MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[Happy Calvin Guy]

Calvin bench last night: 63 min, 1-11 shooting, 5 pts, 4 reb, 5 TO.

Need a better team effort vs Wheaton today.  Emphasis on effort.

[bojack]

[/quote]Wasn't able to attend the game last night, but if this is the case that Calvin put it in "cruise control" for the second half, Vandestreek needs to go.
[/quote]

Fire Tom Izzo while we are at it...his guys definitely played on cruise control Wednesday. Completely unacceptable...Tom needs to go.

I was there last night and Calvin did play hard all night...they just didn't execute well in the 2nd half and compounded some errors...especially in a two minute stretch when the lead went from 1 to 10...after that they had to grit it out and battle back.

[maroonandgold]

I was there last night and Calvin did play hard all night...they just didn't execute well in the 2nd half and compounded some errors...especially in a two minute stretch when the lead went from 1 to 10...after that they had to grit it out and battle back.

I, too, was there last night and agree with many of the comments that I have read, especially about the energy and effort on the part of Mickey De Vries.  I have been impressed with his speed to the basket and his enthusiasm all year long.  It struck me that he looks a lot stronger than I recall from last year, too.  Did he put on some muscle?  Tyler Kruis had an outstanding game  with most of the shots exactly the type he should be getting.  He really looked to score  when the opportunities arose.  Disappointing that he missed 4 consecutive free throws at an  important stage of the game, but he still was outstanding.  After a great team effort in the first half, it was as if the team forgot how hard they have to work to get good shots and to defend effectively.  While this team has real height advantages and used it well on several occasions, it has a real problem with quickness and that has led to problems in most games.  T J Huizinga and Mickey De Vries are the only players that show much quickness, and I expect that TJ may end up with more playing time for that reason.  Last night he was more effective that a much slower Jordan Mast and had 4 good shots that came from the quickness.  Unfortunately, he missed all 4 and has to learn to finish.   But the coach is bringing them along, and they are showing progress each game.  He said before the season that this team has a  lot to learn in this part of the year, and that is exactly what is happening.  The thing I notice most about this team is that they really have to  work hard to get good shots due to their overall lack of quickness, and when they do good things happen.  When they forget, the opponents seem much stronger.

[knightvision]

It was fun to see a closely contested game last night between two solid teams.  Calvin's front court strength showed itself again last night; Mickey DeVries is fun to watch, and while I probably wouldn't call him quick, he has a knack for getting to where the ball is coming off the rim on both ends (kind of an MIAA version of Kevin Love ).  And when Tyler Kruis shoots it like he did last night (at least from the field), there are few teams that will be able to win that battle with Calvin.

Two things stood out that hurt Calvin:
1) An inability to stay in front of people on the defensive end (DeVries had a hard time staying in front of #30, who was a fine player), and their guards had more success than I suspect KVS would have liked in getting to the rim or penetrating and kicking for 3's. And in the second half, Calvin didn't do a very good job of closing out on 3's; many were not well contested.

2) Right now Calvin doesn't have someone who can reliably create for others or himself off the dribble, most notable down the stretch when Calvin needed some quick scores, and at times when Carthage played zone in the 2nd half.  Some of that can be overcome with some offensive sets to get people like DeVries or Brink the ball, but ultimately many close games come down to guards making plays--and right now that is not Calvin's strength. 

[almcguirejr]

Carthage outplayed Calvin in the second half.  The 2 minute stretch from the 8 minute mark to about 6 minutes saw Carthage go on a 9-0 run to go up 10.  Calvin had 3 turnovers in that stretch and also gave up an offensive rebound.  Calvin couldn't recover.

[arena]

Wasn't able to attend the game last night, but if this is the case that Calvin put it in "cruise control" for the second half, Vandestreek needs to go.
[/quote]

Fire Tom Izzo while we are at it...his guys definitely played on cruise control Wednesday. Completely unacceptable...Tom needs to go.

I was there last night and Calvin did play hard all night...they just didn't execute well in the 2nd half and compounded some errors...especially in a two minute stretch when the lead went from 1 to 10...after that they had to grit it out and battle back.
[/quote]Looks like someone missed the important word in the post.  A conditional "if"......, "then"....  Sort of makes your overreaction to my post look kind of silly.  And for the record, I am not a huge Vandestreek fan, so if he were to go, it wouldn't hurt my feelings.  If he sticks around, then it means Calvin is doing ok.  I can live with that.

[Gregory Sager]

It's always a good idea to take a step back and look at the opponent closely when examining how your team performed. After all, nobody plays a game in a vacuum; there's two teams on the court. And the makeup of the Carthage roster had a lot to do with how last night's game turned out.

The Red Men are a very quick team. If you don't believe me, ask Mark Edwards and his eighth-ranked Wash U Bears, a team similar to Calvin in that it has good, smart players and a very physically imposing front line -- and, if anything, a slight edge over Calvin in terms of experience. But the Bears were nipped by Carthage, too. Sometimes length beats quickness. Last night, quickness beat length. Not by much, since it was a very close game. But that's the way that it turned out. Carthage's particular type of athletic virtue is a very legitimate one in terms of basketball, and anyone who thinks that size automatically wins in this sport should be disabused of that notion.

I think that knightvision's analysis summed up the game nicely. Calvin did indeed have a difficult time preventing Carthage's dribble penetration, and Calvin doesn't have that same ability at the other end of the floor. Plus, the quickness of the Red Men played havoc with Calvin in terms of getting into passing lanes, reaching long rebounds first, and poking balls out of the hands of Knights guards near midcourt. But most teams in D3 aren't as quick as Carthage, which is definitely a consideration when analyzing last night's game with Calvin's long-term prospects in mind.

There's no reason for Knights fans to panic. Calvin will do just fine this season.

[sac]

Carthage is 5-1 with wins over top 10 ranked at the time Washington and Calvin.  Their one loss came to 6-0 Dubuque......in overtime........in Carthage's 2nd game......it was Dubuque's 5th game.

This was Calvin's 6th loss in 12 months.


I was also there, Carthage played really well.  They were better than Calvin last night in a closely contested game that was in doubt in the final two minutes.  The End.

[sac]

Trinity 70 Albion 67  from last night
http://miaa.org/mbb/stats/1314/alb-tu.htm

If anyone cares the Brits had a chance to win this one missing 2 FT's with 3 seconds to play that would have given them the lead.   With a little over 3 minutes to play Albion trailed by 12.

Elliot 16, Ridgell 13, Herron 12

[Titan Q]

Carthage is 5-1 with wins over top 10 ranked at the time Washington and Calvin.  Their one loss came to 6-0 Dubuque......in overtime........in Carthage's 2nd game......it was Dubuque's 5th game.

This was Calvin's 6th loss in 12 months.


I was also there, Carthage played really well.  They were better than Calvin last night in a closely contested game that was in doubt in the final two minutes.  The End.

Carthage is actually 4-2.  They lost this past Wednesday to defending NAIA D2 champion Cardinal Stritch (currently ranked #4) by 1 point.

[sac]

Carthage is 5-1 with wins over top 10 ranked at the time Washington and Calvin.  Their one loss came to 6-0 Dubuque......in overtime........in Carthage's 2nd game......it was Dubuque's 5th game.

This was Calvin's 6th loss in 12 months.


I was also there, Carthage played really well.  They were better than Calvin last night in a closely contested game that was in doubt in the final two minutes.  The End.

Carthage is actually 4-2.  They lost this past Wednesday to defending NAIA D2 champion Cardinal Stritch (currently ranked #4) by 1 point.

Fire Bosko

[sac]

Hope 80  Carthage  58

A nice bounce back game for the Dutchmen today.  Hope did a lot of things really well in this one including most importantly making shots.  For about 10 to 15 minutes Carthage really struggled to make some shots and at least for me it looked like a good stretch of Hope defense helped.

Also key, 4 turnovers for the game.  2 of those with the score over 20

Eidsen 17, Van Arendonk 11, Blackledge 11, Gardner 9


Basketball makes perfect sense.

[sac]

If anyone reading this can pass this on to the scoring table.........

First Half
15:57   Hopembb   GOOD! LAYUP by Ben Gardner   Carthage 11 - Hopembb 9   (Carthage by 2)
15:35   Hopembb   MISSED 3 PTR by Cody Stuive
       REBOUND (OFF) by (TEAM)

That never happened, A) Cody Stuive was not in the game  B) no Hope player missed a 3 because it just didn't happen

[pointlem]

Quick, before Calvin v. Wheaton finish:  Let's do a virtual Hope v. Calvin game. 

Carthage beats Calvin by 6.

Hope beats Carthage by 22.

Ergo, Hope beats Calvin by 28.

Calvin fans can update after the Wheaton game.

(As Sac says, basketball makes perfect sense.)

[sac]

I'm just happy KVS will survive another day.