MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[BogeyMan]

Figured I would take a shot at predicting the All MIAA first and second teams for this year:

First Team
David Krombeen - SR - Hope (MVP)
Nate Snuggerud - JR - Hope
Kolin Kazen - JR - Albion
Joe Prepolec - SR - Kalamazoo
Tom Snikkers - JR - Calvin
Alvino Ashley - JR - Olivet

Second Team
Peter Bunn - SR - Hope
Scott Rogers - JR - Trine
Sean Gallant - JR - Adrian
Cory Schneider - SR - Alma
Richaud Pack - SO - Adrian
Tyler Kruis - SO - Calvin

Ian Jackson (Trine), Mark Ghafari (Kalamazoo), Nate VanArendonk (Hope) would be next for me.

Let the debates begin...

Good job FDF!

I believe you're pretty close FDF.  The only little disagreement I might have is Ian Jackson.  When playing against Trine, coaches needed to prepare to stop Ian. When coaches have to prepare to stop someone, they usually vote for them.  The very same thing happen to Cruise from Albion last year.  His performance last year wasn't anywhere close to being a first teamer compared to the 09/10 season, but coaches had to practice stopping him.  If coaches have to concentrate and prepare to stop a player, they will usually vote for them.

Also, I don't buy the arguement of not putting players on the all-league team because their team did not make the league tourney.  If the MIAA/Coaches wanted to take that into consideration they would wait till the tournament was over to vote.  This is a All League Team, not an All Tournament Team.  That is why I think you're going to find FDF's choices very, very close to being right down the line!

[realist]

I will repost what I had in response to FDF.  I now realize when I went to edit it I deleted it.
Senior monent.

I tried the same thing a few days ago, and many of our names are the same.  I know some of the guys on your first team are good players, but found it hard to give them first team over a guy from an Adrian or Trine that got to the MIAA tourney.  Adrian has played with such balance it is hard to deny them a representative, but it was hard for me to select one.  I went with Pack.  I had Jackson for Trine higher, acknowledging he had some down games this year, but think teams felt they had to control him to beat Trine.  I have always liked Joe P., but he just didn't have a great year.  I dropped AA because the meetings just weren't fun.      Seriously, he is another good player, but doubt he would have performed as well on a better team.

[sac]

At the halfway point I had these as my first team players

David Krombeen, Hope
Ian Jackson, Trine
Kolin Kazan, Albion
Nate Snuggerud, Hope
Brad Whitby, Adrian
Tom Snikkers, Calvin

I don't think I'd change that except for Whitby.   Adrian deserved a first team player.  We could probably switch him out with Rachaud Pack and its an even trade.  Whitby didn't have a strong finish to the season and missing the last two games probably hurt his chances.  Pack did have a stronger 2nd half.

I might even put Joe Prepolec in that spot.  JP has similar numbers to Snikkers and drawing an equal amount of defensive attention and preparation.  His numbers were slightly better than either Pack or Whitby.

[BogeyMan]

My apologies on my last post on giving information that was not correct.  Coaches do vote after the tournament not before the tournament.  Thank you OC_Sid for correcting me. I still believe the tournament should not influence an all-league vote.   

[wiz]

I still believe the tournament should not influence an all-league vote.

Why not?  It is the player's largest test to date.  For three of the teams it is "do or die" and an opportunity to see how the players perform under great pressur.

[wiz]

Will Adrian offer video feed on Wednesday night?

[sac]

Will Adrian offer video feed on Wednesday night?

yes, or at least there is a link

http://www.adrianbulldogs.com/landing/index

[BogeyMan]

I still believe the tournament should not influence an all-league vote.

Why not?  It is the player's largest test to date.  For three of the teams it is "do or die" and an opportunity to see how the players perform under great pressur.

I presonally believe coaches' in the MIAA can tell who the best players are under pressur (or as I like to spell it, pressure) after 14 games.  For example, Adrian will have at least one player, maybe two, playing many more minutes per game in the tournament than they did in the league. If that player(s) shows he is very good, do you put him on the all-league team over someone that has busted their rear all fourteen games?  Not in my book. I believe to have a fair vote it should be done with each team playing the same amount of games!  In second guessing my case, how much will it really matter?  Probably very little, if any at all!

I think Adrian is going give Hope a real battle in the championship game.  Adrian is much better right now than what MIAA fans realize.  Just a prediction Calvin fans!

[HopeConvert]

Sounding like HS Sr. Nathan Landsgaard (6-2, 200 lb, Goodrich) to Calvin.

I don't know a whole heck about him, but he appears to be a good get for the Knights.

He just became my favorite Martian.

Here's mine:

Yet more evidence that my humor is just off the beaten path. I thought Sager would be all over this one.

[Gregory Sager]

Sorry, HC. I don't recognize the person in your pic.

Now, if you'd said that this was your favorite Martian:



... I would've gotten it immediately. If you'd said that one of these chaps:



... was your favorite resident of the Red Planet, I would've had a good laugh.

And if you'd said that this was your favorite Martian:



... everyone in the MIAA room over a certain age would've figured it out.

[HopeConvert]

Sorry, HC. I don't recognize the person in your pic.

Now, if you'd said that this was your favorite Martian:



... I would've gotten it immediately. If you'd said that one of these chaps:



... was your favorite resident of the Red Planet, I would've had a good laugh.

And if you'd said that this was your favorite Martian:



... everyone in the MIAA room over a certain age would've figured it out.

Alas:

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/maritain/

[Flying Dutch Fan]

No, no , no, you guys have it all wrong.  This was a Calvin poster talking about his favorite Martian, which has to be...



or was that

[SBell]

Olivet looking for a coach ...

[realist]

My apologies on my last post on giving information that was not correct.  Coaches do vote after the tournament not before the tournament.  Thank you OC_Sid for correcting me. I still believe the tournament should not influence an all-league vote.

Over the years it has been pretty customary to see some of the eliminated team coaches at the semi's and finals.  One advantage of holding off on voting is the chance for a coach to watch an opposing player against a team other than their own.   Even as a fan I know my impresson of an opposing player has been changed when observing that player against a team other than Calvin.  One example was about 10 years ago watching, and thinking how hard R. Klingler worked, and how into the game he was as opposed to thinking of him simply as a pain in the a...

[sac]

I don't think I have much to add about tonight's games except to reiterate my disappointment in the change of tournament format.

We've been doing this tournament for 20 years now and I had always felt the Friday/Saturday MIAA Tournament semi-finals was the best weekend of the season.   I'm pretty certain I've witnessed all of the semi-final games in person and probably only missed three or four of the Championship games either due to my team not being there or some other conflict.  But the choice to miss a game was always mine.

Tonight I have no choice, I can't be in two places at once and what has always felt like a great gathering to celebrate MIAA basketball will probably not feel anything like an MIAA Tournament Semi-final.  I don't know what will happen in Adrian tonight.  I hope nothing special because if someone ever asks me if I remember that shot so and so hit for Adrian to beat Trine.  My answer will be no, and it will probably sound bitter.

In 1999 I was there when Defiance hit a last second 3 from the top of the arc to beat Calvin, the first time the semi-final host wouldn't be there on Saturday.  I don't remember if it was Frank Kill or Eric Viney, I just remember it went in and I was there to see it.  I remember dumb things like sitting virtually alone drinking a Pepsi, watching the Calvin/Defiance game in the upper tier of Calvin's Fieldhouse after Albion had beaten Hope earlier and most of the Hope fans had gone home.   It gave me a chance to congratulate Albion players like Brock Peters, Jason Klein and John VanderWal.  I talked briefly with Tim Czarnecki about what a great game he had against Hope and wished him well the next day.  You could see the satisfaction on their faces.

That look of satisfaction was the same I saw from Albion coach Mike Turner after his team had beaten Calvin at the 1998 semi-final in Holland.  I shook his hand afterward, told him congratulations and he said about a million words in far less time than it should take.  But it was brilliant.  The next day his team beat Hope for the MIAA Championship, still the only team to beat both Hope and Calvin in a single tournament.  After seeing how hard Albion had played the day before it was so much easier to truly appreciate what the Britons had done that weekend.

If I get to see Saturday's game it will probably feel a little empty, because I'll have no knowledge of how one of the teams got there.  Did they play well?  Did they look tired?  Did anyone struggle or play above themselves?  All questions I could answer until this year and it disappoints me.