has a nice looking 6'9" kid named Matt Costello who I was impressed with.  He has supposedly committed to MSU.  I think he would be a good fit with Beilein because he has good range, touch, and can move. 

Lansing Sexton is a very good Class B team.  They started 1 senior,  3 juniors and 1 sophomore.  They were very good against Country Day on Friday night.  They were very good in transition and could really attack.  Denzell Valentine is a junior (another MSU commit) and is coached by his dad, Carlton Valentine, a former MSU player.  Bryn Forbes, a junior guard for Sexton had 29 points, 19 of which were in the 3rd quarter.  The 3rd quarter was just a great quarter to watch as Sexton outscored Country Day 32- 18.  Amir Williams (6'10"OSU recruit) was not impressive.  He affected shots because of his height but didn't do much else in my opinion.

Schoolcraft went undefeated in Class C.  They were very good also.  Their coach, Randy Small,  is approx. 220-22 in 13 years there.  When you think 12 of those losses were in the state tournament that's impressive. 

I saw Izzo, Mark Montgomery (in NIU gear), Derek Perry, Jay Smith, Davelaar , Gene Gifford, Ray McCallum, Derrik Nix, Appling, Roe, and Draymond Green there.

Kevin Kooiker did a good job.  He was assigned a 5-6 year old kid to bring him water and a towel during timeouts.  Kooiker always talked to the kid and would fist bump him at the end of the timeout.  During the last time out Kooiker reached in his pocket and very discreetly put something on top of the water bottle for the kid.  The kid put it in his pocket and sprinted off the floor.  As soon as the boy got to his spot under the basket he pulled it out of his pocket to show one of the other kids what he got.  He was beaming. 

[KnightSlappy]

Tonight's games were clinics in two of my pet peeves:

• Coaches not working the clocks properly toward the end of a half to insure they'll get two possessions. They get the ball with 1:07 left and end up shooting with 32 seconds left. I don't get it.
• Benching a guy because he has three fouls on him. Sean Miller benched Derrick Williams for 13 minutes after he picked up his third foul, precipitating a 22-7 UConn run.  Williams ended the game with ... 3 fouls, having played 26 minutes of the game. Put him on the floor for five more minutes and you could very well have had a different outcome.

I just think this is inexcusable decision-making on the part of a coach. If they would approach the game a little more analytically and a little less by hidebound thinking, they'd have more success.

Amen, HopeConvert!  Get a shot off by 42 seconds or so and you're almost guaranteed another decent possession.  Why not at least make the effort, rather than run the clock down to a point that enables the other team to deny you another possession?

The save-your-player-for-the-game's-end mentality reflects a seeming illusion that points scored at the end of a game matter more.  In the laboratory and in life, people tend to connect adjacent ("temporally contiguous") events.  In a close game, we associate the last basket made with the game's outcome.  In reality, it counts no more than a basket made at any other time.  But cognitively the game's final moments seem more determinative of the outcome. 

   Cognitive researchers have asked people to imagine that "Ned and Joel each flip a coin.  If they land the same, each gets $10; if they land differently, each gets zero.  Ned goes first and gets heads.  Joel goes second and gets tails.  Who is to blame?"  Nearly everyone blames Joel, and intuits that he'd feel more guilt.  Reflecting on this almost irresistible phenomenon, another researcher noted (when Shaq was playing for the Lakers) that if Shaq makes 10 of 20 free throws and teammate Kobe Bryant is 9 for 10-–but his one miss is at the end of the game and the Lakers lose by one–-Kobe, not Shaq, is considered to have lost the game.  Thus, as your example illustrates, most coaches would rather have their star play 25 minutes and be available at the game's end than to play who knows how many minutes and risk fouling out before the end.

I think there is something to sitting a guy in foul trouble, but the relative few players who actually foul out compared to the number that are in "foul trouble" shows that the way this is handled is far from optimal. A strategy that "succeeds" nearly every time is far too conservative.

[sac]

Mike Turner and Jody May were at least at the A games Friday, they were sitting with Michael Thomas during the Bay City Western/Detroit Southeastern game.

I can confirm Mike's 'T' at the all-star game was a setup as he beamed a proud coaches smile on his way out.



Matt Costello of Bay City Western was named the Gatorade Player of Year for Michigan this year as a Junior.

http://playeroftheyear.gatorade.com/assets/writable/13091/2010-11_BBB_MCostello.pdf

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Trine has announced the hiring of Brooks Miller as their new head basketball coach.  Pretty impressive resume, including being a grad assitnat to Bobby Knight.  Here's a link to the Trine press release:

http://www.trine.edu/trineathletics/mens_basketball/index.cfm

[arena]

Trine has announced the hiring of Brooks Miller as their new head basketball coach.  Pretty impressive resume, including being a grad assitnat to Bobby Knight.  Here's a link to the Trine press release:

http://www.trine.edu/trineathletics/mens_basketball/index.cfm

I must have missed the first news of the previous coach leaving.  What was the story with the previous coach?

[ziggy]

Trine has announced the hiring of Brooks Miller as their new head basketball coach.  Pretty impressive resume, including being a grad assitnat to Bobby Knight.  Here's a link to the Trine press release:

http://www.trine.edu/trineathletics/mens_basketball/index.cfm

I must have missed the first news of the previous coach leaving.  What was the story with the previous coach?

Moving into the full time AD role at Trine

[Pat Coleman]

Assistant AD.

[sac]

Brooks Miller would have played and coached at Hillsdale while Ed Douma was there.

I doubt this ads much but here's his bio from South Plains College.  (scroll down a bit)
http://www.spctexans.com/coach/0/1.php

[matblake]

Brooks Miller would have played and coached at Hillsdale while Ed Douma was there.

I doubt this ads much but here's his bio from South Plains College.  (scroll down a bit)
http://www.spctexans.com/coach/0/1.php

Best intercollegiate sport ever: Rodeo.  Definitely makes the link worth it.  +k

[sac]

Brooks Miller would have played and coached at Hillsdale while Ed Douma was there.

I doubt this ads much but here's his bio from South Plains College.  (scroll down a bit)
http://www.spctexans.com/coach/0/1.php

Best intercollegiate sport ever: Rodeo.  Definitely makes the link worth it.  +k

The National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association has a website..
http://www.collegerodeo.com/index.asp

personally I like the address of the association

2033 Walla Walla Ave.
Walla Walla, WA.

You really almost couldn't make that up.

[sflzman]

Brooks Miller would have played and coached at Hillsdale while Ed Douma was there.

I doubt this ads much but here's his bio from South Plains College.  (scroll down a bit)
http://www.spctexans.com/coach/0/1.php

Best intercollegiate sport ever: Rodeo.  Definitely makes the link worth it.  +k

The National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association has a website..
http://www.collegerodeo.com/index.asp

personally I like the address of the association

2033 Walla Walla Ave.
Walla Walla, WA.

You really almost couldn't make that up.

Best onion rings ever: Walla Walla, WA.....

[sac]

I had to share.....if you remember this 1980's movie of awesome you'll probably think this is supersweet.

[goodknight]

A little recruiting buzz from the Calvin camp: 

Ryan Nadeau, the point guard for Class B quarter-finalist Dearborn Divine Child, has indicated he is coming to Calvin. 

oldknight will recall that Divine Child spoiled Hudsonville Unity Christian's quest for a perfect season in the Class B state finals at Crisler Arena in 1973.  Trivia test:  Who coached Divine Child during that state championship year?

[oldknight]

A little recruiting buzz from the Calvin camp:  

Ryan Nadeau, the point guard for Class B quarter-finalist Dearborn Divine Child, has indicated he is coming to Calvin.  

oldknight will recall that Divine Child spoiled Hudsonville Unity Christian's quest for a perfect season in the Class B state finals at Crisler Arena in 1973.  Trivia test:  Who coached Divine Child during that state championship year?

Bill McCartney led the Falcons to their upset win over Mark Veenstra, et. al., and then later went on to fame as head football coach at Colorado, leading the Buffaloes to the 1990 national championship.

[oldknight]

Ryan Nadeau is a point guard and was the leader of a Divine Child team that saw its tournament run end with a quarterfinal loss to eventual Class B state champion Lansing Sexton. Some (maybe sac?) thought Sexton may have been the best high school team in the state regardless of class. They beat perenniel Michigan basketball factory Detroit Country Day in the semi-final.

Nadeau's Divine Child squad competed in the always tough Detroit Catholic School League so I think he comes to Calvin with a pretty good high school pedigree. DC's girls basketball team won the Class B crown this year. Ryan was a member of the Class B All-State team (6th team) joining fellow All-Stater Tyler Dykstra (2nd team) in the Class of 2015 at Knollcrest.