MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[BigBallBoy]

Tough Trine-Hope game to watch from a Dutchman perspective.  Especially lack of competitiveness, apparent frustration by coaching staff (e.g. hand gestures, lowering head) and reserves playing the majority of the last 10 minutes...

Give Trine credit - the defense was solid with so much versatility to guard anyone at any position and place on the floor.  Their offence was good, Moore and Tucker were especially efficient, getting the shots they wanted and making them.

Very nice play at the 4 minute mark by "E" with a steal, behind-the-back dribble, pass to Tucker(?), and finishing the alley-oop!

Tough climb from here for the Dutchmen, but there is always Hope!

[TUAngola]

Tough Trine-Hope game to watch from a Dutchman perspective.  Especially lack of competitiveness, apparent frustration by coaching staff (e.g. hand gestures, lowering head) and reserves playing the majority of the last 10 minutes...

Give Trine credit - the defense was solid with so much versatility to guard anyone at any position and place on the floor.  Their offence was good, Moore and Tucker were especially efficient, getting the shots they wanted and making them.

Very nice play at the 4 minute mark by "E" with a steal, behind-the-back dribble, pass to Tucker(?), and finishing the alley-oop!

Tough climb from here for the Dutchmen, but there is always Hope!

Trine led wire to wire today, winning 77-54.  Like BBB mentioned above, the difference in the game is Trine plays outstanding defense.  Even when we employ a 'hockey line change' to the lineup the reserves are just as locked in defensively as the starters.  I thought a key turn to the game was when Hope had cut a first half lead for Trine down to 2, Jayce Cusack hit back to back 3 pointers to jump the lead back out to 8.  It was good to see Jayce shoot it well as offensively he has been struggling a bit lately.  Moore and Tucker again lead us offensively with 17 and 16 points respectively.  I hope Matt & Zac add Manny's dunk to their D3 best dunks of the year.  It wasn't the dunk itself that was the most impressive, to me it was Manny's steal and the behind the back dribble to free himself of the defender, pretty impressive for a big man.

[pointlem]

Tough Trine-Hope game to watch from a Dutchman perspective. . . .
Tough climb from here for the Dutchmen, but there is always Hope!

Well said BigBallBoy...as Hope's cold shooting woes (28%, and but 3 of 24 3's) continue. But, yes, credit Trine as well as the basket lid.

Hope could have used Josh Decker's 3-point shooting these last two games. Hopefully he and Eli Schoonveld will soon return--both missed. With Albion/Calvin/Trine up next, this is the difficult stretch.

[oldknight]

When you win 88-64, it's tough to say your victory was lackluster, but that's kind of how to describe Calvin victory over an overmatched Alma quintet. For the third straight game at VanNoord Arena, the Knights got off to a slow start and allowed the visitors grab an early lead--this time 6-0. Slowly and painfully, the home squad pulled ahead, crawling their way to a 44-36 edge at the break. Calvin's defense was spotty, ranging from impressive shot-blocking to indifferent defensive pressure. Given the fact that this game--against an 0-16 Alma team--was sandwiched between an emotional win in a Rivalry game and a very important contest against Calvin's MIAA co-leader, I shouldn't be terribly surprised, but it was still frustrating to watch. Part of the reason for a closer than expected first half was the fact that (by my count) Alma successfully connected on five first half baskets that went in at the shot clock buzzer, three of which were from beyond the arc. Calvin went on to outscore Alma 44-28 the second frame. Egekeze scored a highly efficient 22 points, followed by Winkle, Varnado, and Swartz with 17, 15, and 14 respectively. It's getting increasingly difficult to deny Parker starting minutes, as his play has risen to new heights the last couple of games. In addition to scoring 14, his defense had eyepopping moments that included 3 steals and 3 blocked shots. Jeremy Rosario was excellent for Alma and proved to be Alma's best player, netting 22 for the Scots. On to a massive game at Trine on Wednesday.

[Greek Tragedy]

https://d3datacast.com/conference-ratings/miaa/

Lots of talk on X that Calvin is really good. I guess I'm not going to argue that. Calvin guys have posted about SOS, Massey etc. They've won 10 in a row now, despite their early season struggles against really good opponents. However, do they even have a shot at Pool C? They sit 39th in the Pool C rankings, according to NPI. If you look at their remaining opponents, only wins against Trine will help them tremendously as everyone else is below the 53.00 NPI wins bonus threshold. For example, Oshkosh beat River Falls last night and they actually dropped in the NPI rankings because River Falls' numbers are so bad. Granted, teams move up and down based on other results and other results from teams around them, but it seems like a huge uphill battle for Calvin.

[oldknight]

https://d3datacast.com/conference-ratings/miaa/

Lots of talk on X that Calvin is really good. I guess I'm not going to argue that. Calvin guys have posted about SOS, Massey etc. They've won 10 in a row now, despite their early season struggles against really good opponents. However, do they even have a shot at Pool C? They sit 39th in the Pool C rankings, according to NPI. If you look at their remaining opponents, only wins against Trine will help them tremendously as everyone else is below the 53.00 NPI wins bonus threshold. For example, Oshkosh beat River Falls last night and they actually dropped in the NPI rankings because River Falls' numbers are so bad. Granted, teams move up and down based on other results and other results from teams around them, but it seems like a huge uphill battle for Calvin.

Realistically, no one should expect a Pool C bid for Calvin though continuing wins would give them an outside chance if they fail to win the conference tournament. And a lot of that depends on how other teams in the mix  do and how many upsets there are in other conference tournaments. Calvin is a good team, but they had better win the MIAA tournament.

[ziggy]

Scenarios by which Calvin is Pool C viable involve nearly running the table. So yes, an uphill battle but I haven't seen anyone suggesting otherwise.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Tough Trine-Hope game to watch from a Dutchman perspective. . . .
Tough climb from here for the Dutchmen, but there is always Hope!

Well said BigBallBoy...as Hope's cold shooting woes (28%, and but 3 of 24 3's) continue. But, yes, credit Trine as well as the basket lid.

Hope could have used Josh Decker's 3-point shooting these last two games. Hopefully he and Eli Schoonveld will soon return--both missed. With Albion/Calvin/Trine up next, this is the difficult stretch.

Trine deserves some credit for Hope's poor performance, but I think the bulk of it falls on Hope simply not making a lot of good, open shots.  Other than shooting percentage, this was a pretty even game statistically. 

Reb: H 47, T 41 
FGA: H 67, T 57 
TO: H 15, T 11 
Pts off TO: H 11, T 16 
FTA: H 21, T 19 
OReb: H 25, T 10

[KnightSlappy]

https://d3datacast.com/conference-ratings/miaa/

Lots of talk on X that Calvin is really good. I guess I'm not going to argue that. Calvin guys have posted about SOS, Massey etc. They've won 10 in a row now, despite their early season struggles against really good opponents. However, do they even have a shot at Pool C? They sit 39th in the Pool C rankings, according to NPI. If you look at their remaining opponents, only wins against Trine will help them tremendously as everyone else is below the 53.00 NPI wins bonus threshold. For example, Oshkosh beat River Falls last night and they actually dropped in the NPI rankings because River Falls' numbers are so bad. Granted, teams move up and down based on other results and other results from teams around them, but it seems like a huge uphill battle for Calvin.

Realistically, no one should expect a Pool C bid for Calvin though continuing wins would give them an outside chance if they fail to win the conference tournament. And a lot of that depends on how other teams in the mix  do and how many upsets there are in other conference tournaments. Calvin is a good team, but they had better win the MIAA tournament.

https://d3datacast.com/conference-ratings/miaa/

Lots of talk on X that Calvin is really good. I guess I'm not going to argue that. Calvin guys have posted about SOS, Massey etc. They've won 10 in a row now, despite their early season struggles against really good opponents. However, do they even have a shot at Pool C? They sit 39th in the Pool C rankings, according to NPI. If you look at their remaining opponents, only wins against Trine will help them tremendously as everyone else is below the 53.00 NPI wins bonus threshold. For example, Oshkosh beat River Falls last night and they actually dropped in the NPI rankings because River Falls' numbers are so bad. Granted, teams move up and down based on other results and other results from teams around them, but it seems like a huge uphill battle for Calvin.

I think one more loss (outside of the tournament final) knocks them out of at-large contention. With two games vs. Trine remaining, one vs. Hope, and the rest of the MIAA slate, it is not looking likely at all. My last batch of sims (from Sunday morning) had Calvin earning a Pool C bid 96% of the time in which they reached 19 (D3) wins but failed to win the AQ. 14.6% of the time in which they reached 18 wins, and 0% all else.

[Edit: these number fell to 72% and 9% after Sunday's results with teams like U Chicago looking more solid in Pool C.]

[northb]

Tough Trine-Hope game to watch from a Dutchman perspective. . . .
Tough climb from here for the Dutchmen, but there is always Hope!

Well said BigBallBoy...as Hope's cold shooting woes (28%, and but 3 of 24 3's) continue. But, yes, credit Trine as well as the basket lid.

Hope could have used Josh Decker's 3-point shooting these last two games. Hopefully he and Eli Schoonveld will soon return--both missed. With Albion/Calvin/Trine up next, this is the difficult stretch.

Trine deserves some credit for Hope's poor performance, but I think the bulk of it falls on Hope simply not making a lot of good, open shots.  Other than shooting percentage, this was a pretty even game statistically. 

Reb: H 47, T 41 
FGA: H 67, T 57 
TO: H 15, T 11 
Pts off TO: H 11, T 16 
FTA: H 21, T 19 
OReb: H 25, T 10

Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Tough Trine-Hope game to watch from a Dutchman perspective. . . .
Tough climb from here for the Dutchmen, but there is always Hope!

Well said BigBallBoy...as Hope's cold shooting woes (28%, and but 3 of 24 3's) continue. But, yes, credit Trine as well as the basket lid.

Hope could have used Josh Decker's 3-point shooting these last two games. Hopefully he and Eli Schoonveld will soon return--both missed. With Albion/Calvin/Trine up next, this is the difficult stretch.

Trine deserves some credit for Hope's poor performance, but I think the bulk of it falls on Hope simply not making a lot of good, open shots.  Other than shooting percentage, this was a pretty even game statistically. 

Reb: H 47, T 41 
FGA: H 67, T 57 
TO: H 15, T 11 
Pts off TO: H 11, T 16 
FTA: H 21, T 19 
OReb: H 25, T 10

Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?

You tell me JWB

[Greek Tragedy]

Is this Calvin's Super Bowl tonight? If they win, they still have hope, especially for a Pool C. If they lose or, worse yet, get blown out, there's probably little hope they can win the return leg and even possibly beat them in the conference tournament. No pressure.

[shawn]

Big win for Calvin

[TUAngola]

Calvin tops Trine 62-58 in a physical, defensive slugfest.  Calvin's defense was stellar, they play tight man to man just like Trine.  I don't think Trine played badly, they just had a tough time generating any consistent offense, but again that was due mostly to Calvin's defense.  Uchenna was up to the task guarding Drew, it was tough for Drew to get many shots up.  The big key to the win was Uchenna offensively was agressive, I've watched him play for 4+ years now and this is the most he has looked for his shot against us, he was their go-to guy.  Trevin was big for the Knights too, he had a great first half.

[pointlem]

Albion 76, Hope 74, with the win on a last second basket. Can't fault Hope's effort, with only 10 turnovers and outrebounding Albion by 13. But once again dismal 3 point shooting (22% on 6 of 27, to Albion's 64%) was the difference. To upset Calvin on Saturday, Hope will need to combine its hard play with better shooting...which is possible.