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Conor's Blog: Breaking down Sims and Evans
3/14/2008
(Halftime of the UNC-FSU game. We are back at the hotel and the Tigers will run through a shorter practice at an auxiliary gym later this afternoon. Weather is very Texas-dry warm. Shorts and T-shirts weather).
In this blog, we’ll look at some FHSU season notes and some tournament notes with other squads.
Jake Sims
Sims, as mentioned previously, leads the Tigers in starts and has started all 29 games this season. Sims, an Augusta native, went to Dodge City Community College and Div. I Gardner-Webb before he transferred to Fort Hays. Sims’ consistency and all-around play is very impressive.
“Jake does nothing great, but he does everything good,” head coach Mark Johnson said a few days ago. “He is just a good shooter, he is a good rebounder, he is a good defender, he is a good passer, he understands the game at a high level.
“He is not one of those guys that you have sit there and explain things to them on the floor. He takes that presence out there on the floor. He helps other guys get to where they need to be during the game.”
Sims finished with a solid stat line: 9.6 points, team-leading 5.3 rebounds, 30.1 minutes (second-highest to all-conference player Tyrone Evans), 47 percent shooting, 43 percent from beyond the arc and a 2/1 assist to turnover ratio.
Sims ranked fourth in the MIAA in 3-point field goal percentage. He didn’t qualify for the assist/turnover leaders (three assists a game is the qualifier) but would have qualified for second. Sims finished with a similar line in conference play (against harder teams) than his overall numbers.
Sims conference stats: 7.9 points, five rebounds
Sims overall stats: 9.6 points, 5.3 rebounds
Tyrone Evans
No player in the Mid-American Intercollegiate improved more offensively in conference play than Evans. The junior transfer from Independence CC leads the team in scoring at 12 points per game. As much know by now, Evans started the season slowly, wasn’t aggressive, was moved to point guard in a road contest against Southwest Baptist and took off.
He finished with two 28 point games, the most any Fort Hays player has scored in the two years they have been in the MIAA, and hit 8 3s in both of those contests, one off the school record.
Evans’ season was extremely rare, arguably the most unique of any of the conference’s top players. Generally, a player’s SEASON scoring average will be higher than their MIAA scoring average because of weaker non-conference opponents.
That wasn’t the case with Evans. His jump was not only the best on the team, but the best in the MIAA. There were 27 players that averaged double figures in either conference play or for the entire season.
Only nine players had a higher MIAA scoring average than their season mark.
Here are the biggest scoring increases from a player during the MIAA season versus their overall season average:
1. Tyrone Evans, Fort Hays, +2.9 (12 points season average, 14.9 conference average)
2. Matt Withers, Northwest, +2.0 (9.8 overall, 11.8 conference average)
3. Andy Peterson, Northwest, +1.3 (10.5 overall, 11.8 conference average)
4. Andrew Davison, Emporia, +0.7, (9.7 overall, 10.4 conference)
5. T.J. Britton, Missouri Southern, +0.7 (9.7 season, 10.4 conference)
6. Nick Certa, Truman, +0.4 (14.6 season, 15.0 conference)
7. Joe Young, Central, +0.4 (14.7 season, 15.1 conference)
8. Brady Sisk, Washburn, +0.4 (9.7 season, 10.1 conference)
9. Vincent Ateba, Missouri Southern, +0.2 (14.7, 14.9)
Evans, who earned second team all-conference, also ranked among the best players in conference play only. Top scorers in MIAA play only:
1. DeAndre Townsend, Emporia State, 18.5 points
2. Cory Abercrombie, Pittsburg State, 17.1
3. Reggie Bunch, Missouri Western, 16.8
4. Jim Grabowski, Southwest Baptist, 15.8
5. Matt Rogers, Southwest Baptist, 15.8
6. D’Ante Harris, Southwest Baptist, 15.4
7. Joe Young, Central Missouri, 15.1
8. Nick Certa, Truman State, 15.0
9. Vincent Ateba, Missouri Southern, 14.9
10. Tyrone Evans, Fort Hays, 14.9
All 10 players earned all-conference honors. Abercrombie was Player of the Year, while Townsend, Rogers, Ateba and Grabowski all earned first team. Evans, Harris and Young were second teamers, while Bunch and Certa, on the two weakest teams, each earned honorable mention.
MIAA notes
Fort Hays was one of three MIAA teams that made the conference tournament. Northwest Missouri State, the No. 2 seed and one of the country’s hottest teams, won the MIAA postseason conference tournament. They had a very strong case to host the South Central Regional.
If Fort Hays and Northwest win, both will meet in the second round.
Northwest reached its eighth NCAA tournament in the last nine years under head coach Steve Tappmeyer. They have made two Elite Eights and typically have very strong defensive teams. Tappmeyer gives the edge to Tarleton, a team that beat Northwest 72-71 in the final to win the regional two years ago.
“I think the favorite is the team that has the advantage on their home floor,” Tappmeyer said on Tuesday. “But when it gets past that, I think there are a lot of contrasting styles with teams that like to press, a couple teams that like to play half court.
“I think who plays against which style and who plays whose game would be the determining factor probably,” he added.
(Hosting at home: Last season, Central Missouri hosted and went to the Final Four. SBU hosted the year before and was upset in an early round).
Northwest is fourth in the nation in scoring defense, allowing 58.5 points per game, currently the school scoring defense record. Last season, they allowed 59.8, the MIAA’s top mark and set the mark.
SBU, the regular season champs, is the No. 5 seed. Two years ago (like Fort Hays in the RMAC) they won the conference and hosted the regional. Then, head coach Jeff Guiot completely rebuilt his team and only has one remaining player from two seasons ago: Grabowski.
Fort Hays has no players that played on the team two years ago and only two players, Tim Peintner and Ryan Herrman, that played last season.
Lunch note: Went to lunch at Whataburger, a place that coach Johnson has highly recommended. Personally, I am not a fast food guy and have never have Whataburger, but that was really good.
| Scoreboard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Date | Opponent | Score |
| BB | 5/04 | Pittsburg State | W 17-5 |
| BB | 5/04 | Pittsburg State | L 4-3 |
| BB | 5/03 | Pittsburg State | L 15-7 |
| BB | 5/03 | Pittsburg State | L 5-4 |
| SB | 5/02 | Central Missouri | L 3-1 |
| SB | 5/02 | Missouri Western | W 3-2 |
| SB | 5/01 | Pittsburg State | W 6-0 |
| SB | 5/01 | Emporia State | L 11-0 |
| BB | 4/30 | Kansas Wesleyan | W 14-1 |
| BB | 4/30 | Kansas Wesleyan | W 12-2 |
