MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[hoopdreams]

apparently the Sentinel's Alan Babbitt is not a frequent visitor to this forum.  His #1 Key to Hope being successful was " feeding the hot hand".. EVERYBODY knows that theory doesn't really exist, although Snuggs would have had to go about 0 -30 the next game for his season average to come to fruition over a 3 game stretch....

[section7]

Gosh this one stings................

Brings back very, very bad memories..............

I take you back to my sophomore year at Hope (1988), we travel to Ohio Northern and down Muskingum 80-75 and then have a double OT heart-breaker where we lose 110-107 to Ohio Northern at their place.

I will not sleep much tonight thinking about tonight's game and the ugly nightmares it returned to my mind from the winter of 1988

[section7]

In the NCAA tourney, a win is a win is a win, the goal is survive and advance..............

with that said, Hope will need to play their best game of the year tomorrow night to eliminate IWU.

Snuggs will not have 37 pts tomorrow, I guarantee #32 for IWU (Davis) will make sure of it.

NVA and LN need to be involved tomorrow night for a Hope plays, Hope wins game

Well, my guarantee was garbage.  Snuggs you were unreal this weekend.  Hard to believe he goes for 37 and 40 and they don't get to play next weekend.

[scottiedawg]

Gosh this one stings................

Brings back very, very bad memories..............

I take you back to my sophomore year at Hope (1988), we travel to Ohio Northern and down Muskingum 80-75 and then have a double OT heart-breaker where we lose 110-107 to Ohio Northern at their place.

I will not sleep much tonight thinking about tonight's game and the ugly nightmares it returned to my mind from the winter of 1988

You are very right...this loss feels much different than the ones to Wittenberg, WashU, WashU, Platteville, St. Norbert, and Augustana. (Maybe its because I wasn't able to see this one in person). The bar of expectations makes this one hurt quite a lot more.

[formerd3db]

Frickin' FREE THROWS!!!   

I hate to say this, however, Exactly as I mentioned that it would come down to i.e. free throws earlier this week.  Very unfortunate and disappointing.

[section7]

Congrats to Hope on their victory last night and good luck Saturday and in the NCAA Tourney.

A concern of mine throughout the year has been 3 areas --- Rebounds, FT Shooting and 3's made.

The Dutchmen are a very talented team and a team that can go on incredible runs that most (maybe all, we shall see) D-3 teams cannot contend with and/or overcome.

However, if the Dutchmen are derailed at some point between today and the Div III finals, I believe one or more of the areas above will be their downfall.

Let's look at the 2nd Half of the MIAA season and these categories:

Opponent                     Rebounds                   FT Shooting           3's Made

Adrian                     43 vs 45 (28 offensive)            20-23                         6
Albion                      37 vs 22                               14-19                         5
Kzoo                       41 vs 31                                 6-13                         3
Calvin                      29 vs 43 (19 offensive)            20-26                        7
Olivet                       51 vs 31                               14-21                        3
Trine                         43 vs 30                               7-12                         4
Calvin                       34 vs 39 (13 offensive)            20-33                       9

Some things that stick out, against the teams Hope should be, they clearly had the rebounding advantage.  Against the #2 and in my opinion #3 team in the league, they lost the rebounding advantage all 3 games and gave up significant offensive rebounds.  My guess is any team Hope plays in the Div III tourney will be at least the caliber of Adrian and/or Calvin.

In regards to FT shooting, in those 3 games where they lost the rebounding battle, they made 20 FT's and with the exception of last night, at a nice %, greater than 75%.  However, in their last 3 games, they are 41-66 or 62.1%.  In a close, NCAA tournament game, 62%, will most likely lead to you going home.

Finally, 3 pointers made, have been an area of concern for me all year.  In their regular season, Hope has been able to neutralize their lack of 3 pointers due to the slashing ability of Krombeen, Overway, Bunn, etc.  However, as they progress in the tournament, I would expect this to be a more and more difficult task.  That is why (as mentioned by several on here), that the return of Logan's 3-stroke is important and clearly hitting 9 last night is a point in the right direction.

I believe for Hope to "win it all", they must win at least 2 of these 3 categories in each game.  History shows at all levels of basketball, if you can win the rebounding battle and shot a high % of FT's (75% or greater), you have a great chance of winning.  As the games get more physical in the tourney and quality of opponent improves, this will be something to watch for Hope.

Those are my 2 cents.........dissect, agree and critque as you like.  I wish Coach Neil, Daav and the entire Hope program the best wishes..........................Hang a Banner!

I know you have highlighted this also hoopdreams, but here is my post from awhile back:

Tonight

IWU 49 to 41 rebound advantage (19 to 9 offensive)

IWU 35 of 47, 74.5% (after starting the game 2-7)
Hope 20 of 35, 57.1% (16-30 in regulation, one more make sure would have been nice)

IWU, 9 three's (Zimmer 7 by himself)
Hope 5 three's (2 each for Snuggs and Colton, 0-4 for Krombeen)

I predicted Hope needed to win 2 out of 3 categories (especially against more physical teams) to advance in the tourney.

Tonight at Devos, Hope loses all 3 categories.

IWU plays next weekend

[almcguirejr]

Tonight's IWU/Hope game was one of the best games that I have seen.  The ebb and flow of the game was incredible.  IWU down 15-2 early and clawing their way back into by the half.  I would not have believed Snuggerud would be able to put up 40 against IWU's size and strength.  He was incredible.  Jordan Zimmer for IWU 7-14  beyond the arc.  He had 2 quick 3's in the 2nd overtime that really put Hope in a hole and Hope almost escaped from it. 

David Krombeen seemed to struggle both nights.  He did not play to the MVP level that he displayed all year.  He was decent,  he wasn't outstanding.

I did not understand Hope's strategy of putting the ball in Overway's hands at the end of regulation.  Neither Krombeen or Snuggerud touched the ball in the last 14 seconds. 

The unsung player of the weekend for me was IWU's Stephen Rudnicki.  He hit some big shots last night against UWSP and again tonight.  He was just solid off the bench.  IWU goes 9 deep and they all contributed tonight.

It was a great game in a great atmosphere. 

[scottiedawg]

David Krombeen seemed to struggle both nights.  He did not play to the MVP level that he displayed all year.  He was decent,  he wasn't outstanding.

Very true....tough that it happened now.

[Gregory Sager]

Snuggs was simply fantastic offensively.  It's been a while since I've seen someone on the floor who knew he couldn't be stopped...from anywhere.

Not entirely true. IWU at least slowed him down by sending him to the line, where he went 10-15. He's a .743 FT shooter on the year, so his .667 added to the carnage at the charity stripe for the Dutch tonight.

Still, he played a fantastic game. A 77-point weekend is one heckuva performance for a player under any circumstances; in the D3 tourney, it's breathtaking.

David Krombeen seemed to struggle both nights.  He did not play to the MVP level that he displayed all year.  He was decent,  he wasn't outstanding.

I plead guilty. I drafted him for my tournament fantasy team, and that's proved to be the kiss of death for just about everybody I picked.

[hoopdreams]

I understand what you're saying about Nate at the FT line but those fouls weren't necessarily strategic but rather out of necessity.  I did like Hope extending the game as long as possible by committing quick fouls and forcing IWU to win it at the line, which they did.

My guess with the ball in Coltons' hands was for him to get into the paint off the dribble and either attack the glass or dump it off.  After IWU repeatedly gave him a 7 foot cushion, option 2 could have been..... the guy scoring at will? the 5th year senior?

As eluded earlier, Hope's season long attacking off the dribble by their stable of guards was really neutralized in both the half court and transition game- hence the ineffectiveness of the league MVP.  Knocking down a couple more 3's may have opened up slightly wider lanes to the hoop for all.

Let the Kruis-NVA debates resume!!!!! Hope would have been better off with undersized Adickerson or Nelis this weekend, there's no debate on this

Kudos to section 7 and his pregame breakdown/ concern..last week.  Unfortunately, you nailed it.

Another key stat....key reserve totals 1 point in 40 minutes of play over two games

[almcguirejr]

Hope needed either NVA or Holwerda on the floor.  19 minutes from NVA isn't enough in a 50 minute game.  I thought Holwerda was effective defensively but you can't commit your fifth foul away from the ball.

Logan Neil had a good MIAA tournament last weekend and struggled this weekend.  1 point in 39 minutes this weekend.  He played with zero confidence the last 2 nights.

[AndersDY]

Given the streak of beating #1's mentioned here prior to the game, I felt some irony creeping in as the Dew Crew brought out the "this is our house" cheer. Sure enough, IWU does it again on the favorite's home floor.

FTs definitely got us and I think we'll have some Jordan Zimmer nightmares similar to the images of Drayer or Veldhouse standing open for 3. Once the game was over, that last possession of regulation is definitely the flashback moment where we had the prime opportunity and did not end up with a quality shot.

Did we set a tourney record for personal fouls in that game? I won't say the officiating was slanted either way, I sure felt the IWU fans' pain on some of the calls against them too, but I believe someone wished for inconspicuous officials prior to the game - we definitely did not get that.

[knights2000]

Absolutely monster game by Snuggs, and kudos to his teammates for finding him time and again in a good position to score.  With the surge of the last few games, Nate now has 964 career points.  Duplicate last night today and he'd be at 1001.  Not sure if Hope has ever had 3 players get to the 1000 point mark in a single season - Snuggs would join Krombeen and Bunn.

Congratulations, although I'm sure he would have rather had the W than that honor tonight.

In the NCAA tourney, a win is a win is a win, the goal is survive and advance..............

with that said, Hope will need to play their best game of the year tomorrow night to eliminate IWU.

Snuggs will not have 37 pts tomorrow, I guarantee #32 for IWU (Davis) will make sure of it.

NVA and LN need to be involved tomorrow night for a Hope plays, Hope wins game

Oops. 

[HopeConvert]

apparently the Sentinel's Alan Babbitt is not a frequent visitor to this forum.  His #1 Key to Hope being successful was " feeding the hot hand".. EVERYBODY knows that theory doesn't really exist, although Snuggs would have had to go about 0 -30 the next game for his season average to come to fruition over a 3 game stretch....

No one disputes whether the theory exists. The dispute is whether the evidence supports the theory.

[hoopdreams]

the evidence is...Snuggs was hot as f this weekend, and he certaining didn't shoot like that all season.  Hence the overused and underappreciated use of the term " hot hand"- which is used all the time, during all levels of play by us common folk (also known as basketball fans who don't try to over analyze everything).  Maybe Nate should have touched his teammates with those magical hands or let them rub his head or something....