MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[sac]

Grinnell operated at around 90 possessions for each team last year.  (I'm not sure how this rates vs past Grinnell teams which seemed to be even higher tempo)

The 2011 MIAA was pretty balanced with not much difference in pace of play.  Adrian was really the slow down team last year.

Avg # of possessions per game
Trine  74
Alma  72
Kzoo  72
Hope 72
Olivet 71
Calvin 69
Albion 67
Adrian 61


As I recall, Terry Smith employed a stall tactic at times, literally dribbling the ball at the center circle until there was about 10-15 seconds on the shot clock.  I don't think Alma did this in all of its MIAA games, only in a select few.  That's a little different than Adrian, who always seems to be probing a defense and spending those 20 seconds trying to get mismatches in their favor.

Terry Smith's last team still averaged 68 possessions for the whole season, in only MIAA games it was around 66.  The previous year it was 64 in the MIAA.

[scottiedawg]

Calvin is so predictable on offense. Telegraphed passes and swing it around the arc.

Kruis shoots really pretty free throws.

[KnightSlappy]

Calvin 78 Finlandia 70

The Lions were 11-31 on two-pointers and 14-31 on three-pointers (and they missed their last four three-point attempts).

[KnightSlappy]

     I noticed Jake Mantel has been taken off the Knight's roster...any word on that?

Jake was a very good high school football player who suffered an injury his senior year. The injury was significant enough that he wasn't able to play hoops his freshmen year at Calvin. Last season (his sophomore year) he played JV ball. I'm not sure Jake ever fully recovered, he's now in his junior year and he made the difficult decision to end his competitive sports career at this time and move on with the academic portion of his life. I wish him well.

Calvin's average roster height is now 6-5 even.

[oldknight]

I have seen all three home games and Calvin is making a bad habit out of their slow starts. For whatever reason the first eight minutes begin with lackluster play, especially on the offensive side. At the begining of this game, the Knights seemed content to settle for the perimeter jumper early in the shot clock instead of working the ball inside.

Tonight, they ran into a Finlandia team that had shown little three point scoring ability this season, and Calvin gave the Lions some opportunities to make them. Make them they did, and as usually happens in these situations, Finlandia's confidence level grew. Finlandia hit 14-27 three pointers before missing their final four shots from the arc, three of them in the last 30 seconds that were not high percentage efforts. Perimeter defense was an issue but the Knights were stout in the lane, allowing very few uncontested shots within 15 feet of the basket. The stat sheet shows eight blocks but I think Calvin's records custodian didn't recognize or properly credit several others. Jordan Mast and his length really frustrated the man he was guarding.

Tyler Kruis was excellent but still hasn't fully shaken the bad habit of passing after getting the ball in the low post and in scoring position. He needs to be more selfish because he has a pretty nice touch and gets fouled often down low. He took 10 free throws tonight and he puts a lot of pressure on an opponent's defense when he looks to score. I continue to be impressed with Mickey DeVries. It sure is nice to have a guy like him coming off the bench, who can play the low post and be a scoring threat. He also has shown some grit on the boards and defense. Mickey is one of Calvin's more intense players on a team that needs more of that quality. Meanwhile, Tom Snikkers still isn't hitting beans and is now under 33% from the floor in four games. Tonight he went 0-4 from the arc and every shot was an open look.

One Calvin fan regular--seated right in front of me--nearly had a heart attack when he saw KVS use zone for about 4 or 5 possessions. I'm not sure I've seen Calvin cameo a zone since VanNoord opened three years ago. Worked though, and when both Tyler Kruis and Tyler Dykstra are on the floor at the same time, there's a lot of floor covered that's for sure.

[Dark Knight]

One Calvin fan regular--seated right in front of me--nearly had a heart attack when he saw KVS use zone for about 4 or 5 possessions.

On the post-game interview, Vande Streek said something about feeling like he needed to take a shower after making that call. He's not a big fan of the zone defense, I guess.

Today's game against Cornerstone will be difficult for the knights. Although Cornerstone lost their first four games, all were against very good teams -- probably would be top 15 teams in NCAA DIII. The first two losses were in overtime. Currently Cornerstone in on a two-game winning streak.

Massey makes Cornerstone a 77-71 favorite over Calvin and Hope a ten-point favorite over Aquinas.

[sac]

Back to basketball.....

Tonight's games

Alma vs John Carroll @ Spalding University  --  I don't believe this is a good matchup for Alma.  JCU's helter skelter play might keep Alma in it for awhile, but JCU should win this comfortably.   


Grand Rapids Hall of Fame Classic (2011 slogan:  actually a classic this year and we mean it this time) @ Cornerstone

Aquinas vs Hope --  On paper this looks like a Hope win.  Hope won last years matchup by 23, I'm not sure a lot has changed for either team.  We shall see.

Calvin at Cornerstone  --  The defending NAIA champs have struggled early, still talented, not as deep.  As DK suggests, it should be a close one.  Calvin won last year by 5.

[sac]

Saturday's games

Trine is hosting the first HCAC/MIAA Challenge games between Earlham, Manchester, Kalamazoo and Trine

Kzoo vs Manchester -  Only the 2nd game for the Hornets after a week off, Manchester is 1-3, appear to be pretty young.  toss up maybe?

Earlham at Trine  -  Earlham was 2-23 last year, they are 0-3 this year with a loss to Oberlin.  That's ominous.  First year coach and Albion grad Marcus Gill has work ahead of him to turn Earlham into something.   Expect Trine to win, or recalculate your Thunder expectations.


Anderson at Olivet - Olivet is just plain struggling on the offensive side of the court.  I think its a team wide pass-pass-pass  #%@& where the hell is McClary.  This would be an upset if the Comets pulled it off.

reverse the GR HofF Classic pairings, because its actually a 'classic' this year

Aquinas v Calvin @ Cornerstone  -  Friday nights results could affect how each team approaches Saturday.  Might be tough to get off the mat if they take a Friday loss,  conversely a Friday win could really be a boost. 

Hope @ Cornerstone -  we'll know more about where C'stone is after Friday night.  Hope should be favored.  Only comparative score  SAU 65 Cstone 57; Hope 73 SAU 56


Concordia @ Adrian -  Concordia is 4-3 coming off a thumping of Trine.  I think these might be equals, should be a close game.


Alma vs Spalding or Victory University  -  Spalding is new to D3 and the SLIAC and are 0-2,  Victory University is a complete unknown from Texas Memphis, 6-1 against a lot of schools I've never heard of and none are Canadian.   http://www.victory.edu/athletics/mens-basketball-schedule/   Victory is affiliated with NCCAA.   Any win is probably a good win for Alma.

[sac]

Here's some members of Adrian's team after their big win over Siena Heights the other night.....



It really is a cool trophy.

[hopefan]

b]Alma[/b] vs Spalding or Victory University  -  Spalding is new to D3 and the SLIAC and are 0-2,  Victory University is a complete unknown from Texas, 6-1 against a lot of schools I've never heard of and none are Canadian.   http://www.victory.edu/athletics/mens-basketball-schedule/   Victory is affiliated with NCCAA.   Any win is probably a good win for Alma.

Sac I too thought Victory U was the Texas school, but a little more research found it was really the Former Crichton University, renamed, out of Memphis....  makes much more sense geographically for playing at Spalding.  Spalding has been playing a D3 schedule for 3 years, this is their final year of provisional status... interesting 2 senior starters (including Dewhon McAfee, last year's SLIAC player of the year) have chosen to sit out this year and play in their 5th year when, in theory, Spalding would be eligible for the conference tourney and NCAA bid...  They would have been heavily favored in the Sliac with those guys, but with their loss along with one other big man defection, they are no where near as strong or deep..  They have lost to good teams.. Transylvania and D1 Coastal Carolina, but should be very tough for Alma...

[sflzman]

Alma/JCU game on here for broadcast: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/jcumensbasketball

JCU 50-42 at the half.

[sac]

Hope 67 Aquinas 65  ? ? ?  (play by play does not match the final score)  I believe Hope led from the middle of the 1st half and by 11 with 3 minutes to go, 3 at buzzer for the final margin.

Krombeen 24, Bunn 17

[sac]

John Carroll 98 Alma 91

I think Alma has probably made some good improvements, most of the 2nd half of this one was played in the single digits from about 13 minutes on.  JCU is a tough style to play against, Coach Moran picked up his 350th win.


Alma will play Spalding University Saturday after they lost to Victory in OT.  Spalding is now 0-3

[pointlem]

Hope 67 Aquinas 65  ? ? ?  (play by play does not match the final score)  I believe Hope led from the middle of the 1st half and by 11 with 3 minutes to go, 3 at buzzer for the final margin.

Krombeen 24, Bunn 17

Yes, Sac, to clarify it was an uncontested Cornerstone 3 at the final buzzer to shrink the margin to 2.  This game was devoid of streaks, with Hope having a 4 to 10 point margin most of the way. 

Hope was hampered by its post players sitting much of the first half with but two fouls . . . but David Krombeen (24 points) had a phenomenal night, with ballet-like moves around the basket, and Peter Bunn (17 points) seemed back on his game.  Logan Neil played briefly in the 2nd half but used those few minutes to swish a two and a three . . . which, as things turned out . . . were the margin of difference. 

I also thought it was a great defensive effort by both teams, including some Holwerda blocks and a bunch of steals.

[Dark Knight]

CU 94 to Calvin 77.   CU 16-2 run at the start of the second half, and 18 to's by Calvin.

Although there were a couple of problems that the Knights will have to work on -- getting back to stop the fast break, breaking the press, limiting turnovers -- I actually thought the first half of this game was encouraging. I'll wait for Knightslappy's numbers, but I expect Calvin's first-half offense was very efficient, and the defense was excellent much of the time as well. I think Calvin is capable of playing quite well.