Prologue
Off to Minneapolis Henry for the annual late season battle between the Patriots and De La Salle. These teams will get together again next Thursday at DLS in the 2 vs 7 game in section 3AAA. I'm sure the North Suburban coaches won't be getting any Christmas cards from the DLS staff for putting Henry in the 7 seed instead of Fridley (who stole the 6 when they should have been 7). Great case of why the coaches can't be trusted to seed properly. The foot long all beef hot dog is well worth the trip and I haven't had Powerade in a while so that's nice variety. Zach Lofton in the building with his own custom letter jacket (Z on the front and Lofton scrolled across the back). Some Gnarls Barkley on the PA system gets us ready.
Game Time
DLS off to a good start with a 12-0 run in the 1st 3:20. Luke Scott running out for a 3 point play and banking in a jumper (rare for sniper) during the run. Darius Hill to the basket for a pair of baskets and a putback. 16-11 DLS at the 9:49 mark. Matt Robinson knocks down a 3 and Henry is within 24-20 at the 2:30 mark. But DLS finishes the half on a 10-0 run thanks to a pair of Scott triples. 34-20 DLS at the half.
Tyler Moore with the basket on the screen and roll to push the lead to 44-28 DLS. Reid Travis on the post and the lead is 21, 59-38 with 5:52 left. Darius Hill fills it up late to keep it under 20. That includes 12 in a row with a pair of 3 point plays. One of those was a pretty spin move. Henry adds a couple of angry dunks late to take out their frustration. DLS wins 76-58.
Post Game
Henry falls to 11-11. They finish up the regular season with rival North on Thursday. Then a week off to prepare for the rematch. Darius Hill finishes with 27 points, 19 in the 2nd half but a majority after it was out of hand. No one else in double figures for the Patriots.
DeLaSalle improves to 19-5. They finish up with a non-conference home game against Moorhead on Saturday. Luke Scott with 4 3s and 23 points. Reid Travis 13 points and I had him for 5 rebounds. Lots more side screen and roll from the Islanders tonight in the half court offense.
"Great case of why the coaches can't be trusted to seed properly"-I think the coaches know a little more about there own section then you suspect and you should thank them for verifying the CzarPi vs the QRF (or what I call the QRaP). Look at the coaches seeding vs the CzarPi seedings vs the QRF seedings. If they would have used the QRF it matches only 2 of the 8 seeds correctly (the first two which are the easy ones). I contend the coaches did a way better job than the QRF would have done and, truth be told, the CzarPi doesn't have Fridley and Henry that far apart point wise anyway nor does the CzarPi differ all that much (6 of 8) than what the coaches did in their seeding. You should be thanking the coaches for verifying and legitmizing the CzarPi vs the QRF.
ReplyDeleteGenerally speaking the coaches do a good job, but there's absolutely no justification for putting Fridley of Henry ahead except that the North Suburban coaches knew Henry would give DLS the much tougher game. Henry is far more talented, has just as good a record and a better power ranking in more than 1 system. Traditionally Henry plays well against D too.
ReplyDeleteAs to legitimizing the CzarPI, its based on sound mathematics so that was never a question. If I didn't feel it had some legitimacy, I'd never post it.
Don't get me wrong, I endorse the CzarPi and think it is much better than the QRF. And, if what you said is true about the intent of the coaches making that one switch, it is a bit disheartening, but the point is the CzarPi and coaches have a way different 3AAA seed than the QRF and I think, in the end, the CzarPi (and the coaches) will prove to be more correct.
ReplyDeleteIn fairness, I'm sure there's plenty of cases where the CzarPI is off the deep end too. We have fundamentally different ways of evaluating teams and there are pros and cons to each. No computer system will ever be able to do it alone and the reason why sections went to points systems or QRF is because the coaches time and time again proved to be unreliable. I don't know for fact that the N Suburban coaches did that, but don't put self-preservation past a coach in a seeding meeting.
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