MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[Winifred Durfee]

Hope beats Adrian 95-77. The Dutchmen led by 21 in the first half before Adrian closed things off with back-to-back 3s to make it 15. Hope then pulled ahead by 26 in the second half but then let their foot off the gas and Adrian got things all the way back within 7. Colbert fouled out early in the 2nd half, followed by Rainey. Hope pulled away to finish with an 18 point win behind some spectacular shooting from Hope's starting guards.

Teddy Ray was the hot hand early and hit three 3s en route to 13 first half points. He did not score in the 2nd half. Dante and Jason, however, did not stop scoring. These 3 players went 12-18 from 3 point range and hope shot 22-25 as a team from the FT line. Jason did miss a FT, however, so I suspect he'll be in the gym late tonight getting some practice in at the charity stripe.

Hope's shooting is heating up and that's why they're putting together a string of wins. 10-21 from 3 to beat Calvin on Saturday and now 13-22 to beat Adrian. The game at Olivet looks likely to be the biggest of the year. Are they hosting the game at Upton this year, as well? If so, that is going to be a very tough win for this young Hope squad that pulled a win out of their a** thanks to a heroic performance from Riley Lewis the last time they played. The Dutchmen will need to shoot as well as they did tonight to win that one.

Shoutout to the Dutch for getting a 70-69 win on the road at Calvin tonight, too. That's a regular season sweep for Hope hoops over the Knights.   

[sac]

Hope's shooting is heating up and that's why they're putting together a string of wins. 10-21 from 3 to beat Calvin on Saturday and now 13-22 to beat Adrian. The game at Olivet looks likely to be the biggest of the year. Are they hosting the game at Upton this year, as well? If so, that is going to be a very tough win for this young Hope squad that pulled a win out of their a** thanks to a heroic performance from Riley Lewis the last time they played. The Dutchmen will need to shoot as well as they did tonight to win that one.

Chad Carlson

....my understanding is the Hope/Olivet game has been "moved" to the Cutler Center.

[sac]

Hope 95  Adrian 77

Bulldog 30 is correct when he states he thought Adrian played pretty well tonight.  This was a good game to just sit back and marvel at how well Hope shot the ball pretty much all night long.  Every time I looked they were shooting over 60%.  Its actually a real credit to Adrian they didn't get run out of the gym and made a real game of it late as Hope hit a dry patch, think it was a 13-0 Adrian run or something cutting a 21 point lead down to tight collar time.  But Hope regained control and finally salted it away.

Adrian really struggled from behind the arc, otherwise this would have been a scorching game. 

Hope:  J. Beckman 29, Hawkins 26, Granger 16, Ray 13
Adrian:  Webster 20, Kolanji 13, Harris 12, Colbert 11, Heard 10

[Winifred Durfee]

Chad Carlson

....my understanding is the Hope/Olivet game has been "moved" to the Cutler Center.

Sorry, I was referring to the time they played at Devos earlier this year. That was a bit ambiguously worded. I do remember Chad's electrifying performance last year, too. 30 points on 10 3s.

[sac]

+1 for road win
-1 for home loss

Olivet    8-3     +3     (ADR, HPE, @Cal)
Hope     8-3     +2     (@Alm, @Oli, ALB)
Adrian   7-4     +1     (@OLI, ALM, @KZO)
Trine      6-5     +0     (@Alb, KZO, @Alm)
Alma      5-6       0     (HPE, @Adr, TRN)
Albion    5-6       0     (TRN, CAL, @Hpe)
Calvin    4-7      -1     (KZO, @Alb, OLI)
Kazoo    1-10    -5     (@Cal, @Trn, ADR) --Eliminated

Saturday:
Start near the bottom, Calvin can only get to 7-7, which believe it or not can still be outright 4th and could actually tie for 3rd I think.  Loss to Kzoo = doom

Swing day in the middle with pretty close to do or die games for Albion and Alma.    Potential 2 game gap from 4th to 5th if right results happen.

The 2nd of the 3 games with our conferences leaders going into tonight with Olivet hosting Adrian.  Must win for Adrian's title hopes probably

[KnightSlappy]

Another game Calvin should have won. Up 9 with just over 6 minutes to play, they allowed Trine to quickly whittle away the lead. If you search the box score play-by-play data for "missed layup" you'll find Calvin getting credit for nine such plays. Three of them occurred in those final six minutes.

Credit to Myles Copeland for a great game. He put Trine on his back and came up with a hoop just about every time they needed one.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Interesting comments from Kyle Lindsay in the Holland Sentinel today:

Justin Webster led five players in double figures with 20 points for Adrian.

"He had a much better second half," Adrian coach Kyle Lindsay said. "I thought he did much better defensively, too. He gets fouled every time he touches the ball. It's disappointing that (the refs) decided to call touch fouls when we were making a comeback. That was the difference in the game."

It was a frustrating game for Lindsay and the Bulldogs.

"We play six guys and we're not very deep," Lindsay said. "When one of our six screws up, there's no one to hold them accountable because the guy coming in for him is going to do the same thing, if not worse. That's just where we're at as a program in year two. I thought we've overachieved the first part of the season. In the second half, I think it's catching up with us. We're fatigued."


Link to the article:  http://www.hollandsentinel.com/sports/20180207/hope-men-top-adrian-stay-atop-miaa

[Fifth and Putnam]

Interesting comments from Kyle Lindsay in the Holland Sentinel today:

Justin Webster led five players in double figures with 20 points for Adrian.

"He had a much better second half," Adrian coach Kyle Lindsay said. "I thought he did much better defensively, too. He gets fouled every time he touches the ball. It's disappointing that (the refs) decided to call touch fouls when we were making a comeback. That was the difference in the game."

It was a frustrating game for Lindsay and the Bulldogs.

"We play six guys and we're not very deep," Lindsay said. "When one of our six screws up, there's no one to hold them accountable because the guy coming in for him is going to do the same thing, if not worse. That's just where we're at as a program in year two. I thought we've overachieved the first part of the season. In the second half, I think it's catching up with us. We're fatigued."


Link to the article:  http://www.hollandsentinel.com/sports/20180207/hope-men-top-adrian-stay-atop-miaa

Speaking to the 2nd quote. He's not wrong. Most coaches though would never say that on the record even if they're thinking it. Adrian has a great starting 5 but their bench is THIN. I appreciate a coach who speaks what everyone else is thinking. It's refreshing in a world where coaches measure every public comment they make.

[HOPEful]

Interesting comments from Kyle Lindsay in the Holland Sentinel today:

Justin Webster led five players in double figures with 20 points for Adrian.

"He had a much better second half," Adrian coach Kyle Lindsay said. "I thought he did much better defensively, too. He gets fouled every time he touches the ball. It's disappointing that (the refs) decided to call touch fouls when we were making a comeback. That was the difference in the game."

It was a frustrating game for Lindsay and the Bulldogs.

"We play six guys and we're not very deep," Lindsay said. "When one of our six screws up, there's no one to hold them accountable because the guy coming in for him is going to do the same thing, if not worse. That's just where we're at as a program in year two. I thought we've overachieved the first part of the season. In the second half, I think it's catching up with us. We're fatigued."


Link to the article:  http://www.hollandsentinel.com/sports/20180207/hope-men-top-adrian-stay-atop-miaa

Speaking to the 2nd quote. He's not wrong. Most coaches though would never say that on the record even if they're thinking it. Adrian has a great starting 5 but their bench is THIN. I appreciate a coach who speaks what everyone else is thinking. It's refreshing in a world where coaches measure every public comment they make.

Refreshing for the general public and those who appreciate the transparency. However, if I were a bench player at Adrian and heard my coach make those comments about his faith in my ability, I may think of them as something other than "refreshing"...

[sac]

"touch fouls"

[arena]

3

[Bulldog30]

Interesting comments from Kyle Lindsay in the Holland Sentinel today:

Justin Webster led five players in double figures with 20 points for Adrian.

"He had a much better second half," Adrian coach Kyle Lindsay said. "I thought he did much better defensively, too. He gets fouled every time he touches the ball. It's disappointing that (the refs) decided to call touch fouls when we were making a comeback. That was the difference in the game."

It was a frustrating game for Lindsay and the Bulldogs.

"We play six guys and we're not very deep," Lindsay said. "When one of our six screws up, there's no one to hold them accountable because the guy coming in for him is going to do the same thing, if not worse. That's just where we're at as a program in year two. I thought we've overachieved the first part of the season. In the second half, I think it's catching up with us. We're fatigued."


Link to the article:  http://www.hollandsentinel.com/sports/20180207/hope-men-top-adrian-stay-atop-miaa

Comments are a bit surprising in a few ways.

1st, I haven't noticed too much in the way of Webster not getting enough calls. He gives a lot as well and it's a physical game in the paint. I believe he's up there in the nation in FT attempts, and though there could have been a couple more and-1's, it hasn't been noticeably poor.

2nd, I did notice some touch fouls that hurt Adrian in the game that I thought was a bit tight, but I think the score made me not think about that too much. Surprising though that Colbert and Rainey got fouled out so quickly. And it definitely wasn't the difference in the game (I'd say shooting nearly 60% from 3 was).

3rd, I don't mind the honesty. Those 7 through 11 guys, if they ever see that article, know their roles, and if anything, maybe this would light a fire. But honestly, I think a big part of these statements were made under frustration. I feel (possibly incorrectly) that given 24 hours, his comments may have been slightly altered.

Lastly, I'm not a fan of that last part with the fatigue and the short bench catching up with them, even though it's true. That part just rubbed me the wrong way. You're still in the hunt...don't talk about fatigue or anything that could hold you back from encouraging this team to win the league.

[HopeConvert]

"touch fouls"

There is a really important example of one. At the 6:10 mark of the second half Adrian had pulled to within 7 (76-69) and had a lot of momentum. Hope gets the ball, and at the 5:57 mark Rainey steps in front of a pass intended for Gamm, who pulls Rainey to the floor. Rainey gets called for the foul, his fifth, thus ending Adrian's chances. I really can't believe they called a foul on Rainey there, who made very minimal contact with Gamm and clearly had a path to the ball. If the uniforms had been reversed Hope fans would be going ballistic about that play.

[sac]

"touch fouls"

There is a really important example of one. At the 6:10 mark of the second half Adrian had pulled to within 7 (76-69) and had a lot of momentum. Hope gets the ball, and at the 5:57 mark Rainey steps in front of a pass intended for Gamm, who pulls Rainey to the floor. Rainey gets called for the foul, his fifth, thus ending Adrian's chances. I really can't believe they called a foul on Rainey there, who made very minimal contact with Gamm and clearly had a path to the ball. If the uniforms had been reversed Hope fans would be going ballistic about that play.

This?  He raked Gamm's arm coming from behind
https://youtu.be/VeOGhqAmfjo?t=5274

[Flying Dutch Fan]

"touch fouls"

There is a really important example of one. At the 6:10 mark of the second half Adrian had pulled to within 7 (76-69) and had a lot of momentum. Hope gets the ball, and at the 5:57 mark Rainey steps in front of a pass intended for Gamm, who pulls Rainey to the floor. Rainey gets called for the foul, his fifth, thus ending Adrian's chances. I really can't believe they called a foul on Rainey there, who made very minimal contact with Gamm and clearly had a path to the ball. If the uniforms had been reversed Hope fans would be going ballistic about that play.

This?  He raked Gamm's arm coming from behind
https://youtu.be/VeOGhqAmfjo?t=5274

Thanks for the link - confirmed my own recollection of that specific foul.  And if my memory is right, Coach Lindsay's reaction as his player walked off was that of - yeah, you fouled him...