We've sort of reached the halfway point, or at least half the league has. With postponements of two games Alma, Hope, Kalamazoo and Olivet have only played 6 games. I think we have enough data to pick some MVP's, all-miaa's and grade the teams. As always I've based my thoughts mostly on conference stats only.
The MVP
We came into this year with no clear cut MVP candidates and halfway I think we're still sorting that out. For me really only 3 guys have emerged in this conversation.
Mark Ghafari - Kalamazoo
Mark is having a terrific Senior season. In league play his scoring has come down a little from his outstanding November/December. This is partly due to the difficulty and familiarity of league play but also a team that has developed more offensive options around him.
Tyler Kruis - Calvin
Since the Hope loss Kruis has led Calvin in scoring 3 times and seems to be getting more touches and shots. There really are only 2 other players in this league as big as Tyler and this position is one of Calvin's biggest advantages on any given night in the league.
Jordan Brink - Calvin
It could be argued Brink has been the best guard in the league in the last two weeks. Like Kruis he's stepped up his production since the Hope loss. Between the two of them its really a matter of who carries the most water to the finish.
This won't sound right but its a pretty thin year with regards to MVP talent in the league. The Senior and Junior classes are pretty thin across the league and it sure seems like most of the best players are from the Sophomore class. Someone from Albion or Hope might emerge in this conversation but I think right now there isn't a clear choice from either of those two teams.
click for more
Friday, January 31, 2014
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Hope's MIAA Week 3
Just one game to look at this week as Hope's Saturday game with Kalamazoo was postponed to Monday and then postponed to next Monday. This is what happens when you wait for the completion of a postponed game that gets postponed again.
I was remembering that not that long ago I drove to every Hope game home and away on clear roads and seemingly clear skies. Though that's probably not 100% accurate but this winter has been a stark contrast to seasons past. This 90 miles difference between home and Hope might as well be 900.
Hope 93 Alma 82
box score
This was a weird game, it was 33-30 at the half and I remember thinking to myself while watching the video broadcast that this was nothing like the game I expected. Both teams seemed to come into this determined to play defense, maybe determined to control tempo. Neither team shot the ball great in the first half and Hope continued their slump from behind the arc making just 1 in 6 attempts.
After striking out on their first three second half possessions Hope scored points on its next 8 and found a little cushion in a 9 point lead. Midway through the half a couple threes from Eidson and Gardner extended the long stretch of offensive success and Hope led by 14. Alma didn't quit and battled that lead back down to 5 with just over 7 minutes to play. Again though Hope expanded their lead with the help of 3-point shots by Neil and Stuive and Alma would never threaten again.
In between all these 3-point shots was Alex Eidson finding his shooting touch again and Nate Van Arendonk dominating a game like a 6-10 D3 center should. Alma couldn't handle VanArendonk and it was easy layup or get fouled almost every second half touch. His inside presence forced Alma's defensive hand a little as they struggled to double the post and left Hope open from the arc. The streaky Dutchmen connected on 6-7 second half three's a very large reason the Dutchmen were able to win this game.
Streak With this win we're up to 41 consecutive wins over the Scots. Last win for Alma was 1998. This has been the MIAA's most lopsided series with Hope winning all but 4 meetings since the second meeting of 1981.
3-point shooting streak: At the end of the first-half Hope was 1-6 from beyond the arc, combined with their previous two games they shot 13.9% or 5-36 in those 5 consecutive halves. Brutal.
Tough week ahead: With the Kalmazoo game being moved out to next Monday Hope is now given a pretty tough 8 day stretch of Trine, Kzoo, Calvin and Albion. Navigating that unscathed will be a tall order. The one saving grace is that after the trip to Angola Saturday Hope's at home for the next 3, so no late bus rides to add to the fatigue. Wobbly legs towards the ends of the Calvin and Albion games could be a concern.
Efficiency:
Estimated number of possessions: Hope 74 Alma 73
It ends up at the pace that's probably near average for Alma. The second half was closer to a pace of about 80 possessions for a full game.
Offensively Efficiency: 126.32
This ends up being Hope's highest point total and highest efficiency of the season. What makes this unusual is that the first half was only a 93. The second half Hope scored at a rate of 156. You can pretty much count the number of second half Alma defensive stops using very few fingers.
Defensive Efficiency: 111.95
Hope held Alma to a first half efficiency of just 86, which is excellent. A little disappointing Hope wasn't able to capitalize that effort into a bigger lead. The game opened up quite a bit in the second half and Alma scored at a rate of 135. A little different execution here and there and this might have been a different result.
Rebounding Efficiency:
Hope: 34.8% of available offensive rebounds
Alma: 35.7% of available offensive rebounds
2nd Chance points: Hope 12 Alma 10
Pretty much even though I think you'd expect Hope to have won this battle by a wider margin than 32-30. Hope shot 65% from the floor in the second half, just not many opportunities for rebounds.
Other Interesting Stats:
Free-throw shooting: 74% Hope hasn't been in too many games where they've had to salt away a lead from the stripe in the final minutes. Hope made 9-10 in the last minute and a half.
Going Forward:
Getting out of Alma with a win seems like a good thing these days. Those Scots don't ever quit, put you in tough one-on-one situations and just seem to play hard right to the end. They've already scalped Albion at Kresge and could very well get a couple more wins against the league semi-final participants.
A sort of normal week ahead with Adrian at home Wednesday followed by an important trip to Trine on Saturday. At this point it really seems like its about getting to that Calvin game next Wednesday with just the one conference loss.
Me vs: setting fire to all the snow
Wednesday: Adrian at DeVos Fieldhouse
Saturday: @ Trine
I was remembering that not that long ago I drove to every Hope game home and away on clear roads and seemingly clear skies. Though that's probably not 100% accurate but this winter has been a stark contrast to seasons past. This 90 miles difference between home and Hope might as well be 900.
Hope 93 Alma 82
box score
This was a weird game, it was 33-30 at the half and I remember thinking to myself while watching the video broadcast that this was nothing like the game I expected. Both teams seemed to come into this determined to play defense, maybe determined to control tempo. Neither team shot the ball great in the first half and Hope continued their slump from behind the arc making just 1 in 6 attempts.
After striking out on their first three second half possessions Hope scored points on its next 8 and found a little cushion in a 9 point lead. Midway through the half a couple threes from Eidson and Gardner extended the long stretch of offensive success and Hope led by 14. Alma didn't quit and battled that lead back down to 5 with just over 7 minutes to play. Again though Hope expanded their lead with the help of 3-point shots by Neil and Stuive and Alma would never threaten again.
In between all these 3-point shots was Alex Eidson finding his shooting touch again and Nate Van Arendonk dominating a game like a 6-10 D3 center should. Alma couldn't handle VanArendonk and it was easy layup or get fouled almost every second half touch. His inside presence forced Alma's defensive hand a little as they struggled to double the post and left Hope open from the arc. The streaky Dutchmen connected on 6-7 second half three's a very large reason the Dutchmen were able to win this game.
Streak With this win we're up to 41 consecutive wins over the Scots. Last win for Alma was 1998. This has been the MIAA's most lopsided series with Hope winning all but 4 meetings since the second meeting of 1981.
3-point shooting streak: At the end of the first-half Hope was 1-6 from beyond the arc, combined with their previous two games they shot 13.9% or 5-36 in those 5 consecutive halves. Brutal.
Tough week ahead: With the Kalmazoo game being moved out to next Monday Hope is now given a pretty tough 8 day stretch of Trine, Kzoo, Calvin and Albion. Navigating that unscathed will be a tall order. The one saving grace is that after the trip to Angola Saturday Hope's at home for the next 3, so no late bus rides to add to the fatigue. Wobbly legs towards the ends of the Calvin and Albion games could be a concern.
Efficiency:
Estimated number of possessions: Hope 74 Alma 73
It ends up at the pace that's probably near average for Alma. The second half was closer to a pace of about 80 possessions for a full game.
Offensively Efficiency: 126.32
This ends up being Hope's highest point total and highest efficiency of the season. What makes this unusual is that the first half was only a 93. The second half Hope scored at a rate of 156. You can pretty much count the number of second half Alma defensive stops using very few fingers.
Defensive Efficiency: 111.95
Hope held Alma to a first half efficiency of just 86, which is excellent. A little disappointing Hope wasn't able to capitalize that effort into a bigger lead. The game opened up quite a bit in the second half and Alma scored at a rate of 135. A little different execution here and there and this might have been a different result.
Rebounding Efficiency:
Hope: 34.8% of available offensive rebounds
Alma: 35.7% of available offensive rebounds
2nd Chance points: Hope 12 Alma 10
Pretty much even though I think you'd expect Hope to have won this battle by a wider margin than 32-30. Hope shot 65% from the floor in the second half, just not many opportunities for rebounds.
Other Interesting Stats:
Free-throw shooting: 74% Hope hasn't been in too many games where they've had to salt away a lead from the stripe in the final minutes. Hope made 9-10 in the last minute and a half.
Going Forward:
Getting out of Alma with a win seems like a good thing these days. Those Scots don't ever quit, put you in tough one-on-one situations and just seem to play hard right to the end. They've already scalped Albion at Kresge and could very well get a couple more wins against the league semi-final participants.
A sort of normal week ahead with Adrian at home Wednesday followed by an important trip to Trine on Saturday. At this point it really seems like its about getting to that Calvin game next Wednesday with just the one conference loss.
Me vs: setting fire to all the snow
Wednesday: Adrian at DeVos Fieldhouse
Saturday: @ Trine
Friday, January 24, 2014
Efficiency Update
I updated efficiencies through last Saturday which is now just a smidgen past the halfway point for most teams. For some reason I didn't publish it and decided to add a little bit more today. Since its official that the AMCC is now part of the Great Lakes Region I've included the full conference for the first time.
Top 5 Offensive Teams:
I wouldn't anticipate Calvin coming down much, they're playing in a league with 3 or 4 teams that are allowing their opponents to score at a high rate and a league without a real strong defensive team. Behind Marietta is about 4 or 5 other schools within just 1 point. Overall efficiencies are up across most of college basketball. MIAA fans will be interested to know Adrian has climbed two spots off the bottom with a couple shrewd signings in the transfer window.(soccer reference)
Top 5 Defensive Teams:
Three of these 5 have played really soft schedules and reminds me I really need to start weighting these to schedule strength. The good news is its still possible to play good defense under the new foul guidelines but this scale has moved up, a 'good' number is now probably between 93-98.
more ratings at the click
Top 5 Offensive Teams:
| 1 | Calvin | 117.52 | |
| 2 | St. Vincent | 116.09 | |
| 3 | Wittenberg | 113.85 | |
| 4 | Mt. Union | 112.37 | |
| 5 | Marietta | 112.31 |
I wouldn't anticipate Calvin coming down much, they're playing in a league with 3 or 4 teams that are allowing their opponents to score at a high rate and a league without a real strong defensive team. Behind Marietta is about 4 or 5 other schools within just 1 point. Overall efficiencies are up across most of college basketball. MIAA fans will be interested to know Adrian has climbed two spots off the bottom with a couple shrewd signings in the transfer window.(soccer reference)
Top 5 Defensive Teams:
| 1 | PSU-Behrend | 89.25 |
| 2 | Bethany | 89.43 |
| 3 | Wooster | 90.02 |
| 4 | Hilbert | 92.69 |
| 5 | DePauw | 92.81 |
Three of these 5 have played really soft schedules and reminds me I really need to start weighting these to schedule strength. The good news is its still possible to play good defense under the new foul guidelines but this scale has moved up, a 'good' number is now probably between 93-98.
more ratings at the click
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Hope's MIAA Week 2
Albion 67 Hope 49
box score
I stumbled across a post I made on d3hoops about an Albion/Hope game by accident last week.
This was after the 2006 game and its pretty dead spot on for the 2014 version.
click to read more
box score
 |
| We stunk |
I stumbled across a post I made on d3hoops about an Albion/Hope game by accident last week.
There are times watching the game of basketball that you can just tell 2 minutes into a game who will win. Tonight was one of them.
Albion just simply out-hustled, out-defended and purely out-played the Dutchmen.
This was after the 2006 game and its pretty dead spot on for the 2014 version.
click to read more
Monday, January 13, 2014
Breaking it down: Calvin
Anatomy of a 3-point barrage
I've never actually gone through and done something like this but I really wanted to see how Hope was able to get so many good 3-point looks. My caveat is that I will freely admit my x's and o's and terminology is poor so this is purely an amateurs view of things.
Dear Calvin, white numbers on white uniforms is a bad idea. They might look good in person but on TV they are awful. Consequently I can't tell who some players are so I'll reference 'Calvin defender' frequently and may get some names with situations messed up. Also my uncle want to know when this game will be broadcast in HD......I'm still waiting for Hope to set up a tripod and camera.
These are all Hope's 3-point shot attempts, the one thing I didn't really do was count the number of times Hope passed up 3-point shots for something else. Didn't seem to be many anyway.
NVA= Nate Van Arendonk
1st Half
Time Shooter Score
16:13 Eidson 9-4
NVA sets a high screen for Gardner right wing as Gardner dribbles right towards Eidsen in the corner. As NVA rolls to the bucket, Jordan Brink has come off Eidson as if to double but only reaches towards Gardner, Calvin effectively now has 3 guys on Gardner as no one really follows NVA and Gardner's man has fought around the screen. Gardner passes to Eidson who is now open, Brink can't recover in time to defend the shot. Open shot, well taken.
Gardner gets high marks for the recognition, he really had two options to pass and choose the easiest, this was the first of many Calvin defensive mix-ups on screens.
14:45 Eidson 12-4
Eidson is camped in the right corner, Gardner dribbles to right wing passes to Eidson in the corner. Brock Benson comes out to screen Eidson's defender Brink. Brink feels the screen setting up as Eidson tosses the ball back to Gardner, Brink anticipates Eidson running the baseline, turns his back to ball and defender, realizes Eidson hasn't moved as Benson retreats toward the paint, before Brink can recover Gardner has passed it back to Eidson who drains the wide open shot. Wide open, clever play.
Gardner again gets high marks for recognition, but this play is made by Benson who makes sure to contact Brink while essentially faking to set up a screen, selling Brink on a baseline run by Eidson. Brink's mistake is turning his back before being sure Eidson has left his spot.
click to continue the fun
I've never actually gone through and done something like this but I really wanted to see how Hope was able to get so many good 3-point looks. My caveat is that I will freely admit my x's and o's and terminology is poor so this is purely an amateurs view of things.
Dear Calvin, white numbers on white uniforms is a bad idea. They might look good in person but on TV they are awful. Consequently I can't tell who some players are so I'll reference 'Calvin defender' frequently and may get some names with situations messed up. Also my uncle want to know when this game will be broadcast in HD......I'm still waiting for Hope to set up a tripod and camera.
These are all Hope's 3-point shot attempts, the one thing I didn't really do was count the number of times Hope passed up 3-point shots for something else. Didn't seem to be many anyway.
NVA= Nate Van Arendonk
1st Half
Time Shooter Score
16:13 Eidson 9-4
NVA sets a high screen for Gardner right wing as Gardner dribbles right towards Eidsen in the corner. As NVA rolls to the bucket, Jordan Brink has come off Eidson as if to double but only reaches towards Gardner, Calvin effectively now has 3 guys on Gardner as no one really follows NVA and Gardner's man has fought around the screen. Gardner passes to Eidson who is now open, Brink can't recover in time to defend the shot. Open shot, well taken.
Gardner gets high marks for the recognition, he really had two options to pass and choose the easiest, this was the first of many Calvin defensive mix-ups on screens.
14:45 Eidson 12-4
Eidson is camped in the right corner, Gardner dribbles to right wing passes to Eidson in the corner. Brock Benson comes out to screen Eidson's defender Brink. Brink feels the screen setting up as Eidson tosses the ball back to Gardner, Brink anticipates Eidson running the baseline, turns his back to ball and defender, realizes Eidson hasn't moved as Benson retreats toward the paint, before Brink can recover Gardner has passed it back to Eidson who drains the wide open shot. Wide open, clever play.
Gardner again gets high marks for recognition, but this play is made by Benson who makes sure to contact Brink while essentially faking to set up a screen, selling Brink on a baseline run by Eidson. Brink's mistake is turning his back before being sure Eidson has left his spot.
click to continue the fun
Hope 71 Calvin 63
box score
Hope started VanArendonk and Benson together again. Unlike the Trine game where that created an advantage, against Calvin it was probably more about matching up with the forest.
We (Hope fans) have been on the good side of this rivalry for a pretty good long time now. Coming into this one its been 12 years of winning at least one of these games, now 13, a school record. This run started with an upset of Calvin at the 2002 MIAA Championship game. Since, and including that game we've squeezed in 37 of these, Hope's won 25 of them.
For a person like me who spent his college years watching Hope unable to get past Steven Honderd and Calvin's excellent early 90's teams, saw Todd Henink, Aaron Winkle and Caleb Veldhouse prayers be answered this is practically a kind of nirvana. I'm still conditioned to feel the worst, to expect the big run that turns the game, to expect the shot from 30 feet to go in, to expect Calvin's students to lift their team into an unbeatable cauldran of noise that makes teams melt into a pudding of turnovers. Except yesterday.
Not very long into yesterday's game my mood changed completely and it was simple. Ben Gardner who never smiles turned around after a Hope basket and smiled, not a light smile but a grinning ear to ear smile. Grant Neil smirked with a look of holy cow this is happening after another Eidson 3 ball. Nate VanArendonk carried himself around the court with a look of confidence and desire rarely seen. Nine Hope guys played and all nine made plays that stood out in your minds rewind. Hope simply looked like and played like the better team all day. It just felt like it was going to happen, they believed it would happen and they made it happen.
Last year's games in that gym were humbling. Hope was kicked in the teeth twice. A year ago at Calvin I watched Hope lose by 26 only scoring 49 points and I was thankful it wasn't much, much worse. 12 months later the feeling couldn't be more different. This very young Hope team has a win at Calvin.
Key stretch:
There were more than one but the one that turned the game the most in Hope's favor was the 18-4 run in the middle of the second half from 14:19 to 6:08, Hope basically bookended that run with back-to-back threes first by Eidson's pair and then from the Freshmen Stuive and Carlson who were probably watching this game in the stands last year as Calvin recruits. A two point game in doubt was now incredibly 16. Calvin didn't score a FG again until Jordan Brink's 3 at 4:25 that sparked their very late and too little rally to finish the game.
Hero:
With 9:39 left in the first half Fr. Cody Stuive made his first appearance and played 25 of the remaining minutes. His height and length helped to balance Calvin's advantage in those areas and allowed a better set of defensive match-ups for Hope. Offensively he contributed significantly making a couple of big shots at key moments.
In Summary:
Efficiency:
Estimated number of possessions: Hope 69 Calvin 74
Some funky math to get that big of a difference. I'll call it a little up tempo.
Offensively Efficiency: 102.23
A little low, some missed ft's at the end hurt the final number. Calvin's a good defensive team too and for the most part they played a good defensive game in some situations, but some really big breakdowns. Its a higher eff than maybe what Calvin defended because of Hope's 3-point shooting.
Defensive Efficiency: 85.22
Hope's best effort of the year. It should be stated I've always thought when you get a number this low there's usually an element of offensive ineptness. Calvin wasn't good on this day, Hope had at least a little and maybe a lot of something to do with that.
Rebounding Efficiency:
Hope: 35.3% of available offensive rebounds
Calvin: 25.0% of available offensive rebounds
2nd Chance points: Hope 17 Calvin 7
A pretty convincing win for Hope here. Calvin hasn't been quite as good on the their own boards as a year ago but they're still pretty good. For the game Hope ended up collecting 44 rebounds to 36, mostly a product of Calvin missing 40 shots. But the overall effort was pretty sound, a lot of the physical battles for balls they lost last year in this game were won this time.
Other Interesting Stats.
Assists:
Calvin came into this game hovering around 65% of their FG's with as assist attached. Saturday only 40%, for whatever reason Calvin wasn't making or maybe looking for the extra pass. From a Hope defensive stand point that extra pass might not have been there.
3-point shooting:
Interesting, both teams shot 15 3's, about 5 or 6 for Calvin were the late game, desperate variety. There was a striking difference in the quality of 3's attempted noticed in the second viewing. Nearly all of Hope's were a product movement and screens resulting in open looks. Most of Calvin's seemed hurried, rushed, defended or even more obvious off-balance. The difference was not only in execution but quality of shot taken.
In all 4 of Calvin's losses they've shot under 30% from beyond the arc.
Blocked shots:
How many times do you see a team have 13 shots blocked and still win?
Going Forward:
No matter the league, no matter the level of talent, league play is difficult. Every MIAA season you're tested 7 times on the road. This was just one, a big one, but it was just one. Six more lie ahead, each with its unique challenges and characteristics. Savor it while you can but remember its only one step on this long journey.
For Hope its next test is venerable old Kresge Gymnasium and the Albion Britons. At times in the past this has actually been Hope's stiffest test of any season. Maybe the greatest growth of any young team is handling success, understanding that great efforts don't happen without great effort. I have no doubt they'll face a team Wednesday that will play them harder than anyone has to this point.
Me vs remembering this is an ongoing process and not a finished product
Wednesday Jan 15. @ Kresge
Hope started VanArendonk and Benson together again. Unlike the Trine game where that created an advantage, against Calvin it was probably more about matching up with the forest.
 |
| you've probably had to read along last year to get this |
We (Hope fans) have been on the good side of this rivalry for a pretty good long time now. Coming into this one its been 12 years of winning at least one of these games, now 13, a school record. This run started with an upset of Calvin at the 2002 MIAA Championship game. Since, and including that game we've squeezed in 37 of these, Hope's won 25 of them.
For a person like me who spent his college years watching Hope unable to get past Steven Honderd and Calvin's excellent early 90's teams, saw Todd Henink, Aaron Winkle and Caleb Veldhouse prayers be answered this is practically a kind of nirvana. I'm still conditioned to feel the worst, to expect the big run that turns the game, to expect the shot from 30 feet to go in, to expect Calvin's students to lift their team into an unbeatable cauldran of noise that makes teams melt into a pudding of turnovers. Except yesterday.
Not very long into yesterday's game my mood changed completely and it was simple. Ben Gardner who never smiles turned around after a Hope basket and smiled, not a light smile but a grinning ear to ear smile. Grant Neil smirked with a look of holy cow this is happening after another Eidson 3 ball. Nate VanArendonk carried himself around the court with a look of confidence and desire rarely seen. Nine Hope guys played and all nine made plays that stood out in your minds rewind. Hope simply looked like and played like the better team all day. It just felt like it was going to happen, they believed it would happen and they made it happen.
Last year's games in that gym were humbling. Hope was kicked in the teeth twice. A year ago at Calvin I watched Hope lose by 26 only scoring 49 points and I was thankful it wasn't much, much worse. 12 months later the feeling couldn't be more different. This very young Hope team has a win at Calvin.
Key stretch:
There were more than one but the one that turned the game the most in Hope's favor was the 18-4 run in the middle of the second half from 14:19 to 6:08, Hope basically bookended that run with back-to-back threes first by Eidson's pair and then from the Freshmen Stuive and Carlson who were probably watching this game in the stands last year as Calvin recruits. A two point game in doubt was now incredibly 16. Calvin didn't score a FG again until Jordan Brink's 3 at 4:25 that sparked their very late and too little rally to finish the game.
Hero:
With 9:39 left in the first half Fr. Cody Stuive made his first appearance and played 25 of the remaining minutes. His height and length helped to balance Calvin's advantage in those areas and allowed a better set of defensive match-ups for Hope. Offensively he contributed significantly making a couple of big shots at key moments.
In Summary:
 |
| It wasn't a tire fire, also a reference to last year |
Estimated number of possessions: Hope 69 Calvin 74
Some funky math to get that big of a difference. I'll call it a little up tempo.
Offensively Efficiency: 102.23
A little low, some missed ft's at the end hurt the final number. Calvin's a good defensive team too and for the most part they played a good defensive game in some situations, but some really big breakdowns. Its a higher eff than maybe what Calvin defended because of Hope's 3-point shooting.
Defensive Efficiency: 85.22
Hope's best effort of the year. It should be stated I've always thought when you get a number this low there's usually an element of offensive ineptness. Calvin wasn't good on this day, Hope had at least a little and maybe a lot of something to do with that.
Rebounding Efficiency:
Hope: 35.3% of available offensive rebounds
Calvin: 25.0% of available offensive rebounds
2nd Chance points: Hope 17 Calvin 7
A pretty convincing win for Hope here. Calvin hasn't been quite as good on the their own boards as a year ago but they're still pretty good. For the game Hope ended up collecting 44 rebounds to 36, mostly a product of Calvin missing 40 shots. But the overall effort was pretty sound, a lot of the physical battles for balls they lost last year in this game were won this time.
Other Interesting Stats.
Assists:
Calvin came into this game hovering around 65% of their FG's with as assist attached. Saturday only 40%, for whatever reason Calvin wasn't making or maybe looking for the extra pass. From a Hope defensive stand point that extra pass might not have been there.
3-point shooting:
Interesting, both teams shot 15 3's, about 5 or 6 for Calvin were the late game, desperate variety. There was a striking difference in the quality of 3's attempted noticed in the second viewing. Nearly all of Hope's were a product movement and screens resulting in open looks. Most of Calvin's seemed hurried, rushed, defended or even more obvious off-balance. The difference was not only in execution but quality of shot taken.
In all 4 of Calvin's losses they've shot under 30% from beyond the arc.
Blocked shots:
How many times do you see a team have 13 shots blocked and still win?
Going Forward:
No matter the league, no matter the level of talent, league play is difficult. Every MIAA season you're tested 7 times on the road. This was just one, a big one, but it was just one. Six more lie ahead, each with its unique challenges and characteristics. Savor it while you can but remember its only one step on this long journey.
For Hope its next test is venerable old Kresge Gymnasium and the Albion Britons. At times in the past this has actually been Hope's stiffest test of any season. Maybe the greatest growth of any young team is handling success, understanding that great efforts don't happen without great effort. I have no doubt they'll face a team Wednesday that will play them harder than anyone has to this point.
Me vs remembering this is an ongoing process and not a finished product
Wednesday Jan 15. @ Kresge
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Hope 75 Trine 61
(I've pretty much decided to only do a review of the weeks games once and combine them into one long post. But Hope/Calvin games probably deserve their own space so I'll do two this week and in 4 weeks.)
box score
If you read the MIAA preview I wrote last week you probably guessed I didn't think much of Trine's non-conference schedule. To me, I think it was pretty clear Hope would be the best team they had played and probably by a lot so this score shouldn't be to surprising.
Through the magic of the internet I was more focused on watching Adrian/Olivet and Kalamazoo/Albion. So I actually only passively listened to this one.
Since this was another game I didn't see, I'll keep it brief.
Note: Hope started Brock Benson and Nate VanArendonk together. This isn't the first time and if you've strung together some of Matt Neil's comments since about early November he's mentioned 'versatility' and 'we have options' a number of times. This is pretty much what he's talking about. This front-line I'm sure caused a couple match-up problems for the Thunder. It will be good for some opponents, not so good for others.
Efficiency:
Estimated number of possessions: Hope 65 Trine 66
Standard
Offensively Efficiency: 116.28
This becomes Hope's second best performance of the season and excellent. Trine had given up eff's of 110+ to all 4 good teams they've played.
Defensive Efficiency: 92.39
Also to this point Hope's 2nd best performance of the year. Trine had been pretty good offensively against that soft schedule for the most part with a few games where they clearly struggled.
Rebounding Efficiency:
Hope: 32.0% of available offensive rebounds
Trine: 37.5% of available offensive rebounds
2nd Chance points: Trine 14 Hope 13
I've harped on this a couple times the last couple years, the greatest difference between Trine and Hope/Calvin has been rebounding. The next leap they need to make to reach that level maybe. This is probably the first time they've won this battle recently against these opponents.
Basketball is a lot more than just rebounding of course, but Hope was a little lucky here to have won so convincingly while losing this battle. Obviously there were a number of other things that were bigger factors, one guess would be defense. The other would be a deeper bench, and Hope had 30 bench points to Trine's 10.
Game Score: I'm going to scrap game score. One, because I'm tired of figuring it out. Two, I'm not sure its all that helpful.
So......Other Interesting Stats.
Assists:
Hope recorded 18 assists on 27 made baskets. That's excellent.
It's an Indiana thing I can't possibly understand:
Trine's Fr. pg Will Dixon had been Trine's leading scorer 4 times previously and in recent games had scored 16, 14, 13 in the 3 games leading up to Thursday. I guess if Ben Gardner runs across an Indiana guy it becomes some sort of personal challenge. I don't know if it was all specifically Gardner v. Dixon but Hope held him to 5 points on just 2-12 shooting. Since being inserted as the starting pg, that's the best anyone has defended him.
Going Forward:
Hope continues another one of those long streaks that don't always makes sense. Since joining the league, Trine has never beaten Hope. That streak is up to 23 now.
Short turn around for Saturday's contest at Calvin. A little early in the proceedings for my taste but no time like the present. (insert lots of comments about questions, things to watch, slaying lions etc.....except I'm writing this Sunday morning the day after)
Up Next: ?
Saturday, Jan. 11 at Calvin
box score
If you read the MIAA preview I wrote last week you probably guessed I didn't think much of Trine's non-conference schedule. To me, I think it was pretty clear Hope would be the best team they had played and probably by a lot so this score shouldn't be to surprising.
Through the magic of the internet I was more focused on watching Adrian/Olivet and Kalamazoo/Albion. So I actually only passively listened to this one.
Since this was another game I didn't see, I'll keep it brief.
Note: Hope started Brock Benson and Nate VanArendonk together. This isn't the first time and if you've strung together some of Matt Neil's comments since about early November he's mentioned 'versatility' and 'we have options' a number of times. This is pretty much what he's talking about. This front-line I'm sure caused a couple match-up problems for the Thunder. It will be good for some opponents, not so good for others.
Efficiency:
Estimated number of possessions: Hope 65 Trine 66
Standard
Offensively Efficiency: 116.28
This becomes Hope's second best performance of the season and excellent. Trine had given up eff's of 110+ to all 4 good teams they've played.
Defensive Efficiency: 92.39
Also to this point Hope's 2nd best performance of the year. Trine had been pretty good offensively against that soft schedule for the most part with a few games where they clearly struggled.
Rebounding Efficiency:
Hope: 32.0% of available offensive rebounds
Trine: 37.5% of available offensive rebounds
2nd Chance points: Trine 14 Hope 13
I've harped on this a couple times the last couple years, the greatest difference between Trine and Hope/Calvin has been rebounding. The next leap they need to make to reach that level maybe. This is probably the first time they've won this battle recently against these opponents.
Basketball is a lot more than just rebounding of course, but Hope was a little lucky here to have won so convincingly while losing this battle. Obviously there were a number of other things that were bigger factors, one guess would be defense. The other would be a deeper bench, and Hope had 30 bench points to Trine's 10.
Game Score: I'm going to scrap game score. One, because I'm tired of figuring it out. Two, I'm not sure its all that helpful.
So......Other Interesting Stats.
Assists:
Hope recorded 18 assists on 27 made baskets. That's excellent.
It's an Indiana thing I can't possibly understand:
Trine's Fr. pg Will Dixon had been Trine's leading scorer 4 times previously and in recent games had scored 16, 14, 13 in the 3 games leading up to Thursday. I guess if Ben Gardner runs across an Indiana guy it becomes some sort of personal challenge. I don't know if it was all specifically Gardner v. Dixon but Hope held him to 5 points on just 2-12 shooting. Since being inserted as the starting pg, that's the best anyone has defended him.
Going Forward:
Hope continues another one of those long streaks that don't always makes sense. Since joining the league, Trine has never beaten Hope. That streak is up to 23 now.
Short turn around for Saturday's contest at Calvin. A little early in the proceedings for my taste but no time like the present. (insert lots of comments about questions, things to watch, slaying lions etc.....except I'm writing this Sunday morning the day after)
Up Next: ?
Saturday, Jan. 11 at Calvin
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
MIAA Analysis and Preview
Almost January 8th 9th already.
Begin by looking at league performance. The league collectively went 39-49 this year. That's a little down from the past 3 years but given the graduations and the overall youth of the league I think it went ok.
For these ten years the average is 40 wins, so hurray average! If there is one concern it has to be the league's 3-15 mark against fellow Great Lakes Region teams. That's awful, and it won't earn you any favors in the rankings. So if MIAA team #2 gets stiffed at the final rankings and NCAA selection you really have no argument if your league beat almost no one in your region.
lots more
Begin by looking at league performance. The league collectively went 39-49 this year. That's a little down from the past 3 years but given the graduations and the overall youth of the league I think it went ok.
| 2005 | 46-38 | 0.548 |
| 2006 | 52-34 | 0.605 |
| 2007 | 27-51 | 0.346 |
| 2008 | 34-44 | 0.386 |
| 2009 | 35-46 | 0.432 |
| 2010 | 38-50 | 0.432 |
| 2011 | 43-43 | 0.500 |
| 2012 | 44-43 | 0.506 |
| 2013 | 48-39 | 0.552 |
| 2014 | 39-49 | 0.443 |
For these ten years the average is 40 wins, so hurray average! If there is one concern it has to be the league's 3-15 mark against fellow Great Lakes Region teams. That's awful, and it won't earn you any favors in the rankings. So if MIAA team #2 gets stiffed at the final rankings and NCAA selection you really have no argument if your league beat almost no one in your region.
lots more
Monday, January 6, 2014
Hope 68 Edgewood 64
Short and sweat since I did not attend this game and plan on writing something before we start league play on Wednesday Thursday. Hope pulled out another game in a virtual carbon copy performance to the Thomas More game. Hope's one time 20 point advantage quickly disappeared at the start of the second half and they found themselves having to claw back this victory. In the end Hope did enough things to win, but not enough things in the final couple minutes to put it away so fans weren't on the edge of their seats. Hope missed 6 ft's in the games final 6 minutes including the front end of two one for one's. Those are 8 points that would make the following score look a lot better.
Hope 68 Edgewood 64
box
Efficiency:
Estimated number of possessions: Hope 74 Edgewood 73
Wasn't expecting this many possessions with neither team reaching 70 points.
Offensively Efficiency: 99.96
Pretty meh after 5 pretty good games in a row. The game was opposite halves with Hope decidedly winning the first, Edgewood the second. First half efficiency was 112, the second half was a pretty horrible 84. It was just hard for Hope to score in the 2nd half.
Defensive Efficiency: 98.23
This is fine had Hope been able to maintain its first-half offense. First half was 83, which is excellent, 2nd half 111. A let down at both ends of the court is usually not very acceptable.
Rebounding Efficiency:
Hope: 40.6% of available offensive rebounds
Edgewood: 25.0% of available offensive rebounds
This is really where this game was won. Edgewood came into this a pretty solid +5 for the year with some pretty good offensive rebounding numbers. Hope won this battle to the tune of 18-8 in 2nd chance points. Overall won the battle inside as well with 36 points in the paint to 18.
Game Score:
3rd star- Grant Neil, Hope 9.8
sneaky production
2nd star- Brock Benson, Hope 10.8
Big minutes as Hope fought off foul troubles
1st star- Brett Meinecke, Edgewood 12.4
Sometimes a guy just plays well, came into this one shooting under 30% from 3, he went 5-8.
Hope's scoring was very balanced. If there was a 4th star it would have been Nate VanArendonk. Nate was very influential in the early part of the game.
Going Forward:
That wraps up the non-conference portion of the schedule at 6-5, pretty much what I envisioned though it would have been nice to pick off one of the big boys along the way. Young teams can be an adventure, Hope could have lost a couple other games but found ways to pull them out in the end. What you hope of course is that you are better now than when you started and that you'll be better 2 months from now. Overall this schedule was tough.
We dive right into the heart of the MIAA schedule with Trine onWednesday Thursday then its off to that other school on Saturday. Fun!
Up Next:
Me vs not reliving the winter of 1978, please don't be that.
Thurday Jan 9. vs Trine at DeVos Fieldhouse (weather permitting)
Hope 68 Edgewood 64
box
Efficiency:
Estimated number of possessions: Hope 74 Edgewood 73
Wasn't expecting this many possessions with neither team reaching 70 points.
Offensively Efficiency: 99.96
Pretty meh after 5 pretty good games in a row. The game was opposite halves with Hope decidedly winning the first, Edgewood the second. First half efficiency was 112, the second half was a pretty horrible 84. It was just hard for Hope to score in the 2nd half.
Defensive Efficiency: 98.23
This is fine had Hope been able to maintain its first-half offense. First half was 83, which is excellent, 2nd half 111. A let down at both ends of the court is usually not very acceptable.
Rebounding Efficiency:
Hope: 40.6% of available offensive rebounds
Edgewood: 25.0% of available offensive rebounds
This is really where this game was won. Edgewood came into this a pretty solid +5 for the year with some pretty good offensive rebounding numbers. Hope won this battle to the tune of 18-8 in 2nd chance points. Overall won the battle inside as well with 36 points in the paint to 18.
Game Score:
3rd star- Grant Neil, Hope 9.8
sneaky production
2nd star- Brock Benson, Hope 10.8
Big minutes as Hope fought off foul troubles
1st star- Brett Meinecke, Edgewood 12.4
Sometimes a guy just plays well, came into this one shooting under 30% from 3, he went 5-8.
Hope's scoring was very balanced. If there was a 4th star it would have been Nate VanArendonk. Nate was very influential in the early part of the game.
Going Forward:
That wraps up the non-conference portion of the schedule at 6-5, pretty much what I envisioned though it would have been nice to pick off one of the big boys along the way. Young teams can be an adventure, Hope could have lost a couple other games but found ways to pull them out in the end. What you hope of course is that you are better now than when you started and that you'll be better 2 months from now. Overall this schedule was tough.
We dive right into the heart of the MIAA schedule with Trine on
Up Next:
Me vs not reliving the winter of 1978, please don't be that.
Thurday Jan 9. vs Trine at DeVos Fieldhouse (weather permitting)
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Thomas More Tournament Review
Hope went to Northern Kentucky fishing for in-region wins and found a couple keepers. On Monday the Dutchmen rallied to beat a Centre team that I'm fairly convinced is going to be a borderline NCAA team. Tuesday the Dutchmen found themselves in a battle with host Thomas More and needed nearly identical steals in the final few seconds to steal a game that in the end may turn out to be pretty huge.
Monday: Hope 75 Centre 68
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| apparently known as the 'praying colonel' |
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