MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[oldknight]

Nate seems to have Kruis' number.

On the boards, yes; as for points scored, no. This year NVA has 28 points and 20 rebounds in their two games, while Kruis has 36 points and 7 rebounds.

[KnightSlappy]

Last night's win was Calvin's 27th straight victory (if I'm counting things correctly) against the non-Hopes of the conference. The last loss was at Trine on 2/15/2012.

[HOPEful]

Nate seems to have Kruis' number.

On the boards, yes; as for points scored, no. This year NVA has 28 points and 20 rebounds in their two games, while Kruis has 36 points and 7 rebounds.

Yes, but in the first game Hope got into a little bit of foul trouble. They went very big and started NVA and Brock Benson and at one point of the game, had Caleb Byers playing as the only big guy on the court for Hope. They were obviously trying to make Calvin one dimensional by shutting down Kruis and it was somewhat effective.  In the second game, they left Nate mostly alone on Kruis, which allowed him to score 21 points. The flip side being that they focused on shutting down Jordan Brink, who only scored 11.

Whether it's DeVries, Dykstra, or someone else, someone has to step up other than Kruis or Brink on Saturday for Calvin, IMO...

[oldknight]

Whether it's DeVries, Dykstra, or someone else, someone has to step up other than Kruis or Brink on Saturday for Calvin, IMO...

I completely agree. Hope's two wins were team wins and Calvin's two losses were team losses.

[sac]

A few thoughts on Trine

1)  Trine loses only Todd Watkins from it roster for next season.   Will Dixon is a player you can build a team around, a Djurikovic/Raymond type of player.  I expect the Thunder to be right back in the top 4 next year if not, competing for an MIAA title.

2)  depth......I had the benefit of watching Trine Saturday.  Dixon's misses at the end of last night looked the same Saturday, all short, wild or a little forced.  He wore down, the result of being a Fr. and having to play so many minutes.  Trine could have used a body or two to give him a break so he was stronger at the end of both of those games.   

This is the third straight year Trine has finished in the top half of the MIAA.  Their record in the final two weeks of the season these 3 years is 4-11 including 3 losses in the tournament.  You wonder if they don't wear down a bit, or if this is just the product of playing the good teams at the same time.  In either case Trine could benefit from a little more depth, I know some coaches use the very restrictive bench concept but going up against the 10-11 deep Hope and Calvin's of the MIAA with just 7 seems like an uphill battle you'll rarely win.


3)  Need a tougher schedule.......Trine beat one team with a winning record this year, Ohio Northern.  Their SOS will be the lowest in the entire Great Lakes Region
http://web1.ncaa.org/champsel_new/exec/pdf/staticpdfrank?doWhat=publicrankings&sportCode=MBB&region=30&division=3

Hopefully other Great Lakes coaches will realize Trine is a pretty good program now and playing them will help their own SOS.  Along with improving Trine's SOS I think it would benefit them as a team to play teams like Hope/Calvin outside the conference.

[HopeConvert]

A few thoughts on Trine

1)  Trine loses only Todd Watkins from it roster for next season.   Will Dixon is a player you can build a team around, a Djurikovic/Raymond type of player.  I expect the Thunder to be right back in the top 4 next year if not, competing for an MIAA title.

2)  depth......I had the benefit of watching Trine Saturday.  Dixon's misses at the end of last night looked the same Saturday, all short, wild or a little forced.  He wore down, the result of being a Fr. and having to play so many minutes.  Trine could have used a body or two to give him a break so he was stronger at the end of both of those games.   

This is the third straight year Trine has finished in the top half of the MIAA.  Their record in the final two weeks of the season these 3 years is 4-11 including 3 losses in the tournament.  You wonder if they don't wear down a bit, or if this is just the product of playing the good teams at the same time.  In either case Trine could benefit from a little more depth, I know some coaches use the very restrictive bench concept but going up against the 10-11 deep Hope and Calvin's of the MIAA with just 7 seems like an uphill battle you'll rarely win.


3)  Need a tougher schedule.......Trine beat one team with a winning record this year, Ohio Northern.  Their SOS will be the lowest in the entire Great Lakes Region
http://web1.ncaa.org/champsel_new/exec/pdf/staticpdfrank?doWhat=publicrankings&sportCode=MBB&region=30&division=3

Hopefully other Great Lakes coaches will realize Trine is a pretty good program now and playing them will help their own SOS.  Along with improving Trine's SOS I think it would benefit them as a team to play teams like Hope/Calvin outside the conference.

Dixon played 44 minutes last night. He was clearly wearing down toward the end. He needs to be stronger in every way. He's a wiry kid: doesn't have the muscular structure of a Raymond or the length of a Djurkovic. He's pretty fearless, has good handles, and can finish, but he has no size.

[sac]

Dixon played 44 minutes last night. He was clearly wearing down toward the end. He needs to be stronger in every way. He's a wiry kid: doesn't have the muscular structure of a Raymond or the length of a Djurkovic. He's pretty fearless, has good handles, and can finish, but he has no size.

Should have clarified by Djurikovic/Raymond type I meant a player you can put the ball in his hands and run isolation plays. 

[wiz]

Two Calvin teams travel to Hope on Saturday.

[HOPEful]

Whether it's DeVries, Dykstra, or someone else, someone has to step up other than Kruis or Brink on Saturday for Calvin, IMO...
[/quote]
When I first read this I said "that makes sense", but than I thought why is that automatically true?  [/quote]

From a broader standpoint, it isn't necessarily true. Plenty of players have historically and metaphorically put their team on their backs and carried  them. But this is Hope v. Calvin and these teams know each other and expect the other's best preformance. If the first two game are any indication, Hope will focus on shutting down Kruis and/or Brink. I believe the opportunity will be there for DeVries, Dykstra, Van Loo, Daley, etc. to step up. I think it's automatically true because Hope will force it to be true.

Then again, maybe I'm wrong and Brink comes out and has one of those magical afternoons where every shot, contested or not, seems to find nylon. Games like this are why D3 basketball is so fun!

[sac]

I have lots of thoughts about today's game but the most important for me is Hope needs to get out of the gate playing with more energy and urgency earlier than they have the last two game at DeVos against Alma and Trine.

Start like that against a good team like Calvin and they'll bury you before halftime.

[calvin_grad]

Start like that against a good team like Calvin and they'll bury you before halftime.

Not if KVS doesn't have them ready to play again.   

[wiz]

What's the story of Calvin's lineup change?

[KnightSlappy]

What's the story of Calvin's lineup change?

Guessing they want to match up better against Hope's smaller lineup.

[wiz]

VanArendonk has Kruis' number?

[wiz]

Is the hay in the barn?