MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[Hopester]

FWIW:

IUSB continues its string of tough games today, with a blow out loss to NCAA D1 Butler. 87-33.

[arena]

Maybe it was just this game, but I saw an great drop off in play from the center position when Mantel was taken out.  Zwiers just seems lost out there.  I did like the lineup when Mantel was paired with Katt.  That's going to potentially one tough interior to score against.

[wiz]

Maybe it was just this game, but I saw an great drop off in play from the center position when Mantel was taken out.  Zwiers just seems lost out there.  I did like the lineup when Mantel was paired with Katt.  That's going to potentially one tough interior to score against.

Zwiers played better yesterday.

What's going on at the Dick?  Hope up by 15 in the first half and then Trinity takes a 5 point lead into the lockerroom.  Did anyone follow it and have a report?  Doesn't sound like a typical Hope team after jumping out to such a large lead.

[sac]

What's going on at the Dick?  Hope up by 15 in the first half and then Trinity takes a 5 point lead into the lockerroom.  Did anyone follow it and have a report?  Doesn't sound like a typical Hope team after jumping out to such a large lead.

29-9 run by Trinity in the final 8 minutes.   Thats either great offense or terrible defense.  I just flipped on the scoreboard at halftime so I have no idea.


Hope also had a 19 point first half lead vs IUSB and had that erased.

[Knight In The Stan]

Whats going on with the hope game?

[northb]

Hope by 2 with 00:23 left and the ball

[northb]

Now by 4 with 12 sec left

[northb]

Final :
Hope wins 70-65

[sac]

Hope 70 Trinity Chris 65

Hope built a 10 point lead in the 2nd half, and then hung on despite just 1 FG in the final 5 minutes.

Daniel Cox seals it with Ft's in the waning moments.  Big night for him with 14 off the bench

Reimink 17, Cox 14, Bowser 10, Bunn 9, Tanis 7
Gruppen had 32 for Trinity.

Didn't listen, only passively watched the scoreboard update, but an observation ..........I think Hope will be happier with the point distribution tonight.  Much more balanced,  those 5 leaders I listed were pretty close in point total most of the night  Nothing stands out in the stats, only that Hope shot 39% to TCC's 45%

Go Hope!

[pointlem]

Some observations about the new Hope team:

• The team is a work in progress, which I expect will be much improved by the season's end.
• Some players seem to improve over the course of their playing career.  One such person is Jesse Reimink, who seems a strikingly more dominant player now than even last year.  Will Bowser also seems to be playing with increased maturity and confidence.
  
• Hope has the most exciting combination of guards I can ever recall.  David Bunn, David Krombeen, and Kelvin Carter all have a great ability to drive and create.  I was glad occasionally to see two of them on the floor together, which gets more benefit from their combined talent.  Their driving and passing will also help unleash Ty Tanis's outside shooting.
• Hopefully, John Snikkers or Andy Venema will be able, as the season goes along, to contribute more minutes and offense in the post position, to draw some double teams, and to complement the hustle that Zach Osburn brings to the game.

[goodknight]

Don't look now, but the collective league record is not bad at all at this early stage, save for winless Alma,

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Hope's game tonight was another nail biter.  I told several folks that prior to the next game I will be attaching an AED to keep my heart going.  Not much to say beyond whats been already been said, other than the game ball belongs to Brandon Bosch.  The stat line won't show this, but he really shut down Gruppen for Trinity in the second half.  Gruppen had 22 at half time.  Brandon came off the bench in the second half (did not play 1st half) and joined Gruppen inside his uniform for the next 10-12 minutes.  During that time, Gruppen scored 0 (he finished with 32 points).  On top of that, Brandon out hustled everyone else on the floor, including running full court to dive and save a ball.  Another great example of senior leadership.

[oldknight]

A few observations about Hope from having seen tonight's contest against the Trolls. 1) Hope's starting defense remains very good, forcing the opponent to start their offense a step or two further from the basket than they would like; 2) Hope's offense runs through Reimink who makes good decisions with the ball; 3) Reimink can still really shoot the rock if you give him an open look; 4) Bunn is a nice player with a good feel for the game. He's also an excellent one-on-one defender.

That's the good news for Hope. On the other side of the ledger, I must say that when Reimink sits--as he did for a good portion of the first half--Hope's offense seems to grind to a halt. The Dutchmen are a team in search of an inside game and once Trinity figured that out the perimeter shots were tougher to come by for Hope. If tonight's game is typical of what we will see this year, Hope will lose several games because of an ineffective bench. Other than Cox, no substitute did much to help Hope though I admit Krombeen appears to have some skills.

Trinity does not appear to be as skilled as I had been led to believe. Despite the fact that the Trolls' backcourt has poor ballhandlers and no one who can shoot anything that's not a layup, Trinity stayed in the game to the very end. Gruppen was amazing, the epitome of the savvy veteran who thrives, not because of awe-inspiring athleticism, but on his smarts, constant off-the-ball movement, and the uncanny ability to consistently hit any shot the defense leaves available to him. I've seen this kid play since high school and he has gotten better every season. Even though everyone in the gym knew he was the only offensive threat Trinity had, Hope still couldn't keep him from scoring 32.

[GoKnights68]

Just a couple added observations to these weekends games at GRCHS....

Mantel's defense looks a lot better so far than last season.  He had a lot of blocks and was more aggressive.

Speaking of aggressiveness,  Dustin Smith forced a ton of turnovers.  Good to see...

I've said this before, but Danny Rodts should have been on varsity last season in my opinion.  He adds a nice scoring threat to the forward spot, something Calvin struggled last season with.

I probably need to see more games, but it appears Calvin's offensive scheme has changed a little bit from last season?

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Don't look now, but the collective league record is not bad at all at this early stage, save for winless Alma,

Just looked back at last years record following everyone's first weekend of games, and at that point the league was 8-8.  As of this moment, the league is 12-6.  Moving in the right direction for sure, but it's still early