MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[sac]

We have Sunday basketball.......league is currently treading water at 18-17

MIAA/HCAC Challenge at Trine

Kalamazoo vs Earlham -  Good chance for K to get a win.

Manchester @ Trine - seems like kind of a tossup game, maybe Trine should be the slight favorite.

[AlwaysHope]

Incredible weekend by the Hope team, led by Krombeen and Bunn.  Both anticipate extremely well, especially on defense.  Bunn deserved to be named the MVP of the weekend classic.  Tonight it looked like he could score at will on his drives to the hoop, resulting in either a bucket or two free throws (although he actually missed three out of 14 tonight!).

Plus with all this size that we now have in the lineup, guess who leads the team in rebounds?  That right, 6'3" Peter Bunn, who was the leading rebounded in three of their four games so far.

A couple other comments.  Looking at the stats of the game, they were all very equal, except two.  Cornerstone stayed in the game with eight out of 11 shooting beyond the arc vs. two for nine from the Dutchmen.  Hope compensated with overall shooting that was 11 percentage points higher than Cornerstone.  Hudson was again unbelievable, with 4 of 5 beyond the arc, and a total of 24 points on only 10 shots.  Overall, their three main guards scored 51 points on 35 shots

Two concerns that I had tonight.  First, we are not consistent with our long range shooting.  Second, Overway is not playing near the level that he was at least year, resulting in Krombeen playing a lot of minutes.  Is he still hurt?  His grandfather told me 10 days ago that he was at 70%.

A wierd stat?  Nate Van, our 6-10 center, had no rebounds tonight, although I do like his left-handed hook shot.  I think Neil will have him develop a lot throughout the season.  Also, Logan Neil, who left the soccer team only one week ago, did not get many minutes this weekend.  I am sure that will change as he gets more practice time.  However, I noticed that the Coach had him playing the final minute of both games, probably for his defensive intensity.

Finally, I am very statisfied with the results after only four games so far this year.  Bring on the Broncos, although a win here would nearly be a miracle.

[hope52]

yes 2 good wins this week for  hope keep it rolling

[oldknight]

Some random thoughts/observations following Calvin's loss to Aquinas:

--Moving day on the Knights' roster? Mickey DeVries and Matt DeBoer start while Haverdink and Vallie come off the bench. DeBoer isn't a great defender but he's a capable and consistent scoring threat and this weekend's play only seemed to solidify his spot in the starting lineup. Meanwhile, Ryan Nadeau plays more minutes than Bryan Powell. Hmm.

--The Knights do a terrific job of taking care of the ball (just 7 turnovers) but lose largely because for the first time this year Calvin gets beaten on the boards (36-29). Of course, it would have helped if two important starters hadn't decided this was the game to become spectators once a shot was taken. If the ever quotable Abe Lemons was still alive he could have used one of his more memorable iterations by commenting:  "Congratulations, you've got one more rebound than a dead man."

--It's time for Snikkers to bag the look from the arc and concentrate his efforts on other types of offense. He went 1-5 on three balls tonight and has now taken the most triples of anyone on the team--and with less than satisfactory results. If I'm his defender, I'm breathing a sigh of relief and saying "Thank you" every time Tom settles for the outside jumper early in the shot clock.

[Civic Minded]

The Sentinel alludes to KVS being near his 300th win at Calvin.  Anyone know how close?

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Nice pair of wins for the Dutchmen this weekend.  Two great games from both Krombeen and Bunn - who deservedly were all tournament selections.  Several stellar plays from Saturday standout in my mind. 

- David Krombeen hustles back defensively, swipes the ball as he's faliing out of bounds and tips it to a teammate.  One of those plays you can grow accustomed too with David, and it helps you really appreciate what a specail player he is - not to mention the magic he has driving to the hoop.

- Peter Bunn with an offensive rebound, which he took with heavy contact, causing him to spin a full 360, and he goes right back up and puts it in.  No doubt about it, Peter is back - and he's much more of a force on the boards.   

- Chris Ray, had a great-crappy-great play.  Fights for and gets a rebound, throws it right to a defender, and then hustlles into position to take a charge as said defender drove the basket.  With the foul trouble of Snugs, NVA, and Holwerda, I think Chris and Chase DeMaagd contributed greatly to Hope's win over Cornerstone with some hard work on D, several big rebounds, and some timely scoring.

Now on to WMU.  Just play your game Hope, and let the score fall where it may!!


P.S. - Whoever was keeping stats this weekend did a very poor job.  Looking at the first game yesterday, there are several glaring errors.  0 turnovers for Reitema - yet he got yanked for driving the baseline and stepping out of bounds? (did KVS have a really short leash yesterday)  Tyler Dykstra with only 3 minutes - looking at the play by play, Tyler even commited a foul when he wasn't in the game and played 8 minutes or more??    Wouldn't put much trust in those stats. 

[hope52]

nice job flying futchmen     

just pay good and keep it close wed   then games friday and sat

[Knight2Day]

Do they really have that much talent?  When I think of basketball talent, I picture what guys could do against "tougher" competition or a "higher" level.  They don't have a dominant post player or players (though they COULD be someday).  They don't have a great PG- with any or a combo of great speed, handles, playmaking ability, leadership or great scoring ability.  They don't have any great shooters to extend the floor-told everyone 3 years ago powell would not be the answer.  They don't have great senior leadership/players/players with extensive experience, nor impact freshman to give them an immediate and/or season-long lift.

Two weeks ago they were a team with great potential after a great game against Ferris and now the season is over???  Granted, if Snikkers doesn't start making more than 3 of everty 10 shots, they won't win at all (has his game evolved at all in the past 12 months?) but I'm guessing teams can devote a lot more attention to him without a Mantel, Veltema, Rodts, Schuster or Brink on the floor as well.

They will still finish in the top four of the MIAA and although not a lofty goal, once the make the conference tourney, anything can happen.

I think they actually do have quite a bit of talent on that team. While the names might not be as well known as hope has with VanArendonk, Bunn, and Krombeen; players like Vallie, Kruis, and Rietema are guys who can really play besides having Snikkers. The lose of Brink was huge however. On the subject of people thinking the team was going to be good after getting a W vs. Ferris, this is one Knight fan who was still looking at the glass as half empty. Even being in the top 4 of the league might not happen if Trine can play well for a whole season. I see the Knights having big time problems vs the Dutch and Adrian, and yes even vs teams such as Trine and K-zoo.

[scottiedawg]

Do they really have that much talent?  When I think of basketball talent, I picture what guys could do against "tougher" competition or a "higher" level.  They don't have a dominant post player or players (though they COULD be someday).  They don't have a great PG- with any or a combo of great speed, handles, playmaking ability, leadership or great scoring ability.  They don't have any great shooters to extend the floor-told everyone 3 years ago powell would not be the answer.  They don't have great senior leadership/players/players with extensive experience, nor impact freshman to give them an immediate and/or season-long lift.

Two weeks ago they were a team with great potential after a great game against Ferris and now the season is over???  Granted, if Snikkers doesn't start making more than 3 of everty 10 shots, they won't win at all (has his game evolved at all in the past 12 months?) but I'm guessing teams can devote a lot more attention to him without a Mantel, Veltema, Rodts, Schuster or Brink on the floor as well.

They will still finish in the top four of the MIAA and although not a lofty goal, once the make the conference tourney, anything can happen.

I think they actually do have quite a bit of talent on that team. While the names might not be as well known as hope has with VanArendonk, Bunn, and Krombeen; players like Vallie, Kruis, and Rietema are guys who can really play besides having Snikkers. The lose of Brink was huge however. On the subject of people thinking the team was going to be good after getting a W vs. Ferris, this is one Knight fan who was still looking at the glass as half empty. Even being in the top 4 of the league might not happen if Trine can play well for a whole season. I see the Knights having big time problems vs the Dutch and Adrian, and yes even vs teams such as Trine and K-zoo.

I don't think anyone is arguing that Calvin doesn't have talent. The argument is that Calvin doesn't have any (many) players that had or accepted scholarships for D-1 or D-2. Definitely not the be all and end all of talent evaluation, but a decent barometer.

[hoopdreams]

no doubt, it is not the only way to evaluate talent.  A team's success is also dependent on chemistry, what pieces of the puzzle one has intact, is the coaches philosophy on offense and defense conducive to the players he has, etc....I thought Snuggs quote in the paper was interesting last week when he eluded to his concern over team chemistry.

There are talented D3 players and there are talented players playing D3.  Snikkers probably would not see the floor at a "higher" level because his basketball skills are quite limited but he is a great athlete- a very good D3 player.  Jesse Reimink was the same way, a heck of a D3 player, a great player but he wouldn't have played at a higher level- couldn't handle the ball and you can't score if you can't create your own shot at finish at/near the rim.

Joe P could definitely play at a higher level. WWMMD?- Would his game translate higher?  just my 2 cents....

FWIW-  you can look for Myrick to be playing in Holland, soon. CMU probably not what he committed his life to.  Another D1 caliber athlete playing D3, although I've never been much of a fan

[sac]

Wesley Reed and Dennis Mason have only played 1 and 5 minutes for Adrian thus far this season.  Anyone know what's going on here?

They are both still listed on the roster.  I expected both of these guys to be big contributors for the Bulldogs.

Adrian used a pretty short bench yesterday to beat Concordia, all 5 starters scored in double figures.  Adrian made a big run in the middle of the second half, from 6 down to 11 up.  Then held on for the victory as Concordia made 5-6 shots in the final couple minutes

http://www.miaa.org/mbb/stats/1112/1126coad.htm

[sac]

Kalamazoo 87 Earlham 72

Trine 76 Manchester 58   Ian Jackson goes for 40

[knights2000]

To preface: I am a big fan of KVS, I think he coaches players to play the right way, and I have no doubt he is a man of integrity and I think his players have a great deal of respect for him. I think his style of coaching has its flaws, but I also think it is proven to win (see 1999-2000 and 2004-2005 seasons especially) when the right players are in the system.

That being said; is KVS on the hot seat if the Knights don't put together a competitive season? New facilities, talented players, but no NCAA tourney appearances since 2007.

What do you think?

[sac]

The league is 20-17 with a big, and I think, difficult week ahead.  A number of these games could make the difference between a winning league record or losing record.  Next Saturday has some good tests.

Monday, November 28
Albion at Anderson, Ind., 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, November 29
Adrian at St. Francis, Ind., 7 p.m.

Wednesday, November 30
Hope at Western Michigan, 7 p.m.

Thursday, December 1
North Central, Ill at Albion, 7:30 p.m.

Friday, December 2
Hope vs. Wheaton, Ill. (MIAA/CCIW Challenge) at Calvin, 5:30 p.m.
Carthage, Wis. at Calvin (MIAA/CCIW Challenge), 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, December 3
North Park, Ill. at Trine, 3 p.m.
Hope vs. Carthage, Wis. (MIAA/CCIW Challenge) at Calvin, 3:30 p.m.
Wheaton, Ill. at Calvin (MIAA/CCIW Challenge), 5:30 p.m.
Kalamazoo at Univ. of Chicago, 4 p.m.
Wooster, Ohio at Adrian, 3 p.m.
Olivet at Elmhurst, Ill., 4 p.m.

[Mr. Ypsi]

I can never keep straight the rules by calendar dates: is Hope/WMU an official game for both teams, or an exhibition for either?