MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[ziggy]

Adrian has posted their schedule.  Loks like 13 non-con games (assuming the two tournaments listed are two games each), just not sure which 2 must be exhibitions:

https://adrianbulldogs.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule

Nov. 4 vs. Concordia (MI) is before the official start date, so that has to be exhibition I believe. Then one of Siena Heights, SVSU, or Grace.

Fans of MIAA Pool C hopefuls will hate this schedule. Probably not a lot of non-conference D3 wins here for the Bulldogs.

OOF. Since OWP carries so much more weight than OOWP, you want the worst teams in your league to schedule super-easy in nonConf, to try and bag as many wins as possible.

Of course, the scheduling incentives of teams throughout a league are anything but aligned.

Aside from the possibility some of these may be paid games I'm trying to understand the incentive of a team like Adrian playing this kind of schedule. It seems to me that teams at the bottom of the league would be wanting to hunt as many possible wins as they could for their own benefit, though it would also benefit teams at the top for their NCAA resume.

[scottiedawg]

I agree!

I also seem to learn about a new potential incentive (or disincentive) for scheduling every week or so.

Which is why I won't hammer a bad team for scheduling in a way that hurts the top teams in their league. But I will talk loudly about the implications of doing so.

[sac]

Maybe Adrian doesn't think they'll be at the bottom of the league standings.

Adrian has posted their schedule.  Loks like 13 non-con games (assuming the two tournaments listed are two games each), just not sure which 2 must be exhibitions:

https://adrianbulldogs.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule

Nov. 4 vs. Concordia (MI) is before the official start date, so that has to be exhibition I believe. Then one of Siena Heights, SVSU, or Grace.

Fans of MIAA Pool C hopefuls will hate this schedule. Probably not a lot of non-conference D3 wins here for the Bulldogs.

Sienna Heights is their annual "trohpy" game.   

My guess is the SVSU game is one of those counts for 1 exhibition for the other game, SVSU already has 2 exhibitions scheduled so they are def counting that one.  That one is likely an exhibition for Adrian.

BTW  D2 SVSU playing  Kuyper, Adrian and Alma as countable games   

[TUAngola]

Trine has officially announced the hiring of a new mens assistant basketball coach (although it's been known about for a while now).  Isaac Anderson comes to Trine by way of Lakeland University in Wisconsin where he worked on their staff as a graduate assistant for the past 2 years.  He also played basketball while at Lakeland, graduating in 2020.  He is replacing Drew Lehman who has been promoted to Academic Director for Trine's College of Graduate and Professional Studies.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Pre-conference eval (minus Alma since they have not posted a schedule yet - of course I anticipate they will post it later today since I am posting this ).  Everything is based on last years perfromance by each opponent (not great, but at this point it is all we have, and I'm jonesing for some bball):

Team	Known Games	PY W/L	PY NCAA	Avg PY Massey	Massey Top 50	Massey Top 100
Adrian	9	0.487	1	141	1	1
Albion	9	0.506	0	204	0	0
Alma
Calvin	11	0.65	6	73	5	8
Hope	11	0.581	2	125	3	4
Kalamazoo	11	0.467	1	179	1	3
Olivet	10	0.513	2	131	1	3
Trine	11	0.58	1	113	3	4

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Pre-conference eval (minus Alma since they have not posted a schedule yet - of course I anticipate they will post it later today since I am posting this ).  Everything is based on last years perfromance by each opponent (not great, but at this point it is all we have, and I'm jonesing for some bball):

Well I was almost right about that - they posted it today hahaha...  I will update the pre-conf eval table later today

https://almascots.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule

Guessing (since they have 12 non-con games) taht SVSU is an exhibition for Alma.

Also of note - the Adrian schedule now has 3 exhibition games (all in Canada) Oct 7-9

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Here is the updated Pre-conference data (previous post had some incorrect data in it).  I also added a column with each MIAA team's Massey rating for last season:

Team	PY Massey	Known Games	Opp PY W/L	Opp PY NCAA Tourn	Opp Avg PY Massey	Opp Massey Top 50	Opp Massey Top 100
Adrian	264	9	0.487	1	141	1	1
Albion	221	9	0.506	0	193	0	1
Alma	289	9	0.419	0	231	1	1
Calvin	22	11	0.611	4	90	4	7
Hope	48	11	0.581	2	132	3	4
Kalamazoo	303	11	0.467	1	179	1	3
Olivet	164	10	0.513	2	133	1	3
Trine	23	11	0.580	1	104	3	5

[Grutte Dirk]

My expectation is maybe two of the true freshman end up on varsity.

Which 1st-years would you (or anyone else here) think have a chance to play with the varsity this season?  Is there a clear two or three-to-five possibles?

[sac]

https://almascots.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule

That's the most logical Alma schedule in quite some time.
   
But never play Grinnell the day before another game.  First MIAA vs Grinnell game?

[oldknight]

My expectation is maybe two of the true freshman end up on varsity.

Which 1st-years would you (or anyone else here) think have a chance to play with the varsity this season?  Is there a clear two or three-to-five possibles?

Given all the returning talent at Calvin, not many freshmen have much of a chance at playing this year. Not so, however, with Jordan Scott, a 6'4" guard from Plymouth Christian. It's quite likely we're going to see a lot of this kid during the 2023-24 season.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

With the news that Ken Thomas has transferred to North Central (https://twitter.com/nccmbb/status/1700242013981962599?s=46&t=MhKpneCgs0ubvAHyG-LcxQ), I decided to review last years All MIAA honorees.

2023 Men's Basketball All-MIAA First Team
Brent Cox, Trine - graduated
Uchenna Egekeze, Calvin - returning
Connor Jones, Trine - graduated
Jalen Overway, Calvin - returning
De'Ovion Price, Adrian - transferred to Marietta
Evan Thomas, Hope  - graduated

2023 Men's Basketball All-MIAA Second Team
Josh Decker, Kalamazoo - transferred to Hope
Clayton Dykhouse, Hope - returning
Fred Garland, Albion - transferred to Trine
Emmanuel Megnanglo, Trine - returning
Gabe Quillan, Hope - returning
Ken Thomas, Albion - transferred to North Central

So of the 12 honorees:  3 graduates, 5 returning, and 4 transfers

The previous 5 seasons, the average has been 6 graduates and 6 returning, with only 1 transfer (Jordan Harris)

[ziggy]

My expectation is maybe two of the true freshman end up on varsity.

Which 1st-years would you (or anyone else here) think have a chance to play with the varsity this season?  Is there a clear two or three-to-five possibles?

Given all the returning talent at Calvin, not many freshmen have much of a chance at playing this year. Not so, however, with Jordan Scott, a 6'4" guard from Plymouth Christian. It's quite likely we're going to see a lot of this kid during the 2023-24 season.

I'll give him 6-2 but he is definitely not 6-4. Or maybe I finally hit that late-30s growth spurt.

[oldknight]

My expectation is maybe two of the true freshman end up on varsity.

Which 1st-years would you (or anyone else here) think have a chance to play with the varsity this season?  Is there a clear two or three-to-five possibles?

Given all the returning talent at Calvin, not many freshmen have much of a chance at playing this year. Not so, however, with Jordan Scott, a 6'4" guard from Plymouth Christian. It's quite likely we're going to see a lot of this kid during the 2023-24 season.

I'll give him 6-2 but he is definitely not 6-4. Or maybe I finally hit that late-30s growth spurt.

I talked to the young man and shook his hand about two weeks ago. While I didn't have a tape measure, he's clearly taller than 6'2".

[KnightSlappy]

My expectation is maybe two of the true freshman end up on varsity.

Which 1st-years would you (or anyone else here) think have a chance to play with the varsity this season?  Is there a clear two or three-to-five possibles?

Given all the returning talent at Calvin, not many freshmen have much of a chance at playing this year. Not so, however, with Jordan Scott, a 6'4" guard from Plymouth Christian. It's quite likely we're going to see a lot of this kid during the 2023-24 season.

I'll give him 6-2 but he is definitely not 6-4. Or maybe I finally hit that late-30s growth spurt.

I talked to the young man and shook his hand about two weeks ago. While I didn't have a tape measure, he's clearly taller than 6'2".

If ziggy and oldknight are getting out the tape measures, I'm outta here. 

[Dark Knight]

My expectation is maybe two of the true freshman end up on varsity.

Which 1st-years would you (or anyone else here) think have a chance to play with the varsity this season?  Is there a clear two or three-to-five possibles?

Given all the returning talent at Calvin, not many freshmen have much of a chance at playing this year. Not so, however, with Jordan Scott, a 6'4" guard from Plymouth Christian. It's quite likely we're going to see a lot of this kid during the 2023-24 season.

There is also that high school D1 all state recruit last year who was injured all year. Might he too be competing for some minutes?