Gregory already touched on many of the advantages of the WIAC- lack of D2 and NAIA institutions. Wisconsin does send a fair amount of players to the GLIAC and NSIC schools, so when these players get home sick they almost always land in the WIAC. Point this year has Hass (Augustana SD), Heuer (UWGB) and Tillema- who had many D2 options but wanted to play with his older brother Dan who coincidently started his career at MN-Duluth. Whitewater in particular seems to be a landing spot for many of Milwaukee's wayward souls, in fact last year they had Darnell Harris- a sure fire D1 recruit out of HS who somehow decided to spend a year at UWW before heading back to a JC this year and is committed to a D1 school again, the name escapes me. This is actually the first UWW team I can remember being mostly kids recruited by them out of HS.
Wisconsin, for a smaller state not only has some very good HS basketball programs and players but also some great coaching. Many players who played for Bo Ryan at Platteville, Dick Bennett at Point/UWGB, Ken Anderson at EauClaire, and VanderMeulen at UWW are on the sidelines at many WI high schools.

Quote from: sethteater on March 19, 2014, 10:32:09 AM

Quote from: 13xchamp on March 19, 2014, 10:19:05 AM

Quote from: sethteater on March 19, 2014, 07:35:22 AM

Quote from: Gregory Sager on March 18, 2014, 06:20:23 PM

Quote from: oldknight on March 17, 2014, 12:23:24 AMMickey DeVries played with the kind of emotion and passion that stoic-face Dutch people need more of.

Yes, but his surname indicates Frisian ancestry somewhere in his past, so perhaps that explains the emotion-and-passion part.

Unfortunately, Caleb Byers' technical foul when Hope had a two-point lead in the second half against Penn State Behrend was far from stoic.

I do find it strange how a team looks lethargic for the majority of the season, but puts together a string of 3 nice wins and suddenly we're praising their prowess...

In the spirit of thinking ahead to next season, what tandem is the bigger loss? Kruis/DeVries or NVA/Byers?

I guess I will step up to the plate.....

Who will be the bigger loss?? Here are the blindfolded stats, I will let you draw your own conclusion

Tandem 1: 24.8ppg 11.9rpg 1.8bpg 59 starts
Tandem 2: 16.3ppg 10.2rpg 2.4bpg 32 starts

I won't even touch on your comment about Calvin's "prowess" since your objective opinion was most likely formed seeing them play 3 games.

Yes, your stats are nice. My question wasn't which tandem is better. It was more along the lines of which team will struggle more to overcome the void left by those players. Calvin seems to have some big guys that will should be able to set up inside and the offensive will obviously run through Brink and Parks. Not downplaying the loss of Kruis, just saying that Brink, Parks, Daley, Dykstra, etc. seem to be better equipped to handle the loss than Hope is equipped to handle the loss of NVA.

Your original point was the tandem, so you have to be mutually inclusive and the stats reflect that. Both teams are going to struggle to replace the production and impact of their 5's, so that is a wash. As to the 4's, you don't think Hope has someone 6'4" on their roster to put up roughly 6pts and 4 rebs per game? I do. When Calvin's "prowess" began in the post season it was due to their interior defense, Mickey and Tyler were huge in that aspect and that is where their collective loss is going to hurt as much as their offensive contributions. Of course this is an argument I would LOVE to be proven wrong as next year unfolds.

Quote from: sethteater on March 19, 2014, 07:35:22 AM

Quote from: Gregory Sager on March 18, 2014, 06:20:23 PM

Quote from: oldknight on March 17, 2014, 12:23:24 AMMickey DeVries played with the kind of emotion and passion that stoic-face Dutch people need more of.

Yes, but his surname indicates Frisian ancestry somewhere in his past, so perhaps that explains the emotion-and-passion part.

Unfortunately, Caleb Byers' technical foul when Hope had a two-point lead in the second half against Penn State Behrend was far from stoic.

I do find it strange how a team looks lethargic for the majority of the season, but puts together a string of 3 nice wins and suddenly we're praising their prowess...

In the spirit of thinking ahead to next season, what tandem is the bigger loss? Kruis/DeVries or NVA/Byers?

I guess I will step up to the plate.....

Who will be the bigger loss?? Here are the blindfolded stats, I will let you draw your own conclusion

Tandem 1: 24.8ppg 11.9rpg 1.8bpg 59 starts
Tandem 2: 16.3ppg 10.2rpg 2.4bpg 32 starts

I won't even touch on your comment about Calvin's "prowess" since your objective opinion was most likely formed seeing them play 3 games.

Quote from: almcguirejr on March 10, 2014, 12:04:43 AM

Quote from: 13xchamp on March 09, 2014, 10:40:34 PM
Great weekend for the Knights, peaking at the right time. Thanks to the IWU fans for the chuckle, with the old "we are much better than the team that put up 91 at DeVos because of xyz...." line. No one here is underestimating your team. I will say that if you are going into the paint vs the Knights right now, you better have hair on your chest.

On to Bloomington.

I guess I don't understand that reaction from a Calvin fan to a pro Calvin post, but I digress. You seem to like being a lightning rod on here. You were complaining about the officiating this past weekend on here and if you were part of the extremely vocal minority at the games, I have one plea if you are going this weekend: please knock it off, it's a poor reflection on a great fan base. At one point in the Wash U game, KVS yelled at the players on the bench for complaining to the refs, I am sure he was saying it with extra decibels so some of the fans behind the bench would hear it as well. I understand there are going to be calls questioned by the fans, happens all the time, but not EVERY call is some sort of conspiracy by the refs against our team.

Now lets get back to reveling in our tourney run and trying to get some actual work done this week. Go Knights!

Great weekend for the Knights, peaking at the right time. Thanks to the IWU fans for the chuckle, with the old "we are much better than the team that put up 91 at DeVos because of xyz...." line. No one here is underestimating your team. I will say that if you are going into the paint vs the Knights right now, you better have hair on your chest.

On to Bloomington.

Quote from: Flying Dutch Fan on January 31, 2014, 12:55:07 PM

Quote from: sac on January 31, 2014, 10:07:03 AM
Matt Neil was on hoopsville yesterday.  Starts at about 8 hours  6 minutes

http://d3hoops.com/hoopsville/archives/2013-14/jan30

You can learn a little about Hope's schedule gauntlet next year.

And we all thought this seasons pre-season pre-conference schedule was tough, but next season - WOW!!!!


UW Whitewater
UW Stevens Point
@Wooster (tournament)
Mount Union
Ohio Wesleyan
@CCIW/MIAA tournament - Carthage & Wheaton
@IWU (tournament)

That is brutal, but smart when it comes to the WIAC teams, both SP and UWW are going to lose 3 key Sr starters this year.  I know they are traditional powers who re-load, but losing to them was a given for Hope this year so they may as well play them on the road and get them in DeVos next year where they will have a much better chance at a signature win while they (SP & UWW) break in some new faces in key spots.

WOTS is Calvin is playing in WI next year vs UW-Oshkosh and Ripon for their holiday break.

Quote from: HopeConvert on January 13, 2014, 04:17:44 PM

Quote from: 13xchamp on January 13, 2014, 03:57:36 PM

Quote from: sac on January 13, 2014, 11:59:11 AM
At 1:32 of the 2nd Half Cody Stuive is credited with a  3pt miss on his shot blocked by Tyler Dykstra.  This is an error and was clearly a 2 point shot.

Hope was 9-14 from three.   



I also need to retract an earlier statement I made about Calvin playing a good defensive game.  That is partially true in some instances, but on many of the 3 point attempts they were simply lost.  Hope gave Calvin a lot of looks, screens and movement and it really seemed to get them confused many times.

Hope did nothing other than what every team has done to the Knights lately. Drive and kick to the shooter who flattens out on the opposite side with a back screen on his defender who is stepping into the paint to help the on the penetration. No higher percentage 3 pt shot than an inside out pass so the shooter is already squared up to the hoop. These high percentage looks are killing them right now.

That is the weakness of the up-the-line D that Calvin plays, force baseline and trap, it's no secret. Right now they are a step slow on the trap and that allows a free and clean look to the opposite wing where the weak side D has to rotate to cover up for the defenders who are trapping. Trap stronger and quicker, the tall hands are in the passing lanes and that skip pass gets deflected and picked off.

Eidson's 3's were another story. He reminds me a lot of Brian Powell. Streaky shooter with great athleticism to create space off the bounce and nice high release making his jumper impossible to block. The 27' "heat check" in the second half was ridiculous and eerily Powell-esque.

Tell that to Tyler Dykstra.

HA! How could I forget his only "miss".

Sac- you're right in that Hope didn't do that as much as other teams have been doing to Calvin lately. That's why I separated Eidson's 3's, they were more of the individual effort type.

Quote from: sac on January 13, 2014, 11:59:11 AM
At 1:32 of the 2nd Half Cody Stuive is credited with a  3pt miss on his shot blocked by Tyler Dykstra.  This is an error and was clearly a 2 point shot.

Hope was 9-14 from three.   



I also need to retract an earlier statement I made about Calvin playing a good defensive game.  That is partially true in some instances, but on many of the 3 point attempts they were simply lost.  Hope gave Calvin a lot of looks, screens and movement and it really seemed to get them confused many times.

Hope did nothing other than what every team has done to the Knights lately. Drive and kick to the shooter who flattens out on the opposite side with a back screen on his defender who is stepping into the paint to help the on the penetration. No higher percentage 3 pt shot than an inside out pass so the shooter is already squared up to the hoop. These high percentage looks are killing them right now.

That is the weakness of the up-the-line D that Calvin plays, force baseline and trap, it's no secret. Right now they are a step slow on the trap and that allows a free and clean look to the opposite wing where the weak side D has to rotate to cover up for the defenders who are trapping. Trap stronger and quicker, the tall hands are in the passing lanes and that skip pass gets deflected and picked off.

Eidson's 3's were another story. He reminds me a lot of Brian Powell. Streaky shooter with great athleticism to create space off the bounce and nice high release making his jumper impossible to block. The 27' "heat check" in the second half was ridiculous and eerily Powell-esque.

Quote from: KnightSlappy on December 09, 2013, 03:05:16 PM

Quote from: 13xchamp on December 09, 2013, 02:01:45 PM
I think this weekend proved once again what kind of teams are going to give Calvin the most trouble- 3 guard lineups where all 3 can penetrate, and shoot 3's. Carthage eventually broke them down to loosen things up for their big man-Senior to go to work on O. Speaking of Senior, I don't know if I have ever seen a player play the kind of post "D" he did after he picked up his 3rd foul, once his man got the ball he literally ran away. (Knightslappy- does this ever factor into your "sitting a player in foul trouble" argument?) Then Bosko got tired of watching so he hid him in a zone and Calvin promptly obliged by handing them the ball time and time again.

I'm not sure if you're arguing with me or against me.

Who would have benefited most from Marlon Senior (who played 40 minutes) sitting for 5 minutes on Friday, Calvin or Carthage?

Just chiding you. But almost all of Calvins offense early in the second came via whomever he was guarding in the post, don't you agree? He came alive about midway through the second half and his FTs helped seal it. Carthage really didn't have another big to go to, forcing Bosko's hand.

I think this weekend proved once again what kind of teams are going to give Calvin the most trouble- 3 guard lineups where all 3 can penetrate, and shoot 3's. Carthage eventually broke them down to loosen things up for their big man-Senior to go to work on O. Speaking of Senior, I don't know if I have ever seen a player play the kind of post "D" he did after he picked up his 3rd foul, once his man got the ball he literally ran away. (Knightslappy- does this ever factor into your "sitting a player in foul trouble" argument?) Then Bosko got tired of watching so he hid him in a zone and Calvin promptly obliged by handing them the ball time and time again.
The match ups on Saturday were much better for the Knights- and Hope, for that matter. Although Carthage's lack of depth doesn't make it favorable to play 2 games in less than 48 hours, once Hope started to pull away it was a lay up line. Coincidently, this was the 4th Hope game I have seen this season and the forth different line up. Does Neil go around the locker room before the game with a deck of cards and have each player pull one to determine the rotation? Anyhow, I never thought Calvin would pummel Wheaton like they did, as bad as the second half was on Friday, the entire 40 mins vs Wheaton made up for it. The lead never got below 21 in the second half and officiating went into "game management" mode, or should have. Look, no one in Van Noord wanted to see constant stoppages at that point, but what can't happen did- players getting started to get frustrated, then chippy with each other, and then something I have never witnessed- the Wheaton coach getting T'd up for arguing a call that went HIS way. But let the record show that exactly 2 totally unbiased people agreed with it- the covering official..... and HopeConverthttp://www.d3boards.com/Smileys/classic/smiley.gif

I agree that CU's pressure isn't what unsettled the Knights. I thought the guards did a nice job of not over dribbling and passing the ball before the traps got to them. Plain and simple it was CU's ability to make shots, 3's in the first half and FTs in the 2nd. Calvin was a step slow all night- closing out shooters, sliding in front of penetration and boxing out. I figured Hope would be able stay with CU due to Neil's preference to play the match ups as opposed to Calvin's "system". Its tough for a kid who's 6'7" to cover a 6' guard running through screens from sideline to sideline and we saw some of that frustration boil over on the court. The match ups and defensive intensity vs Aquinas were much better for the Knights and the scoreboard showed it.

In Ellerbe's defense, it was probably a little tough to recruit the local talent without the "help" of Ed Martin.

Guys, I understand the perspective that we are going to lean toward being this is a basketball message board, but sometime these student athletes that are paying $30k plus/yr make decisions based on, you know, the "student" part of that equation and not a depth chart. It's fun and amusing to speculate, but it's been known for quite some time that Ryan was going to go to MSU to pursue his degree, he just publicly announced it on twitter around the same time the news of Visser's intent to enroll at Calvin broke and fueled much of the speculation raised on this board.

As to Mitch, with Snikkers and DeBoer graduating, he was the only returner that was in the regular rotation at the 3, so he would really have to regress not to get a ton of PT. Sometimes other circumstances come up leading these young men to make decisions that we don't always understand, God works in mysterious ways. I wish them well in their future endeavors, and thank them for their contribution to the Calvin program.