MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[ChicagoHopeNut]

In the recent past Hope has had a big problem finishing games. I don't want to see Hope run up the score unnecessarily or anything if they can maintain this lead but it'd be nice to see Hope avoid a late game let down like they have in other games going back to last year, which includes close games and their first game this year when the inability to score in the last 5 minutes cost them a win.

[Stinger]

21 Turnovers? What the? That is awful. 

[ChicagoHopeNut]

Hope 83
Wheaton 53
Final

Wow, what a great performance by Hope tonight! The score doesn't do the game justice. Hope was up by 40 for most of the game until it started playing the last half of the bench for the final 10 minutes.  Wheaton absolutely fell apart tonight with 33 turnovers (21 in the first half)!

According to the CCIW board Wiele left the game after 3 minutes due to a groin pull. I am sure he was missed, it sounded like Hope was able to drive the lane a lot tonight so I am sure his size was missed. But with his absence Wheaton really was never in the game. Really a great result for Hope and the MIAA.

[bulldogalum]

Wow, a shockingly convincing win for Hope tonight.  Odd that as folks invoked the game at Adrian last year (much to my dismay, in fact--I still have nightmares about that game) Hope has a similar game tonight against Wheaton.

[Titan Q]

Coming into this game, Wheaton had been led by the inside/outside combo of Kent Raymond and Andy Wiele...

Kent Raymond (6-3/195, Jr) - 24.5 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 5.0 apg, 11-27 (.407) 3-pt
Andy Wiele (6-8/230, Jr) - 21.8 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 37-50 (.740) FG

We've talked a little on the CCIW board though about the extremely high % of shots these two have accounted for and the apparent lack of depth of the Thunder.  When Wiele went down 2 minutes into the game, it sounded like Wheaton just had absolutely no inside presence and just no chance.

That sounded brutal.  Even without Wiele, I would have expected a much, much better game.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Wow, a shockingly convincing win for Hope tonight.  Odd that as folks invoked the game at Adrian last year (much to my dismay, in fact--I still have nightmares about that game) Hope has a similar game tonight against Wheaton.

Sorry to have elaborated on sac's sly reference!   As a neutral observer (despite fondness for sac, FDF, etc. - maybe this year I can meet some bulldogs, too), I'm counting on a much better game this season.

Hope certainly exposed the two main weaknesses of Wheaton tonight.  Until the sudden emergence of Wiele, their inside game was VERY suspect - without him they were evidently toast.  And, despite his official role, Kent Raymond is NOT a (true) point guard (at least not without a "co-pg" to relieve some pressure).  I'm confident that Wheaton is a much better team that they evidenced tonight (just as I'm convinced that Adrian was much better than what I witnessed).

[calvin_grad]

Calvin wins 75-63.  Mantel with 19, Griffin and Veldhouse with 16.  Carthage shoots 9-35 from beyond the arc.

[gohope]

Ok people, GET HOME!!!  I need more reports from the games since I couldn't be there!   

[Dutch_Man]

Wow was I impressed with the dutchmen tonight! Hope played a very well rounded game from the inside and out. MVH was very impressive again and really seems to be playing with a lot of passion. One play that really stood out to me was when he drove the lane and scored and turned around to pick off the inbound pass and was fouled quite hard on the floor! Then to cap it off by making his 2 free throughs. I was very impressed with him all night.

I am sure Hope did not see a the true colors of Wheaton tonight but Hopes defense was incredible. Yes, Wheaton made some poor plays and decisions but Hope did not give them a thing. All I saw tonight was a very one dimensional team. There were a number of times in the the game where Raymond wouldnt even pass the ball in the entire possession. Raymond was a very talented player and had a pretty good shot. He still managed to score in the twenties even when hope knew what he was going to do.

Anyways a very good game tonight from Hope! They should be fun to watch all season long!

[Dark Knight]

Calvin played a good, solid game tonight, for the most part. Mantel had 19, Veldhouse 16, Griffin 15. Calvin was up by 20 points and 11 rebounds with a minute left; then the subs who were in at the end of the game relaxed a little too soon and gave up 3 quick offensive boards and 8 quick points. Schuster had a bit of a coming-out party -- he showed some aggression and determination and picked up 7 points and 7 boards in 8 minutes of play. It was good to see Mantel get more points in the paint again tonight.

Last year Carthage's speed apparently gave Calvin fits. This year too Carthage had 9 steals to Calvin's 1. However, Calvin's advantages in all the other categories--shooting percentage, rebounding, fouls, blocks--more than compensated.

Impressive win for Hope. I'm not sure I've ever seen a team have as many turnovers as Wheaton did against Hope. And last year the CICW teams, which were not much different from these, went 4-0 against the MIAA.

It was nice to meet sac today.

[KnightSlappy]

I am very interested to see the box score.  It seemed like Calvin and John Mantel in particular had a ton of blocks.

[almcguirejr]

I went to watch Wheaton play tonight and the New York Knicks showed up in their place.  They were awful.  33 turnovers.  Raymond had a double-double 23pts and 12 turnovers.  They played with no emotion or energy.  I don't think Wiele would have made a difference tonight because Wheaton would not have been able to get him the ball.

Carthage was able to stick with Calvin for about 33 minutes and then Calvin's depth took over and wore Carthage out.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

All I can say is WOW!  The defense played by Hope tonight was impressive.  33 turnovers by Wheaton, and 20 of those were Hope steals!! I though that Derek Van Solkema was the catalyst to a lot of that - with great D on Raymond that inlcuded 6 steals.  Great balance in the scoring for Hope. 

Looking at the stats, it just blows me away that a team can be outrebounded by 32-31, shoot 57% from the FT line, have 18 turnovers (6 of them charges in the second half) and still win by 30.  As impressive as this win was, there's still room for improvement, although I think the D I saw tonight is the best defensive perfromance I've withnessed.

[bulldogalum]

Mr. Ypsi--certainly no offense taken.  I'm expecting a much better game from the Bulldogs this year against Hope.  Further, based on the accounts of the Wheaton game tonight, I fully expect Wheaton to play considerably better tomorrow.

[sac]

Hope 83 Wheaton 53

True enough at times Wheaton was awfull, but my goodness did Hope play some D tonight.  A few Hope players answered the call to defend Raymond, they caused a number of TO's got some nice steals and pretty much had a hand in his face the whole game.  Probably one of the better defensive efforts he'll face, and he still got 22.  What Raymond probably did not get tonight was foul calls when he drives the lane, he seemed a little miffed at that sometimes.   Raymond took Wheaton's first 4 or 5 shots it seemed and missed them all, it was a long time before they even tried to get others involved.  I'd like to know the last time Kent Raymond didn't make a 3 in a game.

Derek VanSolkema deserves a tip of the cap for overall play, he was really solid on defense, and Kelvin Carter just continued the pressure on Raymond when he was on the floor.  Hope either made Raymond take a tough shot or make a tough pass for most of the night.  To be honest, it looked like Hope had them scouted perfectly.

Would Weile have made a difference, maybe, maybe not.......certainly not 40 points difference.  But without a doubt the communication breakdowns for Wheaton was evident after he left, several really bad passes to no one in particular.   But most importantly, Raymond had no outlet he could count on to knock down a shot.  But I'll say it again, Hope put him under alot of pressure tonight.

Offensively Hope was just solid all around, nothing to spectacular.  The early lead could have been much more had Hope started out shooting well, but really both teams struggled to get going on offense untill the turnovers and missed shots caught up with Wheaton and Hope started cashing in.  Tyler Wolfe and Ty Tanis shot the 3's well enough, while Klein and VanderHeide seemed to be particularly agressive to the hoop tonight.  

My favorite moment was a first half timeout when VanderHeide yells at his guys "to not giveaway what they had worked so hard for".........I think the result was a big 12 point advantage run to close the half and the 49-18 lead.

Second half was nothing short of brutal really, not very good all around play save for a few here and there efforts.......as expected the outcome had been decided.  The lead grew to 42 before Hope let off the gas, and really I'm not sure the 30 points illustrates clearly enough what a beatdown this was  (using beatdown in the kindess sense of the word.)   Wheaton outscored Hope 13-3 the last 7 minutes.   The plus side was Hope got a long stretch of minutes with its quickly developing group of 4 freshman on the floor.

Wolfe 17, VanSolkema 15, Klein 14, VanderHeide 11, Tanis 10