MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[sac]

Trine 95 Olivet 72
Kalamazoo 65 Alma 55

I haven't received confirmation but I believe the Kzoo/Alma game is being counted as a non-conference game.

[TUAngola]

Final from Olivet:  Trine 95 Olivet 72

Trine jumps out to early lead on the Comets, led by 21 at half in part to a dominating performance by Nick Bowman who almost outscored Olivet by himself with 25 points in the first half.  Olivet with a strong start to the 2nd half, could not miss much the 1st 8-9 minutes.  Comets cut the lead to 9 and had an open look from 3 to cut the lead to 6 but missed, that would have been huge as they had all the momentum.  Trine then righted the ship and played much better the last 10 minutes of the half to win by 23.  With Olivet playing a zone defense it took a lot of the motion offense away from Trine but we still had some good ball movement and had plenty of open looks from 3, shots 33 times from behind the arc, easily the most shots from 3 this year.

Trine:  Bowman 35, Williams 19 (with 6 made 3s), Cox 13, Warzecha 10
Olivet:  Moore 14, Robinette 13, Thigpen 9, Martin 9

Side note...has there been anyone in MIAA history who has had a bigger jump in PPG than Bowman?  He averaged 2.3 pts a game his soph year and now is averaging 24.1 pts a game.  That's just an amazing increase.  He's worked really hard on his game knowing that the Thunder lost their top 4 scorers from last year, that more guys would have to step up offensively to fill the void than just Cox and Williams.

[Dutchman17]

Is it time for Hope to potentially part ways with Coach Mitchell?

Nah, I don't think so. I think Hope is suffering from a couple poor recruiting classes at the moment who are now upperclassmen.  He seems to have turned the recruiting around, but it will still probably take another couple years to fully rebuild the program if he keeps it up.  Just have to be patient for now, unfortunately

[sac]

Hope has been a wildly inconsistent team for a couple years now. 

They make it very hard on themselves by having nights when they are a poor 3-point shooting team, a poor FT shooting team and a way below average turnover rate team on both ends of the court and they do this in a conference where most teams are way above average in turnover ratios.  Its going to be an uphill battle when they struggle in those 3 areas.

Bad shooting nights will happen that can be both talent and just random, but they can control turnovers.

Currently their 2 most frequently played point guards are both negative assist/turnover ratio along with two other starters.  That's tough to dig yourself out of.  Literally throwing several possessions away every game.  Hope's not talented enough to get away with that.




 

[Pat Coleman]

Is it time for Hope to potentially part ways with Coach Mitchell?

Nah, I don't think so. I think Hope is suffering from a couple poor recruiting classes at the moment who are now upperclassmen.  He seems to have turned the recruiting around, but it will still probably take another couple years to fully rebuild the program if he keeps it up.  Just have to be patient for now, unfortunately

This is a really strange year. If I were an administrator, I wouldn't be making decisions based on this season.

[sac]

Lindsay is no longer the coach at Adrian.  Probably the closest we'll get to official from Adrian with no explanation.
https://www.lenconnect.com/story/sports/2021/02/12/adrian-college-basketball-head-coach-lindsay-out/4468316001/

Closing the Lindsay file

2017    7-18      1-13    8th
2018   17-9       8-6      3rd
2019     6-19     3-11    8th
2020   17-12     8-6      3rd   MIAA Tournament Champions
2021     1-9       0-1                 
------------------------------------
          48-67     20-37

Lindsay inherited Mark White's exodus of players then quickly turned it around in 2018, then seemed to regress in 2019 for no good reason then turned it around in 2020 and made history with Adrian winning the MIAA Tournament and making the Bulldogs first trip to the big dance.  It was quite a yo-yo ride.

Lindsay brought in quite a few Indiana players which marked a sharp turn from Mark White's heavy Detroit area lineups.   Adrian's remaining staff is very, very young and on the inexperienced side.  I believe Adrian has had 3 consecutive and 30+ years of an Adrian grad at the helm.  If Steve Brooks is still in basketball maybe its his time?  I really have no idea.

[sac]

Both of Adrian's games at Olivet Wed and at Trine Saturday have been postponed.  We're running out of makeup dates and Adrian needs 4 of them now, I'd expect the MIAA schedule will be incomplete.

[TUAngola]

A glimmer of hope for some sort of postseason play?  Read on:

https://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2021/02/postseason-tournament-update

[HoopsCoach]

Is it time for Hope to potentially part ways with Coach Mitchell?

Nah, I don't think so. I think Hope is suffering from a couple poor recruiting classes at the moment who are now upperclassmen.  He seems to have turned the recruiting around, but it will still probably take another couple years to fully rebuild the program if he keeps it up.  Just have to be patient for now, unfortunately

Couple thoughts... Hope's recruiting hasn't been bad. I'd argue the focus to improve good players to begin with has been the issue. Example: Hope could have a heckuva 1-2 post punch but only uses and coaches up one of those guys to be "the guy." The best teams have several guys who can beat you. Hope has two and thus are mediocre as a result. The one place I'd agree on recruiting is the lack of a knock down shooter. The last one was Riley Lewis and let's not forget he was one of THREE guys who left mid season last year. One guy? Maybe the player. Three? Um something is up. And I believe it is the culture. Culture is driven from the top down.

That aside, because clearly things like observation of culture are opinion, I'll give you a glaring issue that is on the coach and not an opinion: the offense. Hope's two top options had 12 of 15 team TOs the other day. Watch why. One takes the high ball screen and never looks back at the roller. Ever. Teams see that on film and just double the ball. It's easy to stop Hope on O. Often 24 drives into heavy lane traffic, head down. Why would you ever leave the paint on D? Sure he scores or gets fouled a fair amount but it's not an efficient or consistent or winning way to operate. And when 51 gets it you know 9/10 times a shot is going up. There is no inside outside. 1-4-14-23 are all more than serviceable shooters but don't get enough touches.  Ball swings are rare. I've heard from several that coaches like Sall say Hope is the easiest team they've ever had to prep for. Ever! That is coaching.

There also is no identity on D. Is it pack line? Texas tech deny middle? Deny all passes? Or all of it at times plus some zone? I've seen all of that this year and often multiples of methods in single games. Again, that's coaching. Figure out one based on your strengths and demand excellence in that style. Better yet make that your style and recruit and coach to it!

No, coaches don't miss shots or FTs or turn it over or allow straight line drives. But coaches do coach improvement and accountability starting with themself. That starts at the top and often post game comments don't reflect a coach that drives that. I learned early on as a coach when you win, it's your players and when you lose, it's you. Guys leaving the program - good players at that. An incredibly predictable offense. An under prepared defense. That is 100% on the coach and Hope should demand more than mediocre after all these historic years. Cut some slack for covid? Sure. But this isn't a one year problem...

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Is it time for Hope to potentially part ways with Coach Mitchell?

Nah, I don't think so. I think Hope is suffering from a couple poor recruiting classes at the moment who are now upperclassmen.  He seems to have turned the recruiting around, but it will still probably take another couple years to fully rebuild the program if he keeps it up.  Just have to be patient for now, unfortunately

Couple thoughts... Hope's recruiting hasn't been bad. I'd argue the focus to improve good players to begin with has been the issue. Example: Hope could have a heckuva 1-2 post punch but only uses and coaches up one of those guys to be "the guy." The best teams have several guys who can beat you. Hope has two and thus are mediocre as a result. The one place I'd agree on recruiting is the lack of a knock down shooter. The last one was Riley Lewis and let's not forget he was one of THREE guys who left mid season last year. One guy? Maybe the player. Three? Um something is up. And I believe it is the culture. Culture is driven from the top down.

That aside, because clearly things like observation of culture are opinion, I'll give you a glaring issue that is on the coach and not an opinion: the offense. Hope's two top options had 12 of 15 team TOs the other day. Watch why. One takes the high ball screen and never looks back at the roller. Ever. Teams see that on film and just double the ball. It's easy to stop Hope on O. Often 24 drives into heavy lane traffic, head down. Why would you ever leave the paint on D? Sure he scores or gets fouled a fair amount but it's not an efficient or consistent or winning way to operate. And when 51 gets it you know 9/10 times a shot is going up. There is no inside outside. 1-4-14-23 are all more than serviceable shooters but don't get enough touches.  Ball swings are rare. I've heard from several that coaches like Sall say Hope is the easiest team they've ever had to prep for. Ever! That is coaching.

There also is no identity on D. Is it pack line? Texas tech deny middle? Deny all passes? Or all of it at times plus some zone? I've seen all of that this year and often multiples of methods in single games. Again, that's coaching. Figure out one based on your strengths and demand excellence in that style. Better yet make that your style and recruit and coach to it!

No, coaches don't miss shots or FTs or turn it over or allow straight line drives. But coaches do coach improvement and accountability starting with themself. That starts at the top and often post game comments don't reflect a coach that drives that. I learned early on as a coach when you win, it's your players and when you lose, it's you. Guys leaving the program - good players at that. An incredibly predictable offense. An under prepared defense. That is 100% on the coach and Hope should demand more than mediocre after all these historic years. Cut some slack for covid? Sure. But this isn't a one year problem...

Hmm...  Kind of a theme from you regarding the coaching, and while you may be right on some aspects of your analysis, you should at least be honest with the readers here that you (as a parent of a player) may have a slightly skewed view of things. 

[Dutchman17]

Is it time for Hope to potentially part ways with Coach Mitchell?

Nah, I don't think so. I think Hope is suffering from a couple poor recruiting classes at the moment who are now upperclassmen.  He seems to have turned the recruiting around, but it will still probably take another couple years to fully rebuild the program if he keeps it up.  Just have to be patient for now, unfortunately

Couple thoughts... Hope's recruiting hasn't been bad. I'd argue the focus to improve good players to begin with has been the issue. Example: Hope could have a heckuva 1-2 post punch but only uses and coaches up one of those guys to be "the guy." The best teams have several guys who can beat you. Hope has two and thus are mediocre as a result. The one place I'd agree on recruiting is the lack of a knock down shooter. The last one was Riley Lewis and let's not forget he was one of THREE guys who left mid season last year. One guy? Maybe the player. Three? Um something is up. And I believe it is the culture. Culture is driven from the top down.

That aside, because clearly things like observation of culture are opinion, I'll give you a glaring issue that is on the coach and not an opinion: the offense. Hope's two top options had 12 of 15 team TOs the other day. Watch why. One takes the high ball screen and never looks back at the roller. Ever. Teams see that on film and just double the ball. It's easy to stop Hope on O. Often 24 drives into heavy lane traffic, head down. Why would you ever leave the paint on D? Sure he scores or gets fouled a fair amount but it's not an efficient or consistent or winning way to operate. And when 51 gets it you know 9/10 times a shot is going up. There is no inside outside. 1-4-14-23 are all more than serviceable shooters but don't get enough touches.  Ball swings are rare. I've heard from several that coaches like Sall say Hope is the easiest team they've ever had to prep for. Ever! That is coaching.

There also is no identity on D. Is it pack line? Texas tech deny middle? Deny all passes? Or all of it at times plus some zone? I've seen all of that this year and often multiples of methods in single games. Again, that's coaching. Figure out one based on your strengths and demand excellence in that style. Better yet make that your style and recruit and coach to it!

No, coaches don't miss shots or FTs or turn it over or allow straight line drives. But coaches do coach improvement and accountability starting with themself. That starts at the top and often post game comments don't reflect a coach that drives that. I learned early on as a coach when you win, it's your players and when you lose, it's you. Guys leaving the program - good players at that. An incredibly predictable offense. An under prepared defense. That is 100% on the coach and Hope should demand more than mediocre after all these historic years. Cut some slack for covid? Sure. But this isn't a one year problem...

I do agree with you on many of your points.  The offense has been quite dysfunctional for a couple years now.  The TOs, lack of movement, and lack of natural scorers outside of Preston makes them very hard to watch at times.  A lot of their problems come from Preston playing the 4, not having an outside game, and allowing the defense to sag 2 defenders low every possession.  We've been watching it for years now.  PG and ET putting their heads down in a packed lane repeatedly makes the defense pretty comfortable
You could say their recruiting wasn't BAD, but we're talking about a program that should be competing for the conference every year, and with goals beyond that.  I think the roster makeup declined noticeably from around 2018-2020.  I've seen it a lot in the guards, where we have been quite short, not overly quick, and unable to create shots for themselves or others.  Our stable of 5'11 guards have also had a very hard time defending.  Height and stature obviously aren't everything, but in most cases lately the skill has not there to make up for it. This years roster is already an improvement on that.
  In all, it's a mix of recruiting and coaching.  Coach Mitch did great with players from the Neil era, had a couple down years recruiting, but seems to be finding his feet with that lately.  The current roster deficiencies have caused a lot of the problems, but we also haven't seen many changes on the offensive end to try and combat them. As far as culture, it's easy to have a good culture when your winning, and hard to do when you're losing.   I'm still optimistic for the future.  That's my outlook right now

[sac]

Hope and Adrian have reschedule their contests for both men and women for next Thursday.

Expecting 2 more MIAA cancellations later. (maybe, who knows)

[KnightSlappy]

Calvin at Trine has been postponed for Wednesday night (if that hadn't already been posted here).

[TUAngola]

Trine MBB #1 in Massey Ratings this week (Albion 25, Calvin 64, Hope 105).  Congrats Thunder, well deserved.   

In WBB Hope #1 and Trine #2 in Massey (Albion 66, Calvin 71).  Nice work MIAA hoopsters!

[HoopsCoach]

Hmm...  Kind of a theme from you regarding the coaching, and while you may be right on some aspects of your analysis, you should at least be honest with the readers here that you (as a parent of a player) may have a slightly skewed view of things.

Not quite. Former player. And theme? Haven't posted since last year, lol. But if you can't see the issues I pointed out regardless, you don't have an eye for the game. Culture by the way can impact good players and average players, starters and bench guys. So to insinuate that my opinion is sour grapes is way off base. Calling it like I see. You don't have to agree but argue me how I'm wrong rather than brush it off as the opinion of a program parent...