WBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletics Association

[HOPEful]

I'm not sure its fair to compare any team to what amounts to a once a generation team that will probably never happen again.

100%

...dare I say they may be better than they were last year...or at least have the potential to be better? 

...It's nearly impossible to judge any team in comparison to last year's team...

But not just once a generation. Once ever! Can you name another time you've seen a coach do entire line changes multiple times a game as part of their core philosophy/strategy? A team, mind you, with a couple All-Americans that had to fully buy-in to the philosophy, because it meant the 6-10th players would average 15-17 minutes a game. When in history has a 5th year POTY averaged just 20 minutes per game?

But Hope doesn't have that kind of depth and All-Americans might not be so keen on reduced minutes if not for a pandemic that stole two seasons of post-season play from those women. The whole team was selflessly laser focused on winning a national championship, since a change at the previous two was taken from them. They were special. Like ESPN should do a 30 for 30 episode on them special.

[HOPEful]

Calvin shows up at #15 this week after a 5-0 start and knocking off Whitewater, who fell to #9 after the loss.

That makes tomorrow's game in Grand Rapids #1 v. #15. Hope's approach in previous seasons was to almost sell-out to stop Gabby and make someone else beat them. I'm sure they'll use some version of that approach tomorrow, but I have a feeling the Calvin star is excited to play a Hope team without Voskuil. I'm pretty sure it was Olivia, Claire, and Kate that spent the most time defending Timmer last season, so it'll be interesting to see how those duties are distributed amongst Kate, Claire, Savannah, and Kendall.

Sounds funny to say in November, but there really aren't that many games left this season that stand out as having the potential of getting in the way of Hope posting a perfect regular season record. This is one does.

[Riley Zayas]

Calvin shows up at #15 this week after a 5-0 start and knocking off Whitewater, who fell to #9 after the loss.

That makes tomorrow's game in Grand Rapids #1 v. #15. Hope's approach in previous seasons was to almost sell-out to stop Gabby and make someone else beat them. I'm sure they'll use some version of that approach tomorrow, but I have a feeling the Calvin star is excited to play a Hope team without Voskuil. I'm pretty sure it was Olivia, Claire, and Kate that spent the most time defending Timmer last season, so it'll be interesting to see how those duties are distributed amongst Kate, Claire, Savannah, and Kendall.

Sounds funny to say in November, but there really aren't that many games left this season that stand out as having the potential of getting in the way of Hope posting a perfect regular season record. This is one does.

Very true. Honestly surprised Calvin jumped so high but regardless, they are playing very good basketball now. Gabby will have to be stopped by Hope's defense for the Flying Dutch to win comfortably, but Calvin has a few other shooters that will help. I don't know if it will be decided by single digits, but can't see a blowout win for Hope either.

[HOPEful]

Hope 62, Calvin 56

Hope went up as many as 12 in the second half, but Gabby and Sydney always seemed to have an answer any time you thought Hope was going to blow the doors off. Hope was awful from 3, but Savannah, Ella, and Claire were excellent at both creating opportunities in the paint and getting to the line. If you take away Dirkse's 2, Calvin's starters averaged 4 fouls each.

Gabby hauled in 18 rebounds, but if Calvin hopes the game at Hope will be competitive again, they need to find more offensive production outside of Gabby, Leah, and Sydney shooting 3s. Valerie and Sara were completely shut down and anyone that Calvin put in off the bench didn't have much more success... (although, I was impressed with Allie Mayes the short time she was on the floor). I doubt Hope will shoot 4 for 20 from 3 next time they meet.

Calvin played the number 1 team in the country tough. They looked like a team worthy of being named the #15 team in the country.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Pretty amazing for Hope to win a game with second half shooting of 18.5% from the field and 0% from 3.

[Riley Zayas]

Pretty amazing for Hope to win a game with second half shooting of 18.5% from the field and 0% from 3.

Yeah but their defense was super impressive. Without that defensive pressure on Calvin and the forced TOs, I don't think Hope wins that game. Shows you that Hope doesn't need to score in mass quantities to win ballgames

[HOPEful]

...Shows you that Hope doesn't need to score in mass quantities to win ballgames...

That was definitely my takeaway from this game. Good teams can beat anyone on a good night, great teams find a way to win on off nights. Everyone not named Ella shot 2 for 15 from 3. In the fourth quarter, the team shot 14% from the field. But they found a way to extend the win streak to 22.

[scottiedawg]

Calvin's defense was awesome.  Elite teams like Hope get SO MANY points via turnovers and especially fast break points. They had less than 10 I believe vs Calvin. Hope isn't an elite half-court offense team and Calvin put them there for the bulk of the game.  (also, STOP DRIVING to Timmer's dominant hand).

Hope's defense was special and it needed to be. Timmer was going to beast but Calvin could rarely get the ball to her. The best two entry passes to Timmer on the night were bricked jump shots. Timmer offensively did not match the physicality of Hope's defense. A 30-pt game was there for her with a different offensive disposition.

Hope was more than happy to let Harris go 4-15 on largely mid-range jumpers. (the shot chart is telling -> Hope basically only shot from the circle in and from 3)

Love Morehouse posting up his guards down the stretch. That was the ideal half-court matchup, especially if you can get Timmer away from the bucket.

[TUAngola]

Trine with a big win over Calvin this afternoon 60-45.  Our defense was terrific today, the box score will make it seem like we didn't contain Gabby Timmer as she finished with 20 pts, but we made her earn every bucket and forced her into 7 turnovers.  Offensively is was Sidney Wagner who carried us in the first half.  She is very good at getting around her defender and then pulling up 8-10 foot jumpshots which are silky smooth.  Most girls when they penetrate they think they need to get all the way to the rim and that is where they run into trouble with double teams and forced shots or bad passes.  In the second half we finally saw some 3s go down.  We had a 17 point lead early in the 4th quarter then Calvin quickly scored 10 straight that forced us into a timeout, score was 50-43.  We regained the momentum with some timely baskets and played lock down defense the rest of the way as Calvin only scored 2 points the last 4:45 of the game.  Alyssa Argyle hit some big shots in the 4th and finished with 11.  Wagner led the way with 19.  Sam Underhill played Gabby very physical and finished with 9 pts and 8 reb.  Sam's backup at center, freshman Abby Sanner, also did well, finishing with 6 pts and 6 reb.  She will eventually be a good one, you can already see her improvement from game 1 to game 7 as she continues to learn our offensive and defensive principles.  As a team we are still not shooting a good percentage which is a concern.  Calvin is a good team and will be a tough out for anyone in the MIAA. 

[HOPEful]

Trine with a big win over Calvin this afternoon 60-45.  Our defense was terrific today, the box score will make it seem like we didn't contain Gabby Timmer as she finished with 20 pts, but we made her earn every bucket and forced her into 7 turnovers... 

The way to beat Calvin is not to stop Gabby. It's to contain her enough and keep anyone else from beating you. In the first quarter against Trine, Calvin players not named Gabby went 1-9. In the third quarter, it was 1-7. The 15 point difference in those two quarters was the difference in the end score.

Against Whitewater, Cleary and Harris were hitting threes. As a team, they went 5 for 10. Against Hope they went 6 for 21 and against Trine 3 for 14. Gabby will win you most games, regardless the opponent, if her guards are hitting 50% from behind the arc. If they're hitting 20%, itll be an uphill battle.

[Riley Zayas]

Trine with a big win over Calvin this afternoon 60-45.  Our defense was terrific today, the box score will make it seem like we didn't contain Gabby Timmer as she finished with 20 pts, but we made her earn every bucket and forced her into 7 turnovers... 

The way to beat Calvin is not to stop Gabby. It's to contain her enough and keep anyone else from beating you. In the first quarter against Trine, Calvin players not named Gabby went 1-9. In the third quarter, it was 1-7. The 15 point difference in those two quarters was the difference in the end score.

Against Whitewater, Cleary and Harris were hitting threes. As a team, they went 5 for 10. Against Hope they went 6 for 21 and against Trine 3 for 14. Gabby will win you most games, regardless the opponent, if her guards are hitting 50% from behind the arc. If they're hitting 20%, itll be an uphill battle.

No doubt. She is a fantastic player, but can't win games on her own, at least not against Calvin's two opponents this week. Feel the same way about Tufts at times...too reliant on Maggie Russell sometimes, it seems. But Calvin is deep and has good guard play. Just a matter of making shots when the defense is keying in on Gabby and 3s are open for the guards, which seemed to work in a number of their previous wins

[gordonmann]

Several good teams have this conundrum. Can they put enough talent along their top player to beat good teams? New Jersey City has it with Damarais Rodriguez, Millikin has it with Elyce Knudsen, etc.

It's a common situation in Division III hoops (men and women) and it's what separates elite programs from those with elite players.

[scottiedawg]

Week 2 Poll
#1, Hope +1 vote point, +0%
win road over Calvin
win home over Wittenberg

#18, Trine +30 vote points, +19%
win home over Calvin
win road over Adrian

#20, Calvin -95 vote point, -46%
loss home to Hope
loss road to Trine

[HOPEful]

Without meaning any disrespect, I genuinely wonder who benefits from Great Lakes Christian coming to Hope tonight? Great Lakes Christian lost to Albion two days ago 90-38. Hope gains nothing by beating an NCCAA team by the score of their choosing. GLCC gains nothing by getting shellacked for the second time in one week by a team completely out of their league.  Honestly, wouldn't a joint practice/scrimmage be more beneficial to both teams?

[sac]

Without meaning any disrespect, I genuinely wonder who benefits from a Great Lakes Christian coming to Hope tonight? Great Lakes Christian lost to Albion two days ago 90-38. Hope gains nothing by beating an NCCAA team by the score of their choosing. GLCC gains nothing by getting shellacked for the second time in one week by a team completely out of their league.  Honestly, wouldn't a joint practice/scrimmage be more beneficial to both teams?

Very simple answer the head coach is a Hope grad.   https://glccathletics.com/sports/wbkb/coaches/CB_Long?view=bio


GLC is tiny, I drive by frequently wondering how they survive at all.   I check their schedule every year to see if anyone interesting is coming to town, but I've only managed to wander over there once to see Martin Luther.   I have noticed a difference in their scheduling lately from playing like schools (ie small christian or bible schools) at their level that required hours of travel to Kentucky, Tennessee etc to playing more of the NAIA/D3 programs in a tighter radius around Michigan, Ohio, Indiana. 

The women's program is relatively new, and there were a couple years where they only had 6 or 7 girls on the roster.  Much more healthy today.