MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[sac]

For the Calvin men to make a big impact in the MIAA or NCAA they may need to do more of this ::

Smith Weight Training Center

Pretty doubtfull the folks at Hope would be willing to let Calvin use their weight training center. 

[goodknight]

For the Calvin men to make a big impact in the MIAA or NCAA they may need to do more of this ::

Smith Weight Training Center

No one disputes the fact that Calvin punched UNDER its weight this season.
I would be stunned to see Calvin highly ranked in the next pre-season poll, given the underperformance this year.  And it would be great to see more muscle mass and a LOT more toughness in next year's edition of the Knights.

[wiz]

After perusing graduating seniors across the nation, I slot Calvin easily in the preseason top 10, if not top 5.  (Hope may crack the top 25 if they're lucky).  Expectations will be high once again, just as they were before this disappointing season. 

At 16-11 this year it might be tough to put Calvin in next year's Top Five before they play any other games. Pollsters were burned by Calvin last year and will want to see something on the floor, I'm guessing.

I would agree and don't think they should be ranked that highly either.  Since the polls don't carry much significance, compared to winning, it may be best that they not be ranked at all.  I would suspect a bit of a slow start again, with the two new venues and the history of the Calvin teams peaking later in the year.

[wiz]

After perusing graduating seniors across the nation, I slot Calvin easily in the preseason top 10, if not top 5.  (Hope may crack the top 25 if they're lucky).  Expectations will be high once again, just as they were before this disappointing season. 

Josh Engelsma was brilliant late in the year, showing a bevy of low-post moves and offensive aggressiveness that Knight fans can only hope rubs off on Mantel.

After a wonderful freshmen year, Mantel was saddled with unrealistic expectations, but produced solid numbers in erratic minutes.  Late in the year, his consistency improved and together with Engelsma were the lone bright spots in the Hope games.

Many MIAA fans would guess Veldhouse had a ho-hum year, but his stats were anything but.  I think the graduation of Griffin will do wonders for Caleb's game.  It's his team to run, and he was a better leader than Griffin anyway. 

Dustin Smith is what he is and will continue to be that.

Tyler Zoerhoef continues to confound with raw athleticism and zero polish.  Nothing better is expected.

Veltema struggled mightily with his shot during his sophomore campaign.  While a below-average defender, and limited offensively, a return to good shooting will spell daggers for opponents. 

Excluding an incoming impact freshmen (Kamp?) Calvin is not likely to get much help from the young guys (VanHarn, Strunk, Systsma, and other JV's)  Nothing like Engelsma coming out of JV last year. 

A starting five of Veldhouse, Smith, Veltema, Engelsma, and Mantel possesses obvious talent.  And as much as I cringe to say it, breakout campaigns by Veltema and Mantel could be the ingredients for a deep NCAA run.  However, maddening inconsistencies in timeouts and substitutions by KVS, lack of team play, lack of desire, and a stagnant offense plagued the Knight's this year and no obvious change has taken place that spells improvement. 

Don't rule out VanHarn too quickly.  He may never light it up but he is a very heady guard and will commit very few turnovers.  I think he'll be running the offense in his junior year and would expect significant pt in the upcoming year.

[Pat Coleman]

After perusing graduating seniors across the nation, I slot Calvin easily in the preseason top 10, if not top 5.  (Hope may crack the top 25 if they're lucky).  Expectations will be high once again, just as they were before this disappointing season. 

At 16-11 this year it might be tough to put Calvin in next year's Top Five before they play any other games. Pollsters were burned by Calvin last year and will want to see something on the floor, I'm guessing.

I would agree and don't think they should be ranked that highly either.  Since the polls don't carry much significance, compared to winning, it may be best that they not be ranked at all.  I would suspect a bit of a slow start again, with the two new venues and the history of the Calvin teams peaking later in the year.

Yeah. Because this year's preseason poll didn't have Wash U 1 and Amherst 2.

No, I hear ya -- I would expect next October's poll to be just like every December, January, February and March poll this year, tough to figure.

[ChicagoHopeNut]

After perusing graduating seniors across the nation, I slot Calvin easily in the preseason top 10, if not top 5.  (Hope may crack the top 25 if they're lucky).  Expectations will be high once again, just as they were before this disappointing season. 

At 16-11 this year it might be tough to put Calvin in next year's Top Five before they play any other games. Pollsters were burned by Calvin last year and will want to see something on the floor, I'm guessing.

I would agree and don't think they should be ranked that highly either.  Since the polls don't carry much significance, compared to winning, it may be best that they not be ranked at all.  I would suspect a bit of a slow start again, with the two new venues and the history of the Calvin teams peaking later in the year.

Yeah. Because this year's preseason poll didn't have Wash U 1 and Amherst 2.

No, I hear ya -- I would expect next October's poll to be just like every December, January, February and March poll this year, tough to figure.

You both have good points. The D3 poll doesn't have any "significance" when it comes to the NCAA selection committee. But as pointed out this year's poll had the teams on top perfect from day one. I wish we could get the D3 hoops poll or something else to have a bit more significance with the NCAA committee.

[Mr. Ypsi]

DCHopeNut,

True (and I've expressed kudos to Pat and his voters for that), but don't forget that the poll covering all games the selection committee had access to had Wash U eleventh (and Amherst third).

Still an outstanding job, but not quite as much start to finish outstanding!

[Mr. Ypsi]

As to Calvin, they MAY reach top five evenually, but anywhere in the top 25 would be a mild surprise before they prove anything next year.

[Pat Coleman]

DCHopeNut,

True (and I've expressed kudos to Pat and his voters for that), but don't forget that the poll covering all games the selection committee had access to had Wash U eleventh (and Amherst third).

Still an outstanding job, but not quite as much start to finish outstanding!

Sorry we couldn't manage to overcome Wash U's 19-6 regular-season record for you there, big guy.

[Mr. Ypsi]

DCHopeNut,

True (and I've expressed kudos to Pat and his voters for that), but don't forget that the poll covering all games the selection committee had access to had Wash U eleventh (and Amherst third).

Still an outstanding job, but not quite as much start to finish outstanding!

Sorry we couldn't manage to overcome Wash U's 19-6 regular-season record for you there, big guy.

Yeah, and despite Sean Wallis's accolades to the (16-11) Titans, you couldn't find room for them in the top 25.  You're forgiven for lack of omniscience!

We'll just hope your god-like powers improve next year (though I suppose the tourney would be pretty boring if you were always right.

[sac]

In Calvin's last seven games this season they went 3-4.

I think its time to drop the Calvin peaks late in the season theory untill they're able to prove otherwise in the future.

[GoKnights68]

Calvin will have a solid group of seniors next year and can make a good run if one individual steps up his game.  Mantel is not playing to his ability and needs to get much tougher and start to carry an attitude if he is going to be a dominating force in the paint.  If not, he may lose his starting position and take a back seat to those with a little more mental toughness.  In my mind, Engelsma passed him by this year and there are others that want to play down low as well.

We're all happy to get another year out of Veldhouse and Smith and they will need to be the leaders.  The #3 spot is still questionable, but several are capable of filling the position.

The Knights will have two new home courts to get used to, first at GR Christian and then in the VanNoord beginning in January.

The new recruits will be a bonus and hopefully they will develop into varsity contributors in the next year or two.

The 3 pt line will be extended next year but should not be a factor with the returning Calvin players.  In fact, it should spread things out a bit more and be a real help to the Knights.

Engelsma did live up to his potential more than Mantel's this year, but I think KVS realized that if Calvin wanted to succeed in February and March, that they would have to have a big body like Mantel down low that played a lot.  Just look at Duke's collapse at the end of the year without a big man.


I sure hope Veldhouse and Smith can step up as good leaders next season.

I'd also like to see Zoerhoff and Katt develop his offensive game some more.  It hurt the Knights too much down the stretch when they a limited-offensive lineup out on the court often.

[Gregory Sager]

Constrained?  Not so much.
Compelled?  Absolutely.

They're synonyms, GK. From the American Heritage Dictionary:

con·strain (kən-strān')  Pronunciation Key 
tr.v. con·strained, con·strain·ing, con·strains

1. To compel by physical, moral, or circumstantial force; oblige: felt constrained to object. See Synonyms at force.

I believe the super sectional is sweet sixteen.  IIRC, after the super sectional, the remaining teams go to the state tourny site.

That's no longer the case, Arena. With the move from a two-class system to a four-class system in Illinois this year, the quarterfinal round was eliminated. The supersectional round became the quarterfinal (i.e., Elite Eight) round, and the number of teams that moved on to the final weekend in Peoria in each class was reduced from eight to four. Chicago Christian reached the Elite Eight of the 2A tournament, which consisted mostly of rural downstate schools with a sprinkling of Chicagoland's smaller private schools like Chicago Christian and eventual 2A champion North Lawndale.

[GoKnights68]

In Calvin's last seven games this season they went 3-4.

I think its time to drop the Calvin peaks late in the season theory untill they're able to prove otherwise in the future.

I'd have to disagree with you there.  Prior to last season, Calvin did peak late in the season for four straight years. 

2004.  MIAA tourney champs.  Blew out Adrian in the finals.
2005.  MIAA tourney champs.  Final Four run.  3rd nationally.
2006.  Second round of NCAA tourney.  Calvin did play quite well at the end of the year, despite being denied by one of Hope's most talented teams in years.   They played very well in the game that knocked Calvin out with a controversial call at the end.  We all saw how bad they looked in November.
2007.  MIAA tourney champs.  Second round of NCAA tourney. 


That being said, I can understand, though, that you were probably sick of that being the talk all season that it was going to happen and it of course never said.

This group of players has a lot to prove and I hope they don't start the year ranked at all to lower the expectations a LITTLE.  Calvin struggled all year finding offensive weapons, and losing one of your top 2 scoring options isn't going to exactly help.

Next year's Hope sophomores will be plenty talented enough to not surprise me if they 3-peat and win the league again.

[goodknight]

Constrained?  Not so much.
Compelled?  Absolutely.

They're synonyms, GK. From the American Heritage Dictionary:

con·strain (kən-strān')  Pronunciation Key 
tr.v. con·strained, con·strain·ing, con·strains

1. To compel by physical, moral, or circumstantial force; oblige: felt constrained to object. See Synonyms at force.

Greg, I sincerely apologize.  I was constrained to tweak you. 8)