MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[wiz]

A lot emphasis posted here on who scored how many points and who shot airballs.  But, the real leaders out there in my mind were Cramer for Hope and Veldhouse for Calvin. 

DVS scores a lot because the very smooth and unselfish Cramer sets it up well for him.  Mantel had good numbers, deservedly so, but many down low points scored by Calvin because Veldhouse could penetrate, draw a crowd and find the open man exceptionally well.

Calvin grew up today.  February and March should be fun.

[bulldogalum]

Adrian 69
Olivet 66

F(OT)

I'm always happiest when the campus of Olivet is in my rear view mirror, and especially so when I can leave having witnessed a Bulldog victory.

This was an ugly game, and as I left the game, I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and say, "well, they endured."  Adrian was streaky today, and while it was clear all along that they were the better team, toward the end, I felt certain that we were going to lose.  Thank goodness Lamar Cardenas and Ryan Gallus made two clutch 3 pointers to tie the game and force overtime.

In the first half, the Bulldogs really hurt Olivet with their defensive pressure.  Olivet couldn't make anything for the first few minutes, in large part because all of their early shots were strongly contested by the Adrian defense.  For their part, the Bulldogs made the shots they should make early, but they didn't set fire to the gym or anything.  

About halfway into the first half, trailing 15-3, Olivet made a nice little run, and with 3:33 remaining in the first half, they had closed the gap to 23-19.  Adrian proceeded to go on a 7-0 run to end the half leading by 11, 30-19.

The second half brought more of the same, with Adrian leading by 10ish for the majority of the second half.  With 6:50 remaining in the game, Steve Thornton converted a layup to give the Bulldogs a 52-42 lead.  That would be Adrian's last basket for the next 6:18.  At that point, trailing 56-52, Lamar Cardenas nailed a key three pointer to make things interesting.  Following 2 Jeff Cooper free throws, Adrian trailed 58-55 with 21 seconds remaining.  The Bulldogs stormed down the floor, and Ryan Gallus made a 3 with 14 seconds left to tie the game, sending the Adrian faithful into a frenzy.

Olivet's final attempt in regulation failed, and although Adrian came up with the rebound, the Bulldogs did not have time for a desperation attempt.

Overtime was simply a slugfest, with Olivet opening a quick 62-58 lead, only to see the Bulldogs come back and take a lead that would stand.  The final score actually would have been 69-64 had it not been for a last second layup for the Comets.

For the second consecutive game, six Adrian players scored in double figures.  It will interesting to see how Adrian will match up with Hope's second unit on Wednesday.

For anyone who is still reading, please raise your hands if you thought Adrian and Hope would be meeting this Wednesday for first place in the MIAA.  Anyone?  Bueller?  BUELLER??  Didn't think so .  For the Hope fans planning to travel to the game, plan to get there early, and expect a raucous environment at the Merillat Sports and Fitness Center.  40 or so students made the trip to Olivet today, and were very much on top of their game all day long.  Expect many more to be in attendance on Wednesday.

Thanks for the insight on Adrian.  How about a scouting report for Wednesday?

If you can stop Schaefer and Novak you might have a shot .

[flash96]

Bulldogalum, thanks for the expectations for the game.  I may travel down to Adrian for the game.  I have never been there for a game, last place in the MIAA to watch Hope play.

Wow '89 since Hope last had the lead!  Hope tied it up in the 90's, but then dropped a few.

[Dark Knight]

Calvin came 6" short of a 4-game sweep against Hope today! The Hope women's 44-game win streak came to an end, as did the Hope hoopsters' combined unbeaten record at DeVos, in front of 2900 at the DeVos.

The women's game was another barn burner. Calvin went out to an 18-5 lead, and held the Hope women to 5 points in the first 12 minutes of the game. I think Hope's greater depth started to wear down the knights, but they held on for the win, 60-57. Lisa Winkle had 13 points and 14 rebounds to lead the knights.

Defensive intensity was high on both sides of the court. Calvin shot only 4-18 from three-point land, but Hope shot only 2-12. Calvin edged out Hope in turnovers and rebounds.

[oldknight]

LADY KNIGHTS WIN AND HAND THE DUTCH BASKETBALL PROGRAM THEIR FIRST LOSS EVER AT DEVOS!

Final was 60-57. The sting of this afternoon's tough loss at the Fieldhouse is fading already.

I'm waiting breathlessly for sac to get to a computer and report from the front lines.

[oldknight]

Sorry; my magic decoder ring has never worked very well in this room. 

If it's any consolation David, it took me a minute get my magic decoder ring dusted off and working to figure out the 82-81 reference too.

[hope1]

good game     vs calvin  maybe the last time in that gym for this year   and beat the bulldogs wed  night schould be a  really good game

[oldknight]

The men's game this afternoon has been well covered by other posters but I'll reinforce one observation already made and add one new one.

First, Calvin's freshmen played very very well in what is really their first introduction--up close and personal--to The Rivalry. They didn't look the least bit intimidated by the significance of today's game. I know they played Hope last month too but that didn't have the same feel. The environment of a conference game with much better attendance (especially by students), a television audience, and the obvious electricity in the air left them quite nonplussed. They played the game like they really enjoyed being a part of the atmosphere for the first time.

Second, I thought Jager played some terrific minutes for Hope off the bench. He is an excellent ballhandler, a good defender and his play seems to instill some confidence in his teammates. I know DVS is a better scorer but in some respects Jager was better at running the team because he distributes the ball so well. Hope's offense didn't slow down at all when he was in the game.

[HopeConvert]

My two cents on today's game: First of all, I thought Calvin played with excellent defenisve intensity the whole game. They rotated deftly to the ball and gave Hope very few open looks at the basket. Their forwards hedged nicely out on the point, keeping DVS and Cramer away from the basket, but always managed to collapse back to the inside. Indeed, Calvin's inside team looked stronger than Hope's on both ends of the floor. The best success Hope had offensively was when they spread the floor and used their superior team speed to their advantage. It was my first time seeing Calvin this year, and I was quite impressed with their team defense. They played hard the whole game, and in the waning minutes of the first half clearly had Hope flustered.

As I suspected and feared, Reminik got into early foul trouble and this hurt Hope defensively. Their press simply isn't the same without him on the floor, and Calvin had no difficulty turning it into easy opportunities, usually by going over the top of it, or simply dribbling through it. GVW was smart to abandon it. With Veldhouse and Smith on the floor it presented no real difficulty to Calvin. I counted only one turnover off pressure. Reminik had a poor game for him, and I would be surprised if that happens in the DeVos FH next month. I thought VanderHeide had a pretty rough game also. Missed quite a few open looks - in fact, missed by a lot. I don't remember seeing a game with so many airballs on both sides. May be a testament to the pressure they felt.

Hope's guards were clearly the difference this game. Veldhouse handled the ball well (he's unflappable) but struggled with his shot. DVS had a fine game (how did that three not go down?), and Cramer is just such a beautiful player to watch. I agree with OldKnight concerning Jager: I was very impressed with him today. A big three-pointer, and played smart on both ends of the floor. The unsung hero of today's game in my estimation.

I was REAL impressed with Mantel. He's going to a load, and will present a lot of match-up problems for teams. I think Hope better try to pad their victory margin now, because the next couple of years are going to be tough.

All in all, I thought Calvin played a good game and may have found something of an identity for themselves today. I could see them turning this loos into a positive and getting on a roll. I've seen Hope play better, but part of that has to do with the intensity of Calvin's D and the environment.

All in all, who could ask for more? I think sports doesn't get better than this. A friendly, respectful rivalry where fans wearing different colors can sit together and joke around and smile at each other when the game is over, and genuine student-athletes practicing their craft away from the commercialism and corruption of DI athletics.

[Dutch_Man]

LADY KNIGHTS WIN AND HAND THE DUTCH BASKETBALL PROGRAM THEIR FIRST LOSS EVER AT DEVOS!

Final was 60-57. The sting of this afternoon's tough loss at the Fieldhouse is fading already.

I'm waiting breathlessly for sac to get to a computer and report from the front lines.

Well there oldknight I am glad to see that the sting is fading already but us hope fans are not going to let you forget about this loss! I mean you have lost 4 straight games to Hope and to bring back a little more sting...... your team is 7-7...... huh I am sure that sting is kicking in again right about now. Sorry about that

[sac]

This mornings Holland Sentinel

http://www.hollandsentinel.com/stories/011407/localsports_20070114027.shtml

I found this image interesting, this was a play where VanderHeide drove the baseline and was undercut, somehow they called an offensive foul on Reimink.  It was a very confusing call at the time to me.  Looks like the left arm of Reimink tells the story.

http://www.hollandsentinel.com/images/011407/39362_512.jpg


My hunch about winning 3 straight at Calvin I believe is true, I think you have to go all the way back to 82-85 to get 3 straight Hope wins in that gym vs Calvin.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

My take on THE GAME:

- Hope played pretty well (although using the word pretty to describe it is a stretch).  I completely agree with sac's comments that this was the first time in a long time we've seen Hope handle a tough close gaem well and pull off the win.

- This was the fifth game I've seen Calvin play this year, and this was hands down the best game.  They played like you exepct a Calvin team to play.  Great defense, forcing the game to their tempo, and playing with some fire.  Definitely no "deer in the headlights" yesterday.

I thought VanderHeide had a pretty rough game also.

- Boy I wouldn't have come even close to that thought.  Sure Marcus threw up a couple of pretty bad looking threes, but considering the number of really awful looking shots we saw from all kinds of shooters, it was not a big deal.  I'll take 12 points (on 5-8 shooting) 8 boards and 5 assists any game. 

- I think this game will make both of these teams better.  Hope has the experience of winning a tight game, and Calvin looks to be back to the kind of team we expect from the Knights.  It will be interesting to see if either team suffers a Hope/Calvin hangover on Wednesday

[arena]

This mornings Holland Sentinel

http://www.hollandsentinel.com/stories/011407/localsports_20070114027.shtml

I found this image interesting, this was a play where VanderHeide drove the baseline and was undercut, somehow they called an offensive foul on Reimink.  It was a very confusing call at the time to me.  Looks like the left arm of Reimink tells the story.

http://www.hollandsentinel.com/images/011407/39362_512.jpg


My hunch about winning 3 straight at Calvin I believe is true, I think you have to go all the way back to 82-85 to get 3 straight Hope wins in that gym vs Calvin.

I'm sure what the official saw on that play was the Calvin player pushed into VanderHiede

[goodknight]

Before the Sunday morning second-guessing gets too nit-picky, check out Bob Becker's column about the special nature of the Calvin-Hope rivalry in this morning's Grand Rapids Press.

http://www.mlive.com/sports/grpress/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/1168760233182890.xml&coll=6

At its best, there's nothing better...
Now, I've got to get ready for church  (and then rooting on my Bears this afternoon.) 8)

By the way, nice to chat with FDF, CM, sac and Jim and Martie Bultman, the president and first lady of Hope College, at the Fieldhouse yesterday.  Dr. Bultman complimented me on my maroon sweater, confessing that it was one of his favorite colors (but he found it, ahh, challenging to wear in public on the campus in Holland).   

[bulldogalum]

One interesting subplot to Wednesday's game:  the battle of 33s.  Desmond Young and Derek Van Solkema practiced against one another at Eastern, and both players will be pivotal to the outcome of the game.  The player that shines in this matchup could well lead his team to victory.