MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[OC_SID]

There are several nice touches to the facility and for basketball games ... I won't ruin the surprises, so I will let you experience a game first before I point them out ... I am curious to see if anyone notices some of these things!

LIGHTS???   

Yes, there are lights ... That's one of the first things all of the visiting teams mention ... How bright it is compared to Upton!!

[hoopdreams]

sorry,, no kid on the squad, simply stating some things I've noticed thus far.  last time I checked, we were allowed to comment on play, coaching, schemes, etc....  Do I get Karma points deducted?It's always the upset parent thing huh?  Am I the only one to ever question something?

In my opinion, they (everyone) look to run things through Jesse too much.  Hence the struggle to score when he's either not hitting his shots or not on the floor.  My opinion and response to an earlier post.

Osburn's man in the first half on Friday was solely concerned with Riemink. Carthage coach ranted about this fact during a timeout. That is why Zac had 6 wide open mid-range jump shots and should have had more.

There is a large number of players playing scared, which has led to indecisions in the floor. I don't believe (once again my opinion) that there is a lack of heart being displayed. My opinion in response to an earlier posting. They are hesitiant, thus reacting, and whenever you are reacting, you will be a step slow/behind/losing.... Once again, do you think Daniel Cox's confidence took a hit Saturday night?

I will also add that after raising my children, and coachedfor many years, kids (and parents) are clearly different than say even 5 years ago. Possibly due to specialization of sport at an early age (another debate I'd love to take on)  They are less reluctant to wait out the storm, especially when families are paying $30,000+ a year, when other opportunities to play are there.  That being said, it is my OPINION that there will be 1-3 players leaving the program, maybe as early as this weekend. You can see the frustration in their eyes.  Do I feel that's the right decision, no.  Once again, my opinion. My thoughts... feel free to comment. It is your right.

[scottiedawg]

There is a large number of players playing scared, which has led to indecisions in the floor. I don't believe (once again my opinion) that there is a lack of heart being displayed. My opinion in response to an earlier posting. They are hesitiant, thus reacting, and whenever you are reacting, you will be a step slow/behind/losing.... Once again, do you think Daniel Cox's confidence took a hit Saturday night?

Agreed.  When players continually get taken out after ONE missed shot, turnover, or missed rebound/defensive assignment, they will play scared.  We have a bunch of talented, athletic kids.  But right now, they have little confidence to really use their skills. 

[HopeConvert]

That being said, it is my OPINION that there will be 1-3 players leaving the program, maybe as early as this weekend. You can see the frustration in their eyes.  Do I feel that's the right decision, no.  Once again, my opinion. My thoughts... feel free to comment. It is your right.

I have to say, that is a very bold opinion indeed. I guess we'll get some sort of sense of the value of such opinions in terms of their predictive ability.

I, for one, would be surprised if this happened. I would also be surprised if one can, from the bleachers, see the frustration in a player's eyes over being yanked, and one could state definitively that is the essence of the look in the player's eyes, and not related emotions - but I could be wrong about that. Keep in mind that GVW has quite a track record, and part of that record has been the fact that kids love playing for him. I'd be really surprised if that has suddenly changed. Finally, I'd be surprised if kids who have been playing ball their whole life don't go through some sort of frustration when they discover they are having difficulty adjusting to a new level of ball, and can't simply dominate in the ways they've become accustomed. They're getting schooled right now, and got schooled over the weekend by two very, very good basketball players. I would find that frustrating. I would find losing frustrating. But I wouldn't consider transferring when I am playing for a coach who I know is trying to make me better, particularly when I know ball well enough to know I'm not playing as well as I need to.

Now, the difference in the general attitudes and expectations of the current crop of college students, and the possibility of a highly developed sense of entitlement, is an interesting issue, and one that could profoundly affect the behavior of the players. But I'm not sure we can assume too much about any particular kid.

Then too, don't underestimate the frustration of the coach. When you go over something repeatedly in practice and the kid goes on the floor and immediately makes a fundamental mistake, it can be taxing on one's patience. There are different ways to deal with people not doing what they're supposed to do, and it seems to me we can't gainsay the possibility that a quick hook, for some teams in some circumstances, might be propitious.

Here's another possible angle: last year Hope went to Salem, and clearly GVW was distraught by the loss. Given some of the players he had returning, and some of the players he had coming in, the experience of coming oh-so-close last year and having such a veteran team last year has made him more impatient with this year's team than he otherwise would be. He has to coach a lot of stuff this year he didn't have to last year. Even as good as Wheaton and Carthage are, they shouldn't be putting up those kinds of points on Hope, and wouldn't have against last year's team.

I still contend Hope had one factor on last year's team that made a lot of problems go away: a rangy, long, quick, indefatigable defender in Ryan Klein who could cover up for the defensive weaknesses of some of the other players on the floor. I haven't seen anyone in that mode yet this year, and so the defensive schemes have to change to the personnel. I suspect if this year's team had a player like him we wouldn't be having this conversation.

[hoopdreams]

I'm not claiming to be a prophet by any means, but I due attempt to watch players, their mannerisms, reactions to certain situations, etc... Maybe its a sixth sense developed after years of coaching or maybe I'm talking out of my rear, who knows.  There is unhappiness present, and athletes, and their families have proven to me repeatedly at various levels of athletics (HS, AAU, NAIA, D1, 2 and 3), for a variety of reasons, that kids will not wait "their turn" or "ride out the storm". 

I do know that its a waste of space to compare this years team to last. 2-3 year players vs. a bunch of new faces and a group of sophs that played few important minutes.  They were in sync, self run most times, and allowed to play through mental and physical mistakes.  I for one (OPINION) do not believe there should be a grade distinction for this process to occur. Frosh or senior, let them play unless they are not playing hard (OPINION).EXAMPLE: during the AQ game, a senior made 2 consectutive cross court passes that resulted in TO's.  He stayed in the game.  Underclassman/new person does the same thing, I'm confident he gets pulled. The players on last years squad will tell you that there were times when something was discussed in the huddle, the huddle was broken, and they (the players) decided to do something else.  True or not, I do not know, simply reitierating what was told to a group I happened to be apart of this past summer.

The defense this past weekend was porous, which I attempted to comment on before getting bashed.  Simple conceptual necessities were not completed by most everyone on the floor.  Some played much better than others, and a few were outright bad.  Hopefully adjustments will be made, or this will be a long season for not only Hope fans, but fans who simply enjoy watching good basketball.

Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend Friday night, its HS hoops season!  I'm sure there will be plenty of unbiased posts... FWIW, I hope I am wrong about players leaving, it would truly be a shame.

[Gregory Sager]

Osburn's man in the first half on Friday was solely concerned with Riemink. Carthage coach ranted about this fact during a timeout. That is why Zac had 6 wide open mid-range jump shots and should have had more.

Not true. Adam Stuart ("Osburn's man") was drifting on defense in the first half. He wasn't "solely concerned with Reimink" -- as I said in my previous post, Adam Tolo was locked in man-to-man on Reimink for most of the game. Bosko yelled at Stuart because he wasn't focused at the defensive end of the floor. And Osburn only attempted four jumpers during the first half, not six.

[sac]

Hope's 3-3 which is exactly where I thought they'd be right now.  Its seems pretty obvious that Carthage played some lights out basketball this weekend, Calvin can certainly attest to that.  Too many people had that one in the bag for our MIAA duo.

My point is this is the youngest most inexperienced team that Hope has had probably in GVW's 30 whatever years.  Its going to take more than the usual space of time to figure who's what, and who go's where, when.  (or something  )

Hope has 5 games before the MIAA season and I would guess they have a real solid chance at 4 good wins, and with a solid effort they can beat Aquinas next Saturday.


In my wanderings of various woodsy places, I've often found the bumpiest, rarely traveled roads the most enjoyable.   

Good motto I'll steal from someone more famous than me.........."Adventures suck when your having them."

[MIdoubleA]

I blame norovirus.

[realist]

Sac:  I think you are close to having nailed it.  Looking at the roster IMHO Hope is doing reasonably well for a team that has 2 sr's.  Also for a team that has 4 juniors that are new to the team.  Looking at those stats only Cox with 77 minutes is making the kind of contribution that I am sure most Hope fans expected of this group of juniors.  I have been around way to long to count any GVW coached team out on ytd performance.  I still expect Calvin and Hope to slug it out.   

[Civic Minded]

I blame norovirus.

Norovirus, 5 practices missed.  Week before that, Hope took it's mandatory week off.  They are starting from behind, whichever way you look at it.  Add to that the newness of the team/players, and most of what we've seen can be explained.

As to a certain text of "no words..."  I found some on Saturday.  Hope lost to Carthage on Friday by (20?), with no effort, no heart, little foot movement, little more than staring at the ball and trying to figure out who was supposed to be defending it.  Calvin lost to Carthage by 13, and they played much harder than I've seen a Calvin team play in a while.  Somehow, this gives me hope.

Saturday Hope found their passion again, and even though they eventually lost, they regained that intangible something that had been missing on Friday.  Before everyone gives up on this MIAA season, let's keep a little perspective. 

Peace, out.   

[KnightSlappy]

Does anyone know what time the Calvin/Aquinas game actually starts tonight?

The Calvin website and miaa.org both report 7:30
The Aquinas website and the WHAC website both report 8:00.

Either Calvin will have this game in the bag before the AQ kids hit the floor, or they will be taking some extra time in the pre-game shoot around.    For now, I am assuming the AQ site has it correct since they are hosting the game.

[almcguirejr]

Does anyone know what time the Calvin/Aquinas game actually starts tonight?

The Calvin website and miaa.org both report 7:30
The Aquinas website and the WHAC website both report 8:00.

Either Calvin will have this game in the bag before the AQ kids hit the floor, or they will be taking some extra time in the pre-game shoot around.    For now, I am assuming the AQ site has it correct since they are hosting the game.

The Aquinas site shows the women playing at 6 against Grace.  Men at 8.

[MItwoA]

Sharples for Hope is gone?  Wow, didn't see that one coming!  Transferring to MSU.  Hoopdreams...what inside information are you getting?

[MIdoubleA]

Sharples for Hope is gone?

I can confirm this as well.

We may have owed them a "future draft pick" from getting Hogeboom a few years ago. They probably just called in the favor

[devossed]

Sharples for Hope is gone?

I can confirm this as well.

We may have owed them a "future draft pick" from getting Hogeboom a few years ago. They probably just called in the favor

hold the phone on jake's return-on-investment from the izzone (besides, i'm still waiting for gary's appearance on Survivor all-stars) -- i heard sharples is going to community college near home (macomb? oakland?), not msu.

to give him due credit: this is not due to dissatisfaction with the program, or PT, or anything like that. it's just an unfortunate case of MIAA schools being too much $ for a depressed economy. look for more MIAA players to follow suit over the next few years.

it was a pleasure to see him play for the orange and blue for 1.5 years. he was a heckuva athlete, and would've challenged for the starting 4 man next year. best wishes to him for his career wherever he ends up!