MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[bulldogalum]

I think at this point, it all has to do with preseason rankings.  If Hope continues to win, they'll climb the polls rapidly.  And quality wins, like the Elmhurst win, only help them down the stretch.  Fear not, early season polls mean next to nothing anyhow.

[sac]

High praise for the Dutchmen indeed, 8) they even leapfrogged a couple previously ranked unbeaten teams.

Albion #9, did they get a free pass for the loss to Mich-Dearborn or is UMD better than I'm assuming.  Looking closer the #10 spots and down took a beating and those from #10 down all jumped at least 7 spots.  Couldn't drop Albion below some of those teams.  Interesting poll though.


April, the beauty of the new place is that there is major potential for standing room only "seats".  I don't know if Hope will do it but I can see an easy 300 extra squeezing in there. 

Despite its size the Hope/Calvin ticket will still be the toughest in town.

.....and a little warning for visitors particularly those with issues about the # of seats available at the Civic.  Don't count on more at DeVos.  I'm not certain but I believe there are fewer General Admission seats at DeVos than at the Civic, there are definately far fewer along the sidelines and near the visitors bench.  Just a fair warning.

[devossed]

dutchmen 96--

yes, omar rodriguez was the man! a true earl boykins in the making...too bad he left at semester his frosh year...

[Picket Fence]

I just struggle to understand their logic. Anyone have some insight?

I do not see how the rankings can take themselves seriously when Calvin is still receiving votes. Not just 1 or 2 votes, but they got 15 points. I put no value in these rankings outside of number 1 (IWU is for real).  If there are people out there putting a 2-3 (soon to be 2-5?) Calvin in the top 25, the rankings cannot hold any weight.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

I think the Hope ranking is about right, if not a little too high (I would have guessed a little closer to 20)

I can't understand the voters either.  How does Albion (who loses to a nobody) only drop 1 spot, but Elmhurst, who lost to (at the time) the "#32 team" drops from 15 to 22??

[KnightSlappy]

Has anyone heard any update on Josh Meckes' injury.  It would be a huge blow to lose him for any number of games.  The only way that I see the Knights making a run for the MIAA would be for coach KVS to have Hoekstra and Roelofs phone numbers on speed dial.  Is is too late to get these guys in uniform.  Also, does anyone know the status of Todd Koesier's injury, any chance he plays this year?

[aplayerhater]

Will Brandon Crawford slow down anytime soon?.  And why does Hope need minorities it seems like their doing just fine without them Cramer is close enough for me and Alma isn't doing to good a job at keeping them.

[Dark Knight]

More injury woes for the knights -- Snoeyink, who KVS thought was the Knight's best player last weekend, is out with a broken finger. KVS is unsure when he'll be back. Also, he thought Draayer wouldn't be playing because of back problems -- but he did play after all.

Still, the knights pulled it out with a last-second (literally) victory over Trinity Christian after trailing by as much as 18. The Trolls hit a bunch of open 3-pointers in the first half, missing only one, until Calvin stopped doubling down in the paint in the second half. Draayer and Trewhella combined for more than 40 points, and lots of freshmen got lots of minutes.

So, that's Koetsier, Meckes, and Snoeyink out...

At any rate, all those minutes for those freshmen should help over the next 4 year!

[ziggy]

I think the young Knights grew up a lot tonight.  Zoerhoff got the start because of all the injuries and made the most of his opportunity.  It won't all show up in the boxscore but he played very well on defense and brought some much needed energy.  The names and faces on this team are unrecognizable from last year's team, especially with Meckes and Snoeyink out tonight, but they deserve a ton of credit for making a comeback like that.

Veldhouse was good again tonight and it was nice to see him get fired up after hitting a big three late in the game.  He and Zoerhoff look to be the leaders of the future for the Knights.  Don't let the record fool you.  This is not a bad team, it is just a young team facing some injury problems right now.

[goodknight]

An amazing finish at the Calvin Fieldhouse tonight -- and three HUGE treyballs at the end from young Veldhouse and Trewhella.  Trewhella closed with 24 -- and I think 12 of them came in the last few minutes of the game.  Draayer had 18, and some crucial rebounds despite the back issues.  Veldhouse had 14 and really looks more confident with each game.   Zoerhoff was outstanding on defense and was much more into the offensive flow.
On the other hand, the Knights must have blown a dozen puppies tonight..  This was a golden opportunity for the Trolls to come away from Grand Rapids with a win, but a really gutsy comeback from a 43-27 deficit at the half for Calvin to pull out the 75-74 victory.

[KnightSlappy]

The young, injury stricken Knights showed a lot of guts tonight.  With only 2 of the top 10 players from last years final four team in the rotation they showed their inexperience early.  Down by 16 at half KVS must have lit a fire because they came out of the break and cut the lead to 9 only to see Trinity drain some threes and extend the lead to 18.  Down the stretch, Draayer and Trewhella showed that they are the team leaders by scoring some huge baskets.  Veldhouse continued to show his stuff nailing some huge threes and tightening up the Defense.  Tyler Zoerhof made his case for more minutes by providing 26 huge minutes.  His box score may not reflect how HUGE he was tonight.  With two big dudes out KVS found out that he can rely on Zoerhof to give intensity on both on offense, setting screens, driving to the basket, and finishing and defense, blocking/challenging shots and rebounding.  Once the Knights find a rotation that fits well and Meckes and Snoeyink are able to play, they will play some good ball and maybe surprise some people.

[goodknight]

Injury update on Josh Meckes:  He said tonight he's feeling much better and expects to play on Friday in the 6 p.m. opener against Carthage. 

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Any posters who will be at the MIAA/CCIW challenge in Holland this weekend:

I think it might be fun to have a chance to meet one another.  How about right after the first game on Friday night.  The fieldhouse has large pictures representing each sport around the outside walls.  Let's meet under the photo for mens basketball.  I'll be the guy wearing orange shorts!

[Dark Knight]

Has anyone heard anything about Koetsier's status?

I think his return could help the knights some. As I recall, he was a fairly active small forward who could score some points around the hoop. Last year, as a freshman, he had more points and more rebounds per minute played than either DeVries or Snoeyink.

[oldknight]

Darknight:

I've been told that Koetsier's knee is fine but that he has back issues now and will be redshirted.

With respect to Calvin's amazing comeback last night against Trinity, I don't know whether to be encouraged or discouraged. What we saw playing last night was Calvin's freshmen team supplemented by 2 bona fide MIAA starters (Draayer and Trewhella) and 2 role players (DeVries and Prins) and yet the team overcame all their injury woes and a significant deficit to win a game that was Trinity's for the taking. I also was pretty impressed with Zoerhof who played better and better the longer he played. I saw Zoerhof several times in high school and I had my doubts whether he would be a solid player at Calvin but his performance last night tends to make me think he will be more than the mere career long role player I thought he might be. He does have some skills and is a better one on one defender than I remember.

On the negative side, this still was Trinity they beat and I don't see the Knights making the same type of comeback against an MIAA team. If Calvin doesn't get and keep their 2 best big men (Meckes and Snoeyink) healthy this year they won't win more than half their league games. Speaking from this selfish Knight's fan's point of view, I find Hoekstra's decision to stay home with his bride on game nights even more disappointing.