MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[academy1]

Any victory at this point is momentum, which can be defined as "moving forward".  While not a huge win, the first victory of the year will hopefully give the team some confidence.

[GoKnights68]

Looks like the Hornets pulled out their first victory of the year 66-60 in the consolation game of the Marian Tourney against Davenport.  Pretty balanced scoring for the team.  Hopefully, they can keep the momentum going. 


http://dupanthers.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/121507aaa.html

I'm not sure we can classify a win against Davenport as "momentum."  But it is a start.

Not so fast.  I think it is.  Like I said, I saw Davenport play in person a few weeks ago against Trinity, and you'd be how surprised their program has come since it started a few years ago.  They are a very well-coached team with a very quick impressive PG from Ottawa Hills, named Griffin.  Impressive win for the Hornets.


Calvin won pretty easily like I predicted over a struggling Trinity team.  Nobody really stood out today offensively for the Knights besides Veldhouse, but it was nice to hold a team under 50.

[sac]

Davenport did beat Tri-State a week or so ago, but 3 of their wins have come against Andrews (twice) and Grace Bible.  They have been in all of their losses though.

score of interest
Robert Morris(#8 NAIA I) 75 Aquinas 65

[Titan Q]

Madonna 86, Albion 80----I think that has to be characterized as a surprising and disappointing loss. 

My dad watched Madonna win by 3 at NAIA I St. Xavier last week...

http://www.sxu.edu/athletics/mbb/latest_news.asp?ID=1574&l=1

He was really impressed with their athleticism and ability to shoot it.  SXU is a good, solid small college team...probably a team that finishes about 2nd in the CCIW.  It sounds like Madonna can be a very tough team.

[hope1]

yeah hope plays grace bible next week friday at home maybe a blow out game

[calvinite]

Engelsma did an excellent job

I agree that Engelsma continues to improve and contributes to the Knights both offensively and defensively. He works hard, rebounds, and is averaging like 12 points a game.

No doubt Veldhouse is doing more scoring this year, too, but I wonder at what cost? As a novice D3 hooper (my first post) and no actual interscholastic basketball playing experience, I'm not an expert on the game either, but it seems to me the Knights are still doing a lot of standing around. This has been discussed here already, but I think this is especially true when Caleb is on the floor; I think it's less so when Dustin Smith is in for Caleb. It's certainly great to get 28 points from Veldhouse, but he won't be able to do that all season long. With Veltema still struggling, and the Knights not yet in top-form, I'd be whole lot more pleased to see fewer points from Caleb and more support from others.

Despite Coach KVS's post-game comments, I was disappointed and worried during the first-half against Trinity. As predicted here, Calvin did come though in the second half, but even this performance was mixed. KVS said he wanted his team to talk more on defense, and they did this the first five minutes of the game, but it certainly trailed off after the start.

There's certainly room for improvement!

[oldknight]

Welcome to the board LTK and +k on your first post.

[hope1]

it is alsways nice to add a another hope and calvin poster for the batle

[realist]

Welcome LTK:  You are correct that Calvin has a ways to go.  28 points is great for Veldhouse, but a more even spread of points would really serve the team better.  Griffin seems to be off his pace from last year, and his shots just aren't falling like we got used to last year.  Mantel and several others have not played up to the level that most of us expect.  Perhaps we allowed ourselves to get raised expectations from the Wash U game. I am sure the biggest fear that Hope supporters have is that is the Calvin team that shows up for the MIAA season.  If it is Calvin will give everyone a run for their money.

[realist]

Looking ahead a bit to the next Calvin games in New Jersey it will be interesting to see how Calvin stacks up against some of these teams.  Both Keene State, and Salem State are teams that appear to match up well against Calvin, and much will depend how Calvin responds to being on the road.  I like the fact KVS wants the players to have some fun while in the NYC area, and sure hope that extends to the playing floor.  Even yesterday for periods it didn't look like some of the players were having fun nor did it look like they had confidence in anyone except Veldhouse and Engelsma.

[sac]

 Whitewater 74 Olivet 53

[realist]

Sac:  This hurts me, but + k on the new photo.

[GoKnights68]

Engelsma did an excellent job

I agree that Engelsma continues to improve and contributes to the Knights both offensively and defensively. He works hard, rebounds, and is averaging like 12 points a game.

No doubt Veldhouse is doing more scoring this year, too, but I wonder at what cost? As a novice D3 hooper (my first post) and no actual interscholastic basketball playing experience, I'm not an expert on the game either, but it seems to me the Knights are still doing a lot of standing around. This has been discussed here already, but I think this is especially true when Caleb is on the floor; I think it's less so when Dustin Smith is in for Caleb. It's certainly great to get 28 points from Veldhouse, but he won't be able to do that all season long. With Veltema still struggling, and the Knights not yet in top-form, I'd be whole lot more pleased to see fewer points from Caleb and more support from others.

Despite Coach KVS's post-game comments, I was disappointed and worried during the first-half against Trinity. As predicted here, Calvin did come though in the second half, but even this performance was mixed. KVS said he wanted his team to talk more on defense, and they did this the first five minutes of the game, but it certainly trailed off after the start.

There's certainly room for improvement!

Good post, and I agree 100% that there is too much standing around so far this year, as Calvin had the same type of problem towards the end of last season as well.

Sometimes I feel, though, that Veldhouse has had to shoot as much as he has lately because nobody else seems to want to be the scorer.

Veltema has got to keep shooting and Mantel has got to keep going hard to the basket to open up the outside game for others. Griffin has got to get back to the level he was at before he injured himself in the Cornerstone game.   Everyone has got to keep cutting to the basket.  That's just my two cents...

I think this time off will help the Knights re-focus on what their roles should be

[Stinger]

Wow, another disappointing day for the MIAA overall. Realy doesn't help the league with Adrian and Albion losing very winnable games today. These sort of losses really have the potential to hurt Hope or Calvin (assuming one team gets the automatic NCAA berth via the MIAA tourney and the other team is waiting for a Pool C bid).

Yeah, I'm sure that's what the other teams are thinking while prepping for their non-league games.   "damnit! we gotta win this game. If not, it could really hurt Hope down the road. Now get in there and win on for Glen!"

Saturday's win vs Davenport was a "huge" win for the Hornets. They are off the schneid.  They had a great opportunity to win on Friday, and let it slip away down the stretch.  They showed some pride and character and beat an improved Davenport team. By no means is it a "shock the world" win, but come on, it's definitely something to build on.   

[ChicagoHopeNut]

Wow, another disappointing day for the MIAA overall. Realy doesn't help the league with Adrian and Albion losing very winnable games today. These sort of losses really have the potential to hurt Hope or Calvin (assuming one team gets the automatic NCAA berth via the MIAA tourney and the other team is waiting for a Pool C bid).

Yeah, I'm sure that's what the other teams are thinking while prepping for their non-league games.   "damnit! we gotta win this game. If not, it could really hurt Hope down the road. Now get in there and win on for Glen!"

I don't expect the other MIAA teams to consider how their won-loss record could effect Pool C bids for other conference members, Hope or Calvin.  It wouldn't surprise me if both KVS and GVW haven't thought about those sort of matters either. As good coaches they know if their team wins out they have taken care of the work already. However, as a fan who spends more time thinking about D3 basketball than is healthy I think of all the different scenarios and a weak conference has the potential to hurt teams at the top.