MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[almcguirejr]

Brad Visser set a new personal record tonight by putting up a  3 point shot attempt in his first second of playing time.

I am beginning to question Cameron Denney's shot selection as much as I do Visser's.  When I see Denney start to crank up one of those 3's it causes me to mutter unpleasant words under my breath. 

[sac]

Its been awhile since Hope and Calvin have had such a beautifully well played game.  Hard for anyone to lose that one.  Special thanks to the 65 Dew Crew members who made the effort to get to Grand Rapids and cheered their hearts out all game long.  Small in numbers, large in spirit.

[Grutte Dirk]

[Brink's] shot almost certainly would not have gone in...

Matthew 8:26
"Oh ye of little faith..."
- Jehovah

[almcguirejr]

Holland Sentinel article: http://m.hollandsentinel.com/article/20150204/SPORTS/150209588

MLive article: http://www.mlive.com/smallcolleges/grandrapids/index.ssf/2015/02/calvins_win_over_hope_more_tha.html#incart_river

Press conference video:
http://m.hollandsentinel.com

[sac]

First time Calvin has won 3 in a row over Hope since 2000-2002 when they won all 6 meetings.

[Happy Calvin Guy]

Great game last night. A couple of lineup thoughts:

--Calvin's team on the floor during crunch time: starting five with the exception of TJ Huizenga for Dan Stout. I think KVS is realizing that while Stout has been modestly effective at the popout midrange jumper lately, he's not getting the defense/shot blocking/rebounding presence that we should from a 6'9" center. TJ gets to the loose balls, plays aggressive defense (even holding his own on Benson down low when we get caught in a switch) and generally makes heady plays that aren't reflected on the stat sheet. I think his hustle is contagious too--in my mind this is the biggest missing ingredient for the Knights--a continuous team-wide mindset that every loose ball and rebound is ours.
--Hope really goes small with Carlson/Gardner/Eidson as the starting 1/2/3. Carlson hit some big shots early last night but I think that Gardner is much more effective as a point guard than he is as a 2. His impact on games seems to be significantly diminished vs last year. If Hope went to, for example, Gardner/Otto/Stuive at the 1/2/3 I think they upgrade all three positions and have steady experienced subs in Eidson/Carlson ready to come in. They would also get much bigger--for example Stuive could guard Daley instead of Gardner.
--I agree with almcguirejr on Visser and Denney. They are both very talented players but need to learn from Brink/Parks in "letting the game come to them". Visser is very effective when taking the ball into the lane and finishing, and also taking open 3 pointers. I will say that Denney's bulk is very helpful in defending the likes of Benson. Perhaps Michael Welch can spend some time in the weight room with Denney this offseason.

Overall, great game. Good to see Jordan Brink get back to being Jordan Brink. I'm OK with putting games in his hands down the stretch the rest of the way.

[sac]

+1 or road win, -1 for home loss
Calvin   7-2    +2
Trine     7-2    +2
Hope     6-3    +2
Adrian   5-4    0
Alma     4-5    0
Albion   3-6    -1
Kzoo     2-7    -3
Olivet    2-7    -2

Remaining games:
Adrian:  @Calvin, Albion, Kzoo, @Alma, @Hope
Albion:   Hope, @Adrian, @Olivet, Trine, Calvin
Alma:    @Olivet, Trine, Hope, Adrian, @Kzoo
Calvin:  Adrian, @Kzoo, Trine, @Olivet, @Albion
Hope:   @Albion, Olivet, @Alma, Kzoo, Adrian
Kzoo:    @Trine, Calvin, @Adrian, @Hope, Alma
Olivet:   Alma, @Hope, Calvin, @Albion, @Trine
Trine:     Kzoo, @Alma, @Calvin, @Albion, Olivet


Saturday:
Kzoo at Trine 1pm
Adrian at Calvin 3pm
Hope at Albion 3pm
Alma at Olivet 3pm

At this moment:
Trine can win out = #1 seed, Champion
Calvin can win out = #1 seed, Champion
Hope can win out = need 2 losses from Calvin to be seeded higher, need 2 losses from Trine to be seeded higher, both would = MIAA Championship
    ==put another way Hope loses tie-breakers to Calvin or Trine, Hope needs one of those 2 to lose twice to be better than #3 seed in tournament.

a tie between Trine/Calvin would go to Calvin if Hope stays in 3rd.

[KnightSlappy]

a tie between Trine/Calvin would go to Trine if Hope stays in 3rd.

I don't think that is correct.

Trine would win the tiebreaker if they finish 2-0 vs. Calvin.
Calvin would win the tiebreaker if they go 1-1 vs. Trine, by means of going 2-0 vs. #3 Hope.

This is, of course, a too soon oversimplification of the scenarios.

[sac]

I typed Trine instead of Calvin, my mistake.

[KnightSlappy]

I typed Trine instead of Calvin, my mistake.

Yes, then that is correct, assuming any eventual tie is created by Calvin and Trine splitting the head-to-head.

So, as long as Alma doesn't finish ahead of Hope, the Calvin-Trine winner could finish 3-1 in their remaining four games and still clinch the #1 seed. It would be fair to say the St. Valentine's Day game in question will carry a certain amount of significance.

Aside: attempting to navigate the website miaa dot org is extremely frustrating.

[KnightSlappy]

At the risk of looking past the next two games -- something fans can do because we bear no responsibility to game plan for the next opponent -- I wonder if KVS might consider starting, or at least heavily utilizing, TJ Huizenga against Trine in place of Daniel Stout. Nothing against Calvin's big man -- there's no other Calvin player I'd rather see defend the likes of Brock Benson or Carter Elliott -- but his size (the slower, non-offensive minded type) is not really the type that gives an advantage against a team like Trine, who deployed players taller than 6-4 for a total of three minutes in the first meeting with Calvin.

It should be noted that Stout played 13 minutes to Huizenga's 14 in Angola, but I'm not sure the quartet of Stout, VanderBrug, Denney, and Welch need to combine for 63 minutes in the next meeting. I would not be opposed to seeing T.J. push 20+ minutes in an attempt to take one of their (i.e. Trine's) big three out of the game.

[sac]

At present, Hope's Pool C chances are increased by being a #3 seed in the MIAA tournament vs being the #2 or #1 seed.  Due to our 4 team format and both semi-finals played in separate gyms, the 3 seed gets a decent boost to OWP by playing on the road twice(if they win semi-final), so long as its vs Trine and Calvin.  Same would hold true for Trine or Calvin as the 3 seed.

Goofy.

[KnightSlappy]

Some Jordan Brink Rivalry fun facts. Yesterday marked Brink's 9th Rivalry game as a member of Calvin's starting lineup. In those games:

• Calvin is 6-3 (3-1 home, 3-2 road)
• Calvin has outscored Hope by an average of 9.5 points
• Brink has averaged 17.3 points (22.0 points the last two years, 5 games)
• Brink has failed to reach double figures once, he scored 8 in his first Rivalry games as a Freshman
• Calvin has won by 20+ four times
• Calvin has won by double-digits five times
• Three games were decided by single-digits
• Hope has won by double-digits one time
• Hope has not won by 20+

[realist]

http://new.livestream.com/calvin-college/events/3632983

video of last nights game

[sac]

DJ Beckman, Alma
Adam Peters, Kzoo
Jordan Brink, Calvin

Were all named to the Capital One District 6 academic all-district team
http://www.goalmascots.com/2015_MBB_CapOneAcad_AllDistrict_Teams.pdf  (page 7)