The exhibition loss to the Ferris State Bulldogs will look bad in the newspaper box score, but Calvin fans shouldn't get down on the team with this result. No, a 22 point loss can never be considered good, but this was the Bulldogs' third game, and in their previous two, they beat Aquinas by 30, and took Indiana (not State, Purdue Forty Wayne, or even Wesleyan) to overtime. Last year's Calvin team lost to FSU by 20, and they went on to win the league.
We did get a few good positives out of the loss. First, Bryan Powell was the game's high scorer with 22 points. We know he's not afraid to shoot, so it will be good if he can match this 8-16 performance (including 6-9 from downtown). OK, so we can't expect him to match that very often, but these numbers are a far cry from his shooting percentages last year. All we ask for is improvement, and Bryan's game made me happy.
Good thing number two came with the Jordan Brink's stat line. He scored in double figures in his first collegiate action. I'd take 11 points on 4-7 shooting all day, every day, from a freshman.
I'll also give kudos to Brad Schnyders. My key for him this year is free throw shooting. He gets to the line a lot but hasn't seen the complete benefit due to a poor percentage from the line. Friday, he was 4-5. I'll take it. He deserves a little bit of a wrist slap for attempting a three pointer (just take it to the hole!), but I couldn't actually see or hear the game, so maybe he got stuck with the ball at the end of a shot clock or something. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.
Turnovers were a problem for the Knights, but that's probably to be expected against an athletic team from an upper division. Don't make it a trend, but I won't say anything more here about it.
Bit of a tough night for both Brian Haverdink and Tom Snikkers; it doesn't sound like either could find their shot, but I still have big expectations for these two this year. I'm not concerned.
Rebounding is going to have to be a group effort this year. To only get out-rebound by five isn't as bad as I expected, but I'm still nervous about this aspect of the game.
The final score screams defensive concerns (as does the 0.61 eFG%), but again, I didn't see the game so I can't really speak to it. Putting up 69 points of offense against a D2 team doesn't seem too bad though.
The good news is that Calvin shouldn't see a better team than Ferris all year.
Stats
Here's the advanced offensive numbers for the Knights (sorted by %MIN):
| Player | %MIN | %SHOTS | eFG% | FTr | PPWS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bryan Powell | 0.70 | 0.35 | 0.688 | 0.0 | 1.38 |
| Jordan Brink | 0.65 | 0.17 | 0.786 | 14.3 | 1.47 |
| Tom Snikkers | 0.53 | 0.26 | 0.222 | 22.2 | 0.50 |
| Danny Rodts | 0.48 | 0.23 | 0.643 | 0.0 | 1.29 |
| Brian Haverdink | 0.43 | 0.22 | 0.333 | 0.0 | 0.67 |
| Brad Schnyders | 0.40 | 0.15 | 0.500 | 125.0 | 1.25 |
| Adam DeYoung | 0.40 | 0.00 | 0.000 | 0.0 | 0.00 |
| Brent Schuster | 0.38 | 0.21 | 0.500 | 0.0 | 1.00 |
| Mitch Vallie | 0.38 | 0.16 | 0.250 | 50.0 | 0.61 |
| Matt DeBoer | 0.38 | 0.12 | 0.000 | 0.0 | 0.00 |
| Tyler Kruis | 0.23 | 0.21 | 0.000 | 0.0 | 0.00 |
| Michael Fabiyi | 0.08 | 0.21 | 1.000 | 0.0 | 2.00 |
Bryan Powell's going to get a lot of credit for his large point total (and rightfully so), but the chart respects Jordan Brink's effort on offense even more. Good stuff.
