MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[sac]

AUStudent--I don't think anyone who posts regularly has seen the Comets play.

Thru 3 games for Olivet

11/18/05  ANDREWS...............  89-49  W     
11/19/05  SPRING ARBOR..........  66-70  L     
11/22/05  at Saginaw Valley.....  65-68  L

You can discount the Andrews game, I've seen Andrews and they're no better than most D3 JV teams.

Spring Arbor is a decent NAIA squad, and Saginaw Valley is a D2 team.  Other than these tidbits I can't help you much.

De-Andre Pruit is their best player, and fun to watch when he's hot.

[hope1]

SAC IT IS TIM  OK

[goodknight]

Sac, it's Tim on the roster posted on the Hope website, but it's Tom in the box score.  Confusion abounds!

Josh Meckes was taken after the Calvin game for x-rays.  Let us devoutly hope that he's able to return to the lineup soon.  It's hard to know what to say about the Knights last night. 
The loss of Meckes gave Jonker a clear path to the hoop and glass for the entire second half, although it was Cameron (28 points) who came off the bench and lit up Calvin from all over the court.
It's hard to believe that Draayer and Trewella were a combined 4 of 18 from the field and 0 for 8 on trey-balls.  On the night, Calvin was a putrid 2 of 17 from long range.
Except for Cornerstone, which shot 43.5 percent from the field, it seemed the other teams in the tourney were suffering from VanAndelitis, a dreaded throat-constricting, vision-impairing series of spasmodic episodes that break out frequently on the floor of the cavernous downtown Grand Rapids arena.
The announced gate last night was 2,441, which means that any of the four schools could have handled the crowd.  It makes you wonder how long the tournament will last with its current format and location.
Caleb Veldhouse deserves some kudos for his efforts last night.  With Trewhella and Draayer misfiring, and Meckes in street clothes on the bench, the kid did not perform flawlessly, but he is fearless and really smart on the court.  Also Eric DeVries, who may be filling in for Meckes in the 5 hole, picked up 14 boards last night, including 8 offensive rebounds.  Sadly, a few of those were put backs of his own missed puppies.
If Meckes is down for a while, are we likely to see more of the freshmen low-posters Tyler Zoerhoff and Tim Katt?

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Guys - it's Tim.  I hear they had a mis-print in the media guide, which gets it wrong on programs and in box scores.

GK - keep us posted on Meckes.  We'll be praying for the best.

[calalum]

All four tournament teams had to much turkey yesterday and it carried over into the games.  Calvin is hurting on the front line without Meckes.  Hopefully it is not serious.  See you at todays games.

[NW Hope Fan]

Aquinas 86, Calvin 71

60-38 Hope 11:15 to go

interesting!

[NW Hope Fan]

any stats from the Calvin game?

[hope1]

HOPE BEAT CONERSTONE   79 TO  59    CALVIN LOST    86 TO 71 

[Flying Dutch Fan]

My impressions from the games today:

The Calvin/Aquinas game wasn't nearly as close as the score.  Calvin was down by as much as 30 in the second half.  Leading scorer was Velthouse with 15 or so - 6 of those in the last 2 minutes.   Trewhella and Draayer virtually non-existant in the offense.  I think Draayer went 1 for 7 or so from 3 - including another airball.  It's pretty tough to compete when your inside game is gone and you can't hit a 3.

Meckes was there in street clothes - but wearing shoes - walking with crutches.  I would assume (and hope) that means it's not too serious.

Hope really dominated Corenrstone.  5:30 into the game Hope lead 15-0.  Great defense all day by the Dutchmen.  Phillips had another great game - puting in 27 and probably 10 boards. 

VanderHeide played another good game - Immink put in a dozen or so in the opening 5 mintues of the second half.  Richardson played awesome as well - rebounding and passing.

Officiating left me scratching my head numerous times.  Hope post players (Voisin, Hare, Richardson) called for a combined 12 fouls - Jonker had 0.  I know Jonker  is good, but it was a bit ridiculous. 

Phillips named MVP of the tournament - all tounament team included Immink & Cramer from Hope, Jonker & Cameron form C'Stone, and Lazic from Aquinas.

[sac]

HOPE 79 Cornerston 59

Solid, solid, defensive effort from the Dutchmen today.  As stated Hope pitched a shutout for the first 5 minutes of this one.  Hope's  inability to shoot well in the cavernous Van Andel kept the score within reason at the half.....that and the 20 extra trips to the charity stripe by Cornersotne.

It was 32-21 at the half.

Greg Immink took over the early part of the second half, finally burying a couple 3's and giving Hope a big lift on offense.  C'stone didn't know who to gaurd after that.  Phillips was easily the best player on the floor and had an easy 27.....at least it looked easy, but he was by far the most active player on the floor.

The key point was early in the second and Hope up by about 15, they picked up 4 fouls on Voisin and Hare which left the defense thin on Jonker.  Instead of the expected struggle Hope expanded on the lead and really put this away.  Only several late 3's by Cornerstone made the score 20......Hope could have won by 35 easy.  Nice feather in the cap to hold C'stone under 60, that hasn't happened in a long time.

Strange game as Hope got nearly 30 more shots but had 20 fewer FT attempts.  It was a good reminder that its early in the season for the officials as well.

This is the weakest Cornerstone team I've seen in at least 6 years however, they have almost no inside size to speak of other than Jonker, but their athletic gaurds will trouble some teams and give teams tough matchups it just so happens than Phillips and VanderHeide can gaurd pretty much anyone.  I left wondering if Aquinas wasn't the second best team in this field.

Good solid 4-0 start with a couple nice matchups coming this next weekend with Wheaton and Carthage.

[Picket Fence]

Did anybody else think the Hope offense ran more smoothly with Richardson at the 5 spot? As Sac mentioned, they expanded the lead.

Without Meckes, Calvin is a 5th or 6th place team in the MIAA. Without him, there is no serious post scoring threat and teams don't have to help down, leading to less open looks for the three point shooters. They need to get Meckes healthy before the league play starts. With that said, since Calvin seems to be looking at 2-5 after next weekend, I wouldn't rush him back until league play. The Knights will not be getting an at large bid this year.

[arena]

They won't need the at large bid when they win the MIAA tourny.   

[goodknight]

I like your sass, arena, but the big turkey this weekend at the Van Andel was the team in maroon and gold.  I agree with sac that this is the weakest C'stone team I've seen in a long time, and yet they were good enough to take out the Knights.  I also agree with FDF that a healthy Meckes on Friday night carries Calvin into the championship round.  But right now the Calvin faithful have to hope that the youngsters grow up steadily during the rest of the pre-conference schedule and are ready to compete in the league.  Heard that Meckes is have additional x-rays on Monday to make sure there are no stress fractures.  Initial x-rays on Friday night found nothing troubling. 

[AUStudent]

AUStudent--I don't think anyone who posts regularly has seen the Comets play.

Thru 3 games for Olivet

11/18/05  ANDREWS...............  89-49  W     
11/19/05  SPRING ARBOR..........  66-70  L     
11/22/05  at Saginaw Valley.....  65-68  L

You can discount the Andrews game, I've seen Andrews and they're no better than most D3 JV teams.

Spring Arbor is a decent NAIA squad, and Saginaw Valley is a D2 team.  Other than these tidbits I can't help you much.

De-Andre Pruit is their best player, and fun to watch when he's hot.

Thanks for the info, it was a good game Olivet was down 6 at the half, but Cooper coming out and hitting 3 threes in a row, really turned the game around. 

[SBell]

What happened to the Wimbley kid from Oak Park at Hope? I don't see him on the JV team in the media guide.