2011 Timberwolves Shootout Thoughts

My thoughts from the 2011 Timberwolves Shootout.

Have to feel bad that Tom Schalk rolls an ankle late Thursday on a freak play and then has to miss his chance to play in the Shootout.  The Tyus Jones injury just killed the turnout and any coaching interest in the game.  Nice touch to announce the Marcus Paige verbal to North Carolina during the game.  Except for the last game, nice to see 3 close games.  2nd game was hard to watch because of the officiating.  4 cheese pizza was disappointing and that's not just because it was $7.   I was also surprised at how little we saw of Kyle Washington in the BSM game.  To the games

Game 1: Roseville vs Viborg/Hurley, SD
I got this one exactly right by saying the game would be closer than people thought.  4 Viborg starters with 2 fouls in the first half, including 2 on star Cory Jacobsen in 3 minutes and Stephen Lee (the main guy defending Lucas Brown) got his second 20 seconds later.  But that forced the Cougars to play 2-3 zone and Roseville had no answers for it.  Viborg goes on a 15-6 run over the last 8:25 of the half thanks to 13 first half points from Dennis DeNeui off the bench.  40-29 Viborg at half.  Roseville falls behind by 59-43 with 9:08 left as the drought continues and Cory Jacobsen's 9 points in the half.  Roseville chips away and the lead is 62-51 with 6:10 left.  Then the run kicks in.  Sam Peterson 2 FTs, David Stanley with a layup and a 3 and Mack Johnson from the NBA line for 3 at 3:40 to cut the lead to 2.  Then a Viborg turnover but Lucas Brown misses the breakaway dunk to tie it.  Roseville had no answer for 6'9 center Zach Kraning all day and he scores on the other end.  65-61 with 2:52 left and the missed dunk looks to be a huge factor.  But Mack Johnson from the NBA line again and Lucas Brown with a drive at 1:55 and Roseville is all the way back to lead 66-65.  After a Viborg free throw ties it, Lucas Brown with a great drive but Peterson misses the layup with 1:15 left but he blocks a Kraning jump hook on the other end.  Viborg gets it out of bounds with 43 seconds left and tries to go to Kraning again but Lucas Brown jumps around and takes it away.  Out of a timeout, Lucas Brown gets it. He goes to the rim late, no good but Peterson tips it in at the buzzer for the 68-66 Roseville win in the best game of the day.  Kraning leads Viborg with 15 points and 10 rebounds.  Cory Jacobsen all 13 in the 2nd half.  I liked soph Trevor Jacobsen and his 12 points as well.  Mack Johnson 4 triples including the 2 long bombs late to lead Roseville with 16 points.  Lucas Brown 8 points on 2-15 shooting but he showed up big late with 3 clutch steals, a drive and pass that was a missed layup and the final drive that was tapped in at the buzzer.

Game 2: Benilde-St. Margaret's vs Onalaska, WI
This one is close for most of the first half until Onalaska uses a Matt Thomas pull up and triple to push the lead to 21-14 at the 4:35 mark and force a BSM timeout.  The Red Knights finish the half on a 10-1 spurt to end the half thanks to 6 Isaiah Zierden points, a Will Dunn hoop and a spinning drive from Sanjay Lumpkin who once again showed extra aggressiveness in this game.  A Zierden drive gets him 2 free throws and more importantly is the 4th foul on Matt Thomas with 11:20 left.  35-34 Red Knights.  The Hilltoppers counter with a 8-0 run with Thomas on the bench thanks to a Nick Arenz short J sandwiched between a pair of Clint Rihn 3s.  42-35 Onalaska with 9:06 left.  53-44 Onalaska with 4:44 to go and Matt Thomas back in the lineup.  But BSM isn't quite done.  Zierden with 2 free throws and a steal for 2, Isaiah Gray to the hoop and Lumpkin with 2 freebies.  The 8-0 BSM run in only 51 seconds cuts the lead to 53-52 with 3:53 left.  Lumpkin with a steal and assist to Dunn and BSM has a 56-55 lead with 1:57 left.  Tony Thomas counters with a layup on the other end against the effective BSM pressure that got them back in it.  Zierden with 2 misses and Tony Thomas gets another layup on a runout with 33 seconds left.  The teams trade free throws and Isaiah Gray misses a 3 with 5 seconds left.  Tony Thomas seals the deal with 2 freebies.  62-57 Onalaska wins.  Isaiah Zierden 19 points on 5-15 shooting with only 1 triple.  Will Dunn 11 points, Isaiah Gray 10 points.  4 of Onalaska's 5 scorers in double figures.  Clint Rihn 4 triples for 16 points.  Star Nick Arenz 12 points, 11 rebounds and 4 blocks on my sheet.  Not dominant but effective.

Game 3: Chaska vs Cedar Rapids Washington
Big shock for me during the day was finding out that Minnetonka beat Washington (Iowa's 9th ranked team) at their place Friday night.  So I expected Chaska to roll.  10-9 Washington at 10:05 after a Jake White bucket inside.  Then Washington goes on a 18-4 run over the next 7 minutes thanks to a Josh Oglesby 3 point play and a pair of triples.  35-20 Washington at half in a major surprise.  After a surprising low number of inside touches in the first half, Jake White gets going in the second half.  He has 2 putbacks, a free throw and a nice reverse layup from Ross Travis along with 2 Max Watts triples and a long Adam Happ 3 to cut the lead to 45-40 on an 18-6 run.  Wes Washpun keeps Washington afloat by scoring 3 straight hoops for them and he's challenging White and Travis at the rim.  Then White with back to back hoops to cut the lead to 51-50, 4:50 left.  Washpun 2 FTs help push the lead back to 5.  White with the lefty layin, Washpun misses a front end and White again on the post with 1:30 left.  55-54 Washington.  Oglesby 2 FTs with 1:09 left.  Chaska patient on the possession down 3 and they find Ross Travis inside with 33.3 left.  He makes 1 of the 2 free throws.  Oglesby makes a mistake by giving the ball up and Washpun misses 2 free throws with 21.4 left.  Washpun under 50% at the line on the season, not the guy Washington wanted there.  Chaska misses a layup on the other end with 12 seconds left and Oglesby makes 2 free throws to seal it.  59-55 Washington wins.  Josh Oglesby 14 of his 20 points in the 1st half.  5-14 FGs and 7 turnovers with Ross Travis hounding him for a part of the night when Chaska wasn't playing 1-3-1.  Wes Washpun leads the way with 23 points and I didn't recall the lefty having those kinds of hops.  Ross Travis 13 points, 7 boards, 3 blocks on 4-10 shooting. Jake White 18 of his 26 points in the second half along with 8 rebounds.

Game 4: Linn-Mar (Marion, IA) vs Apple Valley
No Schalk or Jones for this one and we got the expected blowout.  Apple Valley keeps this close at 30-21 with 2:35 left in the half, but a 13-0 run by Linn-Mar to end the half puts it away.  Matt Bohannon 14 of his 19 in the first half.  Marcus Paige outstanding as expected with 16 points.  Shane Benton with a nice second half before the starters were pulled to finish with 17 points.  81-35 Linn-Mar wins.  Should be fun to see Linn-Mar again next weekend vs Madison Memorial at the Midwest Players Classic.  Jordan Crockett with 7 points to lead Apple Valley.

The Czar's All-Shootout Team
Marcus Paige- Linn-Mar (MVP)
Matt Bohannon - Linn-Mar
Matt Thomas - Onalaska
Josh Oglesby - Cedar Rapids Washington
Jake White - Chaska

2011 Timberwolves Shootout Preview

A light schedule at the 2011 Timberwolves Shootout and it may be the worst shootout in recent memory, but it's not all bad.  Here's what I'm looking for.  Next year let's all campaign for Shootout director Jeff Munneke to get Eleate Sports star Jeremy Lieberman in from California to take on Tyus Jones and bring back the old days of the shootout when it was a must see event.  Those stars do bring in extra fans contrary to popular belief.

1 PM: Viborg/Hurley, SD vs Roseville
The Cougars make the trip from South Dakota with a record of 5-0 and are ranked #2 in the South Dakota Class A poll.  These were separate schools before forming a combined program this season.  Their star is 6'1" G Cory Jacobsen.  He has over 1700 career points and is averaging 19.4 PPG this season.  He also helped lead the Cougars to a state runner-up finish in football..  There are 5 players who were members of the Dakota Schoolers this summer and have appeared locally.  6'9" senior center Zach Kraning is their man in the middle.  5'8" Soph Trevor Jacobsen is having a nice year at the point guard spot.  He was one of the members of the very good Schoolers 15s.

Roseville features Wofford signee Lucas Brown on the wing.  He's averaging 16.7 points a night.  Point guard David Stanley leads the way at 18 PPG.  Don't be surprised to see Emeche Wells get the assignment guarding Cory Jacobsen.  Wells and Soph Mack Johnson each average 11 PPG.  Johnson is one of the top shooters in the sophomore class and has range from anywhere in the building.  8th grader Kobe Critchley may also see time as a reserve guard.

Czar's Pick: Roseville but something tells me this game might be better than expected.

3 PM: Onalaska, WI vs Benilde-St. Margaret's
Onalaska is 8-0 and currently ranked #1 in Wisconsin's Division 2 poll.  Coach Craig Kowal returns to the Target Center after leading neighboring La Crescent to the state tournament in 2008.  The Hilltoppers star is 6'8" Jr forward Nick Arenz.  He's averaging 15.9 PPG and has a handful of D1 mid-major offers already.  He was MVP at last week's 3 day WBY Shootout, Wisconsin's top event of the year.  6'1 soph shooting guard Matt Thomas is one of the top shooters in Wisconsin's sophomore class.  He's averaging 12.1 PPG.  Older brother Tony is a 6'6" senior and does the dirty work up front for the Hilltoppers.

Benilde-St. Margaret's has one of the most loaded classes I've seen in my time.  Their juniors lead the way.  PG Isaiah Zierden leads the way at 16.2 PPG.  6'8" Kyle Washington has blown up in the last 6 months.  He averages 10.4 PPG and is a major presence inside blocking shots with his length.  6'6" Sanjay Lumpkin is used as the defensive stopper on the wing but is capable of going off for 30.  These are 3 of the top 2012 prospects in Minnesota.  6'3" Will Dunn averages 11.2 on the wing and is a very good shooter but has been successfully attacking the basket when teams run out at him.

Czar's Pick: Benilde-St. Margaret's in the best game of the day.  Washington vs Arenz and Lumpkin guarding Matt Thomas are matchups I'm watching.  I think the Benilde depth puts them over the top.  Worth noting that both teams have big conference games on Thursday night so hopefully there are no big game hangovers.

5 PM: Cedar Rapids, IA Washington vs Chaska
Washington comes into the shootout with a record of 5-2 and ranked #9 in Iowa's Class 4A.  They feature a pair of Iowa Barnstormers that have played locally.  6'6" senior SG Josh Oglesby has signed with Iowa.  He's ranked #118 in the nation by Rivals.com.  This season he's averaging 21.6 PPG and shooting 29-55 (52.7%) from the 3 point line.  That includes 8-10 in a 56-51 to Cedar Rapids Jefferson and Wisconsin signee Jarrod Uthoff.  Point guard Wes Washpun is averaging 18.3 PPG but only shooting 16-38 from the foul line (42.1%).  He nailed a buzzer beater on Tuesday to beat Iowa City West (video in this article).  In a bit of irony, they host Minnetonka on Friday night before making the trip on Saturday.

Chaska features 6'8 Power Forward Jake White inside.  He's signed with Wichita State and is having a huge year. He's averaging 27.3 PPG this season and was averaging 12.7 Rebounds through the 1st 7 games.  6'7" Penn State signee Ross Travis is a catalyst on the perimeter.  He's averaging 18.1 PPG and has 27 or more points in 3 of his last 4 games, all against quality competition. Shooter Max Watts is averaging 13.3 PPG.

Czar's Pick: Chaska.  Jake White is the difference inside and Travis can take over at anytime.  But they'll have to keep Oglesby in check.

7 PM: Linn-Mar (Marion, IA) vs Apple Valley
Linn-Mar returns to the shootout (for the 4th time in my memory) at 7-0 and ranked #1 in Iowa's class 4A.  They're also #6 in the Midlands region according to PrepNation.com (Hopkins is #1, Johnson is #9 for comparison).  6'1" lefty point guard Marcus Paige is ranked #37 in the nation by Rivals.com.  He has numerous high major D1 offers including Kansas and Minnesota.  Gopher fans would love for him to fill a desperate point guard need.  He put on a show vs Minnetonka last year with his passing and scoring and I expect no less this year.  He's averaging 19 PPG this season.  But he's not the whole show.

6'4" shooter Matt Bohannon impressed last year.  He's averaging 14.7 PPG this season and will attend Northern Iowa next year.  6'3 Shane Benton has only played 3 games this year and is averaging 8.7 PPG.  He'll attend North Dakota.  6'6 multi-sport athlete Josh Montague mans the interior.  He's averaging 11 PPG and has interest in both football and basketball.  A group that is well coached and runs great stuff, a pleasure to watch. 

Apple Valley will play the game without star freshman Tyus Jones at the point.  His kidney injury suffered on opening night will keep him out until February according to published reports this week.  That takes away the star attraction of the entire event.  But 6'7" William and Mary signee Thomas Schalk is having a monster year filling in the gap.  He's averaging 28.7 points a game this season.  He can play inside or out with his 3 point shooting range.  Soph shooter Dustin Fronk is averaging 9.3 PPG.  Gavin Bronson and Josh Johnson have picked up their game as well.

Czar's Pick: Linn-Mar.  Too deep, too talented, too good vs a depleted Apple Valley squad.

2011 Timberwolves Shootout Pairings

Here are the pairings for the 2011 Timberwolves Shootout on Saturday January 8th, 2011 at Target Center.

1 PM: Roseville vs Viborg (SD)
3 PM: Benilde-St. Margaret's vs Onalaska (WI)
5 PM: Chaska vs Cedar Rapids (IA) Washington
7 PM: Apple Valley vs Linn-Mar (IA)