MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[almcguirejr]

Calvin's 3 most experienced players Rodts, Veltema, Mantel a combined 1-7 from the floor and 5-8 from the line in the second half.  7 points. 

[sac]

This is just one of those games where there's too much to write about, too many thoughts swirling in my head to coherently express them in written form.  So some bullets........

---Hope turned the 3pt shooting around in their favor this matchup, they've been better the last 2 games and it carried over one more afternoon.  If Hope can continue to be solid from the outside at least showing a threat they can be tough down the stretch.  I really liked seeing 5 different guys hitting 3's and Logan Neil and Ty Tanis weren't one of them.

-- both teams have improved quite a bit on defense since the first meeting.  I think Hope seemed to have to put a lot of effort just to score......infact both teams did.  Calvin looked to be trying to deny Bunn the ball and when he did have the ball make him give it up.  Somehow he got his 14, but thats as 'out' of the offense as I've seen him in the few games I've seen this year.  I think the job Hope did on Veltema and Mantel in the 2nd half speaks for itself.

-- Two great games back-to-back from Will Bowser, maybe breaking out of that shell a little.  That was how he looked to me back at the Oakland exhibition.

--These rivalry games can be tough to watch, hard to bare sometimes.......just so intense.  But at 1:25 to go tied at 61-61 there wasn't anywhere else I could think that I'd rather be, and I was enjoying the moment.  Just consistently awesome stuff from these two.

[HopeConvert]

Another classic Rivalry game. As always, I enjoyed the opportunity to spend some time chatting with some of Calvin's posters, and then root for the Dutchmen in a tenacious game. I thought pointlem's comments were spot on, but I have a few things to add. After a game like this both teams can look at the stat sheet and say "Well, if we had done this better we would have won, or won by more." But you can't assume all the other factors would remain constant. If Calvin had hit their normal free throw percentage they may win the next meeting, but only if you assume they still get (excepting the fouls in the last minute) 8 times as many free throws. Granted, Snikkers was aggressive going to the hole, but so was Bunn, who never got a single call. Hope also had a lot of turnovers today. Perhaps that might not happen next time. The "if only" game is ultimately pointless and has no predictive value.

OK is right when he notes what a gutty performance Nelis turned in today. If only everyone played that hard and with that much heart. Bowser had one of his best games, I thought. Huge tip-in to give Hope the late lead.

I disagree with Al about Calvin playing soft. I was sitting courtside and thought it was one of the more aggressive performances I've seen from a Calvin team. They played hard. Hope's defense in the last 5 minutes was stifling.  

Great win for the Dutchmen today, and fun atmosphere in the DeVos. I don't know how sports spectating could be any better.

[GoKnights68]

nt.


Too bad the Knights couldn't win with their real JV team - had to bring down a varsity player so you could win the jv game

Woo there.  It is just JV.

[Happy Calvin Guy]

Congrats to Hope today on a great win.  Two things I'll mention:

1.  I don't understand the mindset that team fouls should somehow equalize.  Calvin does a lot of things well to gain an advantage here, i.e. move their feet well on defense and establish position, and take the ball aggressively to the hole.  The refs should not have it as an objective to equalize team fouls any more than they should have it an objective to equalize out-of-bounds calls.  A foul is a foul and I don't think either team had much to complain about today from the officials.  Hope fans, why not just enjoy this win?  Reading through a number of the posts from the Hope crowd, the slogan should be "Hope plays, Hope complains about the refs" (win or lose).  

2.  I think this Wed's game at Olivet is HUGE.  First, it's the most lose-able game on the remaining slate for Calvin--Olivet coming off a big win vs Albion, Calvin coming off a heartbreaking loss at Hope, and Albion looking a lot weaker than we thought two weeks ago.  We all know about Olivet's talent, and road games tend to be tougher for Calvin.  If Calvin wins, we keep the inside track for hosting the league tourney, but also take one step closer to earning a Pool C bid if the tourney doesn't work out.  If we lose to Olivet and then somehow have to play in DeVos for the MIAA tourney, it could seriously endanger both an AQ and a Pool C bid.  No to minimize the upcoming games at Albion and Adrian, but we CANNOT lose focus this week at Olivet!  

The league race got a lot more interesting today, again congrats to GVW and the Dutchmen on the win and to both teams for another classic.

[GoKnights68]

I thought Calvin lost today because they played soft.  Calvin had so many opportunities to score in close and we're weak when we get to the basket.  We don't anticipate body contact and give ourselves a chance to make a 3 point play. JM goes right around Venema to start the game and misses a layup.  I thought that set a bad tone right from the start.  Our inside play wasn't good.  I don't think Will Bowser is very effective when he's away from the basket but we don't ever box the guy out and he eats our lunch.  I'm disappointed in how Calvin played.  I thought after the way they fought in the Albion game last week we would be stronger.  Calvin had a chance to really put Hope and everyone else in the league away today and I don't think we came out and played with toughness or confidence that was necessary to win.

+ k.

In some ways, we did play really good defense, but we were soft when it came to defensive rebounding.  Hope players would knocked it right out of our players hands whenever I thought Calvin got the rebound.  We also let Hope get some really clutch threes just when I thought Calvin was going to get the momentum going in their favor.

Calvin really needs to practice their fast-breaks btw.

I know composure is a good thing, but sometimes I think Calvin can be playing a little bit too relaxed out there.

[HopeConvert]

Congrats to Hope today on a great win.  Two things I'll mention:

1.  I don't understand the mindset that team fouls should somehow equalize.  Calvin does a lot of things well to gain an advantage here, i.e. move their feet well on defense and establish position, and take the ball aggressively to the hole.  The refs should not have it as an objective to equalize team fouls any more than they should have it an objective to equalize out-of-bounds calls.  A foul is a foul and I don't think either team had much to complain about today from the officials.  Hope fans, why not just enjoy this win?  Reading through a number of the posts from the Hope crowd, the slogan should be "Hope plays, Hope complains about the refs" (win or lose).  

2.  I think this Wed's game at Olivet is HUGE.  First, it's the most lose-able game on the remaining slate for Calvin--Olivet coming off a big win vs Albion, Calvin coming off a heartbreaking loss at Hope, and Albion looking a lot weaker than we thought two weeks ago.  We all know about Olivet's talent, and road games tend to be tougher for Calvin.  If Calvin wins, we keep the inside track for hosting the league tourney, but also take one step closer to earning a Pool C bid if the tourney doesn't work out.  If we lose to Olivet and then somehow have to play in DeVos for the MIAA tourney, it could seriously endanger both an AQ and a Pool C bid.  No to minimize the upcoming games at Albion and Adrian, but we CANNOT lose focus this week at Olivet!  

The league race got a lot more interesting today, again congrats to GVW and the Dutchmen on the win and to both teams for another classic.

So you're claiming the charging call on Nelis at the end of the half was a result of Veltema moving his feet well on defense? Um, ok.

I agree that the officials are under no obligation to equalize the number of fouls. They are, however, under an obligation to make calls with consistency, and that they failed to do today. Miserably. I can't account for why. I think Kelser and Smith are typically pretty decent refs. Kovalich is another story.

[GoKnights68]

Lost in all the hoopla and bickering about stripes was that Calvin scored one FG in the final 4:13, John Mantel had zero points in the final 9 minutes and Matt Veltema had only 2 FT's........maybe a little bit of good D from the Dutchmen when it counted.

Those stats sum up how frustrating the end of the game was to watch from a Calvin' fans point of view.

The Knights just didn't seem to know what to do with the ball in those final few minutes of play.  They were looking for any break-down in Hope's defense and it didn't happen.

The game reminded me a little bit of the first 2008 Hope/Calvin that was played at Knollcrest, where Calvin's offense just went dead the final four minutes.

[sac]

Congrats to Hope today on a great win.  Two things I'll mention:

1.  I don't understand the mindset that team fouls should somehow equalize.  Calvin does a lot of things well to gain an advantage here, i.e. move their feet well on defense and establish position, and take the ball aggressively to the hole.  The refs should not have it as an objective to equalize team fouls any more than they should have it an objective to equalize out-of-bounds calls.  A foul is a foul and I don't think either team had much to complain about today from the officials.  Hope fans, why not just enjoy this win?  Reading through a number of the posts from the Hope crowd, the slogan should be "Hope plays, Hope complains about the refs" (win or lose).  

A quick scan of posts that have complaining about officiating or a call  Hope-5 Calvin-4

[sac]

Lost in all the hoopla and bickering about stripes was that Calvin scored one FG in the final 4:13, John Mantel had zero points in the final 9 minutes and Matt Veltema had only 2 FT's........maybe a little bit of good D from the Dutchmen when it counted.

Those stats sum up how frustrating the end of the game was to watch from a Calvin' fans point of view.

The Knights just didn't seem to know what to do with the ball in those final few minutes of play.  They were looking for any break-down in Hope's defense and it didn't happen.

The game reminded me a little bit of the first 2008 Hope/Calvin that was played at Knollcrest, where Calvin's offense just went dead the final four minutes.

Both teams had a couple opportunities  to seize control of the game, ........Hope missed 4 shots with a chance to expand a 6 point lead around the 6 minute mark of the 1st, and the 5 point swing at the end of the 1st on Nelis' charge followed by Rodts 3, that was a 5 point lead heading for 7 that turned into 2...........and Calvin had a 3 point lead and Matt Veltema shooting an open 3 that he'll make most of the time that rimmed out with a little over 3 minutes to go.  That was followed by Peter Bunn's 3 that tied the game for the 10th time at 61.

I think the largest run of the game was about 7 points.......and the largest deficit was 7 which lasted all of :32 seconds and was back to back treys by Nelis for Hope and Rodts for Calvin.

The number of momentum killing shots for both teams was astounding.

[AndersDY]

I forgot to ask earlier, but at some point between the JV and varsity games, I noticed a screen put up on the scoreboard saying "Welcome D3Hoops.com." Was there a special delegation from the D3Hoops hall of famers that came in for the game, or was there a live audio or video stream? Or did they just know that a good number of us frequenters of the site would be in attendance?

[Flying Dutch Fan]

1.  I don't understand the mindset that team fouls should somehow equalize.  Calvin does a lot of things well to gain an advantage here, i.e. move their feet well on defense and establish position, and take the ball aggressively to the hole.  The refs should not have it as an objective to equalize team fouls any more than they should have it an objective to equalize out-of-bounds calls.  A foul is a foul and I don't think either team had much to complain about today from the officials.  Hope fans, why not just enjoy this win?  Reading through a number of the posts from the Hope crowd, the slogan should be "Hope plays, Hope complains about the refs" (win or lose).  

I don't either, and I also don't think anyone posting here is saying it should.  What I do expect is some consistency in the officiating.  Call every touch a foul - fine.  Blow your whistle only if there is blood - fine.  Not call it the same way for both teams - absolutely not fine.  Now I'm not saying that it was that diverse in the calls yesterday, but it was absolutely inconsistent.  Yesterday, I think the inconsistent calls that went against Hope gave Calvin an advantage in the game - and that's unfortunate.

[pointlem]

1.  I don't understand the mindset that team fouls should somehow equalize.  

Happy Calvin Guy, I concur, and have had the same thought myself when seeing people complain about unequal foul calls.  It's not the refs' task to equalize fouls, but to call fouls.  My observation about Calvin's 23 to 3 free throw shooting advantage with 1 minute to go was not a complaint about the reffing, but rather simply noting an asymmetrical oddity of the game.  

[OC_SID]

I believe that I heard there was a person from D3hoops.com there to do an Internet broadcast ... If I had to guess, it was the same person, who I was told about doing the first game at Calvin.

[Knightmare]

I gotta say the complaints about reffing from BOTH sides are getting REALLY old.  Yesterday's game was reffed just fine, the refs neither won OR lost the game for either team and didn't alter the complexion of the game, the teams set the tone of the game not the refs.  In a game this highly contested with this much emotion and energy there will ALWAYS be some calls that could've gone either way or were missed and these type of calls happen for both teams.  If you go watch any NBA, NCAA Div. I, II, or III game reffed by great refs there are still going to be some calls that could've gone either way.  The only call that I have heard repeatedly mentioned is the charge on Nelis at the end of the 1st half.  If that's the worst that happened in the game for either team then that's a pretty good game.  Any basketball fan knows that charges versus blocking fouls can be some of the hardest and most borderline calls there are.  Bottom line, I think we've got too many armchair refs that think they can call a better game from the stands and really have no experience of how tough it is to call a perfect game (hint: a perfect game has yet to be called since Dr. Naismith invented the game).

Alright off my soapbox now, Hope won and deserved to win as they hit the key shots and made the key plays down the stretch of a tight game and Calvin didn't.  Now Calvin just needs to bounce back in a very important and tough game against Olivet and they'll be just fine.

Alright gotta go, the wife is reminding me to get ready for church, I think I'll make sure to pray for a Calvin victory Wednesday while I'm there  .