MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[oldknight]

Almcguirejr and Dark Knight have it right on Mantel. Right now John is simply going through what almost every freshmen who plays varsity ball goes through while trying to make the adjustment from the high school to the college game. He's now playing against men, not boys, and the physical nature and speed of the game takes time to learn and deal with--especially when you're a post player. He will be an excellent player at Calvin--he has all the tools necessary to be successful. The only things he lacks are the experience and the required work in the weight room.

I found it interesting that KVS admitted in the post game interview Wednesday that he made a mistake in handing John the starting role in the first game of the season. I have always believed that when it comes to freshmen it's best to err on the side of excessive caution when putting a freshmen in a starting role early. While John was a starter the first game, Veltema was given a more limited role. He's made freshmen mistakes too but slowly and surely Matt's minutes have gone up and his confidence in his play (and KVS's confidence in Matt) has grown game by game. MV really has a sweet stroke and it wouldn't surprise me if he becomes a starter a some point this year.

[SKOT]

The Hope familiy is hurting is a little bit this week, Marcia DeYoung wife of Bob DeYoung passed away on Wednesday.

http://www.hollandsentinel.com/stories/010507/obituaries_20070105032.shtml

The Volleyball court at DeVos Fieldhouse is named in their honor.  Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

While on the subject, Jim "Papa" Bekkering passed on New Year's Eve. 

http://hollandsentinel.com/stories/010207/obituaries_20070102024.shtml
http://hollandsentinel.com/stories/103106/localsports_20061031041.shtml

[NW Hope Fan]

As much as I haven't always liked Lamberts articles, his story about "papa" put a lump in my throat...

I'm such a sap!    

Thanks Lee.

[realist]

FDF:  The 11:30 starting time for the JV game next Sat. the 13th isn't surprising.
Note the varsity game starts at 2 p.m. EST.  We are used to a 3 p.m. start time.  Not sure of the reason for the 2 p.m. time, but suspect it has something to do with TV. 

[Dark Knight]

I know th JV teams don't always get that much attention, but making the Hope & Calvin JV's play each other at 11:30pm on the 13th is a bit ridiculous, don't you think   

My guess would be that the Hope JVs requested the late start time so they could show up 12 hours early to prepare... 

[MIdoubleA]

Is Mantel starting at center and having difficulties? He's listed as a forward, so I wasn't sure.

It would be interesting to compare him and Hope's Kratz. Steve seemed to start where Mantel is now, and is quickly developing. Perhaps Mantel will do the same?

I haven't seem them play since the second game of the season, so the next two Hope vs. Calvin matchups will be interesting to see how each teams Freshmen have developed.

[sac]

Calvin 46 Alma 29 at the half

Mantel leads with 11

[sac]

Calvin 62 Alma 31 15 to go

I'm off to DeVos

[KnightSlappy]

Calvin 79 Alma 61 Final.  Griffin, Mantel, Meckes, and Veldhouse all in double figures for Calvin.

[goodknight]

Didn't make the trip and checked only occasionally on the broadcast.
Apparently it was a mismatch, and the final margin was reduced by Calvin's liberal use of the end of the bench talent in the second half, and the team's desire to make sac's 20-point prediction look good.

Leading scorers for the Knights:
Griffin 21
Meckes 18
Mantel 12
Veldhouse 11

For the Scots, two players in double figures: Isaac Smith with19 and Matt Brown with 15.

[oldknight]

. . . the final margin was reduced by Calvin's liberal use of the end of the bench talent in the second half, and the team's desire to make sac's 20-point prediction look good.

So what did sac pay the team to get the final margin under 20?

[Stinger]

Well, Im back from the Naples, and quite frankly, was happy I didn't return in time to catch the game at the Dome on Wednesday night.  Another ugly loss for the Hornets.  It's going to be a long MIAA season for Kzoo.  I haven't seen them play since a loss their loss to Manchester, and won't be able to until next Sat. Can't really talk about what's going on at this point.  If they can somehow manage a .500 season in the conference, I think they should be very, very happy. 

At least the golf was good on Wednesday

[MIdoubleA]

Hope vs. Olivet

JV

* Olivet played tough, they have some serious size coming up... it will be scary to see if they can develop.

* The cheer section for Olivet made more noise than the entire rest of the place. Kudos to you, friends and family, for supporting your team.

* Hope has a few gems on their JV team. Starting point guard Kevin Tonn has a lot of poise and good decision making skills. Starting center Brian Puls, if he can put on weight, will be the next Bosma or Overbeek. That is a big if.

Varsity

* I wanted to ask Sac to write to each Hope College section and personally ask them to clap more than once per game. Hope's following, however devoted, is visibly and audibly getting older... the only time they came to life was in the final 40 seconds when Hope was getting close to breaking 100 points. I can garauntee you that Dan Holt feels worse about winning than anyone on Olivet feels about losing. You can ask him why.

* What a difference a half-season can make. In the first two games Cramer, Vanderheide and DVS scored 106/180 points for the Dutchmen. Today they had 6 players in double figures. What's the Dutch word for depth?

* Also, a kudos goes out to Tim Partridge for having 1/3 of his teams total fouls. An interesting statistic for the guy that is also currently leading the MIAA in 3-point %. 

* Anyone on Olivet's team can hit a trey. ANYONE. Brandon Way can hit a 3-pointer anytime, anywhere, at-will. You have been warned.

[goodknight]

Tri-State 74
Albion 66

The Brits had a two-point lead at the break but fell behind early in the second half and the Thunder held on at home.

[admittedlydutch]

A couple thoughts on Hope v. Olivet:

-- Vanderheide came to play today; he is a tempo-maker and leader for Hope, set an early tone for the game

-- Good to see Partridge getting some quality minutes (and quite a few fouls...oh my)

-- Anyone see Olivet's coach take a swipe at the scorer's table?  Thought we'd see an immediate technical for that, but there was no ref to be found

-- 99 points just feels good (but not as good as 100)

-- Second question:  Anyone know about GVW and Olivet coach's conversation at the end of the game?