MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[HopeConvert]

That's why I said "extended period of time" ... one down year isn't enough to get a read on whether or not both Hope and Calvin are actually falling off the pace.  Calvin really hasn't torn up the track since Jordan Brink hung up his uni for the last time, but, on the other hand, last season's 17-11 campaign is not exactly a sign of a program in crisis. And last season's Hope team was pretty darned good.

Correct, but I also think the "extended period of time" argument is correct. Neither
Program is recruiting the kinds of players they would have routinely gotten 10-15 ago, such as Kyle Steigenga. The economics of higher ed and the homogenization of college missions is flattening things out. I dare to say the age of the Big 2/Little 6 is over.

[maroonandgold]

Halftime scores confirm what so many of us have been saying.  The league will be really wild this year.  Who would have thought that Hope against Kalamazoo, Adrian against Albion, and Alma against Calvin would all be trailing at this point.  One half doesn't mean all that much, but the scores are still surprising so far.

[oldknight]

I didn't get to see any of the Calvin win over Alma but I see the Knights took it to the Scots, 80-63. This is a heartening win for Calvin going into Wednesday night's Rivalry game. Calvin continues to get scoring contributions from several players, today led by frosh Luke Morrison with 23, followed by Bykerk and Walter with 12, and DeVries with 11. Wilks added 9 off the bench and it's starting to look like DeVries may have taken over a starting spot permanently with Wilks coming in to offer scoring pop from the pine. Truth be told, it's really not that big of a deal as both players got 24 minutes of playing time. From the box score it looks like Alma lost the game by combining poor 3 point shooting (5-26) with turnover issues (19). Maki led Alma with 13 while Lameroux and Schiebert added 11. Bradfield and Gamble, two players who were so dominant the last time they teamed up against Calvin, scored a combined 3 points, shot 1-7 from the floor and only played a total of 28 minutes, so I'm wondering if these two are not healthy.

Sure would love to read a report from someone who attended the game.

[maroonandgold]

Calvin went on to beat Alma by 17 after leading the entire second half, at times by as much as 25 points.  What was a particularly pleasant surprise is the the Knights had fewer turnovers and more points off turnovers by a good margin.  That has been a weak area for them.  They also outshot Alma in both 2 point and 3 point shots.

Not surprising, Hope came back to win by a decent margin and Adrian came on the beat Albion by a similar margin.

[KnightSlappy]

I was not able to see the Calvin game today. It would be nice to have a home game now and then. 

[oldknight]

I remembered that Alma archives their home game video and just watched the first half. Alma announcer is outstanding, knows the game and the teams, and follows the game action seamlessly. Link is here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWam9mRSQZg

From what I saw from first half action, Alma looks nothing like the teams we've seen from them the last two seasons. The Scots offense was totally self-centered, with no team concept apparent to me. Since Calvin started the second half on an 18-4 run to go up 27, I'm guessing the second 20 minutes was more of the same. And what's happened to Doug Bradfield? Other than a block of a Canonie shot at the end of the half, Bradfield was MIA. Alma looks like a team that badly misses Trevor Gernaat.

Walter had a great opening 20 minutes and really gave Calvin's offense a shot in the arm. He's becoming a player who really offers life off the bench. Calvin's size seemed to bother Alma who gave up far to many second--and third--shots to the Knights.

[AppletonRocks]

Does the Grand Rapids G League team play their games at Calvin's facility?

[TUAngola]

Trine 79 Olivet 72

Trine jumps out to huge lead in 1st half.  Then Olivet finally decides to start playing, but Trine holds them off...barely.

I never would have thought that after watching the nonconference part of the schedule that Trine would go on the road and beat both Hope and Olivet to start the season.  Crazy!!  MIAA race is going to be wide open.   

Now it's Adrian at Trine Wednesday night at the MTI Center opener for the men, both at 2-0.  Students back to class on Monday so the place should be rockin'.

[oldknight]

Does the Grand Rapids G League team play their games at Calvin's facility?

I think you mean the D League, the league in which the Grand Rapids Drive compete. The Drive don't play their games at Calvin but do use Van Noord Arena for their practice facility.

[Pat Coleman]

Does the Grand Rapids G League team play their games at Calvin's facility?

I think you mean the D League, the league in which the Grand Rapids Drive compete. The Drive don't play their games at Calvin but do use Van Noord Arena for their practice facility.

The G League is the D League renamed. Thanks, Gatorade.

[oldknight]

Does the Grand Rapids G League team play their games at Calvin's facility?

I think you mean the D League, the league in which the Grand Rapids Drive compete. The Drive don't play their games at Calvin but do use Van Noord Arena for their practice facility.

The G League is the D League renamed. Thanks, Gatorade.

I think Dr. Pepper should sponsor and take the letter back.

[sac]

Hope 86  Kalamazoo 77

Kzoo proved to be a tough nut for Hope to crack today.  Even as Hope seemed to start to get a handle on the game in the 2nd half it was really hard for Hope to get any kind of separation, once they did they were really only able to keep Kzoo at arms length and gave them far to many opportunities to stay close.

Hope had great efforts from Teddy Ray and Preston Granger, Granger had an excellent 2nd half.  Hope was outstanding at the FT line and that saved the day.

Hope:  Ray 24, Beckman 19, Granger 13, Hawkins 10
Trine:  Vincent 18, Blyly 16, Smith 13, Reiter 12, Paprocki 10

Kzoo's young players are a nice foundation to build a future.  Jeremiah Vincent will be a tough player in this league.

Much to be concerned about going into next Wednesday.  Hope has to be better, stronger, more aggressive, smarter, more focused .........other than that they're ready for the world.

[sac]

Trine 79  Olivet 72

Trine was just as or more impressive  in the first half of this one than Wednesday night at Hope.  There was about 12 minutes of outstanding basketball played.  Ersnt put the end of his bench in for 5 min midway through the first half.  From that substitution on this was just about the ugliest game I've seen in a long long time.

Trine led by 21 at the half, Olivet pressed and trapped the 2nd half and Trine really struggled with it,  Olivet couldn't take advantage of it enough but did pull the game down to 4 points before Trine steadied themselves and held on for the win.  Olivet's press and pressure really changed the nature of the game, no fault in that, but the overall execution in this one was ......ugh.


Not a fun night for me inside Cutler.  Fans taking on the personality of their jackass coach is a bit too much for me.   Things are being tolerated that shouldn't be, not what this league is supposed to be about.   You can't hide in the endzone and pretend you aren't seeing and hearing these things.  Probably enough for me for awhile.




On a side note our best friend in coaching called another timeout to just stare at the officials.  2 guys ignored him on one end of the floor, the coach walked around his team to the other side and attempted to stare at the 3rd official but he just looked up at the ceiling.......which made my night,  you're a legend to me Shinear Trice.

[Bulldog30]

Adrian beats Albion 72 to 65. Even though it was a close game the whole way, I never felt like Adrian was going to lose. They were the better team, but Albion had a real nice game plan, and if they shot better (12 of 22 from FT and 9 of 29 from 3, although Adrian's defense was a big reason as they play the perimeter well) they might have won. They forced Adrian to beat them from the outside.

The game was tight until about 8 minutes into the 2nd half as they got about a 10 point lead. Albion closed with about 2 minutes left, but Adrian pulled back ahead and that was that.

Justin Webster led Adrian with a quiet 32. I say quiet because he was 13/16 from the stripe, but he created those fouls with strong drives and post play, especially after they got Albion's big guy in foul trouble. He, along with their other big guy Jeremy, went a combined 7 of 9 from 3.

Adrian's guards on the other hand struggled from the field. They protect the ball well and a run a solid offense, but the 3 starting guards shot a combined 7 of 29 from the field and 3 of 14 from 3. Got to shoot better.

Albion' big guy was a handful down low. He creates open space for the guards, and once he was out, it was better. Guys like that are always a problem.

Also, Albion was so empty. I know many aren't back from home, but Albion crowds were fun when I played.

Trine is next, and it would be real nice to start 3 and 0 in conference.

[sac]

Good luck to Hope and Calvin Wednesday night, may the best  .............  well everybody just have a good time.