MBB: Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference

[The Way]

The Way I See It,

Busty, you must feel like a little boy at Christmas who just got that GI Joe he had on his list. I mean you have never had this many people on this board showing you respect and praising your enthusiasm.  But I too would have been dissappointed to see you not pick WLC to win.

And as for the crowd in UWLax and Calvin, i bet the Hope fans will cheer for UWLax if the game is close. That is just the natural reaction when you see your swarn enemy engaged in battle.

Look for Calvin and Hope to meet on Saturday. I think WLC will give Hope fits early on with their style of play, but Hope is just too good to lose at home in the playoffs. Hope will win by about 15.

If i didn't have to work, I might have even driven along with you Busty. I mean we might have clashed a little, but that is something a few taverns on the way could have fixed.

[hope1]

what is there style of play just wondering

[Big_Uns]

what is there style of play just wondering

Mediocre. 

[Bust Ya'll]

What is our style of play eh?  I suppose its mediocre...if thats all it takes to win the conference.  Not saying much about the other teams right?  Hey according to Big Uns, WLC plays mediocre, well we won the conference, therefore, all the other teams are below mediocre....once again WLC is on top. Thank you,

I would say our style of play is like a hockey team.  Skip has some formula in his head where its a line change every 5 mins it seems.  Which works out good I guess.  I would say everyone on the team is capable of hitting the three under pressure or wide open.  And excellent ball movement.  However, that usually results in a turn over.  And more often than not, our key shooters take shots that continually end up in a "heat check."  Overall, WLC is a very capable team and has been underrated for some time now.  Regardless, the guys are pumped so are the fans and whatever happens, its one heck of a way to leave the LMC and WLC.
Bust Ya'll

-still seeing it by 5
-Oh yea, Old School, nothing personal just a little teaser

[playdefense]

Hey Busty?  What's this talk about WLC winning the "league."  YES - WLC won the championship of the tournament, and in the end, because of the first half egg Lakeland laid against Edgewood and because of the "Twinkie" chatter by the 6th man, may have won it by default.  Lakeland, in my book, is still the real LMC CHAMPION!  They won it going away (by 3 games) over a period of three and 1/2 months.  Conference tournaments are nice, but I'm still a believer that the regular season champion, especially in the LMC, gets more respect in the long run!  Especially if the LMC tournament champion gets man handled by Hope!

[Big_Uns]

What is our style of play eh?  I suppose its mediocre...if thats all it takes to win the conference.  Not saying much about the other teams right?  Hey according to Big Uns, WLC plays mediocre, well we won the conference, therefore, all the other teams are below mediocre....once again WLC is on top. Thank you,

I guess we should all bow down to mighty WLC for "bringin it" for two weeks of this whole season.

[showtimeSmyHero]

I think the conf. tournament gives greater props.... at least in the LMC. Who cares about who wins the league...They dont even make it to the post season!

WLC is well coached... i think.  They all play hard and they are all very aggressive on the court. I don't think their gaurds are that good. I like their big guy who can step out and shoot. If he goes off against Hope, WLC could have a small chance.

They hack, bite, scratch, hold.... and usually get called for loads of fouls. Its what works for them so i guess why not. If metzger suits up, i still think they would lose by 12.

[playdefense]

All I know is Lakeland played very hard and nearly beat Hope in December.  I hope WLC represents the LMC and plays as well, but don't count on it.  Just compare the all important defensive stats.  Hope has a better defensive per game average, and a better defensive FG %per game average.  If you look at WLC's stats, they give up almost 80 points per game.  That will not get it done against Hope.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Lakeland did play a tough game against Hope, no doubt about that.  It was, however, the aboslute worst game played this year by the Dutchmen.  Some of the credit for that goes to Lakeland's defense, but I think if they play 10 times, Hope wins all 10 by an average of 15.  Just my opinion.

[Bust Ya'll]

Hey Busty?  What's this talk about WLC winning the "league."

Well, they did win the tournament....maybe Lakeland had more wins, but that just means they started strong and finished weak.  A race is not won by someone who is in first most of the time, but by the guy that crosses the finish line first.  Think about that, that one is free of charge.  Besides, Edgewood and WLC were the only LMC teams to beat Lakeland this year, so its only right that one of us goes to the tourney. 

I guess we should all bow down to mighty WLC for "bringin it" for two weeks of this whole season.

Yes I would like that actually

Lakeland did play a tough game against Hope, no doubt about that. It was, however, the aboslute worst game played this year by the Dutchmen. Some of the credit for that goes to Lakeland's defense, but I think if they play 10 times, Hope wins all 10 by an average of 15. Just my opinion.

And you are of course entitled to your opinion after invading the LMC board and talking trash about my conference.  However, I still think that WLC will put up a fight.  Can you guys gaurd the 3?  Once again, I'll play the ignorant card: How do you guys even play over there.  I picture a bunch of farmboys with a dependency on the post and crisp passes.  Like the Hoisers.  Well lets just hope that this fridays game wont have a Hollywood Hope ending.
Bust Ya'll

[Greek Tragedy]

I would say our style of play is like a hockey team. 

Does that mean they dump and chase? 

No problem Busty.  As we are all members of the LMC, we should join forces and fight the evil empire in Michigan! lol.

I dislike WLC, but I HATE Marian and Concordia, but I'll bypass my distain for all LMC things not lakeland related and will be proud to wear my LMC hat (ok, I don't have one, but you get the point). 

I'm definitely rooting for WLC (because they'll be easier to beat for La Crosse than Hope!) lol.  Seriously, I wish WLC all the luck in the world. 

[AndersDY]

And you are of course entitled to your opinion after invading the LMC board and talking trash about my conference.  However, I still think that WLC will put up a fight.  Can you guys gaurd the 3?  Once again, I'll play the ignorant card: How do you guys even play over there.  I picture a bunch of farmboys with a dependency on the post and crisp passes.  Like the Hoisers.  Well lets just hope that this fridays game wont have a Hollywood Hope ending.
Bust Ya'll

Actually we could maybe use a bit more post play. We have one 6'9" big man named Voison, but he has aspirations of playing guard as he is often found around the arc and occasionally puts up 3s.  When I read about "a big guy who can step outside and shoot" I was thinking that for once maybe we'll be glad that Voison doesn't like being an inside banger, though we have begun to see more strong post moves out of him. Our other starters who work in the paint are Phillips at 6'6" and VanderHeide 6'7". Phillips is scrawny yet somehow leads the team in rebounding, he seems to just be quick and scrappy inside (though his touch with the 3 foot shot has been on and off this year). VanderHeide can make a move inside but is comfortable anywhere on the floor and may actually have the most consistent 3 point stroke on the team. We have a good ball handling and distributing point guard in Immink and the fifth starter Cramer is the smoothest athlete on the floor any night. He's the one player who can create his own bucket at any given point, though he rarely has to with the team's balanced scoring.

A freshman named Reimink has been coming on as a good boost to the team, a 6'4" football player type who gladly bangs around inside and does the little things but can shoot from anywhere. Even in games against tournament caliber teams, you'll probably see a 10 deep lineup out of Hope at least for some part of the time. Their best play has come when their defense leads the way and yes, they have had to guard the 3 plenty this year against Calvin and others. They have the ability to swarm the best outside shooters, but have also had to practice consistently denying the post against Albion.  I've seen them have trouble this year against teams who are super quick at all 5 spots so that they can constantly move on offense and defend Hope by either not helping or being quick enough to recover after double teaming. FT shooting has also been inconsistent, so hopefully that doesn't fail them somewhere in the tourney.

As to the farmboy comment, they aren't called the Dutchmen for nothing so it may be possible to mistake the lily-white lineup for some midwest farmers. From what I have heard (missed that particular game), Flying Dutch Fan really does have a point that nothing should be assumed about Hope based on the Lakeland game. Accounts of those who witnessed it concluded that the Lakeland game was hands-down the ugliest game played in the history of basketball from both sides. I'm not sure that means we can assume no other games with Lakeland would have been close, but that one game came following a long layoff and apparently the real Hope team did not show themselves.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

And you are of course entitled to your opinion after invading the LMC board and talking trash about my conference.  However, I still think that WLC will put up a fight.  Can you guys gaurd the 3?  Once again, I'll play the ignorant card: How do you guys even play over there.  I picture a bunch of farmboys with a dependency on the post and crisp passes.  Like the Hoisers.  Well lets just hope that this fridays game wont have a Hollywood Hope ending.
Bust Ya'll

Actually our offense should look pretty familiar to you, since it is based on Bo Ryans offense.  Guard the 3 - absolutely - we're in a league with 3 teams that launch between 23-28 per game, and yet we lead the league in 3pt defense - 32.6%. 

[The Way]

The Way I See It,

I guess i am confused as to why the Lakeland/Hope game should be taken out of the picture?  If the game was ugly on both sides of the ball, wouldn't the game be just as close if both teams were clicking on all cylinders? Don't pull out the layoff card and all that crap. The game was close. End of story. So if Hope comes out and plays like that tomorrow night, what would the excuse be then?


GO WLC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will be listening to the game via webcast off of Hope's site. Any Hope fans out there do that before? Is the quality good or will it cut in and out?

[Flying Dutch Fan]

TW - you're right about the Lakeland game - both teams played poorly.  I guess we gotta just let them play the game   

Hope's webcast seems to work well most of the time.  I've actually been in Europe and listened on dial-up.