MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[calvin_grad]

Its hard for me to even comprehend how a  team who won the conference title so convincingly didn't receive the league MVP and  at the very least another player on the first team.

We could just make the MIAA first team Hope's starting 5 plus MM since the league was such a runaway.  Would that work?   

Other Hope posters have nailed it.  Hope was marked by overall great balance and depth.

[hoopdreams]

What made this team "special" was its selflessness.  They did whatever it took to be successful. They worked together and supported one another. When one struggled, another rose to the challenge.  When many in the stands and on this very board thought the season was over after Peter was lost, then Andy, then Jared and Corey, they came together.  When many thought they would struggle after a challenging start( a .500 team) and were called " one of the worst defensive teams in recent Hope history" or the "worst defensive team in the MIAA" they found a way to win and become, in my eyes, a pretty impressive defensive squad.  Yes, the stats would support that they were statistically not a great team on D but they won and that's all that matters.

6 points away from being 25-3, without Bunn and Vennema??? I'll take it.  22-6 with a regular season title and conference tourney title? I'll take it.

Will and David would both give up any personal glory this weekend for an opportunity to play next weekend, as would anyone on the roster.

[Dutch_Man]

And in those 14 conference games, Bowser led his team to a landslide MIAA conference title with 3 games remaining, all the while averaging 21.5 ppg. From my research, he is the most deserving MVP of any Hope player in the last 5 years. 

Thats a bold claim for the last 5 years. That is stacking him up against Stephen Cramer (MIAA Champ), Marcus Vanderheide (MIAA Champ) and Jesse Reimink (Calvin MIAA Champ).

Statistically speaking, Reimink and Bowser are very close. Reimink seems to have the edge in Stats but Bowser gets the MIAA Championship.

                    PPG   Reb   AST   STL   BLK
Reimink - MIAA 21.1    7.1    2.6   1.9   0.7
Bowser - MIAA   21.5    5.7   1.5   1.6   0.5

Overall, I love the way that Bowser has stepped up this year. His statistics are great, helped guide his team to the MIAA Championship and MIAA Tournament Championship. I just Hope that he shows the ability to take over an NCAA tournament game like the names above did in years past!

[almcguirejr]

KVS was at the Civic Center last night to watch Grand Rapids Christian guard Drake Harris.  I've heard Harris may be a "soft" verbal for the 2014 class.

[HopeConvert]

KVS was at the Civic Center last night to watch Grand Rapids Christian guard Drake Harris.  I've heard Harris may be a "soft" verbal for the 2014 class.

Good one. Drake Harris is going DI. Justin Crow is a possibility however. His dad works at Calvin, and also played professional basketball in Europe. He was Grove City's all-time leading scorer at the time of his graduation:

http://www2.gcc.edu/sports/Hall%20of%20Fame/0708crow.htm

Having played ball against Bob, and since I golf with him regularly, I can tell you that's a good gene pool.  On the other hand, Justin's mom's brother teaches at Hope, so you never know....

[almcguirejr]

KVS was at the Civic Center last night to watch Grand Rapids Christian guard Drake Harris.  I've heard Harris may be a "soft" verbal for the 2014 class.

Good one. Drake Harris is going DI. Justin Crow is a possibility however. His dad works at Calvin, and also played professional basketball in Europe. He was Grove City's all-time leading scorer at the time of his graduation:

http://www2.gcc.edu/sports/Hall%20of%20Fame/0708crow.htm

Having played ball against Bob, and since I golf with him regularly, I can tell you that's a good gene pool.  On the other hand, Justin's mom's brother teaches at Hope, so you never know....

Oh yeah, burst my bubble on Harris and then try to serve me a plate of Crow.

[GoKnights68]

KVS was at the Civic Center last night to watch Grand Rapids Christian guard Drake Harris.  I've heard Harris may be a "soft" verbal for the 2014 class.

I admit, you almost had me there for a second  I'd like to see KVS out-recruit the other D1 coaches that are after Harris such as Tom Izzo   

I guess the 2014-2015 MIAA season is a pretty far off thing to think about.

[GoKnights68]

KVS was at the Civic Center last night to watch Grand Rapids Christian guard Drake Harris.  I've heard Harris may be a "soft" verbal for the 2014 class.

Good one. Drake Harris is going DI. Justin Crow is a possibility however. His dad works at Calvin, and also played professional basketball in Europe. He was Grove City's all-time leading scorer at the time of his graduation:

http://www2.gcc.edu/sports/Hall%20of%20Fame/0708crow.htm

Having played ball against Bob, and since I golf with him regularly, I can tell you that's a good gene pool.  On the other hand, Justin's mom's brother teaches at Hope, so you never know....

Does your swing ever get distracted by Bob's mustache?



Justin is a real good ball-player, though.  Similar style and athleticism to current Calvin varsity player, David Reitema, although I think Justin may be a better shooter.

[sac]

Here's a look at Efficiency ratings for the Augustana pod.

EFF ratings are points per 100 possessions.


Offense

Hope	112.6
Hanover	110.6
Augustana	105.2
Webster	103.0

Hope is among the top 15 or so in the D3 field offensively.  Webster and Augustana appear to be slightly below the average

Defense

Webster	87.8
Augustana	91.7
Hope	98.9
Hanover	102.5

Defensively Webster is in or near the top 10 Augustana is just outside the top 15 in the field for defense.   Hope and Hanover are below the field average.

Combined

Webster	215.1
Hope	213.7
Augustana	213.5
Hanover	208.2

These kinds of ratings are really only useful when you take into account schedule strength.  Masseyratings.com has its faults but its really all we have.

Schedule played ratings

Augustana	#40
Hanover	#62
Hope	#67
Webster	#357

If the D3 tournament were a properly seeded national tournament with 4 regions like the D1 tournament.  I think Augustana would be a 3 seed somewhere, Hope a 4 or 5 seed.  Hanover a 6 or 7 seed.  Webster in the 13 to 15 range.   


The raw numbers suggest Webster is a very good team, but the level of competition faced is nowhere near the other 3.  However head to head scores suggest the Augie/Webster game has the potential to be closer than maybe some are anticipating.  Augie should still be a big favorite at home though.  The SLIAC representative has never fared well in the tournament.  Hope looks to be a slight favorite over Hanover.

Augustana and Hope are probably closer to each other than people realize at least statistically.  Hanover is not far behind.  Augustana should be considered the favorite, with the home court making it even more so. 

Hope is the fastest paced team of the four and its by a wide margin.  The Hope/Hanover game looks to be a great clash of styles with a pretty significant difference in possessions per game of nearly 30, one of the widest in the 1st round.  Augustana and Webster are nearly identical in pace, but a full 15 behind Hope.  Either way, the 2nd round game figures to be another clash of styles.

[oldknight]

KVS was at the Civic Center last night to watch Grand Rapids Christian guard Drake Harris.  I've heard Harris may be a "soft" verbal for the 2014 class.

Good one. Drake Harris is going DI. Justin Crow is a possibility however. His dad works at Calvin, and also played professional basketball in Europe. He was Grove City's all-time leading scorer at the time of his graduation:

http://www2.gcc.edu/sports/Hall%20of%20Fame/0708crow.htm

Having played ball against Bob, and since I golf with him regularly, I can tell you that's a good gene pool.  On the other hand, Justin's mom's brother teaches at Hope, so you never know....

Does your swing ever get distracted by Bob's mustache?



Justin is a real good ball-player, though.  Similar style and athleticism to current Calvin varsity player, David Reitema, although I think Justin may be a better shooter.

I suspect firming up a commitment from Tyler Dykstra was a key reason KVS showed up in Holland last night. Tyler is a fine talent and would be an excellent pickup for the Knights.

[scottiedawg]

All this talk of Bowser has caused me to reminisce about two unbelievable players I got to see during my four years at Hope. The four games Stephen Cramer put together against Chicago, Calvin, Carroll and WashU were just special--it took a special team to end Hope's run that year.  He was unstoppable.

And a quick glance at the 08-09 year when Jesse Reimink led Hope in scoring in all but 4 games conjures up memories of simply the best leader I saw play D3 basketball since 2005. Despite being double and triple teamed all year Jesse willed that team to the absolute best record they were going to have. It was a joy watching him go to work on the court every game.

[AndersDY]

Best of luck to the Dutchmen this weekend, all of us are MIAA-ers in tourney time! 

I have to think that if by some chance, Hope manages to go on a 5 game winning streak, this sentiment would be seriously put to the test in game #6. Not that I expect this to be the year for that sort of run.

While reminiscing, scottie's reference to Cramer brought to mind the prior Hope great that Cramer reminded me of, which was Joel Holstege. Though it was in a loss to the "Division III" champions, Holstege putting up something like 39 (??) on Rowan as a Soph was quite a memorable performance as well. That might be the greatest individual game that I've personally seen in the NCAAs from a Hope player.

I picked up my tickets and booked a room today so Hopefully I'll see some other posters in the Quad Cities this weekend.

[pointlem]

Best of luck to the Dutchmen this weekend, all of us are MIAA-ers in tourney time! 

While reminiscing, scottie's reference to Cramer brought to mind the prior Hope great that Cramer reminded me of, which was Joel Holstege. Though it was in a loss to the "Division III" champions, Holstege putting up something like 39 (??) on Rowan as a Soph was quite a memorable performance as well. That might be the greatest individual game that I've personally seen in the NCAAs from a Hope player.

I was at that game, also, AndersDY, and likewise remember it as the greatest-ever performance I've witnessed by a Hope player.  Joel's 39 points and Duane Bosma's 24 points that night nearly carried Hope to victory against a Rowan team loaded with DI and DII players who had used up their eligibility (including one who had started for Georgetown).  Joel was the best player on the floor that night. 

In the aftermath, DIII passed "the Rowan rule" to prevent this from happening again.

Another memory of that weekend.  In the semi-final game, IWU lost on a last second tip-in to Rowan, depriving IWU and Hope fans of a liberal arts DIII final between two kindred programs.  That was the game that we all (Ypsi, were you around then?) wanted. 

This also reminds me that the great Hope teams of the past have featured, as that team did, a great post player who could score, rebound, and draw the defense away from the perimeter, and a great guard.  Lacking that sort of 6' 9" presence inside (a male counterpart to Snikkers or Verkaik), I see this year's Hope men's team as having achieved what it has by dint of grit and team spirit.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Best of luck to the Dutchmen this weekend, all of us are MIAA-ers in tourney time! 

While reminiscing, scottie's reference to Cramer brought to mind the prior Hope great that Cramer reminded me of, which was Joel Holstege. Though it was in a loss to the "Division III" champions, Holstege putting up something like 39 (??) on Rowan as a Soph was quite a memorable performance as well. That might be the greatest individual game that I've personally seen in the NCAAs from a Hope player.

I was at that game, also, AndersDY, and likewise remember it as the greatest-ever performance I've witnessed by a Hope player.  Joel's 39 points and Duane Bosma's 24 points that night nearly carried Hope to victory against a Rowan team loaded with DI and DII players who had used up their eligibility (including one who had started for Georgetown).  Joel was the best player on the floor that night. 

In the aftermath, DIII passed "the Rowan rule" to prevent this from happening again.

Another memory of that weekend.  In the semi-final game, IWU lost on a last second tip-in to Rowan, depriving IWU and Hope fans of a liberal arts DIII final between two kindred programs.  That was the game that we all (Ypsi, were you around then?) wanted. 

This also reminds me that the great Hope teams of the past have featured, as that team did, a great post player who could score, rebound, and draw the defense away from the perimeter, and a great guard.  Lacking that sort of 6' 9" presence inside (a male counterpart to Snikkers or Verkaik), I see this year's Hope men's team as having achieved what it has by dint of grit and team spirit.

Not physically, but that is when I got hooked on d3hoops.com.

If we could have beaten Rowan (so close!), I liked our matchups against Catholic.

And showing my loyalty to d3, their guy who almost single-handedly killed my Titans later played (briefly) for the Pistons - and I rooted for him!!  (It is driving me crazy, but I cannot recall his name.)

[Pat Coleman]

Ypsi is talking about 2001, although it was William Paterson.
Pointlem is talking about 1996.