Hope started Overway, Seiler, Eidson, Byers, Benson for the third straight game. Primary bench minutes went to Gardner, DeMaagd, Snuggerud, Wittenbach and Neil. Ray, VanArendonk saw 5+ minutes. Holwerda played briefly.
Game Recap:
Well I've actually found something even more difficult than writing a game recap about a game I didn't see and that's writing a game recap about a game I had no contact with at all while watching another more interesting game in another
My last recap was mostly about Alex Eidson and a handful of rocks. Last night reminded all of us who are years removed why exactly being a Freshman in any capacity really, really sucks. Last game 26 points, last night 0-3, zero points. The rocks didn't score any points either. I think I told you it wouldn't be like that every night. Alex's future is still brighter than the rocks though.
Hope's gone with this starting 5 for its 3rd straight game, tonight that starting 5 combined to go 10-27, scoring 27 of the teams 83 points. This probably won't last much longer if that continues. The only saving grace for this group was Colton Overway's 11 rebound performance (you read that right).
Matt Neil has stumbled upon something that will make him dozens of dollars on the coaches clinic circuit. Improving your bench by moving your all-american candidate, Sr. captain center to the pine. When I've inquired about Nate Snuggerud's recent demotion to the bench I received several answers, none of them said Nate had his head up is butt. But Nate said that himself post-game here ....Nate had his head up his butt. This season is kind of crazy in tulips and windmill land.
Long, long streaks. Hope has two of them right now, one vs Alma, one vs Kalamazoo. The last time either team beat Hope it was 1998. For Alma that streak is now 39 games and they haven't won in Holland since 1994. Freshmen in college this year probably weren't born then, Alma coach Sam Hargraves was still in high school, I think. Its been awhile.
Scoring and Interesting Stats:
There's nothing really that stands out here other than Hope's massive advantage in bench points which was 56 to 26. The 48-24 advantage in the paint helped as well.
Rebounding, if you read the The Big Preview and you absorbed any of it you would not be surprised by Hope's 46-27 rebounding advantage. It should have been like that.
Nate Snuggerud: 19pts on 9-12 shooting......please keep your head away from any and all orifices, thanks
Ben Gardner: 12 pts, 5 assists, 2-2 from 3.....Ben had only attempted 4 3's on the year, another Fr. coming out of his shell would be wonderful
Colton Overway: 11pts, 11 rebounds.......point guards usually don't get double-double's this way, if they get double-doubles at all.
Chase DeMaagd: 11pts, 5-6 shooting.....I'm told Chase was awesome for a few minutes.
Efficiency:
Estimated number of possessions: Hope 70 Alma 71
I was actually expecting a little higher pace than this. This is also pretty much going to be the standard MIAA game this season.
Offensive Efficiency: 118.70
Two games in a row at a high efficiency rate. Hope played the 2nd half scoring at a rate of 139, which is insane. I like seeing that but Aurora and Alma aren't the stiffest defensive challenges out there. Going from Alma to Adrian is going from worst to best.
Defensive Efficiency: 97.87
A decent defensive effort since this falls right on Alma's avg for the season. The second half was dominating and included a five minute stretch where Alma didn't score with under 10 to play. Alma scored at will in the first half with an efficiency of 125, they had 45 at halftime and didn't reach 70. The second half was a rate of 69, which is getting stoned at the line of scrimmage, or.....nevermind.
If you've read most of these reviews you might notice the number of times a Hope game completely turns around at halftime, good or bad. That's weird.
Rebounding Efficiency
Hope: 53.1% of available offensive rebounds
Alma: 21.2% of available offensive rebounds
That's about as dominating as it can get and its kind of exactly how it should have looked. Second chance points was 20-5 to Hope. Winning by 14 with a 15 point advantage on the glass. Checkmate.
Moments or Keys to the Game:
Beats me I wasn't there.......but I'll guess it was either the 5 minutes stretch with no points for Alma or the moment Nate Snuggerud removed his head from his butt.
My Gameball Goes To:
When I'm not there its not really my game ball is it. Tonight it goes to Nate Snuggerud courtesy of someone who I'm sure had a front row seat to the cranial removal from the orifice.
Standings
Overway - 3
Eidson - 2
Snuggerud - 2
Byers - 1
DeMaagd - 1
VanArendonk - 1
Seiler - 1
Going Forward:
Sam Hargraves is getting under my skin for doing something at Alma I didn't think was possible for most of the past 15 years and that's making them competitive. Sure Hope ran them off the DeVos floor in the second half but for one half Alma was better and that return trip up North later this month doesn't look like much fun. Actually I love this but that's another story for another day.
Games against Alma aren't going to prove or disprove whether a team is developing or not, it seems the story coming out of Holland is a mixed bag with maybe a hinted silver lining. Twelve games in now and this is pretty much the half-way point, I wish it were more clear but its not and that may just be what it is.
Saturday Hope heads to Adrian for the first big roadie of the conference season. Adrian just lost its first game to Calvin 56-50, I was there, it wasn't pretty but it was effective. Its now a must win for Adrian. This MIAA season, like so many, will become about protecting your home court and trying to get as many road wins as possible. Hope puts a pretty incredible 14 game league road winning streak on the line Saturday. A win at Adrian would be huge.
Hope's played at least 3 really good defensive teams, Wheaton, North Central and IWU. They lost all of those games mostly because those 3 teams happen to be pretty good offensive teams as well. Adrian can play defense but the offense can be inconsistent. Hope will have loads of trouble with Cody Barnes, Eric Lewis and Brandon Romain and it seems like this one might come down to how well Hope defends more than how well they can or can't score.
Up Next: Me vs never ever writing a basketball post using the words head, butt or orifice in relation to each other ever again.
Saturday Jan 5. Hope at Adrian
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