MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[oldknight]

With all the rosters available, I have compiled the following data (Note that the Varisty Min are career numbers, while the % are relative to the 12-13 season):

Team	Returning	Varsity Min	Points	Rebounds	Assists	Steals	Minutes
Adrian	7	3471	45.3%	35.6%	40.7%	50.2%	44.3%
Albion	8	3450	50.7%	46.7%	52.0%	53.4%	51.4%
Alma	9	4333	66.1%	52.2%	57.6%	68.7%	59.0%
Calvin	9	5852	53.1%	56.6%	39.8%	43.7%	53.9%
Hope	8	4482	47.1%	48.4%	45.8%	56.1%	51.6%
Kalamazoo	13	7506	80.8%	80.8%	81.1%	84.49%	85.0%
Olivet	4	1853	32.3%	29.3%	29.5%	40.6%	32.5%
Trine	8	3577	47.8%	58.0%	66.8%	52.6%	63.5%

Just a little disparity between Kalamazoo and Olivet 

One additional stat to consider.  I divided the number of varsity minutes by the number of returning players - so an average of mins/ returning player:

385.7  Adrian
431.3  Albion
481.4  Alma
650.2  Calvin
560.3  Hope
577.4  Kalamazoo
463.3  Olivet
447.1  Trine

My goodness. The high and low really jump out at me. Of course, part of Calvin's high number is due to the fact that the Knights played some extra games no one else did. Thanks to FDF for crunching the numbers.

[KnightSlappy]

Posted a preview thing ahead of tonight's game on the blog (link below in signature). Included are some stats from box scores I dug up on BJ Van Loo.

[sac]

Ferris has played two exhibitions already

97-82 win over WHAC #2 favorite Madonna
81-89 loss to WHAC favorite Davenport

Ferris was picked 4th in the 8 team GLIAC North with 3 first place votes out of 24.  Behind Wayne State, GVSU, MTU

write up from the GLIAC preview page

Coach: Andy Bronkema is in his first season as the head coach of the Bulldogs.

2012-13 Record: 14-13 overall, 13-9 in the GLIAC

Overview: Three starters are back for the Bulldogs, who are coming off their eighth appearance in the conference tournament in the last nine seasons. Junior guard Drew Lehman is the leading returning scorer after averaging 13.1 points per game last season.He hit 30 3-pointers  and dished out 64 assists. Junior guard Dietrich Lever averaged 10.0 ppg and knocked down 27 treys. He also tallied 34 steals. The other returning starter is sophomore center Jared Stolicker, who averaged 5.6 points per outing and blocked 41 shots. Five letterwinners are also back for FSU in wing Milton Cribbs, guard Jibreel Jackson, forward Josh Fleming, win Matt Sinnaeve and forward Dan Chilcote. All five players are sophomores. Jackson averaged 4.2 points per outing and dished out 40 assists. Junior forward Matt Stoll and senior forward Raymoan McAfee should also see playing time for the Bulldogs.

Noteworthy:  The Bulldogs have reached the GLIAC tournament five consecutive years and have more conference wins (42) than any other school in the North Division in the last three years.

[KnightSlappy]

97-82 win over WHAC #2 favorite Madonna
81-89 loss to WHAC favorite Davenport

My initial reaction was that Ferris must be pushing the pace (and maybe they are), but perhaps we're going to have to get used to higher scoring games if more fouls are called on defenses and/or play opens up.

[oldknight]

Calvin lost tonight's scrimmage to Ferris 85-70. After a very entertaining and well-played first half, the Bulldogs quickly erased the 44-42 edge the Knights built in the first 20 minutes of play. The game taught us what we already knew--Calvin has a very good and deep front line and they have some questions to answer in the back court, especially at point. Jordan Brink played more minutes than I thought he would and showed less rust than I expected from a guy who had two offseason surgeries. Newcomer Kyle McDonald and Austin Parks shared the point. McDonald struggled a lot with the superior quickness Ferris presented but Parks was far from perfect too. In the first half, Calvin effectively reversed the ball and found their big guys down low where they finished well. But after the break, the Bulldogs excellent point guard, Dietrich Lever, dominated the perimeter on defense, Calvin came out flat and looked tired from the pace of play. I will be interested to see how the Knights look playing a team without the athleticism we saw from Ferris, who showed more quickness than Calvin will see from any opponent all year.

Calvin's front line will dominate most opponents all year long, and they are every bit as deep as advertised, but this team will only go as far as the backcourt allows them. Interestingly, neither freshmen guard--Brad Visser and Danny Leach--played one minute. KVS started Kruis, Dykstra, and Mickey DeVries along the front line. Newcomer BJ Van Loo seems to have inherited the position that DeVries played last year and was the first sub in the game. Van Loo finished with 8 points, will help Calvin immediately and played with a lot of confidence. He looked like a player who expects to be on the floor at big moments. Dan Stout also played well but his minutes were severely limited by foul trouble. Calvin's second half fortunes took a significant hit when Stout was forced to the bench early in the half for an extended stay when he picked up his fourth foul.

In the FWIW Dept: Attendance for an early November scrimmage was surprisingly good; KVS displayed his first foot stomp of the new season at the 18:02 mark of the first half; Brian Powell made an appearance as cameraman for Channel 8; Dave Rietema observed from the grandstands--he still has a semester of eligibility.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Ferris press release on the game:

http://www.ferrisstatebulldogs.com/sports/mbkb/2013-14/releases/201311077yue5b

And the box score:

http://www.calvin.edu/sports/mens/basketball/results/calferri.htm

[sac]

tipping off at noon is Albion/Eastern Michigan.  EMU beat Marygrove by 73 the other night.  This is also a real game for EMU.

http://www.sidearmstats.com/emu/mbball/

[KnightSlappy]

Calvin lost this game on the defensive glass. Part of that was Ferris being more athletic and quicker to the ball, but there were also some tipped balls that just ended back in the hands of a Ferris player. I think this is sort of good news, because Calvin was excellent in rebounding last year (and the frontcourt pretty much all back), and they’re not going to give up anywhere near 50% of the boards on their defensive end pertty much ever again. Probably.

Offensively there were solid. Their efficiency rating was 106, which is a bit below where we’ll want them to end up, but it’s pretty good considering it was a D2 opponent. Ferris had a 127 efficiency rating, which is something we never want to see, but they were as athletic of a team as Calvin will see, and again, it was the second chances the did Calvin in more than their ability to score at will. From a pure shooting and scoring standpoint, both teams earned approximately 1.05 points per attempt to score.

I think Calvin played their best defense when Jordan Daley was at the point, I would be inclined to use him as the starter going forward. He’s not a pure ballhandler, but neither are MacDonald or Parks.   

[sac]

Eastern Michigan 77 Albion 45

Albion scored 11 points in the first half on 3-21 shooting.  Things loosened up in the second half I'm sure as this one was over at the break.

With College of Faith next Friday, followed by a likely date with D2 Northern Michigan the next night its going to be a few games before we get a good picture on the Britons vs 'like' competition.  Games like this vs a D1 who's playing a real game when its an exhibition for you just isn't going to say much, for either team.

[KnightSlappy]

Dan Stout also played well but his minutes were severely limited by foul trouble.

This was my only eye-roll of the night. First of all, sitting a player with foul trouble is rarely good strategy to begin with, but a bench player? In an exhibition game?

[oldknight]

A couple more thoughts from last night's exhibition against Ferris:

Expect to see more blocked shots this season. I trolled through the last dozen years of MIAA conference statistics. Last year Hope's team led with 5.3 blocks per game (Calvin was second with 4.9), but most seasons a number between 4 and 5 would win top team honors. The most I saw was Hope's 2002-03 squad which averaged 5.9 swats. Last night, Calvin blocked 10 shots and Ferris 9. At this week's luncheon, KVS mentioned that given the new block/charge rules interpretation, he is instructing his players to mostly forget trying to set up the offensive player for a charge and simply go for the block. This season's version of Calvin basketball makes that instruction a particularly wise one, and I expect other coaches are doing the same thing.

6'6" Ferris sophomore forward, Josh Fleming, is an outstanding player and looks very much like an All-GLIAC selection this season. He scored 20 last night on 7-10 shooting, showed the ability to score both inside and outside, and is highly athletic. He's a very composed graduate of the Chicago area's Glenbard North HS and impressed me greatly.

[sac]

This is a charge last year?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cnbUVXAoUE&feature=youtu.be

[HollandKnight]

A couple more thoughts from last night's exhibition against Ferris:

Expect to see more blocked shots this season. I trolled through the last dozen years of MIAA conference statistics. Last year Hope's team led with 5.3 blocks per game (Calvin was second with 4.9), but most seasons a number between 4 and 5 would win top team honors. The most I saw was Hope's 2002-03 squad which averaged 5.9 swats. Last night, Calvin blocked 10 shots and Ferris 9. At this week's luncheon, KVS mentioned that given the new block/charge rules interpretation, he is instructing his players to mostly forget trying to set up the offensive player for a charge and simply go for the block. This season's version of Calvin basketball makes that instruction a particularly wise one, and I expect other coaches are doing the same thing.

6'6" Ferris sophomore forward, Josh Fleming, is an outstanding player and looks very much like an All-GLIAC selection this season. He scored 20 last night on 7-10 shooting, showed the ability to score both inside and outside, and is highly athletic. He's a very composed graduate of the Chicago area's Glenbard North HS and impressed me greatly.

I agree, especially with the starting five they had yesterday, they have a ton of height and length. It appeared Mickey Devries is stronger and better on the boards than last year. Coach KVS gave him the nickname "Gym Rat" as he is always working out and trying to get better. I liked Tyler Dykstra's defense alot but his offense was lacking.

[sac]

from Friday night

Saginaw Valley State 92 Olivet 50
http://athletics.svsu.edu/sports/mbkb/2013-14/boxscores/20131108_ndqu.xml

Another one of those where it counted for SVSU but not Olivet.  Looking at the box it appears Olivet put a little effort into getting minutes for everyone.  Out of the 10 guys that reached 10 minutes played I believe 7 of them are new to the Olivet program.  Krum and Vondette the only two guys that played regular minutes last year.  I don't recall Rogers playing a lot of minutes.  Union and Mayo are JUCO's.

Really young team.

[oldknight]

Off-topic:

Calvin volleyball hosts a regional starting Thursday. As expected, Hope got an at-large and travels to Elmhurst. The two teams are bracketed opposite and if they keep winning would meet in the national championship game at Hope. Now that would be interesting.