MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[ziggy]

Trine- Will Dixon is the best guard in the league

The thing about Will Dixon is that, while a good player, he is a volume shooter so some gaudy numbers have to be put in context.

Austin Parks = 54.1% eFG
Will Dixon = 50.1% eFG

[sac]

The thing about Will Dixon is that, while a good player, he is a volume shooter so some gaudy numbers have to be put in context.

Austin Parks = 54.1% eFG
Will Dixon = 50.1% eFG

Austin Parks wasn't being asked to shoulder the load on Calvin's team though.  Dixon and Parks had different roles, with very different surroundings, with very different defensive attention on their respective teams. 

Lets not kid ourselves, if Dixon played for Hope or Calvin people would be gushing about him as a player a lot more with "All-American" being tossed around.

Trine could wind up beating Hope. SOLID team.

While Brooks Miller has built a solid foundation in Angola and have shown steady improvement the last 3 years.  They lose 3 important players off a team that went only 6 or 7 deep on most nights.  Including losing one of their triangle of scorers Tyler Good.  The Thunder need at least a 3rd scorer and I'm not sure where that comes from, Ben Syroka?  Tarvis Malone?  I love the raw potential of Ellis Cummings as an MIAA player but is he ready to make that big of a leap this year?  After their main players already mentioned things get pretty thin and at least as far as MIAA play is concerned pretty unproven.  Trine's a solid bet these days to be a top 4 league team, but Holmquist and Dixon are going to need some significant help to reach the pinnacle this year.  On paper right now, where that help will come from is pretty unclear.

Trine wins with defense and having to replace nearly half of a defensive system that's been in place for 3 years is worrisome.

and Kzoo has Hugan and Carson with solid freshman years for a bad team. Along with Whitney, Miller and Dykema.

I have a hard time evaluating Kzoo, mostly because each time I see them Hope just picks them apart like a pack of wild Hyenas leaving alot of unpleasant things lying around the gym floor.  I like their young players and they may very well be improved, but I think you can say that about a number of MIAA teams.

Adrian Albion and Olivet are all wild cards for me. Nobody knows who will suit up for them

I'll address Albion.  The Britons graduated three key players from last years team, Zach Hurth, Vince Hill and Carter Elliot.  Last year the Britons were fiercely competitive in November/December and then just fell off a cliff when the league rolled around.  Part of their issue last year was the inexperience of two of their guards Robert Ryan and Corey Wheeler.  Wheeler really struggled in league play for an unknown reason after being one of their leading scorers in the non-conference.  When he struggled, Albion really struggled to score.  Albion has holes to fill but this is a team with 5 Sr's who have all been playing varsity since their Fr. year.  They won't be a pushover.



Alma is being undersold here so far.

[sac]

Since eFG% was thrown around I thought it would be interesting to compare Jordan Brink's Sr. season vs a couple of other Midwest guys who got a lot of hype and recognition throughout their careers.

eFG%
Jordan Brink, Calvin 2015                    60.7%
Kent Raymond,  Wheaton 2009          56.7%
Steve Djurickovic,  Carthage 2011       49.0%
Steve Cramer, Hope 2007                   57.5%


I don't remember all the accolades Jordan walked away with for last season but I'm not sure it was enough.

[KnightSlappy]

The thing about Will Dixon is that, while a good player, he is a volume shooter so some gaudy numbers have to be put in context.

Austin Parks = 54.1% eFG
Will Dixon = 50.1% eFG

Austin Parks wasn't being asked to shoulder the load on Calvin's team though.  Dixon and Parks had different roles, with very different surroundings, with very different defensive attention on their respective teams. 

Lets not kid ourselves, if Dixon played for Hope or Calvin people would be gushing about him as a player a lot more with "All-American" being tossed around.

Trine could wind up beating Hope. SOLID team.

While Brooks Miller has built a solid foundation in Angola and have shown steady improvement the last 3 years.  They lose 3 important players off a team that went only 6 or 7 deep on most nights.  Including losing one of their triangle of scorers Tyler Good.  The Thunder need at least a 3rd scorer and I'm not sure where that comes from, Ben Syroka?  Tarvis Malone?  I love the raw potential of Ellis Cummings as an MIAA player but is he ready to make that big of a leap this year?  After their main players already mentioned things get pretty thin and at least as far as MIAA play is concerned pretty unproven.  Trine's a solid bet these days to be a top 4 league team, but Holmquist and Dixon are going to need some significant help to reach the pinnacle this year.  On paper right now, where that help will come from is pretty unclear.

Trine wins with defense and having to replace nearly half of a defensive system that's been in place for 3 years is worrisome.

The thing about Dixon for 2015-16, as you allude, is that he'll probably receive even more of the defense's attention now that Dixon is gone. Trine is not going to challenge Calvin and Hope with Dixon and Holmquist as the lone contributors.

As ziggy pointed out, Dixon wasn't good enough last year to score with both (1) quantity and (2) above-average efficiency. I'm not even sure he would be one of the best two guards on Alma's team.

[ziggy]

The thing about Will Dixon is that, while a good player, he is a volume shooter so some gaudy numbers have to be put in context.

Austin Parks = 54.1% eFG
Will Dixon = 50.1% eFG

Austin Parks wasn't being asked to shoulder the load on Calvin's team though.  Dixon and Parks had different roles, with very different surroundings, with very different defensive attention on their respective teams. 

Lets not kid ourselves, if Dixon played for Hope or Calvin people would be gushing about him as a player a lot more with "All-American" being tossed around.

It wasn't meant as a direct comparison. To an extent, every player is a product of his environment.

For Parks, that meant not having to carry as much of an offensive load and facing defenses that had bigger worries. Dixon's environment was one that provided him the opportunity to shoot the ball... a lot. In the words of Jim Rome, "he makes a lot of shots...because he takes a lot of shots..."

[ziggy]

Since eFG% was thrown around I thought it would be interesting to compare Jordan Brink's Sr. season vs a couple of other Midwest guys who got a lot of hype and recognition throughout their careers.

eFG%
Jordan Brink, Calvin 2015                    60.7%
Kent Raymond,  Wheaton 2009          56.7%
Steve Djurickovic,  Carthage 2011       49.0%
Steve Cramer, Hope 2007                   57.5%


I don't remember all the accolades Jordan walked away with for last season but I'm not sure it was enough.

Thanks, I was going to go back and check Brink's eFG but got sidetracked.

I knew Brink had an insanely efficient season so the biggest surprise to me on that list was Cramer's eFG%. I know he had a tremendous season but I wouldn't have expected him to out-eFG Kent Raymond. I'm guessing the athleticism that made him a tremendous finisher at the rim was an area he fared better than others on the list.

I'm not terribly surprised to see Stevie D's number. He was more of a scorer than a shooter and racked up stats on volume.

[sac]

I'm not terribly surprised to see Stevie D's number. He was more of a scorer than a shooter and racked up stats on volume.

Djurickovic's career eFG% numbers are a bit weird

Fr.   49.1%
So.  54.3%
Jr.    57.2%
Sr.   49.0%

For whatever reason Djurickovic shot below 30% from the 3 pt line his Fr. and Sr. seasons.  Each season he was putting up about 30% of his teams FG attempts, which is pretty similar to what Dixon is being asked to do at Trine.


Dixon's first two years at Trine have been 50.8% and 50.2% mostly because he's a below 40% 3-point shooter in the average category while all the others we've mentioned were over 40% except the two Djuickovic years I pointed out.  Last year he had two really bad games that are outliers on his career performance where he went 7-34 and 2-11 from 3 against Alma and Calvin on back to back games, his remaining games he grades out at an eFG% of 54%.

Dixon takes 14 FGA's per game, I don't find that excessive or out of the ordinary for a teams best player.  Djurickovic was taking 16 his Sr. year, Raymond 14.1, Brink 11.9 and Cramer 12.0.   Dixon just isn't quite as good from behind the arc as these other guys.

One other thing to think about is minutes played.  Dixon is being asked to play about 5 min more per game vs these other guys (except Djurickovic who rarely came out of games).  He's just going to experience more wear and tear and tired legs than most players.

Anyway, I can't imagine any coach not wanting a player of his ability on their team.....even Alma with their apparent plethora of efficient guard options.

[sac]

Albion's full schedule is posted
http://www.gobrits.com/sports/mbkb/2015-16/schedule


You might notice the Britons play D1 Wright State on Dec 1.  Wright State plays at Kentucky a couple weeks before should we should get a pretty good comparison score with the Britons and Wildcats.

[sac]

Since eFG% was thrown around I thought it would be interesting to compare Jordan Brink's Sr. season vs a couple of other Midwest guys who got a lot of hype and recognition throughout their careers.

eFG%
Jordan Brink, Calvin 2015                    60.7%
Kent Raymond,  Wheaton 2009          56.7%
Steve Djurickovic,  Carthage 2011       49.0%
Steve Cramer, Hope 2007                   57.5%


I don't remember all the accolades Jordan walked away with for last season but I'm not sure it was enough.

Btw I had Cramer's Sr. year wrong.  The above number is his Jr. year, his Sr. year eFG% was 60.0%

[HOPEful]

Btw I had Cramer's Sr. year wrong.  The above number is his Jr. year, his Sr. year eFG% was 60.0%

And he did this... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRmMeOkNWQI

[ziggy]

Btw I had Cramer's Sr. year wrong.  The above number is his Jr. year, his Sr. year eFG% was 60.0%

And he did this... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRmMeOkNWQI

Best dunk in the history of D3.

[Gregory Sager]

Since eFG% was thrown around I thought it would be interesting to compare Jordan Brink's Sr. season vs a couple of other Midwest guys who got a lot of hype and recognition throughout their careers.

eFG%
Jordan Brink, Calvin 2015                    60.7%
Kent Raymond,  Wheaton 2009          56.7%
Steve Djurickovic,  Carthage 2011       49.0%
Steve Cramer, Hope 2007                   57.5%


I don't remember all the accolades Jordan walked away with for last season but I'm not sure it was enough.

Thanks, I was going to go back and check Brink's eFG but got sidetracked.

I knew Brink had an insanely efficient season so the biggest surprise to me on that list was Cramer's eFG%. I know he had a tremendous season but I wouldn't have expected him to out-eFG Kent Raymond. I'm guessing the athleticism that made him a tremendous finisher at the rim was an area he fared better than others on the list.

I'm not terribly surprised to see Stevie D's number. He was more of a scorer than a shooter and racked up stats on volume.

Yes and no. You're forgetting that a big part of Stevie D.'s game was drawing fouls off of the dribble. He shot a ridiculous number of free throws over the course of his career (839-997, .842). Those 839 free-throw makes accounted for nearly a third of the 2,547 points he scored in his four years with the Red Men. Brink, by comparison, went 309-341 (.906) from the free-throw line as a Knight. Made free throws accounted for only about a fifth of his 1,497 career points.

Of course, another big part of Djurickovic's game was his ability to involve his teammates as a distributor. He dished out a phenomenal 649 assists over the course of his career. Brink dished out 282.

[Gregory Sager]

Albion's full schedule is posted
http://www.gobrits.com/sports/mbkb/2015-16/schedule

Albion's opening-round opponent in the Purple and Gold Tournament at Defiance over the holidays isn't listed on that schedule, but it wiill be the host Yellow Jackets. North Park and Baldwin Wallace will meet in the other opening-round game in that tourney.

[HOPEful]

Best dunk in the history of D3.

This one was pretty epic as well, although it's just as much about the pass as the actual dunk...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMU9Gp3hWTQ

If judging based on entertainment value alone, USA is my all time favorite.

[scottiedawg]

NAME	HEIGHT	HIGH SCHOOL	COLLEGE	NOTE
Keyon Rainey	5'11	Det Consortium	Adrian
Dylan Bennett	6'1	Brighton	Albion
Adam Abraham	6'7	Grand Haven	Alma
Trevor Gernaat	6'4	N Mich Christian	Alma
Scott Maki	6'3	Holly	Alma
Eddie Gillon	6'2	Kazoo Loy-Norrix	Alma
Quinn Tyson	6'2	Big Rapids	Alma
Josh Simms	6'0	Holly	Alma
Andrew Holesinger	6'4	North Pointe Christian	Calvin
Carlos Amoros	5'8	Wyoming	Calvin
Preston Huckaby	5'11	North Pointe Christian	Calvin
Ben Wolford	5'10	Newaygo	Calvin
Robert McGivney	6'6	Timothy Christian	Hope
Teddy Ray	6'5	Homestead	Hope
Tom Morrison	6'4	Northridge	Hope
Jeff Goral	6'4	Stagg	Hope
Pete Smith	5'9	Northridge	Hope
Demarco Dickerson	6'2	Detroit Loyola	Kalamazoo
Alex Dykema	6'1	Forest Hills Central	Kalamazoo
Travis Veenhuis	6'1	Goodrich	Kalamazoo
Mike Ruwoldt	5'11	Joliet West	Kalamazoo
Justin Green	5'10	Det W Christian	Olivet
Austin Woolet	6'5	Goshen	Trine
Darek Ditto	6'4	Mattawan	Trine
Gregory Fleming	6'1	GRCC	Lourdes