MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[AlwaysHope]

Steve Cramer's MVP marks the 25th time a Hope player has taken home the MVP award, he's the 19th different Hope player to do so.  He joins a nice list of the who's who of Hope basketball.

Steve has accumulated some pretty heady stats that when compared to other players stack up very positively.

I'll give a full rundown of his stats at the end of the season, but to me the most impressive is that Stephen has played in 111 of 111 games in his Hope career.  Thats pretty amazing, esp. when you consider Hopes history with injuries

(Sac is currently knocking on all the wood he can find in his office  )

Didn't Cramer also get the injury plague and miss a whole season?

Nope, never missed a game in 4 years

Oops!  I might have been thinking of one of the Carlsons.

No, you are thinking of Greg Immink, who missed almost all of what would have been his senior year (2004-05), but then came back for his final year of eligibility (last season).

However, he put his off year to good use.  He spent the year in Hope's drama department practicing his back flop!

[Gregory Sager]

Oh my, first of all I think Calvin ended up with a better first round opponent. Aurora seems like less of a battle tested team than Chicago. So despite the fact that Hope had better numbers in all the categories being measured I believe that Hope has the tougher first round match up. I guess Aurora had better numbers than Chicago then but I doubt many of us believe that head to head Aurora would beat Chicago more often than not.

Actually, Chicago vs. Aurora would be a pretty even game. I've seen Chicago numerous times this season; I've seen Aurora once this year. I attend lots of Chicago home games, and I usually see about one Spartans contest per season.

[Gregory Sager]

Calvin and Aurora shared common opponents in Concordia (WI) and Benedictine.  Calvin played those two during the Calvin tip off tourney while Aurora met those two as part of their conference season.  I don't think Aurora is a battle tested team.  They lost to Wisconsin Lutheran earlier this year, and remember what Hope did to WLC in last year's tournament.

WLC played their best game of the year, and AU was flat...AU is a tough match up, they have 5 players that shoot over 40% from 3, and 2 of them shoot over 45% from 3 land. They have 2 of the best players in the region, in PG D. Leonard and F Larry Welton. Both are hard match ups, imo. Their weakness is downlow, as they are not a big, physical team. However, teams with big strong post players have problems running with AU, and guarding Welton on the perimeter (North Park, Edgewood, etc).
Leonard is a big pg, 6-1 or 6-2, and physical. Avg around 16, 6 and 6. Should be a good game

For the record, North Park didn't play Aurora. North Central played Aurora, and the Spartans spanked the Cardinals by 16 in the NCC gym in what was to be one of Aurora's most impressive wins of the season.

As Keith said, a team with a strong post player can give Aurora fits. However, NCC has one of the best front lines in all of D3, and AU managed to run them off the floor. So a slowdown, pound-the-ball-into-the-post attack isn't guaranteed to work against the Spartans.

Some of you Calvin fans remember Larry Welton from his freshman phenom days when the Knights and Spartans tangled in the second round back in March, 2005. Welton is now a junior and a more versatile player -- he'll now jack the trey if he gets a good look, rather than spend the whole game trying to beat you in the post. He is a huge handful by anybody's definition, and he comes by his All-American credentials honestly.

[Gregory Sager]

I just checked the Chicago statistics and they have 11 players that average 10+ minutes, however, one of those players only played 8 games and averaged 23 minutes. I am thinking he was hurt and has not played since because I think they'd have too many minutes overall otherwise. 3 double digit scorers on the team but it seems like a well balanced team just like Hope. We'll see lots of bench play and probably won't see one player carry either team. I know Cramer can and did on Saturday but he really doesn't do that real often as the pts/gm average for Hope show.

Yes, the player who only played eight games, center Tim Reynolds, was hurt. He has a broken foot. I don't know if he's ready to go yet; I last saw him two weeks ago, and although his cast was off he was still on crutches and was not putting any weight on his foot.

Without him, Chicago is a doughnut team. They have no center; senior Jason Vismantas is a tough son-of-a-gun who has filled in as best he can in the middle, but his listed 6'4, 200 dimensions are a bit optimistic. The best big man that the Maroons have, 6'5, 190 junior forward Nate Hainje, is more of a wing player. He's extremely versatile -- he can shoot from anywhere on the floor, beat you off the dribble, or post you up -- and extremely energetic. He's the team's motor.

Chicago lives and dies by the trey. Anywhere from half to two-thirds of their shots will come from behind the arc, and they have some pretty good shooters -- guards Brandon Woodhead, Drew Adams, Jake Pancratz, and designated marksman Jesse Meyer. Woodhead is a great all-around guard, reminiscent of Stephen Cramer (although not as athletic), who can also post up or take his man off the dribble. Pancratz is a star in the making, but he's only a freshman. Woodhead, Adams, and Meyer are seniors, and they've seen it all. Nothing they see in the tourney will faze them.

Chicago runs a triangle offense, and they run it well. They will take the first good look they see, but they're entirely willing to be patient and use the entire shot clock in order to get the best look possible. They're disciplined, they don't beat themselves, and they hustle. The Maroons probably feel as though they got a good matchup in Hope, since teams with big dominant centers (a la Wash U's Troy Ruths or NYU's Jason Boone) are the ones that give them the most trouble.

Hope vs. Chicago should be a great game. I'm looking forward to seeing it on Friday.

[Gregory Sager]

I was looking at U of C's schedule. Even though they have more Nobel Prize winners than Hope, I think Hope actually played a tougher basketball schedule.

I completely disagree. The UAA is very tough, probably one of the toughest four or five leagues in the country right now. The MIAA, by everyone's admission in this room, was markedly down this year.

Chicago played two games apiece against #8 Washington, #24 NYU, #27 Brandeis, and #29 Rochester, and one game apiece against #30 DePauw and #34 Wheaton. They also played a lot of solid mid-level teams such as Lake Forest, Trinity (TX), and Coe. Aside from the four games against Calvin -- and lots of people here have conceded that the Knights were not the world-beaters that they should've been for large stretches of this season -- and the two CCIW/MIAA Challenge games, plus a pair of contests against decent local NAIAs, I see a whole lot of dross on the Hope sked.

[wiz]

Oh yeah, and I had a good time at the Hope women's game Saturday, its always fun to play home games at Calvin. 

I had a fun time at the men's game.  Boy the nets at the DeVos come down nice and easy.  Although it was a little chilly in there.  It seemed that as soon as the final buzzer sounded there was a stiff cold breeze like someone left the doors open, or maybe just a couple thousand people leaving.

or Hell freezing over

I live only 30 miles from Hell (MI) - believe me, it froze over several weeks ago!

You live 30 miles from Hell?  Me too!
Driving Directions from Grand Rapids, MI to Holland, MI

[northb]

Oh yeah, and I had a good time at the Hope women's game Saturday, its always fun to play home games at Calvin. 

I had a fun time at the men's game.  Boy the nets at the DeVos come down nice and easy.  Although it was a little chilly in there.  It seemed that as soon as the final buzzer sounded there was a stiff cold breeze like someone left the doors open, or maybe just a couple thousand people leaving.

or Hell freezing over

I live only 30 miles from Hell (MI) - believe me, it froze over several weeks ago!

You live 30 miles from Hell?  Me too!
Driving Directions from Grand Rapids, MI to Holland, MI

Cute, but Calvin has actually done pretty well when they travel further to the West (6-2 now at the Devos).

[Flying Dutch Fan]

The home team gets half the gym. If the students are indeed on break as I have read elsewhere, I bet Aurora does not sell out its allotment.

According to what I heard from the Hope SID this morning, the home team gets 2/3 and the rest is split amoung the other 3 teams.  So Hope, Calvin, and Chicago are each geting 285 tickets.

[oldknight]

The home team gets half the gym. If the students are indeed on break as I have read elsewhere, I bet Aurora does not sell out its allotment.

According to what I heard from the Hope SID this morning, the home team gets 2/3 and the rest is split amoung the other 3 teams.  So Hope, Calvin, and Chicago are each geting 285 tickets.

If Thornton Gymnasium holds 2200 (and from my memory of the gym that's about right), and if Calvin, Chicago and Hope split 1/3 of the seating, then each school should only be getting 244.44 tickets each, not 285.

[Erm Schmigget]

The home team gets half the gym. If the students are indeed on break as I have read elsewhere, I bet Aurora does not sell out its allotment.

According to what I heard from the Hope SID this morning, the home team gets 2/3 and the rest is split amoung the other 3 teams.  So Hope, Calvin, and Chicago are each geting 285 tickets.

If Thornton Gymnasium holds 2200 (and from my memory of the gym that's about right), and if Calvin, Chicago and Hope split 1/3 of the seating, then each school should only be getting 244.44 tickets each, not 285.

That being the case, let's all count our blessings that each of our schools are getting more than what we'd be allotted if AU were doling them out strictly by the rules.  Instead of getting worked up over how many tix are available, let's focus on how to get them.  I still haven't read anything definitive about when or where to purchase them locally. 

According to our contact at Hope (who put together a bus/lodging package for Hope fans last year), there is no Hope bus going this weekend...as of yet.  If a bus is to be chartered, it won't be done by him, since he will be out of town.  Any Hope fans out there feel like looking into this?  I'm sure response would be great if it's made known to more than just us posters.

[ChicagoHopeNut]

Steve Cramer's MVP marks the 25th time a Hope player has taken home the MVP award, he's the 19th different Hope player to do so.  He joins a nice list of the who's who of Hope basketball.

Steve has accumulated some pretty heady stats that when compared to other players stack up very positively.

I'll give a full rundown of his stats at the end of the season, but to me the most impressive is that Stephen has played in 111 of 111 games in his Hope career.  Thats pretty amazing, esp. when you consider Hopes history with injuries

(Sac is currently knocking on all the wood he can find in his office  )

Didn't Cramer also get the injury plague and miss a whole season?

Nope, never missed a game in 4 years

Oops!  I might have been thinking of one of the Carlsons.

No, you are thinking of Greg Immink, who missed almost all of what would have been his senior year (2004-05), but then came back for his final year of eligibility (last season).

However, he put his off year to good use.  He spent the year in Hope's drama department practicing his back flop!

Greg Immink missed his entire senior after hurting his knee in the third game of the season and redshirted before returning to play as a 5th year senior.
However, Jeff Carlson also missed the majority of his sophomore year after hurting his knee. Personally, I think that injury hurt Hope as much the next 3 years
as any other injury. Jeff was an incredible slasher and always seemed to get himself open as a freshman. I don't think he ever was effective after the knee injury
and that the injury kept him from reaching his high potential.

Is anyone else having trouble with page 649 of the board and the post reply page? Mine is all of a sudden huge so I have to scroll left to right to read once sentence

[calvin_grad]

Is anyone else having trouble with page 649 of the board and the post reply page? Mine is all of a sudden huge so I have to scroll left to right to read once sentence

Yes, I am having the same problem.

[oldknight]

Is anyone else having trouble with page 649 of the board and the post reply page? Mine is all of a sudden huge so I have to scroll left to right to read once sentence

Yes, I am having the same problem.

Me three.

[Erm Schmigget]

The home team gets half the gym. If the students are indeed on break as I have read elsewhere, I bet Aurora does not sell out its allotment.

According to what I heard from the Hope SID this morning, the home team gets 2/3 and the rest is split amoung the other 3 teams.  So Hope, Calvin, and Chicago are each geting 285 tickets.

If Thornton Gymnasium holds 2200 (and from my memory of the gym that's about right), and if Calvin, Chicago and Hope split 1/3 of the seating, then each school should only be getting 244.44 tickets each, not 285.

That being the case, let's all count our blessings that each of our schools are getting more than what we'd be allotted if AU were doling them out strictly by the rules.  Instead of getting worked up over how many tix are available, let's focus on how to get them.  I still haven't read anything definitive about when or where to purchase them locally. 

According to our contact at Hope (who put together a bus/lodging package for Hope fans last year), there is no Hope bus going this weekend...as of yet.  If a bus is to be chartered, it won't be done by him, since he will be out of town.  Any Hope fans out there feel like looking into this?  I'm sure response would be great if it's made known to more than just us posters.

Just heard something more re: tix for Friday.  170 will be available, going on sale Wednesday (tomorrow) at noon.  Students may buy 1, faculty/staff may buy 2, and season ticket holders may buy as many as the number of season tickets they held this past season.  That's alot less than the number most recently bounced around here, so for those who want to go to the games with tickets in hand, clear the middle of your day tomorrow.

[Erm Schmigget]

Something else to consider: If AU is on spring break through this weekend, there will probably be fewer AU students and fans buying tickets.  Also, did anyone notice AU's average attendance?  IIRC, it was less than 500...or maybe 600...but the point is, there's a good chance they won't use their full allotment.  Depending on how adventurous you are, you could just show up at game time and take your chances at the gate.  As for me and my wife, we'll be making the trip to DeVos tomorrow.