Last Season: 13-13, 8-6 tie 3rd place
win that made you raise an eyebrow: ?
loss that made you raise an eyebrow: @ Trine 54-73
Seniors: Brian Haverdink
Calvin's season got off on the wrong foot when Sophomore guard Jordan Brink injured his shoulder in the fall, an injury that required surgery and sitting out the season. The Knights struggled early and by Christmas were just 5-4 with a mix of head-scratching losses and wins over so-so competition. The one shining mark was a close loss to a very good Wheaton team, a game they led by 14 with just under 9 minutes to play. A trip out West was even more damaging when guard Mitch Vallie went down for the season with an injury and the Knights turned in two double-digit loss performances to Whitman and Whitworth.
The roof finally collapsed on Calvin's MIAA chances when starter Mickey DeVries was ruled ineligible for the 2nd semester which meant Calvin now had 3 potential starters on the sidelines. Calvin lost to Adrian and Albion right out of the gate and a couple weeks later saw a 12 point lead in Holland turn into a 16 point loss. Despite that loss the middle portion of the MIAA schedule saw Calvin's brightest stretch of play where they went 6-2, all but one of those wins by double-digits. More injury problems meant Calvin's final two weeks brought more questions than answers as Calvin survived Alma by 1 in OT, lost to Hope and were blown out at Trine. Unbelievably they were close to missing out on the tournament and needed a win at Olivet and a loss by Albion to secure a disappointing 4th seed. Calvin turned in one final gutty performance losing at Hope, mercifully ending their season.
2012-2013
Key Returnees: Tom Snikkers, Bryan Powell, Tyler Kruis, Matt DeBoer, Jordan Brink(?), Mitch Vallie(?), Mickey DeVries(?), Jordan Mast, Dave Rietema, Tyler Dykstra, Nate VanEck
With so many returning pieces of the puzzle its not hard to see Calvin being a strong competitive team next season. Jordan Brink's return alone should make them more solid and deeper at the guard position. Vallie and DeVries reclaiming their starting spots should give them a deep bench. Their height alone should win them a lot of D3 games as I'm convinced their one of the tallest teams in the division. 2012 allowed Calvin to play a lot of young players that saw valuable minutes and gain experience.
Despite all the returning positives Calvin is just 29-25 over the past two seasons and have been perceived as major under achievers by their fickle fans. What was their best win of 2012? Grace Bible? For the 4th consecutive year they turned the ball over more than their opponents, and defensively have been on the mediocre side the last couple seasons. Unless they clean-up these areas the Knights will probably fall short of their expectations. But if they do improve in these areas there's no reason they shouldn't win the MIAA and be one of the best teams in the Great Lakes Region, the talent and depth is there, its just a matter of putting it together.....and staying healthy. Going from 13-13 to MIAA Champions is a big jump but barring an injury implosion like last season Calvin should be right in the thick of the MIAA race and should be a strong contender for an NCAA bid.
Range of finish: 1st, 2nd or 3rd
The negative turnover margin for Calvin has more to do with not forcing turnovers than it does with turning it over themselves. Their 17.7% offensive turnover rate was third best during conference play, behind Trine (14.9%) and Olivet (17.4%).
ReplyDeleteIn general I agree with that, and calling Calvin's D mediocre kind of covers that. Under this short format I just don't have the space to get into too many statistical semantics, just pointing out things to look for.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely agree. Calvin isn't quite aggressive enough on defense for my taste.
DeleteI'm enjoying the post/pre-views (although my takes would be decidedly more pro-Calvin). Itching for next season to begin already.