MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[hoopdreams]

My stat of the night coincides with a brief conversation with an Adrian fan earlier-
He asked me where Nate King transferred, and I mentioned that he was still on the roster and pointed him out.  Upon returning home I check the updated season stats and this is what I find..
Nate King Season total minutes, 44 or 48, sorry my memory is slipping
Doug Sharples, 50 minutes ( hasn't been with the team for 12 games)
I've never spoken to Nate, never saw him play in hs, don't know his family but I give him alot of credit for never hanging his head, and somehow finding a way to have that great smile, at times, during the course of the game.  His expression after tanis' assist on Wednesday was priceless.

More importantly, I saw for the first time a team making a serious effort to get the ball in the paint against Hope and it worked, big time, Osburn and vennema were repeatedly beaten...badly.  Credit goes to adrian's pg who I thought was outstanding, very quick, made some unbelievable passes, hit big shots and made almost every Hope defender look average.  

SAC I have to disagree on the defense on Young,  some kids are cut out to defend, some just don't get it, and I don't think Desmond Howard, err Young had to work real hard most of the night.  He took the shots he wanted most every time down the floor.  If anything, he made himself easy to defend by settling for pull-ups  (dribble drives weren't taken away completely, their were gaps for continued penetration)instead of getting to the glass.  Few of his shots I would consider forced or bad, and that's because the defense didn't force bad shots.  Hope was lucky to escape with a W, but their resolve is impressive.

I haven't seen Vandussen play for a year or so, but him coming to a Hope game and seeing a WM player (tanis)with similar athletic ability (not blazing quick, although he's a bit taller than ty),similar rep ( shoot the crap out of it, from DEEP), similar career (4 year starter, multi all state), similar hs stats (1400-1500 points) and I'm sure Hope's staff including GVW were at plenty of Jenison games,  get 10-20 minutes as a returner playing behind a backcourt  duo that will be intact for another 2 years, may not be real appealing.  Not comparing the 2 because they play(ed) different competition and their roles are different in HS BUT the similarities are there.

[Adrian Hoops Fan]

Rough night for the Bulldogs down the stretch.  Probably the biggest problem for the Bulldogs was Hope run mid-way through the 1st half when Young and Staley both went to the bench.  Not a good thing for the 2 main playmakers to be out together.  With the offensive struggles then, the defense also had its lapses there.  I was very pleased with the game as a whole.  Matt Wayne is much improved and playing very well now.  Staley and Young are just an outstanding duo.  Hope ran the double teams at Desmond, hand-checked, grabbed on his jersey and whatever else they could think of to try and slow him.  But again, Desmond showed he is an elite player in this league.  The only problem was Reimink is an elite player had more of a supporting cast as it seemed all the players from Hope seemed comfortable on the court.  Adrian had a few kids, who were in above their heads a bit as they seemed nervous with the ball and lost at the defensive end.

I don't know the criteria for the MIAA top-player award, but if it is an MVP (whose loss would hurt his team the most?) I'd think Desmond Young has got to be the front-runner.  Without him, Hope could have named the score; with him, the quartet of Hope posters I sat with looked rather nervous right to the buzzer!

It all depends on the is it the best player in the MIAA; the player who is most valuable to his team; or the MVP of the 1st place team.  I agree with Mr. Ypsi, there is a strong case for Desmond on the first 2 criteria.  With only Reimink and Mantel being able to be added to the discussion.  My biased opinion wants to get that award away from the Holland-Grand Rapids area and give it to Desmond.  Without him, the Bulldogs are not even in the discussion of dangerous teams.

I've seen far worse officiating overall, but it was terribly inconsistent.  They sometimes called fouls which were technically accurate but terribly 'ticky-tacky' and better ignored (these IMO went generally against Hope), while ignoring much more obvious fouls (these IMO went roughly evenly both ways).

I feel Dave Riley was a big part of this problem.  He blew every call he made ( and he only used the whistle 4 times all game which was a big reason for the inconsistency).   All and all, it came down to defensive stops and free throws.  At the end it was Hope that made those plays.   Congrats to them for the hard fought win.  But the Bulldogs should hold their heads high and take out their frustration on Olivet.

[hope1]

yes it was a good hope game yesterday  they always have a tough time at adrian at least they won and some really good foul shots to win the game like 8 in a row the announcers kept on saying desmond howard for young and one time they said calvin won 73to  3  over albion saturday 

[bulldogalum]

Adrian Hoops fan and others have summed up the game pretty nicely.  I was really proud of the way the guys fought last night.  It was a game where two teams came out and played good games, and the difference was that Hope made the big shots down the stretch.  That being said, I agree with Adrian Hoops Fan that Hope's run in the first half with Young and Staley out of the game was a back breaker.  I'd also add that during the first half, Adrian struggled to get back in transition, leading to a number of easy layups for the Dutchmen (and contributing to their 62% shooting percentage in the first half.

However, in spite of the first half issues, Adrian hung in there with Hope, and gave them a really good test.  On another day, this might have been a win, but it wasn't to be last night.

Last night was especially exciting because it seemed like all of the star players in the game showed up and had nice games.  Reimink is a heck of a player, and like any of the guys in the MVP race (if there is such a thing at this point), he has a knack for getting open when he needs to.  I thought Adrian did a decent job on him tonight, but he still got his points.  Bowser was the killer in the first half, I think he had 11 for the Dutchmen.  In the second half, it was Bunn, especially at the free throw line, who really stepped up and iced the game.

For Adrian, Desmond Young's 29 points really stand out.  Like Reimink, he runs into the best of any opponents defense, but finds a way to get the shots he wants.  As an Adrian fan, I know that this team depends greatly on Desmond's play, and I think he's got to be a really strong candidate for MVP of the league.  Mike Staley had a very good game, and an especially productive first half.  He was one assist away from a double double, and really did a nice job of controlling the tempo when he was in there last night.  And then there's Matt Wayne.  He was an absolute warrior out there in what was a very physical game.  He was one rebound away from a double double, and scored 18 points.  14 of those points came in the second half.

It's a tough loss to take because Adrian played a good game, but I would expect the team to hold its head high knowing that they can hang with one of the best teams in the league.  They'll have to bring that kind of focused effort to the floor on Wednesday if they expect to beat Olivet.  As any Calvin fan can tell you, Olivet is capable of being a very dangerous team if they bring their best game to the floor.

[HopeConvert]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_5Aq_isM_E

(Click on "watch in high quality)

GVW's interview with the Press after Hope "lost the score, but not the game." It has some good highlights in it, but of special interest is a good look at the final shot. It's at the 1:15 mark, and you can see that Jesse is probably at about 18 feet. The question is whether he had a lane to the hoop. Smith is too far off the play, Katt probably couldn't get over, and Mantel had his back to the ball. Mantel may have turned around if Jesse drove. Had the ball gone off the rim to the left, Osburn and Tanis had position for the put back. As it is, DK just misses the rebound. So close. So close.

Also, you can see that Hope had a fair number of open looks they just didn't knock down. Alas.

[Stinger]

GVW's interview with the Press after Hope "lost the score, but not the game."

WTH is that supposed to mean? Complete nonsense.

[arena]

GVW's interview with the Press after Hope "lost the score, but not the game."

WTH is that supposed to mean? Complete nonsense.

I guess it was a confidence building loss.  Much like Calvin experienced to Olivet the next Wednesday.

[sac]

I'm not quite sure I agree with our two Adrian posters about the time Staley and Young went off the floor in the first half.  It was for all of 2 minutes and Hope score only 5 points, which extended an already 6 point lead.  Hope already had momentum and was building on it.  It was really after those two came back on the floor that Adrian started controlling the tempo and the game better.  If anything having them off the floor might have helped them see how helter skelter it was.

Hope played the same two minutes without Peter Bunn, Jesse Reimink or Will Bowser on the floor.  So essentially the five leading scorers were all out of the game at the same time.

Here's the box score section of that time........Peter Bunn left at the 12:07 mark, Will Bowser didn't return untill 5:54.   (sorry about the formating, as you can see there is none.)

SUB IN : Matt Wayne                             10:09              SUB IN : Zach Osburn
SUB IN : Jordan Parks                           10:09              SUB IN : Daniel Cox
SUB IN : Brian O'Connor                         10:09              SUB OUT: Jesse Reimink
SUB IN : Ryan Sigler                            10:09              SUB OUT: Will Bowser
SUB OUT: Desmond Young                          10:09
SUB OUT: Michael Staley                         10:09
SUB OUT: Chris Primley                          10:09
SUB OUT: Nate Cassidy                           10:09
TURNOVR by Jordan Parks                         10:07
                                                10:03              STEAL by David Krombeen
                                                10:02  16-24  V 8  GOOD! LAYUP by David Krombeen [FB/PNT]
TURNOVR by Brian O'Connor                       09:39
                                                09:37              STEAL by Zach Osburn
                                                09:32  16-27  V 11 GOOD! 3 PTR by Ty Tanis
                                                09:32              ASSIST by David Krombeen
TIMEOUT TEAM                                    09:17
MISSED JUMPER by Brian O'Connor                 08:50
REBOUND (OFF) by Matt Wayne                     08:50
                                                08:48              FOUL by Zach Osburn
TURNOVR by Dwight VanHoesen                     08:14
                                                08:10              STEAL by David Krombeen
REBOUND (DEF) by (TEAM)                         08:07              MISSED 3 PTR by Ty Tanis
                                                08:06              FOUL by Andy Venema
SUB IN : Desmond Young                          08:06
SUB IN : Michael Staley                         08:06
SUB OUT: Jordan Parks                           08:06
SUB OUT: Ryan Sigler                            08:06
GOOD! FT SHOT by Michael Staley                 07:38  17-27  V 10 FOUL by Zach Osburn
GOOD! FT SHOT by Michael Staley                 07:38  18-27  V 9
SUB IN : Chris Primley                          07:38              SUB IN : Peter Bunn
SUB OUT: Brian O'Connor                         07:38              SUB IN : Jesse Reimink
                                                07:38              SUB IN : Scott Jungling

[realist]

GVW's interview with the Press after Hope "lost the score, but not the game."

WTH is that supposed to mean? Complete nonsense.

Thanks for the post.  I asked myself the same question.  I think this one goes on the  list with moral victory etc. etc. etc.   

[HopeConvert]

GVW's interview with the Press after Hope "lost the score, but not the game."

WTH is that supposed to mean? Complete nonsense.

Thanks for the post.  I asked myself the same question.  I think this one goes on the  list with moral victory etc. etc. etc.   

I'm just quoting.

[Dark Knight]

In the past week of MIAA action there were several upsets and surprising results. The most surprising results, according to Trish:

Adrian defeating Trine by 26, a 22-point surprise
Albion over Kazoo by 32, a 19-point surprise
Olivet over Calvin by 3, an 18-point surprise

With a big win against Trine and a strong game against Hope, Adrian was one of our biggest gainers this week in the power ranking, gaining 6 power points and moving up from 7th place to 5th in Trish's MIAA power ranking.

With Albion's big win against Kalamazoo and decent game against Calvin, Albion picked up 8 power points, switching places with Olivet and moving up to third in Trish's MIAA ranking. Albion is showing a definite upward trend in power; their first two games of the MIAA season were their weakest.

Alma stayed close to the same and Calvin dropped a little in relative power with the loss to Olivet. Hope also dropped a little with a squeaker at Adrian.

Kalamazoo had their two weakest games of the season last week with their loss to Trine and blowout loss to Albion. Their power rating dropped 5 points, to -9, and they dropped into last place in the MIAA. Trish now thinks they'll win about 1.5 more games this season.

Olivet had their best and worst games of the season, the win at Calvin and the loss to Alma. On the whole, it was a net positive, but they dropped from 3rd to 4th in the power rankings.

The 26-point loss to Adrian hurt Trine, and despite picking up their first MIAA victory of the year, they dropped to 7th place in the MIAA.

Games have been all over the place and team standard deviations are high. Both Adrian and Trine are now more inconsistent than Calvin. (I wonder if the pickem scores are lower this year as well.) Surprising Alma has taken over the most consistent crown.

[bulldogalum]

I'm not quite sure I agree with our two Adrian posters about the time Staley and Young went off the floor in the first half.  It was for all of 2 minutes and Hope score only 5 points, which extended an already 6 point lead.  Hope already had momentum and was building on it.  It was really after those two came back on the floor that Adrian started controlling the tempo and the game better.  If anything having them off the floor might have helped them see how helter skelter it was.

Hope played the same two minutes without Peter Bunn, Jesse Reimink or Will Bowser on the floor.  So essentially the five leading scorers were all out of the game at the same time.

Here's the box score section of that time........Peter Bunn left at the 12:07 mark, Will Bowser didn't return untill 5:54.   (sorry about the formating, as you can see there is none.)

SUB IN : Matt Wayne                             10:09              SUB IN : Zach Osburn
SUB IN : Jordan Parks                           10:09              SUB IN : Daniel Cox
SUB IN : Brian O'Connor                         10:09              SUB OUT: Jesse Reimink
SUB IN : Ryan Sigler                            10:09              SUB OUT: Will Bowser
SUB OUT: Desmond Young                          10:09
SUB OUT: Michael Staley                         10:09
SUB OUT: Chris Primley                          10:09
SUB OUT: Nate Cassidy                           10:09
TURNOVR by Jordan Parks                         10:07
                                                10:03              STEAL by David Krombeen
                                                10:02  16-24  V 8  GOOD! LAYUP by David Krombeen [FB/PNT]
TURNOVR by Brian O'Connor                       09:39
                                                09:37              STEAL by Zach Osburn
                                                09:32  16-27  V 11 GOOD! 3 PTR by Ty Tanis
                                                09:32              ASSIST by David Krombeen
TIMEOUT TEAM                                    09:17
MISSED JUMPER by Brian O'Connor                 08:50
REBOUND (OFF) by Matt Wayne                     08:50
                                                08:48              FOUL by Zach Osburn
TURNOVR by Dwight VanHoesen                     08:14
                                                08:10              STEAL by David Krombeen
REBOUND (DEF) by (TEAM)                         08:07              MISSED 3 PTR by Ty Tanis
                                                08:06              FOUL by Andy Venema
SUB IN : Desmond Young                          08:06
SUB IN : Michael Staley                         08:06
SUB OUT: Jordan Parks                           08:06
SUB OUT: Ryan Sigler                            08:06
GOOD! FT SHOT by Michael Staley                 07:38  17-27  V 10 FOUL by Zach Osburn
GOOD! FT SHOT by Michael Staley                 07:38  18-27  V 9
SUB IN : Chris Primley                          07:38              SUB IN : Peter Bunn
SUB OUT: Brian O'Connor                         07:38              SUB IN : Jesse Reimink
                                                07:38              SUB IN : Scott Jungling

I guess both teams could have looked at those couple of minutes as a good time to take advantage of the other team missing its best players.  In my case, the disappointment is that Hope took greater advantage of the time without Young and Staley on the floor than Adrian did (at least during that spell) when Reimink, Bunn and Bowser were off the floor.  It just appears to have been an opportunity lost.

[sac]

GVW's interview with the Press after Hope "lost the score, but not the game."

WTH is that supposed to mean? Complete nonsense.

Thanks for the post.  I asked myself the same question.  I think this one goes on the  list with moral victory etc. etc. etc.   

I'm just quoting.

......and it was 8 days ago, alot's happened since then...........and I don't know why opposing fans even care what GVW does or doesn't say,  the comments always ends up being to mock him.

[realist]

HC:  I think it just means that none of us are impressed with the word skills of the GR Press.    I think Hope is having a great season, and at this point expect the MIAA to go down to the wire.  I also seriously doubt we have seen the end of "unusual" scores.  Just looking at the predictions of my new BFF TRISH gives indication to how difficult it is to predict games. 

[realist]

SAC:  It comes with the territory for GVW, KVS or any coach.