MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[Dutch_Man]

Grey-  I agree with your comments for the most part.  I think Snuggs creates alot of offense for himself, so I would say that emphasizing Krombeen's contributions to that isn't wrong, but it could give the impression that you're overlooking the progression Snuggs has made as a scorer. Looking back on some of the shots he's made, I found myself wondering "how in the heck did that go in?"  With all that in mind, though, you're right about David Krombeen as the favorite for MVP.  Overall, +k.

I believe the Dew Crew had it right... "He's a Man, He's a Man, He's a Man".

Snuggs creates a lot of his shots and works hard to gain position down low! Obviously his shooting % is very high due to the number of points he scores in the paint but his ability to knock down shots outside of the paint, makes him a tough match-up! I am glad I don't have to guard him! At 6'0 170, I don't think I would fair to well...

[GoKnights68]

   First time all year I've seen a team leave Hope that wide open for 3's, and they made Calvin pay big.  It was probably a gamble KVS was willing to take, nothing else works.

Sac, have you not been watching Calvin for the past ohhhhh 14 years? Calvin gives up the weak side 3 pointer...it's all part of the defensive system!

Immink, Wolfe, Reimink, Cramer, Bowser and many more Hope players have loved the defensive system over the years.

[hope_hoops1]

Hope is in for a battle vs. Adrian this weekend, but I expect the Dutchmen will be cutting down the nets in the DeVos.  They continue to get timely scoring and will have one of those spurts where they seemingly score 10 points in a minute off of turnovers and fast breaks that will put the game away. 

The fact that we're debating two players from the same team for conference MVP is a nice problem to have.  Edge to Krombeen for the points mentioned but I'm excited to see Snuggs be the main focal point of the offense next year (that next year talk can be put on hold for a few weeks I hope).

As for the Kruis vs. NVA debate, I would say Kruis has been more effective in the head-to-head matchups.  He's more polished at this point in their young careers.  He's also being asked to do more as well as he's more of a focus of the offense.  I think NVA meshes well with the current roster and has filled a void that the Hope team has had for the last few years and if that contributes to a 3-0 record, I'll take the less than stellar stat-line and getting the W.

[HopeConvert]

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.

[Happy Calvin Guy]

Calvin finished the season 13-13 and had exactly 1881 points scored and 1881 points against.   Can't get much more average than that.

Good thing Powell hit those two long threes at the end of the game last night.   

[Flying Dutch Fan]

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.

[Hopester]

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.

I can tell you what I am not worried about... Who is going to win MVP.

Obviously the points are a concern, but Hope did throw down 46 in that time frame as well, with a ton of missed layups and free throws. What I did find promising was the ease of which we broke down the zone to get open shots. That is the defense I have been fearing all year, and we didn't lose a beat against it. Also what is promising is how well we can deal with foul trouble now. Over the course of this season, no one has improved as much as Josh Holwerda. And with the foul proned NVA ahead of him, he is going to see meaningful minutes in a few big tournament games.

[knightvision]

Some thoughts/reactions to posts in the aftermath of another Hope/Calvin tilt:
1) I do not believe Powell will join the 1,000 pt. club at Calvin.  He averaged 22.4 minutes per game this year, largely a result of Jordan Brink's absence and, to a lesser degree, Rietema's missed time.  I believe his minutes will drop significantly next year with the return of Jordan Brink.  He is a shooting guard, not a point guard, and I see him in a "sniper off the bench" role next year who if he's on could lead Calvin in scoring in a handful of games, but in a majority of others will not be much of a factor. 

2) After the final regular season Hope-Calvin game, I mentioned that Peter Bunn didn't seem like the same player he had been earlier in the year when I had seen him.  I listened but was not at the game last night, but he seemed to be even less of a factor last night than before.  He's clearly someone who is capable of being an important scorer/contributor, but my impression is that something is not quite right with him.  Am I imagining things or do those who have seen Hope all year share a bit of concern about where he's at? 

3) While I believe that TK is better right now than NVA, I don't think the gap is as wide as some have suggested. I also believe NVA's "up side" is higher than TK's, largely because he is more athletic.  Who knows whether he will realize his potential, but I must say that when I saw NVA early in the year at the GR Hall of Fame tourney, he honestly didn't look like he even knew what to do with the ball when he received it in the post.  He's made significant strides since then and if I were a Hope fan I would be excited about the possibilities with him.  That said, TK has continued to improve, and one area where he seems to have an edge over NVA is shooting touch away from the basket.  I'd like to see him turn and face NVA in the post a bit more--he's more than capable of sticking the 10-12 footer.  Should be a fun battle to watch over the next few years.

4) As I mentioned before, I think Hope has as good a chance to win it all as anyone.  I just don't see any obvious glaring weaknesses.  If I had to speculate on an achilles heel, my gut tells me it would be a tough/physical team with enough quickness to check Hope's guard play and an officiating crew who "lets 'em play" with whistles optional.  Hope is strong enough--are they tough enough?  Seems like successful tourney runs at any level usual include at least one victory in a slugfest somewhere along the way...

[hoopdreams]

1.  Krombeen is hands down MVP, and if Hope does anything in the tourney (and probably even if they lose early), a 1st team All-American.

2.  Great to see Logan shooting well last night.  Maybe coach or a fellow poster let him know that their was internet chatter about his shooting woes and he played with a chip on his shoulder.  What ever it takes!

3.  Pretty sure about 5 minutes into the second half I saw Daav lean into, and whisper to coach Neil last night  "Peter looks like he did at Steven's Point, maybe we should rely on our other outstanding guards for this one"   FYI- a little research proves my thinking that Peter "just doesn't look the same".  Last 10 games...8.9 ppg on 37% shooting. 

4.  I agree wholeheartedly that Josh Holwerda is going to play a huge role, not because of NVA (they are used to covering his foul trouble problems) but because of Snuggs.  It has been some time that he has endured MAJOR foul issues, or seemingly any after affects of the back issues from earlier in the season

5.  Is Tommy already excited for next year because he thinks Hope's cupboards will be bare?  Because they saw what they're capable of if they play passionate (PRIDEFUL) for 40 minutes? Even if they're shorthanded?  Or does he have the inside scoop about some changes in the program?

6.  I would hate to see Hope magical ride come to an early end because of poor FT shooting

7.  Predicting another tough battle Saturday but regardless of how great Adrian's D is, they can't score enough to overcome a subpar offensive output by Hope.   Hope plays, Hope wins!!!!

[knights2000]

Sac...
I think you need to take a look more closely at the match-up you speak of between Kruis and NVA.  In 3 games head-to-head Kruis has 46 points, 22 rebounds, and 7 blocks for an average of 15.3ppg and 7.3rpg. His counterpart, NVA has 20 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks for an average 6.6ppg and 2.3rpg. Those numbers are not close. NVA averages 7.6ppg and 4.7rpg per game on the year while Tyler Kruis averaged 10.9ppg and 6.8rpg on the year...so at a closer look Tyler Kruis is actually performing better against NVA than his other oppponents while NVA is performing below his average against TK...so who is getting the better of this match-up?

It can seem helpful to try and breakdown which player plays when during the game, but the simple fact remains that they went head to head 3 times this year for long stretches of the game and TK got the best of all three match-ups. Whether or not the coaches from Hope choose to play him during stretchs of the 2nd half should say something about the match-up itself. The truth of the matter is that these two players are the same age with the same amount of time spent in college basketball...one got more tick his FR year while the other had a chance to hone his talents against better competition, where they stand today is clearly evident...Kruis is the better player...

Good luck to hope the rest of the way, they clearly have the better team and a great chance to make some noise in the NCAA...

NVA has more around him, and is not relied on as much as Kruis to score. Hope won all three games despite NVA's inferior numbers.

5.  Is Tommy already excited for next year because he thinks Hope's cupboards will be bare?  Because they saw what they're capable of if they play passionate (PRIDEFUL) for 40 minutes? Even if they're shorthanded?  Or does he have the inside scoop about some changes in the program?

Tommy is "already" excited because he loves playing basketball, and because no one ever wants their season to end. I wouldn't read anymore into it than that.

[Busted Stuff]

5.  Is Tommy already excited for next year because he thinks Hope's cupboards will be bare?  Because they saw what they're capable of if they play passionate (PRIDEFUL) for 40 minutes? Even if they're shorthanded?  Or does he have the inside scoop about some changes in the program?

Tommy is "already" excited because he loves playing basketball, and because no one ever wants their season to end. I wouldn't read anymore into it than that.

Tom is "already" excited because, as knights2000 suggested, his season is over. While the team is losing Havs, I think he is excited to see what the team is capable of doing at "full-strength" mentioning Mitch, Mickey and Jordan by name, specifically.

[hoopdreams]

wasn't he one "ready to quit and play intramurals" back in January, because it wasn't "fun" playing for KVS.  That's not loving the game of basketball, that's loving to win. 

FYI-  I like to stir the pot a bit just for funsies, and wasn't reading into anything because that's "speculating" which is REALLY frowned upon around here.

FWIW-  I cannot imagine, after the past couple of seasons, how badly the veteran Knights want to beat a Hope team to end their season.   I do think that, if healthy and motivated, next years team will be quite strong, regardless of who's coaching them.

[sac]

Sac...
I think you need to take a look more closely at the match-up you speak of between Kruis and NVA.  In 3 games head-to-head Kruis has 46 points, 22 rebounds, and 7 blocks for an average of 15.3ppg and 7.3rpg. His counterpart, NVA has 20 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks for an average 6.6ppg and 2.3rpg. Those numbers are not close. NVA averages 7.6ppg and 4.7rpg per game on the year while Tyler Kruis averaged 10.9ppg and 6.8rpg on the year...so at a closer look Tyler Kruis is actually performing better against NVA than his other oppponents while NVA is performing below his average against TK...so who is getting the better of this match-up?

It can seem helpful to try and breakdown which player plays when during the game, but the simple fact remains that they went head to head 3 times this year for long stretches of the game and TK got the best of all three match-ups. Whether or not the coaches from Hope choose to play him during stretchs of the 2nd half should say something about the match-up itself. The truth of the matter is that these two players are the same age with the same amount of time spent in college basketball...one got more tick his FR year while the other had a chance to hone his talents against better competition, where they stand today is clearly evident...Kruis is the better player...

Good luck to hope the rest of the way, they clearly have the better team and a great chance to make some noise in the NCAA...

That's just it........I have looked at it closer on video, virtually the same claim was made after the last Hope/Calvin game.

Here were the results.........

Kruis on offense with NVA guarding him

1-4  2 points, all three misses were shots NVA clearly altered or affected.

2 fouls on NVA, one of these was on a rebound where NVA was already off balance and his arm got hooked inside Kruis'.   


NVA on offense with Kruis guarding him

2-2  4 points.

This was that extent these two matched up head-to-head in that game.  The majority of the good plays by Kruis were with Snuggerud on switches, and against Josh Holwerda.  Chase DeMaagd  stopped him from scoring once.



I think a video of last night would probably look pretty close to the same, that is all I'm saying about these two going 'head-to-head'. 


The same logic I see being used would mean Krombeen got all of this 23 points on Reitema when that is far from the case.

[maroonandgold]

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.

[sac]

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.