MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[Flying Dutch Fan]

I've wanted the MIAC to switch to a single sight tourney for a while now. How did it work out last year for the MIAA, just out of curiosity.

I personally loved it - but then Hope was hosting (hated that we lost in the semi's, but great experience for all the players).  Gives it the feel like a 4 team pod in the NCAA tournament.  I know that several of the coaches also commented very positively on the experience for their players.  For some, the only "win or go home" tournament they get to experience. 

Other than the Hope loss - the one thing I really disliked last year was the way they scheduled games - specifically because Hope was hosting both Men's and Women's tournaments.  Last year went like this:

Friday
1:00pm - Women's 2 v 3 game
3:00pm - Men's 2 v 3 game
5:30pm - Women's 1 v 4 game
7:30pm - Men's 1 v 4 game

Saturday
5:30pm - Women's championship game
7:30pm - Men's championship game

My understanding (from a reliable source) is that this year, if the same situation occurs with a single school hosting both, the schedule will be:

Friday
1:00pm - Women's 2 v 3 game
3:00pm - Women's 1 v 4 game
5:30pm - Men's 2 v 3 game
7:30pm - Men's 1 v 4 game

Saturday will remain the same.  If it turns out to be 2 different schools hosting, then both sites will follow the 5:30pm 2 v 3, and 7:30pm 1 v 4 schedule on Friday, and the championship games will both be at 7:30pm on Saturday.

[scottiedawg]

You can add (both from twitter):

Max Gaishin - 6'7" - Hope College - Stevensville Lakeshore
Bill Woodhmas - 6'4" - Hope College - Otsego

Thanks FDF!

NAME	Ht	COLLEGE	HS	NOTE
Daniel Black	6'4	Kalamazoo	Ann Arbor Skyline
Emmet Warners	6'5	Calvin	Grand Rapids Christian
Luke DeHahn	6'6	Trine	Indiana Faith Christian School
Max Galshin	6'7	Hope	Stevensville Lakeshore
Bill Woodhmas	6'4	Hope	Otsego

[SBell]

Ga-i-shin

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Hope wins at Alma 76-71. Unbelievable officiating that concludes with Hargraves getting a late T, which caused him to chest bump the official (Parks) twice leading to him being tossed. Expect more repercussions from that to be coming. MIAA head of officials was in attendance.

[oldknight]

Hope wins at Alma 76-71. Unbelievable officiating that concludes with Hargraves getting a late T, which caused him to chest bump the official (Parks) twice leading to him being tossed. Expect more repercussions from that to be coming. MIAA head of officials was in attendance.

Link to game video is below. I'm curious about FDF's take on the officiating (sac too as he was sitting next to you) and what made it "unbelieveable" though the only part I've watched is the last 30 seconds of the game and the part that just preceded the T on Hargraves. Alma had the ball trailing 72-67 with just under 20 seconds when Gernaat penetrated to the right of the lane, being defended by Blackledge. Contact was made and the ref had the choice of calling a block or a walk (or ignoring it all) as Gernaat tossed in the shot off the glass. Ref chose a walk. I've watched it three times and though it's a close call, I think the ref got it right. Given the situation and the importance of the call, I can understand Hargraves being upset but his chest bump was way out of the line. He should be suspended a game IMHO. In the interest of full disclosure, Alma's next game is at Calvin. Take a look at the video and decide for yourself. Start it at 2:02:00 when Carlson was at the stripe and missed the free throw. Let me add that the Alma announcing team (and a good one I might add) had no problem with the call.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdrpzE1s46U

[Fifth and Putnam]

Hope wins at Alma 76-71. Unbelievable officiating that concludes with Hargraves getting a late T, which caused him to chest bump the official (Parks) twice leading to him being tossed. Expect more repercussions from that to be coming. MIAA head of officials was in attendance.

Link to game video is below. I'm curious about FDF's take on the officiating and what made it "unbelieveable" though the only part I've watched is the segment that just preceded the T on Hargraves. Alma had the ball trailing 72-67 with just under 20 seconds when Gernaat penetrated to the right of the lane, being defended by Blackledge. Contact was made and the ref had the choice of calling a block or a walk (or ignoring it all) as Gernaat tossed in the shot off the glass. Ref chose a walk. I've watched it three times and though it's a close call, I think the ref got it right. Given the situation and the importance of the call, I can understand Hargraves being upset but his chest bump was way out of the line. He should be suspended a game IMHO. In the interest of full disclosure, Alma's next game is at Calvin. Take a look at the video and decide for yourself. Start it at 2:02:00 when Carlson was at the stripe and missed the free throw. Let me add that the Alma announcing team (and a good one I might add) had no problem with the call.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdrpzE1s46U

I don't see anything egregiously missed there. I didn't see the whole game but it may have been the accumulation of frustration over what he thought was a game long mishandling of the officiating and that was the last straw. Hard to say but I lean towards that being the correct call.

[Young Knight 14]

Interesting to note that 12 Calvin players have entered the game in a very close first half at Olivet.

[oldknight]

After a poor shooting first half, Calvin turned it on early in the second and took an 18 point lead near the midpoint. Over a 2-3 minute stretch, Olivet responded with a flurry of three pointers, both from the arc and the old fashioned way to cut the deficit to 67-65. The little used Carlos Amoros then stepped up to make the biggest three point basket of his young career and Calvin used that to slowly pull away to a crucial 83-70 road win. This sets up a huge home game Wednesday against Alma. A Calvin win against the Scots would give the Knights a major leg up for the 2nd spot in the conference tournament. Other game notes:

--Calvin had a lot to overcome tonight, being forced to get major minutes out of players who haven't played meaningful minutes all season, specifically, the aforementioned Amoros along with Meppelink who logged 16 and 15 minutes respectively. Kronemeyer is still out and I see backup point guard, Van Boxel, only played 3 minutes so maybe he is injured/sick too.

--Speaking of injuries, Wilkes' early second half hand injury (from which he did not return) made Mike Siegel a really important player and the kid from Fremont responded with 16 points in 27 minutes of PT. Combined with 18 from Wilkes before going to the bench, Calvin got a lot of productivity out of that position. Post game interview indicates a dislocated finger on his non-shooting hand and lets hope that's all it is because the Knights can't afford to lose their most productive player.

--A better performance from the free throw line would have made tonight's win less stressful. As inconsistent as Calvin has been from the floor this season, they've actually been pretty good from the stripe. But against the Comets, the Knights made only 5 of their last 18 attempts.

--Cam Denney with a triple double getting 11 points, 10 boards and 10 assists. He only fell two turnovers short of a quadruple double.

[almcguirejr]

Hope wins at Alma 76-71. Unbelievable officiating that concludes with Hargraves getting a late T, which caused him to chest bump the official (Parks) twice leading to him being tossed. Expect more repercussions from that to be coming. MIAA head of officials was in attendance.

Link to game video is below. I'm curious about FDF's take on the officiating (sac too as he was sitting next to you) and what made it "unbelieveable" though the only part I've watched is the last 30 seconds of the game and the part that just preceded the T on Hargraves. Alma had the ball trailing 72-67 with just under 20 seconds when Gernaat penetrated to the right of the lane, being defended by Blackledge. Contact was made and the ref had the choice of calling a block or a walk (or ignoring it all) as Gernaat tossed in the shot off the glass. Ref chose a walk. I've watched it three times and though it's a close call, I think the ref got it right. Given the situation and the importance of the call, I can understand Hargraves being upset but his chest bump was way out of the line. He should be suspended a game IMHO. In the interest of full disclosure, Alma's next game is at Calvin. Take a look at the video and decide for yourself. Start it at 2:02:00 when Carlson was at the stripe and missed the free throw. Let me add that the Alma announcing team (and a good one I might add) had no problem with the call.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdrpzE1s46U

I find it interesting the Alma/Hope box score does not include the last names of the officials.

http://www.almascots.com/sports/mbkb/2016-17/boxscores/20170204_zrkl.xml

[Smitty Oom]

--Cam Denney with a triple double getting 11 points, 10 boards and 10 assists. He only fell two turnovers short of a quadruple double.

It said Cam Denney logged 19 minutes... Seems nearly impossibly to log those kind of stats in 19 minutes. Is that accurate??

Also FWIW, I checked out the ending of the Hope vs. Alma game and I think it is a travel as Gernaant appears to trip and touch his other foot to the ground in an effort to regain his balance. Hargraves seemed to have stepped over the line IMO and wouldn't be shocked to see some sort of consequence coming for him soon.

[sac]

Hope wins at Alma 76-71. Unbelievable officiating that concludes with Hargraves getting a late T, which caused him to chest bump the official (Parks) twice leading to him being tossed. Expect more repercussions from that to be coming. MIAA head of officials was in attendance.

Link to game video is below. I'm curious about FDF's take on the officiating (sac too as he was sitting next to you) and what made it "unbelieveable" though the only part I've watched is the last 30 seconds of the game and the part that just preceded the T on Hargraves. Alma had the ball trailing 72-67 with just under 20 seconds when Gernaat penetrated to the right of the lane, being defended by Blackledge. Contact was made and the ref had the choice of calling a block or a walk (or ignoring it all) as Gernaat tossed in the shot off the glass. Ref chose a walk. I've watched it three times and though it's a close call, I think the ref got it right. Given the situation and the importance of the call, I can understand Hargraves being upset but his chest bump was way out of the line. He should be suspended a game IMHO. In the interest of full disclosure, Alma's next game is at Calvin. Take a look at the video and decide for yourself. Start it at 2:02:00 when Carlson was at the stripe and missed the free throw. Let me add that the Alma announcing team (and a good one I might add) had no problem with the call.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdrpzE1s46U

I find it interesting the Alma/Hope box score does not include the last names of the officials.

http://www.almascots.com/sports/mbkb/2016-17/boxscores/20170204_zrkl.xml

Parks, VanDyken, Miller

Parks impacted the entire game, he was terrible, one sided in the first half, even embarrassing.  Miller took the first half off.

[sac]

Hope 76  Alma 71

Given the games these two have played the last couple years this one was pretty rough to watch.  Both didn't shoot the ball very well, combining to go 11-51 from behind the arc.  Around the rim a lot of guys seemed to have the yips.  Truth be told I felt like either team could have blown out the other with a better afternoon of shooting.  Maybe there was some good defense played in there also, but maybe not so much.

Hope won on the offensive glass where they pulled down a season high 19 boards and turnovers continued to be a problem for the Scots with 16 to Hope's 7.   The result was Hope had a 17 shot attempt advantage and a whopping 77 chances to put the ball in the basket.  A fast Hope start and slow Alma start gave Hope a lead they never relinquished, it was keep them at arms length most of the day with Alma making 2 or 3 good pushes and getting the margin to one possession a couple times.  Most of the day Hope led between 5 and 10.

Standout players were Blackledge, Carlson and Hope's bench duo of O'Brien and Towns along with some very big Teddy Ray plays here and there.  Trevor Gernaat was great for Alma while the rest of their team really seemed to lack energy today.  Maybe tired legs are catching up with the Freshmen

The less said about the officiating the better, just a disappointing game in that area.

Hope:  Blackledge 24, Carlson 15, Hawkins 12
Alma:  Gernaat 22, Stevens 13

[sac]

Calvin 83  Olivet 70

Imaginary conversation that may or may not have taken place
Olivet fan:  Did you hear Hargraves was tossed out of today's game.
Steve Ernst:   Is that a challenge?


After the first game today I 100% expected Ernst to get rung-up tonight against Calvin.  I was not disappointed when 3:15 seconds into the game,  Ernst said something about worst call in the history of basketball or worst official etc etc.  He was warned and in the confusion of the situation official B asked official A if the Olivet coach had been warned and it was Ernst who pipped in, loudly, that he had in fact been warned.  That earned him a technical foul.   I shrug my shoulders.

This was also a tough game to watch, there was a pretty brutal stretch in the first half with some serious ugly play from Calvin and one later from Olivet that spilled into the 2nd half.  Calvin got off to a nice start and led 17-10 before going scoreless for about 7 minutes while Olivet went on a 15-0 run to lead 25-17.  Calvin came right back with a 12-0 run of their own.  The Knights finished off the first half with a 6-0 run to lead by 4.

Non-Kool Aid drinkers will be interested to know Calvin adjusted nicely at halftime and back-doored Olivet 4 straight trips while also stretching the floor, making Olivet defend more floor and really pushing the ball up the floor on defensive rebounds and hitting Olivet on the break several times.  Their ball movement was noticeably better and the quality of their shots markedly better.  Calvin extended its end of first half play into the 2nd and led by 17 near the half-way mark.

To their credit the Comets didn't quit, rolled of a 14-0 run to get with 4.  But when Eric Ewing fouled out with over 6 minutes to play the writing was on the wall.  Olivet fought gamely for a few possession and were as close as 70-67 before going pretty ice cold down the stretch as Calvin closed out the game very well.

Wilks injury escaped me, but I do remember a loose ball tie-up earlier in the game followed by a time out.  I'm wondering if it didn't happen there.  Denny went out in very spectacular fashion with what I thought was a shoulder injury (you may notice his taped up right shoulder) but turned out to be a wrist injury of some kind.  He did not look comfortable the final 7 or 8 minutes of the game.


Olivet is a much better team than earlier this year, but they didn't play nearly as well as they did Wednesday night.   Olivet has a fighting chance for the tournament slot but only just.  Being two games back its an uphill climb and they'll have to win @ Trine and @ Alma the final week of the season probably.

I guess 3 blocks is a little too far for Olivet students to walk with only about 30 or so finding Cutler after about 150 found Upton Wed. night.

It said Cam Denney logged 19 minutes... Seems nearly impossibly to log those kind of stats in 19 minutes. Is that accurate??

Cam sat a lengthy time on the first half bench because he was having a tough first half.  I thought he was out longer due to injury in the second half but the boxscore pbp doesn't show that.   He checks out at 9:49, never re-enters but is credited a turnover at 7:02........so I don't know.  I thought he was out longer.

[sac]

Hope wins at Alma 76-71. Unbelievable officiating that concludes with Hargraves getting a late T, which caused him to chest bump the official (Parks) twice leading to him being tossed. Expect more repercussions from that to be coming. MIAA head of officials was in attendance.

Thought it would be on video better but it was a bit more than a "chest bump", charging bull is more like it.  Parks would have called a block on the bull.

[arena]

That chest bump may have taken Hargraves out of the next Calvin coach mix.