MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[HupHolland]

Tough game. Augustana shot well. Hope struggled to get good looks. And the officiating was less than stellar compared to last night. Although idk how much it effected the outcome in the end

[Dutchfan]

Augustana likes the MIAA this year.  Defeated Calvin by 11, defeated Alma by 12, and now dismantled Hope by 12.

I would hardly call a 12 point victory "dismantling".

[wiz]

Augustana likes the MIAA this year.  Defeated Calvin by 11, defeated Alma by 12, and now dismantled Hope by 12.

I would hardly call a 12 point victory "dismantling".

Oops, my bad, I meant to say it was a squeaker.  As our minds now turn to golf, Phil had a good day again.

[shknowsbest]

I am a big Calvin fan but i want to congratulate Dante Hawkins and Luke Dreyer on a great 4 year run at Hope College.  2 outstanding young men.

[pointlem]

Hope fans lament that. . . as for 63 of 64 tournament teams . . . their team's season ended with a disappointment. And they lament that exceptionally cold 3-point shooting, despite being one of the nation's better 3-point shooting teams, was their demise, at the very time that its opponent was blistering the nets. It coulda been a different outcome. But then the previous night could also have been a different outcome . . . and so it goes in basketball and life.

But we also take satisfaction in seeing a young team that was 4 wins and 5 losses at Christmas grow into league co-champions, league tournament champion, and a post-season competitor with the nation's best. Players developed and the team developed--a credit both to the coaches and the players.

Hats off to Dante (what a pleasure to watch him these four years) and to Luke (for his heart-fueled energy). May they and the league's other seniors take away great memories and friends, and a capacity for self-disciplined goal pursuit that will serve them well.

[SBell]

Hope gets commitment from Nate Davis' AAU teammate Jason Dietz, 6-4 sniper from Troy. Had an offer from Ohio Dominican, a D2 tournament team.

[calvin_grad]

Only 6 of 16 hosts in the men's bracket are moving on to next weekend.  Don't know how that compares to other years, but I certainly would have expected more. 

[HOPEful]

Only 6 of 16 hosts in the men's bracket are moving on to next weekend.  Don't know how that compares to other years, but I certainly would have expected more. 

Aurora's buzzer beater to beat host Washington University showed up on my Sportcenter news feed this morning. So there's 1 of the 10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ej71jsLiOM

[HOPEful]

Hope gets commitment from Nate Davis' AAU teammate Jason Dietz, 6-4 sniper from Troy. Had an offer from Ohio Dominican, a D2 tournament team.

Nate Davis, Jason Dietz, and Tyler George... seems like Coach Mitchell is doing very well recruiting for next season.

[Dutchfan]

Hope gets commitment from Nate Davis' AAU teammate Jason Dietz, 6-4 sniper from Troy. Had an offer from Ohio Dominican, a D2 tournament team.

Nate Davis, Jason Dietz, and Tyler George... seems like Coach Mitchell is doing very well recruiting for next season.

I know that they are hard to come by but we need some talented guys in the 6'-8" range.

[sac]

Hope 93  Augsburg 91

This was just a really great game that simply came down to executing in the final 4 or 5 minutes.  Hope was able to do that, got a couple big defensive plays late in a game with very few stops.  Hit a couple key shots that swung the margin and put pressure on Augsburg.   They even managed to stave off the that missed key ft's coming back to bite you boogeyman somehow and advanced to the second round.  Through most of my Hope watching years, those final shots, like the one Augsburg had at the end, have gone in.

Augustana a million  Greenville not a million

Fun game overall, this was my first look at a program committed to running "system ball".  I could get into long arguments about how its not actually what Grinnell does, but its basic points are there.  Much more 80's/90's Loyola Marymount than Grinnell imo, but Grinnell's roots are there to, so 6 of one, half dozen to another.   Augustana made nice second half adjustments, their skill and size eventually overpowered Greenville.


Augustana 95  Hope 83
Augustana's Dylan Sortillo isn't getting enough mention anywhere on these boards for the game he played against Hope.  He was great offensively with his career 30 and huge night behind the arc., but not as easily noticeable was his defensive efforts.  I'd have to see video but I don't think his defensive assignment scored very much in this game.  If it takes a career night from a player on one of the best teams in D3 to beat you, so be it.

Hope's losses all had familiar themes most of the year, either they struggled from behind the arc on that particular night or they gave up a big shooting % difference.  This game was a little of both.  Among the many defensive shortcomings Hope had this year was giving up too many pretty wide open 3-point looks.  Some teams could take advantage, others couldn't.  Against really good teams Hope was punished the way Augustana did Saturday night.  In this game the difference in 3-point shooting was really the quality of the looks, Hope's were mostly defended, Augie's were not.

I was happy with Hope's play on the weekend, they went to Rock Island to battle and did so on both nights and finished the season strong.  They were a much better team than in November. 

[HOPEful]

Hope gets commitment from Nate Davis' AAU teammate Jason Dietz, 6-4 sniper from Troy. Had an offer from Ohio Dominican, a D2 tournament team.

Nate Davis, Jason Dietz, and Tyler George... seems like Coach Mitchell is doing very well recruiting for next season.

I know that they are hard to come by but we need some talented guys in the 6'-8" range.

I know they're 6'6" and 6'7" respectively, but I have high hopes for Preston and Ryan. I think primary focus was seeking out eventual heirs apparent to Dante, Jason, and Teddy.

But you're not wrong, a 6'8"+ guy would always be welcome!!!

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Great season for Hope IMHO - one that for many of us was a roller coaster ride - but one with most of the thrills at the end. 

I remember leaving Marietta in mid-November, having been thoroughly beaten in one game, a pretty great comeback in the other, and with what we all thought was a potential season ending injury to Dante Hawkins - thankfully it wasn't. Wisconsin trip was rough and we had good and bad games - struggling with consistency and defense. 

Entering MIAA play, I thought we had turned a corner, only to lose the opener at home to Trine.  Bounced back and won the rivalry game at home (he called bank - I'm sure of it), and feeling good.  Then the loss to Adrian on the road seemed to be "ok" but then the loss at Albion.  Pretty sure that several of us talked about whether we were going to make the MIAA tournament or not. Finished the last part of the league season playing well, until the awful game at Olivet (credit to the Olivet D for part of that).  Somehow we end up with a co-championship- thank you Calvin - wow that was hard to type 

MIAA tournament and we are hitting on all cylinders, offensively, defensively, and oh the rebounding!!!  Next thing I know we are cutting down the nets and headed to the big dance, and ultimately not caring where or who we play because getting to that point was sooo much growth for this team.

Did I just say I didn't care where we played???  UGH!!!!! Augustana, again!!!  But we are in, no pressure, no expectations, we're going to be severe underdogs in every game we might play.  Facing Auggie #1 - and a great game with a great result for our team.  So we're are 3-0 at Augustana (on Friday night games).  Saturday games vs the hosts - not so much.  Guys played their hearts out, but just couldn't hit the 3 ball. 

And just like that, the season is over, and there are seniors we won't get to watch play again.  There are tears and hugs and appreciation for who they are both on and off the court.  These endings always hurt for every team (save for winning it all) but there is still pride for what you did this year, for your career, for how you grew, for playing the right way, for playing above the crap-pile around you, and you hold you head high because you were and will forever be part of the Hope family.

[sac]

Hope gets commitment from Nate Davis' AAU teammate Jason Dietz, 6-4 sniper from Troy. Had an offer from Ohio Dominican, a D2 tournament team.

Nate Davis, Jason Dietz, and Tyler George... seems like Coach Mitchell is doing very well recruiting for next season.

Another of this years top 100 guys Aiden Warchzeka 6-2 G Milford is going to Trine.


I'm not sure I've payed enough attention to Mick McCabe's lists historically but if all 3 of Davis, Dietz and George end up on varsity I think Hope would have 5 of Mick's top 100 players on one roster with Granger and Lewis.  That seems like a lot but I really don't know.  Quite a few of the top 100 end up going NAIA II.

Other recent top 100's
Preston Laketa, Alma
Quay Burks, Albion
Delbert Redfield, Olivet

[devossed]

Hope gets commitment from Nate Davis' AAU teammate Jason Dietz, 6-4 sniper from Troy. Had an offer from Ohio Dominican, a D2 tournament team.

Nate Davis, Jason Dietz, and Tyler George... seems like Coach Mitchell is doing very well recruiting for next season.

I know that they are hard to come by but we need some talented guys in the 6'-8" range.

I think Hope's well-documented financial aid policies indicate that the days of the Wade Guginos, Duane Bosmas, etc in Orange & Blue (and I'd dare guess the John Mantels, Jeremy Veenstras, Steve Honderds in Maroon & Gold, on a similar tangent) are long gone, especially when "take your pick of D2 or NAIA schools within a 100 mile radius" are plentiful.

However, this pickup of Jason Dietz is not insignificant. Having these 3 guys in the backcourt over the next few years could well provide a dose of entertainment not seen in Holland for a long time, and may well have the potential to be one of Hope's best backcourt combos in ages.

Hear me out:

They probably won't have the panache or pure dynamic scoring ability of a Hawkins/Beckman duo - but looking strictly by the numbers, Hope hasn't had a 3-guard combo that big since the Holstege-Whitford-Van Hekken days.

Not saying these guys will turn out to be equal talents of the 90s trio by any means, but size has been an achilles heel of Hope for at least the last decade. When you're led by (relatively) small 5'9-5'11 guys over a number of years, and going against the (national-caliber) Wisconsin-Illiniois-Ohio backcourts with (stronger) 6'2-6'4 guys, it makes a huge difference from a purely physical standpoint.

Considering what Coach Mitchell was able to get out of this year's squad - I will be especially looking forward to seeing what these new guards can do, with the continued future development of Hope's FR post crew (Granger, Gaishin, Gamm, Vree). I wouldn't be surprised if they made a final 4 run sometime over the next three years.

(caveat - Olivet is the real deal, and very well could have something to say about that the next 2 years as well)