WBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletics Association

[Dark Knight]

Hopefully the game tomorrow will live up to our expectations. 

What are our expectations? Massey has Hope over Calvin by about 10 at Hope. Can Calvin make it a barn burner?

I assume Massey doesn't account for Snikkers' absence and that's a huge factor. Without Carrie playing, I think this game is pretty much a toss-up.

Hope has played six games without Carrie, so Massey is starting to reflect that. Also, Massey weights the most recent games more highly.

Looking at common opponents, etc. I think Hope is still doing a bit better than Calvin, and the game is at Hope. But in part the statistics reflect Hope's bench vs. Calvin's bench for blowout games -- and all the statistics go out the window anyway for a Rivalry game.

[sac]

Hopefully the game tomorrow will live up to our expectations. 

What are our expectations? Massey has Hope over Calvin by about 10 at Hope. Can Calvin make it a barn burner?

I assume Massey doesn't account for Snikkers' absence and that's a huge factor. Without Carrie playing, I think this game is pretty much a toss-up.

I would agree with that assessment.........

using only the 6 games Snikkers hasn't played, and looking at common opponents

Carthage 51 Hope 47 @ Oglethorpe
Carthage 58 Calvin 47

Hope 80 Kzoo 51 @ Kzoo
Calvin 78 Kzoo 35

Hope 91 St. Mary's 72 @ St. Mary's
Calvin 64 Hope 58

Hope 50 Albion 34 @ Albion
Calvin 65 Albion 44

only real difference other than Hope playing all those games on the road vs 1 for Calvin is the St. Mary's result, and given Hope's only reg. season loss came  their last year, I'm sure playing well at St. Mary's was a big goal of this years team.

[sac]

2006--1,905
2006--1,950  MIAA Tournament Championship
2007--2,911
2008--2,333
2009--1,612

Not bad attendance at these games in Holland, this has become a pretty big date on the Hope sports calender.

This is the first time in Hope's DeVos era that there isn't a men's game going on somewhere on the same date while hosting Calvin.

[realist]

Not sure about anyone else, but my expectation is that it is going to be one great ball game. 

[jspiii]

According to the Holland Sentinel, there is a "chance" Carrie Snikkers will play tonight pending the results of a MRI yesterday. See sidebar.

http://www.hollandsentinel.com/sports/sports_hope/x1689212125/Freshman-point-guard-leads-Hope-into-tonights-showdown-with-Calvin

[80sshorts]

Ouch Calvin, sounds like they're getting absolutely no second chance opportunities, I don't know these teams well but is there a big size mismatch between the two?  the field goal difference is huge!

[ziggy]

Ouch Calvin, sounds like they're getting absolutely no second chance opportunities, I don't know these teams well but is there a big size mismatch between the two?  the field goal difference is huge!

I've just received word that the Lady Knights committed another turnover on their way to the locker room.

[realist]

Ouch Calvin, sounds like they're getting absolutely no second chance opportunities, I don't know these teams well but is there a big size mismatch between the two?  the field goal difference is huge!

There are some differences, but the Knights are playing like a deer in the headlights.  They (Knights) have historically had a problem protecting the ball, and Hope has used that to their great advantage.  I hate to think what the score might be if Ms. Snikkers were on the floor.
Have to give Hope all the credit.  They came to play, and really knew how to shut down Verkaik.
Not the game I expected, but than I am sure I am not alone in this.  Doubt it will happen twice as Calvin historically has learned from these experiences.

[realist]

Less than 2 minutes to go.  15 point lead, and finally we see Hope's subs?
What's with that?  Up till now only 10 deep. 

[jspiii]

An after the game comment by Coach Morehouse Sr was that Snikkers has been cleared for moderate practice. Hopefully this leads to some game time for the Feb 3rd Calvin game.

[oldknight]

Calvin has things to prove against good competition.  Calvin may well be able to match Hope this season but I'm concerned about the Lady Knights' perimeter game. Hope appears to be a much better team from the arc than is Calvin and, unlike the Lady Knights, Hope's women force far more turnovers than they commit. As good as Snikkers is, I think how well or poorly the two teams perform in the backcourt may be the deciding factor when they finally meet.

Unfortunately, that concern proved out. In the first half Hope simply annihilated Calvin's backcourt by forcing more turnovers (18) than shots allowed (17). The reasons were partly superior athleticism, but more a matter of incredibly foolish execution on entry passes. Calvin doesn't appear to have any perimeter players with the quickness of feet to match the likes of Ellis, DeKuiper, Cerone and Cowen. Even Philana Green--hardly the fleetest of foot--looked quick by comparison. The amazing thing is that Hope forced all those turnovers by simply playing straight up man-to-man defense--no pressing, no zone, no doubling the ball.

Their are times I think the most overrated and overutilized skill in basketball is the bounce pass and Calvin's first half would support that assessment. I don't know how many times you need to have your entry pass stolen when thrown from beyond the arc before you get the message that this is a poor tactic. Why one would repeatedly throw bounce passes to a 6'2" player in a women's game is beyond me. Few women have the power to make that kind of pass strongly enough from that distance to be successful. It was enough to make me want to go into the locker room at half and tell the ladies to make sure that every entry pass they make in the second half be thrown over the top. Happily, John Ross saw the same thing. I don't remember Lady Knights entering the ball into the post from off the floor once after the break and the improvement in Calvin's fortunes was considerable the final 20 minutes. Given the two teams' talent levels, Calvin needs to know what style of play works and what style doesn't. Maybe they learned from tonight's action.

[sac]

Less than 2 minutes to go.  15 point lead, and finally we see Hope's subs?
What's with that?  Up till now only 10 deep. 

Only 10 deep ? ? ?


Ever notice that there seems to be an expectation that Hope teams should just quit playing when they get up by 15 or so...........

[sac]

I don't watch much women's basketball but I thought this was a very well played game by these two teams.  Lots of good shots, passing, movement and defense.  What doesn't show in the box is how many tough layups and ridiculous passes the Hope ladies made last night and had to make.  One of the hardest earned 15 point wins I think you can see.

I thought Hope played about as well as they can possibly play with the exception of a few missed bunnies inside in the first half.  Hope had twice as many steals, half as many turnovers, made twice as many 3 pointers and won by 15, which doesn't seem like as much as it should have been.


The difference was the last 15 minutes of the first half where Oldknight has already pointed out the difficulty Calvin had getting the ball inside.  I saw all 10 Hope players who played with their hands out and getting in the passing lanes.  Hope's lead was just to big, it would have taken a pretty monumental effort to beat Hope by 18 in the second half.  That said imagine if it had been just a 10 point lead and Calvin came out and played like they did in the second half and the Dutch would have been under a lot more pressure and duress to make shots.  Calvin made good 2nd half adjustments at both ends (better pressure on D, finding the open shots on O) and it took a good 10 minutes before Hope figured out what they needed to do on their end.  


Calvin will drop in the polls, but I'm really not sure they should, those are two very good D3 womens basketball teams.  I imagine it will have to take an amazingly off night for one of these to lose to anyone but each other in the MIAA.  With the current rosters and despite the 15 point difference I'm not so sure there's that wide of a gap between these two teams.  Round 2 at Calvin should be very interesting.


attendance = 3,177

[sac]

From the beginning of the 2nd half vs Albion to halftime vs Calvin the Hope ladies gave up 9 FG's on 9-33 shooting or 27.2%...........33 attempts is about half what you expect in 40 minutes of action.  They gave up 30 total points, scored 64 points themselves and recorded 22 steals for these 40 minutes.

The Hope women played some mean basketball between about 4 pm Saturday and 8:30 last night.

[realist]

Less than 2 minutes to go.  15 point lead, and finally we see Hope's subs?
What's with that?  Up till now only 10 deep. 

Only 10 deep ? ? ?


Ever notice that there seems to be an expectation that Hope teams should just quit playing when they get up by 15 or so...........

According to the live stats those were the numbers.
Calvin was 14 deep at that point in the game.

I don't expect Hope or any team to stop playing, but that is different than having your starters on the floor when the game was obviously over.