MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[Dutchfan]

Maybe it's been on here and I missed it, but what happened to Jason Beckman?

[wiz]

Looks like Mr. Perez is wearing a whistle at VanNoord tonight. 

[wiz]

Looks like Mr. Perez is wearing a whistle at VanNoord tonight. 

And he's blowing it!

[KnightSlappy]

Well gosh golly if Olivet isn't an entertaining team to watch. They beat Calvin 85-81 tonight at VNA.
Coach Ernst is tiresome, however. He likely would not be satisfied with the officiating if calls were 100-0 in his favor.

[Jameswys]

Well gosh golly if Olivet isn't an entertaining team to watch. They beat Calvin 85-81 tonight at VNA.
Coach Ernst is tiresome, however. He likely would not be satisfied with the officiating if calls were 100-0 in his favor.

I've had a great time watching this team. I wish I could have seen Manuel, Jones and Roberts play with Jalen Adams, boy that would have been a fun team.

As for Coach Ernst, I love watching him on the sidelines and I enjoy watching him take a timeout to stare down the officials, but I've long since realized I would enjoy those traits if he was the visiting coach. I will say personally he's a great guy who truly loves OC Basketball and the fans who come out and watch it.

As for tonight's game, I watched the Calvin feed on my iPhone as I wasn't home tonight. The camera angle from Van Noord is high and angular, you get a nice view of the court but it's quite far off. Watching that angle on my phone, however, I didn't like it as it made me naturally lean my neck in trying to fix the angle. I'll only watch Calvin games from Van Noord or my TV from here on out.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Maybe it's been on here and I missed it, but what happened to Jason Beckman?

Jason is in the concussion protocol after the really hard foul he took at Alma a week ago

[sac]

Hope 77 Albion 70  F

After Saturday you couldn't really be sure what you'd see tonight from Hope, this was a pretty great response short a couple guys with both Beckman's not playing.  Albion was without Jemzelle Davis as well which made for kind a rare match-up of two teams without their leading scorers.  Hope really took charge early and managed to control most of the game.  I can't even count how many times I looked up to see a 12 point margin, made me damn nervous.

Albion eventually made a nice run at the end when they tried to go all "Arshawn Parker at Aurora" on Hope.  But after about the 4th or 5th try Riley Lewis ripped away the ball from Parker and converted a couple ft's to end the rally for good.  Calvin Hackert had hit a nice jumper a moment earlier to put them up 5 with a little over a minute to play and relieve a little pressure.

Team loss Saturday, team win tonight as Hope really made an effort to dig into their bench.  The Fr. Dietz, Davis and George all hit close to double-digit minutes and combined to score 12 points which was probably ultimately the difference in the game.   Especially liked Ryan Gamm coming into the game to specifically stop another Quentin Armstrong post move and immediately block the shot and change possession. 

Hope:  Lewis 16, Towns 16, Ray 15, Granger 11
Albion :  Armstrong 18, Parker 16, Collins 12, Ebeling 10

[sac]

Standings with +/-    (+1 for road win, -1 for home loss) w/remaining games

Olivet     6-1      +3   (ALB, TRN, KZO @Alm, @Adr, @Hpe, CAL)
Trine      6-1      +2   (@Hpe, @Oli, ADR, @Cal, ALB, @Kzo, ALM)
Albion    5-2      +1   (@Oli, ADR, ALM, @Kzo, @Trn, @Cal, HPE)
Hope     4-3      +1    (TRN, @Kzo, CAL, @Adr, ALM, OLI, @Alb)
Alma     3-4       -1    (@Kzo, CAL, @Alb, OLI, @Hpe, ADR, @Trn)
Calvin    3-4      -2    (@Adr, @Alm, @Hpe, TRN, @Kzo, ALB, @Oli)
Kzoo      1-6      -1     (ALM, HPE, @Oli, ALB, CAL, TRN, @Adr)
Adrian    0-7      -3     (CAL, @Alb, @Trn, HPE, OLI, @Alm,  KZO)

Olivet is down to one road game at Hope and at Alma, seems like they're in the drivers seat.  Next two games they're probably playing for a Championship  hosting Albion and Trine.

The template of Win remaining Home games and games w/Kzoo/Adrian.   I really think we might be down to someone has to go beat Olivet at Olivet.


Olivet   11-3
Trine    10-4
Hope    10-4
Albion   9-5
Alma    7-7
Calvin   6-8

Big games Saturday  Trine at Hope,  Albion at Olivet  so either some separation or more compression at the top.

The fight for 2nd and the MIAA Tournaments first round bye might end up more interesting than the fight for first.

[maroonandgold]

Maybe it's been on here and I missed it, but what happened to Jason Beckman?

Jason is in the concussion protocol after the really hard foul he took at Alma a week ago

Thanks for the information.  I have been wondering the same thing.  What about Gamble for Alma?   He's been out for a while, too, and he is really inportant for them.

[maroonandgold]

Olivet was really impressive last night.  They have size, speed, defense, shooting, and shot blocking ability that were all outstanding for the MIAA.  Calvin really played a strong second half and made a game of it with good shooting and strong defense, but Olivet is really strong.  In the first half Calvin seemed totally frustrated and intimidated by the defense.  The only weakness that I could see is the surly attitude mentioned earlier toward the refs.  It starts with the coach and spreads to the players from him.  Three technicals is not good for the team or league.  It really was a factor in making a close game of one that appeared quite one-sided in the first half.

[KnightSlappy]

Olivet was really impressive last night.  They have size, speed, defense, shooting, and shot blocking ability that were all outstanding for the MIAA.  Calvin really played a strong second half and made a game of it with good shooting and strong defense, but Olivet is really strong.  In the first half Calvin seemed totally frustrated and intimidated by the defense.  The only weakness that I could see is the surly attitude mentioned earlier toward the refs.  It starts with the coach and spreads to the players from him.  Three technicals is not good for the team or league.  It really was a factor in making a close game of one that appeared quite one-sided in the first half.

To me it appears to be nearly a 100% coach thing, but that probably does trickle down to the players (and fans) after a while. At one point, around the second technical foul, a fan behind the Olivet yelled to "call it both ways". Perhaps he meant to call technical both ways, but fouls at the time were something like 17-13 in Olivet's favor at the time (the 13 included the two techs that weren't part of the flow of the game).

Ernst's strategy of constant complaint is to grind down the officials and make it seem like they're getting screwed all game in the hopes that they get an extra call or two down the stretch.

Neat moment after the game, a sort of #whyd3 thing for me, the Olivet team celebrated their win and then the entire team and staff went into the locker room except Tracy Edmond who went back to the bench alone and scooped up all of his teammate's warmups and carried them to the locker room (presumably so someone else wouldn't have to). He had just scored a game-high 27 points.

[TUAngola]

Olivet was really impressive last night.  They have size, speed, defense, shooting, and shot blocking ability that were all outstanding for the MIAA.  Calvin really played a strong second half and made a game of it with good shooting and strong defense, but Olivet is really strong.  In the first half Calvin seemed totally frustrated and intimidated by the defense.  The only weakness that I could see is the surly attitude mentioned earlier toward the refs.  It starts with the coach and spreads to the players from him.  Three technicals is not good for the team or league.  It really was a factor in making a close game of one that appeared quite one-sided in the first half.

To me it appears to be nearly a 100% coach thing, but that probably does trickle down to the players (and fans) after a while. At one point, around the second technical foul, a fan behind the Olivet yelled to "call it both ways". Perhaps he meant to call technical both ways, but fouls at the time were something like 17-13 in Olivet's favor at the time (the 13 included the two techs that weren't part of the flow of the game).

Ernst's strategy of constant complaint is to grind down the officials and make it seem like they're getting screwed all game in the hopes that they get an extra call or two down the stretch.

Neat moment after the game, a sort of #whyd3 thing for me, the Olivet team celebrated their win and then the entire team and staff went into the locker room except Tracy Edmond who went back to the bench alone and scooped up all of his teammate's warmups and carried them to the locker room (presumably so someone else wouldn't have to). He had just scored a game-high 27 points.

I am in agreement with maroonandgold and KnightSlappy about Coach Ernest (sorry Jameswys).  I've seen him on the sidelines perhaps 3x against Trine and the constant screaming at the officials is tiresome, almost embarrassing.  I understand that there are some really awful calls that need to be pointed out, but not every...single...time...the...call...is...not...for...Olivet.  I am an old guy with old school in his blood, to me Coaches should be focused on the game, their players, Xs and Os, encouragement, not the guys and gals in Stripes.  His strategy does seem to work for him and his team however.  I just don't like it in DIII sports and the MIAA.   

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Olivet was really impressive last night.  They have size, speed, defense, shooting, and shot blocking ability that were all outstanding for the MIAA.  Calvin really played a strong second half and made a game of it with good shooting and strong defense, but Olivet is really strong.  In the first half Calvin seemed totally frustrated and intimidated by the defense.  The only weakness that I could see is the surly attitude mentioned earlier toward the refs.  It starts with the coach and spreads to the players from him.  Three technicals is not good for the team or league.  It really was a factor in making a close game of one that appeared quite one-sided in the first half.

To me it appears to be nearly a 100% coach thing, but that probably does trickle down to the players (and fans) after a while. At one point, around the second technical foul, a fan behind the Olivet yelled to "call it both ways". Perhaps he meant to call technical both ways, but fouls at the time were something like 17-13 in Olivet's favor at the time (the 13 included the two techs that weren't part of the flow of the game).

Ernst's strategy of constant complaint is to grind down the officials and make it seem like they're getting screwed all game in the hopes that they get an extra call or two down the stretch.

Neat moment after the game, a sort of #whyd3 thing for me, the Olivet team celebrated their win and then the entire team and staff went into the locker room except Tracy Edmond who went back to the bench alone and scooped up all of his teammate's warmups and carried them to the locker room (presumably so someone else wouldn't have to). He had just scored a game-high 27 points.

I am in agreement with maroonandgold and KnightSlappy about Coach Ernest (sorry Jameswys).  I've seen him on the sidelines perhaps 3x against Trine and the constant screaming at the officials is tiresome, almost embarrassing.  I understand that there are some really awful calls that need to be pointed out, but not every...single...time...the...call...is...not...for...Olivet.  I am an old guy with old school in his blood, to me Coaches should be focused on the game, their players, Xs and Os, encouragement, not the guys and gals in Stripes.  His strategy does seem to work for him and his team however.  I just don't like it in DIII sports and the MIAA.   

Agree - and it's really hard to see that when at the beginning of every game we here about what kind of conduct is expected by the MIAA - only to have him completely ignore that the first time the whistle is blown against the Comets.  What kind of message does that send to everyone in attendance?

[HupHolland]

It is very interesting to read that fans from different schools all have the same opinion of coach ernst. Give him credit for the team he has going right now. It is nice to have more competitive teams in the MIAA. However, his attitude wouldn't be accepted at any other MIAA school and I think that says a lot.

[GoKnights68]

Anyone remember Olivet's old coach from the mid-2000's, Kurt Soderberg?    Now there was a guy that would turn a different color when yelling at the refs.