MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[Civic Minded]

Okay, it seems that I have been hallucinating as of late (I have been supported by other hallucinators, but let's not quibble), so as a matter of, um honor, I set the record straight and confess the following:

1)  My printed out version of the Hope schedule does indeed say that Saturday's games at Carthage are at 2 & 4, not 6 & 8 as I had hallucinated.  Where in the world did I (and a few others) get that?  Ah, well... apologies for besmirtching the Hope website.

2)  The 22 point margin of victory does not tie Hope and Calvin in points, as I energetically defended.  It puts Hope 44 points ahead (as Sac pointed out).  (It would have been very cool, however, if last week's win tied the teams in both points and games won.)

3)  There was something about 3 games vs. 4 games (or was it 4 games vs. 5 games), and I can't even recall what it was about, but rest assured, I remembered that incorrectly as well.

There!  Confession does indeed do wonders for the soul.    Now, if I could only stop drinking at work, maybe I wouldn't be so confused!   8)

[Shareef23]

Civic, it takes a great man or women for that matter to admit when their wrong. BTW I know the GRP had the Fri. games at 6 and 7pm. So for those looking for an out, there ya go.

[sac]

Now, if I could only stop drinking at work, maybe I wouldn't be so confused!   8)

Unless your employer has changed I'm guessing that's not well received    Something tells me the big boss wouldn't be too happy.

As long as we're confessing..............its probably a good idea to look at a teams schedule before boasting about a team winning a ton of games this season............I had forgotten about Calvin's trip to lovely Wooster, OH where they get a rematch with UW-LaCrosse and a matchup with either Ohio Northern or Wooster.

I'd still be surprised if Calvin lost more than 5 games this year.



....and Civic, is that Eastern or Central time in Kenosha? ? ?

[Civic Minded]

Now, if I could only stop drinking at work, maybe I wouldn't be so confused!   8)

Unless your employer has changed I'm guessing that's not well received    Something tells me the big boss wouldn't be too happy.


....and Civic, is that Eastern or Central time in Kenosha? ? ?

LOL!  No, my employer has not changed -- if I were really drinking at work, it would be, well, um, noteworthy, to say the least!     (Rumor has it that the big boss is very forgiving, however.)

Eastern, Central, Pacific...if I've learned one thing this week, it's don't ask me!      (But my hunch is it's Central -- how'd I do?)   

[Shareef23]

Drinking at work, hmmm? Jim Rome has a great "take" on that. It's one of my favorites. I guess there really is nothingbetter than sitting down in the cubicle at 9:05 in the mourning and adding a lil Bailey's to your coffee! Or on second thought  Maybe I have a problem  I should be drinking Grey Goose 

[mjfasteenwolf]

Nevermind that comment though, that was rude, 

Man, somebody is a little quick on that negative karma handout there. What's the deal, is nobody allowed to have any fun on here anymore?

Well . . . , just read your own post. I think you answered the question.

Hey c'mon oldknight, you can't be doing that CNN style reporting on me where you only give part of the story, you cant cut my quote off at a comma. Just messing with ya, take it was you please, it probably is rude to bring that up, it was like 3 years ago, I'm not trying to hurt any individuals I just like to have a little fun once in a while. I'm sure Daane, Spay, and Kleer wouldn't take offense to somebody making fun of them drinking.

Anyways know that I'm posting, I might as well say something productive, and give my take on the days postings, but it will be in short fashion. I agree, the league is probably weaker this year than most. I think after the top 2 teams, there is a huge dropoff, usually there is another team such as Albion, Adrian, Alma or anybody that can hang with the big boys, but this year it does not appear that will be true. At least not after the first few weeks of the season. If Hope of Calvin falls to anybody besides each other it should be considered a big upset.

As far as the rankings go, I think Hope maybe doesn't deserve to be top 5 yet, but until somebody can show that they shouldn't be there, they will remain that high. Rankings, especially this early in the year tend to be based too much on the past season, and when you look at least year, and now with Hope beating the no. 8 team in the nation, why shouldn't they be top 5. They have three guys on their team who if they play to their potential all have the talent to be All Americans.

Also I have one question, I'm sure somebody knows this off the top of their head, and will save me from having to figure it out. What is the combined record of Hopes mens and womens teams in the Devos. Should be a running tally kept until somebody takes one of them down. After seeing both teams play though this year, I don' t think I would be going out on a limb to say that their isn't a team on either of their schedules that should be able to beat them at home, so start that running tally.

[MIdoubleA]

35-0 if I'm counting right 

[Gregory Sager]

Any "CCIW-types" (hint: Mr. Sager) out there who might give us a short intro into the Wheaton and Carthage teams  (i.e. who to look for, what to expect from the teams, type of condiments at Carthage, etc)  Hard to get a real clear idea by skulking around the CCIW boards. . .

Yeah, we're not really big on ketchup banter. 

Carthage (2-1) has struggled the past few seasons because too many good players have left the program, and those that have remained have largely been pieces that didn't fit together well. This year, two key players -- 6'9 center Mike Hart and 6'6 forward Kyle Jeffery (an All-CCIW second-teamer) elected not to return to Carthage, although Hart missed substantial parts of last season as well. (Jeffery is now at crosstown rival UW-Parkside, a D2 program.) Also, Bosko Djurickovic has not been happy with the work ethic of his last couple of teams. He likes the attitude and the diligence of this year's team, but it appears that there's still a few missing ingredients. Experience may be one of them, as he's really high on his freshman class and you can probably expect a few plebes to see playing time for the red, white, and black this weekend.

The two big weapons for the Redmen are 6'7, 240 senior center Brian Schlemm, a former D1 player for the Air Force Academy, and 6'1 junior guard Trey Bowens. Schlemm is a strong and gifted big man who has been a headcase in his two previous seasons at Carthage, the type of talented underachiever that would've made Bosko pull out his hair if he had any. This year Schlemm is apparently giving the Redmen the effort and the consistency that they desperately need from him. He was named this past week's CCIW Player of the Week for his performances in the Redmen's road wins at Grinnell and Gustavus Adolphus. Bowens is a smooth, do-it-all type; very athletically gifted, he is as strong a player at the defensive end as he is at the offensive end. Hope and Calvin are going to have to key on him.

Bosko's currently starting two swingmen, 6'4 junior Billy Jacklin and 6'4 sophomore Bill Shemerdiak. Jacklin's the defender, and Shemerdiak is the sniper. The coach is super-high on 6'0 freshman PG Joe Higgins, who has floor-general skills that are apparently well beyond his years. That's the deepest position on the team, with two strong and experienced backups for Higgins present in seniors Nav Thompson and Scott Hood.

Carthage is small. The only player with any appreciable size besides Schlemm is 6'7, 230 backup center Neb Franciskovic. And they're not one of those smaller teams that manages to compensate well on the boards, at least not to this point; Gustavus Adolphus and Carroll combined to outrebound the Redmen by 32 in Carthage's last two games.

It's a Bosko Djurickovic team, so look for the Redmen to play extremely hard-nosed man-to-man defense, although he may cross you up with a zone if he's giving away too much size. Schlemm and Bowens are the two guys that Hope and Calvin will have to stop.

(I won't add any of Carthage's individual stats, since playing Grinnell has distorted them all.)

Wheaton (2-2) features one of the best D3 players you will see all season in 6'3 sophomore guard Kent Raymond (25.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg). He can do it all, and his best asset is his brain. He has a great mind for the game; he sees the entire court, and he's usually one step ahead of everyone else in terms of knowing what'll happen next. He's going to get his points against Calvin and Hope, but KVS and GVW are going to have to find ways to keep him from doing other things besides merely scoring.

Raymond is joined by a pair of long-range specialists, 6'4 senior Johnnie Standard (12.5 ppg) and 6'3 freshman Ben Panner (12.5 ppg). Standard's probably the best shooter Wheaton has, although he's struggled from downtown thus far this season. Neither one's going to mix it up inside much, although Standard is also a smart player who really knows how to play long caroms well. Inside, Wheaton has a promising but erratic 6'8, 225 sophomore center in Andy Wiele (8.5 ppg, 8.0 rpg) and a workmanlike 6'6, 190 power forward in senior Michael Fiddler (9.3 ppg). Wiele's a strong rebounder who spends too much time outside taking trey attempts and not enough time posting up. Fiddler does a lot of grunt work defensively and picks up a lot of garbage baskets.

Wheaton never plays a deep rotation, and this year is no different. Starting PG John Mohan is out until January, so there are no guards in the rotation that come off the bench. The only other players besides the starting five who see any appreciable amount of time are 6'6 junior Phill Denham and muscular 6'5 sophomore Matt Ankeny. In spite of this lack of depth it's hard to run Wheaton off the floor, because they're always the best-conditioned team in the CCIW.

Like every Wheaton team, these guys play smart and they play hard. But without a true PG on the floor they don't always set themselves up well and their transition game has suffered, and they dearly need a big man to step up and make himself a consistent threat every night. Like Carthage, I think Wheaton has to be seen as an underdog in both games -- but, like Carthage, I think that Wheaton will really make both Hope and Calvin work hard for the W.

[Shareef23]

Does anyone know if Kent Raymond had any D1 offers? Watching him as a frosh two years ago, I couldn't help, but think he should have.

[gohope]

There!  Confession does indeed do wonders for the soul.    Now, if I could only stop drinking at work, maybe I wouldn't be so confused!   8)

CM - Some of us just refer to it as leftover Communion Juice....

Have a GREAT trip and cheer the guys on for me!!! Bring a laptop with you - I want details!  Drive safely and as always, GO HOPE!

[ChicagoHopeNut]

A spot on the Hope women's team in Around the Nation. And to think a year from now they'll be writing a similar article about the men's team (and probably a three-peat article on the girls).

[almcguirejr]

A spot on the Hope women's team in Around the Nation. And to think a year from now they'll be writing a similar article about the men's team (and probably a three-peat article on the girls).

WOW!!  DCHopeNut appears to be back on the bandwagon for the 06-07 season.  After questioning GVW's coaching ability during the game at Witt, DC is now ready to hang the elusive banner for the men's team in 07.  Isn't it amazing how an early season win over Calvin can make everything right again?  I love these frontrunning Hope fans who are with their team; win or tie.

[ChicagoHopeNut]

Everyone can have blind (not that serious, kidding, I kid I kid) faith at the beginning of the year. My opinion of the last 5 years of GVW coaching success does not change from last spring based on the talent and the results but I still hope it will change.

[SKOT]

Partridge is traveling with the team this weekend for Hope.  Weather GVW uses him is another question.  If he is not 100% and they don't need him to win, I hope they don't play him.  But, the 2 in region games are musts for Hope since they are their last until conference starts!

[Gregory Sager]

Traveling mercies to those of you heading out for Kenosha today. The road conditions promise to be poor due to the storm. Be careful.