MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[sac]

So I thought I'd actually work out just exactly how bad the MIAA non-conference has gone.   

MIAA non-conference record

1997.........45-36     .556
1998.........47-37     .560
1999.........46-34     .575
2000.........53-24     .688
2001.........49-33     .598
2002.........53-36     .596
2003.........56-32     .636
2004.........49-42     .538
2005.........46-38     .548
2006.........52-35     .598
2007.........27-51     .346

even more astonishing than I thought.

[oldknight]

I don't want to sound like a fan who professes to have more football knowledge than you because clearly I don't but I do have a couple suggestions.

Don't sell yourself short.  I have a potted plant that appears to know more about football than does Lloyd Carr.  It has never once called a 3-yard curl on 3rd and 9.

Well said. For those of us who bothered to stay up until 1:00 am, the Boise State-Oklahoma matchup rewarded us with the most exciting finish in bowl game history.  Bronco's coach Chris Petersen--unlike Lloyd Carr--is someone who knows what creative offense looks like, and he obviously has trained his teamed to execute it.

[bulldogalum]

Ugh, I thought I might be able to come here to avoid the Carr bashing, instead I only see more of it.  Looks like I'll have to take a week off.

[Pat Coleman]

Ypsi: They called many passes downfield. However, considering the offensive line couldn't protect Henne for more than three seconds, they turned into sacks.

Pat: That was all in the first half.  In the second, the protection improved, but they never went back to the deep pass.

Did the protection improve, or did the play-calling change to limit the protection problems?

[Mr. Ypsi]

Ypsi: They called many passes downfield. However, considering the offensive line couldn't protect Henne for more than three seconds, they turned into sacks.

Pat: That was all in the first half.  In the second, the protection improved, but they never went back to the deep pass.

Did the protection improve, or did the play-calling change to limit the protection problems?

Probably some of each.  I did see a number of times where Henne was not at all hurried, but threw the two/three yard pass anyway - whether HE gave up on the long pass, or the short pass was the primary call, I don't know.

[Pat Coleman]

The thing I hate about football on TV is we'll never know how well those routes were covered.

[NW Hope Fan]

sac
   
the mystery guy said he was wating for a physical  then he was going to play for hope

Exactly right.  Look for him to be suited up on Wednesday against the Hornets.  I'll also have to fill you in on his first semester in Philadelphia

Are we talking about PW?

[Flying Dutch Fan]

sac
   
the mystery guy said he was wating for a physical  then he was going to play for hope

Exactly right.  Look for him to be suited up on Wednesday against the Hornets.  I'll also have to fill you in on his first semester in Philadelphia

Are we talking about PW?

I point of Karma for being correct

[MIdoubleA]

I think we'll see PW get some serious playtime in Kzoo tomorrow, I'm glad he's back. He brings a lot of energy off of the bench, and some muscle inside as well.

Anyone have any idea why we didn't see Zach Osburn this weekend? He was suited up and on the bench, but I don't recall seeing him get any PT.

[almcguirejr]

I went to the Hope - Rochester game on Sat.  I thought Ryan Klein played very well.  GVW's substitution of Wolfe for VanderHeide with 4 minutes to go was kind of
strange.  I see Wolfe as pretty much a three point shooter and a defensive liability.
If GVW wants to take out MVH why not use Klein.  The kid was 4-4 from the field and their leading rebounder for the game off the bench. 

[Roughrider]

Man, was that ever an ugly Rose Bowl (from my point of view           ).  And now, back to basketball . . . .

The Russ DeVette Classic provided my first opportunity to visit DeVos this season.  I was eager to get my first look at the current edition of the Dutchmen.  Here's my two cents on the teams and the games.  OK, a little more than two cents.   

Regarding Spring Arbor
Surprise of the tournament--Spring Arbor's loss to Rochester on Friday night.  After reading the scouting reports and reviews of SAU's big win over Albion a couple weeks ago, I figured they were a lock to advance to play Hope.  In retrospect, this could have been another example of not how good Albion's opponent was, but rather how far Albion has fallen.  A contributing factor to Spring Arbor's loss though, was the fact that they only dressed eight players for the tournament.  We saw a couple of obviously injured players in street clothes, but that doesn't explain all of the roster shortage.  I wondered about that.  Maybe they ran out of gas down the stretch.

The List brothers, Aaron and Jared from Frankenmuth, both came off the short bench and contributed quality minutes.

Regarding Trinity College
Per sac in Reply #6746:
"Hope did an especially nice job doubling the post and never allowed TC to establish an inside game.  Ty DeWitte is the biggest big man Hope will face the rest of the season unless they make the NCAA or someone from the MIAA has someone I don't know about.  They did a very good job on him."

Well said, sac.  Ty DeWitte is an absolute horse of a post player.  After he scored the first basket of the game on an inside post move, I thought to myself that if Hope doesn't defend him any better, it's going to be a long night for the Dutchmen.  Hope often doubled him, and even occasionally triple-teamed him.  Trinity was otherwise overmatched pretty much all around, and their lack of team-ball-handling abilities allowed Hope to negate DeWitte's size advantage.

Trinity guard Nick Rykse, listed at 5'10" in the program, more than overcame his short stature with his intensity.  He is a veritable fireball at both ends of the court.

Also per sac in Reply #6746:
"Second half Hope got very sloppy, we'll credit TC for leaving their quick guys on the floor more and pressing and generally causing havoc.  But Hope made very poor decisions with the ball and really didn't execute much of an offense.  TC pulled as close as 13 but Hope got the lead back to 20+ and then completely caved in the last 5 minutes."

Hope got sloppy indeed.  For the whole game, they missed an ugly total of 18 layups, according to one stat staffer.  (That would include fast breaks, drives from the half-court set, post moves, and put-back bunnies.)  During that late TC run which cut Hope's lead to 13, Hope committed three turnovers in less than a minute.  I thought that it was on three consecutive possessions, but a check of the PBP revealed that a couple of missed shots were sandwiched in there.  A hasty time-out by GVW righted the ship, though, and the lead grew back to a high of 27.

Regarding the Rochester-Hope game

Per sac in Reply #6753:
"Halftime at DeVos

Hope 42 Rochester 30

A little crazy, Hope is 9-19 from 3 and hasn't scored a 2 point basket in 12 1/2 minutes.  All I can figure is Rochester is playing a serious zone."

On offense, Hope became complacent with taking perimeter shots, and not making enough of those, and really didn't work at attacking the basket.  On defense, it was Hope's ugly zone that allowed RC to heat up with open 3's, and drive to the basket almost at will during their run to wipe out Hope's lead.  Just when RC had the Dutchmen on the ropes, and had built their lead to 3 points, Stephen Cramer hit a HUGE clutch 3 to tie it up at 3:32.  After Hope fell behind again, Scott Richardson hit a big bucket to tie it up again at 2:01.  Stephen and Scott each made another big basket to give the Dutchmen the lead for good, and Stephen added two FT's which proved to be the margin of victory.

Per Civic Minded in Reply #6758:
"It may be important to note that the crowd, although full again today, was (to quote a certain someone else   ) "morgue-like."  No noise, no support for the team until Rochester took the lead."

The crowd was indeed quiet.  At half-time, Hope offered free T-shirts to anyone who had seen Russ DeVette coach a game.  You should have seen all the gray-hairs coming down to the scorer's table.  Might have been half the crowd.    I think we're all looking forward to the return of the students and their enthusiasm.

As it turned out for the Dutchmen, a good end to the pre-conference season.  That's my two cents, plus a few more.  Now bring on the MIAA!

Roughrider

[sac]

Article about Hope's Brett Jager

http://www.hollandsentinel.com/stories/010307/localsports_20070103051.shtml

I must correct the article though, it makes it sound like Hope has won 17 in row in Kalamazoo, the Hornets won there in 1996, Hope has won 10 straight in Kzoo.

......and I don't know how to convince the Hope PR department but Hope has won 18 straight vs Kalamazoo overall not 17.

'98   Kalamazoo 70   Hope 57 (H)------Kzoo's last overall win
'99   Hope 81   Kalamazoo 68 (H)
'99   Hope 83   Kalamazoo 76 (ot) (A)
'00   Hope 66   Kalamazoo 54 (A)
'00   Hope 82   Kalamazoo 67 (H)
'00   Hope 69   Kalamazoo 66 (N)-----MIAA Tourny Semi at Calvin
'01   Hope 93   Kalamazoo 84 (ot) (H)
'01   Hope 76   Kalamazoo 61 (A)
'02   Hope 87   Kalamazoo 60 (H)
'02   Hope 75   Kalamazoo 68 (A)
'02   Hope 68   Kalamazoo 67 (N)-----MIAA Tourny First round
'03   Hope 100   Kalamazoo 35 (H)
'03   Hope 70   Kalamazoo 59 (A)
'04   Hope 91   Kalamazoo 74 (H)
'04   Hope 82   Kalamazoo 76 (A)
'05   Hope 67   Kalamazoo 53 (A)
'05   Hope 88   Kalamazoo 86 (H)
'06   Hope 86   Kalamazoo 49 (H)
'06   Hope 91   Kalamazoo 63 (A)

Both of last years H/K games were lopsided but this series usually produces 1 good one a year.  A few of those Hope wins in Kzoo were Houdini like escapes   ie the two close games in 2002 Hope trailed at Kzoo by 15 in the 2nd and won and trailed by 17 in the MIAA  tournament game and came back to win in somewhat controversial fasion as I recall.  An Immink/Veldhouse like encounter late in the game.


Most times the H/K game is fairly close for about 30 minutes and Hope's overall depth sort of wears on the Hornets.  Not sure if that will happen this year.

[sac]

I went to the Hope - Rochester game on Sat.  I thought Ryan Klein played very well.  GVW's substitution of Wolfe for VanderHeide with 4 minutes to go was kind of strange.  I see Wolfe as pretty much a three point shooter and a defensive liability.  If GVW wants to take out MVH why not use Klein.  The kid was 4-4 from the field and their leading rebounder for the game off the bench. 

I've given up trying to figure out Klein's playing time.  On the floor at the end of the Wheaton game, barely plays the next  .   I'm just happy he's getting to play this year I thought he should have played more last year.  He and Kratz together are pretty tough on D.

I think we'll see PW get some serious playtime in Kzoo tomorrow, I'm glad he's back. He brings a lot of energy off of the bench, and some muscle inside as well.

Anyone have any idea why we didn't see Zach Osburn this weekend? He was suited up and on the bench, but I don't recall seeing him get any PT.

Osburn played very briefly  Friday night.  The transition from full-time D1 football player for 2 years to D3 basketball has been harder than I think even he thought.   Plus the tape job on his hand suggests an injury.

I also hope PW gets to play tonight, I've always liked his fiesty side.  Brings a little more athleticism to the block.  Should be interesting how he melds into the team.  12 deep seems a little outside the comfortable rotation zone though.

Good luck to all the MIAA teams tonight, and safe traveling..........(not the kind that brings a whistle though )

[sac]

In the ultimate category of creepy

Through 10 games Tri-State has scored 666 points and allowed 666 points.

I can honestly say I've never seen that ever.      I don't know Calvin fans you might want to stay away from the Fieldhouse tonight.



Lots of links to tonights games, broadcasts and a live scoreboard from Kzoo  (I think everyone should have one)  all can be found here   http://miaa.org/

[almcguirejr]

I heard there is a front page story in the Sentinel today regarding DVS making a mid-season uniform # switch to #33.  DVS should focus on getting his assist/turnover number turned around.