WBB: Northwest Conference

[Manny24]

GO BRUINS!!

[BruinFan]

Manny,
About how many made the trip to Michigan? 50??
We could hear the group cheering, but the camera angles rarely if ever showed a full view of where the group was sitting.

It is going to be a tough one today. Go Bruins!

[Manny24]

        I would say close to  70. Amazing presence for such  a small group in this facility. Standing the entire game, (resting on timeouts) Every defenseive set were chants of Defense. Couple of comments from Amherst fans after (which were right next to us) were some caught themselves watching us instead of the game. Expect to be out fanned tonight. IWU had a huge fan base. ( Geographical advantage obviously) We will however not waver.  .

IWU plays alot like LC, very physical. I lost count of how many fouls they had. I read in the paper this morning as we didn't stay for the end of the IWU game but a couple IWU  players were disqualified. Not sure if that means they fouled out of had a bad moment but they are very aggressive. Officials ( in my opinion) were letting some rough play go uncalled.

Great venue, staff is most hospitable. What an experience. One more to go. I know the girls when asked who they wanted to meet on the other side of the bracket  the overwhelming response was IWU. An opportunity to make up for last years exit.

Go Bruins!!!

[BruinFan]

Watching IWU online, I thought the very same thing about them looking like LC with their aggressive and physical style. I've been asked if I thought today would be easier than yesterday. My response is no, IWU is on a roll and has a style that is tougher to play against than Amherst. The only game of the 4 against LC that GF dominated was due to incredible hot shooting in the first half.

IWU also has a color advantage today - green.   

[Manny24]

Agreed, no easier. Different style of pressure. GF guards better be prepared for 40 minutes of in your face. Don't see IWU giving us much outside, UNLESS we can break the press and get it inside and draw them in. Should be an awesome game!

[Ralph Turner]

Go GF!

Bring the championship back to the western half of the US!

[Manny24]

Thank You Hope College/Staff for making this a most memorable Championship weekend. Devos fieldhouse is amazing. Had multiple conversations with folks that lived local and were just there to enjoy the games. I here your home teams gather quite the crowds. From Bob Evans to Jackies place to Googs, your surrounding community was an outstanding host and I could not believe the weather we had, 80 degrees and sunny on Saturday!  Bruins players, family, friends and followers appreciate the environment and to be a part of it.

Although we did not come away with the title the time shared with our young women both highs and lows were priceless. There is no doubt that the outcome would have been different if Hannah did not get injured but the girls left it on the court and congrats to IWU. Good call on Coaches part to keep her out, as he said in his press conference " She has another season and the rest of her life, no need to risk something worse"

I am not a huge fan of their stye as we are lucky that no one else got injured. I remember at least two occasions after Hannah, Keisha had her legs cut out from under her driving to the hoop where I wasn't sure if she was
going to get up. It was unfortunate that the officials didn't get control of this game early. Regardless this Bruin team/family is amazing.

Thanks everyone who made the trip, sitting across from the women sharing the environment was awesome!

Bruins, you are the Champions in my book!

[hope81]

Manny and Bruin Fans-

You are most welcome for the memorable weekend.  I had multiple comments from my volunteer staff about the class of your fan base and your excellent support of your team.  Sorry it didn't turn out different, I would have enjoyed celebrating "at the rope" with you folks.

We can't claim the weather, but we do strive to give everyone a good time.  Sounds like you hit some of the local food choices, and who can forget the Fred burger?

Hope everyone traveled safely, maybe we will see you again next year.

[Mr. Basketball]

My Final Four recap:

1.  To the people of Holland, Hope College, and DeVos:  what a great weekend!  Thank you for your hospitality and for a first class event.

2.  To the NCAA:  the officiating was ABYSMAL.  Consistent, all teams, all games.  Too many no-calls-- from traveling, to three seconds to fouls--affected the shooting (32% in final, lowest scoring final ever) and the overall quality of watching the game.  Is this what the NCAA wants?  This "interpretation" of the rule book has got to stop.  Not just in DIII women's basketball, but at all levels.  (Recall last year's men's championship of "uglyball," Butler vs. UConn?)

There is one main consequence of "letting them play," and that is player injury.  Her name is Hannah Munger.    Anyone present in Holland knows that with a healthy Hannah on Saturday, George Fox wins the championship.  (Without her on Friday, Amherst probably wins a second in a row.)  "Thank you", NCAA, for encouraging a style of play that—at best-- ensures that the best players are NOT on the court during a championship game and—at worst—affects the future basketball careers and long term health of such players.

[Pat Coleman]

Thankfully, Mr. Basketball, you're the first George Fox type I've heard blame the officiating for her injury.

In order to win a national championship, teams have to be able to adjust to different styles of game and different styles of officiating. George Fox should know this from previous seasons. I know fans sometimes don't see it because they don't watch basketball outside of their own area, but it's definitely reality.

The play in particular was not overly physical. It was just unfortunate. There was a lot more physical contact on other plays earlier in that game, but this was just a fluke, in my opinion.

[BigMac]

I agree with Mr. Basketball. The style of play that the NCAA wanted in the tournament was very evident. At UMW both weekends it was so apparent that they were not going to call the rules of the game, Let them play. Well the rules are there for a reason and need to be called.

Players will play to the level officials allow. So if the rules are not going to be inforced they will break the rules. That is called street ball and should not be allowed in any NCAA game. THis is no way why UMW lost to GF in their last game but in the second half of the game the second foul of the half was called at about the 8:00 mark left in the game. Are you kidding me??? But I watched both weekends of play all the games and the officials calls were abysmal thru out the tournament. I was thinking it was just the CAC referees but I guess they told them all "Let them play" Not what everyone wants.

I agree and I think EVERYONE know's Munger not hurt GF is the Champions this year but I guess that is part of the game but if the officials are calling the game correctly the unfortunate fluke may of not happened., in my opinion

[RogK]

Next year, tell us right away if you notice that "the officials calls were abysmal thru out the tournament." Don't wait until you see who wins.

[Mr. Ypsi]

I agree with Mr. Basketball. The style of play that the NCAA wanted in the tournament was very evident. At UMW both weekends it was so apparent that they were not going to call the rules of the game, Let them play. Well the rules are there for a reason and need to be called.

Players will play to the level officials allow. So if the rules are not going to be inforced they will break the rules. That is called street ball and should not be allowed in any NCAA game. THis is no way why UMW lost to GF in their last game but in the second half of the game the second foul of the half was called at about the 8:00 mark left in the game. Are you kidding me??? But I watched both weekends of play all the games and the officials calls were abysmal thru out the tournament. I was thinking it was just the CAC referees but I guess they told them all "Let them play" Not what everyone wants.

I agree and I think EVERYONE know's Munger not hurt GF is the Champions this year but I guess that is part of the game but if the officials are calling the game correctly the unfortunate fluke may of not happened., in my opinion

No, not EVERYONE knows this.  Hannah was not injured last year, and GF lost to IWU anyway, despite the Titans digging themselves an even deeper hole (27-4 at one point).

[BigMac]

I'm a fan of UMW not GF. I just know what I saw and in my opinion GF would have won.

The rules of the game are the rules of the game but for some reason NCAA does not want it called during the tournament. It was so obvious that the referees were told to"let them play" and not call anything. So the teams play all season with rules but then get to the tournament and it all changes.

What's really funny is when they call nothing one half but then start calling everything the other half or the best one is a team has 10 fouls called on them and the other team has 2 so at the end of the half they start calling all these fouls on the team with 2 so to catch it up and at the end the fouls are close.

My complaint is with the whole tournament officiating not just the championship game. I watched 6 games at UMW and it was really bad. I just thought it was the CAC officials as they are REALLY bad, and are always really bad. Get a few that do a good job but 80% is bad. I then saw Mr. Basketball's post and just thought I would chime in.

Do not know if Munger was hurt because the officials were told to "let them play" or not but do know the play gets rough as the referees "let them play" and not call the rules of the game.

NCAA could save $$$ just use 1 referee every game. You are only getting calls from 1 anyways so why pay the others to run the court with their whistles in their pockets

[80sshorts]

I don't believe the Munger injury was the result of the refs encouraging wild dirty sinister play.  IWU is a physical team but there have been games this year where opposing players have hit Hannah harder on a more repetitive basis and have been specifically more physical with her than the Titans were on Saturday, and the Bruins have learned to deal with the predictable contact.  (I've heard around the grapevine during regular season games where opposing teams have basically said that the gameplan going in is hack Munger in order to prevent her from hitting 2 footers – makes pretty good sense to me)  In fact, lost in all the storylines about the injury and Mia Smith finally winning the big one and the great play of Olivia Lett, is how well officiated the championship game was.  I felt calls were consistent on both sides, and IWU simply knocked down more free throws and big shots in the end than George Fox did.  One thing we all can agree on is how excellent the host city and the host college was for the Final Four this year.  Holland knows how to roll out the red carpet for everyone who comes to town in March.