D3hoops.com: Notables

By Matt Florjancic
D3hoops.com

Making the Final Four is something players at all three levels of NCAA competition work toward during their careers. For some schools, the Final Four seems like a yearly Spring Break rite of passage, while others have to wait several years before advancing to the national semifinals for the first time.

This isn't Hope's first trip to Salem, but it has been a long wait since their last appearance. Along with their trip to the 1998 championship game, a 69-56 loss to UW-Platteville, the Flying Dutchmen have made one other appearance in the Finals. In the 1996 championship game, they fell to Rowan 100-93.

During the NCAA College Division Tournament (now Division II) in 1958-59, the Flying Dutchmen also made an appearance in the Final Four. They lost to eventual runner-up Southwest Missouri State in Evansville, Ind.

With the 83-70 victory over the Wheaton Thunder, Hope once again finds itself headed to Salem. Even with the possible distractions of friends leaving for Spring Break, ticket requests from fans and the long trip from Holland, Mich., to the Salem Civic Center, Hope will gladly handle the situation.

"It's a great week," said Hope coach Glenn Van Wieren. "It's something that you never forget and you dream that it might happen again. Hope turns into dreams and dreams turn into deadlines. There's never a deadline when you're dreaming about going back. We're back and I'm really excited for our players.

"I know how wonderful the cities of Salem and Roanoke (are) and how special they make it for the student-athletes," he added. "I'm along to enjoy every minute of watching these guys be a part of the Final Four in Roanoke."

The Flying Dutchmen are 27-3 heading into the Final Four this weekend. Unlike the women's tournament, which will be held in Holland for the next two seasons, the men must go on the road. That is not a problem for Hope. In true away games, Hope is 7-1, but on neutral floors, they are just 3-2.

The Bears of Washington U. (23-6), who eliminated Hope from NCAA Tournament competition last season, await the Flying Dutchmen on Friday night. When they met a year ago, Hope lost 58-55 and came one victory shy of a Final Four berth. They will play in the second semifinal, following 29-2 Ursinus' game against the defending champion, Amherst (26-3).

"Defense gets you off to a good start," said Van Wieren, who has taken 19 Hope teams to the NCAA Tournament during his 30-year tenure. "We work really hard at challenging the people that we need to challenge. If you're going to be successful, you need to weather a run.

"We know how good they are," he added. "They have their starters back. They have their bench back. There are a lot of things we have to overcome at this point playing Wash U. It's not going to be easy. We realize that. We've had other challenges like that this year and we've been able to work through them and be successful. We have great respect for them."

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Hope got to this point in the season with a prolific offense and a defense that is often overlooked. Having the top four scorers on the team average in double figures deflects some of the attention because Hope has outscored its opponents by more than 18 points per game.

Defensively, the Flying Dutchmen limit the opposition to 61.9 points per game on 41.1 percent shooting from the floor. From the perimeter, opponents are shooting 32.3 percent, the second-lowest mark in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association.

Hope is plus-6.6 in the turnover category. They have forced a total of 565 turnovers, which averages out to 18.8 per game. The Flying Dutchmen have turned the ball over 199 times less than their opponents. Hope gets it done on the glass as well, having outrebounded opponents by 2.3 boards per game.

"We don't have really quick, aggressive, big, athletic players," Van Wieren said. "We have to work very hard at making it hard to go into the post and trying to pressure on the ball from the outside. Our guys have bought into it. I guess that's the key issue.

"We've done well enough to get enough rebounds to be able to get going on offense," he added. "That's been really good for us."

Individually, five players have 30 or more steals with four of those student-athletes with more than 44 takeaways.

"Derek Van Solkema, our point guard, has done a really nice job of anticipating and pressuring the ball," said Van Wieren. "Tyler Wolfe, our two-man, has a lot of strength and pretty good quickness. He's been able to put a lot of ball pressure on for us.

"Defense is not a one-man thing," he added. "Any time you have a system that you're trying to employ, you're looking at five guys being ready to make their adjustment and make their contribution. Our guys have bought into team defense and they've been able to trust each other."