MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[formerd3db]

Yes, we'll be interested to hear additional details and opinions of the Hope/Calvin game.  From realist's post, it appears that it came down to that same old problem and cliche in all tight games - Hope fails at the FT line.  You make those, you win.  It looks like Calvin has Hope's number this year.  Perhaps they might have one more rematch if they get through the MIAA tourney, although obviously that is not guaranteed - at least not this year in the league as many see it.

How was the attendance tonight?  Being that it was reported as a "sellout" pre-game, I hope that turned out to be the case.

BTW, thanks bulldogalum for the summary of the Adrian/Alma game.

[realist]

The attendance I heard was something like 4630 or somewhere in that neighborhood.
If Calvin ever figures out how to hold a lead, and capitalize on it they can win some games by the expected margins.

[bulldogalum]

The way you Calvin fans are talking, you'd think they'd lost the game. 

[realist]

No we won the game, but we have had some grief from our Dutch cousins, and sometimes it is better to be a gracious winner.
Frankly the game just as easily could have been a W for Hope.  Nothing for Calvin to gloat or brag about.

[almcguirejr]

I just returned from the game.  I thought the key part of the game was the last 3 minutes or so of the first half.  Calvin had played very poorly.   Hope, I think, had at least an 11 point lead at one point.  Calvin cut it four at the half.  To only be down by 4 felt like a win. 

I haven't looked at any stats yet but I'm guessing Calvin got outscored by a decent margin in the paint.  Bunn was very good the second half.  Calvin got exposed a number of times on backdoor cuts.

I thought Veldhouse was very good tonight.  He may not have shot a great percentage but he was a leader .  A huge 3 from downtown with 55 seconds to go to cut it to 1 and then an assist to Veltema for the win.

[KnightSlappy]

The way you Calvin fans are talking, you'd think they'd lost the game. 

But won the score!

[Intangir]

Just got back from Calvin/Hope, and I really have no idea how Calvin pulled that off but I'm sure glad they did.

Like a few people said already, they played a terrible first half, I think Hope held them to 5 points for about 12 minutes into the game.  Everyone's shooting seemed off the entire night, partially thanks to great Hope defense and partially because nobody was taking smart shots at all, every shot seemed like it was taken off balance with someone in their face.  They just looked asleep.  Apparently Calvin was playing some decent defense themselves though, I can't believe they managed to keep Hope in check enough to only be down by 4 at the half.  

They finally started showing some life early in the second half, getting up by as much as ten, but like realist said, they don't know how to put a team away and Hope battled back and they traded a few 1-2 point leads before Veldhouse's big three and then a great team play with 15 seconds left to get Zweir (or was it Veltema? can''t remember) open under the basket for a layup with 3.7 seconds left.  Hope's inbound player was fouled by Dustin Smith with 1.3 seconds left but Calvin only had 3 team fouls at that point and one last inbound play the Hope player missed a long 3 (think it was Bunn).  

Again, no idea how Calvin pulled that win.  Even when they were playing well in the second half Hope seemed to score at will sometimes, with those easy backdoor cuts and excellent ball movement.  

The atmosphere the place was great though, there were minimal negative cheers compared to previous Calvin/Hope games I remember (barring a few sore-winners from the Calvin student section at the end), and the scoreboard even worked properly!  


I sat down in the first row right behind the scorer's table for the first half (traded seats with in-laws for 2nd) and heard some people behind me mention what I can only assume was this board....was it anyone who posts or just a few lurkers like I usually am?

[wiz]

Some talk here about not being able to hold the lead.  Neither team did a very good job of that.  Hope had Calvin by 14 in the first half, 27-13, and Calvin built a 10 point lead in the second half.  But hey, this is a Calvin/Hope game.  Been watching these for years and nothing is for sure until the final buzzer goes off.

Hope is very young but getting experienced.  JR makes it a contest.  Without him the season would be dismal.

Velhouse showed good senior leadership for Calvin.  Even with his hampering injury, he steps up when the game is on the line and wants the ball, just as such a good player should.  When he made that 3 pointer near the end, I watch GVW and he looked sick, as if to say "how many years do have to watch Caleb do this to us?"

Good coaching call at the end with only 3 fouls and a few to give.  Calvin allowed Hope to inbound the ball and then Dustin used a foul with 1.3 seconds left.  Didn't allow Hope enough time to set much up.  End of story.

Having gone to all the home games, the most impressive event of the evening was that, for the most part, the scoreboard functioned properly.

Good atmosphere, good crowd, good barnburner.

[almcguirejr]

Having gone to all the home games, the most impressive event of the evening was that, for the most part, the scoreboard functioned properly.

Good atmosphere, good crowd, good barnburner.

The scoreboard was flawless and the new Knight Mascot didn't look "emasculated."

[goodknight]

A really excellent debut for Calvin-Hope games in the Van Noord.  

Full tilt effort and great swings of momentum from Hope to Calvin and back to Hope and -- finally -- back to Calvin at the end.  

Although all the tickets were sold, there were some empty seats -- I suspect that the later arrivals were looking at more than a half-mile trek from their car to the arena in a wind-whipped rain and they decided to head home and watch it on TV.

Peter Bunn was tremendous for Hope tonight, but the Dutch struggle to find enough serious scoring options beyond Jesse and Bunn.

The Knights were truly awful for most of the first half, continuing their shooting woes in Van Noord.

But Veldhouse came up big in the second half -- true senior leadership.

It was a pleasure to join oldknight in giving sac his first tour of the Van Noord.  I can report that sac was properly awed, and usually well behaved.

Good show from the students tonight for both schools -- and a nice pregame video piece on the scoreboard entitled, "Tradition Never Graduates," with some highlights from great Calvin teams through the years.

[oldknight]

No we won the game, but we have had some grief from our Dutch cousins, and sometimes it is better to be a gracious winner.
Frankly the game just as easily could have been a W for Hope.  Nothing for Calvin to gloat or brag about.

Maybe not, but I still celebrated with a bowl of Hudsonville Ice Cream when I got home. I looked at the stat sheet and the turnovers can't be right. It shows each team with 8 for the game. In the first half alone I think Calvin had 8 (or more) and I don't remember Hope having any. I thought Hope's pressure was excellent but Calvin was also sloppy with the ball in the first 20 minutes. Hope had several of their own TO's in the second half while the Knights took better care of the ball the last 20. The shooting woes continue at VanNoord with Hope hitting 41.5% while the Knights were a miserable 32.8%. Dustin Smith continues his amazing rebounding, getting another double/double with 12 points and 10 boards.

[calvinite]

MIAA home attendance for Hope: 18234 (6 home games)
MIAA home attendance for Calvin: 18131 (6 home games)

Despite the 'sellout', there were some empty seats but not a lot.  Good atmosphere, and the Calvin student section was packed. Don't know how big a role the home crowd played (as discussed this afternoon), but I give a lot of credit to the Hope students who held their own despite being vastly outnumbered. Come tournament time when I believe tickets will be more evenly distributed, Calvin fans/students better come prepared.

Veldhouse may have won/saved the game at the end, but in my mind, Dustin Smith was MVP if looking at the whole game as he records a double-double with 12 points, 10 rebounds, and a steal to boot. He ties Mantel with team-high rebounds, also makes some crucial shots and rebounds. He may not get all the accolades that Mantel and Remink will get at the end of the year, but there should be some award for a 5' 9" guard that rebounds and works as hard as he does while still putting up a decent number of points.

[goodknight]

*crickets*

[Happy Calvin Guy]

Great game tonight.  Gutty senior performance by Caleb even though he appeared to be hurting a bit. 

A couple of things:  Reimink is the best player I've seen in MIAA this year.  MVP hands down. 

Great to see Calvin student section finally come out and make some noise.  I do think that an apology is in order though.  Hope fans were classy the whole game, so thanks for coming out and bringing great energy to Van Noord and rooting for your team.  The small group of Calvin students taunting Hope fans after the game was unacceptable.  So on behalf of the 95% of Calvin fans not engaged in that stuff, I apologize for the dumb actions of a few students caught up in the emotion of it all.  That's not us, and you Hope fans did nothing to bring that on.  Sorry. 

Hopefully we can see you all back in GR in a couple weeks for the MIAA final.  Nothing against the rest of the MIAA, but I'd love to see Calvin-Hope III in the Van Noord for the automatic bid.

[goodknight]

Any thoughts on Tyler Zoerhof's block of Jesse Reimink's shot during crunch time.  It was a huge swing in momentum, and I couldn't tell how clean it was from my vantage point at the other end of the floor.