MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[oldknight]

I enjoyed a very entertaining evening of hoops in Holland, ending with an exciting double overtime win by the host team over a game Wheaton Thunder club. Last week I mentioned after the Hope loss that the Flying Dutchmen deserved a better fate, and I think the same about the Thunder tonight. The visitors led most of the game and outplayed their opponent for long stretches but Hope got back into the contest late in regulation with a ferocious press that completely turned around the game. The two overtimes were played very differently than the first 40 minutes as both teams lost some of their big guys and each club was totally expended even before the end of the 50th minute. The game basically ended with guards and wing players on the floor. The best thing to happen (from Calvin's perspective) is the fact that Wheaton had their key players put in major minutes before a short turnaround (a 1 pm start tomorrow). Point guard Bernsten played 48 minutes, Samuelson 38, and three others put in 30+. Gotta give knightvision some credit. With Wheaton scratching for points in the second half he said "Wheaton needs to give the ball to number 22 (Samuelson); he can fill it." Sure enough, Samuelson went on to hit four straight shots from the arc and finished the game with 23 points before fouling out in the second OT. His departure hurt.

The opener was interesting even if Calvin didn't always look in top form. The Knights did open up a 15 point lead early in the second half against a Carthage squad that didn't appear to be on all cylinders and held on from there for a 77-65 win. With Visser now gone and Denny out (expected to miss tomorrow's game too), it was a very different look. Canonie and Wilks were given unexpected starts but to me the story of the game was the play of Mike Siegel who scored 12 points, grabbed 10 boards, and played with energy and passion. He knows how to score and has a nice touch, but I was particularly impressed with his ability to get up and down the floor. I expect we will see him play a lot of minutes this season. Daley got yet another double/double going for 25 and 12, while Parks had a solid floor game to go along with 17 points. Calvin was far from perfect in this game but it's a win and I see no reason for anyone to act like an immature teenager and throw their computer on the floor if they watched this game at home.

[GoPerry]

Hope--ahead the whole game--commits crucial turnovers and loses to Cornerstone . . . a game they should have won.

Wheaton, ahead essentially the whole game and by 6 with 90 seconds to go . . . commits two turnovers to a determined Hope team that, even with its two top scorers injured or fouled out, sends the game into overtime and somehow had the grit to win. 

Wheaton, Hope feels your pain . . . it was a game you shoulda won, on a night when Hope went 3-24 on 3-point shots and Wheaton went 10-20. Wheaton was a better, quicker team than I expected.

Special credit goes to Stuive, Hawkins, and O'Brien who stepped up with crucial steals, blocks, and baskets when Hope's chances seemed akin to Green Bay's at the game's end last night.

O'Brien yes and Hawkins hurt us driving the lane for layups late in Reg and OT.  Wheaton is a really young team and their inexperience showed vs the press with 1:30 left.  PG Berntsen is a senior but this is really his first year playing significant minutes.  Michael Berg being in foul trouble was problematic because once he fouled out, Hope started getting lots of rebounds( that stretch where Hope missed the FT but twice picked up the rebound).  Also Murad Dillard usually starts and is one of our best all around players.  So it really hurt not having his size and athleticism for the 2nd half with whatever injury(knee or ankle?), especially after his 9 first half points. 

Hope had 10 more FG attempts (55-65), 12 more FTs(20-32) and was +7 on the glass(+9 offensively).  So for it to be even a close game Hope had to have a poor night shooting (which they did from the arc) and WC had to make it up with some great shooting of their own which they did( 10-20 from 3).

[knightvision]

1st time to New Holland Brewing last night before the games, and I will definitely be back.  If you've never tried the beef brisket sandwich, you should...

Regarding the Calvin game, Mike Siegel continues to impress.  His playing time is only going to increase, and I will not be surprised to see him playing quite a bit with Denney moving forward.  Jordan Daley continues to be a tough match-up for teams, and I was envisioning a bit of a two-man pick and roll/ pick and pop game with Daley and Siegel.  Makes me smile a bit thinking about teams trying to defend that...

The Hope-Wheaton game was outstanding.  I thought Hope's depth was both a blessing and curse last night-the blessing being that it helped a ton in overcoming foul trouble/injury in the OT's.  The curse part is my impression, however flawed, that GM is trying to find playing time for almost too many guys.  While I admittedly don't know the Hope roster well, there were several times in the first half I was reaching for a program to try to figure out who was on the floor.  Seemed like some really unusual combos, which may have simply been trying to find something to get them going.  Would love to hear some thoughts from some Hope folks....

oldknight had the Hope broadcast on the radio (gasp) on the drive home, and I'm pretty sure Davelaar referred to the press as a desperation move.  I'd be more inclined to call it lethal. The fact that the officials "let em play" a bit more than than has been the norm with the new points of emphasis I thought probably helped Hope a bit when they were pressing. And when Hope gets out in transition, either off turnovers or just pushing tempo, they are really good. Hawkins was nearly impossible for Wheaton to stay in front in crunch time and would probably get my game ball.

Finally, I would be remiss if I did not note a moment of redemption for oldknight last night.  Last year's debacle on TV during a Calvin game where he completely botched a cream puff of a ball entering the stands has been a painful memory for him and a wonderful stick for some of us to poke him with periodically.  So, you can imagine the look of pride on his face when he cleanly fielded a sssllloooooowwwllllyyyy bouncing ball that went into the stands last night.  oldknight, YOU DA MAN!!

[sac]

Last night was Hope's first multiple overtime win since beating Albion 101-96 in 3 overtimes' in 1984.    Hope had lost its last 5.

[oldknight]

1st time to New Holland Brewing last night before the games, and I will definitely be back.  If you've never tried the beef brisket sandwich, you should...

Regarding the Calvin game, Mike Siegel continues to impress.  His playing time is only going to increase, and I will not be surprised to see him playing quite a bit with Denney moving forward.  Jordan Daley continues to be a tough match-up for teams, and I was envisioning a bit of a two-man pick and roll/ pick and pop game with Daley and Siegel.  Makes me smile a bit thinking about teams trying to defend that...

The Hope-Wheaton game was outstanding.  I thought Hope's depth was both a blessing and curse last night-the blessing being that it helped a ton in overcoming foul trouble/injury in the OT's.  The curse part is my impression, however flawed, that GM is trying to find playing time for almost too many guys.  While I admittedly don't know the Hope roster well, there were several times in the first half I was reaching for a program to try to figure out who was on the floor.  Seemed like some really unusual combos, which may have simply been trying to find something to get them going.  Would love to hear some thoughts from some Hope folks....

oldknight had the Hope broadcast on the radio (gasp) on the drive home, and I'm pretty sure Davelaar referred to the press as a desperation move.  I'd be more inclined to call it lethal. The fact that the officials "let em play" a bit more than than has been the norm with the new points of emphasis I thought probably helped Hope a bit when they were pressing. And when Hope gets out in transition, either off turnovers or just pushing tempo, they are really good. Hawkins was nearly impossible for Wheaton to stay in front in crunch time and would probably get my game ball.

Finally, I would be remiss if I did not note a moment of redemption for oldknight last night.  Last year's debacle on TV during a Calvin game where he completely botched a cream puff of a ball entering the stands has been a painful memory for him and a wonderful stick for some of us to poke him with periodically.  So, you can imagine the look of pride on his face when he cleanly fielded a sssllloooooowwwllllyyyy bouncing ball that went into the stands last night.  oldknight, YOU DA MAN!!

My only regret is that KnightSlappy--who last year boldly and unashamedly posted video of my hamhanded effort--had stepped out and never saw my moment of redemption. It wasn't quite the Sportcenter stuff that featured Jake Bullock's bullet from last week, but it was at least worthy of a high five from KS if he had seen my clean snatch. And it wasn't a cream puff either; it was a laser aimed right at knightvision's head. I was pleased to save him from having to undergo any dreaded concussion protocols.

[sac]

You have to look really hard but this may be one of the most meaningful, poignant and powerful pictures of a Hope basketball team I've ever seen.

[Roundball999]

I have to give credit to the Hope video crew and the announcers.  Really an excellent job in my opinion.  Hope had held off on the home game streaming for so long but now that they're doing it, they're doing a great job.

[wiz]

Calvin's new lineup this weekend shows better ball movement with less dribbling, and that should lead to an improvement in turnovers as well.

[oldknight]

A very nice game for Calvin who posted a 79-66 win over Wheaton. Stats aren't up yet but here are some early thoughts. Wheaton seemed to be on fumes for much of the game but gritted out a very competitive contest. After a strong start it seemed the Thunder lost some mojo while Calvin played an increasingly up-tempo game designed at getting their opponent to drag their tongue a bit. Most Wheaton players seemed to have some hangover from last night's 50 minute of action except the ever energetic Berg who logged fewer minutes against Hope due to last night's foul trouble. Samuelson had his second straight strong shooting night, and at one point was 5-7 from the arc. His efforts alone managed to keep the game close as Wheaton shot the ball very well. Calvin won because they shot nearly as well, competed on the boards and made fewer turnovers.

Going by memory Daley finished with 24. The Knights needed him to play well again and he did. Wheaton struggled to find someone to stay with him and only some nice help outs from Berg who swatted away a couple of Jordan's interior shots, kept Daley under 30. Knightvision noted last night that if Daley shoots just 35% from the arc this year, he will be a knightmare matchup for any opponent, and Daley hit a couple more triples today. But to my eye, the player of the game who tilted it Calvin's way was Michael Wilks who had a terrific game and netted 19. He's an old school mid range jumper sort of guy but this afternoon took the ball to the hole nicely a couple of times before pulling up after getting his defender on his heals. Even Berg--who I think is an outstanding defender--struggled to stop Wilks, whose solid game bodes very well for Calvin. Calvin could have used Cam Denny's nice upper body against Wheaton but played with so much more energy than Wheaton it didn't matter much today.

[almcguirejr]

Calvin went 2-0 on the weekend for only the second time in the MIAA/CCIW Challenge.  The other 2-0 weekend was 2005-06.

Brock Benson was in a walking boot for the Hope game.

[sac]

Hope 93  Carthage 83

Tied at the half after one time trailing by 9, Hope rallied early in the 2nd to take a 10 point second half lead then kind of held it there.  Sam Otto with a big game, 7 triples, 27 points.  Ben Gardner with 20.


Brock Benson did not play.  Hope was out-rebounded by Carthage which is simply not good, the Red Men had only out-rebounded Illinois Tech.  The three officials  called 47 fouls and the style of game they called made it impossible for either team to play any kind of defense.  It was basically try not to touch them and hope the other guy misses. 

[oldknight]

Calvin went 2-0 on the weekend for only the second time in the MIAA/CCIW Challenge.  The other 2-0 weekend was 2005-06.

Brock Benson was in a walking boot for the Hope game.

Heard Mitchell talking on the radio before the Carthage game. Mitchell sounded pretty optimistic, mentioned the X-rays came back negative, called the injury a strain, and termed the boot a "precautionary measure."

[oldknight]

Hope 93  Carthage 83

Tied at the half after one time trailing by 9, Hope rallied early in the 2nd to take a 10 point second half lead then kind of held it there.  Sam Otto with a big game, 7 triples, 27 points.  Ben Gardner with 20.


Brock Benson did not play.  Hope was out-rebounded by Carthage which is simply not good, the Red Men had only out-rebounded Illinois Tech.  The three officials  called 47 fouls and the style of game they called made it impossible for either team to play any kind of defense.  It was basically try not to touch them and hope the other guy misses.

Yeah; that really surprised me. I know Benson not playing hurts the rebounding but Calvin--without Denny--annihilated Carthage 51-30 on the boards last night.

[sac]

After 12 years the MIAA/CCIW Challenge comes to a close and it ends up all even between the conferences at 24-24.  Hope finishes tied with Wheaton at 14-10, Carthage and Calvin tie at 10-14.

I think its been a great series and good for everyone involved, sorry to see it go and it will be extremely difficult to replace it without something better or as competitive.  I was able to attend the first one at Wheaton in Dec. 2004 and circled that weekend every year as a must see.   

20 of the 48 games were decided by single digits.

[KnightSlappy]

But to my eye, the player of the game who tilted it Calvin's way was Michael Wilks who had a terrific game and netted 19. He's an old school mid range jumper sort of guy but this afternoon took the ball to the hole nicely a couple of times before pulling up after getting his defender on his heals. Even Berg--who I think is an outstanding defender--struggled to stop Wilks, whose solid game bodes very well for Calvin.

It's really difficult for these sorts of players to finish as extremely efficient scorers, but Wilks got it done today. He has the size and athleticism to develop as a player who can score inside and outside -- as long as he doesn't fall in love with shooting long twos with frequency.