MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[sac]

Was perusing some MIAA rosters...and stumbled onto the fact that Kody Chandler, formerly of Goshen and Indian Tech, is now at Olivet with his former Schoolcraft teammate Blake Krum.  I don't believe he played anywhere last year, and I know nothing about the current status of his game, but if he is anywhere near where he was when he was a freshman at Goshen before that whole thing unravelled, he has the potential to be a difference maker for Olivet and one of the better players in the league.

I was surprised by his name as well.  Good player.  Leading scorer his Fr. year at Goshen.
http://www.goleafs.net/SIDHelp/seasonStats/9/1/1.php#tabs-2

[knightvision]

How about them apples?!  Augustana (D3) knocks off Bradley (D1) in an exhibition game.   When's the last time you saw a write-up noting a DI team "struggled to score in the paint" against a D3 team....that was written by the D1 team?? 

Here are the recaps:

http://www.athletics.augustana.edu/news/2014/11/6/MBB_1106145024.aspx?path=mbball

http://www.bradleybraves.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=25965&SPID=1498&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=209753410&DB_OEM_ID=3400

Gotta admit that I was more than a little disappointed that it was Bradley and not fellow MVC conference member Drake that Augustana knocked off--would have been pretty entertaining to listen to oldknight try to explain that one!

[oldknight]

How about them apples?!  Augustana (D3) knocks off Bradley (D1) in an exhibition game.   When's the last time you saw a write-up noting a DI team "struggled to score in the paint" against a D3 team....that was written by the D1 team?? 

Here are the recaps:

http://www.athletics.augustana.edu/news/2014/11/6/MBB_1106145024.aspx?path=mbball

http://www.bradleybraves.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=25965&SPID=1498&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=209753410&DB_OEM_ID=3400

Gotta admit that I was more than a little disappointed that it was Bradley and not fellow MVC conference member Drake that Augustana knocked off--would have been pretty entertaining to listen to oldknight try to explain that one!

Well my Bulldogs play D3 Coe College tomorrow afternoon so we'll see if any 'splainin will be required. If I still rented my former digs at The Nadine, just two blocks from Drake's Knapp Center, I would go and give a first hand account of the game.

One of my favorite summers of all-time was the summer between my 1L and 2L years in Des Moines. I had kept my promise to my wife not to play any hoops my first year of law school but by that spring it seemed I wasn't going to be a washout so I started to find my way to the gym. I took one summer class that ended mid-morning. After a couple hours of study and lunch I headed back to campus and each day--starting at 1:30--pickup ball commenced. The first day I did that--just prior to Memorial Day--I found myself in a game with some exceptionally good players. "Holy Smokes" I said to myself, "These guys are really good!" As it turned out, the varsity team reserved each afternoon for pickup ball that would also include alumni. For whatever reason, they let me play that first day and apparently I didn't embarrass myself too badly because they let me come back and play all summer--five days a week. Every game was a track meet and you had better keep your head on a swivel because any change of possession--even after a made basket--saw the ball going the other direction at lightening speed.

Somewhere around July 1, a new alumni player everyone respectfully called Wayne showed up. He was a 6'2" guard and I often wound up guarding Wayne. He was the finest athlete I ever played with or against and was in phenomenal shape. I eventually found out why--the NBA season had just ended and Wayne Kreklow had an NBA championship ring for his efforts that year with the Celtics. It would be his only season in the NBA but he was two time MVC All-Conference player and still ranks fifth on Drake's career scoring list. When I asked him that summer if he was going back to the NBA he casually said "No; I've been invited to try out for the US National Volleyball team" and went on to rave about one of the team's players, Karch Kiraly, someone I had never heard of before.  Kreklow didn't make that team (which won Olympic gold in Los Angeles) but I think he was an alternate. Kreklow and his wife are now co-coaches for the University of Missouri women's volleyball team

Wayne was a good guy, no ego, who wasn't there to try and show everyone how good he was. He just wanted to play and play he could. Later I found out he scored nearly 1500 points at Drake. In a game against Memphis State he scored 43, going 19-22 from the field, with several of his baskets coming from what would later be known as 3 point range. Guarding him that summer (at least I think that's what I was doing) was both challenging and thrilling but Kreklow never went 19-22 against me so I considered that a victory of sorts. When I picked up my wife from her job late every afternoon she always asked why I looked so tired but competing against Kreklow put me in the best shape of my life. 

[monsoon]

Great story, oldknight.

[BogeyMan]

More to the Augustana story.  Albion opens with Augustana next weekend. 

[almcguirejr]

Calvin starting 5 today:

Austin Parks
Jordan Brink
Michael Welch
Tyler Dykstra
Jordan Daley

I believe Dan Stout must be injured.

[KnightSlappy]

Live stats not working. Good job, good effort Ferris.

Only able to see the occasional score update from the Ferris St. MBB Twitter feed. Guessing Calvin is getting abused down low.

[almcguirejr]

Live stats not working. Good job, good effort Ferris.

Only able to see the occasional score update from the Ferris St. MBB Twitter feed. Guessing Calvin is getting abused down low.

Ouch! 56-19 at halftime! 17 Turnovers!  I almost drove to Big Rapids today!  I'm glad I stayed home.

[ziggy]

Live stats not working. Good job, good effort Ferris.

Only able to see the occasional score update from the Ferris St. MBB Twitter feed. Guessing Calvin is getting abused down low.

Stats seem to be up now.

Difference is really 2-pt FG% and turnovers. 17 for Calvin, only 4 for Ferris.

[maroonandgold]

Live stats not working. Good job, good effort Ferris.

Only able to see the occasional score update from the Ferris St. MBB Twitter feed. Guessing Calvin is getting abused down low.

Stats seem to be up now.

Difference is really 2-pt FG% and turnovers. 17 for Calvin, only 4 for Ferris.

Final score Ferris 92, Calvin 58.  As mentioned, the big thing was Calvin's inability to protect the ball.  It appeared to be an issue for so many young players to catch up to the speed of the college game and to learn to play with each other.  Ferris has tremendous quickness.  One encouraging fact is that Connor Vander Brug led the team with 15 points in his first college game. 

[almcguirejr]

OT: Calvin Volleyball rallies from a 2-1 deficit to beat Hope 3-2 and win MIAA conference tournament.
Great Crowd. Great Video.

[oldknight]

In my years of watching I've probably seen a Calvin team go down by 37 points once or twice, but I think this is the first time I've seen that kind of deficit at halftime. Ferris totally dominated the opening 20 minutes displaying far superior strength, tenacity and quickness at every position. I did expect that Calvin would struggle to stop the Bulldogs offense because Ferris dropped 87 last week on D1 Oakland University in a game Ferris lost by only 7. But I also thought the Knights would score more than 19 points in the opening half. But Ferris proved suffocating on defense, contesting virtually every shot when they weren't interrupting passing lanes or stripping a Calvin player. The Knights had 17 turnovers in the opening half and shot 6-30 from the floor. I'm surprised they scored 19. This Ferris team is extremely talented, one of the best all-around teams they've had in many years and I'm expecting they might win the GLIAC's Northern Division. About the only good thing Calvin did as a team was to compete on the boards, as the Knights were only outrebounded 41-39 for the game.

Other game notes:

--Jordan Brink seems to have bulked up a bit, sporting a few more pounds in the upper body and more definition in the shoulders and arms. Jordan struggled to score (2-8 from the floor) but he did grab 7 boards. I'm not really worried about him though; he will be just fine this year.

--Tyler Dykstra had a rough afternoon, a really rough afternoon. No points, 2 boards, and zero blocks. He's normally a shot blocking machine but he was regularly a half step out of position.

--Though he made a few of the usual freshmen mistakes, Connor Vander Brug quickly showed why he comes in with such high hopes. He was far and away Calvin's most effective frontline player going 6-11 from the floor and scoring a team high 15. Connor should be starting--and soon. Going by memory, I believe Tom Snikkers came off the bench his first four games and then started every game the rest of his Calvin career. If I'm coach I'm inserting Connor in the starting lineup beginning with the Anderson game next week. I can live with the mistakes--he'll learn quickly--because the freshmen from Chicago offers so much. He has a man's body to go along with excellent athleticism and such obvious scoring ability that even I noticed. He's simply too versatile to keep off the floor and I'll live with the mistakes.

--both Dan Stout and TJ Huizinga were in street clothes. Apparently Stout is recovering from a bone bruise and started a limited practice schedule this week. He hopes to get a rotation or two against Anderson. TJ was wearing a soft cast due to a break in a bone in his left hand. I asked TJ before the game and he told me he will be out 4-6 weeks.

--In what has to be categorized as the biggest surprise of the freshmen class, it appears to me that South Haven's Tony Canonie is very much in the running for the backup point guard spot. Good handles, excellent defender and at 6'2" he has nice size. Definitely a player to watch.


And in from Des Moines, this special report for knightvision: Drake 78, Coe College  53. No explaining required, though the Kohawks did throw a scare into oldknight when Coe took a 33-32 halftime lead.

[pointlem]

We know what the returning Calvin players are capable of, and if Connor Vander Burg has the potential for even more that bodes well for Calvin.

Ferris may be better than their 6th place (out of 8 teams) in the GLIAC North pre-season poll.  But today's Ferris v. Calvin result suggests that Hope, too, may be in line for a humbling experience on Tuesday playing GVSU (#2 in the same poll).  GVSU led DI Valpo midway through the 2nd half in their recent exhibition game.

[sac]

Western Michigan 81 Kzoo 32 
http://www.wmubroncos.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=1924&DB_OEM_ID=4600&ATCLID=209758389

IPFW 110 Olivet 79
http://www.gomastodons.com/documents/2014/11/9/exhibit.htm

Indiana State 68 Trine 54
http://www.gosycamores.com/pdf9/2964517.pdf?ATCLID=209757802&SPSID=65149&SPID=7259&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=15200

[gohope]

Here's another article from the Kazoo/WMU game from this past Sunday:

http://www.mlive.com/sports/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2014/11/k-college_mens_basketball_team.html#incart_river