Would the Grinnell System work in the Bigten in basketball?

HaydenHawk56

HaydenHawk56

Well-Known Member
I see Grinnell is off to their best start in school history at 15-1. I wonder if Coach Arseneault had Big Ten like talent, how many 3s would they hit on the Iowa defense this year.

One of their players scored 89 points in a game this past November.
 
They substitute 4-5 players everytime play stops so in order for the system to work in the Big Teh it would require at least 10 players capable of starting at the D1 level.
 
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nIQVxbKhRw"]Griffin Lentsch scores 89 points - YouTube[/ame]

Good lord, that could've easily been Iowa in the white as bad as D as we've been playing.
 
They are having a nice season this year, but I don't believe Arseneault has ever won an NCAA tournament game, and he has been there for 23 years. If I'm wrong, someone correct me.
 
I realize the Lentsch kid was not guarded very well, but he still has a sweet shot. Most of the Hawks could not shoot that well in a game of horse, or so it seems.
 
ssckelley said:
I have to admit they are fun to watch.
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I didn't enjoy watching Iowa play all offense and no defense against Indiana. Grinnell is that x1,000, except that their coach congratulates them for giving up 100 points rather than busting a gasket. No thanks.
 
olivecourt said:
I didn't enjoy watching Iowa play all offense and no defense against Indiana. Grinnell is that x1,000, except that their coach congratulates them for giving up 100 points rather than busting a gasket. No thanks.
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You miss Lick ball? You know where you play hot potato with the basketball trying not to score?
 
ssckelley said:
You miss Lick ball? You know where you play hot potato with the basketball trying not to score?
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There may be a happy medium between those two extremes. It's called 98% of all basketball teams.

Iowa has times where they struggle on defense. However, they are not encouraged to stop defending once the other team crosses half court. That would drive me, as a fan, insane.

As I posted above, Grinnell has never won an NCAA tournament game in 23 years under this coach, and I am pretty sure they have only been to NCAAs once. That's not exactly a system worth emulating. It's pretty much a novelty act and it's funny to me that it still gets the amount of attention it does.
 
I watched them play this year against Beloit. It wasn't that fun to watch actually. They actually play about 15 guys. They will triple team in the back court either giving up a layup or causing a turnover. On offense they either shoot 3s or layups. All they do is dribble drive and kick or take it to the hoop. What they don't show in the highlights are how many fouls are committed. It is crazy. Grinnell also gets away with alot of grabbing and reaching. No game flow at least the game I was at. Here is how crazy their games are Beloit missed only 6 shots in the first half and was down by 14 points. Grinnell has really about 4 or 5 real basketball players the rest are just track stars, guys that can run and play D like crazy. Only certain guys actually drive and shoot, the rest just set screens. Was ok to watch but not as exciting as you would think.
 
Can you imagine if one of Lick's teams played Grinnell? Lick's team would eventually cross half court, at which point Grinnell would allow them to score.

However, Grinnell would soon realize their game plan wasn't going to work on Lick, as his team refused to lay the ball in and instead proceeded to dribble around the perimeter, handing the ball to each other despite the wide open lane.

It would be the most bizarre game ever.
 
no, i do not believe that recruiting mostly socially inept caucasians would work in the big ten.
 
Loyola Marymount is the last school that I can recall having some success with that system in the big boys division, and that was more than 20 years ago.
 
olivecourt said:
There may be a happy medium between those two extremes. It's called 98% of all basketball teams.

Iowa has times where they struggle on defense. However, they are not encouraged to stop defending once the other team crosses half court. That would drive me, as a fan, insane.

As I posted above, Grinnell has never won an NCAA tournament game in 23 years under this coach, and I am pretty sure they have only been to NCAAs once. That's not exactly a system worth emulating. It's pretty much a novelty act and it's funny to me that it still gets the amount of attention it does.
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I am not suggesting Iowa changes to this system. My only statement was that it is fun to watch. The closest defense we had to this was Tom Davis but not to the extreme they take it. Their system looks like an all out press to create the turnover and if that fails trade 2 point baskets for 3 pointers. You look at their stats and for the year they give up 58% fg percentage while they shoot 36% from the arch plus on average take 20 more shots per game. Factor in the 2 to 1 turnover margin and it is easy to see how they win games. They have 12 players that average more than 10 minutes per game.

Good for Grinnell, a small D3 school that is able to create excitement for their basketball program. If they ever get up to Wartburg I might have to drive over and watch them play.
 
That Loyola team was fun to watch. Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble led them.....very exciting brand of ball to watch, no doubt about it. I'll always remember Kimble's left handed free throw to honor his friend after Hank's passing.

Back to the OP - the unfortunate answer is no. As a fan I love seeing the insanely high scoring games, but in the Big Ten....not going to happen.
 
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I think it would incorrect to assume you would have better shooters in the B1G than at a DII or DIII school. Kids can shoot at any level, the diff is the kids get quicker and taller and the benches get deeper as you get to higher levels of play.

I don't think this brand of basketball would be anymore successful is in B1G than it is at its current level.
 
HawkinGoferLand said:
I think it would incorrect to assume you would have better shooters in the B1G than at a DII or DIII school. Kids can shoot at any level, the diff is the kids get quicker and taller and the benches get deeper as you get to higher levels of play.

I don't think this brand of basketball would be anymore successful is in B1G than it is at its current level.
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And just to follow up, it's not that successful at Grinnell's level either. They lost in the first round of their conference tournament. They ended up 18-5, which was their best year ever, but they still aren't even sniffing the NCAAs. The Midwest Conference isn't exactly a D3 powerhouse, either.
 
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