MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Consider this:

Hope has 3 starters back from last season's team (Quillan, Hovey, and Wourman).  They have yet to play a single minute where all three are on the floor together.  Hovey was out (ill) the first game, where Wourman played his season total of 17 minutes before getting injured. Hovey also missed the Wittenberg game.  The Wourman injury has put Brady Miller in a really tough spot - having to run the point on his own, rather than backup duty to Wourman.  Brady is and will be a great player, but that's a ton to put on a Freshman.  No finger pointing here, but Brady's A/TO ration is sitting at 0.47.  Wourman's career A/TO is 2.03

[BigBallBoy]

I agree that Hope has a very solid foundation with Quillan, Hovey (e.g. effort plays) and Wourman (when he returns).  What I think will determine the success of this team is the production of Mims and then, lesser-so, the position that Schoonveld is now playing.  Mims has been very inconsistent and yet has great athleticism and offensive potential (run outs/shooting/attacking the basket) - sometimes his decisions/shot selection is questionable .  Schoonveld is an excellent defender and good rebounder but doesn't pose an offensive threat.  The team needs one of those spots to produce 12-15 ppg with high efficiency and low turn-overs.

Currently the team is shooting 40% fg and 32% from three.  These numbers need to rise (and I believe they will because they are missing many good, open shots) for the team to have the success they are capable of.  Right now, it seems like everyone is trying too hard and attempting to do too much, individually, on offense.

We'll see how this week goes - but Hope does need to see some W's add up as we progress in the non-conference part of the schedule. 

[sac]

Hope 73 Wheaton 46 F

Quillan 14, Hovey 12, Miller 11

It was 25-0, Wheaton scored its first FG with just over 6 1/2 minutes to play in the 1st half after a couple Ft's just a few ticks earlier.



The Thunder fall to 3-4, I counted 14 Fr, 4 Sophs on their expanded roster of 24, a couple Sr's didn't play or played very little.  Very young team.  They will take some lumps in the CCIW.  Wheaton beat Olivet 74-56 on Saturday.

Hope is off until Dec 6/7 when they travel to Whitewater and Platteville, two games that Hope will not lead 25-0

[BigBallBoy]

It was nice to see that defensive effort by Hope, which Coach Mitchell praised following the game.  Not that the Wheaton offence is too potent as they are rebuilding and far from where they were a few years ago. Particularly surprising to me is Wheaton's uncharacteristic lack of size and I wonder why that is?

It is possible a game like this, coupled with a possible return of Wourman (?) for next Friday and Saturday, really ignites the team... or next week's games may continue the growing pains... Regardless, nice to get the "W" and nice to see the [Christian college] teams come together at center-court after the game!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone - we are blessed

[pointlem]

It was 25-0, Wheaton scored its first FG with just over 6 1/2 minutes to play in the 1st half

Having seen past Hope's men and women's BB teams suffer bizarre cold spells, where the basket refused to accept the ball for agonizing minutes on end, I can empathize with how weird last night must have felt to the Wheaton team and fans. Although seriously undersized, they're better than the 46 to 11 halftime score (after which Hope played its bench).

For Hope, a nice team win to take into the break and hopefully to having injured players return for two tough games in Wisconsin.

[coachg]

that is some strange half time score for a quality program like Wheaton.

[TUAngola]

Challenging day of hoops ahead for Calvin, Hope and Trine MBB teams as they all play on the road against 3 terrific WIAC teams; Calvin at La Crosse, Hope at Plattville and Trine at Stevens Point.  Massey has Calvin a 5 point underdog, Hope a 9 point underdog, and Trine a 4 point favorite.  It would not surprise me at all if the Pointers hand the Thunder their first loss today, they are that good.  Yes we're ranked #1 but I'm not so sure we're the best in the country at the moment.  We do have some flaws from what I've seen so far this season.  Rebounding is a weakness and ball handling is too.  Not that we turn the ball over a ton, but we have a case of the 'fumbles' when pressured.  This is where we miss Cortez at point, he was so good.  Fred is playing point this year, but is more comfortable at the 2 spot.  Our best ball handler is Cam Smith when he comes in the game.

Conference season is just around the corner so it's imperative to get some of these quality non-conference wins.  Does anyone have a sleeper in the conference this year after the 3 favorites?  I really like what Kalamazoo has done, I watched them agaisnt Case Western Reserve and they looked very good.  Granted Case isn't what they were last year, but any win against the UAA is a big win.  The Hornets may surprise this year in the league race. 

[TUAngola]

Trine loses to UWSP 65-62.  Gutsy effort to come back after being down most of the game, but the Pointers hit their free throws to seal the win at the end.  Turnovers were costly for the Thunder, 21 total, which led to 27 points off turnovers for UWSP.  Also could not hit from behind the arc 1-11 for the game.  I knew going in that this one was going to be a challenge to win on the road against a good team.  The guys have 3 weeks before their next game at Franklin on the 28th.   

[BigBallBoy]

Other than the Calvin upset over La-Crosse (well-crafted play by Coach Sall to get the open Vernado game-winning 3-pointer) the WIAC hands it to the MIAA over the weekend.  Hope competed and was within striking distance but not enough plays made to get Wins. Turnovers continue to hurt the Dutchmen as well as a consistent second scorer.  Does anyone have a word on Wourman's return?

[pointlem]

Other than the Calvin upset over La-Crosse (well-crafted play by Coach Sall to get the open Vernado game-winning 3-pointer) the WIAC hands it to the MIAA over the weekend.  Hope competed and was within striking distance but not enough plays made to get Wins. Turnovers continue to hurt the Dutchmen as well as a consistent second scorer.  Does anyone have a word on Wourman's return?

Good analyses BigBallBoy. I believe Marcus Wourman is hoping to play this coming weekend. Once he is back in playing shape perhaps his ball distribution and scoring can lift Hope to the next level.

[sac]

Hope is substantially below average in turnover rate and 3-point shooting. 


Turnover rate is doubly bad because they turn it over at a high rate, and their opponents turn it over at a low rate. 


But, Hope has played a difficult schedule while being shorthanded for all but 7 minutes.  I think there were a lot of positives to take from both the Whitewater and Platteville games.


OWU, Rose-Hulman, DePauw are all games Hope can win but they should all be close games.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Hope is substantially below average in turnover rate and 3-point shooting. 


Turnover rate is doubly bad because they turn it over at a high rate, and their opponents turn it over at a low rate. 


But, Hope has played a difficult schedule while being shorthanded for all but 7 minutes.  I think there were a lot of positives to take from both the Whitewater and Platteville games.


OWU, Rose-Hulman, DePauw are all games Hope can win but they should all be close games.

I was just thinking the same thing, and looking at points off turnovers for this season and last. 

Last season, Hope averaged 14.4 pts per game off turnovers, while their opponents averaged 13.6 pts -- so PLUS 0.8 pts for Hope. 

This season, Hope is averaging 10.5 pts per game, while their opponents are averaging 19.5 -- so  MINUS 9.0 pts for Hope.  Take out the Wheaton game (such an anomaly), and it's Hope 9.9, opponents 20.9 -- or MINUS 11.0pts for Hope.

A/TO Ratio tells a similar story.  LASt season the team averaged 1.09 Assits per Turnover (Marcus Wourman  was at 2.86 last year).  This season the team is at 0.79.

HOPEfully Marcus getting back on the floor helps to settle things down a bit.

[BigBallBoy]

Helpful insights sac and FDF - just curious what the low A/TO ratio should be attributed to?

(1)tough schedule (against several teams that play really stout defense),
(2)lack of cohesion on offense (multiple times I have observed a player making a cut, only to have the ball handler pass to where the cutter used to be, and not where he was going to), or
(3)missing a main ball handler and creator on offense....

Probably a combination of all three.

[sac]

Probably a combination of all three.

Yes

....but I find it concerning Hope has had such turnover issues against opponents where none rank in the top 100 of creating turnovers.  That suggests just kind of sloppy.


Another thing to note, Hope's had 3 pretty big outlier games.  Games that will skew things considerably until they've played more games and more MIAA like opponents (like the next 3).

St. John's  --- this was statistically one of the most lopsided games Hope's recorded in my years, on an alphabetical grading scale it gets a "PU"

Marietta     ---  Pioneers shot a pretty ridiculous 1.4 points per possession, thats only happened a handfull of times over the years with predictably similar results.
 
Wheaton      ---  Wheaton was so bad they recorded a ZERO in efficiency for over one quarter of a game, sure Hope was probably somewhat good, but man...

So 2 make Hope look way worse than they probably are, 1 made them way better.  The in-between team is fine offensively but sloppy and not good enough from 3 and a defensive team that struggled as they always have to slow down two of the WIAC's power programs.

I think going forward they will be better than or at least even with everyone except Trine and Calvin. 

Now if they get wrecked by Ohio Wesleyan, Rose-Hulman or DePauw then things become dicey for being good enough for the 2 or 3 spot in the MIAA.

[Greek Tragedy]

Wow. Thoughts and prayers to the Garland family, Trine and everyone involved.

https://www.kpcnews.com/heraldrepublican/article_289149fa-b899-11ef-8d4c-0b2fc3b2bb30.html