MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[oldknight]

The Ferris game was a very good test for the Knights. They won't see a deeper and more athletic squad all year. Calvin hung with the Bulldogs for 30 minutes before everyone seemed to run out of gas at the same time. They crashed so abruptly it makes you wonder if the flu bug that ran through the team since practice began wasn't the true culprit.

There were some positives to take away from the game. The offensive rebounding was very good even if a lot of put-backs didn't go in. I wouldn't say that most of those second and third shots were easy though. Ferris contested them in ways most D3 teams can't. If Calvin is as good on the boards as this game made them appear, that's very good news for Calvin fans. I think the Knights won't be one dimensional on offense this year. Without any meaningful contribution from Mantel who was in foul trouble all night, Calvin stayed in the game until they died from lack of oxygen. The Knights seem to have several scoring options and I think they'll show more transition scoring than we've seen in recent years.

Bill Sall has a lot of skilled players and is quietly building a good program in Big Rapids. Keenan was an eye-opener for me. I never saw him play in high school but you don't need to know much basketball to see why he's been named a pre-season All-American.

[Happy Calvin Guy]

Attended the game tonight at Van Noord.  Here are some observations:
--If you didn't already know, you would have no idea that Ed Douma is 2nd all time in coaching wins at Calvin and won a nat'l title here.  Pure apathy (from both the Calvin crowd and coach Douma) when he was announced as FSU assistant coach.  He didn't seem to really be enjoying his return to Calvin, which is too bad.  Regardless of anyone's personal opinion of him or the circumstances around the end of his stint at Calvin, it would feel better to me if there was a little love there.
--I still enjoy it every time they play the "Tradition never graduates" video before the game.
--I was surprised to see in the box score that Veltema missed 9 shots.  It felt like he was shooting the lights out.  Either way, he will be a dangerous shooter all season.
--Solid all around performance from Danny Rodts, as I expected.  He is my sleeper all-MIAA pick.
--Salo was solid at the point (against some pretty physical matchups tonight) but I'd like to see him be more of a playmaker.
--I saw more energy from Brad Schnyders out there than anyone.  Love his aggressiveness to the bucket.  Got to the line several times and led the team in rebounds.  If he starts at the 2-guard, there will be some serious matchup problems for MIAA opponents.
--Calvin started 4 players 6'-6" and above tonight.
--Definitely need to see more fire from Mantel.  He is our MVP, our senior leader, and we need his presence on both ends.  He didn't seem like himself tonight but we know he has MVP potential.  
--Was very impressed with Snikkers.  He seems to have great athleticism and all around game.  
--De Young is a great asset to have down low, and showed some good touch on the free throws.  
--I foresee Powell having a pretty decent career at Calvin, possibly 3-year starter at the point.  I think I even caught a flash of some leadership from him on the floor too, great confidence for a freshman.
--we were outscored in the paint 46-12.  ouch.
--The team shoe this year appears to be a Nike with a silver sparkly swoosh.  Glitter!
--Overall a good performance, with many areas for growth.  The game was much closer than the score indicated--kudos to the Knights for hanging with the stronger and more athletic DII Bulldogs.  Hopefully FSU's star Keenan isn't hurt bad, he is a talented player.
--Feels great to be watching Calvin hoops again.  I don't see any team dominating the MIAA this year.  Should be a fun competitive season, perhaps 11 wins takes the league.

[GoVols]

Ferris 88 Calvin 68

Best part of the game...Doug Wentwourth didn't call it!

Why you dissing Dougie? 'Cause he speaks the truth when he sees it?

[sac]

Report from Oakland/Hope


Andy Venema was in street clothes at Oakland, don't know why.......Bunn also in street clothes and still recovering from his injury.  Still T-day weekend timeline for him.  Might have made a little difference tonight but really not much.

Most surprising thing I took away was how much Oakland pressed Hope,  I didn't expect that.  I would guess OU had at least 2 or 3 starters on the floor for the first 30 minutes at all times......most of the time really pressuring the ball.  There was no lack of defensive effort from them in this one.

Will Bowser was Hope's primary offensive player tonight, I believe he was the games leading scorer at the half with 10 or 12.  Will doesn't look too much different physically than last, maybe a little added weight, but his overall confidence and presence on the court is way ahead of last year.  He didn't look out of his element at all vs some very good D1 players.  I think Will's going to have a good year this year.  He and Peter Bunn would certainly look like the two primary offensive threats.


As stated, Nate Snugeruud started and was not only giving up about 5 inches, but about 30 lbs.  He picked up quick fouls each time on the floor, all of them trying to block shots I think.   Two or three he actually got a hand on shots from behind but the player was able to just power through them and thats what drew the fouls.  Not much to draw from this game.

Krombeen did an great job at the point vs Jonathan Jones, Jones will make alot of PG's look silly this year and I think Krombeen held his own  .......again facing way more backcourt pressure than I expected to see. (I have no idea where they got 7 turnovers )   Also had the Hope highlite of the night when he threw away a pass from underneath his own basket, hustled the length of the floor to swat away a 3 point attempt in the corner from Larry Wright..........to the ooo's and ahh's of the Oakland faithfull   (strangely  the Oakland student section looked to be about 70% women ? ? ?).    Jungling played most of the other minutes at point when Krombeen rested.....Mysliwiec played the final 2 minutes at the point.

Ty Tanis started but played only 15 minutes, Jared Mysliwiec subbed for him.........I think Tanis and Jared will share a lot of minutes this year, but I'm not sure where those minutes will come from once Peter Bunn returns.  Mysliwiec is not shy about shooting thats for sure, and has a very nice arc on his shots.  He was the leading shooter with 12 attempts.......came up short on all his misses.

Nothing really can be gleaned from Hope's frontline performance, they were so badly physically outmatched.  Oakland's starting frontline shot 17-22, 44 points, 16 rebs and only 6 fouls in an avg of 20 min, vs Hope's starting frontline with 8-17, 26 points, 11 rebs, and 11 fouls.    (17 points from Bowser, most jumpshots.)  Nelis, Snugeruud, Dickerson, Bowser, Holwerda just had tough matchups tonight.......very little in the paint scoring.

There were many times the Hope guys were in position to rebound and either the taller Oakland player just outreached them for the ball or just outmuscled them.  On offense, Hope would get the ball in the right spot down low and couldn't do anything with the shot because of the size difference.  The difference in frontline performance certainly wasn't because of effort.

Adam Dickerson and Josh Holwerda put in nice minutes off the bench.  Holwerda had to play most of the 2nd half.  I think these two might be bit players as the year progresses with a little more action to Dickerson.  I liked what I saw from both of them.

Nate King had a couple great moments, but seems to be a little unsure of himself out there.  Its the most I've seen Nate play, and I would say more game experience will do him good.

Ryan Ross played sparingly and Logan Neil did not play but was dressed.


Overall I think Hope competed well which is probably the most important thing to take from this game.  Great experience for them I'm sure.  If Oakland makes the NCAA's they might be one of those mid-majors no one wants to play. 


Check out these games on their schedule.  They probably won't win any of these, but it will interesting to see how they turn-out.

@ Wisconsin, @ Kansas, @ Memphis, @ Michigan State, @ Oregon, @ Syracuse

[sac]

This little section of the boxscore probably tells how this game went better than anything else...........Hope will never get 0 fast break points vs D3's, nor will they get outscored by 38 in the paint.

POINTS OFF TURNOVERS        1   2 - Tot
Hope College............    2   7 -   9
Oakland University......   23   6 -  29

POINTS IN PAINT             1   2 - Tot
Hope College............    6   8 -  14
Oakland University......   26  26 -  52

2ND CHANCE POINTS           1   2 - Tot
Hope College............    6   3 -   9
Oakland University......    4  10 -  14

FAST BREAK POINTS           1   2 - Tot
Hope College............    0   0 -   0
Oakland University......    4   8 -  12

[Galahad]

Report from Oakland/Hope


Andy Venema was in street clothes at Oakland, don't know why....

According to VanWieren quoted in the Holland Sentinel, Venema has  "Achilles tendon problems"

[wiz]

There were many times the Hope guys were in position to rebound and either the taller Oakland player just outreached them for the ball or just outmuscled them.  On offense, Hope would get the ball in the right spot down low and couldn't do anything with the shot because of the size difference.  The difference in frontline performance certainly wasn't because of effort.

And that's what happens when DIII players go up against DI or DII.  Saw the same thing at the Calvin/Ferris game.  Some comments previously that Mantel wasn't aggressive.  Don't agree.  I thought he was very aggressive and had some good moves.  But, I think he learned last night that some of the moves and slam dunks you can pull off in DIII are not going to come easily when playing against bigger and faster players.  A lot of Calvin's missed shots were from close range amongst the trees.  I am sure these exhibition games were good learning experiences for both Hope and Calvin. 

Calvin has a lot of depth.  Recruiting was good and they seem to all be playing well together.  Looked like a good choice for starting lineup.  Some good play from reserves as well.  Powell let us know a few times that he is a freshman but also showed a lot of positives and he will be a player.  Snikkers is another freshman and he will also be a contributor.  Shuster showed much more than I expected.  Looks like he's toughened up and his size will be an issue.

Regarding Ferris, they have talent and are well coached.  However, they will have difficulty due to their lack of depth.  I was surprised that in an exhibition game against a DIII school they were only able to go nine deep.  Their starters were on the floor more than Calvin's and that just seemed weird.

Looking forward to another fun season.

[goodknight]

There were many times the Hope guys were in position to rebound and either the taller Oakland player just outreached them for the ball or just outmuscled them.  On offense, Hope would get the ball in the right spot down low and couldn't do anything with the shot because of the size difference.  The difference in frontline performance certainly wasn't because of effort.

And that's what happens when DIII players go up against DI or DII.  Saw the same thing at the Calvin/Ferris game.  Some comments previously that Mantel wasn't aggressive.  Don't agree.  I thought he was very aggressive and had some good moves.  But, I think he learned last night that some of the moves and slam dunks you can pull off in DIII are not going to come easily when playing against bigger and faster players.  A lot of Calvin's missed shots were from close range amongst the trees.  I am sure these exhibition games were good learning experiences for both Hope and Calvin. 

Calvin has a lot of depth.  Recruiting was good and they seem to all be playing well together.  Looked like a good choice for starting lineup.  Some good play from reserves as well.  Powell let us know a few times that he is a freshman but also showed a lot of positives and he will be a player.  Snikkers is another freshman and he will also be a contributor.  Shuster showed much more than I expected.  Looks like he's toughened up and his size will be an issue.

Regarding Ferris, they have talent and are well coached.  However, they will have difficulty due to their lack of depth.  I was surprised that in an exhibition game against a DIII school they were only able to go nine deep.  Their starters were on the floor more than Calvin's and that just seemed weird.

Looking forward to another fun season.

I spoke with Bill Sall and Eddie Douma before the game, and learned that three of FSU's players were going to sit because of injury or illness -- so that's the reason the Bulldogs went nine deep.

[gohope]

Nice article on the Hornets in today's Kalamazoo Gazette.

http://www.mlive.com/sports/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2009/11/trio_takes_the_lead_for_kalama.html

[Flying Dutch Fan]

A video feed of the Volleyball regional at Hope Thu - Sat is going to be available (link below).  Could this be a sign of things to come for basketball?

http://www.hope.edu/pr/athletics/vbchampionship/live.html

[almcguirejr]

Calvin's bench last night consisted of 9 guys with a total of 151 minutes of Varsity action.  They have combined for 30 ponts in their playing time.

Player     Varsity Minutes                   Varsity Pts
Powell               0
Waters              7                                   0
Haverdink          0
Snikkers            0
Capel               10                                  3
Campbell           64                                 12
Schuster           70                                 15
DeBoer              0
De Young           0

[oldknight]

The Detroit News has an article on the upcoming Calvin hoops season, focusing on John Mantel.

http://detnews.com/article/20091111/SPORTS0203/911110356/1133/Mantel--Calvin-eager-to-get-back-at-Hope

[OC_SID]

I believe that there are four games involving MIAA teams on opening day ...

Comets open at home against John Carroll ... Game time is 1 pm ... You can follow the game via livestats at:

http://www.olivetcollege.edu/athletics/livestats/mbasketball/

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Gary Morrison, Olivet Men's Golf coach and former basketball coach,  is retiring:

http://www.olivetcollege.edu/sports_news/news.php?id=2166

[ScotsFan]

I believe that there are four games involving MIAA teams on opening day ...

Comets open at home against John Carroll ... Game time is 1 pm ... You can follow the game via livestats at:

http://www.olivetcollege.edu/athletics/livestats/mbasketball/

Albion is hosting Wooster as well at 3 pm.

Here is a link to Wooster's Schedule which has a link to find Live Audio for the game if anyone is interested.