MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[realist]

Hope 68-59

[ChicagoHopeNut]

Aquinas 59
Hope 68
Final

Hope gets a good home victory against a very solid Aquinas team. I was only able to listen to the very beginning and end of the game so after Hope jumped to an early lead I was surprised to see that Aquinas fought back to tie it at the half. I'm glad to see Hope dealt with that and won.

Big game from Wolfe who led Hope with 23. MVH only had 5 points and took just 2 shots! Box score says he only had 3 fouls. Did he play the whole game? Was he hurt? I am surprised by how few shots he took.

[realist]

Hope went to the press, and got just enough momentum that AQ couldn't come back.  Another major factor would be Wolfe becoming a one man scoring machine for quite some time, and AQ going cold.
I figured Hope should win by 7, just surprised they di it without MVH having a great game inside.

[realist]

MVH was injured, and sat out 5+ minutes.

[realist]

Seems he had a problem with his calf.  After sitting out he did come back in so think injury wasn't major.  Very solid win for Hope over a very good AQ team.  Hope just had too much depth, and seemed to wear AQ down at the end as their shots just weren't falling.

[scottiedawg]

I believe Marcus simply cramped up.  Our inside game was fairly negated by the presence of Pedja Lazic; that's why Marcus attempted so few shots. 

[The Girl w/ Orange Hair]

What are the chances that Ty Tanis becomes the go to man for 3's like Daane Griffith was?

[sac]

Hope 68 Aquinas 59

Certainly wasn't pretty, but I don't think these two would play any pretty ones if you put them on the floor 10 times.  There's just too much good defense being played and the series would probably come out just about even.

Hope ran out to a 17-6 lead, built largely off of very good defense, they made AQ take alot of tough shots, forced some turnovers and really seemed to be on the brink of takeing over the game.  However Aquinas fought through some foul difficulties, probably got some unexpected great minutes from some bench players and were able to claw their way back to a 33-33 tie at the half.

The start of the second mirrored the end of the first, AQ had their chances to pull away but were unable to capitalize and it was Hope hanging around within a bucket or two.  AQ really seemed to control the middle 25 minutes or so of the game, I wouldn't call the execution of offense for either team good but it was good enough to create a few minutes of slug it out back and forth basketball.

With about 6 or 7 minutes left Hope began asserting itself on both ends of the court.  Tyler Wolfe certainly saved the game for Hope with a number of really big shots,  I think there was a 3 with the shot clock running down that really seemed to deflate the Saints.  On the defensive end Hope made a number of good stops but most importantly seemed to be getting the big rebounds and lose balls at the right moments.   AQ just didn't seem to hit the clutch 3's like they did up at Cornerstone.  On the other end Hope made enough FT's to keep the Saints at arms length and the result seemed certain with about 2 to 3 minutes to go.

Really the game was very similar to the one played at Cornerstone, the difference tonight was Hope just executed a little better in the key final 6 minutes or so.   Hard to say Hope wore AQ down, it sure seemed like the Saints got more minutes from the bench this time than last, but I will say the they didn't seem quite as lively as they were in GR.  Guess they're only interested in talking when they're winning.

Wolfe had 23, Klein 11, VanSolkema 8

for AQ, Leirman 17, Wierzbicki 13, Lazic 13


EDIT***   Really can't believe the rebound numbers of 26-38, sure didn't seem that bad.

[sac]

-----If I had a game ball to give out I'd give half to Tyler Wolfe.  He was pretty tremendous at times today, you could argue he single handidly won the game.  The other half I'd break into 1/4's and give one each to Derek VanSolkema and Kelvin Carter, both did a tremendous job on James Telman holding him to just 9, with 2 being in complete garbage time.  He was stuck on 3 and 7 for a Looooong time. 

------AQ was limited to just one outstanding 3 point option in Lierman, who again was able to get away from Hope's defense, I think he had 18.  I would also add Hope did a nice job on Wierzbicki, the Dutchmen seemed a bit more content to let Lazic have the post than last time.  They still doubled him hard and made him make tough shots or passes.

-----When the season is done, its probable AQ might only use the fingers from one hand to signify the number of losses they'll have.  They have a couple games with teams a division or two above them, but they look rock solid to win the WHAC.  However strange things can happen in the 35 game NAIA season (or whatever it is), so who knows.  But thats as well a coached  team as you'll find at the small college level.   I'd take any starter and their effort in a heartbeat.

What are the chances that Ty Tanis becomes the go to man for 3's like Daane Griffith was?

Next year......100%, he's been impressive, he launched a deep one about 3 seconds after steping on the court today, he's on a pretty incredible pace for a freshman.  If Hope's ever in a situation where they need a 3, Wolfe, VanSolkema and Tanis are a tough triangle to pick up.  While we're on the subject all 4 of the Fr. have impressed me with how far along they are.  They simply have had very few moments where they've looked like Freshman.  Solid is a good word to describe them individualy, but the best part has been the defense.........and with that, anyone know why Doug Sharples didn't see action today?  or did I miss him.

-----The Dutchmen are takeing their week off this week, and return to action down in Florida with two key in-region contests with Roanoke and Elmhurst.  Two wins there would really be big for this team.

[gohope]

Some thoughts about today's game:

1.  Like SAC mentioned, the Freshman from Hope are quite fun to watch. Like at 14:12 left to go in the first half. Coach VW taps Ty Tanis - "You're in!" Ty steps in the ball is passed, and "whoosh" all net, and Hope gets 3 more points.  And all the Freshman just seem to show a "no fear" type of tone when they are in the game. Like I said, quite fun to watch!

2.  The "Red Badge of Courage" award goes to Marcus Vanderheide. Like others stated, it appears to be a calf concern, possibly a charlie horse, but minutes later, Marcus was back in the game scrapping here and scrapping there, giving it his all!

3.  Sitting on the North side of the DeVos, the Dew Crew brings a LOT to the game atmosphere. One of the new "stripes" looked over during the Dew Crew "warm-ups" and kinda gave the look like of "Huh?"  It was priceless. Almost as much as later in the game when the ENTIRE Dew Crew was imitating AQ's Head Coach, with the "Huh?" stuff again!!  They repeated the "Hammer" look a number of times during the game, and actually, could probably wind up winning the Academy Award for best imitation of a coach!   

4.  Looking at the stats, some interesting notes- Hope had 15 steals to AQ's 3. Hope had 9 turnovers to AQ's 21. But AQ out rebounded Hope 38-26. Overall shooting was close with Hope at 41% and AQ at 39%.

5.  And I was glad not to see any player/team receive a "T" at the game. It was a tough played game, but pretty respectful. There was decent sportsmanship and a lot LESS trash-talking. Thanks guys for that!


Good game Dutchmen!  Next stop:  Home of the mouse!

[AlwaysHope]

Several observations from the Hope/Aquinas Game tonight:

1) The Aquinas coach has very little faith in his bench.  The starters played 31, 33, 33, 36, and 38 minutes of the game, and probably would have played more except two starters got two early fouls.  So the bench played only 29 minutes combined, and their fouls (5) outnumbered their rebounds (3) plus their points (a grand total of one!).  The few minutes from the Aquinas reserves may have accounted for why Hope dominated at the end.  Hope's reserves had 15 points.

2) Aquinas actually outscored Hope from the field, but Hope held a 13 point margin at the free throw line.

3) Unsung hero was Ryan Klein, who tied for the Hope lead with 6 rebounds, but his ability to anticipate the opponent resulted in seven steals!  He also had a quiet 11 points while playing against a much larger center.

4) Hope had 15 steals vs. only 3 for Aquinas.  However, Aquinas outrebounded Hope 38-26.  Both a difference of 12.

5) As reported earlier, Wolfe was incredible!

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Couple of thoughts about the game yesterday

- Ryan Klein - Played  a great game - 11 points, 6 boards, 7 steals, and I thought his D looked good.  Definitely earned his spot on the all tournament team.

- Ty Tanis - The kid has no fear when shooting.  As others mentioned, the first time he touched the ball in this game he drained a deep three.  His other three was with a defender in his face.  Ty can flat out shoot

- Tyler Wolfe - an incredible game.  As he showed several times last year, when he gets hot it's almost nuclear.  At halftime, he had 4 points.  25 second into the second half, he gets pulled (according to his words in the Sentinel, because he blew his defensive assignment).  He sat on the bench until the 12:41 mark (Hope was down 40-44).  6:20  later, Hope had a 60-52 lead and Wolfe had scored 16 of those 20 points, and had the assist on one other basket.

[HopeConvert]

That was a tough, hard-fought game, and a good victory for the Dutchmen. Aquinas is a good team, and Hope did an excellent job restricting the impact of Telman, Lierman, and Lazic. I would guess that Aquinas is not likely to see defense that intensely harassing again this season. I was impressed with how hard Klein played Lazic, and with Hope's continued ability to force Aquinas's shooters to take tough shots. I remember only two occasions where Telman had an open look at the hoop. After this victory against a tough and physical Aquinas team, I'm feeling better about Hope's interior defense, and I think their ability to guard the perimeter is steadily improving as well.

I've also wondered about Sharples. He saw limited action on Friday, and none on Saturday. I wonder if he isn't under the weather - but I have no knowledge of anything. Tanis is a fearless shooter, and has the shooter's mentality that will keep launching shots even when they're not falling (evidently he subscribes to the theory that shooters cannot be in a "zone" or be "hot," they can only operate within the parameters of a percentage  - so you might as well keep shooting). Yesterday, they fell. I'd like to see him and Veltema in a 3-point shooting contest.

Reimink didn't have a great game scoring, but keeps doing all those little things - defense, scrambling after loose balls, hard-nosed rebounding, pawing at the ball right after the other team rebounds - that you need to win, so long as those little things don't include bringing the ball up the floor. That's why we have point guards. Another reason why we have guards is so that our centers don't have to shoot 3's when they come off the bench. I'm just saying.

I'm guessing both Hope and Aquinas players have some bruises they will be nursing today. A scrappy game, but very entertaining.

Oh, and call me adolescent, but God help me I think Dutch is wildly entertaining. He cracks me up.

[northb]

Well, much as it pains me to say it, it appears that Hope has placed themselves as the front-runner and the team to beat for the MIAA this year.  They have certainly handled common opponents as well or much better than Calvin has.  A 24-point turnaround between Calvin v Aquinas to Hope v Aquinas is impressive.  I understand that the difference in the Wheaton games was partially due to injury, but it seemed like Hope handled Carthage much more handily than Calvin did (although final point differentials were actually in Calvin's favor).

Would you rather be the early favorite with the target on your back, or the underdog scrapping at the frontrunner?  All things being equal, I'd rather be in Hope's position than Calvin's, but by no means am I throwing in the towel.  KVS and his men will have some work to do. 

[sac]

Anthony Jones (of Alma fame) is playing for Indiana Tech in the WHAC conference.