Here's who I would name as the 5 Mr. Basketball finalists (in no particular order) (Czar's Note 3/25: In this post, you'll see that I explain why I replace Williams with Jett in this list)
1) Nate Wolters - St. Cloud Tech. He'd be a stud for anybody in the metro and far more people would talk about him. He's as clutch as any player in the state (ask Tartan and Apollo) and as responsible for his team's success as anyone. He puts Tech in the ranks of the state's elite.
2) Sam Dower - Osseo. Without him, Osseo is a nice team. With him, Osseo is one of the best teams in the state. With his ability to block shots and score almost at will inside against most opponents. His projected game against Cooper in the 5AAAA section final could be a big factor in determining if he's a serious contender for the award. Speaking of Cooper...
3) Rodney Williams Jr - Robbinsdale Cooper. Wolters and Dower are more valuable to their teams because Cooper is stacked with talent, but just the threat of a Rodney dunk changes game plans. I personally would have the Rodney rules, like Chuck Daly had the Jordan rules. But does a blowout loss to Hopkins hurt his chances? Speaking of Hopkins...
4) Royce White - Hopkins. Top player on the top team and the most talented player in the state. While he has a history, to Royce's credit that hasn't been an issue this year. Therefore he earns a spot on this list. Does his performance in a win against #2 give him an advantage over...
5) Mike Bruesewitz - Henry Sibley. The player that takes the Warriors to the top level. The reason why Sibley is the 1 team with a legitimate chance to beat Hopkins. A great leader and do everything player.
Czar - you do a great job. But beg to disagree with you on the Finalists. If Jordair Jett is left out of the top 5 (and unfortunately I think he will be), it is sad. Look at his performances against the other players on this list. Wolters just simply didn't guard him (when he tried he quickly got two PF's and found a seat on the bench). Royce wanted ZERO part of him on either end while Jordair locked him up defensively - people who watched this game know. Jordair gets overlooked as a top 5 kid in the state really often and I don't understand it man...
ReplyDeleteJett was tough to leave off the list. I would have no problem if he ended up replacing somebody that I named.
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