MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[sac]

"The hay is in the barn!"

Hope arrived in Adrian to find its barn fully stocked with hay.  yikes!

[HopeConvert]

"The hay is in the barn!"

Hope arrived in Adrian to find its barn fully stocked with hay.  yikes!

And grazed to their heart's content.

[diehardfan]

Wow... there go all my secret thoughts about how maybe Adrian might be able to offer Hope a bit of a challenge in their run for the MIAA title... oh well...

[Dutch_Man]

Here is another fun fact from the Hope vs. Adrian game.
At half time Adrian had....
12 rebounds
12 turnovers and
12 points

Oh and about that dunk by Cramer.... Lets just say the dog pound did have anything more to say to him! It was about time they shut up!

[bulldogalum]

Answers to questions from tonight's game:

Was Hope's defense good?  Yes, but as was previously mentioned, Adrian couldn't throw it in the ocean from the beach tonight.

Did Hope execute well on the offensive end?  Yes.  They were patient, found good shots, and made the shots they took.  For the most part, I didn't think Adrian played bad defense, but Hope always seemed to have the answer.

Is Hope a very good team?  Yep.  I talked to one Hope player after the game, and he said it was the best they'd played all year.  If they can play any better, I'm officially scared.

Could Adrian play any worse?  God, I hope not.  16% from the field in the first half, and (by my count) 6 easy layups missed, along with many open looks that just wouldn't drop.  They took some ill advised shots, and generally looked tense.  I remarked to a friend early in the game that it looked like the Bulldogs were playing in the biggest game of the season and they knew it, and Hope looked like it was just another game.

Did the students show up?  Yes.  I love the energy, I only wish they'd been able to have something to cheer about.

Questions that remain to be answered:

Where do we go from here?  Who knows.  I'd like to believe this is the kind of team that responds well.  The kind of team that takes a shot to the jaw like this, gets off the mat, and fights like mad the next time out.  But at this point, they're going to have to prove it.  I thought coming into this game that they would be able to compete with Hope, but they were not ready yet.  If they want to compete in this conference and be a factor in the conference race, they'd better bring their best every night from now on, because what happened tonight was very disappointing, and I know that nobody in that locker room had that warm, fuzzy feeling of satisfaction after the game.

Congratulations to Hope on a fine game.  Best of luck on the rest of the season!  As for the Bulldogs, I will be there on Saturday, ready to watch a great MIAA basketball game, and if these Bulldogs have half the guts I think they do, they'll show up motivated, angry, and ready to prove that tonight's game was the sort of thing they won't allow to happen again.

[sac]

Hope 81 Adrian 42

My initial thought before the tip and GoHope can back this up and I quote "Hope is taller at every position".  I think Hope was just ready for a battle tonight and they wanted to take the game from the start and never give Adrian a chance to feel confident or let their crowd influence the game.  More on that latter.

There are certain things that when they happen for Hope, I believe there are only and a handfull of teams that can beat them.  Saturday it didn't happen, tonight and most every night it has.  Once again Hope's second unit comes on the floor and expands the Hope lead.  Tonight it was 11-2 when they came in 23-6 when they left, really it was game over then.

5 minutes into this one Hope was flying with confidence and Adrian just looked beaten, no confidence, confused by what Hope was throwing at them defensively.  Here's my two comments to snuff the "Adrian just had  a bad night theory"  #1  Hope doubled and completely took away Desmond Young, he got no easy shots tonight  #2  Many of Adrian's 3's were 2 to 3 feet beyond the arc because Hope pushed them out that far, no Adrian shot went uncontested.   On top of that they just owned the boards 41-29.

For the 4th time in the MIAA Hope put away an opponent right out of the lockeroom to start the second half, ahead 39-12 at the half 3 mins into the second it was 57-14  an 18-2 run.  

Bottom line  is Hope was once again the relentless team they've been in the MIAA except the Calvin game (who by the way they led by 30 in Nov).  They might not be the most talented group Hope's had but they sure have great chemistry.  Basically after tonight if someone other than Hope wants to have their name on the MIAA Championship trophy they're going to have to come to Holland and beat the Dutchmen.  I don't know if Hope can keep it up but they sure can get it rolling.

Van Solkema 14, Klein 13, Wolfe 11, Reimink 10
again 7 diff guys with 3's.

DVS should get the game ball, he drew Desmond Young alot on defense, and as I said Hope pretty much double teamed him everytime he touched it but DVS didn't let Mr. Young get by him to often.

Another shockingly easy win..........and I didn't expect this at all.

[bulldogalum]

Oh and about that dunk by Cramer.... Lets just say the dog pound did have anything more to say to him! It was about time they shut up!

What in the world could they have said?  It was a great dunk.  Steve Thornton was a little out of position (too far under the basket) and by the time he recovered, Cramer was well on his way to the rim.

Honestly, I was a little disappointed by the Dew Crew members challenging the Adrian students during the second half, wondering what they had to say.  Frankly, no matter how clever you might be, it's difficult to respond to a 40 point deficit, and I doubt the Dew Crew would have much to say in that situation, either.

[bulldogalum]

Sac, I didn't intend to suggest that "Adrian just had a bad night."  They had an awful night, but plenty of that could be attributed to Hope's excellent play.

[sac]

Few thoughts

----I have 4 things to say to the Adrian students

1)  A Dutchmen is what ran over your Dawgs! 

2) Its never, ever, never, never, never a good idea to break out the "overrated" chant 15 min before the game, and esp when that team is warming up right in front of you.

3)  After Stevie's dunk:   Cramer's a what?

4)  Congratulations, you guys were awesome, great turnout, great energy, you had lots of fun which is what its all about, you got a little crazy etc, a little shy on the  creativity but some of the signs were cute. I've been to more than a few D3 gyms and I can say with confidence most students would have found something better to do at halftime.  Big pat on the back for the Adrian student section. 8)


-----Cramers dunk was just sick, did he even take a step?, sick sick sick.........I also loved his Jordanesque 3 early in the second, 1 step drive, pull up and swish.   Worth the drive and admission by itself.

-----

The question that went through my mind all night was this (no disrespect to the Bulldogs): how did the team Hope played on Saturday lose to the team they played today?

Me too, also no disrespect to Adrian.

------GoHope, CivicMinded and FDF wouldn't have beat me to Adrian if after pulling off a magnificent "bump draft" just past Battle Creek my crew chief didn't think I needed new left side tires and a round of wedge in the rear.

I'll be getting a new crew chief.


-----Driving through 100 miles of ice covered Michigan,............simply gorgeous.


-----I will have to admit, this game has the rational side of my brain pretty confused about some things.  Not sure what to think

[sac]

Sac, I didn't intend to suggest that "Adrian just had a bad night."  They had an awful night, but plenty of that could be attributed to Hope's excellent play.

You and I were posting at the same time so I wasn't reacting to you or anyone..............looking at the box score it would be very easy to think Adrian just had a bad night shooting (1-21 from 3) compared to their previous 5 games.

[Dutch_Man]

Oh and about that dunk by Cramer.... Lets just say the dog pound did have anything more to say to him! It was about time they shut up!

What in the world could they have said?  It was a great dunk.  Steve Thornton was a little out of position (too far under the basket) and by the time he recovered, Cramer was well on his way to the rim.

Honestly, I was a little disappointed by the Dew Crew members challenging the Adrian students during the second half, wondering what they had to say.  Frankly, no matter how clever you might be, it's difficult to respond to a 40 point deficit, and I doubt the Dew Crew would have much to say in that situation, either.

Now bulldogalum if you were really at the game you would know that the dog pound was all over Hope and I say that is fine it is part of the game but when you go and yell at the team when they are in the locker room before the game........ I would say that is a little low (by the way you can thank them for feeding the fire) OH and if you were at the game you would have seen the "THE SIGN" that they had for Cramer. And when I say it shut them up I mean they didnt hold it up any more! And about that "THE SIGN" I found it very inappropriate and unneeded. I am very glad the DEW CREW has more class than that! I wouldnt say the Dew Crew was challenging the dog pound....... it was more like celebrating the take over of first place (by our selves) 

[sac]

having a loud boisterous student section can have its drawbacks......


http://www.hollandsentinel.com/stories/011807/localsports_20070118035.shtml

[almcguirejr]

Calvin won by 16 tonight but the final score was deceiving. It was an even game the first 28 minutes largely fueled by some indifferent Calvin defense. The Knights were repeatedly beaten back door and the help side defense was consistently late. But at the 12 minute mark of the second half the light went on and for the rest of the game we saw the same Calvin team that tested Hope so mightily on Saturday. Olivet really struggled to get off a quality shot, had a shot clock violation on one possession and nearly another on the next. From then on the Comets either turned it over or started taking ill advised shots too early in their possessions. Calvin owned the boards in the second half and Meckes, in particular, was outstanding. When Calvin plays hard on defense they are a very good team and when they don't they're . . . .

This was a 5 point game with 4 minutes to go. (63-58)  Calvin closed out the game with an 11-0 run.

[northb]

Anyone know why there were no live stats for the Hope game?

No mas, no mas

[almcguirejr]

  Not sure what to think

I think it's time for Hope to bring out those "III" shirts.