http://athletics.hope.edu/sports/mbkb/2013-14/roster
There were 6 roster spots open from graduation and a chance that a couple of others wouldn't return, which left the Dutchmen up to 8 spots to fill. They chose to leave 2 potential spots open which could mean 1 of 2 things. 1) There is still competition for the final two spots among a couple of the JV players 2) Hope opts for a smaller bench which isn't a bad thing considering the difficulty they had sorting out last years bench. I tend to think #1 is the answer, though I have nothing to back that up.
The "Knowns":
G Ben Gardner--captain
G Alex Eidsen
G Jordan Denham
G Corey McMahon
F Grant Neil--captain
F Caleb Byers--captain
C Nate VanArendonk--captain
C Brock Bensen
Collectively this group makes up 6 of last years top 9 in the rotation. The exceptions are Denhem and McMahon who saw minutes in spots but really never became parts of the regular rotations. Both saw increased minutes after Colton Overway's injury, but I think there isn't much body of work between them to make any guesses on their contributions this season. For now I think the 6 of Gardner, Eidsen, Neil, Byers, VanArendonk, Bensen will make up the core of this team.
The "Unknowns":
G Chad Carlson
G Cody Campbell
F Sam Otto
F Cody Stuive
F Keith Brushwyler
F Harrison Blackledge
| Sam Otto, from about 2 years ago |
 |
| Keith Brushwyler |
 |
| Chad Carlson, who I will likely call Jeff at least a hundred times |
Chad Carlson and Keith Brushwyler were both fairly highly rated high school Sr's within the State of Michigan and if you believe the recruiting rumors both were getting attention from schools that hand out scholarships. Both were a part of high school teams that played for State Championships in different divisions as high school Juniors. Carlson in Class A, Brushwyler in Class B. Both earned all-state honors as Seniors.
 |
| Harrison Blackledge |
Who didn't return:
G Matt Parisi, JR -- Matt was one of the 3 guys vying for playing time last season at the 2 guard spot. Early in the year he played some but that quickly dwindled once Eidsen established himself and saw very few minutes in league play
G/F Steve Wittenbach, JR -- Steve was getting quite a bit of hype last fall and then suffered a severe ankle sprain before the season began. He never fully recovered and his minutes were spotty at best as the team struggled to find themselves. However his absence is still a surprise.
Surprise addition:
G Cody Campbell, SR -- Cody played JV his Freshmen year and made the varsity squad in 2012 appearing in 16 games, mostly in mop up minutes. I don't recall exactly but injury or illness played a part in both his low playing time in 2012 and absence from last years team.
Surprise JV'ers:
F Ryan Skowronek and G Sasha Yonov -- both were JV players last year and are again listed on the JV this year along with 2 other Sophomores who are new to Hope. These two with Otto seemed the most likely to get a look at varsity and with the other 2 Sophomores on the JV roster it gives me reason to think maybe there's still some competition for a final spot or two. But again I have nothing but my instincts to base that on. I think there's a chance one of these two will sit on the bench for various varsity games.
Arm Twisting Starting 5 and depth chart:
Starting 5 would likely be Gardner, Eidsen, Neil, Byers, VanArendonk. I am 100% positive it will not be that. This "depth chart" is really just guesses since I haven't actually seen many of these guys play yet.
Point Guards: Gardner, Denham, Carlson, Campbell
I'm not sure about Campbell here and honestly Denham and Gardner can both play the 2. Either Denham, Carlson or Campbell could see extended PG minutes if Hope uses a lot of 3 guard sets and moves Gardner over.
Two Guards: Eidsen, McMahon, Otto
Even though Otto is listed as a F, he could play here as a big guard or the 3 in my estimation. Hope will certainly utilize Gardner as the two guard at times and I think Denham could probably play here a little as well. This is the greatest position of production need, particularly from behind the arc.
Three: Neil, Eidsen, Otto maybe McMahon
Neil probably starts here with the interchange likely being between he and Otto. Eidsen plays here in 3 guard looks. I could see Hope going real small and moving either Otto or Neil to the four with both on the floor or in the 3 guard sets.
Four: Byers, Brushwyler, Blackledge, Stuive. Small lineups include Neil and Otto here.
While lacking in experience its nice to see good depth here. Not enough info to know how versatile any of these guys can be but if both Van Arendonk and Bensen can't go at the 5, Brushwyler or Blackledge could slide down. It would be wonderful if one of these guys could play the 3 and Hope go with a "big" lineup.
Five: VanArendonk, Bensen
Its pretty much these two or go "small", but most likely one of these two is on the floor for 25 to 30 minutes between them.
Freshmen:
Below is all of the Freshmen who've made Hope's varsity roster since 1993. You might notice a high concentration within the last couple years. Hope is carrying 8 varsity Freshmen over these two years the most at any time in the last 20+ years by a lot.
14 Blackledge, Brushwyler, Carlson, Stuive
13 Benson, Gardner, Eidsen, Denham
12 Wittenbach
11 ---
10 Snugeruud, Holwerda, Mysliwiec
09 Krombeen, King
08 Bowser, Tanis, Carter, Sharples
07 Kratz
06 Reimink
05 ---
04 Cramer, Richardson, P. Overbeek
03 J. Carlson, Phillips
02 Griffeth, Immink, Veldt, Spaman, Kleersnyder
01 Taylor
00 C. Carlson, Bauman, Hoogewind
99 Doty
98 Sporck
97 Canaan, Bray
96 Davelaar, Stegeman, Vander Slice
95 Holstege
94 Whitford, Brown, Gortsema, Muhlenberg
93 Bosma
How Young?
Pretty young. Nine underclassmen. There are 11 guys on this team with 1 year or less of varsity college basketball.There a several ways to represent the age or experience of your squad. I'll use 4 different ways here:
Average class
This is simply assigning a numerical value to class. 4=Sr. 3=Jr 2=So 1=Fr and dividing by the number of roster players. This years Hope team comes in at 2.36
As you'll see below this lands the 2014 Dutchmen as Hope's youngest team by class in the last decade. The years in bold were regular season MIAA Championship teams. I'll carry that through on all the charts below. For the record I have the 2014 team as the 2nd youngest by this measure in the last 20 years behind only Hope's 2002 team which averaged out at 2.21
| 2014 | 2.36 |
| 2010 | 2.43 |
| 2009 | 2.53 |
| 2013 | 2.69 |
| 2006 | 2.75 |
| 2008 | 2.80 |
| 2005 | 2.81 |
| 2011 | 2.87 |
| 2012 | 2.87 |
| 2007 | 2.93 |
Average number of letters returning
This is the total number of letters won by returning players divided by the roster. For instance Grant Neil has 2 letters, Brock Benson 1 and so on. This 2014 team returns 11 total letters won for an average of .787
| 2009 | 0.67 |
| 2010 | 0.71 |
| 2014 | 0.79 |
| 2007 | 0.87 |
| 2008 | 0.93 |
| 2006 | 0.94 |
| 2013 | 1.06 |
| 2012 | 1.20 |
| 2011 | 1.27 |
| 2005 | 1.31 |
Its not the least experienced, but its right there with the '09 and '10 teams. The least experience in terms of letters returning in the last 20 years was again the 2002 team with just 9 letters won on a roster of 14.
Percentage of the roster with letters
This is the number of players who've earned a letter divided by total number on the roster. The 2014 team has 9 players or .643 of the team has a letter
| 2006 | 0.438 |
| 2009 | 0.467 |
| 2013 | 0.563 |
| 2010 | 0.571 |
| 2007 | 0.600 |
| 2008 | 0.600 |
| 2005 | 0.625 |
| 2014 | 0.643 |
| 2012 | 0.667 |
| 2011 | 0.733 |
Despite the overall youth of the team it has a relatively high number of players with varsity experience. I would consider that a positive. The team at the top of this list strangely had the lowest percentage of varsity players with letters. You might remember despite being very good the '06 team had a number of transfers. I only counted letters won at Hope, that was certainly a more experienced team than these numbers represent.
Percentage of underclassmen
Number of underclassmen divided by roster size. This 2014 team has 9 underclassmen for a percentage of .643
| 2014 | 0.643 |
| 2009 | 0.533 |
| 2005 | 0.500 |
| 2010 | 0.500 |
| 2011 | 0.467 |
| 2006 | 0.438 |
| 2013 | 0.438 |
| 2008 | 0.353 |
| 2012 | 0.333 |
| 2007 | 0.267 |
2014 is also the second highest number in the last 20 years. Only the 2001 team that had 10 underclassmen had a higher ratio.
Conclusion to draw:
By just about any measure not related to varsity experience its a young team, one you might even be able to categorize as very young. For its overall youth though it does return a high level of varsity experience that most teams of equal youth probably wouldn't have. But, you have my permission to call the 2014 Dutchmen a very young basketball team and one of its youngest in the last couple decades.
Everything in perspective though, this probably won't even be the youngest team in this years MIAA.
No comments:
Post a Comment