WBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletics Association

[hope1]

hope colledge  might be taking a fan bus they need  35 people to go included a motel room and ticket  100.00  to  110.00   for each person  email the hope ticket office if you want to go  leave around  9.30   friday  am

[WWWRHH]

Erm Schmigget:
A 1200 seat arena should prove interesting.  Hope and T.More have some common opponents, but outside of Washington and Jefferson, the league was less than impressive.

The seating capacity in KY may not be an issue.

When Hope played St. Mary's for the conference championship, attendance was +2,200.

However, when Thomas More played W&J at home for the conference championship attendance was 723.

(I thought the stands looked as full for last Saturday's game at the DeVos Center as they did for the Saints game a week earlier, but official attendance was almost 500 less.)

Realistically, those that follow Hope, George Fox and Olglethorpe will be limited to family members and hard core fans, and it is really difficult for Fox supporters to make the trip.  I hope I am wrong, but if the Hope contingent exceeds 100 I will be happy.

Not to open old wounds, but when I spoke with a representative of the NCAA selection committee last year, she indicated Hope played where it did because of how they were seeded relative to Howard Payne, not because Holland was hosting the national semis.

NW Hope Fan: I like the quote at the bottom of your messages.

I'm headed to Thomas More for what should be a very exciting two days of hoops.  If anyone else will be there, stop by and say hello.

I don't think the major issue was whether HPU deserved to host a sectional, but rather the grouping of HPU, Hope (and George Fox) into the same sectional.  In hingsight, I think that last year's final four was played in TX and I do not think Fox and Hope should be set up to meet in the elite eight this year.

With that said, expecially given the constraints the committees must consider, the women's bracket has clearly been more fair than the men's and some attempt is made to reward strong play during the season.

Flying Dutch Fan:

Thanks for the breakdown.  On paper it looks like the teams are fairly even.  TM appears to be an exceptional shooting team.

It looks like Hope may have an advantage on defense where they have posted significantly more steals and blocks than TM.  

Also, More's starters play more minutes and score a higher % of the team's points than the Dutch starters, so Hope may have a little more depth.

The thing that makes me most hopeful is Hope's game against W&J.  W&J beat TM once and gave them a tough game in their conference championship.  In those games, W&J was able to hold TM to well below their scoring average.

It looks like the key to beating Thomas More is slowing #21 Dickman and #33 Thiem.  I have not seen the Saints play, but I suspect that Snikkers and Greene may be the type of players that match up well against a fast guard and big, in-the-paint center.  (those conclusions are based only on reading between the Saints stat lines, looking at their pictures and being a close observer of the Dutch.)

[sac]

Erm Schmigget:

I wouldn't had posted what I did if I wasn't 100% sure of where the sectional was going to be.  I just want to defend my position on this.  I decided to check the ncaa.org bracket where I noticed that where the sectional tournament starts there was an asterisk next to Thomas More.  George Fox, Olgethorpe nor us had a star.  Also 3 other teams in the final 16 had an asterisk. 

I made a common sense judgement.  Also before I posted, I checked the men's bracket just to make sure and they had ## next to the host site. 

A 1200 seat arena should prove interesting.  Hope and T.More have some common opponents, but outside of Washington and Jefferson, the league was less than impressive.

My post could have been taken as supportive, reaffirming that the use of an asterisk next to the host teams' names is a positive indicator of the fact they were the host.

I agree, the relatively diminutive host site should be interesting, coming off a few seasons in the DeVos.  Does anyone remember the capacity of the Dow Center when it was used to host NCAA tourney games?  I would bet it was more than 1200.

I think we squeezed 1300 in there for the men's tournament games, but that was using the upstairs track as seating.

[cmlundy]

Capacity of the Dow Center was 1500 for NCAA tournament games

[AlwaysHope]

hope colledge  might be taking a fan bus they need  35 people to go included a motel room and ticket  100.00  to  110.00   for each person  email the hope ticket office if you want to go  leave around  9.30   friday  am

As of about 1PM on Monday, 18 people had signed up for the bus trip, so we are halfway there.  Call the Hope ticket office now to reserve your spot!

[sac]

Capacity of the Dow Center was 1500 for NCAA tournament games

My memory of those days must be slipping.........I actually found an old box score that listed attendance as 1600 vs Christopher Newport in 1998.

[fannie]

For the avid West Michigan basketball junkie...it looks like Grand Valley women will be playing less than 20 miles away from our Hope women in their first round of NCAA action on Friday, for those fortunate to travel there you COULD possibly take in both games!  GVSU will be playing in Highland Heights Kentucky on Friday...times yet to be determined.....West Michigan Women's basketball invades Northern Kentucky!!!! :-)

GO HOPE!

[sac]

For the avid West Michigan basketball junkie...it looks like Grand Valley women will be playing less than 20 miles away from our Hope women in their first round of NCAA action on Friday, for those fortunate to travel there you COULD possibly take in both games!  GVSU will be playing in Highland Heights Kentucky on Friday...times yet to be determined.....West Michigan Women's basketball invades Northern Kentucky!!!! :-)

GO HOPE!

NCAA Division II Women's Basketball
Midwest Region Tournament
Bank of Kentucky Center, Highland Heights, Ky.



Regional First Round • Friday, March 13
Game 1. Quincy (26-4) vs. Drury (19-9), 12 noon
Game 2. Hillsdale (27-3) vs. Indianapolis (22-9), 2:30 p.m.
Game 3: Northern Kentucky (28-2) vs. Grand Valley State (20-9), 6:00 p.m.
Game 4: Michigan Tech (24-6) vs. Northwood (21-7), 8:30 p.m.


Don't think that would work, good idea though.

[sac]

I've never done offensive and defensive efficiency numbers for women's basketball, but I did them for this Sectional.  Think of them as points per 100 posessions.

Offensive
Thomas More 105.5
Hope 102.9
George Fox 100.6
Oglethorpe 99.7

Defensive
George Fox 70.7
Hope 72.5
Thomas More 74.4
Oglethorpe 81.3

These defensive numbers I think are kind of mind blowing.  These should be 3 low scoring games.

[AlwaysHope]

Go to www.hope.edu/ticketoffice for details on the bus trip to see the Hope women play in Kentucky.  We want to make sure that we have enough people to take a bus on the road to, HOPEfully, a national championship!

[AlwaysHope]

Go to www.hope.edu/ticketoffice for details on the bus trip to see the Hope women play in Kentucky.  We want to make sure that we have enough people to take a bus on the road to, HOPEfully, a national championship!

We now have enough people for the bus, but there are still a few seats left.  Call the ticket office if interested.

[gordonmann]

I went to the regional at Thomas More back in 2004 when the Saints hosted Wilmington, Puget Sound and Buena Vista.  The TMC game against Wilmington (which isn't far from Crestview Hills) was the loudest I've ever heard a gym for a women's game.

Given the potential traveling contingent from Hope, I'll bring the sound reducing headphones.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Congrats to Carrie Snikkers on being named to the WBCA All-Region team, and she is now eligible for All-American recognition by the WBCA.  She is one of only 4 sophomores selected.

http://www.wbca.org/Releases/SFCAATFinalistsDIII09.html

Also congrats to Coach Mo on being named the regional coach of the year by the WBCA.  He is now in tyhe running for National Coach of the year (this is Mo's 3rd Coach of the region award)

http://www.wbca.org/Releases/Regional_COY_DII_DIII_NAIA_2009.html

FWIW - the Thomas More sectional will include 3 Regional coaches of the year (it couldn't be 4 since Thomas More and Hope are in the same region).  Each team also has one all-region player.

[HopeConvert]

One would think that if Hope could take down a school named after John Calvin that they ought to have little difficulty with ones named after Thomas More and George Fox, if not for theological reasons, then at least for the sheer heft of their relative contributions. What would it suggest if we beat a reformer, a Catholic, and a Quaker but got taken down last year by a Baptist?

[WWWRHH]

One would think that if Hope could take down a school named after John Calvin that they ought to have little difficulty with ones named after Thomas More and George Fox, if not for theological reasons, then at least for the sheer heft of their relative contributions. What would it suggest if we beat a reformer, a Catholic, and a Quaker but got taken down last year by a Baptist?

I am hestitant to suggest this, but perhaps it would mean that neo-Calvinism muddled with some Arminian free-will thinking is not an entirely bad thing  or there are undiscovered Baptists on Hope's roster and God went with the majority because he prefers congregational governance.

Or it could mean that it is hard to play a good team far away from home and against all the advantages that home court can provide, because He does not care who wins basketball games.....in other words being able to enjoy the game is an example of common grace available to all, but is not related to attonement in any way.

I don't know if God cares (about basketball), but I do....Go Hope!