MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[scottiedawg]

Albion sneaks into the top 25.

[sac]

Albion sneaks into the top 25.

Good for Albion, they deserve some recognition for winning 12 straight in the MIAA.

[sac]

So not many know it but the #1 and #2 High School teams in Class A played tonight in the first round of District play,  Saginaw 81 Saginaw Arthur Hill 66 was the score announced at the game I went to tonight.

No truth that they handed the trophy to Saginaw after the game.

[Dutch_Man]

I like the new pole. I went with Adrian over Tri-State. I think this is a good bet. Alma is playing with some decent confidence this year and I think they might be due for an upset in the MIAA tourny. I highly doubt that Calvin will lose two games in a row to Olivet. I dont want to get to ahead of myself but it seems to me that Albion and Hope are on a collision course for Saturday night.

It is almost March and I can almost taste it! "Once it touches your lips it just tastes so good." Did anyone mention that this is the best month of the year because it is! Less than a week and we will see who is going to the BIG DANCE BABY! 

[Gregory Sager]

Just curious?  Why are many Hope posters so afraid of having to play  Calvin again?   

The same reason that Albion is wary of Calvin, it's very hard to beat the same team 3 times in a season.

Man, I sure wish that this cliche would go the way of the passenger pigeon and the dodo bird. The whole notion that it's somehow harder than usual to beat a team three times in one season that hasn't beaten you is just not true.

[Stinger]

I like the new pole.

That's what she said.....


I really think that it will be a great game at Kresge tomorrow. The Hornets are going to be full strength. They were missing 4 of their top 6 in minutes played the last time they played at Kresge, including McCain.   This will not be the blow out that we saw a couple of weeks ago.   Rubber match.

[sac]

I believe 6 or 7 MIAA teams have won the 3rd game after winning the first 2 over the last 2 seasons, vs just 1 winning after losing the first 2.

so yeah..........

[Gregory Sager]

I believe 6 or 7 MIAA teams have won the 3rd game after winning the first 2 over the last 2 seasons, vs just 1 winning after losing the first 2.

That doesn't change anything, as there's so much college basketball out there that you can find counterexamples to any general trend.

The idea that it's harder to beat a team a third time just doesn't make any sense when you stop to think about it. If Team A beats Team B once, then it could mean that Team A is simply better -- or any number of mitigating factors might be involved (injuries, illnesses, lucky bounce in a tight game, homecourt advantage, etc.). If Team A beats Team B a second time, however, the chances are much more likely that Team A is definitely better than Team B. So why on earth would the trend in Team A's favor be reversed if Team B was to meet up with Team A a third time?

Answer: It wouldn't. The more that you beat a team without that team beating you, the more definitively you establish your dominance over that team.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

I believe 6 or 7 MIAA teams have won the 3rd game after winning the first 2 over the last 2 seasons, vs just 1 winning after losing the first 2.

That doesn't change anything, as there's so much college basketball out there that you can find counterexamples to any general trend.

The idea that it's harder to beat a team a third time just doesn't make any sense when you stop to think about it. If Team A beats Team B once, then it could mean that Team A is simply better -- or any number of mitigating factors might be involved (injuries, illnesses, lucky bounce in a tight game, homecourt advantage, etc.). If Team A beats Team B a second time, however, the chances are much more likely that Team A is definitely better than Team B. So why on earth would the trend in Team A's favor be reversed if Team B was to meet up with Team A a third time?

Answer: It wouldn't. The more that you beat a team without that team beating you, the more definitively you establish your dominance over that team.

I was talking specifically about a Calvin / Albion game and a Hope / Calvin game.

Albion beat Calvin twice this year - but the first game was a 2 point game with 18 seconds left, and the second game was won on a 3pt buzzer beater.  Hard to say that one team is dominant over the other.  I would be more likely to say that the two teams are pretty evenly matched, and therefore if they play each other again, the odds may be in Calvins favor to win.

Hope beat Calvin twice this year - but this is Hope vs Calvin - 168 games played, Hope 85 Calvin 83 and the "best" team doesn't always win.

[almcguirejr]

It appears that Todd Koetsier tore his ACL again Saturday at Olivet.  He missed virtually 2 years of playing time (played the first 2 games of his freshman season)after tearing up his knee in Dec. of the 04-05 season. He persevered through a very difficult rehab that included back/hip injury to make it back last season.  This was the first season in a 4 year career where he was able to make a meaningful contribution to the team.  I hope that  he is able to work through this injury to make it back for his final season

[northb]

I believe 6 or 7 MIAA teams have won the 3rd game after winning the first 2 over the last 2 seasons, vs just 1 winning after losing the first 2.

That doesn't change anything, as there's so much college basketball out there that you can find counterexamples to any general trend.

The idea that it's harder to beat a team a third time just doesn't make any sense when you stop to think about it. If Team A beats Team B once, then it could mean that Team A is simply better -- or any number of mitigating factors might be involved (injuries, illnesses, lucky bounce in a tight game, homecourt advantage, etc.). If Team A beats Team B a second time, however, the chances are much more likely that Team A is definitely better than Team B. So why on earth would the trend in Team A's favor be reversed if Team B was to meet up with Team A a third time?

Answer: It wouldn't. The more that you beat a team without that team beating you, the more definitively you establish your dominance over that team.

I was talking specifically about a Calvin / Albion game and a Hope / Calvin game.

Albion beat Calvin twice this year - but the first game was a 2 point game with 18 seconds left, and the second game was won on a 3pt buzzer beater.  Hard to say that one team is dominant over the other.  I would be more likely to say that the two teams are pretty evenly matched, and therefore if they play each other again, the odds may be in Calvins favor to win.

Hope beat Calvin twice this year - but this is Hope vs Calvin - 168 games played, Hope 85 Calvin 83 and the "best" team doesn't always win.

And you can find logical arguments to support either point of view.  Although this may vary from team to team, the thinking goes that in the first two games of a season, the team that wins has done things right, and the team that loses has done things wrong.  They can change the things they did wrong, and the game should be closer.  Now the winning team can do more things right, too, but there may be a law of diminishing returns. 


I'm just saying....

[Erm Schmigget]

I believe 6 or 7 MIAA teams have won the 3rd game after winning the first 2 over the last 2 seasons, vs just 1 winning after losing the first 2.

That doesn't change anything, as there's so much college basketball out there that you can find counterexamples to any general trend.

The idea that it's harder to beat a team a third time just doesn't make any sense when you stop to think about it. If Team A beats Team B once, then it could mean that Team A is simply better -- or any number of mitigating factors might be involved (injuries, illnesses, lucky bounce in a tight game, homecourt advantage, etc.). If Team A beats Team B a second time, however, the chances are much more likely that Team A is definitely better than Team B. So why on earth would the trend in Team A's favor be reversed if Team B was to meet up with Team A a third time?

Answer: It wouldn't. The more that you beat a team without that team beating you, the more definitively you establish your dominance over that team.

Tell that to the 2006 Detroit Tigers (who swept the Cards during the season).  Or the 2007 Hope College Flying Dutchmen, for that matter.

I'll use Albion as an example of why it might be harder to beat the same team a third time in one year:

At Calvin, Albion won by 5pts.  In their second meeting, the theory goes that Albion should have had "homecourt advantage", and should have won more easily than the first game.  We all know that's not what happened...Albion won by one on a "3" and a prayer at the buzzer.  This week, if the two meet again, Albion would be foolish to think that they are "definitely better than Team B".  Calvin improved on their first performance and nearly beat Albion the second time around.  Maybe the third time's a charm.  Of course, they first have to fix whatever went wrong on Saturday and get past Olivet.

Plenty of teams have been down 0-2 on this series or that, and come back with a string of wins all their own.  It's why they play the games.

By the way...when I read sac's post, I thought he was agreeing with you.  You sound pretty defensive in your response.

[Erm Schmigget]

I believe 6 or 7 MIAA teams have won the 3rd game after winning the first 2 over the last 2 seasons, vs just 1 winning after losing the first 2.

That doesn't change anything, as there's so much college basketball out there that you can find counterexamples to any general trend.

The idea that it's harder to beat a team a third time just doesn't make any sense when you stop to think about it. If Team A beats Team B once, then it could mean that Team A is simply better -- or any number of mitigating factors might be involved (injuries, illnesses, lucky bounce in a tight game, homecourt advantage, etc.). If Team A beats Team B a second time, however, the chances are much more likely that Team A is definitely better than Team B. So why on earth would the trend in Team A's favor be reversed if Team B was to meet up with Team A a third time?

Answer: It wouldn't. The more that you beat a team without that team beating you, the more definitively you establish your dominance over that team.

I was talking specifically about a Calvin / Albion game and a Hope / Calvin game.

Albion beat Calvin twice this year - but the first game was a 2 point game with 18 seconds left, and the second game was won on a 3pt buzzer beater.  Hard to say that one team is dominant over the other.  I would be more likely to say that the two teams are pretty evenly matched, and therefore if they play each other again, the odds may be in Calvins favor to win.

Hope beat Calvin twice this year - but this is Hope vs Calvin - 168 games played, Hope 85 Calvin 83 and the "best" team doesn't always win.

And you can find logical arguments to support either point of view.  Although this may vary from team to team, the thinking goes that in the first two games of a season, the team that wins has done things right, and the team that loses has done things wrong.  They can change the things they did wrong, and the game should be closer.  Now the winning team can do more things right, too, but there may be a law of diminishing returns. 


I'm just saying....

I agree with FDF and nortb here.  (How many times in one season can you say that?)    Having been an MIAA watcher and Hope fan for more than 25 years, I have witnessed this line of reasoning play out many times.

[Dutch_Man]

I am now seeing why all these calvin fans are down playing their Knights going into the MIAA tourny. (Besides there 14-10 recordor) they know their team is more than capible of winning the tournment but they just dont want us other fans to see it. 

[Civic Minded]

I am now seeing why all these calvin fans are down playing their Knights going into the MIAA tourny. (Besides there 14-10 recordor) they know their team is more than capible of winning the tournment but they just dont want us other fans to see it. 

Dutch_Man, you are in rare form!     Sounds like you are pretty pumped about this week's jam-packed schedule of basketball!  Me too.     HOPE to see you tonight!