MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[oldknight]

Now that I have access to a real computer and not just my cell phone, I have a few more thoughts from last night.

--Wheaton's big guys were just tougher on the boards than Calvin's--Berg in particular. Meanwhile Tyler Dystra played 31 minutes and snatched the same number of rebounds I did. Calvin's guards led the way on the boards with Daley, Brink and Visser getting 6, 4, and 3 rebounds to lead the Knights.

--If he doesn't start shooting the ball better soon, we may be seeing the close of the Brad Visser experiment coming up soon. For the season he is now shooting 35 overall and 21% from three. He's never had the most text-book friendly shooting form but he was always a pretty consistent shooter, especially when he took good shots. Now he isn't even close to making wide open looks from outside. The last 2-3 games virtually all his points have come within 5 feet of the hoop.

--Good to see the lovely Mrs. KnightSlappy and their two wonderful Slappettes at the game. The youngsters appeared to be extremely well-behaved kids so obviously mom's genetics are dominant.

--My first time at Tarble Arena and I liked it--a lot. A very comfortable place to watch a game.

[sac]

Hope 66  Wheaton 55

Very nice win for Hope this afternoon, and an odd one.  Hope played a zone for almost the entire game letting a very good 3-point shooting team have all the shots they wanted from behind the arc.  Wheaton was 9-33, well under their average.   Offensively Hope was efficient enough if unspectacular and led for nearly the entire game.  In a two point game with 6 or 7 minutes to go it was Hope that executed its offense to build a little lead that Wheaton could never really threaten.

Lots of 6,7, 8, 9 points runs for both teams in this one.

Brock Benson only scored 7 points, but I venture Hope was +20 or more in scoring with him on the floor.  Gardner 14, Eidson 12, Blackledge 11


Two other thoughts.....

--Dante Hawkins showed a couple flashes of his potential today, masterfully finishing as the shot clock ran low at least once, and really clutch 3 a little later in the 2nd half.  He's going to be a good one and I hope this weekend was a big confidence boost for him offensively.

--  Hope finished the weekend 44-49 from the Free-throw line  89.8%, just outstanding.

[pointlem]

Amen, Sac . . . Hope's zone seemed to leave Wheaton with a lot of open 3's, but they didn't have a great day shooting, and it shut down their dribble penetration.

And, yes, great to see Dante Hawkins emerging . . . the quickness that enabled his steals against Cornerstone and Carthage mark him as an exciting player to watch the next four years, especially as he gains confidence in using that speed on the offensive side.

Hope missed Steve Wittenbach today, and can hope his knee injury is but a bruise or strain that won't keep him away for long. 

Finally, a shout-out to Carthage for great video work, and to 92.7 radio for a great broadcast team this year (today I listened to them, 30 seconds ahead of the video, and so knew when to relax and what to look for).

P.S.  I also watched the last few minutes of Calvin v Carthage. Kudos to the Knights. Jordan Brink's seizing the last minute--going one on one and then making a 3 and a game-winning two (both with a defender in his face)--reminded me of Joel Holstege and Steve Cramer in similar game situations.  Am I not appreciating how good JB used to be, or has he, more than most, really gotten better as his career has progressed?

[sac]

Hope broke its single game FT shooting % record by going 20-20.

[realist]

Calvin 75 Carthage 73.  Calvin really does need to address the t.o. issue.

[oldknight]

Calvin 75 Carthage 73.  Calvin really does need to address the t.o. issue.

That and rebounding on the defensive glass. Calvin's opponent got 14 more offensive boards today. The Knights are getting killed on 2nd and 3rd opportunities. Jordan Brink was phenomenal down the stretch putting the team on his back.

[sac]

Sitting in kresge.  I like the purple wall.  Typical albion d.   Hilarious to hear the Elmhurst fans screaming about fouls which are 9-8.   Elmhurst has battled back to tie it at the half at 26.  Nice crowd.  Kresge is great when it's loud like this.


Update:
Albion pulled it out 64-56.  A pretty key moment was a flagrant elbow on Elmhurst with around 3 minutes left just as it looked like one ref was going to call a foul on Albion.  Albion only got 1 point out of it but it might have stemmed a little 'mo' for the Bluejays.  Jordan Herron hit the big shot with a 3 from the left wing to give the Britons a 4 point lead.  Scrappy play leading by 2 forced an Elmhurst turnover  with :30 left and it was ft's from then on for the Brits.


Expect the usual feelings of terror when heading to Kresge.

[oldknight]

Just like the final results (1-1) for the weekend, there was some good and some bad about Calvin's performance. I've already mentioned my disappointment at the Knights' allowing far too many second shot opportunities, so let me focus on the positive now.

--When the ball is in Jordan Brinks hands a lot, Calvin is simply a better team. For the weekend the senior shot 17-26 overall and 6-10 from the arc. Carthage couldn't stop him as he scored 10 of Calvin's last 14 points, including an ice-water-in-the-veins three ball with 35 seconds left and the game winning jumper in the lane as a defender was draped all over Jordan with 2 seconds left. The two game performance moved Brink past four former Calvin greats on the career scoring list, including Kyle VanderBrug, Connor's dad. The young man from Dyer, Indiana now has 1134 points. May there be many more.

--Speaking of Kyle's son, Connor VanderBrug saw his minutes bump a little bit in the two games at Carthage as the freshman from Elmhurst logged 47 minutes. I would play him a minimum of 25 per game as the first year player is clearly Calvin's best scoring option among big men on the team. Connor shot 13-20 overall and 4-5 from the arc in the two games and established himself as an offensive presence who is really difficult to stop one-on-one. The kid runs the floor extremely well for a big man and Carthage didn't have a defender who could handle CVB.

--Some strange officiating in the Carthage game that Calvin players were mostly able to shrug off. Austin Parks was assessed three turnovers that were all offensive fouls for allegedly pushing off his defender while advancing the ball up court. Very strange calls as he did nothing different than what he's always done, merely holding his off-forearm in a stiff position to protect the ball. Pretty ticky-tack calls IMHO that should never have been called.

--Frosh Tony Canonie (what a great name), entered the lineup after Parks' got his fourth foul, finished the last several minutes of the game and played some composed basketball during big moments. The young man from South Haven had a steal and then a pretty dish to VanderBrug as the fellow freshman finished a pretty layup in traffic.

--Stopped at Portillo's on the way back and a big young man with an IWU sweatshirt--noticing my Knights' gear--came by our table and asked about Calvin's weekend. It turned out to be Mike Mayberger, an important player on last season's Titan final four team that had ended Calvin's year last March in Bloomington. A very nice young man.

[wiz]

Just like the final results (1-1) for the weekend, there was some good and some bad about Calvin's performance. I've already mentioned my disappointment at the Knights' allowing far too many second shot opportunities, so let me focus on the positive now.

--When the ball is in Jordan Brinks hands a lot, Calvin is simply a better team. For the weekend the senior shot 17-26 overall and 6-10 from the arc. Carthage couldn't stop him as he scored 10 of Calvin's last 14 points, including an ice-water-in-the-veins three ball with 35 seconds left and the game winning jumper in the lane as a defender was draped all over Jordan with 2 seconds left. The two game performance moved Brink past four former Calvin greats on the career scoring list, including Kyle VanderBrug, Connor's dad. The young man from Dyer, Indiana now has 1134 points. May there be many more.

--Speaking of Kyle's son, Connor VanderBrug saw his minutes bump a little bit in the two games at Carthage as the freshman from Elmhurst logged 47 minutes. I would play him a minimum of 25 per game as the first year player is clearly Calvin's best scoring option among big men on the team. Connor shot 13-20 overall and 4-5 from the arc in the two games and established himself as an offensive presence who is really difficult to stop one-on-one. The kid runs the floor extremely well for a big man and Carthage didn't have a defender who could handle CVB.

--Some strange officiating in the Carthage game that Calvin players were mostly able to shrug off. Austin Parks was assessed three turnovers that were all offensive fouls for allegedly pushing off his defender while advancing the ball up court. Very strange calls as he did nothing different than what he's always done, merely holding his off-forearm in a stiff position to protect the ball. Pretty ticky-tack calls IMHO that should never have been called.

--Frosh Tony Canonie (what a great name), entered the lineup after Parks' got his fourth foul, finished the last several minutes of the game and played some composed basketball during big moments. The young man from South Haven had a steal and then a pretty dish to VanderBrug as the fellow freshman finished a pretty layup in traffic.

--Stopped at Portillo's on the way back and a big young man with an IWU sweatshirt--noticing my Knights' gear--came by our table and asked about Calvin's weekend. It turned out to be Mike Mayberger, an important player on last season's Titan final four team that had ended Calvin's year last March in Bloomington. A very nice young man.

Completely agree with your assessment of these players.  I hope VanderBrug and Cononie both receive more minutes.  Canonie has a very good court presence, handles the ball well, and his ability to penetrate while finding the open man should provide even more scoring opportunities for Brinks and VanderBrug, especially with the constant double team that opponents are applying to Jordan.

Please tell me you got the Italian Beef and not the hot dog.

[oldknight]

I can honestly say I didn't get a hot dog at Portillo's. But if you haven't taken a dish of Red Hots at Tarble, you haven't lived.

[goodknight]

I can honestly say I didn't get a hot dog at Portillo's. But if you haven't taken a dish of Red Hots at Tarble, you haven't lived.

The Red Hots were pretty spicy, and I don't mind the heat. 

[sac]

A little more on the Britons....

yesterday they started
Hill  5-11
Wheeler  6-0
Hurth  6-2
Herron 6-5......this is one inch taller than last year but I kind of doubt that.
Elliot 6-7
------------------
G  Ryan  5-7
G  Oakes 6-2
G  Kazen 6-3
F  Becerevic 6-4
------------
spotty minutes
Moore  6-3
Marble  6-3
Hubbard 6-4

Albion moved Fr. G Cory Wheeler into the starting lineup in place of Dakota Kazen.  I won't speculate on a reason and at least in this game Wheeler certainly performed better, statistically they are similar players.  Wheeler is well built, smooth and clever.  He drew a handful of fouls himself several away from the ball by simply going to the floor.  He most often seemed to be playing the 3 on defense yet handled the ball as if PG on offense sometimes.   Kazen really struggled and seemed to be not all there for this one.   Kazen may or may not get back in the starting 5 eventually.

Beyond Herron and Elliot the Britons really have no options underneath.  Some of these heights are probably a little generous to begin with and Berecevic is the only guy available at 6-4 or taller, and he looked pretty raw.  This matters so much the Britons lost to much taller teams Augustana and Ferris State by 4 and 2, plus they beat this taller Elmhurst team.  What they lack in height they make up for in quickness and what I'll call playing taller.  They really pack the lane with bodies and get their hands on a lot of shots and passes underneath.  Their quickness allows their guards to crash down to help in the post and still recover to the 3-point line. 

For such a small team their rebounding is phenomenal.  For the year the Britons are out-rebounding their opponents by 10 and that includes out-rebounding Augustana, Ferris State and now Elmhurst.  They've hit 40 total rebounds 4 times already.  Look at those heights again, incredible.

Offensively Albion dribbles it around a lot, frequently looking for and taking 1v1 match-ups they like.  They didn't seem to drive and kick it out for the 3 as often as in the past and I'm not sure they quite have the same collection of shooters as before.  Through 5 games only 3 guys have attempted double-digit three's  Hurth-Kazen-Wheeler with their next most being another Fr. Robert Ryan.  But through 5 games their percentage is a solid 40%.

People will call them physical but so much of that is really just their efforts to get loose balls and rebounds.  There's the usual collection of pushing and shoving plays and they've become very good at going to the floor, but its just physical play and if you aren't strong with the basketball or strong around the rim they'll make you pay for it.

I really felt like I was watching the same Albion team as last year only older and stronger.  Statistically they're a little better than last year in this early going, that may not last of course, but its a pretty good sign this team is better this  year.

Offense
FG%
'14  42.8%
'15  42.4%

3pt%
'14  35%
'15  40%

Reb.
'14   +6.1
'15   +10

Defense
FG%
'14  40.7%
'15  35.5

Pts per game
'14  64.3
'15  53.4

[KnightSlappy]

Hope leads Carthage at the half 35-24.  Carthage committed 14 fouls and I would bet at least 8 were committed in the offensive end and not one a charge that I can recall.  Hope is 17-18 from the line, kind of a ragged game.

I was thinking of this post after the Calvin-Carthage game. Did the Red Men get whistled for a bunch of illegal screens against Hope? Seems like one could whistle them every other time down the floor.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Hope leads Carthage at the half 35-24.  Carthage committed 14 fouls and I would bet at least 8 were committed in the offensive end and not one a charge that I can recall.  Hope is 17-18 from the line, kind of a ragged game.

I was thinking of this post after the Calvin-Carthage game. Did the Red Men get whistled for a bunch of illegal screens against Hope? Seems like one could whistle them every other time down the floor.

If I remember correctly, they did get called for several illegal screens.  Officiating crew on Friday was calling everything (expecially in the first half) and Carthage didn't seem to adjust to it very well. 

[oldknight]

Hope leads Carthage at the half 35-24.  Carthage committed 14 fouls and I would bet at least 8 were committed in the offensive end and not one a charge that I can recall.  Hope is 17-18 from the line, kind of a ragged game.

I was thinking of this post after the Calvin-Carthage game. Did the Red Men get whistled for a bunch of illegal screens against Hope? Seems like one could whistle them every other time down the floor.

If I remember correctly, they did get called for several illegal screens.  Officiating crew on Friday was calling everything (expecially in the first half) and Carthage didn't seem to adjust to it very well.

I nearly went deaf Saturday afternoon when KS, seated two rows behind me, tried to repeatedly tell the crew doing the Calvin/Carthage game that the Red Men screens were illegal. I don't think they called Carthage once in the game against the Knights. No matter how much they try to standardize officiating, different sets of officials have different interpretations of the same rule. Just ask Austin Parks.