MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[bojack]

You are right, a games final stat line does not adequately represent a head-to head match-up...I agree. Don't forget to include the two NVA fouls was 4 points for Tyler Kruis because he made all 4 FT's. I would think that part of a big man's job is to keep themselves on the floor to keep that void filled, NVA has work yet to do in that department, I think everyone would agree. His back-up, Holwerda, has improved greatly and helps cover his fouls up more than adequately. But, NVA inability to stay out of foul trouble is all part of what results in a nice stat-line for Kruis....

It is what is it is, an opinion. Hope has a better team and better pieces...as for me, I prefer Tyler Kruis to NVA right now and I don't expect everyone to agree. He seems substantially more polish offensive with a great nose for the ORB, block, shot, and has the length to guard guys with the size of NVA. Just my opinion...

[almcguirejr]

1. Snugs has had a good season. In my judgment Krombeen is the clear MVP. Just please make your layups and free throws.
2. Am I the only Hope poster who is concerned that they gave up 53 points in the second half last night? That's a lot, and it's not as if the scrubs were on the floor.

There were a lot of possessions in the second half.  First half it was about 32 per team which is around or near average for what you'd expect in a post-season game.   The second half there were an estimated 45 possessions for each team,  that was a pretty incredible pace.

Total for the game was est. 75 for each team.   First meeting it was 68, second about 72


I posted this after the 2nd Hope/Calvin game

Taking a look at the efficiency ratings for the two games so far, (points per 100 possessions.)

@ Hope, Hope 116.55    Calvin 96.15
@ Calvin, Hope 116.33    Calvin 96.82

Scores were 81-65 and 83-70, that's pretty remarkable.

Last night was

Hope 114.97  Calvin 102.79

Take out Powell's two ridiculous shots at the end and the efficiency rate for the game pretty much mirrored the previous two game.

The 2 teams combined for 41 points (25% of total points scored) in the last 5 minutes of the game. If that pace would have kept up for the whole game both teams would have had close to 160 points.

[Civic Minded]

You are right, a games final stat line does not adequately represent a head-to head match-up...I agree. Don't forget to include the two NVA fouls was 4 points for Tyler Kruis because he made all 4 FT's. I would think that part of a big man's job is to keep themselves on the floor to keep that void filled, NVA has work yet to do in that department, I think everyone would agree. His back-up, Holwerda, has improved greatly and helps cover his fouls up more than adequately. But, NVA inability to stay out of foul trouble is all part of what results in a nice stat-line for Kruis....

It is what is it is, an opinion. Hope has a better team and better pieces...as for me, I prefer Tyler Kruis to NVA right now and I don't expect everyone to agree. He seems substantially more polish offensive with a great nose for the ORB, block, shot, and has the length to guard guys with the size of NVA. Just my opinion...

I can't argue much with this if all you've seen of NVA are Hope/Calvin games.  Few would argue that those settings are unique and pressure-filled.  Having watched him in 24 of his 26 games, I am more than happy with NVA's ability, athleticism, shot-blocking ability, rebounding, footwork, and great passing skills.  I liked the way TK backed away from him when confronted.  You all can continue to bash away (or discuss, if that's the word you prefer); I think most Hope fans are perfectly content with this young man and what he brings to the game now, and what he'll contribute in the future.

As to foul trouble, he's had 3 or fewer fouls in 14 games this year.  I'm ok with that too.  Sure, less would be better, and I believe that will come.  I'm frustrated with the broad brush that he's being painted with, but I suppose that's part of the joy and wonder of this particular venue.   

Oh, and we're still playing.  Tyler Kruis is not.   

[HopeConvert]

I don't take the fact that Hope scored a bunch of points in the second half to be much consolation. After all, in an up-tempo game Hope ought to have the advantage over Calvin. I thought their defense in the first half was outstanding. So I'm trying to figure out what happened in the second half. Take away Powell's 3s and they still score 47. That's a lot. Did Hope begin to slacken? Did Calvin expose something?

Sure, Calvin played hard, but every team Hope plays from here on out is going to play hard, trying to make sure it's not their last game. If they are going to give up 50 a half to teams that play hard they won't be in Salem.

But I'm really offering this as a question: what happened? If Calvin saw something and attacked it - say, for example, Hope's interior defense - then what does that portend? If it was just Hope slacking, then why weren't they more intense in the last 5 minutes when they should have put the game away? I'm counting on the observations of others on this one.

[section7]

Congrats to Hope on their victory last night and good luck Saturday and in the NCAA Tourney.

A concern of mine throughout the year has been 3 areas --- Rebounds, FT Shooting and 3's made.

The Dutchmen are a very talented team and a team that can go on incredible runs that most (maybe all, we shall see) D-3 teams cannot contend with and/or overcome.

However, if the Dutchmen are derailed at some point between today and the Div III finals, I believe one or more of the areas above will be their downfall.

Let's look at the 2nd Half of the MIAA season and these categories:

Opponent                     Rebounds                   FT Shooting           3's Made

Adrian                     43 vs 45 (28 offensive)            20-23                         6
Albion                      37 vs 22                               14-19                         5
Kzoo                       41 vs 31                                 6-13                         3
Calvin                      29 vs 43 (19 offensive)            20-26                        7
Olivet                       51 vs 31                               14-21                        3
Trine                         43 vs 30                               7-12                         4
Calvin                       34 vs 39 (13 offensive)            20-33                       9

Some things that stick out, against the teams Hope should be, they clearly had the rebounding advantage.  Against the #2 and in my opinion #3 team in the league, they lost the rebounding advantage all 3 games and gave up significant offensive rebounds.  My guess is any team Hope plays in the Div III tourney will be at least the caliber of Adrian and/or Calvin.

In regards to FT shooting, in those 3 games where they lost the rebounding battle, they made 20 FT's and with the exception of last night, at a nice %, greater than 75%.  However, in their last 3 games, they are 41-66 or 62.1%.  In a close, NCAA tournament game, 62%, will most likely lead to you going home.

Finally, 3 pointers made, have been an area of concern for me all year.  In their regular season, Hope has been able to neutralize their lack of 3 pointers due to the slashing ability of Krombeen, Overway, Bunn, etc.  However, as they progress in the tournament, I would expect this to be a more and more difficult task.  That is why (as mentioned by several on here), that the return of Logan's 3-stroke is important and clearly hitting 9 last night is a point in the right direction.

I believe for Hope to "win it all", they must win at least 2 of these 3 categories in each game.  History shows at all levels of basketball, if you can win the rebounding battle and shot a high % of FT's (75% or greater), you have a great chance of winning.  As the games get more physical in the tourney and quality of opponent improves, this will be something to watch for Hope.

Those are my 2 cents.........dissect, agree and critque as you like.  I wish Coach Neil, Daav and the entire Hope program the best wishes..........................Hang a Banner!

[arena]

2. Am I the only Hope poster who is concerned that they gave up 53 points in the second half last night? That's a lot, and it's not as if the scrubs were on the floor.

It concerns me a bit, but not overly.  Calvin played extremely well in the second half - plus 6 of those points came on some incredible, but unlikely 3's by Powell late.  Had the Hope guys (Overway, Krombeen, Bunn, and Snuggs) shot their average on FT's, Hope would have scored 6 more points in the second half.  That would have made the second half scoring 53-52.

But they didn't, so big deal.

[oldknight]

While I agree with so many of the comments on last night's Calvin-Hope battle.  I have a lot of questions about Hope's chances in the NCAA tournament.  They have some real strengths that will bring them a long way into the tournament.  Krombeen, Snuggerud,  their defense, their passing, their shooting inside and out, Holwerda's improved offense, and their experienced leadership are all strengths.  But I see NVAs and Holwerda's foul prone defense and rebounding problems as factors that may cause real problems against top notch competitor's.  I was interested in the comparison's of Kruis and NVA's statistics, which clearly showed an advantage at this point to Kruis.  They stat I did not see and that I consider very important is the comparative number of fouls.  Just watching the games, it really seemed easy to draw VA and after him Holwerda into foul trouble.  They are much weaker without either of them in the game. My prediction for the NCAA is a long run, but I do not expect them to win the championship.  I hope I am wrong.

I agree.  Every team has weaknesses and I think Calvin exposed some of Hope's that were previously not so apparent. The good news for Hope is this was the type of game from which they can learn in order to become more tournament ready. The bad news is that at least some tournament caliber teams Hope is likely to see will undoubtedly be able compete more effectively than Calvin could on the perimeter. I know if I was an opponent I would like to acquire a copy of last night's video. Hope certainly has the tools to get to Salem but my gut tells me they will fall short of their goal.

On other matters, I think Calvin took their chances with Hope last night by conciously putting most of their defensive marbles into trying to shut down Hope's interior game and daring Hope to fire up threes. Even though Hope went 9-18 from the arc, I think that was a good gamble. Hope took far fewer triples than any other MIAA team this year and won the conference comfortably. When you're the underdog like Calvin, it makes sense to force Hope to do something different to win. Both sac and HC alluded to the likelihood that this was a planned strategy by KVS and I believe they are correct.  If Calvin had gotten lucky and Hope only goes 4-18, we're having a different conversation today.

I thought Kruis played an outstanding game last night, even though he didn't shoot spectacularly well. Going for 16 and 13 in a game of this magnitude against a high quality oppponent is very good, and his active presence on the defensive end was admirable. I don't know if you noticed but only DeYoung spelled Kruis in the post during the course of the game--and then for just one or two minute stretches (neither Stout or VanEck made an appearance in Tyler's relief). Yet Kruis still put forth maximum effort every moment he was on the floor. He looked pretty exhausted during the frenetic last five minutes but asserted himself and continued to force Hope to foul him by taking it to the basket. NVA has a bigger body and will be a dominant big man in this league but Kruis has better footwork right now and is more athletic.

Assuming everyone on the DL and the AL returns hale and hearty in the fall, Calvin returns a wealth of experience next season. They will have eight players who have been a college starter, and that doesn't even include players like Dykstra, Mast and Stout who acquired far more important minutes in a Knight uniform than they would have otherwise. Maybe it was that thought which passed through Snikkers' mind when he mentioned his excitement about next year.

[goodknight]

Or maybe Tommy was thinking about the sweet JV team Calvin is going to have next year?

Speaking of which, KVS mentioned 6-10 freshman Bryce Lutke in his post-game radio interview last night as a JV player who  made remarkable improvement during the year and could be in the varsity mix next year along with Kruis, Stout and potentially others in the low post.  It will be interesting to see if DeYoung and VanEck seek to play their senior seasons if they are unlikely to see much time on the court. 

[gohope]

Or maybe Tommy was thinking about the sweet JV team Calvin is going to have next year?

Or maybe Tommy was thinking about making more FT's??!!  "Shot-shot...shot-shot..shot-shot..shot-shot..shot-shot..shot-shot..shot-shot........EVERYBODY!!!!!!!!!"         

[goodknight]

Or maybe Tommy was thinking about the sweet JV team Calvin is going to have next year?

Or maybe Tommy was thinking about making more FT's??!!  "Shot-shot...shot-shot..shot-shot..shot-shot..shot-shot..shot-shot..shot-shot........EVERYBODY!!!!!!!!!"         

Or consuming more fluids?

[sac]

Here's a really good write-up of the Adrian/Trine game from the Adrian Daily Telegram.

http://www.lenconnect.com/sports/collegesports/x248723414/Adrian-College-mens-basketball-beats-Trine-in-MIAA-semifinal

[Knight2Day]

Speaking of which, KVS mentioned 6-10 freshman Bryce Lutke in his post-game radio interview last night as a JV player who  made remarkable improvement during the year and could be in the varsity mix next year along with Kruis, Stout and potentially others in the low post.

Happy to see KVS paid attention to the JV team...wonder if he realizes he just went 13-13

[almcguirejr]

Watching Hope trying to close out Calvin Wednesday night reminded me of the trouble Hope had in closing out Wheaton in the MIAA/CCIW challenge game at Calvin.  Hope had a 9 point lead with 4 minutes to go, lost the lead, Krombeen got a steal and 2 free throws to win by 1.  Against Aquinas, Hope had a 10 point lead with 3:16 to go and won by 2.  Hope has not played many tight games and that may be a disadvantage come tournament time.

[Flash1996]

Does anyone actually believe that KVS is on the proverbial "hot seat"?  I know he seems to be losing to Hope quite often, but looking at his records the last few years, its not like he is phoning it in.  Every coach has an off year and things simply don't go as planned.  Look at MSU and Tom Izzo last year, the team wasn't living up to expectations, but they're back on top again this year.  I think it seems to be terribly reactive to consider letting KVS go for a .500 season.  Now if next season is more of the same or worse, then it might be time to consider looking for a new coach.  But KVS can continue losing to Hope all that he wants.

[Happy Calvin Guy]

Speaking of which, KVS mentioned 6-10 freshman Bryce Lutke in his post-game radio interview last night as a JV player who  made remarkable improvement during the year and could be in the varsity mix next year along with Kruis, Stout and potentially others in the low post.

Happy to see KVS paid attention to the JV team...wonder if he realizes he just went 13-13

OK I get the sarcasm, but
1.  I actually am glad that KVS pays attention to the JV team.  His job as coach is not just X's and O's but also recruiting and  building depth/future in the program.  History has shown that championship MIAA teams usually have a couple of key contributors who started at the JV level. 
2.  I'm sure he is well aware of the final record.  I'm also sure that, just like you and me, he's not thrilled with the bottom line of the 2011-12 season.  I do appreciate the fact that the sweat from the final game isn't even dry and his mind is already thinking about how to make sure that doesn't happen again.

Taken as a whole, this season was the worst we've seen in a long time.  But looking at the returning talent potential, there are many reasons to be optimistic about next season, regardless of who is coach.