MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[HopeConvert]

Erstwhile Calvinist Abraham Lincoln weighs in on the Hope/Calvin rivalry (in response to hoopdreams' desire they play 25 times a year):

"The will of God prevails. In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be wrong. God can not be for, and against the same thing at the same time. In the present [battle between Hope and Calvin] it is quite possible that God's purpose is something different from the purpose of either [team] - and yet the human instrumentalities, working just as they do, are of the best adaptation to effect His purpose. I am almost ready to say this is probably true - that God wills this contest, and wills that it shall not end yet. By his mere quiet power, on the minds of the now contestants, He could have [effected His purpose] without a human contest. Yet the contest began. And having begun He could give the final victory to either side any day. Yet the contest proceeds."

[AndersDY]

I hope Calvin does get in.........the finished product of these two teams has turned out pretty good.  I think if both teams could go back and replay the first 10 games of the season, the results would probably be a little more favorable.

That might be interesting to see, but I sure thought that this Hope team ended up looking a lot different than I would have expected at the beginning of the year. Back in Nov/Dec, I recall noticing that we had a lineup where 3 freshman were contributing significantly which gave the impression we might see noticeable year long improvement if a significant part of our lineup was in their first year. As it turned out, the 3 freshman started seeing less significant time and the team did not end up being as good as I thought they might get earlier in the year. It was certainly the shallowest team I can recall Hope putting out there; when has a GVW Hope team ever played games where there are 2, 3, or even 0 points from the bench?

Though the team didn't turn out to have the sort of year that gets them highly ranked nationally, we certainly have seem some flashes of what they can do though. I imagine Wheaton doesn't want us somehere near them in the final brackets.

[HopeConvert]

hoopdreams: I too noticed the long hug between Davs and Tanis, and was quite touched by it, as the one between Matt and Logan after the latter cut his portion of the net. I'm happy for Ty. His 3-pointers really were a turning point in the game.

[HopeConvert]

I hope Calvin does get in.........the finished product of these two teams has turned out pretty good.  I think if both teams could go back and replay the first 10 games of the season, the results would probably be a little more favorable.

That might be interesting to see, but I sure thought that this Hope team ended up looking a lot different than I would have expected at the beginning of the year. Back in Nov/Dec, I recall noticing that we had a lineup where 3 freshman were contributing significantly which gave the impression we might see noticeable year long improvement if a significant part of our lineup was in their first year. As it turned out, the 3 freshman started seeing less significant time and the team did not end up being as good as I thought they might get earlier in the year. It was certainly the shallowest team I can recall Hope putting out there; when has a GVW Hope team ever played games where there are 2, 3, or even 0 points from the bench?

Though the team didn't turn out to have the sort of year that gets them highly ranked nationally, we certainly have seem some flashes of what they can do though. I imagine Wheaton doesn't want us somehere near them in the final brackets.

If Wheaton gets in, which is far from a done deal.

[sac]

Erstwhile Calvinist Abraham Lincoln weighs in on the Hope/Calvin rivalry (in response to hoopdreams' desire they play 25 times a year):

"The will of God prevails. In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be wrong. God can not be for, and against the same thing at the same time. In the present [battle between Hope and Calvin] it is quite possible that God's purpose is something different from the purpose of either [team] - and yet the human instrumentalities, working just as they do, are of the best adaptation to effect His purpose. I am almost ready to say this is probably true - that God wills this contest, and wills that it shall not end yet. By his mere quiet power, on the minds of the now contestants, He could have [effected His purpose] without a human contest. Yet the contest began. And having begun He could give the final victory to either side any day. Yet the contest proceeds."

..........and with that

its Hope 90 Calvin 86

Hope 11,913 points
Calvin 11, 814 points

[Titan Q]

With that said though eventually the criteria does get down to overall record.......

I'm not sure that is true, sac.  I think most Pool C's are selected without overall record ever being considered.

[calvin_grad]

One comment about the fatigue factor brought up earlier.  One of the reasons Hope looked "fresher" in my opinion was the fact that even though the starters have logged big minutes, their last 4 games prior to last night were against adrian and trine, 2 time hoarding offenses that really didn't force Hope to play hard every second defensively.  When a team holds onto the ball for 25-32 seconds each posession, it's like dozens of mini timeouts during play. 

And before last night, Calvin had 2 of their last 3 against Alma, who also did a lot of standing around.

Maybe Calvin just was a bit more tired, and if that was indeed the case, I would contribute that more to having to come from back 14 points down 2 games in a row.

[GoKnights68]

One comment about the fatigue factor brought up earlier.  One of the reasons Hope looked "fresher" in my opinion was the fact that even though the starters have logged big minutes, their last 4 games prior to last night were against adrian and trine, 2 time hoarding offenses that really didn't force Hope to play hard every second defensively.  When a team holds onto the ball for 25-32 seconds each posession, it's like dozens of mini timeouts during play. 

And before last night, Calvin had 2 of their last 3 against Alma, who also did a lot of standing around.

Maybe Calvin just was a bit more tired, and if that was indeed the case, I would contribute that more to having to come from back 14 points down 2 games in a row.

You're right.  I think that definitely didn't help down the stretch of the game.  And like I said before, Hope made the clutch shots in the last few minutes and Calvin didn't.  It was just like the last Calvin/Hope game.

[Dutchmen 4 Life]

I just thought it was great that 1/3 the number of students could outshout the other guys.

It was probably because they did not have "cheat" sheets and therefore could not be on the same page.

[northb]

F and M up by 15 at the half 

[Mr. Ypsi]

F and M up by 15 at the half 

But UT-Dallas trails by a dozen at the half.

[hope81]

Just thinking about the topic of first and second round hosting of games.  The Hope men were ranked 3rd in the Great Lakes region, but #1 John Carroll was defeated in their semis.  #2 Wooster won their tournament.  If Hope were then to move up to #2, I wonder if they have a shot to host.  Since this is an even year, the men have the preference to host first and second round games over the women.  That would be cruel treatment again to Coach Morehouse and his team.

[northb]

F and M up by 15 at the half 

But UT-Dallas trails by a dozen at the half.

F and M's lead down to 1 with 6:52 to go   

[hoopdreams]

You only have to go back 2 years to find a Hope team that received little help scoring from their bench.  They rode their starters, err, seniors the entire tourney and most close/Calvin games.  The 4 frosh at the time played some pretty significant minutes at the begining and watched the minutes evaporate as the season progressed.

Did the freshmen's, minus Jared, diminish as the season progressed because they not work as hard? Did teams gameplan to take them out of the game? GVW has shortened his bench in "big" games in recent memory.  Not that it's the wrong decision, it's just the way its gone.  He generally has more faith in his experienced players

[northb]

F and M by3 with :12 to go