MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[realist]

Some of you Hope fans should have a little more confidence in your coach, and your team.     Learn to relax, and enjoy the game when you have a 28 point lead.    GVW had the perfect strategy for last nights game.  Stop Calvin's guards, don't allow them open 3's,  because Calvin can not beat Hope with just Mantel and Engelsma scoring.  Sure it helped that Hope had the hot hand early, but Calvin did not do anything tonight they haven't done before.  There is a word to describe doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results.  It isn't flattering, but it sure fits the predictable nature of Calvin's game.
GK68.  If KVS doesn't change some aspects of his offense for the MIAA tourney we should hardly expect different results.  If "motion" isn't working for, or with, your players one might consider some modification don't you think? 

[bulldogalum]

By my count, which is admittedly not a thorough one at this point, Adrian has been involved in 13 games this season decided by 10 points or less following last night's game at Alma.  To date, they have lost 9 of these games.  I expect several more close games in the next couple of weeks, and I've got to believe we're due to win a couple of these close ones.  The last few weeks have been particularly heartbreaking, starting with the Tri State loss, and including a loss at home against Albion where Adrian basically controllwed the second half, and last night's game against Alma where Adrian held a 9 point lead with 4 minutes to go.  Not sure why I felt the need to look up these figures, unless it's to say that if you're prone to heart trouble, it's probably best to stay away from the Merillat Center this season.

[AlwaysHope]

Couple of stats that caught my eye (beyond those already mentioned)

- Calvin out shot Hope for the game (47.2% vs 42.6%) which doesn't seem to make a lot of sense given the final score.  Hope made one more basket than Calvin (26 vs 25) but the real difference comes from behinds the arc (Hope 10-30 vs Calvin 4-11).  Hope also out scored Calvin from the FT line 14-5.

- Both teams had a "hot" half (Hope 56.3% in the 1st & Calvin 60.0% in the 2nd)and a "cold" half (Hope 27.6% in the 2nd and Calvin 35.7% in the 1st).

- Combined Veltema, Zoerhof, and Katt played 43 minutes, and were 2-3 for 4 points (all Katt) 3 rebounds, 5 fouls, 1 assist, and 4 turnovers (all Zoerhof).  Not the kind of bench play you need in a game like this.  To me the most amazing part is that Veltema is solid zeros across the board for stats in 15 minutes.

- Ty Tanis - one of his more impressive games, despite being 0-1 from the field, with 1 rebound, 1 assist, and 1 steal.  Great to see this freshman go all out on D and help shut down DG.

- There always seems to be an unlikely "star" in The Game, and Branden Bosch was definitely that last night.  3 great drives to the basket, and great D as well.

I also caught that Calvin actually outshot Hope from the field, in terms of percentage (first point above).  

The rebounds were virtually the same (33 for Hope, 31 for Calvin), but a critical difference was in protecting the ball.  Calvin had 15 turnovers (including 4 by Zoerhof and 3 by Griffin), compared to only 7 for Hope.  VanSolkema had 4 of the 7 turnovers, but he also led the team with an impressive 7 assists; the other team members only had 3 turnovers in total.

Taking this one step further, Hope had 11 steals vs. only 2 for Calvin.  All this contributed to Hope getting 8 more shots from the field.

Much has been made about Griffin and Smith getting zero points.  However, I think Veldhouse only had 3 points at halftime, and scored the other 20 points when the game was basically out of reach.

[mjfasteenwolf]

Excellent win for Hope last night as they start to build momentum heading into the tournament(s).  It was great to see Reimink come out with a big game and knock down some huge shots throughout the game.  I knew he would have a better game than last time, but outscoring his matchup, Griffin, 25-0 seemed very unlikely.  He can't take all of the credit on Griffin as Tanis played his best defense of the year and the entire team seemed focused on him when he had the ball.  Stiffling team defense the entire night, and even though Klein gave up quite a bit to Mantel, his ability to rotate and help other defenders allows the perimeter guys to get right up on Calvin's perimeter players.   Now we just need to take care of business on Saturday so Albion doesn't host the conference tournament.

Great post, I agree this was a great win to get some momentum. Anytime you beat your most competitive rival solidly it is great for your mentality. Hopefully Reimink can continue to stay confident and get the open looks. I still can't get over how well he shoots the ball when he is open.
Wolfe scored 13 despite having an off night shooting, and MVH batted through some good D to score thirteen as well. The player I was most impressed with besides JR last night was DVS, I think he deserves a lot of credit for distributing, and he still can shoot the rock. He has impressed me with his transition into being a PG, I think he keeps getting better at it, if he can continue to handle the ball well, distribute it, and knock down those deep threes, look out for Hope.

[wiz]

I also understand it was a record crowd at the DeVos tonight: 3603.

My information packet on the Dick says it was designed to seat 3,400 for athletic events.  How did they get 3,603 in there?  Are they counting the coaching staff in those numbers now?

Seroiusly, congratulations to Hope, on the whipping you gave the Knights last night.  Very impressive.  Anyone have some extra tickets for Salem?

[NW Hope Fan]

Anyone have some extra tickets for Salem?

What's in Salem?
Oregon state capital...
Witches...

[section7]

Bulldogalum -

Interesting stat and observation.

Unfortunately, I don't think the Bulldogs have "several weeks" or "several games" left in them.

By my count, which is admittedly not a thorough one at this point, Adrian has been involved in 13 games this season decided by 10 points or less following last night's game at Alma.  To date, they have lost 9 of these games.  I expect several more close games in the next couple of weeks, and I've got to believe we're due to win a couple of these close ones.  The last few weeks have been particularly heartbreaking, starting with the Tri State loss, and including a loss at home against Albion where Adrian basically controllwed the second half, and last night's game against Alma where Adrian held a 9 point lead with 4 minutes to go.  Not sure why I felt the need to look up these figures, unless it's to say that if you're prone to heart trouble, it's probably best to stay away from the Merillat Center this season.

[section7]

Observations from Last Night -

1.  2nd time out of the game - KVS really laid into Griffin (assuming for not defending Reimink).  After timeout was over, Griffin continued to jaw at KVS from the bench.  He was never a factor in the game after that.

2.  I noticed in the 2nd half of game one at Calvin, that KVS has a very short leash on his players.  You make a mistake or miss an ill advised jumper, you are going to the bench.  Last night, I figured I would track this.  The first 6 mistakes of the game, whether mental (bad shot, lack of concentration) or physical (foul, turnover, missed assignment), all resulted in the player being substituted for.  I stopped counting after 6 in the first half.  Note, it happened the first two times in the second half.  I can't believe this gives your players much confidence and probably leads to more mistakes.  Thoughts?

3.  Dustin Smith - not once last night did the Dew Crew, pull the "Traitor" chant.  Dustin Smith 0-2, 0 pts, non factor.

[GoKnights68]

GK68.  If KVS doesn't change some aspects of his offense for the MIAA tourney we should hardly expect different results.  If "motion" isn't working for, or with, your players one might consider some modification don't you think? 

Definitely. But I don't think it will change much in the MIAA tourney.  The problem is that there is only one or two players moving, with just one person setting a screen, which is in the low-post.    They need to have screens being set above the perimeter as well, like Hope does with their offense.   ....overall, it has worked at times this season, but it can't seem to adjust well at all to different opposing defensive schemes.

When Hope is pressuring the guards as much as they did last night, Calvin has got to look to do the traditional back-door play.  I didn't see that last night at all, or that much all season for that matter.  It also doesn't help that Calvin seemed to be playing 75% on offense instead of 100%, with evidence of their their poor passes and focus.


Perhaps the Knights came into the game too focuses on stopping Vanderheide.  But I'd rather have Vanderheide work hard for 2 points, than leave a wide-open Remink and Wolf on the 3-point, who seem to hit the 3-ball automatically when nobody is in their faces.

I am hoping KVS adopts a new type of offense over the off-season.

[GoKnights68]

I also understand it was a record crowd at the DeVos tonight: 3603.

My information packet on the Dick says it was designed to seat 3,400 for athletic events.  How did they get 3,603 in there?  Are they counting the coaching staff in those numbers now?

Seroiusly, congratulations to Hope, on the whipping you gave the Knights last night.  Very impressive.  Anyone have some extra tickets for Salem?

Yeah, I think they're counting the media, score-table workers, players, ect.  Same reason why the big house attendence is usually around 110,000 at most games even though the capacity is 107,501.

But I was kind of surprised too that that game set an attendance record.  Sure it was a huge game, but there have been bigger games (2006 first season in Devos games and last years MIAA tourney finals?) and it was a Wednesday night

[Civic Minded]

Observations from Last Night -

<snip>
2.  I noticed in the 2nd half of game one at Calvin, that KVS has a very short leash on his players.  You make a mistake or miss an ill advised jumper, you are going to the bench.  Last night, I figured I would track this.  The first 6 mistakes of the game, whether mental (bad shot, lack of concentration) or physical (foul, turnover, missed assignment), all resulted in the player being substituted for.  I stopped counting after 6 in the first half.  Note, it happened the first two times in the second half.  I can't believe this gives your players much confidence and probably leads to more mistakes.  Thoughts?

Any time you "punish" a player for any little mistake, it's going to mess with his confidence.  I've noticed this particular trait of KVS before, and wondered how his players handle it.  I know it happens at Hope too, and there may be very good reasons for it, but it's a tough situation for the player who's afraid to breathe for fear that they're going to breathe the wrong way.

One sad note from last night -- senior Dan Holt has the virus that Klein had, and was not only not suited up last night, but was not in the building.  Hate to see that happen to a senior in their last opportunity to play in The Rivalry on their home court.  No, he wouldn't have seen a lot of minutes, but that's hardly the point.  I can't imagine how hard it must have been to have to watch the game from home.

[GoKnights68]

Observations from Last Night -

1.  2nd time out of the game - KVS really laid into Griffin (assuming for not defending Reimink).  After timeout was over, Griffin continued to jaw at KVS from the bench.  He was never a factor in the game after that.

2.  I noticed in the 2nd half of game one at Calvin, that KVS has a very short leash on his players.  You make a mistake or miss an ill advised jumper, you are going to the bench.  Last night, I figured I would track this.  The first 6 mistakes of the game, whether mental (bad shot, lack of concentration) or physical (foul, turnover, missed assignment), all resulted in the player being substituted for.  I stopped counting after 6 in the first half.  Note, it happened the first two times in the second half.  I can't believe this gives your players much confidence and probably leads to more mistakes.  Thoughts?

3.  Dustin Smith - not once last night did the Dew Crew, pull the "Traitor" chant.  Dustin Smith 0-2, 0 pts, non factor.

The subbing has been question-mark all season from the Knight fan-base.   In my opinion, KVS takes out players too much that are starting to get hot.  He did that with Mantel to start the game last night.  Or does Mantel really get that tired that quickly?

[thealmascots]

First of all, let me say congrats to Hope and all you Hope rooters out there.  They came to play and took it to Calvin last night.  That being said, if you are watching Calvin within even a little bit of a clue you will notice how they played, AGAIN, right into Hope's hands.  On the offensive side of the ball, while Hope is running Reimink off screens, skipping the ball across court to a wide open shooter, etc. Calvin has four guys posting up from their various spots on the floor while the point guard brings the ball up the floor.  Once it is lobbed into the wing, the other four do their post up move while the guy with the ball struggles to do anything with it.  There are no screens, there is no evidence that they are trying to free anyone up.  While Hope has a clue of how they are trying to get guys open looks, Calvin is left with nothing but a series of one on one moves.  They have some very talented players and they are going to score some points this way, but against a quality defensive team like Hope, it spells disaster.  Someone just posted that he hope KVS changes his offense during the off-season.  I have bad news for you...it has been like this ever since he has been at Calvin.
On defense, they continue to double team in the post even when the defender has a height advantage or skill advantage, it's just automatic regardless of who is there.  They also over-commit off the weakside leaving three point shooters wide open time and time again.  It happened last month with Wolfe and it happened last night with Reimink.  
I don't know how many times the Calvin fan base can be sold the same story that the team didn't come to play.  The game plan on both sides of the court has them at a huge disadvantage before they even start.

[GoKnights68]

Thanks for the thoughts, thealmascots.  You summed it pretty well.

And yeah, I don't expect KVS to completely get rid of this offense either.  It has gotten them to the last four post-seasons, but what I meant was that I hope he sees that these group of players don't fit well in it, and that he needs to change a couple aspects of the "motion" offense, so that more players are moving without the ball.

You summed it well up on defense.  It seemed Calvin looked lost on how to guard Hope's offense.  They didn't know how to properly find their man after a screen.  Their mechanics on defense also looked pretty poor, all around.

It just seems there is at least one game a year against Hope these past 5 years, other than the 2005 season, where Calvin lays a huge egg.  Yeah that may show you that Hope is just the better team at those games, but check out these scores.

2003 season:
Hope     92-76 

2004 season:
Hope      96-75

2006 season:     
Hope     79-61

2007 season(in December 2006)
Hope     76-54

2008 season
Hope     76-59

[calvin_grad]

It has gotten them to the last four post-seasons,

With a mostly veteran team coming back and an early season win over Wash U., I thought the 8-year cycle might have a good chance to continue, but it doesn't look good.

I know KVS has a NC and has consistently gotten to the post-season, but I haven't been impressed with Calvin on either side of the ball this year, particularly on offense.