MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[Gregory Sager]

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.

Man, no wonder Stinger has that Goldmember quote at the bottom of his posts.

[gohope]

Update your programs.  I just checked Hope's website and there's a #5 added to the Men's Basketball Team Roster.  The team pic isn't updated yet, but the roster is.

[sac]

Man, no wonder Stinger has that Goldmember quote at the bottom of his posts.

Add in the last decace of football results and its been awhile since K had much on their most hated rival.

[Gregory Sager]

Man, no wonder Stinger has that Goldmember quote at the bottom of his posts.

Add in the last decace of football results and its been awhile since K had much on their most hated rival.

Tennis, anyone?

[realist]

Calvin 50   Tri-State 36 @ the half.  Going according to script. 
Hope   34   Kalamazoo 22

[goodknight]

A pretty solid first half of shooting tonight for Calvin against 3State, hardly the calibre of competition that the Knights faced over the weekend.  Lots of space to find an open shot, and Velthouse and Griffin hit the first four attempts to boost Calvin to a 10-0 start. 
Tri-State shot their way back into contention immediately thereafter, but Calvin's defense picked up some intensity and the Knights coasted to a 14-point lead at the break, and the second half was pretty ugly -- Calvin jumped out to a 20-plus point lead and 3State was able to cut into the margin at garbage time.
Griffin led the Knights with 22 and Veldhouse added 14.  Veltema had his second straight double-digit output with 10.
Nice to get a convincing win after two no-excuses losses in Ohio.
Next up: the Scots of Alma on the road for a 1 p.m. tipoff on Saturday.

[calalum]

Calvin wins 80 to 64.  It was a battle of threes in the first half. Calvin had 10 and TriState had 9.  It looks good when Calvin can hit their open shots.

[goodknight]

First shocker of the league season, according to MIAA.org:

Albion falls at home in OT to Adrian, 81-76.   

[sac]

Tennis, anyone?

The MIAA team that broke Kzoo's 40 odd YEAR consecutive MIAA match win streak and conference title streak  was........you guessed it Hope, a couple years ago.

[oldknight]

Calvin wins 80 to 64.  It was a battle of threes in the first half. Calvin had 10 and TriState had 9.  It looks good when Calvin can hit their open shots.

Yes, it does look good when you hit your open shots. Of course, the trick is to get shots that are open. I think I can count on one hand the number of open looks Calvin got in Wooster last weekend. After six possessions in tonight's game I needed more than one hand to count the number of open looks Calvin got from the TriState defense.

[sac]

Hope 87 Kalamazoo 55

I walked in it was 14-11, I walked out impressed with Hope.  Hope finished the first half strong led by Klein and Kratz who totaled about 15 points in the first half but were makeing a bigger difference on the defensive end with rebounding and keeping balls alive with tips etc., as they have all year.  In fact Kratz was downright impressive,

Kalamzoo was hanging tough and playing hard and despite being down 34-22 I think they had to feel like they could play with Hope.

To start the second Kzoo got a nice two handed dunk from Kellogg to get the crowd excited and set a nice tone.  Hope completely absolutely and definitively snuffed any thoughts of a comback out in about 4 minutes of the best offensive basketball Hope's played this year with a 17-0 run........highlighted by a beautiful running left handed "and one" layup by VanSolkema just seconds after tweaking an ankle  on the same play.  Just like that it was 51-24.

Guys like Tim Partridge and Tyler Wolfe lit up Kzoo with consecutive 3's over the next 5 minutes to garuntee the Hope starters would be well rested and their services were no longer needed.  The lead got as high as 37 I believe, and Hope worked very hard at both ends to get there.

Hope took just 10 minutes to get 34 points in the 2nd half and shot a blazing 61% includng 7-13 from 3.

Kzoo competed very hard and never quit, they are just more than little short handed against Hope.  On a good night of shooting Kzoo will give somebody a headache.  It didn't help that they caught Hope on a night when the offense looked its best since the first Calvin encounter.  Henry McCain did not play and was not listed on the Kzoo roster, my thought is that Kzoo will struggle without him alot.

Balanced scoreing for Hope

Kratz 14, Partridge 13, Cramer 11, Klein 8, Van Solkema 8, VanderHeide 7

Hope got 47 points from what I like to call the 2nd unit of Wolfe, Partridge, Jager, Klein, Kratz and Osburn.   Some of that can be attributed to the extra minutes played in a blowout but most are legit.

Patrick Woolpert did play a few minutes late and actually looked pretty good........I think he's been sneaking workouts in while away.

Always a nice drive home from Kzoo with a W and that road trip out of the way early.  A very nice start to the MIAA, Hope was focused, determined and to be truthfull excited to be there.  There was a different look to the Hope bench tonight.

I left feeling Hope is starting to "get it".

[Civic Minded]

Calvin wins 80 to 64.  It was a battle of threes in the first half. Calvin had 10 and TriState had 9.  It looks good when Calvin can hit their open shots.

Yes, it does look good when you hit your open shots. Of course, the trick is to get shots that are open. I think I can count on one hand the number of open looks Calvin got in Wooster last weekend. After six possessions in tonight's game I needed more than one hand to count the number of open looks Calvin got from the TriState defense.

So who has 3State been playing that their record appears so good?  Sure sounds like the same old Tri-State in this particular game.

[bulldogalum]

Adrian 81
Albion 76

F (OT)

The Bulldogs move to 1-0 in the only season that really matters.  If I had but one thing to say about this team, it's that they have guts.  

Adrian fell behind early, and trailed at the half by 14 points.  Albion got off to a quick start thanks to opportunistic transition play, which was aided by a few quick Adrian turnovers.  It seemed like Albion made everything they looked as the first half progressed, although the stats don't bear that out.  Perhaps this seems to be so because Albion got so many bites at the proverbial apple in the first half.  They absolutely dominated the Bulldogs on the boards, and I can remember at least a couple of instances where Albion missed 3 or 4 shots, only to get offensive boards every time, and eventually score a bucket.  

Coach Riley made some nice halftime adjustments, and the second half was completely different.  The Bulldogs increased their defensive intensity, and came up with a number of timely turnovers.  Instead of settling for early threes on the offensive end, Adrian attacked the basket and created scoring opportunities.  This, in turn, opened up the three point shot when they needed it.

It should be noted that the player of the game was, without question, Desmond Young.  Playing in his second game for the Bulldogs after transferring from Saginaw Valley, Young was clearly the best player on the floor, provided a much needed boost to the Bulldog team.  Since he's been on the roster, he has become a leader, especially on the floor.  The Bulldogs have had a gutsy team all along, but Desmond has given them the final piece of the puzzle:  now, not only do they have the will to put forth the effort to come back, they have a guy who can score every time down the floor.

Next up is Kalamazoo.  You Hornets better gird your loins, and prepare for a tough battle in the Merillat Center!

[Civic Minded]

Hope 87 Kalamazoo 55

I walked in it was 14-11, ... 

Care to explain why you arrived late???    8)


As usual, I have to agree with Sac's description.  Hope was able, for the first time in a while, to play somewhere near their true capabilities.  I think they have even more to offer, and I expect to see it (sooner than later would be just fine), but I'm relieved to know that they haven't hit some serious slump.  In addition to the players Sac mentioned, it was great to see Woolpert back on the floor, and Osburn looked better than he has in the last few games.  Scott Glaser had everyone holding their breath hoping for a dunk  , and Dan Greenan's passing capabilities are truly impressive.  Tim Dykgraaf showed some good defensive potential tonight as well (hey -- everyone got to play; there's a lot to talk about!).   

It was nice to see Channel 3 carry a review of the game at the 11:00 news; neither channel 8 or 13 could be bothered with any MIAA info (probably no time with all of the President Ford news, I guess).

Adrian beat Albion?!?  That just complicates the pick'em, doesn't it?   

[sac]

Tonghts scores

Adrian 81, Albion 76 (ot)
Hope 87, Kalamazoo 55
Calvin 80, Tri-State 64
Olivet 86, Alma 70

Four winners all score 80+, all four involved double digit halftime leads.


-------In the past I've made the trip from Holland to Albion through Kzoo about every 2 weeks every spring, summer and fall for about the last 15 years.  Tonight was the first time since last January that I drove to Kzoo and for some reason I'd forgotten how long of a dive it is.  So I was substantially late.  Funny how the mind forgets so easily.

On the plus side I got in for free, and saved my stomach and nerves about 11 minutes of anxiety.  The moral is that even familiar things can become quickly unfamiliar if you don't do them......................and if your willing to miss 10 minutes of a game you can get in FREE.

Care to explain why you arrived late???   8)

It was a simple warning! ..........I would have been late anyway.