MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[Titan Q]

TQ:  You picked up on my major concern for todays game.  Hope is well coached, and they know enough to play to the limit of what the refs: are allowing.    Having seen enough Wheaton/Calvin games over the years I expect Harris will make a point to talk with the refs. early, and often about  calling the type fouls Wheaton didn't seem to get last night.  Raymond not being on the floor the last approx. 7 minutes last night would indicate Harris knows he has to do the job again today.  All that said it is going to be very hard for one guy to take Calvin down unless he does it at the line.

If Wiele doesn't play (and I assume he won't), it could be another ugly game for Wheaton.

[oldknight]

If the officials are calling a tight game, Kent Raymond is almost impossible to stop.  It sounds like last night they were letting 'em play.

Last year at the Shirk Center, IWU tried to trap Raymond all over the floor and be physical with him.  This was the result...

http://www.iwu.edu/~iwunews/sports/mbb2007/iwumbb22.htm

20-20 FT.

He can keep Wheaton in any game if he's getting calls.  Sounds like last night, they allowed Hope to be physical with him, and then Raymond got a little frustrated over it and started making bad decisions.  I still can't fathom him turning it over 12 times.

You're correct about Raymond TQ, and that's a pretty good analysis of what happened night--from someone who wasn't even in the Fieldhouse. 8)

[KnightSlappy]

Yeah if Raymond only had 20 extra trips to the FT line, Wheaton could have been in the game. 

[oldknight]

A little more analysis on Calvin's win over Carthage--and Hope's win over Wheaton.

I mentioned earlier that I thought Calvin's game appeared to be "uneven" and a look at the stat sheet might disclose why. Calvin had 15 turnovers, slightly more than is desireable (10-12 is usually considered acceptable in the men's college game), but the Knights gave up 9 steals to Carthage. That's way too many.

Steals are far more important stat line than turnovers because they almost always lead to good shots (and points) for the team committing the larceny. The play analysis from last night's game shows that Carthage scored 26 points off turnovers while Calvin only had 4. It's quite unusual for a team to be outscored that badly in points off turnovers yet win the game by double digits. John Wooden never worried much about his team's turnovers (e.g., balls thrown out-of-bounds) because he believed aggressive teams that forced the action would make some of them but also would score easy baskets and get defenses out of position and force them to foul. But he hated giving up steals because they usually lead to transition baskets. Check out the box for Hope's win over Wheaton. Hope scored 38 points off turnovers largely due to an amazing 20 steals--I'm sure almost all of that in the first 30 minutes of play. It's not surprising the Thunder got run out of the gym.

[GoKnights68]

A quick question about Calvins new fieldhouse/arena.  When is it due to open? 

I thought I had heard that Calvin would be playing there next year, but if that's the case it would seem construction is way behind.  As a point of reference, the walls were up and the steel trusses started going up 13 months before Hope hosted their first game at DeVos.

It's looked the same for a while, mainly because they've been working on the installation for a long time, and it goes deeper into the ground than you think.  Also, they've been working on the indoor track facility quite a bit the last couple of weeks.  I think the new fieldhouse is due to open around December, 2008.

[sac]

livestats for Hope/Carthage and Calvin/Wheaton 

http://www.calvin.edu/scoreboard/

audio found at www.miaa.org

[GoKnights68]

Looking forward to going over to the fieldhouse in a little while.

Last night, I liked Calvin's improved FT shooting and improved bench play compared to last weekend.  Some things Calvin struggled with were ball movement/moving without the ball on offense(same problem last weekend) and not defending the 3.  They had a few breakdowns in the defense a few times.  I realize they it's sometimes good to let them shoot the 3 all day, but Carthage had a player that went on a little hot streak for a little while, and Calvin continued to leave him open. 

Somewhat of a sloppy game, but a much better second half.

[ChicagoHopeNut]

Another solid half of basketball from Hope.
At the half Hope leads Carthage 43-27

Klein leads Hope with 11, MVH has added another 10.

[sac]

The difference so far seems to be Bowens with only 3 for Carthage, just 1-8.  Djurickovic who struggled last night has a solid 12 for Carthage

[AndersDY]

But for reference in bragging points, did Carthage hold the lead at any point during the first half?

[sac]

But for reference in bragging points, did Carthage hold the lead at any point during the first half?

10-9 for 33 seconds.

Anyone else having trouble with livestats in the 2nd half?

[ChicagoHopeNut]

But for reference in bragging points, did Carthage hold the lead at any point during the first half?

Anyone else having trouble with livestats in the 2nd half?

Yes, it doesn't seem to be working at all.

EDIT: Livestats is up and working again.

[ChicagoHopeNut]

Carthage 75
Hope 85
Final

Another solid effort from Hope. Hope had the lead up to 21 with about 6 minutes left I think and then GVW emptied the bench so the final score was not quite as close as it looks. Turned into a great weekend for the Dutchmen although for the first 10 minutes of the second half Hope's lead felt rather precarious to me (I don't think it ever dropped below 8 points though). Still these are two solid wins, whether the ferry was involved or not

Another great effort from MVH as well. He led Hope with 19 points (since I have complained about MVH's free throw shooting in the past I'd also like to point out he was a very solid 8-10 from the line today, great to see that!), 8 rebounds, and 4 assists. That last number brings me to my one concern/question about this game. Hope's first two point guards, DVS and Carter, combined for a grand total of 1 assist! Yes, I said 1 Of course, Hope still won the game comfortably but I'd certainly like to see better assist numbers than that from the point guards.

[sac]

Hope 85 Carthage 75

The final in this one will not reflect how this game went.  Hope concedes victory and Carthage does not,  leaving their starters in to whip up on the last 5 guys on the Hope bench.   Finished the game on a 15-2 run.


VanderHeide 19, VanSolkema 15, Klein 12, Reimink 10 all in the 2nd.

VanSolkema hit a couple big 3's to boost the Hope lead to 20 in the 2nd half and seal the victory.

Very solid weekend for the Dutchmen.

[ziggy]

Very solid weekend for the Dutchmen.

And that wraps up the challenge for the MIAA!