MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[realist]

Let me begin by saying that, even though I am a stout Hope fan, I cannot and will not dispute the fact that Kevin VandeStreek is a great coach.  (He does have one more national championship than Glenn)  However, that does not excuse him from critique or criticism.  For the third straight time while I have been closely following it, Calvin's season will hinge largely, if not entirely on whether they win the MIAA tournament and the automatic NCAA bid.  Their talent is unquestioned, evidenced by the beating of a Washington University squad that had Sean Wallis, and is clearly one of the best teams in the country. IMHO, the logical connection I make is if an extremely talented team loses eight games (and not playing a UAA type schedule) the blame falls on something other than the players themselves, namely the coaching staff, and specifically the head coach.  You can mention Griffin's ankle, Mantel's partial stagnation, Veltema's sophomore slump, Veldhouse's illness during the Hope game, etc, but I see inconsistent effort, especially defensively, lack of leadership, and poor ball movement, which would all point to the coach.  If I were a Calvin fan, I would be frustrated knowing that by the end of the year my team would be playing well enough to make a legitimate NCAA run, but their early and mid season play gave them a small chance of even making the tournament.  Yes, teams take a while to gel, but 3/4+ games into the season?  Something is amiss here.  Thoughts, questions, comments to put me in my place, docking of my karma?

Scottie:  Glad to see you haven't gotten hammered to badly in the karma sector.  Not sure I have any great insight into why Calvin hasn't achieved better results.  As mentioned above (by Knightslappy pg 999) Calvin's regional loses have all been close games.  The team definitely has potential.  My personal analysis is that Calvin has become rather predictable in it's offensive/defensive schemes, and player rotations.  Opposing coaches have learned this, and IMHO are using it to their advantage.  Granted the players still have to do their part, but the coach is deciding which players are on the court.

[DutchAlum03]

Hey everyone,

First time poster here, and probably wont' be a main contributor because I just don't keep up with it that much, but I have enjoyed reading the boards from time to time.

Anyway, just wanted to let you all know that on M-live.com in the tickets forum, someone is trying to sell 2 tix to the Hope Calvin game on Wednesday.  I do not support scalping these tix, but right now they're listed at 9.99 for the pair on e-bay.  So if anyone is trying to go, hopefully you can just get them for 9.99.  I'd buy them, but I'm on the east side of the state so I can't really make that drive on a Wednesday. 

Just thought one of the faithful, hopefully a hope fan, would want to know.

[AndersDY]

*  Dave Joppe - one of the guys on the floor with the special black and white shirt. He was a fun stopper. In the 2nd Half just as Dan Holt was driving to the basket, Mr. Holt "may" have taken a step or two extra, so the play was stopped for "strolling."  C'mon Dave, Mr. Holt was just getting ready for his NBA debut.  

I don't think we need to give Joppe credit for any fun-stopping on that play. The fun was stopped by the Alma defender that managed to hold Holt just short of the first down. I am certain that even if the (quite obvious) travelling were whistled, that place would have blown up as explosively as it did for the DVS-Cramer dunk were Holt to have gotten the chance to get to the rim.

So yes, without the foul, it would have been the most exciting dunk ever waved off for ridiculous travelling.

[hope_hoops1]

With the big game on tap for Wednesday, here's a few of my thoughts on what Hope needs to do to win.

-Establish MVH in the post.  It's obvious how effective he was in the first matchup, both with scoring and passing inside and look for more of the same.  Calvin no doubt will try something different on him, but MVH is smart enough to take advantage of whatever they throw at him.

-Stay out of foul trouble.  With the TV timeouts, the starters can play a lot of minutes and the bench will be a non-issue.  Any sort of foul trouble (especially DVS with Carter out/hobbled) and Hope could be in trouble. 

-Contain Griffin and Veldhouse.  Hope did a great job on these two in the first game, but it appears that both are playing better of late.  Under 40 combined points for these two, and Hope wins the game.

-Manage the runs.   As we saw in the first game, the team to make the last scoring run won the game.  Hope has a tendency to go through some cold shooting stretches and by continuing to pound the ball inside, hopefully these stretches won't last long.

[wiz]

-Contain Griffin and Veldhouse.  Hope did a great job on these two in the first game, but it appears that both are playing better of late.  Under 40 combined points for these two, and Hope wins the game.

I wouldn't be so sure of that.  Last year, when Calvin won both games at the Dick, Veldhouse and Griffin were held to 37 points in the first game and 40 in the second game.

[wiz]

I have 2 tickets for Wednesday, if anyone is interested.

[AlwaysHope]

I have 2 tickets for Wednesday, if anyone is interested.

Wizard, I sent you an email but it got returned for wrong address.  Very interested in buying your tickets.  Please call me on my cell at ###-###-####.

Thanks,

AlwaysHope

[Stinger]

I have 2 tickets for Wednesday, if anyone is interested.

Wizard, I sent you an email but it got returned for wrong address.  Very interested in buying your tickets.  Please call me on my cell at 616-560-3493.

Thanks,

AlwaysHope

Head's Up!!

[wiz]

I have 2 tickets for Wednesday, if anyone is interested.

Wizard, I sent you an email but it got returned for wrong address.  Very interested in buying your tickets.  Please call me on my cell at 616-560-3493.

Thanks,

AlwaysHope

Sorry, not available for Hope people.  I'd rather give them to that atheist, Stinger.

[wiz]

Don't get all upset.  Just joking.  I ended up giving them to a couple of relatives.

[AlwaysHope]

I have 2 tickets for Wednesday, if anyone is interested.

Wizard, I sent you an email but it got returned for wrong address.  Very interested in buying your tickets.  Please call me on my cell at 616-560-3493.

Thanks,

AlwaysHope

Sorry, not available for Hope people.  I'd rather give them to that atheist, Stinger.

No problem.  I would rather sit with that atheist Stinger than some HOPEless people!

I think I'm kidding too!

[realist]

For Calvin to win offensively they need Veltema , Zoerhof  & Koetsier to have great games. This will take some pressure off Mantel & Engelsma.   Veldhouse and Griffin need to have games like last Sat.    Calvin will need to control the boards, and on the offensive end will need to make those second chance baskets.  The more effort Hope expends on defense the better, especially if the 5 starters play anywhere near the minutes they did the last game.
Defensively Calvin will need to keep MVH in check, and equally important is containing T. Wolfe.  Calvin just can not afford to let those two have numbers anywhere near the last game.  The Hope starting five is tough enough, but my biggest concern is the bench for Hope getting some lucky shots early on, and once they taste Knight blood it could be all over.  

[realist]

AH: Isn't an atheist by definition a hopeless person?

Regarding the number of pages:  If memory serves correctly we had a poster get quite upset in the last year or so, and they did delete quite a few posts.  Makes for confusing reading if a person is referring to a post that has been removed.

[NW Hope Fan]

I think she recently poked her head back in some other boards as well... Good to have her back if ever so briefly. I'm guessing she still lurks and definitely still catches games when she can.

[realist]

NWH:  I don't remember all the details, but am glad to hear she hasn't given up on D3 bball.