MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[realist]

There has been much debate recently about Trine's ineffective bench and thus having the starters log 37-38 minutes a game.  For those of you in attendance at today's Calvin-Trine game, did you notice tired legs out of the Trine players?  Or was it just a combination of height/rebounding taking over down the stretch.  Dixon's poor shooting the last 2 games...maybe a sign of wearing down?  Or perhaps teams getting a better feel of what Trine is all about the 2nd go around in conference and making adjustments of what might not have worked the 1st time against them. 

Winning on the road is tough and my concerns about this 3 game stretch for Trine is coming true.

When only 4 of your 5 starters score, and none of the people coming off the bench are able to score at some point it leads to trouble.  I think the Trine guys really tried very hard.  They kept the game close, and even managed to snag a lead, but once challenged they simply did not or could not answer.  Calvin was much better prepared for what Trine threw at them today than they were in the first meeting.  Calvin was able to keep their turnovers low, and the 43-24 rebounding advantage Calvin had speaks volumes.  As a Calvin fan I really don't want to have to see Trine again, but I would say the same thing about Hope or probably Alma or Adrian.   

[oldknight]

I'll avoid the trash-talking bait laid down by knightvision other than to note that not only did I not reach for someone else's offer of popcorn, I actually provided not one, not two, but three such containers to the good folks of section 110. They were hot too.

Lots of respect for Trine's small but hardy band. They're warriors, that's for sure--smart, tough and competitive. They gave their all. Earlier several of us wondered if their use of such few numbers would catch up with them. Today it did. For nearly three-quarters of the game they were every bit as good as Calvin but as others have noted, the visitors simply ran out of gas. The Knights finished out the game on a 29-6 run and it was obvious the Thunder were laboring heavily, with hotly contested shots not falling, their footwork--that had been crisp earlier in the game--getting increasingly sloppy, and their defensive pressure less intense particularly late in the shot clock when Calvin seemed to get good shots at will. Other than the first 8 minutes of the second frame when Calvin's shots just wouldn't go down, I thought the Knights played a very solid and composed game, their defense very consistent, and superior rebounding taking a toll on the team from Angola. I think KVS now has a set rotation we can all live with here. Other game notes:

--Jordan Brink was his usual top-shelf self, so much so it's easy to overlook. But I thought the play of Tyler Dykstra was particularly noteworthy. 14 points, 11 boards, and after being assigned to Jared Holmquist the second half, holding Trine's top player to a mere three field goal attempts in 16 minutes. When Dykstra decides to play defense, getting a decent shot attempt is a really difficult task for the man with whom he is matched. If Calvin makes a post-season run, Tyler's play will fuel it.

--TJ Huizenga won't be the off-the-bench scorer that Connor VanderBrug is, but TJ's play was exceptional. Calvin's offense flows nicely when he's on the floor, he's an underrated defender, and as almcguirejr notes Huizenga simply keeps balls alive that would otherwise wind up in the hands of the opposition. It's difficult to quantify his contributions by looking at the boxscore though he did have more rebounds (7) than anyone on either team whose name is not Dykstra and more assists (3) than anyone whose name is not Parks. Calvin's offense does not grind to a halt when Huizenga gets the ball; he moves it along.

--VanderBrug continues to put the ball in the basket with regularity from off the bench, scoring 12 in 17 minutes. His combined ability to score both off the post-up and by stretching the floor with outside shooting is pretty rare in a freshmen. Connor's three pointer coming out of a timeout at around the five minute mark was a bit of a back breaker I thought.

--Brad Visser on the bench in street clothes. Nothing broken, just a severe sprain.

[maroonandgold]

I'll avoid the trash-talking bait laid down by knightvision other than to note that not only did I not reach for someone else's offer of popcorn, I actually provided not one, not two, but three such containers to the good folks of section 110. They were hot too.

Lots of respect for Trine's small but hardy band. They're warriors, that's for sure--smart, tough and competitive. They gave their all. Earlier several of us wondered if their use of such few numbers would catch up with them. Today it did. For nearly three-quarters of the game they were every bit as good as Calvin but as others have noted, the visitors simply ran out of gas. The Knights finished out the game on a 29-6 run and it was obvious the Thunder were laboring heavily, with hotly contested shots not falling, their footwork--that had been crisp earlier in the game--getting increasingly sloppy, and their defensive pressure less intense particularly late in the shot clock when Calvin seemed to get good shots at will. Other than the first 8 minutes of the second frame when Calvin's shots just wouldn't go down, I thought the Knights played a very solid and composed game, their defense very consistent, and superior rebounding taking a toll on the team from Angola. I think KVS now has a set rotation we can all live with here. Other game notes:

--Jordan Brink was his usual top-shelf self, so much so it's easy to overlook. But I thought the play of Tyler Dykstra was particularly noteworthy. 14 points, 11 boards, and after being assigned to Jared Holmquist the second half, holding Trine's top player to a mere three field goal attempts in 16 minutes. When Dykstra decides to play defense, getting a decent shot attempt is a really difficult task for the man with whom he is matched. If Calvin makes a post-season run, Tyler's play will fuel it.

--TJ Huizenga won't be the off-the-bench scorer that Connor VanderBrug is, but TJ's play was exceptional. Calvin's offense flows nicely when he's on the floor, he's an underrated defender, and as almcguirejr notes Huizenga simply keeps balls alive that would otherwise wind up in the hands of the opposition. It's difficult to quantify his contributions by looking at the boxscore though he did have more rebounds (7) than anyone on either team whose name is not Dykstra and more assists (3) than anyone whose name is not Parks. Calvin's offense does not grind to a halt when Huizenga gets the ball; he moves it along.

--VanderBrug continues to put the ball in the basket with regularity from off the bench, scoring 12 in 17 minutes. His combined ability to score both off the post-up and by stretching the floor with outside shooting is pretty rare in a freshmen. Connor's three pointer coming out of a timeout at around the five minute mark was a bit of a back breaker I thought.

--Brad Visser on the bench in street clothes. Nothing broken, just a severe sprain.

As usual, Old Knight gives an excellent sumarry of what developed in yesterday's Calvin-Trine contest.  I find myself looking forward to those accounts.  The comments about Dykstra's role and Huizinga's role were especially appropriate and significant.  The one additional factor that has not been mentioned is that Calvin seemed to have so much more team play in setting up shots whereas Trine had so much more in the way of individual moves to free up shots.  The fact that Calvin had 17 assists to only 4 by Trine really documents the significant difference in styles.   For individual moves, Trine appeared far superior to any other team I recall seeing this year. 

[pointlem]

A shout-out to Hope's radio announcers (to whom I listened last night while watching the slightly delayed online video).  Both of them are excellent, and we shouldn't take for granted their braving snow and cold to be there for us . . . nor their station's investing in two of them doing so.

[sac]

Alma was excellent last night and that can't be stated enough.  They had big play from a lot of guys and a really solid bench effort, even if it was a very short one.  Scott Nikodemski was nearly flawless and has played his way into first team honors consideration for me.  This wasn't a case of Alma shooting lights out, they simply took nothing but good shots all night and when given the opportunity they made them.

A few things for Hope.  Offensively they were great except from the 3-point line and a sloppy first 10 minutes.  Right now their defense isn't good enough to cover up for off nights in other parts of their game.  Actually their defense isn't good at all, its one thing if a team shoots well (like at Olivet), its another to make that team shoot well by giving them easy shots all night. 

also, Hope plays too nice.



It will be reported that Alma broke a 40 game losing streak to Hope but it was actually 43.  The Hope archives is missing 3 MIAA tournament games.  What were you doing in 1998?

If it had to happen I'm glad it happened on a night when Alma just played better.

[sac]

+1 or road win, -1 for home loss
Calvin   10-2    +3
Hope     8-4    +3
Trine     8-4    +2
Alma     7-5    +1
Adrian   6-6    -1
Albion   5-7     0
Olivet    2-10    -4
Kzoo     2-10    -4

Remaining games:
Adrian:     @Alma, @Hope
Albion:     Trine, Calvin
Alma:       Adrian, @Kzoo
Calvin:     @Olivet, @Albion
Hope:       Kzoo, Adrian
Kzoo:       @Hope, Alma
Olivet:      @Albion, @Trine
Trine:        @Albion, Olivet

Some random things:
Calvin clinches share of MIAA Championship, home court in the tournament, and #1 seed (I think)
Am I wrong that Trine has clinched a spot? I don't see a way they can miss the tournament......maybe Hope too.
Hope can still finish in a tie with Adrian for 3rd, Adrian wins that tie-break being 2-0 against Alma, Alma would need to lose twice
---a 3-way tie between Hope, Alma, Adrian for 3rd leaves Alma out by being 0-2 vs Adrian.
A 3-way tie between Hope, Trine and Adrian would produce 2. Trine  3. Adrian 4. Hope, that's only a possibility if Alma loses twice. 
Albion is still alive, but just barely.  Only path in is to finish in 3-way tie with Alma and Adrian.(Adrian has to beat Alma)  Would force a play-in game vs Adrian, with Alma out.

A four way tie between Hope, Trine, Alma and Adrian for 2nd is still possible, in that scenario I think Alma would be out by losing twice to Adrian.

Alma makes this all a lot easier by beating Adrian on Wednesday night.  That would clinch the tournament for themselves, Hope and Trine.

If the tournament were today
Alma at Calvin
Hope at Trine


Wednesday
Trine at Albion 6pm
Calvin at Olivet 6pm
Kzoo at Hope 7:30
Adrian at Alma 7:30

[HopeConvert]

also, Hope plays too nice.

I think that's about as damning an indictment as there is.

[goodknight]

also, Hope plays too nice.

I think that's about as damning an indictment as there is.

Damned observant, however.
I've made that same observation about Calvin -- this year, and almost any year.

[DBQ1965]

Oldknight ... What year did you graduate?

[HOPEful]

also, Hope plays too nice.

I think that's about as damning an indictment as there is.

Slightly less damning if Alex Eidson shoots better than 1 for 9 from behind the arc.

[sac]

Hope went 1-12 in the final 12 minutes from behind the arc.

Gardner, Otto, Carlson, Blackledge, McMahon and Eidson all missed 3-point attempts.

[HOPEful]

Hope went 1-12 in the final 12 minutes from behind the arc.

Gardner, Otto, Carlson, Blackledge, McMahon and Eidson all missed 3-point attempts.

Yes. But for the day, Chad and Ben were both 2 for 4, which I'll take. Alex and Corey were a combined 1 for 13! In Hope's 4 MIAA losses this season, Alex is 3 for 26 from 3 point range. And seeing as last season, he went 6 for 7 and 3 for 5 from behind the arc in the regular season meetings against Calvin, I think many people were hoping he'd the difference maker on the team this season (you could argue he still is, just not in the way a Dutch supporter would hope)...

[goodknight]

Oldknight ... What year did you graduate?

Perhaps he's lost his solar-powered calculator, but I can testify that he is, indeed, well qualified for his oldknight handle. His precise year of graduation, though shrouded in the mists of antiquity, falls in the mid-'70s -- just a few years after my own departure from studies at Knollcrest/Franklin.

[sac]

Wrote this on my blog after the Behrend loss last spring....

Eidson Affect:  Hope began the year with a struggling Alex Eidson and finished it with Eidson struggling again.  That's roughly an 8 game stretch where they went 2-6.  There's no doubt teams defended Hope's guard combo of Gardner/Eidson much better as the season wore on.  I think you can attribute some of Eidson struggling to better attention and better defense.  Alex went just 7-32 and a pretty incredible 1-13 from 3 in Hope's 3 post-season games.  The bigger point here is Hope needs to find a way to replace those missing points on nights Eidson isn't shooting it well.  Alex is probably always going to be a somewhat streaky player, most shooters are and the hope is they can find a little better balance in scoring across the lineup so that stretches like this don't affect them as much.



However, I am pretty adamant Hope didn't lose to Alma because Eidson shot the ball poorly.  The box score doesn't show the effort he put into his other points and fighting and battling for balls and rebounds that looked like  Alma would corrall.

Hope lost because they couldn't stop Alma's offense.

[HOPEful]

However, I am pretty adamant Hope didn't lose to Alma because Eidson shot the ball poorly.  The box score doesn't show the effort he put into his other points and fighting and battling for balls and rebounds that looked like  Alma would corrall.

Hope lost because they couldn't stop Alma's offense.

I would agree. Nicodemski went 9 for 12 and Cook was a perfect 6 for 6... Hope is way too soft inside and our guards get burnt way too often.

My statements regarding Alex are all predicated on expectations/hope vs. actuality. I guess my disappointment stems from knowing deep down that Hope won't be able to make any sort of run unless Alex gets hot.