MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[oldknight]

I have always thought that basketball provides the potential for a greater home advantage than any other sport due to the fact that fans are closer to the action (and the officials) than in other sports. Whether they want to or not, officials will be influenced by a large and boisterous home crowd that is close enough to touch them thereby increasing the odds that the home team will get the benefit of the doubt on close calls. Since officiating has such an important role in how--and how well--a team plays, it's no real surprise that when two teams meet a second time on the other team's home court, the results are often very different. It takes a mentally tough team to overcome the home field advantage when the teams are close in ability.

[MIdoubleA]

I have wondered in hindsight though, had D3hoops allowed for better national knowledge of teams in 1995, would we have found out that Hope-BW was actually a pretty close matchup where Hope had simply played in a conference that was much further down that year? Or was BW winning still an epic upset from the view of anyone, even those who knew all about the BW team? All I remember was some crazy good big-man with Bosma size but who had a shot from anywhere on the floor, so perhaps it was a lesser team with one stud who carried them to an upset with a big night?

I don't care who you are or what conference you come from... 26-0 is an amazing feat and losing in round one is an epic upset no matter what.

[Carl Yastrzemski]

Was anyone else shocked to see Tri-State at #3. I think Massey must have mistaken Angola, IN for the country Angola in Africa.  I couldn't imagine having to play a game down there with the threat of a Marburg outbreak on your mind more than a Tri-State fastbreak.

A boxer rarely ever gets knocked out cold and carried out of the ring in a stretcher, a good majority of the time he decides to stop getting up. Tonight will show if the Brits are taking on the mentality of the "Italian Stallion" or that of Mike Tyson when he faced Buster D.  They got knocked down hard twice last week and they need this win against the Scots.

Speaking of the Scots, I just got a text message from "He-Who-Not-Be-Named." Last night as he was clocking in for work at the Holiday Inn, he spotted Coach Kohtala and the Alma Scots getting off a bus. Being the polite person he is, he struck up a conversation with the old Texas coach and learned that Coach Kohtala had seen all of these true stories on T.V. the past couple of years about people doing amazing things they never would be capable of doing after spending the night at a Holiday Inn. He figured it was worth a shot to have the Scots stay at the Holiday Inn in Albion. He feels this will be the edge they need to steal a win at Kresge.

[Dark Knight]

What the home court advantage numbers say to me is that teams like Albion and Hope have mental issues, underperforming away from the cozy confines of their own home courts... 

[Flying Dutch Fan]

What the home court advantage numbers say to me is that teams like Albion and Hope have mental issues, underperforming away from the cozy confines of their own home courts... 

Good one 

[realist]

If memory serves correctly Calvin has won something like 5 games in a row at Krege.  3 of those wins came against Albion so not sure if home court is a trump card or not.  Over the years Calvin won in the Civic, and lost in the Civic, and I expect De Vos will amount to the same.  Still need a quality team to protect the home paint.   Hope has won and lost at the fieldhouse, and the wins came when they had the better team.  Calvin will need their best game to have a chance tonight.
Sac  I agree this years Hope team is very similar to 95 with the exception of a skinny 6'9" kid named Bosma.

[bulldogalum]

Absolutely you need a quality team to win games, period.  But answer me this...would you rather play Hope at your place or theirs?  Is Calvin more dangerous at Knollcrest than at your gym?  A home court advantage does not mean that the home team will win, it means that it is tougher to go to that gym and come out with a win.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

I don't know if any of you Hopesters remember this but back in 1979 a Hope coed named Janet Chandler, working as a night clerk at the Blue Mill Inn, was abducted and murdered. I remember it well and the crime was never solved. Channel 8 reports that the police now have a suspect and the AG's office will have an announcement tomorrow. I hope (the right word here) they will catch the b@#$%&* who did that.

I was a student at the time, and Janet was a friend of a friend.  It shook us up pretty badly, to say the least.  At that time there was still some sense of innocence and safety in the world -- this part of the world, anyway.  It would be remarkable for them to have actually caught the perpetrator.  That single incident changed my trust in mankind.  I hope the announcement tomorrow begins to bring closure and peace for her family.

And here is the press release of an arrest:

http://www.whtc.com/shared/News2004/NewsReadStory.asp?ID=82667&CAT=4

[flash96]

Can we not talk about the '95 Hope loss to BW in the first round!  I still have nightmares of that game.  Too many vivid memories of the defeat and humiliation of that night.  I would like to repress that memory completely.  I do recall that the Knights did a good job of riding the Hope fans about that in later years.

A year following the loss to BW it seemed that Hope was going to drop the game to K-Zoo in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.  That would have been as painful, if not more so.

I doubt that Phillips will pass Duistermars, of my years.

[hope1]

2 1/2 HOURS    TO I LEABE FOR THE GAME TO WATCH HOPE BEAT CALVIN TONIGHT BY 12   HOPE  80  CALVIN  68   

[ChicagoHopeNut]

Regional rankings are out.
Great Lakes
1. Wooster 16-1 20-1
2. Hope 13-1 19-1
3. Carnegie Mellon 13-2 17-3
4. Baldwin-Wallace 16-2 18-2
5. Wittenberg 14-2 19-2
6. Calvin 7-1 16-5

No big surprises in my book. Have to say after the first two weeks of the season I never thought I would see Calvin in this list but it certainly is an impressive run they have had since then. Hopefully, Hope will end that run and put Calvin down tonight. Great game coming. I can't wait to listen in.

[ChicagoHopeNut]

Just noticed that Lakeland is ranked 6th in the Midwest. Just one spot behind IWU. I guess winning that game was a little more impressive than we thought at the time. Even if it was the ugliest game ever.

[realist]

If one is confident they have the better team, and if one were Hope this day, one shouldn't care whether the game is home or away.  Yes, Calvin may very well play the game of the year, and it won't be an easy win, but Hope has to be favored.  Calvin beating Hope this year is an upset on either teams floor or a neutral site.
I agree the BW 95 thing has long since played out.  At the time much was made of the fact Hope for a number of years played lots of "little sisters of the poor" schools to rack up an impressive W/L record.  In those good ole' days D3 was smaller in number, and had 64 teams in the tourney.  Calvin lost to Wittenberg that same night in 95, and the MIAA was weaker than it is now.  Also if memory serves correct Hope/BW was played at the Dow center because of the lenght of floor issue in the Civic.

[devossed]

That is correct.

[NW Hope Fan]

  Also if memory serves correct Hope/BW was played at the Dow center because of the lenght of floor issue in the Civic.

Thanks in part to one Mike Turner of Albion... Thanks again Mike!