MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[Gregory Sager]

I was disappointed in the lack of a 3 piece suit on KVS . He was looking a little too Glenn last night with the chinos and blue blazer.  At least his pants actually reached the top of his shoes.

Sartorially conscious young men all over western Michigan ask themselves the same question every morning as they contemplate their wardrobe: WWKVSW?

[Stinger]

I believe that all of the MIAA schools have a religious affliation.  They should be well versed in theology and should have at least heard of Augustine and City of God.
Adrian     Methodist
Alma       Presbyterian
Albion     Methodist
Calvin     CRC
Hope       RCA
K-Zoo      Amer. Baptist
Olivet      Congregational
Tri-State 

modified by GS in order to correct quotation formatting

This is not true.  Kalamazoo has no affiliation with the Baptist church.  The college recognizes its historic link with the church, as  K was founded by the Baptist.  But it is an independent college.  The same can be said with Albion and the Methodist church.

[ziggy]

I was disappointed in the lack of a 3 piece suit on KVS . He was looking a little too Glenn last night with the chinos and blue blazer.  At least his pants actually reached the top of his shoes.

Great Stuff.  But give Glenn a break, how else is he supposed to show off his fancy socks?  I think we're just glad we don't have to look at any more leg...

[calvin_grad]

Even though I realize that there is still the whole 2nd half of the MIAA season to play, this conference race is as good as over.  No one is going to catch Hope.

In fact, as much as it pains me to say it, it wouldn't surprise me to see Hope beat Calvin 4 times this year.   

[almcguirejr]

Even though I realize that there is still the whole 2nd half of the MIAA season to play, this conference race is as good as over.  No one is going to catch Hope.

In fact, as much as it pains me to say it, it wouldn't surprise me to see Hope beat Calvin 4 times this year.   

You're right.  Calvin has to forget about what has happened so far this season.  They haven't played as well as they were expected to play.  But, Calvin is still capable of becoming a good team and winning the MIAA tournament.  That is what I think they need to focus on the next 3 weeks. 

Hope is playing well, but they have some weaknesses that no one in the MIAA is capable of exploiting.

[AlwaysHope]

Incredible game at DeVos last night.  At one point I looked up at the scoreboard, and it was:  Cramer 18, Tri-State 9, in a battle for first place in the MIAA!  Oh yeah, Hope had 30, including Cramer's 18.  All this with just 6 minutes into the game.

Not reported is that Cramer is now in a slump!  In his final 14 minutes of playing time he scored a total of 2 points on 1 for 7 shooting.

Also, when it became clear that the game was over early, why didn't the Tri-State Coach use more substitutes to give them playing time.  Instead, Benford and Brookins got 34 and 31 minutes of playing time, only 10 Tri-Staters got into the game, and I think three were left on the bench without any action.  

[realist]

Hope posters:  Your team did a great job last night, and did shut down B&B according to the stats.  Just curious I notice Alfieri made an appearance, and must of had some impact inside, but no one mentions this.  He came into the game late.   
Do you think if he had started (like he did in the Calvin Tri-State game) it would have impacted the game?  Does anyone have any idea why he was absent for 5 games?
I don't think even with Alfieri starting Tri-state has a chance against Hope.  You can start clearing room in the trophy case for another MIAA trophy. 

[Civic Minded]

Even though I realize that there is still the whole 2nd half of the MIAA season to play, this conference race is as good as over.  No one is going to catch Hope.

In fact, as much as it pains me to say it, it wouldn't surprise me to see Hope beat Calvin 4 times this year.   

You're right.  Calvin has to forget about what has happened so far this season.  They haven't played as well as they were expected to play.  But, Calvin is still capable of becoming a good team and winning the MIAA tournament.  That is what I think they need to focus on the next 3 weeks. 

Hope is playing well, but they have some weaknesses that no one in the MIAA is capable of exploiting.

Agreed on both points.  I'm curious -- what do you think is holding Calvin back?  It seems that they should have the talent, and Calvin has always (in the past) had the desire, but it's not showing like you'd think it would this season (well, at least like I thought it would).  Any thoughts on what it would take to get them going? 

[Civic Minded]

Hope posters:  Your team did a great job tonight, and did shut down B&B according to the stats.  Just curious I notice Alfieri made an appearance, and must of had some impact inside, but no one mentions this.  He came into the game late.   
Do you think if he had started (like he did in the Calvin Tri-State game) it would have impacted the game?  Does anyone have any idea why he was absent for 5 games?
I don't think even with Alfieri starting Tri-state has a chance against Hope.  You can start clearing room in the trophy case for another MIAA trophy. 

Three-point shooting aside, I think our players were most happy with the way they took care of B&B -- they knew what they needed to do, and did it well.  I think (correct me if I'm wrong) that Alfieri is the one just back from an injury.  He didn't significantly change Hope's game in any way at the time he came in.  If he were in full form and played from the start would it have made a difference?  I don't think so, but that's just my opinion.

[realist]

CM:  Thanks for the quick answer.  Did not know about the injury.  It just looked like he got some points after the game was already over.  Sort of assumed it was while units 2 & 3 were in.
No.  I don't think Calvin is just trying some sort of sand bagging trick.  If you would have heard KVS he is obviously frustrated, and searching for answers to the "problem".  I agree the team has the talent to play much better than they have shown, and one of these days they may just put it all together.  Looking back it probably was a mistake to start Mantel early in the year, and some players KVS was counting on just haven't performed.
My only thought is the guys are just worrying too much at the start of the game about possibly screwing up instead of just going out to have some fun.  Hope's players are having fun, and it shows.
.

[ziggy]

My only thought is the guys are just worrying too much at the start of the game about possibly screwing up instead of just going out to have some fun.  Hope's players are having fun, and it shows.
.

Except that the game they played the best first half in was against Hope.  I realize that the emotion level of that game changes everything but I would expect that if the Knights were playing poorly because of fear of failure, it would have been exacerbated by playing a formidable opponent such as Hope.  Whatever the cause, they need to come out with more fire.  The difference last night, I belive, was poor shooting when prior first half deficits were mostly due to poor defense, specifically 3 point defense.

[HopeConvert]

I was disappointed in the lack of a 3 piece suit on KVS . He was looking a little too Glenn last night with the chinos and blue blazer.  At least his pants actually reached the top of his shoes.

Sartorially conscious young men all over western Michigan ask themselves the same question every morning as they contemplate their wardrobe: WWKVSW?

Does KVS have maroon and gold "wicked witch" socks and at least 300 maroon and gold ties? Inquiring minds want to know.

My impression of Calvin is they have the talent to compete with Hope, and their size could be a real problem for Hope. That is where I think this Hope team is most vulnerable. But Calvin will have to put it together. I would be surprised if Calvin won at Hope on the 7th, but if they can learn to play 40 minutes, they could steal the tournament trophy. Whatever else is the case about Hope is that this team plays hard non-stop. I am impressed with the way they are just burying teams and not letting up - quite a distinction from last year. As sac mentioned, though, even when they were up by 20 in the first half, the game seemed competitive, in part because Hope got off to a torrid start and Tri-state hung with them. Not many teams can go 11 and 12 deep.

[northb]

More of the same story for the knights tonight.  A really sloppy 1st half, horrible shooting, missed puppies, poor defense.  Turned it up in the second half, with Griffin hitting some threes along with a pretty nice in-the-air-scoop lay in off a Meckes miss.  Nice to see Koetsier get some non-garbage time and provide a spark.  Kzoo didn't play very deep and they looked tired in the 2nd half.

Caught a little of KVS on the postgame show and he seems at a loss in terms of getting the Knights to play with energy early. . .

Griffin's pretty nice in-the-air-scoop lay in off a Meckes miss was the best petty nice in-the-air-scoop lay in off a Meckes miss ever in D-III.

KVS said that his own coaching was "worthy of dismissal."

[bulldogalum]

KVS said that his own coaching was "worthy of dismissal."

I bet the Athletic Director agrees.

[gohope]

Thoughts from last night's game (sorry, got home a bit late and then just got to a computer now!):

*  1st t.o. of the game by TS at 16:28, Hope is ahead 18-2 - whoa.

*  2nd t.o. of the game by TS at 13:42.  Cramer just hit his 6-6 3 pointers - now that's a LOT of Mountain Dew.  Did anyone notice that they ran out of signs in the 2nd half, so they stuck a real bottle on the wall?

*  At 6:47 in the first half, the block that Cramer did on TS #52 (who is 6-7) was pretty impressive.

*  In the second half, a t.o. was called and the music that was played was done in tribute to the grey-haired official, "Who do you think you are?"  And is he the one who game Glenn the "T"?

*  Just as exciting to get the win was to keep TS #25 to just 12 points for 34 minutes - YES 34 MINUTES! He's a good shooter but there's no "I" in team!

*  Player highlights:  Brett Jager:  3/3, 1/1, 3/3ft, 4rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.  He has got to be "the" or one of the most improved players on the team...  Zach Osborn: played 3:05 minutes and scored 8 points. His confidence just grows with each game.

*  And I'm trying to stay game focused, but were those jammies or warmups the guys from Indiana wore?  Instead of being the Thunder they should be the Koala Bears.

*  And as the pin states:  I (heart) Hope Basketball!