MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[NW Hope Fan]

Big game tomorrow and hopefully two next week, but do we see a possible Wheaton rematch?

[Flying Dutch Fan]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/basketball/nba/wires/03/06/2030.ap.bko.small.college.success.0991/

Interesting article about Hope basketball

This tee about sums it up.   

Eventually you learn to ignore Stinger and his lame attempts at humor.   

+k from me on that one wiz

[GoVols]

Ex-Olivet-er Steve Hettinga up in the frozen north, coaching Lake Superior State. They lost to GVSU in GLIAC tournament semifinal as he "led" his Lakers to a 12-15 mark. Not much better than when he was a Comet, eh?

[sac]

Ex-Olivet-er Steve Hettinga up in the frozen north, coaching Lake Superior State. They lost to GVSU in GLIAC tournament semifinal as he "led" his Lakers to a 12-15 mark. Not much better than when he was a Comet, eh?

Its a 3 game improvement over last years squad overall(9-18 vs 12-15), and a 2 game conference win improvement(6-12 vs 8-10).  With a roster than included 0 Seniors.

[wiz]

Hope should win by 10 - 15 tonight without much problem.  Like Hope, Capital moves the ball well and has fire power from several players.  But, the defense Bethany threw at them is nothing like the MIAA presents on a daily basis.  Capital will be in shock.

Interestingly, Wheaton with 7 losses on the season, may very well advancee to the sweet 16.  Earlier in the year, Calvin lost to them by a point and Hope defeated them handily, although their big guy was out with an injury for that game.  One of those teams in orange could very well go on to Salem.

[Erm Schmigget]

There is a link to a preview of tonight's Hope v. Capital game on the teams' pages on D3hoops.com.  "Mouse-over" the link icon to reveal links to the preview and audio.  The preview was put together by Capital, so it's more of a report on Hope, and Cap's stats, but at least you can get their take on tonight's match-up.  Very nicely done, in pdf format, so it prints out very well, even though the font is quite small.

Hats off to Leonard Reich, the Capital SID, for an excellent info package.

Unlike wiz, I don't believe Hope will win easily.  Our men will have to continue with the level of play we enjoyed watching throughout their 9-game winning streak if they HOPE to extend it.  I'll be sure to do my part...from the stands.   

GO HOPE

[Erm Schmigget]

Then he said to himself, "Duh!  Paste the link!    "

http://www.capitalcrusaders.net/0708mbbnotes-ncaa2.pdf

[NW Hope Fan]

So who is Klein assigned to? Stahl or Wood? And is the game plan against Gunn to try to draw the fouls as he aggressively goes for the blocks?

Should be a good game. Go Hope!

[Erm Schmigget]

Hey there, K!

Hard to say where Klein would be more valuable.  I think if Wood (6'3") spends more time in the post, put Reimink on him, and Klein on Stahl (6'6").  If vice versa, maybe Wolfe on Wood, Klein on Stahl, and Jesse on Kyser.  Jesse has the core strength to handle Kyser at 6'5", 260.

Just my guess without seeing Capital play.

My question is, will Wood be as vocal as another Wood we're more familiar with (Ellen)?

[SKOT]

Does anyone know if Capital returned any tickets to Hope or did they sell their half (Or, do they even get half?)

Just trying to get any idea to the crowd that will be at DeVos tonight!

[sac]

Does anyone know if Capital returned any tickets to Hope or did they sell their half (Or, do they even get half?)

Just trying to get any idea to the crowd that will be at DeVos tonight!

As of yesterday, Capital sold 50 tickets.  My brother who lives in Columbus said its awfull weather, much worse than yesterday and that everything is closed or closing.  This morning his wife said the highways (I-70, 670) looked like they hadn't been touched.  She got stuck in the driveway.  I think you'd have to be a little crazy to venture out in that kind of weather.........(dramatic pause for self realization)

But I'd still expect a sellout or very close to one.

[Civic Minded]

Does anyone know if Capital returned any tickets to Hope or did they sell their half (Or, do they even get half?)

Just trying to get any idea to the crowd that will be at DeVos tonight!

As of yesterday, Capital sold 50 tickets.  My brother who lives in Columbus said its awfull weather, much worse than yesterday and that everything is closed or closing.  This morning his wife said the highways (I-70, 670) looked like they hadn't been touched.  She got stuck in the driveway.  I think you'd have to be a little crazy to venture out in that kind of weather.........(dramatic pause for self realization)

But I'd still expect a sellout or very close to one.

Hey, sports fans!  We survived the drive back from Berea (although waiting until the half of the B-W game was probably silly), making a pit stop over night in beautiful Dundee, MI to refocus our snow-bleary eyes.  I'll second the confirmation of bad Ohio weather, and of only 50-60 tickets being sold to Capital fans as of last night.  So...c'mon on out everybody and make some noise for the Dutchmen (you can call in advance to check on tix -- 395-7890). 

[sac]

Officially 18" of snow in Columbus.........I'll be very surprised if Capital has any fans at the game,  if they do, they should all be given a pair of wooden shoes.

They can use them for traction on the way home.

[HopeConvert]

Not having seen Capital play either, I'd guess offhand we'll be seeing Klein on Stahl, who appears to be the Crusaders' main scoring threat. But we certainly have some versatility, as we could move either Reimink or Wolfe out on him as well. Keep in mind in both MIAA Tournament games that Klein got moved over at halftime on to the hot man (Young and Griffin) and effectively shut them down. After you get past Keyser and Wood, I'm not sure how many options Capital has, while any one of Hope's five starters could go for 20. In a one-and-done setting, any game is going to make you nervous, but I would think Capital has more reason to be nervous: playing their first game of the year against a nationally-ranked team, balanced and loaded with seniors on their home floor. Anything can happen (ask UWW, who destroyed my bracket last night), of course, but it's hard not to like Hope in this matchup. I'm disappointed I won't be able to attend tonight, stuck as I am in DC. HOPEfully, I'll get to watch them next weekend.

It wouldn't surprise me to see Hope try to establish Marcus inside early, maybe take the ball at Gunn and see if they can't get him in early foul trouble. That should open things up for Wolfe and others on the outside. If Carter goes tonight, we'll probably see some three guard offense, depending on the sorts of matchups that leaves us with on the defensive end. A look at the OAC board reveals that Capital fans don't exactly relish the idea of facing Hope in the 2nd round. It's a tough draw both ways, but if you are going to win a championship, you have to beat good teams.

Stinger - thanks for coming through. It's nice to know there are things in life on which we can always depend.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Alright - here's a plea to all you Hope fans who are attending tonights game - be loud, be raucous, and let's make sure we get the full advantage of home court.  We can all rest our voices starting on March 23, but today let's support our boys!!!

Go HOPE!