MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[hoopdreams]

I'm sure someone knows this answer with no research needed...since Calvin opened their beautiful new arena (I do really like it), what is the record of the Rivalry on Calvin's campus?  It certainly seems like Hope has had tremendous success there

[AndersDY]

I'm sure someone knows this answer with no research needed...since Calvin opened their beautiful new arena (I do really like it), what is the record of the Rivalry on Calvin's campus?  It certainly seems like Hope has had tremendous success there

I think they said on the coverage this made a 6-3 Hope advantage at VanNoord, definitely a different story from how things were at Knollcrest.

[calvin_grad]

Calvin may want to allocate some of their time in practice next week to practicing field goal attempts one foot from the basket.

And 3-pointers (outside of Jordan Brink) and dribbling.  I would suggest a red light/green light drill that I use with my 5th grade girls team.   

[Knightmare]

I don't get to see too many games anymore but with the benefit of a nationwide broadcast an observation from today's Calvin/Hope game.  Calvin needs to power through anticipated contact around the basket and stop worrying about a foul they think is coming.  If they concentrated just on making the basket, finished stronger and didn't worry about if they might get fouled or not their field goal % would probably increase within 5' of the basket and  it'd probably actually result in getting more foul shots and And 1's because they wouldn't altering their shot with scoop shots, double pumps etc.  They've just got too much size inside to not dictate play and finishing around the basket.

2nd, and maybe I'm wrong here or the game has just changed since I recall watching Calvin a number of years ago, but that game seemed to be played at a rag-tag pace with offensive sets executed at the level of an open gym.  Both teams seemed to not have a ton of flow, with lots of quick shots.  Seemed to really illustrate Calvin's lack of a veteran floor leader.

And last but not least, Calvin has to put up with Hope's backcourt for another 2-1/2 years.  They are good already and will be really really tough as Juniors and Seniors.

[calvin_grad]

What happened to Brad Visser getting all this playing time once the MIAA season rolled around?

[KzooHornet]

Turnovers and offensive rebounds almost doomed the Hornets today, but they escaped the the Cutler Events Center with a win this afternoon.  Olivet got off 29 more shots than K, but only made 3 more than the Hornets.  It was not a pretty game, but it was entertaining. 

Only 8 bench points as Mark Ghafari (30) and Adam Peters (27) led the way again.  Ghafari hit some big shots in the second half, took a couple of charges, and pulled down 8 rebounds.  Always great to see your leader playing both ends.

Another big road game coming up at Trine on Wednesday. 

[KzooHornet]

2nd, and maybe I'm wrong here or the game has just changed since I recall watching Calvin a number of years ago, but that game seemed to be played at a rag-tag pace with offensive sets executed at the level of an open gym.  Both teams seemed to not have a ton of flow, with lots of quick shots.  Seemed to really illustrate Calvin's lack of a veteran floor leader.

I watched long stretches of the game today and was surprised at the execution on both sides.  It was not as crisp as I remember, either.  It is really hard to get a feel for the action from the video so I chalked it up to good defense and the intensity that comes with this game. 

[BogeyMan]

This is not the typical Hope/Calvin post game postings.  Really strange no one has brought up how bad the officiating was??

[almcguirejr]

I thought Hope was the aggressor from the beginning.  Gardner played very good defense on Daley and Parks.  Those 2 combined for 10 of Calvin's 13 turnovers.  Calvin cannot be a really good team without good point guard play.

I don't get to see too many games anymore but with the benefit of a nationwide broadcast an observation from today's Calvin/Hope game.  Calvin needs to power through anticipated contact around the basket and stop worrying about a foul they think is coming.  If they concentrated just on making the basket, finished stronger and didn't worry about if they might get fouled or not their field goal % would probably increase within 5' of the basket and  it'd probably actually result in getting more foul shots and And 1's because they wouldn't altering their shot with scoop shots, double pumps etc.  They've just got too much size inside to not dictate play and finishing around the basket.

I agree with this.  I counted 14 missed lay ups ( )in the second half alone. 

In the second half Jordan Brink was 7-11 from the floor.  The rest of the team was 2-19.

Calvin needed Kruis, DeVries, and Brink to play really well today.  It didn't happen.

[sac]

Calvin's 3 losses have had 3 things in common.  None of them are necessarily Hope's strengths.   

2 of these 3 things remained true today.  One of them had been a pretty strong weakness for Hope coming into this game.


Hope 71 Calvin 63
http://miaa.org/mbb/stats/1314/0111caho.htm

Really great team win for Hope today.  Great minutes from Cody Stuive, I'm sure that's a career high 25 minutes.  Box says 4 rebounds but kept at least that many alive that his teammates were able to grab.  Nate Van Arendonk played one of his best games in a Hope uniform.  Tremendous all-around effort.  I don't think too many people though Hope could keep Calvin under 40% shooting for both halves, but they did.

I recall a Hope/Calvin game from late 90's-ish when Calvin's Sam Hargraves or someone like that went off for a big 3 point effort out of the blue, Alex Eidson did that today, he'd been really struggling this year coming in just 12-47 but went 6-7 this afternoon.  As a team they were under 30% on the year and rolled out a 60% effort.   Sometimes the unexpected happens in this beautiful rivalry thing.


13 consecutive years Hope's won at least one of these rivalry games.

[sac]

Alma beat Albion

The Britons played without Eric Evans and Quante Hill.  Both have been part of the regular 10 man rotation.  Albion played only 8 today.


Raise your hand if you thought Hope would be 2-0 in first place by themselves after the first weekend.

[almcguirejr]

Holland Sentinel Article:  http://www.hollandsentinel.com/article/20140111/SPORTS/140119769/?tag=2

[oldknight]

Hope may prove me wrong Saturday but they have not been a very good three point shooting team this season, hitting under 30% for the year. Hope will need to do better than that tomorrow and really need Eidson and Gardner to break out of their three point shooting slump.

9-15 from the arc as a team. Check.

Eidson and Gardner 7-9 from the arc. Check.

Calvin's loss can be pegged to 1) inferior three point shooting, 2) inferior rebounding, and, 3) curious first half decision making by Calvin's point guards who had seven turnovers the opening 20 minutes. All of those turnovers--or nearly all--were the result of trying to do a crossover dribble directly in front of a smaller defender. It's pretty basic to guard play that when you're bigger than your defender, you only need to keep your body between the ball and defender to avoid getting your pocket picked. There wasn't anything special about how Hope defended Calvin's backcourt but the Flying Dutchmen certainly took advantage of what was being done incorrectly. It took Jordan Brink taking the ball up the floor late in the half to demonstrate the proper technique. I don't remember that kind of turnover happening in the second half.

Other game notes:

--Calvin actually outshot Hope from inside the arc with the Knights going 16-45 and Hope 14-42. But the Flying Dutchmen hit six more threes than did Calvin on the same number of attempts (15) and that's a game changer. A lot of Hope's two point shooting woes can be traced to Calvin's shot blocking ability (13 for the game) though I do remember one of Tyler Dykstra's six swats being on an Eidson three point attempt. Tyler deposited that one in the end zone seats, whistling it over my head and landing it about six rows deep. As it turned out, it was the only triple attempt Eidson missed all afternoon. Other than Van Arendonk who had a couple of dunks and a pair of very nice baby hooks in front of the basket, Hope had no inside offensive scoring presence at all.

--I still don't think Tyler Kruis has recovered from his brief hospital stay on the West Coast. There was nothing wrong with his shot selection; he simply couldn't finish around the basket (4-14) and didn't contribute a single block to the 13 Calvin had as a team. He looked a half-step slow on defense and the boards.

--If there was a metaphor for Calvin's game today, it was that rather simple two-on-one in the second half with Brink lofting an alley-oop to Tyler Dykstra for a certain dunk. The pass was just a bit off line, messed up the timing of the leap and caused the effort to get thrown off the back of the rim. Calvin had a sure-fire two points and came away empty. Just a little bit off--the story of Calvin's game.

--No Harrison Blackledge today. What's up with that? Cody Stuive did start the second half for Hope which was deserved based on his play. The only objection I could make is that he started in the place of the wrong player wearing orange and blue.

[sac]

Calvin College has the game available in archived form.
http://new.livestream.com/calvin-college/events/2523354


This seems like a neat 21st Century idea.

[knightvision]

Would anyone be surprised if Carlson, McMahon, Stuive, Blackledge, Byers or someone else who has doesn't start has 15 points?  Not me....and Calvin's "unexpected hero list" seems to me a bit shorter than Hope's.

I expect Hope to pressure the perimeter and try to make this an up tempo affair.  If they play that way and can stay even with Calvin in the rebounding battle, I see this as a toss-up.  If Calvin can dictate tempo (which I'm not as confident of as I wish), Calvin by 10+.
Prediction:  Calvin 73 Hope 70 .

Just finished watching the game on DVR.  Ouch...wish my gut feeling had been wrong.

Clearly Hope's outstanding 3 pt shooting was a big factor in the outcome of this one.  But I thought the bigger factor was that overall Hope dictated the tempo of the game to their favor.  Far too often, Calvin looked hurried and rattled--which I attribute in large part to Hope's defensive pressure. You just can't miss as many point blank opportunities as Calvin did and expect to win, but give credit to Hope for making Calvin a bit uncomfortable.  MN referenced pace in his halftime comments, and his post game comments specifically noted rebounding, which summary stats on TV had Hope +8  44-36.  Hope not only pestered Calvin into an unusually high number of misses in the paint, they seldom surrendered the second chance points that Calvin's front court has thrived on. 

At least I was wrong on the 15 pt thing.  Stuive only had 10 and Carlson only hit one big 3...