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| Tell me when its ok to look |
I saw Trine play at Olivet on Saturday. I will admit, I mostly went because it was a nice day and it was on the way to Adrian for me. I spent most of the game texting like a teenager. Half engaged, half not. What mostly pulled my head up from my phone was Will Dixon doing something Will Dixonie. He impressed me
Trine is a good basketball team. They don't beat themselves, don't turn the ball over, play solid if unspectacular defense. They aren't particularly big but big enough for D3, and even for D3 they aren't very deep. They are just a good team. When I compile the final efficiency ratings at the end of the year they will finish somewhere in the middle of our Great Lakes Region, right behind all the teams they lost to and ahead of the ones they beat. They beat one team with a winning record this year, Ohio Northern. There is really nothing remarkable about them, except for Dixon and on occasion Tyler Good.
Dixon is the kind of kid you build a program around, recruit to compliment him. On Saturday and again last night Trine head coach Brooks Miller unleashed his future star on their opponent. 20 shots Saturday, 24 last night. 27 points and 26 points, he played 44 minutes last night and 80 of his teams 85 over the two games Miller put his faith in the Freshmen to deliver and he nearly did.
This night though belonged to Hope, somehow, someway they found a way to grind out a tough win against an opponent playing tough. Down 6 twice with under 6 minutes to play they delivered 3-point shots out of the blue to close the gap. Needing two free-throws with seconds on the clock Senior Nate Van Arendonk stroked them both home. In overtime, they forced defensive stops and scored just enough points to secure victory. Survive and advance.
I was impressed:
The post-season has snuck up on me again. Its easy to forget what these games are like and how what you saw during the regular season really can't do justice to what happens when the importance of games goes up a notch or two.
I was impressed with Trine's execution, with their defensive effort, with how they carried themselves on the court. They wore down a bit at the end but they gave themselves the best possible chance to pull off a win. A play here or there and Trine would be playing in Grand Rapids Saturday.
On Hope's side I was impressed with their poise and confidence, not once did they really force something that wasn't there. With 3 minutes to play down 6 they played like there was still 10 minutes to play. They launched 3's confidently twice and made them when if they miss the game is pretty much over. I'm a little at a loss for how to describe how they pulled this one out.
Talking about practice:
I wish I could rewind my mind to Satuday's Trine/Olivet game. I bet I could find every offensive set they ran against Hope in that game, they were basically practicing against the Comets. I should probably text less.
Midweek Semi-finals are a failure:
I think if we're going to keep doing this four team tournament we need to just move it to Friday's. This midweek stuff results in lousy attendance, lousy atmosphere's. The logistics of hosting this thing isn't so difficult that it can't be handled by the terrific staffs of our member schools on one day's notice.
Last night:
at Hope 1265
at Calvin 473
This is a drop of 1,500 from the same two locations last season and embarrassing. Maybe the weather was worse than I thought but still this is awful.
2011, both semi-finals at Hope on a Friday night.
Game 1: 1210
Game 2: 3205
Let's see, 2800 x $7.........
That's leaving a lot of cheese at the door.
Efficiency:
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| This man approves of the following, it was a Bo Ryan special |
Very slow and exactly how Trine would want it. In regulation it was 56 each, the fewest of the season. Down 9 with 11 minutes to play, with as few times as Hope was likely to see the ball at that pace is a pretty amazing comeback.
Offensively Efficiency: 103.38
Hope scraped out a number just over 100 after a first half of low 90's and an overtime that included 1 field goal. Hope took 21 shots in each half, the difference was making 5 second half 3's to none in the first half. Trine held Hope to nearly this same number the first time they played in Holland.
Defensive Efficiency: 98.88
Trine had a 115 eff first half which could have been so much better. In the second half Hope buckled down a bit, mostly from the 11 minutes down to 4 minutes period where they allowed no field goals and one measly free-throw. A total of only 5 missed shots and two turnovers. Seven possessions in seven minutes, that's how slow this thing was. Bo Ryan would be proud (actually he'd still be angry about something but proud)
Rebounding Efficiency:
Hope: 28% of available offensive rebounds
Trine: 19.4% of available offensive rebounds
2nd Chance points: Trine 7 Hope 4
Trine had 6 offensive rebounds in the first half resulting in 7 points on a 6 point halftime lead. For the rest of the entire game including overtime Trine had zero offensive rebounds and zero second chance points. This could be the whole entire reason we are thinking about playing Calvin Saturday.
To Trine's credit they did a nice job on Hope's end and kept Hope pretty close to a one shot and done team. As I've pointed out before Trine hasn't always rebounded well against Hope and Calvin.
Other Interesting Stats:
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| So proud! |
Ok its cliche, survive and advance. That's all that matters, when Saturday comes around no one cares if you looked pretty on Wednesday. In a game barely attended by anybody Hope pulled out a game they looked like they would lose because the other team was playing desperate, end of season basketball. It was a better win than it looks for reasons that only become clear later on.
Two 20 win teams meet up Saturday in whats become the annual showpiece of the MIAA post-season tournament to the delight of everyone who doesn't care about Hope or Calvin. For the 8th time in 9 seasons the winner gets the automatic bid to the big dance, the surest way to make sure your Sunday is more relaxing.
Up Next:
Me vs ever understanding Big Ten Basketball
Saturday February 29, 3pm
MIAA Tournament Championship
Calvin vs Hope at DeVos Fieldhouse
I am really sorry only a handful of people will understand this last one.
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| "You say you counted the basket and it didn't go in?" |
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