MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[sac]

Whitman 91 Olivet 87

Olivet battled from 9 back to take the lead with 4 or 5 to go, but Whitman pulled it out.

Brandon McClary had 25 points, Michael did not play.

[wiz]

I think Calvin will be all right and I expect to see some personnel changes in the very near future.

Last night, however, they gave the game away in the first 10+ minutes and fell down by 17.  They closed it to 10 at the half and had their chance to win it at the end.  Veldhouse missed a couple of threes and it didn't surprise me.  I watched him in the warmups at halftime and he probably put up 10 jumpers and only made 1.  Something just didnt' seem right.  However, I think he had one of his best games of his career as he took over and began to make things happen any way he could.  He penetrated and drew fouls vey well and continued to draw the defense away from other players, but one guy can't do it all.

I hope the Knights weren't in a case of not taking Aquinas seriously.  This is the same group of Saints they lost to twice last year.  Home court advantage will go to Hope tonight but it won't be easy and I wouldn't put any money on it.

Dustin Smith took charge of the point in the second half and I will not be surprised to see him starting again very soon.  And, maybe Zoerhof will be back as a starter too.  He always plays hard and went was the only one that seemed to be aggressive in going after any rebounds.

Calvin needs to play with intensity for 40 minutes and tonight's game is no shoe in.  And, next week will be a real challenge as well.  But, if they can get to January 7 (first home game) with only 3 or 4 losses, they will be well tested and ready to begin league play.

By the way, it's just weird to watch a game at the Dick with so few students.

[dumezrules]

observation:   Veldhouse is a good player but does not make those around him better....

I only see him about 5 times per year but over the years it seems as if he is not comfortable passing the ball once he gets it back.

[wiz]

observation:   Veldhouse is a good player but does not make those around him better....

I only see him about 5 times per year but over the years it seems as if he is not comfortable passing the ball once he gets it back.

Whatever!

[oldknight]

Calvin played the first 15 minutes of the game like they had gorged themselves on too much turkey stuffing and they were clearly not ready for a competitive game with an Aquinas squad who played like they had been deprived of a Thanksgiving Day meal. Lazic has always been a load for the Knights to handle and it was the Knights' bad luck that Lierman got healthy just in time for this contest. Lazic-Lierman is a very good inside-outside duo and Lierman's ability to put the ball on the floor and take it strong to the hoop makes him and even tougher matchup.

After all the love previously given on this board about how well Rodts had performed in his first two games as a starter, he had a rough night against the Saints, only scoring two FT's and getting schooled repeatedly by the talented and veteran Lierman. Calvin needs a more motivated effort tonight which I think is a bit of a gut-check game for them.

observation:   Veldhouse is a good player but does not make those around him better....

I only see him about 5 times per year but over the years it seems as if he is not comfortable passing the ball once he gets it back.

Caleb's a 2 guard. He's not put there to be a distributor of the ball.

     - Snikkers, somehow managed to get 4 rebounds and 2 points in just 2 mintues of play.

He also managed to get two more fouls (the refs missed a rather obvious third one) and for the season Jon now has a mind boggling 9 fouls in only 17 total minutes of playing time--third most on the team. By contrast, Reimink and Osborn, with 98 and 79 minutes of PT (both physical players who are not unacquainted with contact), each have 11 fouls for the season.

[hope1]

i think tonight you will some good basketball games  to see how calvin comes back vs conerstone  and to see how hope handles aq big guys they always given hope trouble

[HopeConvert]

Some observations from last night's games:

*I wonder how time on the floor is being calculated. It sure seemed to me that Snikkers was on the floor for substantially more than two minutes. That said, if he doesn't learn to move his feet he will be a liability for Hope all year. I hope Osburn gives him some lessons.
*Like GK (who has a handsome young grandson; must be a superb gene pool  ) I thought Calvin's biggest problem was on the defensive end of the floor. Granted, Lazic is a handful, but Calvin has the personnel to match up with Aquinas. They seemed to me quite slow in their rotations, however.
*Mantel appears to have improved his post game and I liked what I saw from him, except for the fact that he still plays too much of the game too far from the blocks. Lazic is a fine player, but Jon was scoring on him inside and showed improved footwork. He still wanders around the perimeter too much. In my opinion, Calvin will be better if they get him down low right away and run the offense through him. KVS has Mantel setting too many high screens.
*When they were freshmen, I mentioned on this page that I thought Reimink would end up having a more substantial career than Veldhouse. Last night did nothing to dissuade me from that judgment. Veldhouse is a fine player, but Jesse is really a treat. Inter alia, the kid is a gamer.
*I thought Smith looked better at the point than Salo. The former also seems to have improved his shooting. I agree with Wiz that something is off in Veldhouse's shot.
*I was very impressed with Bunn. He's non-plussed at the point, very smooth, and finishes his drives to the hoop with a nice soft kiss off the glass. I was in general quite pleased with the way Hope played. I think Aquinas is no gimme tonight, but I think the Dutchmen team is starting to come together. We'll have to see how well they handle Lazic and Lierman tonight, as I still have concerns about Hope's interior defense, and their ability to generate consistent offense when Reimink is not on the floor.
*Finally, I'm often mystified by KVS's substitution patterns. There were times I looked at the lineup on the floor and couldn't figure out from where Calvin's scoring was going to come. Then too, he seems to have this tendency to pull guys right at the moment when they are making some plays.

[sac]

John Lierman for Aquinas loves playing Hope.   

             FG FGA FG FGA FT FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
2006      5    10   4   8      2  2    1   1    2   1   16  3  1    0   2   33
2007      5    13   4   8    12 14   4   5    9   2   26  0  1    1   1   36
2007      7    17   3   8      0  0    6   6    2   4   17  3  2    0   1   31
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  FG %   17-40   42.5
3pt %    11-24   45.8
PTS        69        23.0
Min         100      33.3

The 3 Hope v AQ games he's played in have gone ...

Hope 65-62
Aquinas 78-69 OT
Hope 68-59

Lierman's scored at least 25% of his teams points in all 3 of those games.



vs Pedja Lazic  Hope has done a pretty decent job in the 4 games they've faced the big man.  Especially keeping him off the glass.

FG %   19-30   63.3%
REB      22        5.5
PTS      49        12.3
MIN      132      33


If Hope can somehow manage to get similar numbers vs Lazic and keep Lierman under some form of control, they should win.  However Hope hasn't shown they can control Lierman at all in the previous 3 matchups.   I would guess Bowser and Reimink will draw Lierman's number on the defensive end tonight.

Also watch the rebounding, Hope was badly outrebounded by Aquinas in both matchups last year by 6 and by 12.

[ChicagoHopeNut]

Like someone else mentioned I think many of us "experts" were really surprised to see Calvin lose and Hope win last night. I thought it would be the other way around if anything.

Reimink is just a beast! His play so far is just a treat. I wish I could see more (I am also tragically missing next weekend's MIAA/CCIW Challenge in my own backyard because I'll be out of town )

Enjoy tonight!

[sac]

Links for both games at the GR Hall of Fame Classic

http://www.hope.edu/pr/athletics/livestats/

Hope audio, won't even bother with the yahoo link

www.whtc.com      (right hand side, halfway down for the feed)


This was the link provided yesterday for the Calvin broadcast.

http://secure.stretchinternet.com/live.php?user=calvin&id=45656

[sac]

Kenyon 61 Albion 55  http://athletics.kenyon.edu/x28324.xml

tough start to the Brits Ohio road trip, they play Ohio Wesleyan at Kenyon tommorrow afternoon.

[hoopdreams]

any idea why JC Cruse isn't in the boxscore for Albion?  Great athlete, and I felt would/will be an outstanding lock down defender. Hopefully not injured too seriously

[realist]

CHN.  I am not sure about the others, but I had Hope handling CU provided they controlled Kingshott which they did very well.  Calvin lost a game  they "should have won".    Calvin really has no one but themselves to blame for losing to AQ, and I don't mean to take anything away from AQ. 
Sadly I heard some things that reminded me very much of last season.  Poor rebounding, and players standing around etc. etc.

[sac]

Cornerstone rallies from 16 back with 9:30 and goes to overtime with Calvin.

[northb]

Calvin wins 85-82 in overtime.  Mantel 27 points and 9 rebounds.