MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[Flying Dutch Fan]

I see Evan Way did not play last night.  Is he hurt or was that a Coach's decision?

From what I could see, that was a coach's decision, but of course you never can tell if someone is nursing a sore ankle or something just by watching warm-ups.

Looking at his last 5 games, his minutes have steadily decreased

Hope - 0 min
TSU - 10 min
Adrian - 15 min
Olivet - 26 min
Calvin - 27 min

His play in the Olivet and Calvin games look pretty decent - 13pts 4reb against Olivet and 8pts 11reb against Calvin.  Sac and I were discussing his lack of play last night, and surprised to see Reule play 15 minutes while Way rode the bench.  Quite surprising to see his minutes diminish when I thought he did a pretty decent job last year giving Crawford a break.

[Stinger]

FDF I concure with your impression of GVW being rather calm considering the officiating last night.  I expected to see Glenn being restrained by Matt Neil after a few calls. 

Good atmosphere from the over 50 Hope crowd.  They got a little irritated with officials in the second half.  Of course in the second I don't think we went more than two minutes without a stoppage of play.  Didn't think there was a real good flow to the game hindered by the refs and some turnovers.

As I sat in the front row I had a good vantage point for some of the calls and was perplexed after a few.

I thought the refs were pretty decent myself.  I did hear some ornery fans over in the visitor section, but couldn't really figure out why. Besides the fact that they tightened up the play in the 2nd half, I thought they did a solid job.  The worst call I saw was a Joppe making charge call against Albion in the 2nd half that stopped their momentum.  Albion had 6 more fouls than Hope and shot 8 fewer FT's. (mostly due to extending the game at the end).   I have seen much, much worse. 

I see Evan Way did not play last night.  Is he hurt or was that a Coach's decision?

I asked quite a few Albion people at the game last night and no one had an answer.  He was on the bench, dressed.  Maybe sick, maybe injured.

[dren]

Is it too early to talk about this?

MIAA Single season records
Margin of victory:  23.7 (85.8 to 62.1) - Hope, 1984-85

with four games left - Hope  28.3 (85.6 57.3)

[AndersDY]

Is it too early to talk about this?

MIAA Single season records
Margin of victory:  23.7 (85.8 to 62.1) - Hope, 1984-85

with four games left - Hope  28.3 (85.6 57.3)

The time for that discussion is Thursday I think. There is potential for that number to shrink significantly tomorrow, but if Calvin Part 3 resembles Part 1, rather than Part 2, then the remaining road through the MIAA might allow for such speculation. For today, I'll just hope that there is a positive number for tomorrow's margin of victory.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

FDF I concure with your impression of GVW being rather calm considering the officiating last night.  I expected to see Glenn being restrained by Matt Neil after a few calls. 

Good atmosphere from the over 50 Hope crowd.  They got a little irritated with officials in the second half.  Of course in the second I don't think we went more than two minutes without a stoppage of play.  Didn't think there was a real good flow to the game hindered by the refs and some turnovers.

As I sat in the front row I had a good vantage point for some of the calls and was perplexed after a few.

I thought the refs were pretty decent myself.  I did hear some ornery fans over in the visitor section, but couldn't really figure out why. Besides the fact that they tightened up the play in the 2nd half, I thought they did a solid job.  The worst call I saw was a Joppe making charge call against Albion in the 2nd half that stopped their momentum.  Albion had 6 more fouls than Hope and shot 8 fewer FT's. (mostly due to extending the game at the end).   I have seen much, much worse. 

I agree that I've seen worse.  My biggest complaint is the inconsistency.  For example - last night Hope & Albion shoot a total of 2 FT's in the first half on 12 fouls (6 on each team).  The second half they are 32-40 on 30 fouls.  Did the players change their play that much, or was the coffee in the officials locker room just that bad?   

[KnightSlappy]

Bret Bakita had Ryan Klein "On the Bench" this morning on WBBL.  It was cool to hear ablout the MIAA on WBBL.  He commented Hope's team chemistry and scoring balance.  If you key in on Cramer than Wolfe will drop points in and so on. 

[KnightSlappy]

The last several games should be very interesting with Calvin, Tri-State, and Adrian battling to stay out of fourth.  Should be a rough MIAA tournament for the team in fourth, so far it looks  like they would open up with Albion, who has the MIAA's third highest point differential, then play Hope in the Semi-Final should they get past Albion.  I would not want to play that tournament schedule.

[HopeConvert]

Trash-talking is not one of my gifts - and in any case The Onion article will be hard to top. You have to be bold and adventurous with trash-talk, and I am always too fearful of having it blow up in my face. "When we are taught to wage our own war, we are but borne aloft on a reed stick, only to fall as soon as it breaks! Yet we flatter our strength unduly when we compare it even to a reed stick! For whatever vain men devise and babble concerning these matters is but smoke." (Institutes II.2.1.) So we are admonished against trash-talking.

Let the game begin, and let Hope emerge victorious!

[HopeConvert]

Is it too early to talk about this?

MIAA Single season records
Margin of victory:  23.7 (85.8 to 62.1) - Hope, 1984-85

with four games left - Hope  28.3 (85.6 57.3)

The time for that discussion is Thursday I think. There is potential for that number to shrink significantly tomorrow, but if Calvin Part 3 resembles Part 1, rather than Part 2, then the remaining road through the MIAA might allow for such speculation. For today, I'll just hope that there is a positive number for tomorrow's margin of victory.

I agree. I don't see a Hope blowout tomorrow. Even with a close game, however, they could still challenge the record pending the outcome of the other two games. But I think we all agree that this is more a reflection on the state of the MIAA than it is on Hope.

[ChicagoHopeNut]

Trash-talking is not one of my gifts - and in any case The Onion article will be hard to top. You have to be bold and adventurous with trash-talk, and I am always too fearful of having it blow up in my face. "When we are taught to wage our own war, we are but borne aloft on a reed stick, only to fall as soon as it breaks! Yet we flatter our strength unduly when we compare it even to a reed stick! For whatever vain men devise and babble concerning these matters is but smoke." (Institutes II.2.1.) So we are admonished against trash-talking.

Let the game begin, and let Hope emerge victorious!

I much rather quote the deep thinker Dennis Rodman, who once said, "I am the basketball version of a gravedigger." Way I see it. Hope is the Worm.

[almcguirejr]

Hope is the Worm.

My wish  for Hope tomorrow night is to be like a worm after a hard rain.  Curled up on the concrete and dying. 

[ChicagoHopeNut]

Hope is the Worm.

My wish  for Hope tomorrow night is to be like a worm after a hard rain.  Curled up on the concrete and dying. 

Ok, that was really funny   I will try and not set Hope up like that again in the future.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

The last several games should be very interesting with Calvin, Tri-State, and Adrian battling to stay out of fourth.  Should be a rough MIAA tournament for the team in fourth, so far it looks  like they would open up with Albion, who has the MIAA's third highest point differential, then play Hope in the Semi-Final should they get past Albion.  I would not want to play that tournament schedule.

I'm not ready to exclude Albion from the battle for 4th.  Looking at the remaining schedule, I could see Albion going 3-1 (I'll be rooting for 4-0) and Adrian going 2-2 or 1-3 (it took overtime the first game at Olivet).

Albion - @ Alma, Kalamazoo, Calvin, @ Olivet

Adrian - Olivet, @ Hope, @ TSU, Alma

[sac]

The last several games should be very interesting with Calvin, Tri-State, and Adrian battling to stay out of fourth.  Should be a rough MIAA tournament for the team in fourth, so far it looks  like they would open up with Albion, who has the MIAA's third highest point differential, then play Hope in the Semi-Final should they get past Albion.  I would not want to play that tournament schedule.

I'm not ready to exclude Albion from the battle for 4th.  Looking at the remaining schedule, I could see Albion going 3-1 (I'll be rooting for 4-0) and Adrian going 2-2 or 1-3 (it took overtime the first game at Olivet).

Albion - @ Alma, Kalamazoo, Calvin, @ Olivet

Adrian - Olivet, @ Hope, @ TSU, Alma

For Albion to finish 4th they'd have to win 3 more games than Adrian does over the next 2 weeks...........the Bulldogs won both contests, thus own the tie-breaker over Albion.

The Brits will likely be on the road come MIAA tournament time.

I would also think Tri-State would like to avoid playing Olivet in the tournament given the way those games have played out.

[HopeConvert]

Frankly, it is hard for me not to see it as a two-team tournament. I know Albion played Hope tough last night, and Calvin has lost to Adrian and Tri-State, but based on what I have seen the talent gap between Hope and Calvin and the rest of the teams in the league is pretty substantial. I don't think it is a large gap between Hope and Calvin talent-wise, but Hope has the intangibles going for it, that chemistry thing so many of us have commented on.  (Tomorrow night will be a test for Calvin to see if they have found some of it). I suppose anything can happen in the tournament, but I'll be surprised if any team other than Hope or Calvin wins it.

I didn't see the game last night, but my impression was that Hope played pretty spotty offensively and had one of their worst games defensively, and still won in a tough venue. That's what championship teams do.