MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[almcguirejr]

Congratulations to Hope.  Calvin was a combined 33-105 (31%) the last 2 games against Hope's defense. It's hard to win with shooting like that. Calvin played pretty well defensively last night also.  Calvin held everyone in check except for Wourman. He had a really nice game and was a huge reason Hope was able to win last night.

[pointlem]

Congratulations Hope.   Calvin once again played like that deer in the headlights look throughout the game. Some of it is just impressive D by Hope, but Calvin also had no idea what they were doing on offense once again. Really ugly to watch.   Hurts not having a true point guard.  Hopefully they get that solved by next season.

Cannot agree with this more. Guard play difference between Calvin and Hope these last 2 games of the year was just dramatic.  Calvin needs to get both guard positions figured out.

I don't think I would say Hope's play was all that much prettier, they just made more shots for the first 32 minutes. You expect a grind and Calvin had some looks and opportunities that they routinely didn't convert. Make shots. It doesn't have to be more grandiose than that.

As Ziggy says, teams have cold nights (as Hope did in its first Calvin game, and Calvin did last night) and nights when the rim seems to have a bigger circumference. If anything needs explaining, it's why, after graduating so much talent last year, Calvin unexpectedly dominated the league, went 22-5, and deserves to make the tournament (whether it does or not). And with all of its top five scorers returning next year--and three of them being first year players--Calvin could, even without its promising new recruits, be a national contender for the next three years.

[HOPEful]

Congratulations Hope.   Calvin once again played like that deer in the headlights look throughout the game. Some of it is just impressive D by Hope, but Calvin also had no idea what they were doing on offense once again. Really ugly to watch.   Hurts not having a true point guard.  Hopefully they get that solved by next season.

Cannot agree with this more. Guard play difference between Calvin and Hope these last 2 games of the year was just dramatic.  Calvin needs to get both guard positions figured out.

I don't think I would say Hope's play was all that much prettier, they just made more shots for the first 32 minutes. You expect a grind and Calvin had some looks and opportunities that they routinely didn't convert. Make shots. It doesn't have to be more grandiose than that.

As Ziggy says, teams have cold nights (as Hope did in its first Calvin game, and Calvin did last night) and nights when the rim seems to have a bigger circumference. If anything needs explaining, it's why, after graduating so much talent last year, Calvin unexpectedly dominated the league, went 22-5, and deserves to make the tournament (whether it does or not). And with all of its top five scorers returning next year--and three of them being first year players--Calvin could, even without its promising new recruits, be a national contender for the next three years.

I expect next season to be a fun one between Hope and Calvin. Hope returns Dykhouse (5th year), Wourman, Schoonveld, Weigerink, and Quillan. Not sure if TJ McKenzie intends to use his 5th year of eligibility or not. I expect Calvin and Hope to be preseason #1 and #2 in the MIAA coaches poll next fall. Calvin's biggest task will be keeping Overway out of the transfer portal. I'm sure he drew attention from some bigger schools this season.

[HOPEful]

Calvin unexpectedly dominated the league, went 22-5, and deserves to make the tournament (whether it does or not).

I agree that Calvin is probably a better team than some of the teams that will earn an at large bid. I would have dropped the probably a couple days ago, but there was carnage this weekend and there are a lot of teams that won their regular season that didn't get their conference's AQ. Calvin, unfortunately, has 0% chance of getting a bid without being regionally ranked. Even if they unexpectedly sneak ahead of Carnegie Melon and into the rankings (CM lost their last 4, so this could happen), they'd have John Carroll, Wooster, and Heidelberg ahead of them to even get to the table.

[ziggy]

I expect next season to be a fun one between Hope and Calvin. Hope returns Dykhouse (5th year), Wourman, Schoonveld, Weigerink, and Quillan. Not sure if TJ McKenzie intends to use his 5th year of eligibility or not. I expect Calvin and Hope to be preseason #1 and #2 in the MIAA coaches poll next fall. Calvin's biggest task will be keeping Overway out of the transfer portal. I'm sure he drew attention from some bigger schools this season.

Not the first time there has been weird wishful thinking energy put out there like this regarding Calvin's successful freshmen.

Calvin's Jalen Overway named MIAA MVP after stellar freshman season
"It would be sweet if I could do it all four years," Overway said. "That would be awesome."

[HOPEful]

Not the first time there has been weird wishful thinking energy put out there like this regarding Calvin's successful freshmen.

Calvin's Jalen Overway named MIAA MVP after stellar freshman season
"It would be sweet if I could do it all four years," Overway said. "That would be awesome."

He's the first freshman to win MVP since Veenstra in the 70s. With today's transfer portal and NIL, I don't think stating the obvious that teams will at least be interested in a 6'9" freshman with great footwork is "weird energy". Add to that Calvin's history of losing underclassmen, both with the program and the institution, and it's at least worth recognizing that keeping Jalen for four years isn't a 100% guarantee and doing so should be priority #1. 

[sac]

Hope 61 Calvin 54 F

Hope's trainer cut a piece of the net down while the team chanted her name.  And that's really all you have to know about Hope's entire season. 

Not many Hope teams have faced that much in season or even in game adversity time and again and made it through in such a positive manner.  The opportunities to quit were plentiful. it was a season that looked to finish short of anything resembling pre-season expectations.  Hurdle after hurdle was placed in front of them and when a brief light of optimism appeared a week ago here is one more road block.  You get to play 3 games in 3 days.  Hope's team said hold my gatorade, watch this.

Gold plate that crystal trophy, make it ugly, put it right in front of all the others. 

[scottiedawg]

This is not a commentary on any officiating!

I would agree that Calvin is missing that point guard role. Egekeze, Ressler, and Sensinig continually drove, mainly right, usually in some out of control fashion, into an often square defender, usually ending up in a poor spot.

Contrast to Dykhouse and Wourman, who were able to get into good positions in the paint a handful of times.

Top notch guard play is so incredibly important at the D3 level.

[sac]

Couple questions/observations

--Has Hope even had to play 3 games in 3 days?  Ever?


--The best Freshmen on the floor last night played for Hope and he isn't really a Freshmen.  Marcus Wourman was outstanding as he's been numerous times this year, his addition has been nearly seemless.   And the weird thing, the MVP of the weekend might have been Clayton Dykhouse, nobody controlled their team or the game better all weekend.


--I thought Hope did a masterful job of controlling tempo of both games Friday and Saturday.  Only 1 team in either Hope game reached 50 shot attempts, and I have possessions at 59 for Trine, 65 for Calvin, those are way below Hope season avg of 71.  On top of that Hope maybe even did a better job of managing the timeouts and media timeouts.  Media timeouts were a huge advantage for Hope both games and can't really be understated.   


--Somewhere down the road, that loss will help Calvin.  The harsh and even cruel realities of the D3 landscape were laid before them last night.  It isn't fair or just or right.  They'll remember that.   But I doubt Hope's going to spend the next 3 years rolling over.



--Tell me after 2020 you thought Hope would win 6 of the next 7 rivalry games with a straight face.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Also worth noting that Hope has gone 5-0 in their last 5 games at Van Noord Arena - 4-0 vs Calvin and 1-0 vs Trine. 

[MaroonKnighty]

Hope 61 Calvin 54 F

Hope's trainer cut a piece of the net down while the team chanted her name.  And that's really all you have to know about Hope's entire season. 

If Sall doesn't step up his recruiting of trainers game I may have to find a new team to cheer for.  It's obvious that this is the real secret weapon to a successful team.

[wiz]

I expect next season to be a fun one between Hope and Calvin. Hope returns Dykhouse (5th year), Wourman, Schoonveld, Weigerink, and Quillan. Not sure if TJ McKenzie intends to use his 5th year of eligibility or not. I expect Calvin and Hope to be preseason #1 and #2 in the MIAA coaches poll next fall. Calvin's biggest task will be keeping Overway out of the transfer portal. I'm sure he drew attention from some bigger schools this season.

  https://youtu.be/LQCU36pkH7c

[hopefan]

If Calvin had a slight chance of getting a bid after Saturday results, forget it as Sunday results came in.. virtually every regional ranked team that played - lost....  Way too many teams out there now for MIAA to get second bid...Sorry...

[sac]

I don't know where the NIL stuff is coming from, you can't recruit athletes already enrolled at another school.  For an NIL move to happen the player would have to announce he's transferring, I don't think D3 has a portal that operates like D1/D2 but D3 kids can put themselves in the D1/D2 portal so coaches can see they're available.

I doubt anyone is leaving any MIAA school to get NIL somewhere else.  Put that stuff to rest until its a reality please.

[HOPEful]

I don't know where the NIL stuff is coming from, you can't recruit athletes already enrolled at another school.  For an NIL move to happen the player would have to announce he's transferring, I don't think D3 has a portal that operates like D1/D2 but D3 kids can put themselves in the D1/D2 portal so coaches can see they're available.

I doubt anyone is leaving any MIAA school to get NIL somewhere else.  Put that stuff to rest until its a reality please.

It's not about a D3 guy getting an NIL deal. It's the trickle down effect. It's the star at a lower D1 program getting poached by the big programs. And that program poaching from JCs and small D1s. And those programs poaching from D2, D3, and NAIA programs. It's the cultural shift of normalizing players transferring programs.

As great as Jalen was this season, I'm sure no one is throwing money at him. But I'm sure he at least drew the attention of a D1 school or two...