MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[RuleBritannia]

Err (don't) shoot the ball well 

[Happy Calvin Guy]

The latest from Kalamazoo based sports columnist Graham Couch:
http://www.mlive.com/broncos/index.ssf/2011/11/hope_or_doom_flying_dutchmen_v.html

At least he didn't use the term "delusional Dutch" in his column again, but I think he's still promoting the respect angle a little bit more than reality would dictate.  Either way, I'd be happy to see any MIAA team beat any D1 school.  So for one day, Go Hope!

[sac]

According to massey, Western has played the #2 schedule in D1 so far.  He gives Hope a 9% chance.

...but then he also thinks Calvin is 5-2 

[sac]

tonight's game

Adrian at St. Francis, IL

Adrian won this game 61-52 last year and led the whole way.  St. F ended up 21-10 and probably just missed the NAIA tournament.  A real brief look at last year's boxscore shows Adrian only has about 5 guys who played in last year's game back this year, or playing.

St. F is 4-2 on the year, none of those wins will thrill you.  One of their losses was a crushing 84-59 defeat to Wabash.   I think Wabash might possibly be one of the two best in the NCAC this year.  Midweek road trips can be tough, but I think I like the Bulldog's chances in this one.

[KnightSlappy]

According to massey, Western has played the #2 schedule in D1 so far.  He gives Hope a 9% chance.

...but then he also thinks Calvin is 5-2 

The mothership has the Calvin-Aquinas result listed wrong as well. I sent Pat a message about it. (I'm not sure where Massey is seeing the Ferris game as "real").

[bballfan13]

According to massey, Western has played the #2 schedule in D1 so far.  He gives Hope a 9% chance.

...but then he also thinks Calvin is 5-2 

The mothership has the Calvin-Aquinas result listed wrong as well. I sent Pat a message about it. (I'm not sure where Massey is seeing the Ferris game as "real").

Massey also had the Calvin-Ferris women's game incorrectly listed as a real game.  I emailed him through his contact on the website to inform him of the error and he corrected it this past weekend when he updated the D3 women's basketball.  He also responded rather quickly.  I'd give it a shot so you can see it more accurately.

[Adrian Hoops Fan]

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

At the game vs Siena Hts both were dressed in travel sweats with crutches, not sure to the extent of their injuries, but adrian plays many games early and then have a long layoff.  This should give both plenty of recovery time and allow for some extra reps for some young players and hopefully that will pay off in miaa play

[Flying Dutch Fan]

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

At the game vs Siena Hts both were dressed in travel sweats with crutches, not sure to the extent of their injuries, but adrian plays many games early and then have a long layoff.  This should give both plenty of recovery time and allow for some extra reps for some young players and hopefully that will pay off in miaa play

Well that makes their 4-1 start more impressive in my mind with two starters out.  Hopefully they both recover during the layoff and are ready for league play.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Just looking through the schedule for this week, and it looks like a week full of MIAA vs CCIW, with 7 games this week:

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.
Olivet at Elmhurst, Ill., 4 p.m.

[wiz]

Hope moves to #27 in the latest d3hoops.com poll. Calvin does not get any votes.

And Wheaton, with a perfect 4-0 record jumps all the way up to #13.  They will come to Grand Rapids this weekend and face both Hope and Calvin.  A good chance for two MIAA teams to get a first-hand feel on a national level of where they stand at this early stage of the season.

Calvin women move up from #6 to #4.  Hope women drop slightly but still a strong top 25 showing.

[sac]

St. Francis 71 Adrian 65

Close game all the way.   http://www.gofightingsaints.com/stats/2011-12/mBasketball/game07.htm

Adam Meier 14, Eric Lewis 14, Brad Whitby 12, Sean Gallant 10


This is my first ever score reported via twitter, I feel so with it.

[sac]

Hope moves to #27 in the latest d3hoops.com poll. Calvin does not get any votes.

And Wheaton, with a perfect 4-0 record jumps all the way up to #13.  They will come to Grand Rapids this weekend and face both Hope and Calvin.  A good chance for two MIAA teams to get a first-hand feel on a national level of where they stand at this early stage of the season.

Calvin women move up from #6 to #4.  Hope women drop slightly but still a strong top 25 showing.

Wheaton's 4-0 comes against teams that are something like 5-16, their 12 spot rocket ship ride up the poll seems a bit much.  I'm sure they're a very good team and probably top 25 worthy.   Both games vs Wheaton and Carthage will be very good tests and measuring sticks for Hope and Calvin.  The Hope/Wheaton game being the most important game Hope plays this week.

[KnightSlappy]

I was just looking through some MIAA numbers, and I was shocked about how little impact VanArendonk is having on the stat sheets. I know he didn't play at CMU last year, but dang. Is this just a case of him still feeling things out, or is this a concern? (I understand it's early)

[KnightSlappy]

Perhaps some encouragement for Calvin fans: Finlandia won on the road against a decent-looking UW-Platteville team last Saturday.

[Civic Minded]

I was just looking through some MIAA numbers, and I was shocked about how little impact VanArendonk is having on the stat sheets. I know he didn't play at CMU last year, but dang. Is this just a case of him still feeling things out, or is this a concern? (I understand it's early)

I think in part it's him still feeling his way along (learning the defense takes some time).  It's also foul trouble.  All of our bigs have had a rough start with staying out of foul trouble.  I'm considering glue for their feet.   

He's looked good in a couple of games (an early scrimmage comes to mind), and I'm sure he'll continue to find his way.  And with Bunn hogging all the rebounds (kidding of course), he hasn't needed to work on that stat so much yet.