Quote from: Flying Dutch Fan on April 03, 2008, 04:31:16 PM
OK, I'll bite.

Hope, Calvin, Albion and.... Olivet (lot's of potential there)?

What about K-Zoo? They may have been 3-11, but as was pointed out before, they don't lose a lot.


C'mon hit up my karma Stinger....

Quote from: SKOT on March 17, 2008, 11:07:46 AM

Quote from: Civic Minded on March 17, 2008, 10:33:45 AM

Quote from: Flying Dutch Fan on March 17, 2008, 09:58:36 AM
From the Hope website:

Tickets will be sold through the DeVos Fieldhouse ticket office at Hope College beginning Tuesday, March 18 at 10:00 am. Tickets are $25 and are good for all four weekend games.

Tickets will also be available through the Salem Civic Center, 540-375-3004. Tickets can be purchased with a credit card and will be placed at Will Call. Be sure to tell the ticket office you are from Hope so as to assure seating with other Hope fans.

Hmmm....where are the "better" seats??

http://www.roanokeciviccenter.com/maps/support/basketball.gif

You Hope fans need a little more practice with the Salem stuff don't you? Good luck none-the-less, and congrats on already assuring yourself of another couple of banners....

Props (or koodos (sp?)) to you Stinger for your guts to stand up to the majority on this board. I appreciate the contrary view, so thanks for providing it. I did not find that to be a lame joke either, and I'm still trying to figure out yours a few pages ago wiz - I didn't even realize it was a joke, and couldn't make sense of it as a comment either. I can understand reminding the Hopesters of Baldwin Wallace, but a better way to do it would be to begin making comparisons of that year's BW team to this year's Capital team. Unfortunately, all I could find with quick research on BW's 94-95 team and that win is the following (the OAC website's history pdf is really cheesy, I don't recommend it). This is from the BW men's basketball website program history:

"B-W's second trip to the NCAA tourney, in 1994-95, may have been the most exciting.  B-W had a strong season with a solid 19-9 overall record.  B-W was seeded eighth in the tourney and drew the top seed in the Great Lakes Region and the number one team in the nation in Hope College of Michigan.
The Yellow Jackets defeated Hope 72-69 on its home floor on a shot at the final buzzer by then sophomore guard Ryan Sooy.  Hope entered the game with the best home record in Division III and in Division III tourney history.  It was a great win for B-W and quite possibly the biggest win since B-W turned Division III in 1972."

Watch for junior Ryan Stahl to play the giant killer role of Ryan Sooy, or maybe it'll be another sophomore, and Ben McGratz will step up to the plate.

In any case, this was all in good fun while I'm stuck here at work. I'm sure Hope will take care of business this time. I mean that BW team was ranked 8th, while this one is 20th after all. But if not, that'll be two forbidden names... I guess three if you count Ashabi. Don't do it to Sac guys, he deserves better than that.

Finally, I love how the crickets seemed to have followed you Greg... sorry your level of humor is just too sophisticated for the rest of us. Who is that guy?

Quote from: MaroonKnighty on March 04, 2008, 08:37:10 AM
If Hope wins it all, does the banner get thrown in the mix, or, do the insignificant banners come down?  Where would the National title banner hang?  From the score board?

My guess would be they'll make two of them, and hang one from each backboard. That would set them apart from all the other banners up there. They might also make one that they can unfurl in front of the Calvin Student's section each time that same old cheer starts up... which hopefully it wouldn't if Hope wins it all (I can almost hear "There's our Banner" repetitively... that would be a shocker). Maybe if Hope's men's team got a banner, that would start a decade or two long war of banner stealings (or duplicatings like the Hope students' rather clever prank several years ago).

All fun aside, congrats to Hope men and women, and as others have said, represent the MIAA well. It's a whole new ballgame now, and hopefully they can adapt to it as they'll need to. This banner talk is premature, but not out of reach - go get it.

Quote from: realist on February 15, 2008, 05:04:53 PM
Now you are getting close to the point I was trying to make all along.  Albion knew what Calvin was going to do in this situation, and had the perfect play, and player ready for it.  Calvin was predictable in the defense it would use.  Putting Mantel or a taller player on the passer increases the degree of difficulty.  The truth is the 5 guys covering 4 guys strategy didn't work.  Turner outcoached KVS, and this isn't the first time that has happened.  

I'm not saying that this is the only time that KVS has been "outcoached" if indeed he was, and I have definitely had my disagreements with KVS's coaching style, but you surprise me with this one Realist. I didn't think Turner got the best of KVS that often in terms of coaching. Turner is a very, very good coach, but this statement seems to imply that he is somehow on a different level than Vande Streek. Maybe I'm reading too much into it.

In any case, I support KVS's decision, it just wasn't executed very well at all by the players. You don't play for the steal, you stay in between Mocini and the basket. They can have the ball as long as they want, just make it hard to shoot. Nobody really did that in my watching of the replays. I'd like to say congrats to Mocini though, as that's a tough shot and he didn't just make it, he nailed it. Also, it must've been pretty cool to be a DIII player on Sportscenter's Top 10 (wish I would've seen it there, even though my Alma Mater lost).

DIE HORSE, DIE!

Quote from: sac on January 31, 2008, 04:30:38 PM
Coach of the Year---I don't have one yet, still a ways to go, GVW is probably the leader at the turn, but a real solid second half could sway things the other way.

Please understand I have no beef with this choice at all, maroon and gold glasses not withstanding. I'm just curious how one usually stacks coaches up against each other to determine a coach of the year. Surely, the talent of the players the coach has to work with factor in to the equation, which would hurt GVW (maybe number of assistants should count too  ). I'd like to hear/read other's opinions on how to pick this. I myself tend to lean towards GVW right now too but as you said Sac, it's kind of up in the air, because he almost should do well with that team.

Quote from: wizardry on January 28, 2008, 05:24:32 PM
Like last year, Hope hosts MIAA tournament and Calvin (a team that plays it's best in February) wins it.

I'll throw my hat in with the wizard. I think Calvin takes the game on Saturday if they play better in the last 2 minutes. That was a pretty poor sequence of events for Calvin (with the exception of the Mantel dunk play), which surprised me coming from a KVS team. You can rest assured that there will be more than a little bit of practice time getting spent getting better at that in the near future. The Klein steal and allowing two Wolfe layups (as described by the box score) inside of 2:30 were unexcusable. Wolfe is a good free throw shooter, but make him earn it. There's a fair chance he only gets 3 points instead of 4 with the two lay-ups, and that's a different ball game with 12 seconds left if you're down 2 instead of 3. Also, the last play was semi-ridiculous in my opinion. You can get a lot better with 12 seconds left after inbounding the ball. Let's leave magical junk 3-pointers to Winkle.

I'm not necessarily siding with the whole guard quickness argument as quickness is not all that makes a guard, but I will say I like Calvin's chances in the MIAA tournament now seeing this first clash.

Also, I actually feel more relaxed now then I did going into the game - the pressure is off. My (insert synonym for h*pe here) is that the Knights feel the same way too - they can loosen up and play better now that the colossal expectations of winning the league and beating the arch-rival are all out of the way. Hope on the other hand gets to shoulder all that pressure and try to handle it game in and game out all the way to the Dance, along with any BW's on the way.

Quote from: almcguirejr on January 10, 2008, 04:35:01 PM

Quote from: DCHopeNut on January 10, 2008, 01:27:00 PM


Second, the ever unpopular GVW discussion.
Caveats: I had GVW as a professor, I think he is a great person. Second, I am sure he has forgotten more about basketball than I and most everyone else on this board will ever know.

Nevertheless, I do not understand the theory that GVW is infallible that seems to permeate this board. Any time someone questions a decision GVW makes the person is lambasted as a "nut job" and their karma takes a serious knock. I realize this is D3 and Hope has a particularly supportive fan base. In NO way am I suggesting Hope alum or students should rise up to push out GVW as coach (like the guy at U Washington who offered $100K if Ty Willingham is fired). He has had a great history and will and should leave on his own terms. But that doesn't mean its inappropriate for fans to wonder about some of the decisions that are and have been made by the coaching staff over the years. Moreover, I assure you I am not alone on some of my questions. I may be the only one willing to express them on this board but I have had conversations with many other alum who follow the team over the years that have left games scratching their heads just like me.

Your opinions are a refreshing change from the usual company line out of Holland.

That line has come out the Dutch school to the East as well (sorry for reducing it to a dichotomy Stinger). It's not just a trend in Holland to give your coach the benefit of the doubt when he has done as well for the program as these two men have. Not many of us have spent even a fraction of the amount of time they have around basketball. Of course, they're still just men and capable of mistakes. Opinions that differ from theirs are to be expected and should appear on this board if anywhere, where we specifically talk about how we (well mainly you guys) feel concerning this league and these games, players, coaches and officials.

As Sac has written while I was working on this post though, it's the W that counts, and Hopesters and Calvinites alike should be glad they both got their seasons off on the right foot. Albion and Tri-State are now behind the 8-ball for the time being.

As someone who is unable to see any games in the near future in person, thanks for all the recaps, as seeing a score like 56-48 on miaa.org is a bit depressing. Is there really credence to the idea that oldknight brought up that the dust on the floor from construction was really such an inhibiting factor on offenses? That could make for some wild card games later on and lead to a possible change in strategy in the future when facing speedier teams.

Finally, those are fightin' words Scottiedawg:

Quote from: almcguirejr on January 10, 2008, 01:47:52 PM

Quote from: scottiedawg on January 10, 2008, 01:40:46 PM
They just beat a team, that at the moment, is clearly the second best team in the conference.  

What is your basis for making that statement?

Quote from: realist on January 07, 2008, 03:43:25 PM
FDF:  Thanks for your hard work in putting up that spreadsheet.  Based on those numbers it may come down to calling an upset or two in the pick-em contest.   
Even with my maroon and gold glasses on I just can't see Calvin beating Hope at home let alone at the De Vos. 

My guess at the first one of the year is Olivet over Adrian... definitely don't feel too good about it though. Especially if the Comets can't find a way to slow Young down. Olivet's just too much of a wild card for me, and I'm betting their game tonight will have them in game mode still on Wednesday.

Quote from: KnightSlappy on November 01, 2007, 01:45:59 PM
I am not sure if there are other possible vote combinations but based on the results of the coaches poll here are the vote break downs

Hope: 5 first, 1 second, 1 third
Calvin: 3 first, 4 second
Tri-State: 2 second, 1 third, 4 fourth
Albion: 1 second, 3 third, 1 fourth, 2 fifth
Adrian: 3 third, 3 fourth, 1 fifth
Kalamazoo: 4 fifth, 3 sixth
Olivet: 1 fifth, 5 sixth, 1 seventh
Alma: 7 seventh

Nice work KnightSlappy - the only 3 I knew for sure were Calvin, Hope and Alma. Since your numbers add up I'm willing to accept them as what occurred. It's quite the logic puzzle and one I'm not willing to attack right now.

I didn't make any picks, but courtesy of Mr. Febus and the Calvin Sports Report here are the Coach's picks for the upcoming year:

1. Hope (5)  10 points
2. Calvin (3) 11 points
3. Tri-State  23 points
4. Albion    25 points
5. Adrian  26 points
6. Kalamazoo 38 points
7. Olivet   42 points
8. Alma 49 points

The number in parentheses is the number of 1st place votes. I believe the total is calculated by adding up the number they were projected to finish, with each school receiving 7 votes because the Coach can't vote for their own school. For example, if someone had all 7 first place votes, their total would be 7 points. If they had 7 2nd place votes, their total would be 14 points, etc. If this is the case though, how did Hope get a score of 10 points unless they were picked by someone to finish 3rd? 1+1+1+1+1+2+3 = 10? Way to go Streek  ! Looks like Calvin got picked to finish 2nd by everyone that didn't pick them to finish 1st though... 1+1+1+2+2+2+2 = 11.

I'd say our coaches got numbers 1 and 2 flip-flopped and I think Adrian will beat out Albion for the 4th spot but other than that I agree. Here's wishing (best synonym I could think of quickly) that Van Wieren will be up for win #600 at the Fieldhouse and get routed by the Knights... I can imagine the fun the fans would have with that scenario. I'm sure he'll have #600 before then as I don't see this year's Dutchmen going 10-6... just won't happen.

Quote from: Pat Coleman on April 11, 2007, 01:34:52 AM
If you actually read the link that SKOT provides, you'll see it's not Google that is doing it, but users manipulating the system.

Thank you Pat. I got too excited by how much fun looking up random terms with google's Get Lucky button turned out to be. I feel appropriately chastened and would like to extend my humble apologies to Google and all the "out of control" people that work there. Also, thanks to SKOT for the learning experience (quite an enjoyable one too...).

Quote from: SKOT on April 10, 2007, 08:09:57 PM

Quote from: HopeConvert on April 10, 2007, 05:11:52 PM
If you need further evidence that someone at Google (or somewhere else) has a sense of humor, go to the google main page, type in "french military victories" and then click on the "I'm feeling lucky" button.

Its a little practice called google bombing. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_bomb

If you want another fun one, type in "failure" and hit I'm feeling lucky! (warning: the elephant lovers might not appreciate this one, but the donkeys will...)

On a whim I thought I'd try this one out on Google... again, elephants beware. Please dont' turn me into Ashabi for this, I'm not a bad person (not that he was either) - type in a**hole and click I'm Feeling Lucky. Those guys are out of control at Google.

I echo Ziggy's sentiments, kudos to Hope on a great comeback. If Cramer and Vander Heide had played their normal games it may have been a different story. Incredible performance by Reimink (at least as far as I can tell).

Also, great performance from Veltema, that guys' got some icy blood. Also very impressed with Griffin, and the Knight's defense must have been on today, but I'll wait to hear from someone who was at the game for that analysis. Thanks for getting out to a good fast start today guys, keep doing it!

Anyone else think Zoerhof got a foot stomp for fouling with 12 seconds to go :-)? I'm sure he was just hustling on D, keep up the good work Tyler.

Hey Al,

    I do think the foul cost Calvin more than one point, as what Veltema was trying to do was prevent DVS from getting the layup in. You're told from middle school, if you're going to foul, make sure the guy misses it. So, two free throws after no basket would have resulted in at most 2 points, but two free throws after a made basket meant 4 points, with the possibility of more since Hope got the ball back.

    However, to Veltema's credit I thought he played great other than that one play, and I noticed KVS kept him in after the foul for a little while anyway (pretty big vote of confidence). Yes, it would've been better if he hadn't gotten a flagrant, but lets not knock the kid for doing really well in his first real taste of the rivalry. If you read this Veltema, I'm looking forward to you lighting Hope up for the next few years... bring that all-time record back our way in both wins and points.

   Yes #42 Meckes has been there for awhile, but definitely not 4 years... I remember another guy who wore 42 just two years ago, and Meckes wanting to wear #10 that year, though it would've been ridiculously tight on him. I believe KVS made him go with at least in the 30's or something.

    This was my first year watching the Game from somewhere other than Grand Rapids, and I was definitely pleased to find a great atmosphere in Washington DC. Unfortunately, because of their semester or interim in DC or whatever, Hope had a lot more people in the venue I attended than Calvin did, but it was still fun, all good natured. I had hoped that I would never hear that annoying Dutchmen chant ever again after last year, but I suppose that was too much to ask for :-). Did bring back a lot of good memories though. I was very pleased with the way Calvin played, and I'm really looking forward to the next time these two teams meet. Calvin has turned a corner if they played this well against a top notch team like Hope, I think they're starting to get that back to the wall feeling now... they'll come out fighting in every other game. The freshmen are great, the bigs are playing well, and Veldhouse is still Veldhouse. If it isn't this year, it'll be next year my fellow Calvin posters :-). Here's hoping to this year though.

And another thing... HopeConvert - are you kidding me? Once a traitor, always a traitor :-).