MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[wiz]

Good game by the Knights today and Derek Griffin, player of the week, again showed his MVP talent.  The box score only tells some of what he did.  Certainly, his 16 points were noticeable, but his no-look passes, aggressive defense, team leadership, and overall ability to jump-start the action whenever needed, were all very impressive characteristics of this very athletic competitor.  Also, a very improved game today for Engelsma.  He was solid on the boards and aggressive at going to the basket.

Adrian seemed to run it's typical Buck Riley stile patient offense but they couldn't seem to get the final pass into position on their posessions today.  I think the stepped up Calvin defense may have had a lot to do with that.

Should be a good battle in Albion on Wednesday night.

[AlwaysHope]

Note

-----Some symetry tonight, as you know Floyd Brady passed away last weekend (nice moment of silence) and wore #32......in  Ryan Klein's absense tonight, Zach Osburn started and of course wears......#32.

Speaking of symetry, YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE THIS...

Floyd Brady broke Hope College center Paul Benes' career scoring record of 1,741 on Feb. 3, 1968 with his patented left handed hook shot.  He ended his career with 2,004 points.

He recalled it like it was yesterday in a Holland Sentinel interview in 2005.  "One of the players gave me a pick and I came over the top of the free throw line, got a pass and before I knew it I threw it up and fortunately it went in," said Brady.  "It was memorable."

EXACTLY 40 YEARS LATER TO THE DAY, FEB. 3, 2008, THE HOPE LEGEND WAS TAKEN HOME BY HIS CREATOR.

To add to the story, I was at the game, but I have to admit I don't remember the shot.  However, I know I was there, because my girlfriend at the time and I went out after the game and GOT ENGAGED.

Both Brady's record and our marriage of 39 years are still intact!

One other comment.  I talked to Tom Renner today about the larger than life photo of Floyd Brady at the Basketball exhibit on the north side of the DeVos Fieldhouse.  It shows Brady shooting his left handed hook shot.

Yes, that is the photo of Brady on Feb. 3, 1968 (see above) when he set the all time Hope College scoring record!

[calvinite]

 Calvin won't make up a <1k/game deficit with the new arena and packing 5k in there for Hope and homecoming, you're crazy!  Either way, I think it's great that so many MIAA schools are getting first rate facilities.  DeVos is an absolutely wonderful arena and I think Calvin's will be too. 
[/quote]


I'd like more fans at Calvin as much as anyone, but I've attended each of the last 1/2 dozen homecoming games, and none of them were close to being sold out. Even at today's homecoming with limited attendance, Calvin was nowhere near packed. And the meager fans at the last game was an embarrassment.

I'd like to think that new facilities will bring in the fans, but I think it more likely that a nationally ranked team with a good chance at a national title run is more likely to bring in the fans -- regardless of the facilities. Maybe next year we'll have both: new fieldhouse and a strong title run.,

A larger, more enthusiastic pep band would help too

[Flying Dutch Fan]

If you are going to the Hope/Kzoo game today, get there early(get the most bang for your buck), see the future, and watch some of the JV game, they have been averaging  87 points a game in the MIAA and are 8-1 in the conference. Combine some of these freshman/sophomores with the Varsity's fab four, and GVH has a strong team in two and three years.

Kudos for hitting that one dead on.  Although the JV Dutchmen only had 71... at the half, after shooting 80% from the floor.  Final score was 114-67 as they slowed it down a bit in the second half.

[sac]

The drive home was supersweet. 

Kzoo to Olivet--1 hour 35 minutes, just caught the end of the Olivet/Albion  game.......the Brits are playing some pretty tough D as always.  Holding Olivet to 43 points and under 30% shooting for the game.  Still it was a ballgame right untill the last few minutes.  Jim Cash had seven treys to pace Albion, including a "no, no, no, nice shot!" while  Albion was trying to milk the clock out.

All I know is it was nice to stop and settle the nerves after one of the most trecherous drives I've experienced since a drive through a Wyoming blizzard.

[Civic Minded]

The drive home was supersweet. 

Kzoo to Olivet--1 hour 35 minutes, just caught the end of the Olivet/Albion  game.......the Brits are playing some pretty tough D as always.  Holding Olivet to 43 points and under 30% shooting for the game.  Still it was a ballgame right untill the last few minutes.  Jim Cash had seven treys to pace Albion, including a "no, no, no, nice shot!" while  Albion was trying to milk the clock out.

All I know is it was nice to stop and settle the nerves after one of the most trecherous drives I've experienced since a drive through a Wyoming blizzard.

2 hours from Kalamazoo to Holland was a new CM record.  An average of 30mph also a record.     Pizza with friends -- priceless.

[sac]

Hope 74 Kalamazoo 58

There's some good a bad to take from this game, but I guess there's nothing bad about 16 point wins at the AAC.  The bad would be that if Kzoo had been able to hit some shots in the first half, Hope would have found themselves in a really tough battle at the half, and probably a big deficit.  The good was that Hope was playing some pretty good but not stifling defense, and offensively did enough to build an important 10 point halftime lead.  They finished the half with a mini run of 8-2, all scored by Tyler Wolfe.  This little 2 minute stretch I thought was pretty important psychologically.

Kzoo played a much more physical defense today, and unlike at DeVos where they let Hope do whatever they wanted whenever they wanted they put alot of pressure on Hope at times.  Neither team did a very good job protecting the ball, Hope had a number of very uncharacteristic bad passes in the first half, from the looks of the box score I'm going to say Hope cleaned that up the second half

Henry McCain was a man today, he pretty much owned the offensive glass for K in the first half with his 9 rebounds probably 6 or 7 offensive, but Hope did a nice job limiting him to just 2 in the second half.  I'm going to assume Kzoo was ahead in the rebounding totals at the half, and Hope turned it around in the second half, particularly strong was Marcus VanderHeide.

Hope again used some 3 gaurd offense and it wasn't quite as succesfull as Thursday, probably due to better D by Kzoo, but it allowed Derek VanSolkema to get alot of open looks and he buried a number of them.  It was at about the 14 minute mark that Hope began pulling away and had another mini run of 9-2 in less than 2 minutes as the game went from 14 (still comeback territory) to 21 in short order (not comeback territory).  Kzoo got a mini rally of their own, with an old fashioned 3 point play, and a trey to cut it to 15 with about 7 minutes to go, but Tyler Wolf swiftly hit a trey and it was probably settled at that point.

I think you'd have to say just a few too many turnovers from K and not enough good shooting, and I think Hope will be happy to have essentially beaten K by 10 points in each half with really no huge runs of scoring.

All but 3 of Hope's points came from the starters when it mattered, although it should be pointed out Hope did get a number of good minutes from Carter, Tanis, Osburn, Bowser and Kratz as a group.  All 5 mixed with the starters to form some kind of lineup.

VanSolkema 20, Wolfe 19, Reimink 15, VanderHeide 11 and 13rbs

Kellogg 14, McCain 12 and 11rbs

[sac]

Today/tonights top performances

Double-doubles
Marcus VanderHeide, Hope  11pts, 13rbs vs Kzoo
Henry McCain, Kzoo 12pts, 11rbs vs Hope

Scoring
Jim Cash, Albion 23pts, 7 treys v Olivet
Desmond Young, Adrian 22pts v Calvin
Derek VanSolkema, Hope 20 pts, 5 treys v Kzoo
Tyler Wolfe, Hope 19 pts, 6 assists v Kzoo
Jordan Reditt, Alma 18pts v Tri-State

The Interesting
Alma held scoreless by TSU for 8 first half minutes.
Tony Benford only takes 8 shots, that might be a new career low

Number of signs directing Hope fans where they can or can't sit = 0
Number of ushers directing Hope fans where they can or can't sit = 0

[GoVols]

Hope 74 Kalamazoo 58

There's some good a bad to take from this game, but I guess there's nothing bad about 16 point wins at the AAC.  The bad would be that if Kzoo had been able to hit some shots in the first half, Hope would have found themselves in a really tough battle at the half, and probably a big deficit.  The good was that Hope was playing some pretty good but not stifling defense, and offensively did enough to build an important 10 point halftime lead.  They finished the half with a mini run of 8-2, all scored by Tyler Wolfe.  This little 2 minute stretch I thought was pretty important psychologically.

Kzoo played a much more physical defense today, and unlike at DeVos where they let Hope do whatever they wanted whenever they wanted they put alot of pressure on Hope at times.  Neither team did a very good job protecting the ball, Hope had a number of very uncharacteristic bad passes in the first half, from the looks of the box score I'm going to say Hope cleaned that up the second half

Henry McCain was a man today, he pretty much owned the offensive glass for K in the first half with his 9 rebounds probably 6 or 7 offensive, but Hope did a nice job limiting him to just 2 in the second half.  I'm going to assume Kzoo was ahead in the rebounding totals at the half, and Hope turned it around in the second half, particularly strong was Marcus VanderHeide.

Rebounds at the half were Hope 21, Kalamazoo 21. Yes, McCain was big on the boards, especially in the first half, but maybe his own 2-of-8 shooting helped contribute to his 7 offensive boards.
Also, more kudos to the Hope jayvees and their 114 points.
Daniel Cox had 24, Joel Hofman 15, Aaron Boersma 12, Kevin Warren 10, Chris Nelis 9 and Brian Wiese and Robert Guimond and  8 each. Just thought y'all would like to know that.

[NW Hope Fan]

A larger, more enthusiastic pep band would help too

AND Cheerleaders... Definitely Cheerleaders! That'll bring 'em in. 

[GoKnights68]

goknights 68

calvin plays albion wed not saturday 

Thanks for the clear-up, hope1.  For some reason I was thinking Wednesday, but typed Saturday.

I am liking the fact that Calvin will be going into Wednesday night's game as the somewhat underdog since Albion beat them at their place last game between then, and they are both tied in the standings. 

[GoKnights68]

Calvin won't make up a <1k/game deficit with the new arena and packing 5k in there for Hope and homecoming, you're crazy!  Either way, I think it's great that so many MIAA schools are getting first rate facilities.  DeVos is an absolutely wonderful arena and I think Calvin's will be too. 

A larger, more enthusiastic pep band would help too
[/quote]


Ha, that's funny, because I was about to say that the pep-band was actually the only bright spot in terms of crowd participation.

[calvinite]

Ha, that's funny, because I was about to say that the pep-band was actually the only bright spot in terms of crowd participation.

I enjoy the pep band, and I DO agree they did a good job yesterday. Nevertheless, I counted like 15 band members; that's not many. In terms of my enthusiastic comment, I was referring to earlier games. At the Albion game, for example, the pep band packed up at the start of half time and left. The Albion game was a big one, the loss may come back to haunt us, and our own pep band won't stick around!

[GoVols]

Hey Scotsfan, you coming down to "The Dick" Saturday?

[northb]

Ha, that's funny, because I was about to say that the pep-band was actually the only bright spot in terms of crowd participation.

I enjoy the pep band, and I DO agree they did a good job yesterday. Nevertheless, I counted like 15 band members; that's not many. In terms of my enthusiastic comment, I was referring to earlier games. At the Albion game, for example, the pep band packed up at the start of half time and left. The Albion game was a big one, the loss may come back to haunt us, and our own pep band won't stick around!

More Cowbell

Classic!    +k for you!