MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[northb]

Somewhat of an ugly first-half for the Knights, but they looked pretty impressive in the second half, as Calvin began to finally finish their easy shots down-low.  It was nice to see Veltema and Smith get some open looks from the 3-point line after being shut down pretty well on Wednesday night.  I'm also waiting for Veldhouse to find his shot.  Calvin sure will need it this Wednesday and of course for the big game Saturday.  It would be real nice to go into the game Saturday with a 3-0 record in MIAA play.

So Mantel is good to go for Wednesday did I read?

I doubt it.  He had a splint on his ankle after the half.

In his post-game interview KVS said the initial word was that Mantel could tentatively play on Wednesday.  Of course some would say that has been the problem all season

[Flea]

A couple notes:

ephoop: ...Van Noord arena ... is designed to have 2 full size, regulation courts for practice.  It also features a 3rd regulation size floor that is covered by pull out bleachers for games. 

I think the north and south end of the arena have full size courts; making four courts in the Van Noord. The north gym is out of commission due to some floor/bleacher issues.

ephoop:  A thrid 100,000 sq ft. building was added as an indoor track and soceer facility.

The indoor track encircles four tennis courts. I'm not sure if they will play indoor soccer in the tennis & track building or old fieldhouse. Baseball, softball, tennis (2 teams) and track and field (2 teams) will all practice in the Huizinga building through the winter.

ephoop:  I know there were issues with water drainage, some streets, etc., so governmental units were involved in the permit process, but doubt any gave funds for the buildings.

Oddly, Calvin land was swapped (Grand Rapids and East Grand Rapids) so the entire fieldhouse would be in one city. The tennis & track building was in EGR while the rest of the fieldhouse in GR. That way you only call one fire house when the place is burning down.

VanNoord is great but we need to fill the seats, come on out!

FYI. Attendance: 2234 again, poor weather but it'd be nice to have another 1,000 in there for the first men's weekend game.
Hope had Attendance: 3077 at the DeVos.

Watched the last couple of minutes of Trine/Olivet on the video.  Trine had the ball with 8 seconds to go, and couldn't get a shot off.  I would think if Trine can set up webcast certainly Calvin can.

Any school can offer a webcast.  But who'd do it?  A well done webcast takes time and energy. In general Calvin seems to do things well or not at all.

[HopeConvert]

Very nice win by Hope today, guarding the home court (even if their all-time win percentage at DeVos is lower than Calvin's at The 'Noord). Albion played its typical hard-nosed defense, but was overwhelmed by Hope's talent. This team is really starting to come together with sound defense, smart shooting, balanced scoring, and taking good care of the ball. Krombeen had a very good game on both ends of the floor, and Bunn outplayed his older brother (including blocking his shot on a layup). They still struggle a little when Jesse isn't on the floor, but they have 6 and maybe 7 guys who can go into double-digits on any given night.

Congratulations to Jesse Reimink on his 1000th career point. He is getting to be automatic for 20-10 every game (even though he had only 5 boards today). Albion tried to rotate their defense to him but (this just in) the kid is quite good. I don't think there is any defender who is going to shut him down one on one. I can't recall who said it, but if he keeps this up he'll have to get some All-American consideration.

[calvinite]

I really miss seeing Englesma

AMEN! (even with Mantel, but especially should Calvin be without him)

[gohope]

Well, done shoveling now!!  (Okay, that was a bit of an exaggeration! But I understand that my hometown, Schoolcraft, is the area winner - with the most snowfall!!  Whoohooo!)  As I looked at the stats of some of the MIAA games, does anyone know why a couple of the Kazoo players didn't play? Just curious.

Congrats to the Dutchmen and to Jesse Reimink!  Great job guys!!

[Mr. Ypsi]

Well, done shoveling now!!  (Okay, that was a bit of an exaggeration! But I understand that my hometown, Schoolcraft, is the area winner - with the most snowfall!!  Whoohooo!)  As I looked at the stats of some of the MIAA games, does anyone know why a couple of the Kazoo players didn't play? Just curious.

Congrats to the Dutchmen and to Jesse Reimink!  Great job guys!!

Hey, somebody had to shovel out the bus!

(Thank God I've got a teenager! )

[sac]

notes from the boxscores

****I mentioned how important the guard play would be today vs Albion.
Stasiak, Leising and Clark.......... none of these 3 are big scorers so matching them vs Hope's top 4 guards probably wasn't fair offensively.

Coming into today

Leising 7.6 pts
Clark 3.8
Stasiak 3.7

Today Leising 11, Stasiak 3, Clark 0 so right at their averages.  But collectively the 3 Albion guards had just 2 assists, Albion had 5 total as a team.  Thats as few as I can ever recall an Albion team having in a game.

Hope's three of Krombeen, Bunn and Tanis scored 36, coming in the 3 collectively were averaging 23.7.  Big win for Hope there today.  Most impressive 14-23 from the floor or 61%.  Hope's guards can sneak inside on you for some easy one's, but I'll take 61% from guards any day of the week.


****Albion might be going through an offensive power outage, in the last three they've scored 57, 58, 56, in their previous 7 they were held under 60 only one other time at Kenyon (technically they were at Wooster in regulation).

I can't really see a specific reason why, but it stands out that this Albion team seems to be poor from behind the arc, now at just .315 on the year.


****Through the first 2 games Hope's MIAA opponents are a dismal 6-42 from behind the arc 14.3%.  On the perimeter Hope goes 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 and 6-3 depending on who's on the floor, if Bowser's out there he goes 6-5...........and all of these guys have LONG arms.  It can't be easy to shoot over that.   But before this week there was nothing that screamed Hope was special at defending 3's.


****  It cannot be comforting to opposing coaches to see Hope go to the 3 guard offense and see So., So., Fr. on the floor with So. Bowser. 


****  Adrian played its 8th close game of the season, 7 of them decided by 3 or fewer points.......and 6th in a row.  After losing 3 straight over the holidays  Adrian has won its first two tough close MIAA games.   Adrian's 5-7 record might not impress, they could just as easily be 9-3 or 1-11, there's alot that has me beginning to believe Adrian can hang with some teams.   But  if they'd lost these two close ones certainly my opinion might be different.  Such is the case with such even teams this year.  Calvin will be their sternest test of the season I'm sure.


**** Jesse Reimink went over 1000 points for his career as expected, he becomes Hope player #32 to do that.  Its been 17 years since Hope had a player average 20 points per game so I hesitate to project out Jesse's total, but I think he's capable of reaching #15 on the list.  He'd surpass guys like Pat Stegeman, Marcus VanderHeide, Greg Immink, Ryan Klingler, Andy Phillips and Don Overbeek who've all played in the last decade.

Sadly I'm one more closer to seeing half the 1,000 point scorers in Hope history.  Jesse is #15 for me.

I have little doubt that Jesse is going to be remembered quite fondly throughout the Hope contingent.

[sac]

I got a good reminder today of why I just don't enjoy D1 basketball as much as I probably should.  MSU/Kansas took 2:20 minutes to play today, or nearly an hour longer than all 4 MIAA games.

The TV timeouts are bad enough, but when both coaches call timeouts mere seconds away from a TV timeout every single time, you end up with a timout, followed by about 30 seconds of play and another timeout.   It was just an awefull flow to the game, and to be honest Hope/Calvin games would be better without them as well.


Today's action was compounded by one other fact that we as fans often forget about.  The importance of the third official.  Today's third official left the game roughly midway through the first half with an injury and left just two............and it was a great reminder of why we have 3 officials.  These guys anticipated every call, whether there was contact or not and I swear there was no way they could have even seen half the calls they made.  They simply couldn't keep up with the game.  I really couldn't believe how awfull it was without a third stripe out there, it was eye opening.  During the second half I think we had 10 straight posessions that resulted in fouls and FT's, most of them questionable.  Thank god this one didn't go overtime.

I'm interested to see where Kansas is in a year or two, if I heard the ridiculously loud PA right, KU started So. So. So. So. Fr.........and I thought Hope was young.  I'm sure though I will continue to only mildly pay attention to the D1 game.  Maybe if I invest in TIVO.

[oldknight]

Some random thoughts about the Knights and Van Noord Arena:

1. Unlike me (and most fans), the Knights are not yet comfortable with the new surroundings. I don't know if everyone is still in awe of the place, the team just doesn't see Van Noord as their home court yet, if the lighting is different, the background too unfamiliar, or some other reason, but the players can't get any offensive rhythm going. There's just no flow to the two games I've watched. It's been a while since I've seen a team "struggle" to win by 26, but that's what I saw today. Execution has been fine, Calvin just can't play a stretch where the offense gets on a roll. Shooting, in the first half especially, has been awful, particularly from the free throw line.

2. On the subject of shooting, Caleb had another miserable shooting day, going 3-13 from the floor and 1-6 from the arc. Since moving Caleb off the 2 guard spot he hasn't done much scoring but the change in scenery has benefited Dustin Smith greatly who had another excellent game with 20 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 steals. At 5'9", he's not exactly your typical 2 guard but he is very adept at penetrating the lane, getting the defender off balance and then elevating for a surprisingly open shot close to the basket. He has that scorer's mentality which is what a coach looks for from a player at that position.

3. They dimmed the outer rim of lights for today's game, leaving on the spotlights to highlight the floor. Doing this is a spectacular touch and really enhances the fan's visual experience of game action. As a fan I love it and the players should appreciate being in the spotlight. As for the much discussed absence of total team fouls on the scoreboard, I am assured by someone I trust that by the next game the scoreboard will be changed. The plan is to use the current location labeled "TOL" (for time-outs left) and relabel it "TF" for team fouls. Hopefully they won't have Red Green climb a ladder and duct tape the redo.

4. I suppose part of the problem with Calvin's spotty offensive performance today is because when your starting post and leading scorer leaves after 24 seconds of action, that plays havoc with substitution patterns. Calvin got a very nice game from Katt who went 5-7 from the floor with 9 boards. Expecting Tim to do that regularly is asking a lot. I don't know how serious Mantel's ankle sprain is but Calvin needs him to get healthy--soon. Alas, Katt failed to foul out in 23 minutes of action so apparently he neglected to play much defense.

[Stinger]

I got a good reminder today of why I just don't enjoy D1 basketball as much as I probably should.  MSU/Kansas took 2:20 minutes to play today, or nearly an hour longer than all 4 MIAA games.

The TV timeouts are bad enough, but when both coaches call timeouts mere seconds away from a TV timeout every single time, you end up with a timout, followed by about 30 seconds of play and another timeout.   It was just an awefull flow to the game, and to be honest Hope/Calvin games would be better without them as well.


Today's action was compounded by one other fact that we as fans often forget about.  The importance of the third official.  Today's third official left the game roughly midway through the first half with an injury and left just two............and it was a great reminder of why we have 3 officials.  These guys anticipated every call, whether there was contact or not and I swear there was no way they could have even seen half the calls they made.  They simply couldn't keep up with the game.  I really couldn't believe how awfull it was without a third stripe out there, it was eye opening.  During the second half I think we had 10 straight posessions that resulted in fouls and FT's, most of them questionable.  Thank god this one didn't go overtime.

It's called the Ed Hightower Show. 

if I heard the ridiculously loud PA right, KU started So. So. So. So. Fr.........

Perhaps you'd feel more comfortable in Crisler, it's much quieter.

[sac]

Perhaps you'd feel more comfortable in Crisler, it's much quieter.

smells better too!

wasn't quiet the last two trips there for sParty was it...........or maybe it was they do buy alot of tickets. 

[bulldogalum]

Adrian        72
Kalamazoo 69

Sometimes the most rewarding wins are the ones where you don't have your best stuff, but you gut it out and find a way to eke out a victory.  Such was the case yesterday afternoon for Adrian.  It was a sloppy game for the Bulldogs in many ways, much of which can be attributed to the strong defensive play of the Hornets, but in the end Adrian stepped up to the challenge and made the plays to win the game.

One big reason for the Adrian victory was the stellar play of Brett Asher.  In what had to be one of his better games this season, Asher was 6 of 6 from the floor for 15 points and 10 boards.  Coupled with Matt Wayne's 10 points, the Bulldogs had nice production from its starting big guys.

Also, from the looks of it, the MIAA saw two outstanding players reach 1,000 points yesterday.  In his 55th game for the Bulldogs, Desmond Young reached 1,000 points, becoming the 21st Adrian player to reach that mark.  Young had a fantastic first half, and struggled from the floor in the second half.  Nevertheless, in crunch time he made the free throws that ended up being the difference.

Big game with Calvin on Wednesday.  I'll expect the Bulldogs to bring great intensity to the floor.

[NW Hope Fan]

Officially go the word last night...

After a 6 year absence from live Hope/Calvin games I'm making a whirlwind trip to W. MI to catch the game next weekend.

Looking forward to seeing a game at DeVos (I toured it several years ago on a visit) and meeting some fellow posters. AND, would love to share a beverage at NHB after the game!!!

See you in 6.

(Thanks WW and AB)

[hope#1]

Interesting to see Scott Jungling on the Hope bench yesterday.  Does that mean Carter is out for the year? 

[devossed]

Interesting to see Scott Jungling on the Hope bench yesterday.  Does that mean Carter is out for the year? 

jungling AND curtis caroll...surprised nobody said anything yet...last i heard was carter was out for 1 month minimum, afterward to be determined.