MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[calvinite]

Too bad the game will be at Wash U.... Of course, that's sort of like saying too bad Calvin has to play Wash U. The D3 Hoops projected bracket and some of the other predicted brackets looked a whole lot more favorable than what Calvin ended up with.

I do think Calvin is playing well now. Unlike last year, I think they are healthy. And while Wash U certainly has to be favored, I have to believe that Wash U is thinking "We are the 3rd ranked team in the nation. How come we have to face a team as good as Calvin in the 2nd round." (Ie, I can't believe Wash U will go into the game thinking they will blow Calvin away. But maybe they'll enter the game thinking they want a piece of Calvin..... Or maybe not ....

[pointlem]

Three Hope players turned down wide open shots on their last (potentially game-winning) possession at the end of regulation. 24 turnovers for the game. I can't remember the last time I saw Hope execute so poorly. What's going on?

My thoughts precisely, Old Knight--regarding passing up open 3's for lesser opportunities later.  Dare I say (not to reopen a rehashed topic) that after missing a shot some players seemed to lose confidence when the game gave them the same open look moments later . . . with an exception being Cory McMahon, who seems to retain his confidence, and to take what the game offers at any time. 

A tough loss, but a great final performance by Nate Van Arendonk, who also impressed me with his character and sportsmanship tonight--accepting responsibility for a foul call on him that his coach and fans were protesting, helping his opponent up off the floor, etc.  Congrats to Hope's young team and seniors on their league championship.  My optimism for Hope runs high for next year.

[HOPEful]

Too many telegraphed passes and refusing to shoot. Alas.

Penn State Behrend was WAY better than I gave them credit for. Should be a good game tomorrow!

Missing a wide open lay up to end the game will sting for a while. Turning down good looks at the end of regulation will also...

Now for a couple months of trying to figure out a way to get NVA to come back for his last year of eligibility.

[Gregory Sager]

Missing a wide open lay up to end the game will sting for a while.

It never should've been attempted in the first place. Ten seconds left, you trail by three, you keep working the perimeter to get yourself a game-tying shot. Even if McMahon had made the layup, Hope still trails by a point and is in something close to a foul-rebound-heave situation. Too many variables to have to overcome in that scenario.

[DBQ1965]

Will there be tickets available at DeVos tomorrow? What's the parking situation?

As I was leaving DeVos after the Hope loss, the PA announcer said tickets would be available starting at 3 p.m. Saturday ... all General Admission at $7.00.

Since Hope won't be playing, I assume there will be plenty of tickets.

[almcguirejr]

Too bad the game will be at Wash U.... Of course, that's sort of like saying too bad Calvin has to play Wash U. The D3 Hoops projected bracket and some of the other predicted brackets looked a whole lot more favorable than what Calvin ended up with.

I do think Calvin is playing well now. Unlike last year, I think they are healthy. And while Wash U certainly has to be favored, I have to believe that Wash U is thinking "We are the 3rd ranked team in the nation. How come we have to face a team as good as Calvin in the 2nd round." (Ie, I can't believe Wash U will go into the game thinking they will blow Calvin away. But maybe they'll enter the game thinking they want a piece of Calvin..... Or maybe not ....

Calvin was very good defensively again tonight.  #55, Macin, their leading scorer, had just 6 points.  He was very frustrated by the vice Calvin put him in.  Witt's 2 starting forwards had 0 points.  The Witt starting front line combined for 6 points.  Tyler Kruis was great tonight!  Calvin didn't play as well as they are capable on the offensive end tonight.  Referee's were not good tonight.  I think Calvin has another win in them tomorrow night.

[wiz]

Will there be tickets available at DeVos tomorrow? What's the parking situation?

As I was leaving DeVos after the Hope loss, the PA announcer said tickets would be available starting at 3 p.m. Saturday ... all General Admission at $7.00.

Since Hope won't be playing, I assume there will be plenty of tickets.

Thanks.  That's the information I wanted.

[y_jack_lok]

Too bad the game will be at Wash U.... Of course, that's sort of like saying too bad Calvin has to play Wash U. The D3 Hoops projected bracket and some of the other predicted brackets looked a whole lot more favorable than what Calvin ended up with.

I do think Calvin is playing well now. Unlike last year, I think they are healthy. And while Wash U certainly has to be favored, I have to believe that Wash U is thinking "We are the 3rd ranked team in the nation. How come we have to face a team as good as Calvin in the 2nd round." (Ie, I can't believe Wash U will go into the game thinking they will blow Calvin away. But maybe they'll enter the game thinking they want a piece of Calvin..... Or maybe not ....

Calvin was very good defensively again tonight.  #55, Macin, their leading scorer, had just 6 points.  He was very frustrated by the vice Calvin put him in.  Witt's 2 starting forwards had 0 points.  The Witt starting front line combined for 6 points.  Tyler Kruis was great tonight!  Calvin didn't play as well as they are capable on the offensive end tonight.  Referee's were not good tonight.  I think Calvin has another win in them tomorrow night.

Were you in the gym or watching online? I was in the gym. Curious to know why you thought the refs weren't good.

[sac]

Behrend was very good last night.  Played poised, gave themselves a chance to win.  They deserve a ton of credit for what they did.  There's only one good way to end a season, for everyone else its usually a tough ending, for Hope this should taste pretty bitter.  You always want to finish playing your best basketball but I think pretty clearly Hope really struggled to the finish line this year for whatever sets of reasons.

With 8:40 to play Hope was really up against it, down 7.  They really battled hard down the stretch and gave themselves a number of chances to pull out the win.  It took holding Behrend to two FG's the last 10 minutes to get those chances.



I posted this on my blog a couple days ago, Turnover percentage or rate, whatever you want to call it.

TOV%
                   Offense     Defense
Hope                   15.3         15.2
PSU-Behrend      15.2         18.2


Hope's had a recent spike in turnovers.  With the other 3 teams being good at creating turnovers this might be a concern.

Last 3 games

Trine         17%
Calvin       20%
Behrend    31.2%

Nearly 1 out of 3 times Hope had the ball last night they turned it over.  In tournament basketball that's just asking to be sent home early.

[sac]

Three Hope players turned down wide open shots on their last (potentially game-winning) possession at the end of regulation. 24 turnovers for the game. I can't remember the last time I saw Hope executed so poorly. What's going on?

The AMCC is more or less a joke here in the GL Region, but Behrend looked like they were for real. The Lions impressed me on the video, they deserve a lot of credit.

They were a little bigger than I thought they'd be.  Very well coached, sound fundamentals.  Watching them warm-up they ran at least 4 or 5 drills on defensive positioning, passing and footwork as a team and never shot the ball.   Kind of old school.

[sac]

----The AMCC, NACC(old NathCon) and SLIAC reps all played great games last night.  Seems the landscape of the D3 around the Midwest might be changing a bit.

----I really thought Wilmington would give WashU a much better game.  I watched WashU play very early in the year a couple times and they didn't really stand out to me.  Seems like there's a real opportunity for Calvin tomorrow night.  And root for St. Norbert and Dickenson and you'll be hosting.

----Rose-Hulman played a very confusing game, they sure stuck with their style of play but man could they have used some urgency.  A few times they looked completely unaware of game situation.

----Tyler Peters shot FT's like he was hurt and I can't recall any jump shots from him.  He's a tough match-up for anyone but I can't even envision who Behrend is going to attempt to guard him with.  Wheaton will win, probably because they won't turn the ball over 24 times.  I think their guards are much bigger than Hope's and Wheaton's front-line is comparable, minus NVA.  Physically a more difficult match for Behrend, but wouldn't be surprised if its close at all.

[KnightSlappy]

----I really thought Wilmington would give WashU a much better game.  I watched WashU play very early in the year a couple times and they didn't really stand out to me.  Seems like there's a real opportunity for Calvin tomorrow night.  And root for St. Norbert and Dickenson and you'll be hosting.

Dickinson would be a flight to GR. I think Calvin would host only if both they and Behrend win today (and Dickenson and/or St. Norbert win).

Wheaton winning would ruin any chance for Calvin to host, I think

[almcguirejr]

Too bad the game will be at Wash U.... Of course, that's sort of like saying too bad Calvin has to play Wash U. The D3 Hoops projected bracket and some of the other predicted brackets looked a whole lot more favorable than what Calvin ended up with.

I do think Calvin is playing well now. Unlike last year, I think they are healthy. And while Wash U certainly has to be favored, I have to believe that Wash U is thinking "We are the 3rd ranked team in the nation. How come we have to face a team as good as Calvin in the 2nd round." (Ie, I can't believe Wash U will go into the game thinking they will blow Calvin away. But maybe they'll enter the game thinking they want a piece of Calvin..... Or maybe not ....

Calvin was very good defensively again tonight.  #55, Macin, their leading scorer, had just 6 points.  He was very frustrated by the vice Calvin put him in.  Witt's 2 starting forwards had 0 points.  The Witt starting front line combined for 6 points.  Tyler Kruis was great tonight!  Calvin didn't play as well as they are capable on the offensive end tonight.  Referee's were not good tonight.  I think Calvin has another win in them tomorrow night.

Were you in the gym or watching online? I was in the gym. Curious to know why you thought the refs weren't good.

I was in the gym.  I thought the way the hand checking was called tonight was very inconsistent.  Reporting the wrong number on a player foul to the scorer's table is a mistake that should not happen.  A second foul on Daley as opposed to it being Van Loo's first is important.  I didn't think that crew worked very well together.

[Roundball999]

Now for a couple months of trying to figure out a way to get NVA to come back for his last year of eligibility.

Can't see it happening.  He has all his requirements to graduate and there is no related graduate program at Hope that would advance his studies or career.  I'm as big a D3 hoops fan as anyone, but why would he spend $35K and a year of his life to come back for another season?

[calvinite]

I gave up a year of college eligibility (soccer), and it's one of the bigger regrets of my life. However, I gave it up at time when tuition was 10% of what it is now (well, that's an exaggeration, but 25% would be fairly close) so I think it unlikely, but certainly not impossible, that Nate would at least consider it. We've been told Brink is coming back, and he may not have graduated yet, but I'm guessing he certainly could complete his graduation requirements in one semester and save 1/2 of that tuition.