Orioles shoot down the Eagles

Prologue
All my games.  Are changing every day. In every possible way.  That means I'm off to Totino-Grace for a NW Suburban West division showdown with #6AAAA Osseo.  Its part of a tough schedule stretch for Totino-Grace as this is a back to back (granted at home) after playing Hopkins yesterday.  I was surprised at the sparse crowd on hand for both sides.  A hot dog and more of the delicacy known as A&W Root Beer on tonight's menu.  The JMOA represented along with Lou Smith (rare form tonight) and a surfer guy.  As to today's tune, No Need to Argue.  After all its a tribute, Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?

Song of the Day: The Cranberries - Dreams
Number of Teams I've Seen: 112 (92 games, 48 days, 32 buildings, 16 online)

Beverage Ticker: 621.4 ounces (6940 Calories)

• Pepsi: 214.7 ounces (2680 calories)
• Coke: 129.8 ounces (1540 calories) 
• Dr. Pepper: 36 ounces (450 calories)
• Sprite Zero: 20 ounces (0 calories) 
• Sprite: 104.9 ounces (1240 calories) 
• 7 Up: 12 ounces (140 calories)
• Red Gatorade: 60 ounces (420 calories)  
• Red Powerade: 20 ounces (130 calories) 
• A&W Root Beer: 24 ounces (340 calories)

Food Ticker:

• Hot Dogs: 15
• Walking Tacos: 4
• Pizza: 15
• Chipotle: 1 (thanks to Bethel staff)

Game Time:
The 1st half was a grind it out affair.  Totino-Grace's switching defense slowed Osseo down but also very patient.  Osseo solid on their end as well but the Eagles also patient on offense.  Zach Theisen with a pair of early 3s in a 9-1 run and Osseo takes a 10-5 lead 6 minutes in.  Theisen another bomb and then he'll convert a turnover to push the lead to 9.  Charlie Jacob with a pair of hoops and Will Schmidt back in with 2 fouls for a 3 point play. That cuts the Osseo lead to 22-19 at the 3:30 mark.  Emmette Paige off a set play high flare screen for 3 and Johnson Fallah knocks down a kickout 3.  Then Theisen flops in front of the Totino bench at the buzzer and Lou Smith gives the call.  TG coach Nick Carroll questions it and Lou goes all Ted Valentine and points at him and then barks at an assistant.  So incredibly out of line.  Plus he had 3 very questionable offensive foul calls on players posting up.  Not necessarily bad, but calls you just don't see.  30-21 Osseo at the half as they score 8 of the last 10.

Theisen and Paige from deep and then a big block by Osseo.  But that momentum is killed by a technical on the way back down the floor.  Jacob makes the 2 techincal free throws and the Eagles score on the possession.  MoKiller timeout by Totino-Grace down 11 with 15:13 left.  Flottmeier posts Paige for a 3 point play.  That cuts the lead to 10 and sends Paige to the bench with 4 fouls and 14 minutes left.  Jacob for 3 and the lead is down to 9 and you like Totino's momentum.

But Osseo's shooting takes over.  Cornell Richardson for 3.  Theisen inside out is wide open for 3 and then why not in transition for 3 more.  That's all part of an 11-0 run and the lead is 20 with 11:32 left.  Theisen 2 more bombs as he scores 5 straight Osseo buckets, all from deep.  That counters a putback, 2 free throws and a 3 from Jacob.  The outcome never in doubt.  Osseo wins 70-50

Post Game
For Totino-Grace, Charlie Jacob with 12 of his 16 in the 2nd half to lead the Eagles.  Will Schmidt 11 of his 13 in the 1st half.  Osseo's defense was very strong and they kept Totino mostly off the offensive board.  Schmidt never got going in the 2nd half and with the hot shooting, there's your result.  The Eagles fall to 6-6 overall and 3-3 in the NW Suburban.  They've now lost 4 in a row in the last week but those are to Maple Grove (top computer ranked team in section 8AAAA), #7 Park Center, #2 Hopkins and #6 Osseo.  They visit Irondale on Friday, then Champlin Park comes in and the return match at Maple Grove next week.  That's followed by a trip to Park Center to end the month.

Zach Theisen goes absolutely nuts for Osseo.  He finishes with 9 3s and 35 points to lead all scorers.  22 of those points and 6 3s in the 2nd half.  Totino-Grace doing a terrible job of finding him and recognizing him.  Prime example was on the 1st trip down the floor, Osseo gets a corner screen the screener look that they've run for years.  That was also true for Emmette Paige who had 15 points and 3 bombs of his own.  While I liked the switching and it was effective early.  Giving up 50 to the top 2 scorers is just unacceptable defensive execution.  Osseo improves to 10-2 overall and remains on top of the west division of the NW Suburban at 6-0.  They finish the 1st rotation thru the division on Friday in a rivalry game vs Maple Grove.  Then on the road to Coon Rapids and the other big rival Park Center next week.

Strategy Session
So the idea of having the ball in the corner and then throwing back to the wing for a shot has become more noticeable in recent years.  Osseo has a couple of sets where they'll do exactly this. If you see high post, wing and corner all filled and the ball goes corner, you can bet its a set.  Osseo will take a hard dribble or 2 baseline but then have the wing guy go off the high post and come back for a look.  They'll also run an NBA curl set where the wing screens away, player curls and the wing comes back off the high post for a look.  It fits well with the euro ball screen stuff they run too.