MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[Flea]

[Caleb] Veldhouse comes up big again down the stretch. This kid is special.

Caleb ('09) is the third Veldhouse boy to come to Calvin fro Sioux Falls SD during the past few years.  They are a solid group of athletes. 

2004 MIAA MVP Joel Veldhouse ('05) . . . considered by some the best soccer player at Calvin since Barone ('91).
Discus thrower Kyle Veldhouse ('07) . . . threw 130+ in 2004 and has returned to the track and field after traveling overseas in 2005.

What are Caleb's weaknesses?  I noticed no free throw attempts against Albion. Does he penetrate?

[MIdoubleA]

I am guessing his size is going to be his biggest problem, and maybe his quickness. Everything else seems to compensate for those two things. He can hit free-throws, knock down jumpers and he can usually penetrate pretty well (depending on who is in the lane).

I think a quick, physical gaurd would be his antithesis, but we'll have to see.

[flash96]

Certainly looks like the Knights have the easiest second half of the season, with Hope and Albion coming to Knollcrest.  I made the comment days before the Hope/Albion game that there could easily be a three way tie for the league lead in a short time.  Some people said "No way".  

I have travelled to Alma several times over my career at Hope and then post graduate to see a few games.  Does the sun ever shine in Alma?  The four times I went there for cross country in college the sun never shown once!  In '95 we went there for Regionals and a Blizzard showed up.  A few went to the hospital for near hypothermia after the meet, should have never ran the meet that day!

I went in '98 to see Hope play and they lost!  Sure Alma played them tough but the Hope players were assulted in the low post and nothing was called.  Blood was drawn and Stegeman was ready to fight.  The worst officiated game I have ever attended.  Left in disgust with two minutes to play, nearly was thrown out by the official.  Apparently its not poilite to ask the ref if he needs glasses on an in-bounds play.

[goodknight]

In the MIAA, no one will have an easy road in the second half of the season.
I, for one, am just hoping against hope (by the way, that's exceptionally easy for Calvin fans ) that the Knights can steal Wednesday's game on the road against a very tough -- and probably now under-rated  -- Kalamazoo team.
Don't misunderstand, I'm really happy to have the road trips to Hope and Albion out of the way for the conference season, but I'd expect that every game will be a dogfight for Calvin moving forward, just as they've been all league season.

[Picket Fence]

Sorry about the Albion having the highest points per game post, when I posted that, MIAA.org had update the records, but not the points.

The Hope/Albion game is a men's/women's double header.  Women's tickets are usually free, but I don't know how it will work for that game.  That could make it even tougher to get a ticket besides the reasons already listed.

Calvin fans need to take a step back and calm the talk of stealing a title down.  You were down by 30 against Hope when the benches cleared.  A 3 wtih under 5 seconds to go cut it to 18. That wasn't a close game. I think Hope has proven the only way they are going to lose is if the people in their locker room decide to not show up.  The advantage of Knollcrest will probably make it a single digit game, but the Knights don't have enough this year.

This is the second game this year that VW's has cleared the bench prematurely.  Does this worry anybody else?

[goodknight]

Calvin fans need to take a step back and calm the talk of stealing a title down. 

Despite the win I still think a third place finish and 9-5 conference record would be a pretty good year for this team.

In the MIAA, no one will have an easy road in the second half of the season....
I'm really happy to have the road trips to Hope and Albion out of the way for the conference season, but I'd expect that every game will be a dogfight for Calvin moving forward, just as they've been all league season.

PF:
It seems remarkably calm to me.  But we'll try to remember to quell our enthusiam even more the next time we take out a  highly regarded league opponent.  

[MIdoubleA]

The Hope/Albion game is a men's/women's double header.  Women's tickets are usually free, but I don't know how it will work for that game.  That could make it even tougher to get a ticket besides the reasons already listed.

Are you sure? Albion women just played at Hope this past weekend... unless of course you mean the women play someone other than Albion before the men.

This is the second game this year that VW's has cleared the bench prematurely.  Does this worry anybody else?

Yes, it does worry me. I think he might do it as a show of confidence though, both for his starters and the rest of his team. We'll see if it ever comes back to get him...

[Flying Dutch Fan]

The Hope/Albion game is a men's/women's double header.  Women's tickets are usually free, but I don't know how it will work for that game.  That could make it even tougher to get a ticket besides the reasons already listed.

The Hope women have a non-conference game that day against Rochester at 5pm - after the mens game against Albion.  Mens game will be preceeded by mens JV.

The Hope at Calvin game is the one that could be fun, from a ticketing/seating perspective.  Calvin women play before the men against Tri-State.  For that one they have the women playing at 5:15, and then the men at 8 - I suspect they will clear the gym in-between.

[BogeyMan]

After watching the Albion/Calvin game Saturday here are my observations on why Calvin won:
1.  Only 4 field goals by Crawford - great post defense!  Crawford is still heads above the best player in the league and Meckes could of never handled Crawford by himself.  The double and sometime triple teaming of Crawford was great coaching in my book.
2.  Calvin had 15 offensive rebounds.  They wanted it more than Albion.
3.  Veldhouse shot the ball extremely well in the second half.  Veldhouse shot over a 5'9" Bailey several times.  Bailey was in his face but Veldhouse jumped over him!  I  believe Veldhouse is the best freshman that I have seen in the league.

[ziggy]

I am guessing his size is going to be his biggest problem, and maybe his quickness. Everything else seems to compensate for those two things. He can hit free-throws, knock down jumpers and he can usually penetrate pretty well (depending on who is in the lane).

I think a quick, physical gaurd would be his antithesis, but we'll have to see.

His size is a problem, as in he is too tall?  DIII point guards tend to be pretty small and Caleb is usually a couple inches taller than his counterpart on any given night.  He's been able to shoot over his defenders with relative ease.  As his game continues to develop on this level I look for his "deficiencies" to disappear.

Congratulations to Caleb Veldhouse for being named MIAA player of the week for the first time in his young career.  I'm sure MIAA fans can get used to seeing it quite often in the next few years.

[ziggy]

I think Hope has proven the only way they are going to lose is if the people in their locker room decide to not show up.

So Albion doesn't deserve any credit for their blowout of Hope?  Well, in that case you're just lucky Calvin didnt show up to play at DeVos last weekend.

[MIdoubleA]

I am guessing his size is going to be his biggest problem, and maybe his quickness. Everything else seems to compensate for those two things. He can hit free-throws, knock down jumpers and he can usually penetrate pretty well (depending on who is in the lane).

I think a quick, physical gaurd would be his antithesis, but we'll have to see.

His size is a problem, as in he is too tall? 

Keep in mind I'm just offering my perspective. He just seems so small out there on the floor. To tell you the truth, I wouldn't have guessed he is actually that tall (I didn't check before I posted  ) If you want to get technical though, Hope and Albion each have at least 5 gaurds that are as tall if not taller than he is, most of whom out-weigh him by at least 10-15 lbs.

[Picket Fence]

So Albion doesn't deserve any credit for their blowout of Hope?  Well, in that case you're just lucky Calvin didnt show up to play at DeVos last weekend.

Albion whooped Hope's butt, however, the only way that game is an 18 point game is players and coaches not showing up.

As for Calvin not showing up to play at DeVos. I've seen the Knights play 5 or 6 times this year. Away from Knollcrest, they're about as good as the team that showed up in the first half against Hope.  The second half you can probably throw out the window as far as what to expect the next time the teams play.

PF:
It seems remarkably calm to me.  But we'll try to remember to quell our enthusiam even more the next time we take out a  highly regarded league opponent.  

You can be as excited as you want that you beat Albion, obviously Hope couldn't.  I just got the feeling that Calvin fan seems to be thinking they are one of the top two teams in the league now.  Any team that gets worried when they lose Kyle Snoeyink is not going to be a league champion.

[Picket Fence]

Interestinng tidbit that the Hope radio guys brought up this week:

Albion @ Hope February 4

Wooster @ Wittenberg February 4

What's Pat going to do with that Saturday?

[oldknight]

At 6'2" Veldhouse certainly has nice height for the point guard position but I agree he could use a little more bulk, something that may well come with physical maturity. He looks like he's only 15 years old and I don't think a razor has passed over his face yet so once Veldhouse completes puberty and hits the weight room he may get that extra 15 pounds that will make him a REALLY tough matchup. Caleb has had his biggest struggles against short, quick, physically tough guards who like to play baseline to baseline defense. He's had his pocket picked a couple of times but he has a quality that is quite useful to any basketball player--a short memory for his mistakes. As he becomes more experienced these careless mistakes will diminish because his ball handling skills are really quite good. I wouldn't be too surprised to see him play more 2 guard after Trewhella graduates. Obviously Veldhouse is a player comfortable with the ball when the game is on the line. That, more than anything else, makes him special.