MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[ChicagoHopeNut]

Jesse was a beast last night and held that team together to get a win. Its great Hope got out to a nice lead but they need to maintain the intensity to avoid these scary endings. But as mentioned a close game could be good for the team.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

As I noted last night - I see this as a pattern for Hope teams (and probably many other teams as well). 

The first game (sometimes games 2, 3, ...)

- come out really hot, most players get involved, and then the adrenaline wears off (or something like that).  The other team starts to come back, the euphoria of "we're the greatest team in the world" wears off, and the reality of college basketball settles in.  This leads to the team getting tight, now thinking "man we stink, we had a huge lead that we gave up", and everyone is afraid to make a mistake. 

Over the last umpteen years, I think almost every first Hope game has been like this - to one degree or another.  Last year was, but the recovery was really quick, despite losing in OT to AQ.  (There is an obvious connection to team chemistry here) 

The encouraging part for me this year is that with a very in-experienced team, they did recover (lead by their most experienced player) to win the game.  HUGE mental win last night for Hope.  They know they can recover for poor play, play in a tight game, and win. 

The key to this years Hope team is not perfecting some basketball skills (not that they shouldn't continue to work on them all), but the biggest key for them is to be mentally tough, and have confidence.  Every game that contributes to those things is a win (even if the final score is not). 

P.S. (Special note for GO HOPE)
Hope had a fantastic steal, pass, pass, lay-up play in the first half last night.  What made it so special?  Both passes were bounce passes    See you on Saturday

[Civic Minded]

Admittedly not being a Hope fan this didn't hold as much interest to me as it may to others but their are some interesting observations on Stephen Bell's MLive blog of the Hope JV vs. Glen Oaks CC bball game.  Here is the link, also the weblog is a great place to follow high school players and recruiting.

http://blog.mlive.com/highschoolbasketball/

Bell is once again spot on, especially about Logan.  Having watched him play for more years than I care to acknowledge ( 40 millionish by one friend's account ), it's pretty exciting for this fan to see him in orange and blue.

[gohope]

"P.S. (Special note for GO HOPE)
Hope had a fantastic steal, pass, pass, lay-up play in the first half last night.  What made it so special?  Both passes were bounce passes    See you on Saturday"

[sac]

Michigan Tech 66 Alma 46

[Knight In The Stan]

will someone please tell Doug Wentworth that Trent Salo's name is pronounced (Say-Low) I really dont want to hear him say his name incorrectly all year long on the radio.

[Knight In The Stan]

Early 14-2 lead for the Knights
Veldhouse has 5

[Knight In The Stan]

37-21 Calvin over Grace at the end of the first half.

Caleb has 14

sounds like a really sloppy game for Grace. I think I heard Doug say that Grace has 17 turnovers already.

Calvin women beat Almherst 65-58

[realist]

KII:  Elmhurst.

If Calvin wins they get 8-1 Spring Arbor.

[realist]

It doesn't sound like Calvin is having too much trouble handling Grace Bible.  However, like Hope last night it sounds like lots of room for improvement.

[Knight In The Stan]

Realist-
Its not my fault I am pronouncing things incorrectly now, I am getting all my info from an voice that is coming out of a 5 gallon ice cream bucket-may it be Hudsonville Ice Cream??

[realist]

Sounds like Hope just needed to get the gitters out from the first game!  

Did someone come and take their gitter out?  Yuck!!!

Yup, a self professed former Hope player to boot.    Probably was shocked to learn he had a "gitter".

[Knight In The Stan]

Calvin gets first W in the books for the 2008-2009 season
82-49
Mantel 20
Veldhouse 14
Veltema 14

44% from the floor

[realist]

KII: No problemo.  Good to hear that even in Iraq one can enjoy a taste of home.  
Calvin 82-49  Mantel 9 of 10, and strong in the post.  20 points.  
KVS was even happy, and upbeat.
Veltema and Veldhouse both 14.  Calvin 43 rebounds to 31.

[goodknight]

Well, KVS had a number of reasons to be upbeat.
He saw all of his players get at least 5 minutes -- I think he cleared the end of the bench with about 5 to go -- and there appears to be more foot speed on this team with the addition of Trent Salo and the insertion of Danny Rodts into the starting lineup over either Tim Katt or Matt Veltema. 
The Knights looked like they were playing their season opener for stretches tonight, but there were times -- especially in the opening minutes of both halves -- when they appeared to be the team that had five games under their belt.
John Mantel was terrific tonight -- very active on both ends of the court.  Caleb Veldhouse played a strong first half and was quiet -- and not needed -- in the second stanza. Brad Schnyders had a rough debut, but both Rodts and Salo looked like they belonged in the starting five.  Really nice contributions off the bench from Veltema, Katt, Tyler Zoerhof, Mike Zwier and Dustin Smith.  Paul Campbell and Nate Sytsma also made a positive impression during garbage time, especially since they were matched against GBC's starting lineup.
It's hard to know what to think of Grace Bible.  They clearly play hard, and there's talent in the starting 5, but Calvin's ability to do wholesale substitutions every few minutes wore the Tigers down.
Suffice it to say, The Citadel won't be scheduling a trip to West Michigan anytime soon.
Spring Arbor, with an 8-1 record and some long-distance snipers, should prove a much stiffer test for the Knights.