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Posted Feb. 2, 2006

E-mail: mark@d3hoops.com

The opposite of despair
The opposite of hope is despair and that's one way to describe the way things went last season for the Hope men.

Injuries, suspensions and tough losses were all part of the mix and just when things looked like they were going well, they took a turn for the bleak again. Point guard Greg Immink tore his ACL three games into the season. Forward Andy Phillips broke his finger and missed a dozen games. The Dutchmen recovered and closed the regular season strong, beating both Calvin and Albion, but lost forward Eric Voisin to injury and bowed out in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association playoffs against Calvin.

By most standards, a 10-4 league mark wouldn't be a disappointing season, but this Dutchmen team returned the core of a squad that had been league champs.

"We went through a really difficult year," said head coach Glenn Van Wieren, whose program has historically been among the nation's most successful since he became head coach in 1977. "We never experienced a year like that in my time here."

The recovery period has been quick, both for those injured players, and for the team, and Hope enters back-to-back games with third-place Albion and fellow-first-place squad Calvin at 19-1 overall, 8-1 in the MIAA.

"All of those guys are back," Van Wieren said, "and they're playing as well as they ever have."

Hope has five players averaging between 9.9 and 12.2 points per game. A different player has led the team in scoring in each of the last four games. Hope's roster is big (three starters at least six-foot-seven) and talented (five players are Division I or II transfers who came to to the school to be closer to home). The top players up front include preseason All-American, senior forward Andy Phillips, smooth big man Marcus Vanderheide, a
transfer from Canisius and center Eric Voisin, who transformed his game from European-style (emphasis on finesse and perimeter shooting) to placing more emphasis on paint play.

"You can't double-team anyone on our team," said Immink, the senior point guard, whose 9.9 scoring average doesn't reflect his value, as Van Wieren referred to him as 'The engine.'"My role is to get the ball to whoever is hot. But all year long, we've hung our hat on our defense. That's helped us through a lot of close games."

The one time it let them down was in the first meeting against Albion, the lone loss that Hope is eager to avenge. That game marked a key point in the season as afterwards, third-string point guard Brett Jager addressed what he had seen from his teammates.

"We got smoked," Immink said. "There's no ifs, ands or buts about it. We played poorly. They played great. Brett told us that we were playing like individuals and that's something you can't do against good teams. We failed to play team defense. Those words refocused us on what we had strayed away from for a little while."

Hope's next home game was against its archrival, Calvin, at the brand-new DeVos
Fieldhouse, a breathtaking on-campus arena, In the first meeting between these squads in the new building, Hope dominated.

"The game against Calvin was like Albion's game against us," Van Wieren said. "Our seniors made sure we were ready to play an outstanding game, and we did."

The Dutchmen have not looked back since and now get to face those squads back-to-back again. This time they get Albion at home, in a building that could be considered symbolic of Hope's season so far.

"The new arena has energized our program and made for a whole different experience," said Van Wieren, whose teams couldn't get more than 90 minutes practice time or host an NCAA Tournament game at their previous off-campus homecourt, the Holland Civic Center. "It's been spectacular."

BEING THE MAN: With the graduation of two top players, Travis DePree and Mike Thomas, there were legitimate questions of just how good Albion was going to be this season, following up its run to the Elite in 2004-05. Senior center Brandon Crawford, below, the team's leading scorer, decided that meant he would have to take his game from very good to great. He's done that to the fullest extent, averaging 23.7 points and 11.8 rebounds, and is shooting 71.6% from the field for the Britons. Albion, which stumbled Wednesday in a loss to Tri-State, now trails Hope and Calvin by a game in the battle for first place in the MIAA.

"Brandon is our hardest worker every day," said Albion coach Mike Turner. "He prepares himself before practice with extra workouts and he prepares himself after practice with extra workouts. He's gone from being a 50% free throw shooter to (65%) and he's much better now at defending smaller, quicker guys. His approach to the game is clearly what it should be."

Crawford is arguably the best big man in the country this season. The progression has been significant since Crawford transfered from Oberlin after his freshman season, after the school sharply raised its tuition. He's made many strides in his overall play, but none more significant than this season.

Van Wieren is among those most impressed, saying he loves Crawford's aggressive nature on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball and the ability of the other players to get Crawford the ball in great position. Crawford described the team's best asset as its intensity and he's a leader in that facet as well. He works hard so that he can play harder than anyone else.

"My game is different now," Crawford said. "I was a one dimensional player. People didn't think I was going to be able to step up this much. That motivated me to do more. I'm happy with the numbers, but I expected to do well because I have a lot of confidence in myself. If you had asked me before the season, I wouldn't have been sure, but now that I've seen us play, I'm not surprised that we're (17-3)."

HERDING WINS: Lawrence senior forward Kyle MacGillis doesn't compete with his older brother Chris, one of the top Vikings players on the Elite Eight team from two seasons ago, over scoring averages or other statistical minutiae.

"We taunt each other over who is the better leader," MacGillis said, then added with a touch of both seriousness and humor: "In our family we think of ourselves as the shepherds and not the sheep. Our dad always says that."

We wrote about Lawrence at length last season and spotlighted the school's success and that of its top player, forward Chris Braier, so this time around, we thought we'd check in with another key member of the squad and see how everyone is handling the Vikings success. Lawrence, the only unbeaten among four-year college men's basketball programs, is 17-0, 11-0 in league play, having just completed a sweep of four league road games.

"We set our standards very high," said MacGillis, who like Braier is a biology major and is averaging 14.9 points per game. MacGillis has been at his best in the tight games, having led the squad in scoring eight times, including in narrow wins over UW-Oshkosh, Beloit, Carroll and Ripon. He's almost dead even with Braier in scoring, assists and steals, leads the team in 3-pointers made, and also ranks second on the team in rebounding. "Our team lives in the present. Our best asset is our loyalty to each other and to coach (John) Tharp. Everyone can get on each other. If I'm not playing well, one of our sophomores might get on me about it. We're very open-minded on this team. We take the message to heart."

The message has gotten through to Chris MacGillis as well. Though Chris was the team's leading scorer a couple of seasons ago, Kyle notes that his skills have fallen off since his college days concluded and believes that of the four MacGillis men (his dad and other brother included), he can now stake claim to family supremacy.

"I think I hold the championship belt now," Kyle MacGillis said with a laugh.

N-JACK CITY: Among the many league races still up for grabs at this point in the season is that of the men's side of the New Jersey Athletic Conference, where with five games remaining, one game separates frontrunner William Paterson from a four-way tie for second place. Sixth-place New Jersey City, the conference leader not long ago, is only two games behind, despite having lost four straight.

There has been talk this season, on message boards and otherwise, that while the NJAC is a tight race, the league is not what it was when one or two teams were firmly established at the top. This is a rare season in which, although the league's non-conference winning percentage is good, it can't hang its hat on any high-quality non-league wins. That's going to likely play a role in whether the NJAC gets two bids to the expanded NCAA Tournament this season.

Next year, the NJAC will go back to a previously experimented with two-divison format and only play a 13-game league schedule, which should prevent the cannibalism that has plagued other leagues like the WIAC and prevented them from getting that second bid. This season, the battle for the top spot is quite significant.

"This is the first time in a long time that we haven't had one really dominant team," said William Paterson coach Jose Rebimbas, whose team seized the top spot for now with a 52-50 win over Rutgers-Newark on Wednesday, capped by a 10-2 game-ending run and last second basket by Luis Martinez. "We're going through one of those cycles where everyone graduated good seniors last year. I think it's led to a lot of parity and some inconsistent play."

Ramapo has been in the position of being one of the league's dominant teams, advancing to the Sweet 16 in two of the last three seasons. Injuries and personal issues have played a role in the Roadrunners being 'only' 15-5, 8-5 in league play.

"Every time it looks like someone is going to run away, they get brought back to the pack," said Ramapo coach Chuck McBreen."But I wouldn't sell our conference short right now. In the end, I think whoever gets in the NCAA Tournament is going to do alright."

The Roadrunners have gotten hot again with the return of Rashawn Wilson, who was suspended for six games for violating team rules. Wilson, the Iraqi war veteran, used the time to clear up some personal matters and came back refocused. In his first five games back, Wilson averaged 25 points and 10 rebounds. The Roadrunners had their six-game winning streak snapped on Wednesday by Montclair State, which along with Kean is still hanging in at 6-7 in league play.

"He said the time away for him was the best thing for him and the program," McBreen said. "With Rashawn, it has everything to do with his frame of mind. He's got a lot of things on his plate. He has to learn to cope with adversity here. When he does, he'll be very successful."

As he did last season, McBreen played up his team's role as the underdog in the middle of this pack, noting that he wished his squad could develop the chemistry like that on William Paterson.

"We're just like everyone else," Rebimbas said in assessing his team, which has perenially won on the strength of its defense and this season is no exception. "One day we look like we could win it. Others, we're just barely staying afloat."

The newcomer to the group is Rutgers-Newark, which finished strong last season in placing fourth, and was an Around the Nation "super-sleeper" this preseason. The Scarlet Raiders were a couple of minutes away from closing out William Paterson and claiming the league lead, but couldn't quite finish the Pioneers off. The finish is what will be the most important factor the rest of the season and it will be intriguing to see which teams can handle the pressure.

"I told our guys that we weren't going to be sneaking up on anybody this season," said Rutgers-Newark coach Joe Loughran. "Early this season, it was tough because there were high expectations. My message to everybody now is that it's wide open."

WHY THEY'LL WIN THE NJAC
If they win it, here's why ...

WILLIAM PATERSON (9-4 in NJAC): Because their defense, despite allowing 95 points to Richard Stockton, is the best in the league at contesting shots. The Pioneers rank in the Top 20 nationally in lowest opposing field goal percentage and in the top 40 in scoring defense. The Pioneers have historically been among the nation's best teams defensively, having ranked in the top 11 in scoring defense in each of the past four seasons. The defense got back in gear, yielding only 50 points in a win over Rutgers-Newark on Wednesday.

RAMAPO (8-5): Because their big man, Rashawn Wilson, is capable of doing things that no one on the other contending teams can do, as evidenced by his recent performances and his season average of 18.4 points and 8.1 rebounds. Winning the title would also likely require point guard Antoine Pryor, who missed time with an ankle sprain, to get back to full strength.

RUTGERS-NEWARK (8-5): Because they were able to get out in transition more effectively than other teams, making full use of the skills of big man Jermont Horton and because their young untested players survived the pressure of being in the hunt for a title.

RICHARD STOCKTON (8-5): Because the team that shows up at the end will be the one that beat William Paterson twice and won at Rutgers-Newark, and not the one that squandered leads against Lincoln, Ramapo, Kean and Rowan. The Ospreys will have to win without guard Kris Polk, a major factor in last year's late sprint to the NJAC title game. He's academically ineligible this semester.

NEW JERSEY (8-5): Because they will have outworked everyone in front of them. The Lions, in the view of other NJAC coaches, have overachieved this season with a group primarily comprised of role players who sat for two to three seasons behind the likes of NJAC Player of the Year Derick Grant and sharpshooter Kyle Burke, but have done a nice job complementing the skills of senior forward Scott Findlay.

NEW JERSEY CITY (7-6): Because they will have found a way to return to the form that had them start the season at 9-2 and not that which has seen them drop four straight, all by six points or less.

SPRINT TO THE FINISH: As it turned out, Ithaca's comeback from 22 points down against Oneonta State was only the second-best of the week in terms of margin overcome, as Capital set a new Division III standard with a rally from 28 down on Wednesday night. But the Bombers accomplished their mission in far less time, rallying in the final six minutes of regulation before winning in overtime. It was a case of a desperate team, one whose 7-11 mark (4-3 in the Empire 8 play) isn't up to its usual standard of excellence, coming through when it was most needed. The overall record doesn't convey strength of schedule (Ithaca lost at Bowdoin and Southern Maine on back-to-back days), but the league mark doesn't quite match the last two seasons, in which Ithaca went 13-1.

"We've been looking for an event to get us going in the right direction," said Ithaca head coach Dan Raymond. "Hopefully this will provide an impetus for us."

If this doesn't, than nothing will. Practically speaking, what it provided was a look at a new-look lineup. The Bombers usually play three guards, but practiced last Monday with a three-forward alignment, shifting Erin Sanvidge from wing to point guard and using 5-foot-11 senior tri-captain Molly Brennan in an effort to get more size on the court. Raymond was getting ready to clear his bench, with his team so far behind, but he and his staff figured there was nothing to lose in trying out a different look on the floor.

That turned out to be the case — literally. The switch to a 2-3 zone caught Oneonta (14-5, 8-2 in the SUNYAC) off guard. Ithaca started making shots and Oneonta started missing, and turning the ball over. What followed was a game-tying, 25-3 run, with Brennan and Sanvidge combining for 10 points. Sue Kelly followed that up with the go-ahead basket with 25 seconds left in overtime and the Bombers had a stunning win.

"It's the mystery of momentum," Raymond said, trying to provide attribution for the unlikely triumph. "Everyone was quite excited. We were all wondering 'What just happened here?' "

PONDERINGS: Bridgewater State's women broke a 44-game losing streak to Salem State the other night, winning 69-63. It was their first win in the series since Feb. 18, 1987. The team lost to Williams at the South Padre Island tournament in December, which is no bad loss. The Salem State game is by far the best win on the schedule and the other two losses are at home to Rhode Island College (9-10) the first week of the season and at Wentworth Tech (10-7) in early December. Nonetheless, they're 16-3 and should be 19-3 or at least 18-4 headed into the Salem State rematch on the road on Feb. 16.

There's been a lot of attention from high-level media paid to the Caltech men's basketball team, after columns in both Sports Illustrated and The Los Angeles Times. But several times this season the Beavers have looked like they're about ready to engineer a SCIAC win and snap their 21-season long conference losing streak. The most recent example was Wednesday night, when Caltech pushed Occidental to the end, falling 80-66 in a game Occidental coach Brian Newhall told his mailing list "was much closer than the final score would indicate." Hopefully next year Caltech can build on its relative success and replace a competent senior class.

Hope and Calvin are the consensus best rivalry in Division III men's basketball, and don't let any newbie tell you differently. But perhaps the best women's rivalry these days is the one between Hardin-Simmons and McMurry. The crosstown Abilene, Texas, rivals are going toe to toe again in the American Southwest Conference West Division and drew more than 2,000 to their game earlier this week. And not only do they share the town, they share players as well, with each roster featuring a crosstown transfer. It would be worth the price to see that game and Bates/Bowdoin on back to back days. McMurry and Hardin-Simmons have split the two games so far, could meet again in the ASC finals (unless Mississippi College has its way) and might face each other a fourth time in the NCAA Tournament. Hopefully that won't be in the regionals.

Ponderings by Pat Coleman.

Notes for Around the Nation are compiled with the help of sports information directors across the country. If you have suggestions or information for this column, please send it to mark@d3hoops.com.

Previous columns
2007-08 columns
March 6: Faith restored
Feb. 27: John Jay, Cinderella
Feb. 21: No safety net
Feb. 14: Ursinus better enough
Feb. 8: Hope-TMC on collision course
Jan. 31: Plattsburgh's big shot
Jan. 24: UMD answers call
Jan. 18: Like Bosko, like son
Jan. 11: Keystone stakes
Dec. 13: Unstoppable
Dec. 7: UWW aiming deeper
Nov. 30: Coach's shadow lingers
Nov. 15: Strong duo
2006-07 columns
2005-06 columns
2004-05 columns
2003-04 columns
2002-03 columns
2001-02 columns

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