Stat Sheet Honors

[Mjj]

Kevin Van Wijk has been selected for StatSheet's Horizon Player of the Week for January 16th. StatSheet's Horizon Freshman of the Week goes to Cleveland State's Anton Grady. And last but not least, Jay Harris takes home StatSheet's Horizon 6th Man of the Week.
Van Wijk led the entire Horizon in scoring (23.0 pts per game) and free throws (6.0 per game). He also put up 60% shooting and 6 rebounds per game. The Valparaiso junior marched the Crusaders to victories versus Youngstown State and Cleveland State.

Van Wijk led scoring for the Crusaders with 23 points while adding 2 blocked shots in a 76-62 win over Youngstown State. He followed that up by leading the team in scoring with 23 points plus an additional 3 blocked shots in a 72-66 victory over Cleveland State.

This is the first StatSheet Horizon Player of the Week award for Kevin Van Wijk. However, he has received an honorable mention. The runner-up this week is junior Tim Kamczyc from Cleveland State. Honorable mention goes to our own Ryan Broekhoff.


StatSheet Horizon 6th Man of the Week: Valparaiso's Jay Harris

Sophomore Jay Harris, a 6-2 reserve guard, averaged 25 minutes over the two games for the Crusaders. In the win against Youngstown State, Harris got 9 points and 5 assists. After that, in the win over Cleveland State, he racked up 12 points and 4 assists.

This is Jay Harris's first StatSheet Horizon 6th Man of the Week award this season. Tony Meier, a senior forward from Milwaukee, is runner up. Eli Holman, a senior center/forward from Detroit, receives honorable mention. Including this week, Valparaiso players have been named StatSheet Horizon Player of the Week 2 times this season

[wh]

This is Jay Harris's first StatSheet Horizon 6th Man of the Week award this season. Tony Meier, a senior forward from Milwaukee, is runner up. Eli Holman, a senior center/forward from Detroit, receives honorable mention.

Harris, Meier and Holman are 3 of the best "6th men" I've seen since we've been part of the league.  In fact, I don't consider them 6th men at all.  All three are the 3rd leading scorers on their respective teams and play minutes comparable to their starting 5's.  In fact, Jay has logged the 3rd highest minutes on Valpo's team in addition to being our third leading scorer.  They may not start (thus the name 6th man), but they are almost always on the court at the end of games.  Their teams win when they play well and are at great risk of losing when they don't.  IMO that's not the stereotypical profile of a "6th man."  That said, it makes Jay beating out those guys for the award that much more special.  Congratulations to Jay!   

[sectionee]

Why Eli Holman doesn't start has always made me scratch my head.  He is the most dominant big man in the conference and just seems so under utilized.

[valpofan56]

Why Eli Holman doesn't start has always made me scratch my head.  He is the most dominant big man in the conference and just seems so under utilized.

Look no further than his coach. Any half-way intelligent coach would make Holman really work on his passing and then run the entire offense through him. If he's doubled, he kicks it out to the perimeter for wide open shots and if the double doesn't come he easily dominates his man for the bucket. That would be scary.

[vuweathernerd]

coach has to look out for his son. probably promised him the chance to be the main guy on the floor to recruit him.

[StlVUFan]

I've got a much simpler answer: Holman was suspended for the first month or two and has not earned a starting spot yet.  McCallum obviously likes his starting rotation the way it is.

[sectionee]

And what about last year Stl?  He was the most dominant big guy last season as well and still not a starter.  I don't know why he'd like his rotation when they aren't winning consistantly.  Sorry to get off topic.

[valporun]

Just because a guy has numbers and a game that shows he should be a starter, does it mean he earned the right to start at practice? What if his not starting is because he's crappy in practice, but can turn it on when the lights are up and fans are in the seats? Some coaches don't reward starting spots just because they have the numbers that say they should start.

[StlVUFan]

And what about last year Stl?  He was the most dominant big guy last season as well and still not a starter.  I don't know why he'd like his rotation when they aren't winning consistantly.  Sorry to get off topic.

Last year he was active the entire season from the beginning.

It is of course possible that Holman is still on a kind of probation with the coach -- "We'll reinstate you, but you have to show me you've reformed before I'll start you."

[StlVUFan]

Just because a guy has numbers and a game that shows he should be a starter, does it mean he earned the right to start at practice? What if his not starting is because he's crappy in practice, but can turn it on when the lights are up and fans are in the seats? Some coaches don't reward starting spots just because they have the numbers that say they should start.

There's also the phenomenon of "This guy is just better giving us a spark off the bench."  I've never been able to wrap my brain around that idea, but it's everywhere these days.

[valporun]

"This guy is just better giving us a spark off the bench." 

I agree with this, Stl. I mean how many people want Matt Kenney starting in place of Boggs or Bogan, but yet Kenney is one of "sparks off the bench"? Matt is one of those players this season who will ignite us when we need something to get us going.

[historyman]

Just not sluggging or swinging at an opponent is a huge improvement for Holman. I wish him the needed restraint to keep this record intact.