MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[wiz]

"...If Kevin can change why can't I?"

That's an easy one.  You're not as smart as him.

[oldknight]

It's time to let the tapeworm die.

[almcguirejr]

Mlive article:  http://www.mlive.com/smallcolleges/grandrapids/index.ssf/2014/03/calvin_despite_early_struggles.html#incart_flyout_sports

[HopeConvert]

It's time to let the tapeworm die.

"Where's my lemon cookie?"

[almcguirejr]

Holland Sentinel article: http://www.hollandsentinel.com/article/20140301/SPORTS/140309896/?tag=2

[almcguirejr]

Wheaton 87
IWU 66
Final

[oldknight]

It's time to let the tapeworm die.

"Where's my lemon cookie?"

WHAM!

[wiz]

Calvin article: [url http://www.calvin.edu/sports/news/comments/calvin-mens-basketball-topples-hope-78-53-in-miaa-tournament-finals-punches//url]

[AndersDY]

With a new baby at home, I attended 0 games in person this year so my exposure was the first 2 TV games. With that little knowledge though, I still had to find out exactly what the heck happened today. Looking at stats, was it mainly Calvin with hotter shooting and a much improved ability to take care of the ball?

The progress of the game seemed particularly surprising given the points at which I checked the score today. My 3 peeks for information showed Hope up 13-6 early, then Hope down 40-31 with 9+ min left, and then finally an eye-popping 74-47 with about 3 min left. Based on those 3 data points, it appears that Calvin put up 34 points in about 6 min of the second half where Hope put up 34 points over about a 30 min stretch. I'm guessing the serious butt-whipping must have been taking place somewhere within the middle of the second half the way it looked.

[almcguirejr]

With a new baby at home, I attended 0 games in person this year so my exposure was the first 2 TV games. With that little knowledge though, I still had to find out exactly what the heck happened today. Looking at stats, was it mainly Calvin with hotter shooting and a much improved ability to take care of the ball?

The progress of the game seemed particularly surprising given the points at which I checked the score today. My 3 peeks for information showed Hope up 13-6 early, then Hope down 40-31 with 9+ min left, and then finally an eye-popping 74-47 with about 3 min left. Based on those 3 data points, it appears that Calvin put up 34 points in about 6 min of the second half where Hope put up 34 points over about a 30 min stretch. I'm guessing the serious butt-whipping must have been taking place somewhere within the middle of the second half the way it looked.

Hope was down 40-31 with 16 minutes to go.  The "hay in the barn" moment of the day was after a Calvin steal, Austin Parks dribbled the ball past about 3 Hope defenders for an uncontested lay up with 7 minutes to go.

[KnightSlappy]

--Until I looked at the box I didn't realize that Calvin won the turnover battle 16-7. The three guard offense at the start of the game was obviously done to address the turnover issues Calvin had in last month's game. Most of the season wasn't fair to Daley who was forced to play out of position all year and I like the idea of putting him at the 3. He's very athletic and picks up a lot of those lose ball rebounds that mostly require quickness. He had 6 offensive rebounds in today's game.

Calvin had trouble with Gardner's pesky on-the-ball defense in the last meeting at the DeVos, but I thought today's three guard sets helped keep the ball away from him.

[oldknight]

--Until I looked at the box I didn't realize that Calvin won the turnover battle 16-7. The three guard offense at the start of the game was obviously done to address the turnover issues Calvin had in last month's game. Most of the season wasn't fair to Daley who was forced to play out of position all year and I like the idea of putting him at the 3. He's very athletic and picks up a lot of those lose ball rebounds that mostly require quickness. He had 6 offensive rebounds in today's game.

Calvin had trouble with Gardner's pesky on-the-ball defense in the last meeting at the DeVos, but I thought today's three guard sets helped keep the ball away from him.

Yeah; the Knights rotated the person manning the point position so rarely did you see Gardner defending the Calvin player taking the ball up the floor.

I think it also helped that Calvin mostly ditched the dreaded weave.

[sac]

All credit to the Knights today last night, they were outstanding.

Hope's played two desperate teams playing desperate basketball this week and had a hard time responding to that kind of basketball.   I don't know that there's a great answer for that kind of play other than to be a desperate team yourself.


Hope's lost some of its mojo they'd built up from their early February successes, its difficult to explain and I'm not sure there's one simple answer.  Basketball season's are always a series of ups and down and its difficult to maintain those highs for extended periods of time.  On February 19 at Kalamazoo Hope clinched a share of the MIAA Championship with a dominating performance and haven't looked the same since. 

There are things I notice like not moving their feet as well on defense, the lack of outstanding ball movement on offense, hesitating to take open shots.   Small things here and there that collectively add up to a lower quality of basketball, one that leaves them open to being thoroughly outplayed.

They've let their youth show through a little bit this week by not matching the desperation and effort of their opponents.  If there is a next weekend, it could be a short one if they don't find some desperation themselves.
-----------------------------


I don't know what to say about the state of this rivalry, these blowout games are very odd.  We've played 4 now in 2 seasons that were totally non-competitive for nearly 1/2 of them.  These are very un-Hope/Calvin like games.

[Galahad]

Kudos to Hope for a very good product streamed online.  My family watching at home did get a few chuckles on the commentary.  Especially when the Calvin faithful were chanting the inevitable and infamous Rasheed Wallace "ball don't lie" following a miss on the first free throw of the Dykstra tech - the play-by-play guy informed us they were saying "ball go high"!

[calvinite]

Anyone know which ref called the T? Just curious.