MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[HOPEful]

A few takeaways from last night...

1. Hope seemed more prepared for the physicality of a Rivalry game than Calvin. That being said, the refs swallowing their whistles and "letting them play" suits Hope's game more than Calvin's. Thad in particular continued to draw contact and was visibly upset by the lack of foul calls.

2. Hope shot 90% from the charity stripe as a team. Calvin shot 68%.

3. I feel like Calvin really needs to get Katje more involved. They can't rely on Warners to be the teams sole source of rebounds and expect to win against bigger teams.

4. Evan and Clayton are special. Not to discount what they can do this season, but watching the development of underclassmen like Schoonveld, Wiegerink, Hendrick, Halbert, etc., this team feels poised to be a national contender in 2022-23.

5. After beating Trine and winning at Calvin, I'm preparing myself for a let down game. Maybe at Adrian on Wednesday?

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Is Calvin's announcer always so apathetic towards the away team?

Believe it or not, the guys calling the game for WGVU are supposed to be "neutral" and knowledgeable

Ryan Terpstra, who has spent many years in and out of the West Michigan sports media scene, is a Calvin grad and does not hide his rooting interest very well.

And I believe Ryan actually tries a little bit to be more neutral - it's Tom Cleary who is the real problem IMHO.  It's really a shame, since I think most school sponsored broadcasts (often done by students) are much more balanced, and reflect more "pre-work" in knowing both teams, and the game. 

[pointlem]

Is Calvin's announcer always so apathetic towards the away team?

Believe it or not, the guys calling the game for WGVU are supposed to be "neutral" and knowledgeable

Ryan Terpstra, who has spent many years in and out of the West Michigan sports media scene, is a Calvin grad and does not hide his rooting interest very well.

And I believe Ryan actually tries a little bit to be more neutral - it's Tom Cleary who is the real problem IMHO.  It's really a shame, since I think most school sponsored broadcasts (often done by students) are much more balanced, and reflect more "pre-work" in knowing both teams, and the game.

Athough Cleary does seem overly focused on assessing referee calls, one by one, I'm mostly just grateful that GVSU and he are there, lifting up the rivalry and DIII BB.
And yes, HOPEful, the sophomore/junior class talent that will be returning next year makes all Hope fans HOPEful . . . and for this year, too.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Some thoughts on the Hope season thus far:

1. This team is a team I was quite uncertain about coming into the season, but boy I love the way they play.  Intense defense, rebound extremely well, lots of players who can play in or out, superb FT shooting, and an energetic bench (botht he buys coming into the games as well as the involvement from the bench).

2. They are really athletic, and have a number of guys who can be matchup problems.
  - Clayton with speed & quickness - coupled with his 3pt shooting
  - Evan scoring inside and out, 6-4 guard who controls the boards (as one former Hope AA said - "it's like he has spider-man hands")
  - Bikus can post up and hit the 3
  - Those long lanky guys - Halbert and Wiegerink - such big improvements from their FR year
  - The high flying-bring the energy subs - Hedrick/McKenzie/Schoonveld - 6-3 / 6-4 guys who defend really well, rebound and keep lots of balls "alive", can "jump out of the gym" and always seem to energize the entire team

3. They win the fundamentals!  Per game they are +2 Reb (+11 in conf) , 2 less TO, and shooting .824 from the line.  Win those 3 stats every game and you will have a great season.  Intersting to note that in last nights game, Hope had 11 TO and Calvin 9, yet the points off TO was Hope 16, Calvin 7.  Similar situation versus Trine, both teams had 17 TO, yet points off TO was 8 for Trine and 24 for Hope.

Still lots of work to get done and I long way to go, but I doubt many expected this team to be sitting alone in 1st at this point.  I do fear a letdown on Saturday (rivalry hangover and some tired legs after 3 games in the last 5 days - Evan for example averaged 36 min per game in those contests). 

Great work so far, let's keep it going and Let's Go Hope!

[sac]

--Albion is in the running for widest scoring difference between two games   37 Saturday, 96 last night.   

---I'm gonna venture a guess Adrian's 108 points last night is the most they've scored in several years.   I also can't really recall a league game with 108 points right now.   Adrian's archives don't really exist.


Returning player watch
Olivet---Eddie Thigpen played last night, he'd missed about 5

Alma---Cole Kleiver was not in the lineup.

Albion ---Ken Thomas returned after missing Saturday.

[KnightSlappy]

Calvin has gotten 0% better as the season has progressed. Their half court offense is horrific. Too much dribbling from guards and not enough ball movement. There's no interior threat unless Shymanski can get a mismatch on an undersized guard.

[wiz]

Calvin has gotten 0% better as the season has progressed. Their half court offense is horrific. Too much dribbling from guards and not enough ball movement. There's no interior threat unless Shymanski can get a mismatch on an undersized guard.

I agree with you completely!  The game was mismanaged and some of the decisions made were dumbfounding.  Not starting Shymanski and not utilizing Thad and Katje for much longer minutes together seems like we have completely forgotten what has worked so effectively against previous Hope teams.  I missed seeing all the back door cuts with those two guys working together.

I thought it was a clever move bringing in 5th year athletes to give this team a boost but now it appears problematic.  If a student comes back for a fifth year to play basketball, they will expect a lot of playing time.  Benching them will create problems but I personally believe Warners and Morrison are being over utilized.  One doesn't guard well and the other is much too selfish.  Maybe it's time to develop some of the younger players.  They are talented and will need to work well together in the future.

Assigning one of our best defenders to Hope's post player also seemed to be a mistake.  Thomas has been the horse all year and that is were the attention should have been focused. Looked like Calvin hadn't bothered to scout Hope.  Big crowd, great atmosphere, missed opportunity.

Very disappointing and it is time to right the ship.  There is plenty of season left and a lot of talent to work with.  You can do this!

Go Knights!

[Dutchfan]

Is Calvin's announcer always so apathetic towards the away team?

Believe it or not, the guys calling the game for WGVU are supposed to be "neutral" and knowledgeable

Ryan Terpstra, who has spent many years in and out of the West Michigan sports media scene, is a Calvin grad and does not hide his rooting interest very well.

And I believe Ryan actually tries a little bit to be more neutral - it's Tom Cleary who is the real problem IMHO.  It's really a shame, since I think most school sponsored broadcasts (often done by students) are much more balanced, and reflect more "pre-work" in knowing both teams, and the game.

Athough Cleary does seem overly focused on assessing referee calls, one by one, I'm mostly just grateful that GVSU and he are there, lifting up the rivalry and DIII BB.
And yes, HOPEful, the sophomore/junior class talent that will be returning next year makes all Hope fans HOPEful . . . and for this year, too.

I was actually referring to the P.A. announcer in Van Noord, not the television broadcast announcers.

The announcer at Van Noord last night would literally mutter the name of the Hope players after each score. After a Hope basketball he would literally just mutter "dykhouse" or "thomas" and that's it, just the name unless it was a 3-pointer, then it would be "three points, halbert" as quietly as he could.

[Pat Coleman]

That hardly seems unusual for a public address announcer.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

That hardly seems unusual for a public address announcer.

I agree - that tends to be the norm for the PA guys.  Heck I've heard some of them still holding on to their own teams made shot "for Threeeeeeeeeee...." and the shot clock for the next possesion is already under 20   

[Dutchfan]

That hardly seems unusual for a public address announcer.

I agree - that tends to be the norm for the PA guys.  Heck I've heard some of them still holding on to their own teams made shot "for Threeeeeeeeeee...." and the shot clock for the next possesion is already under 20   

With all due respect, and I do respect both of you, I disagree. This was not normal. I've been going to high school and college cames for over 30 years and I have never heard an announcer treat the opposing team like that. It wasn't the disparity in announcing, that is normal. It was the complete and utter apathy. Outside of announcing the lineup or substitutions he never said a Hope players first name or number, never raised his voice above bare minimum and only called out the points scored if it was a 3-pointer.

Like I said, I understand, even expect, the announcer to call the game differently for the home and away teams, but this just felt almost disrespectful to me. He literally couldn't have done less without staying silent.

[KnightSlappy]

That hardly seems unusual for a public address announcer.

I agree - that tends to be the norm for the PA guys.  Heck I've heard some of them still holding on to their own teams made shot "for Threeeeeeeeeee...." and the shot clock for the next possesion is already under 20   

With all due respect, and I do respect both of you, I disagree. This was not normal. I've been going to high school and college cames for over 30 years and I have never heard an announcer treat the opposing team like that. It wasn't the disparity in announcing, that is normal. It was the complete and utter apathy. Outside of announcing the lineup or substitutions he never said a Hope players first name or number, never raised his voice above bare minimum and only called out the points scored if it was a 3-pointer.

Like I said, I understand, even expect, the announcer to call the game differently for the home and away teams, but this just felt almost disrespectful to me. He literally couldn't have done less without staying silent.

[Knightmare]

That hardly seems unusual for a public address announcer.

I agree - that tends to be the norm for the PA guys.  Heck I've heard some of them still holding on to their own teams made shot "for Threeeeeeeeeee...." and the shot clock for the next possesion is already under 20   

With all due respect, and I do respect both of you, I disagree. This was not normal. I've been going to high school and college cames for over 30 years and I have never heard an announcer treat the opposing team like that. It wasn't the disparity in announcing, that is normal. It was the complete and utter apathy. Outside of announcing the lineup or substitutions he never said a Hope players first name or number, never raised his voice above bare minimum and only called out the points scored if it was a 3-pointer.

Like I said, I understand, even expect, the announcer to call the game differently for the home and away teams, but this just felt almost disrespectful to me. He literally couldn't have done less without staying silent.

What you're referring to is called...Homecourt Advantage.   

[sac]

You've never lived MIAA basketball until you've heard player introductions at Albion. 

[Gregory Sager]

You Hope and Calvin folks never cease to impress me. Just when I'm convinced that after all these years you can't possibly find another reason to crack each other over the noggin, you prove me wrong. The degree of disparity in emphasis in the P.A. guy's announcement of made shots? That is sheer genius in the field of hunting for grievances.

This is why Williams vs. Amherst, Wabash vs. DePauw, Wooster vs. Wittenberg, etc., eat your guys' dust.