MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Not sure I agree with that. Dykhouse and Thomas are very good freshmen but are freshmen. Along with that comes ups and downs. But Thomas is arguably a D2 level talent.

The sophomore class took a hit with Dietz and Davis leaving but George can get hot as seen vs Adrian and is a high IQ player. Bikus could be interesting as a stretch four but is still finding his way.

Granger is among the best in the league. Hackert is a cerebral player. Gamm is the team’s best defender and has drawn DeVries and Kalonji the past two games and held them both well in check during his minutes. Needs to stay healthy and provide Dennis Towns like 7-8 pts per game to get his full potential. Honer and Beckman are good defenders and role players and will be back next year. Vree has his ups and downs but when focused can score with some ease given not many match up to his 6-9 height. Wilkins gives nice minutes off the bench.

Plenty of talent and the right role players. Just need some uninterrupted cohesion to finish the season.

Only two seniors depart. As someone said this team has had to almost hit reset mid season with injuries and departures. Might not be a top two this year but can be the third best team and bring back all of that next season.

I think this is a pretty good assessment of Hope this season. I would say your assessment of Preston is a little lofty.

I am extremely excited for the continued development of George, Thomas, and Dykhouse. That is a very solid all underclassman back court to be excited about going into next season and beyond. Wilkins, Honer, Hackert, Grainger, and Gamm all return next season.

I think this team is a player or two away from being very good, and I'm not sure that/those player(s) aren't already on the team.

Regarding your comment (that I bolded above) - maybe not.  In league play he is the leading scorer (21.5 per game) and 2nd in rebounding (9.0 per game).  At the risk of somehow jinxing him - he has also controlled his previous fouling problem. 

[HOPEful]

Regarding your comment (that I bolded above) - maybe not.  In league play he is the leading scorer (21.5 per game) and 2nd in rebounding (9.0 per game).  At the risk of somehow jinxing him - he has also controlled his previous fouling problem.

But points per game alone don't tell the whole story. He's also 5th in the league in turnovers per game. And unlike Blyly and Harris who lead the MIAA in TOs, he's nowhere to be found in the top of the league in assists. Actually, his assist to TO ratio is so bad, that he doesn't even show up on the MIAA's statistics, being outside the top 50. Add in a 52% free throw percentage and the fact that Gamm is BY FAR Hope's better post defender, I will stick by calling Preston among the BEST IN THE LEAGUE to be a little lofty.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Regarding your comment (that I bolded above) - maybe not.  In league play he is the leading scorer (21.5 per game) and 2nd in rebounding (9.0 per game).  At the risk of somehow jinxing him - he has also controlled his previous fouling problem.

But points per game alone don't tell the whole story. He's also 5th in the league in turnovers per game. And unlike Blyly and Harris who lead the MIAA in TOs, he's nowhere to be found in the top of the league in assists. Actually, his assist to TO ratio is so bad, that he doesn't even show up on the MIAA's statistics, being outside the top 50. Add in a 52% free throw percentage and the fact that Gamm is BY FAR Hope's better post defender, I will stick by calling Preston among the BEST IN THE LEAGUE to be a little lofty.

Agreed that it's more than points (and rebounds) that matter.  Too many turnovers and poor FT shooting are indeed his issues.  All players have them - issues that is.  I would expect that many of us might say Caden Ebeling is among the best in the league, yet he and Preston share the same A/TO ration in league play (it's 0.4).  Caden does shoot nearly 70% from the FT line.  I'm fine to agree to disagree, just a difference of opinion

[sac]

If we held a draft among MIAA players, Granger is probably a top 10 pick and you live with the negative aspects of his game.   It's ok to say he scores alot but there are also other more productive players at the same position in the league who might not score as much.   F'instance, I'd have a hard time choosing between Q. Armstrong, Kolanji and Granger.

In another yet similar vein, I think one of Hope's best windows for improvement is giving their post players better perimeter outlets and cuts to the basket.  Leaving them on an island leaves them vulnerable to forced shots and turnovers.




Here's something super weird:  Olivet's entire starting lineup has a negative A/TO ratio.

[HOPEful]

In another yet similar vein, I think one of Hope's best windows for improvement is giving their post players better perimeter outlets and cuts to the basket.  Leaving them on an island leaves them vulnerable to forced shots and turnovers....

This! So much this!

I don't mean to imply Preston is a bad player. He's not. His game just leaves a lot to be desired, perhaps in part because I think he has the potential to be a very special player. Sac hits it on the head that some of those areas can be improved by better offensive movement by his teammates.

[HoopsCoach]

In another yet similar vein, I think one of Hope's best windows for improvement is giving their post players better perimeter outlets and cuts to the basket.  Leaving them on an island leaves them vulnerable to forced shots and turnovers....

This! So much this!

I don't mean to imply Preston is a bad player. He's not. His game just leaves a lot to be desired, perhaps in part because I think he has the potential to be a very special player. Sac hits it on the head that some of those areas can be improved by better offensive movement by his teammates.

ABSOLUTELY! Case in point Saturday. Excellent movement all first half. Best all year arguably. Then the wings and guards got flat footed and complacent and BOOM lead was 7. Got back to the movement and it went right back up. Maybe an underrated part of this too is Gamm up top. When in, He directs traffic well and sets so many down, cross and back screens that guys can't help but move. Plus he is a wide base to use on those screens.

Bottom line is movement means success for Hope, who does have some guys who can shoot it when things are spaced well.

Critical three game stretch coming in the next 8 days.

[Grutte Dirk]

If we held a draft among MIAA players,

Who are your top-10? And would they win the NCAA title?

[sac]

Its not easy, this is 13
DeVries
Ebeling
Johnson
Kalonji
Harris
Kleiver
Stevens
Armstrong
Granger
Winters
Davis
Reiter
Blyly


Probably not enough height to win a natty. 

[Grutte Dirk]

It's not easy, this is 13

Anyone else willing to give it a go?

Probably not enough height to win a natty. 

Is the MIAA that poor this season?

[almcguirejr]

It's not easy, this is 13

Anyone else willing to give it a go?

Probably not enough height to win a natty. 

Is the MIAA that poor this season?

Sac is probably the only person who has seen each team play. I would trust his opinion.

[TUAngola]

Trine 73 Olivet 71

Another nail biter for the Thunder as we just could not put Olivet away tonight.  I was'nt sure what to expect from the Comets, I know they have been playing well of late, and I can see why.  I thought their ball movement was very good, especially the second half.  Neither team shot that great the 1st half but I thought our defense was very good in the 1st half and had a lot to do with holding the Comets down.  But Olivet came out of the locker room and switched things up a bit and went to a 2 man game with Martin screening for Pardee on the perimeter.  This let Pardee make decisions on whether to shoot or to drive and dish to open shooters or guys back cutting to the basket, or look for Martin rolling to the basket.  We had trouble guarding them most of the second half.  We had a 9 point lead with 5 minutes to go and it disappeared in a flash as Olivet went on a 11-0 run to go up by 2.  Give the Thunder credit for hitting some big shots down the stretch though, mostly by our "go to" guy Langston Johnson.  He was terrific again tonight.  Hit some really tough shots and then with the score tied with 22 seconds to go he got fouled on a drive to the basket with under 5 seconds to go.  Hit the 1 and bonus (he was 2 for 5 at the line up to that point) to put us up by 2.  At this point Trine still had 2 fouls to give and so after an Olivet timeout we let Pardee dribble to halfcourt and then fouled him.  Then with a little over 2 seconds to go Winters tried to foul Pardee again but the ref didn't call it so Pardee had to shoot a long 3ball but was off the mark.  Survival!

Now we're back at home this Saturday against Albion.  Sole possession of first up for grabs.  I think Albion has been playing the best ball and will present a huge challenge as from past experience we just don't match up well inside with Ebeling and Armstrong.  We may have to play 2 bigs as lately we've been play 4 guards and 1 post.

Trine:  Johnson 25, Winters 12, Hunter 11
Olivet:  Pardee 22, Martin 11, Thigpen 10

[Flying Dutch Fan]

What a dismal first half last night by the Dutchmen (not often you go 9 minutes without scoring).  Fortunately Kalamazoo didn't play much better, and Hope only trailed by 5 at the half (29-24).  Early 2nd half didn't look promising as the Hornets scored with a layup and a 3 in the first 45 seconds to expand to a 10 point lead.  From that point on, Hope really controlled the game, outscoring Kazoo 51-27 over the last 19 minutes lead by Thomas with 19 and Granger with 15 in the half, and both of them finishing with the game with double-doubles. 

Granger had 26 and 11 reb, while Thomas had his most complete game yet, finishing with 24 and 12 reb, along with 5 assists and 9-10 from the FT line.  With those two scoring in the 2nd half (along with 2 treys each from Hackert and George) and the fabulous defense and hustle from Joe Wilkins (2 pts, 5 reb, 1 ast, 1 block, and 2 stls  in 12 2nd half minutes) it was too much for the Hornets.

[sac]

Hope 75  Kalamazoo 61 F

First half of this thing was one of the ugliest first halves I can remember.  Trailing 24-29 at the half I'm pretty sure Hope's halftime talk wasn't "hey guys go out and give up the first five points of the 2nd half", but they did.  But from that 10 point deficit on Hope "dominated" (in no way the right word) the Hornets and outscored them 51 to 27 with the bulk of the final margin coming in the final 2 minutes.   It was  a 4 point game when Kzoo's Tanner Blyly missed a three a few ticks under the 2 minute mark, it would be one of the 8 consecutive three's in the final 10 minutes the Hornets missed to close the game.

Evan Thomas was big down the stretch, Kzoo had few answers for Granger most of the night but Hope's hero was Joe Wilkins who seemed to be in the middle of every big defensive play and scramble for lose balls in the last 10 mins.  I'd like to think Hope did some good tings on defense in this one, Tre Humes had 16 first half points and Hope shut him down in the 2nd half where he scored just 2.  Otherwise whatever building K College is putting up across the street the bricks can be found inside the AAC. 

Hope:  Granger 26,  Thomas 24, Hackert 12, George 9
Kzoo:  Humes 18, Reiter 15, Blyly 10



Sidenote:  That's Hope's 46th consecutive win over Kalamazoo, Hope's women are at 55 straight.

[sac]

What a dismal first half last night by the Dutchmen (not often you go 9 minutes without scoring).  Fortunately Kalamazoo didn't play much better, and Hope only trailed by 5 at the half (29-24).  Early 2nd half didn't look promising as the Hornets scored with a layup and a 3 in the first 45 seconds to expand to a 10 point lead.  From that point on, Hope really controlled the game, outscoring Kazoo 51-27 over the last 19 minutes lead by Thomas with 19 and Granger with 15 in the half, and both of them finishing with the game with double-doubles. 

Granger had 26 and 11 reb, while Thomas had his most complete game yet, finishing with 24 and 12 reb, along with 5 assists and 9-10 from the FT line.  With those two scoring in the 2nd half (along with 2 treys each from Hackert and George) and the fabulous defense and hustle from Joe Wilkins (2 pts, 5 reb, 1 ast, 1 block, and 2 stls  in 12 2nd half minutes) it was too much for the Hornets.

[sac]

+1 for road win/ -1 for home loss

1.  Albion 5-0  +2
2.  Trine 5-0 +2
3.  Calvin 3-2  E
4.  Hope 3-2  E

5.  Olivet 1-4  E
5.  Kalamazoo 1-4  -1
5.  Adrian 1-4  -1
5.  Alma 1-4  -2

Two game separation between top half and bottom half, probably only temporary.  Outside of Albion/Trine no one has lost a home game they probably shouldn't have. 

Albion is on the road in its next 3:  Trine, Olivet, Calvin
Trine is on the road the next 3 after hosting Albion Sat:   Hope, Kzoo, Alma

Albion at Trine for first place Saturday.  All 3 games last year were very good.