Quote from: goodknight on November 28, 2025, 09:20:35 PMComfortable win for Calvin (4-1) on Black Friday over Heidelberg, 74-49.
Solid defensive effort to control the Berg's talented backcourt.
Trevon Winkle led the Knights with 21 points. Jalen Overway and Luka Ressler chipped in 13 each.
Calvin hosts UW-Oshkosh next Saturday afternoon.

The only thing to add is the great job Calvin defenders did on Heidelberg's Markell Johnson-Nichols, who came into the game shooting 76.9% from 3 point range. Calvin defenders limited the sharpshooter from Reynoldsburg Ohio to a mere 66.7% night from the arc, and the young man's 3-point average has now plummeted to 75% (12-16) shooting this season. Markell's 3-point shooting career started slow as the Heidelberg junior is now shooting 52.9% from the arc, going 39-74 the last 3 seasons

Calvin comes aways with an 81-66 win over Wisconsin Stout at VNA on Saturday. On the strength of excellent 3-point shooting and going perfect from the stripe, the visitors pretty much controlled the opening 20 minutes, leading 43-37 going into the break. The first part of the second half was back and forth, but beginning at the 12 minute mark, Calvin dominated. The domination began with a 21-1 run that saw a 54-51 deficit turn into a 72-55 Calvin lead, thus terminating Stout's hopes. Calvin played a lot better in the final 20 minutes, and the visitors shot far more poorly from the arc and the free throw line. I don't that was an accident as Stout looked to tire the longer the game lasted. Jalen Overway was his usual beastly self, scoring 21 and grabbing 16 rebounds. Ressler was terrific adding 18, Winkle 12, and Zion Ruckard, who continues to impress, came off the bench to net 11 in 21 minutes.

Calvin with an 85-70 win over Colorado College. I was impressed with the Tigers. The Tigers never quit, living up to their nickname. Calvin led at half 45-27 and looked poised to finish the game with a comfortable win. Not so, as the visitors from the Centenniel State never gave up, ratcheting up their defense with a ferocious full court press in the final 20 minutes to close within 7 with five minutes left. It helped the visitors that the refs choked on their whistles, nearly losing control of the game. You know the refs have lost control when the normally mild-mannered Jalen Overway--after suffering from yet another hard foul (a foul that was finally called)--pushed the defender and began jawing with him before finishing off a three point play that put the Knights up by double digits again. Wow! Never seen that kind of anger flashed by the big guy.

Overway led with 30 points and 10 rebounds, Luka Ressler (who played a nice second half), followed with 14, and Parker Swartz added 12. Nofziger, Colorado's superb big guy, led his team with 24. While Calvin's opponent put on a lot of pressure, forcing 19 turnovers, the Knights were also sloppy with the ball a lot which helped make the game closer than it otherwise would have been.

Quote from: goodknight on November 09, 2025, 10:28:26 PMAnother early commit for Calvin: 6-4 wing Jack Kamminga will join his Unity Christian teammate Owen VanderWal as an incoming freshman in the 26-27 academic year.

A second good pickup for the Knights from Hudsonville Unity Christian. Unlike VandeWal, I expect most of Kamminga's first year PT will be on the freshmen team, but he's got a lot of potential down the road. A lights out shooter, quite athletic, and a pretty versatile 6'4" kid with good footspeed.

I didn't watch any of Calvin's loss to Denison but while disappointing (and as Greek Tragedy correctly noted), a close 2 point loss to the NCAC preseason favorite on their floor is hardly cause for alarm. The Big Red were 24-4 last year, and they are likely as good or better this season. From Friday night's box score, it looks like Denison won by grabbing 18 offensive rebounds and committing only 3 turnovers, thus maximizing their scoring opportunities.

I watched a fair bit of last night's Calvin road win over OWU. Much of it was frustrating to watch as it appeared to me that Calvin was the superior team, but couldn't seem to pull away. A combination of lackadaisical passing (17 turnovers), and a mystifying unwillingness to take the open jumper at the free throw line helped lead to a lull in scoring. Calvin's offense finally started clicking the final 10 minutes, and the Knights ended the game on a 26-10 run.

I thought Calvin's defense was stifling, as OWU struggled throughout the game to find an open look. The home team was repeatedly left with an off-kilter and/or well defended three point attempt late in the shot clock. Calvin was led by Jalen Overway's 24 points and 13 rebounds. Nobody else hit double figures but I thought newcomer Zion Ruckard looked terrific off the bench, netting 6 points, grabbing 5 boards, and getting one nifty steal in 22 minutes of PT. I think we're going to see a lot of the transfer-in this season.

Quote from: calvin_grad on November 02, 2025, 03:45:13 PMI don't know anything about D3 football, but with Calvin's 50-20 win over Olivet yesterday, they have guaranteed themselves a winning season in just their second year of football.  This seems like a pretty big accomplishment.  Long ways to go before they are challenging the teams at the top of the league, but win 1 of their last 2 games, and they will finish 4th with a 7-3 record, 4-3 in conference.

When Calvin announced the beginning of football at the school, I asked a knowledgeable person at Calvin how long it would take for one of its teams to have a winning record in a season. "Five years" was the answer I got. Both Trent Figg and the Calvin community should be delighted to see this prediction was far too pessimistic.

Quote from: sac on October 06, 2025, 11:39:43 PM

Quote from: ziggy on September 21, 2025, 02:47:55 PMCalvin is on the board for 2026 with a commitment from Owen Vander Waal from Unity Christian.
https://x.com/Owen_VanderWaal/status/1969828577102217414?t=ZdAGTdrpnG6APH6iSqjSDQ&s=19

Is there a league bylaw in which if the league contains one VanderWal it must contain a second?


Kyle and Jon of different VanderWal'l' spellings played at Hope and Albion at the same time.  Quirky.

Yes there is, but only if the second one to come in the league spells his name with a double "a" in the final syllable.

Quote from: ziggy on July 15, 2025, 12:44:24 PM

Quote from: Flying Dutch Fan on July 15, 2025, 11:19:36 AMOlivet schedule has beem posted:  https://www.olivetcomets.com/sports/mbkb/2025-26/schedule

Non-cons at home vs Heidelberg and UWSP

Non-cons on the road at Ohio Northern, Northwestern Ohio (NAIA), Central MI (D1), Rose-Hulman, and Findlay OH (D2)

Non-cons at neutral sites with John Carroll, Ohio Wesleyan, Muskingum, and WashU

The more I look at this the less I like it. Maybe Olivet takes a nice step forward this year (very possible!) but as I sit here now I'm wondering if Olivet would be favored in any of these non-conference games. Not a great development for those of us wanting to see the league develop a better "middle class" with more of the league hitting conference play with a .500 or better record against D3 opponents.

Curiously, the CMU and Findlay games are marked as exhibitions but you have to include them in the overall count to get to 25 games overall. Maybe there is more to come.

Quote from: ziggy on July 15, 2025, 12:44:24 PM

Quote from: Flying Dutch Fan on July 15, 2025, 11:19:36 AMOlivet schedule has beem posted:  https://www.olivetcomets.com/sports/mbkb/2025-26/schedule

Non-cons at home vs Heidelberg and UWSP

Non-cons on the road at Ohio Northern, Northwestern Ohio (NAIA), Central MI (D1), Rose-Hulman, and Findlay OH (D2)

Non-cons at neutral sites with John Carroll, Ohio Wesleyan, Muskingum, and WashU

The more I look at this the less I like it. Maybe Olivet takes a nice step forward this year (very possible!) but as I sit here now I'm wondering if Olivet would be favored in any of these non-conference games. Not a great development for those of us wanting to see the league develop a better "middle class" with more of the league hitting conference play with a .500 or better record against D3 opponents.

Curiously, the CMU and Findlay games are marked as exhibitions but you have to include them in the overall count to get to 25 games overall. Maybe there is more to come.

I dunno. Olivet has a pretty good team coming back with a lot of size, and this schedule may be a reflection of Sammy's hope that a tougher non-conference schedule will prepare them well for the MIAA season. Olivet was 8-6 in the conference in 2024-25. Other than Calvin, the Comets may be the best team in the league in 25-26.

Quote from: KnightSlappy on April 17, 2025, 11:30:15 AM

Quote from: TUAngola on April 17, 2025, 08:26:11 AMI think the Trine program is in a spot where they can easily attract a coaching candidate with a lot more experience. 

I definitely agree -- I would have to think this is an attractive job to a lot of candidates.

Like Jon VanderWal, possibly? He's a good and experienced coach with an MIAA background.

Quote from: goodknight on April 02, 2025, 01:48:31 PMJordan Scott, the 6-3 point guard who showed flashes of brilliance as a freshman on Calvin's 2023-24 roster, is returning to the Knights' roster in the fall with three years of eligibility remaining. Scott took a gap year this current academic year to work, pad his savings account and enroll in a few business classes at Schoolcraft Community College. Prudently, he took a year off from college hoops to preserve his eligibility. Scott was a prolific scorer at Detroit Catholic Central and Plymouth Christian Academy in his high school days and is excited to be reunited with Coach Sall and his teammates. They will look to Jordan to significantly improve upon his 13.5 minutes per game and 5 points per game  he contributed in 29 games as a freshman.

I am reliably informed that Jordan has grown since his freshmen year at Calvin, and that he now stands closer to 6'5" than 6'3". I'm certain Scott will get minutes at point guard, but the additional height means that the talented young man will likely play multiple positions for the Knights.

Quote from: goodknight on March 25, 2025, 02:10:54 PMBen Elzinga, 6-8 post from Grand Rapids Covenant Christian, has committed to Calvin. According to Calvin Coach Bill Sall, the recruiting load on this one was carried in good measure by his assistant coach Derrick DeVries, who also played his high school hoops at Covenant Christian.

A very good pickup for the Knights. I hadn't seen a Covenant Christian game the last two years, and didn't know anything about the kid when I saw him play against Unity Christian in December. In addition to having a stout body (somewhat in the mold of Jaylen Overway), along with the willingness to use it down low, I quickly noticed Elzinga has a very nice outside touch. He's an 80% free throw shooter and isn't afraid to take the three  ball. I'm also told he's an outstanding student, so there's a lot to like about this kid.

Quote from: pointlem on March 01, 2025, 11:04:55 PMAn exciting game, with no discredit to Hope players and coaches for taking favored Calvin to the wire, and holding them to 62 points. After a great first half, coaching wasn't responsible for the missed point-blank layups at the start of the second half, for the missed free throws, or the 1 of 12 3-point shooting. Nevertheless, when Hope went ahead by 12 with less than 16 minutes to play, I was feeling optimistic and I daresay the inestimable Mrs. OldKnight was growing pessimistic.

Varnado for Calvin and Wourman for Hope were both pretty sensational. I'm looking forward to watching them (well, one of them) again next year.

Kudos to the seniors for all they've invested in developing their talent and gifting us with it, with a special shout-out to Zach Hawes for ending his career so impressively the last four games. Both Hope and Calvin are graduating some players that will be greatly missed, but bring back a lot of talent as well.

I'm back by popular demand. Well, maybe not popular, but at least there was some demand.

The inestimable Mrs. OldKnight did register some concern. Her less estimable husband's major concern was whether the turnaround he expected to see would come in time for Calvin to register a comeback that would cover the deficit. From long experience in Rivalry games, and from watching the 2024-25 version of Calvin's men's basketball, I was pretty sure that the Knights would make a run, but didn't know whether it would come on time and last long enough. By the sweat of my brow, it did.

Hope's first half was superb, featured good shooting that was fueled by solid ball movement and excellent defense that largely kept the home team at bay by forcing turnovers. Mrs. OldKnight perceptively noted that it's tough to score when you don't get a shot off. The turnaround came at the 16 minute mark of game when Hope took a 48-36 lead. From there, Calvin outscored Hope 26-11 to close out a hard fought 3 point win. Hope played the entire first half at high energy and I was wondering (Hoping?) they would start to run out of gas. Slowly but surely, the fuel started to show signs of leakage, a quality that I think was simultaneously the result of playing 3 games this week along with having to finish that stretch against a never-say-die Calvin defense that has just gotten better and better over the season.

The longer the game went, the tougher it got for Hope players to get off a good shot with their feet in position to comfortably leave the floor as they launched the ball. You could see it in the body language, and it seemed pretty much every shot Hope took the final 10-15 minutes was forced late in the shot clock. That explains Hope's shooting disparity between the first half (51%) and second half (24%). It wasn't just bad luck for Hope, nor poor decision making. Calvin's defense went into lockdown mode.

Of course, it helped that the Knights stopped turning the ball over. I looked at livestats early in the second half, and Calvin had committed 12 turnovers at that point. They finished the game with 14 TO's. Didn't hurt that with Hope up 56-53 with 5 minutes left, Daane Harvey banked in one the ugliest 3 point shots ever taken at Van Noord Arena. But as someone helpfully pointed out, it went in. 

For a while, it seemed the turnover bug might trip up Calvin in their semifinal matchup with Olivet. The well-led Comets are energetic, fearless, hard-working, and have some talented big men in Conner Schipper and Lee Hardy, but lack the depth necessary to compete that way for the full 40. The loss of Lee Hardy to fouls with just under 8 minutes left was keenly felt by Olivet, who had just cut the Calvin lead to 47-44 after Hardy's floater in the lane. From that point, Calvin closed out the game on 16-3 run. Schipper, who logged 37 minutes of PT, was totally exhausted, but Olivet couldn't afford to take him out. I think Conner may have played the entire second half.

As is usually the case, the Knights offense was led by Varnado and Egekeze with 23 and 12, but I thought the excellent play of Parker Swartz was key. Parker netted 9 points, but it was his gritty and stellar defense that really was a difference maker for Bill Sall. We think of Swartz more as an offensive player, but he really is a hard working and  reliable defender, even when matched up against the physically imposing Conner Schipper. Calvin didn't shoot particularly well, particularly in the second half, but survived to take on Hope in the final. The Hope/Trine semifinal was a lot of fun to watch.

Quote from: Dark Knight on February 26, 2025, 07:40:18 AM

Quote from: oldknight on February 23, 2025, 04:48:58 PM

Quote from: GoKnights68 on February 22, 2025, 06:25:05 PMNice 70-53 win by Calvin over Trine today to finish the MIAA undefeated (first time since 2000 I think?).  They got off to 20-2 lead to start, and from there it seemed Calvin sustained about 15-20 point lead throughout the game.  Calvin really is going to have cut back on their turnovers asap if they want to make a run in tourney, should they make it.  They were fortunate that Trine shot so poorly, but nonetheless, a 17 point victory over the defending national champs and second place team is hard to complain about.

It did seem that the only real negative in Calvin's play yesterday was turnovers, but Trine plays fabulous defense, double teaming in unexpected ways and at unexpected times. But when Calvin did avoid the turnover problem, they typically wound up with a high value shot which explains their superior shooting which was the difference in the game. The Knights defenders are also a terrific defensive squad but they seem to take fewer chances than Trine does on that side of the ball. Consequently, I think Trine's shot selection yesterday was inferior to Calvin's which largely explains the shooting disparity. I did think Calvin made several turnovers that appeared to be unforced, but when a ballhandler is expecting to be severely challenged while handling the ball, the urgency--and anxiety--level goes up, and leads to unnecessarily quick and faulty decision making. All in all, a great game to watch, though the inestimable Mrs. OldKnight thought the officiating left something to be desired and didn't match the overall quality of the game.

Hmmm. I hadn't really thought about the fact that that there is a tradeoff between going for steals and solid defense, that a high number of steals may also result in a higher opponent field goal percentage. Nice observation.

Maybe we need some combination stat that includes both factors. Or would that just be defensive efficiency? From D3Datacast, Calvin 86.3 (#4), Trine 89.7 (#15).

Others have made good followup comments, but I will add a few more. I looked at the stat sheet and I see Calvin committed 18 turnovers in the Trine game, while Albion logged in at 14. While the quality of basketball statistics sometimes seem to be less than stellar (especially when the home team's statistician is keeping track of the visitors), those numbers seem about right to me. Both teams had a fair number of turnovers, but Calvin had more as I viewed Saturday's game. What surprised me is that Calvin was credited with 20 points off of Trine's 14 turnovers, while Trine only got 12 points off of Calvin's 18 TO's.

However, after thinking about it more, it seems to me that many of Calvin's turnovers were simply passes that went out of bounds, thus meaning Calvin was able to set up its defense. Going from dim oldknight memory, I recall Calvin getting some picks that led to more breakaways than Trine had.

One more thing before I shut up. The defense of both teams do double team, but they do it differently. Trine regularly double teams the dribbler the instant he crosses the mid-court line. That's terrific when you get a pick because it typically leads to a 2 on 1 or, better yet, a one on nothing. The risk in doing double teams that far from the basket, is that when the ball handler can avoid trouble and advance the ball past the double team, the offense has a brief period of time when it's going 4 on 3, which leads to more open shots and leads to the likelihood of a good shooting percentage.

By contrast, Calvin defenders usually do their double teams when dribble penetration gets the ball handler close to the basket. This is especially true when the dribbler goes baseline, a second defender shows up, and the baseline itself in effect becomes a third defender. As long as the defense rotates quickly, it's lower risk way to employ the double team. Calvin defenders have learned to rotate very well. If they don't, they hear it from the coach. Improvement in Calvin's defense this season goes a long way in explaining the team's undefeated conference season. May it continue.

Quote from: Pat Coleman on February 27, 2025, 02:14:23 PM

Quote from: sac on February 27, 2025, 11:45:20 AMGreat moments in d3boards history

Quote from: ChickenHoops on November 19, 2024, 08:20:52 PMIs the Calvin coach on the hot seat?

I can think of another, and more earthy object

Good reminder of that post. I've come to think lately that ChickenHoops is the return of an old troll and this is another feather in that nest.

Quote from: Pat Coleman on February 27, 2025, 02:14:23 PM

Quote from: sac on February 27, 2025, 11:45:20 AMGreat moments in d3boards history

Quote from: ChickenHoops on November 19, 2024, 08:20:52 PMIs the Calvin coach on the hot seat?

Good reminder of that post. I've come to think lately that ChickenHoops is the return of an old troll and this is another feather in that nest.

Possibly a feather, but I can think of another, and more odiferous object, that infests the ChickenHoops nest. But we have a family-friendly board, and I want to keep it that way, so I won't mention it.