Rivals releases final 2009 rankings

Rivals.com released their final class of 2009 rankings today. Read the entire rankings here. Here are the changes to Minnesota players (and others of note) from the last period (August 19, 2008).

Minnesota Players

• Royce White #19, Minnesota (no change)
  
• Trent Lockett #80, Arizona State (down from #73)
  
• Rodney Williams Jr #100, Minnesota (down from #95)
• Sam Dower #116, Gonzaga (up from #119)
• Mike Bruesewitz #118, Wisconsin (up from #124)

Wisconsin Players

• Jeronne Maymon #47, Marquette (down from #46)
• Jamil Wilson #94, Oregon (down from #93)
• Johnny Lacy #143, Providence (down from #110)
  

Other players who have appeared locally

• DeMarcus Cousins #2, Kentucky (no change)
  
• DJ Richardson #38, Illinois (up from #57)
• Darius Smith #71, Connecticut (up from #113)
• Naji Hibbert #97, Texas A&M (down from #88)
• Joseph Bertrand #128, Illinois (down from #116)
• Diamond Taylor #129, Wisconsin (down from #118)
• Michael Dixon #136, Missouri (down from #130)

Hopkins finishes the deal with the 09 AAAA Championship

Cowles right off the opening tip. Broghammer on Dower as expected. John Rowland for 3 and Osseo leads 3-2. No goofy game plan for Osseo. Royce thru Dower and tips in his own miss. Rowland again, this time with the turnaround at 16:40. 5-4 Orioles. Bobby Fischer for 3 and a Hopkins turnover. Dower inside and fouled for a pair of FTs at 16:10. He makes 1 of 2 for a 9-6 Osseo lead. White for a layup from Marcus Williams and he'll shoot 1. No good but Broghammer tips it in. Can't have that. Another Osseo turnover but White with another forced shot. Rowland around and out as he gets another look. Hopkins not converting the turnovers. DJ Phillips with a carry for the 4th Osseo turnover. TV timeout at 13:49, 10-9 Hopkins leads.

Bobby Fischer for 3 at 13:10 to put Osseo back on top 12-10. Moses Sundufu in the game and he crashes the glass for FTs at 12:49. Can Phillips and Fischer can keep Hopkins off the offensive glass? Osseo being very patient on offense with no gimmicks. Hopkins not as patient. Aaron Anderson drives and has a nice dropoff to Jayvin Reynolds for a layup. 14-11 Osseo leads as we go to the TV timeout at 10:55. Royce White with 6 points already. Bobby Fischer and John Rowland with 11 of the 14 Osseo points.

Lockett with another Hopkins offensive board for 2. Reynolds back on the other end. Offense coming from the unlikely sources for Osseo. Lockett rebounds, a nice low crossover and spin for freebies at 9:47. 1 of 2 for Lockett. 16-14 Osseo leads. A feed to Dower results in a turnover. Lockett and Broghammer with misses but white draws the 3rd quick foul on Reynolds at the 9:26 mark. White airballs a step back jumper and then reaches around as he didn't get out to Rowland. DJ Phillips spins, avoid a steal and throws in a short shot. 18-15 Osseo. Cowles banks home a 3 at 7:45 to tie it. Lockett grabs another offensive board but turns and goes thru the d for his 2nd foul outside of 7 minutes. Singleton with a bucket and an Osseo turnover. That takes us to the 6:24 TV timeout. 20-18 Hopkins. They already have 8 offensive rebounds which makes up for 8-23 shooting. Osseo 7-16 but 8 turnovers.

Cowles with another Hopkins offensive board at 5:35. That gives him 2 FTs and gives Hopkins a 22-20 lead. Broghammer pushing Dower out but he fouls Dower for his 2nd with 5:22 left. The bonus freebies tie the game at 22. Cowles for 2, Williams for 2 on a turnover. Dower inside and dunks to stop some bleeding. Cowles gets a great look after the 10th offensive board of the half but its up and over with 4:22 left. Phillips great feed to Djerf backdoor, Dower with a block but Phillips can't finish. 26 all at the 3:46 TV timeout.

Hopkins can't convert 2 more offensive rebounds as Osseo is just tipping the ball, not grabbing it. DJ Peterson does convert an Osseo turnover at 3:05 for 2. Dower inside misses a short jump hook over Royce. Dower smacks a Marcus Williams layup off the board for a nice block. Peterson drives on Rowland and Dower doesn't help and Hopkins gets the layup. John Rowland with another 3 and Osseo is within 1, 30-29 at 1:20. Osseo takes time and holds for 1 shot but Phillips turns it over for a Royce dunk. Djerf misses a triple, White with the long outlet to Williams who finds Singleton who'd fouled at the horn. He makes 1 of 2. 33-29 Hopkins at the break. Bad last minute for Osseo. Hopkins 13-39 shooting but they have 12 offensive rebounds (25-18 total advantage on the glass) and have forced 12 turnovers (4 by Osseo PG DJ Phillips). Royce started hot but he's only 4-11. Cowles and Royce have 9 points each to each Hopkins. John Rowland leads Osseo with 8 points. Sam Dower 1-5 with 6 rebounds, 2 blocks and a total of 5 points. Osseo's 4-7 shooting from 3 helping to keep them close. Oustanding performance by the Alexandria Aces at the half with their hoops tricks. Great way to end the season with the best halftime entertainment of the year.

My Class AAAA All-Tournament Ballot
Ellis Libby and Moses Alipate - Jefferson
Mike Bruesewitz - Sibley
Nate Wolters - St. Cloud Tech
John Rowland, Aaron Anderson and Sam Dower - Osseo
Royce White, Ray Cowles and Mike Broghammer - Hopkins

To the last half of the season we go. Osseo looks for another backdoor Djerf and a post up for Dower but they turn it over. Broghammer with great position on Dower and can't convert. He then blows the dunk on a follow-up. Royce bumps Dower to gain space and banks it home. Osseo misses and a kickout to Royce equals 3. Timeout Osseo at 16:25 with Hopkins leading 38-29. Lockett poaches a passing lane and finger rolls for an 11 point lead. The pressure adding up now. Rowland with a big 3 at the 15 minute mark to keep Osseo within 8. Then he strips Lockett and Dower converts for an And 1 on the other end. 14:34 left with Hopkins leading 40-34 after the missed FT. Reynolds gets posted by Royce and has to mug him to save an easy hoop. That's his 4th with 14:15 left but White misses both. Djerf drives and pulls up at 13:50 to cut the lead to 4. Broghammer steals a pair of offensive boards for FTs. Another reason why Reynolds is sorely missed as he's a top rebounder. Broghammer's 2 FTs extend the lead to 6. Royce helping on Dower and Rowland buries another triple at 12:25. 42-39 Hopkins.

Broghammer posts Dower and scores over him lefty at 12:11. Dower guarding Royce now and he immediately gets posted and picks up another foul. Royce gets lost on an inbounds for an easy dunk at 11:10 and the lead is 7. Danger zone here. TV Timeout at 10:30 with Hopkins leading 46-39.

Djerf with another Osseo 3 at 10:10 and they continue to hang around. Lockett posts DJ Phillips and converts a jump hook. Phillips misses a floater and Williams pulls up for a medium range jumper. DJ Peterson with another Hopkins offensive board at 8:58 for 2. Reynolds will come back in for the Orioles. That's the 19th offensive rebound for Hopkins. Dower scores at the 8 minute mark and Peterson puts back another miss. Rowland with another triple and Osseo takes time with 7:44 left. 54-49 Hopkins leads. Hopkins still cold as they're 9-22 shooting this half.

Broghammer misses a bunny but comes back with a tip away from Dower and then a 17 footer from the high post. 56-49 Hopkins leads. Another entry pass where Dower gets mugged and no call and Hopkins gets possession. Royce guarding Dower now with Broghammer on the bench. Reynolds up high for a tip in at 5:45. Marvin Singleton with a tough finish over Dower who stayed straight up. Dower over Broghammer and gets a putback. Royce over Dower on the other end with a floater. Phillips with a turnover and marcus Williams smartly pulls the ball back. Timeout Hopkins wiht 3:26 left and a 60-53 lead. Osseo with 4 turnovers since the last TV timeout.

Lockett to the basket and Dower gets that one. Dower grabs an offensive rebound at 2:45 and fades for 2. Osseo still within 5. Royce strong and converts at 2:30. With Osseo's big lineup (Reynolds and Rowland together), Cowles guards Rowland so no free looks from 3 against Royce. Broghammer with 1 FT at 2:07. Now Reynolds and Rowland alternate offense for defense. Cowles fouled at 1:06 and he makes 2 freebies and the lead is double-digits, 65-55. Hopkins makes their free throws for a 69-59 win.

Hopkins is the third undefeated team today to come in and leave with a title. Royce White finishes with 20 points, 7 rebounds for the game and no meltdowns for the season. Mike Broghammer with 11 points and 13 rebounds. John Rowland with 17 points including 5 triples. Hopkins with 21 offensive rebounds and they forced 21 turnovers. That offsets 37.7% shooting. Sam Dower finishes his career with 15 points and 16 rebounds.

The Class AAAA All-Tournament Team
Nate Wolters, Alex Hanks - St. Cloud Tech
Royce White, Mike Broghammer, Trent Lockett - Hopkins
Moses Alipate, Ellis Libby - Jefferson
Sam Dower, Aaron Anderson, Nick Djerf - Osseo (no Rowland is a mistake by the voters)

Less than 65,000 people attended the tournament compared to 90,000 in Wisconsin. A simple way to address budget issues, fix the schedule so more fans can attend by having the big schools play the primetime games.

Osseo upsets Cooper for 5AAAA Title

To Rogers for the 5AAAA championship game between Cooper and Osseo. The size and patience of Osseo vs the athleticism of Cooper. Noteworthy local stars on hand included Josh Pedretti of Maple Grove, Jasper Duberry of Champlin Park and Trent Lockett of Hopkins. Great sequence between the student sections during the game. I may not have it totally right but something like this.

Cooper Students: Golden Gophers
Osseo Students: Go Zags Go
Cooper Students: Where's Gonzaga? (as in Gon-Zayg-Ah)
Osseo Students: In the Tourney! (referencing Gonzaga's win over Akron yesterday and the Rodents loss).

That's good students and we had both bands do a fine job. Now to the game.

Rodney Williams gets the Cooper assignment of defending Sam Dower. Dower with 8 quick points via pair of putbacks. Kenquane Brown with a pair of triples. 11-10 Osseo at the 11:20 mark as Dower converts his own missed dunk. Back to back Orioles turnovers give Cooper 4 in a row. 14-11 Hawks at the 8:35 mark. But then the turnovers set in. Nick Djerf with a pair of triples vs Cooper's 2-3 and Brown has 4 turnovers in this run. John Rowland in the starting lineup tonight and he nails a 3. Dower with a dunk off a nice post set play. DJ Phillips takes a rebound coast to coast for a layup. Timeout Cooper. 28-17 Osseo leads with 3:09 left in the half. Its a 17-3 Osseo run over 5:11. 30-21 Osseo at the half. Dower with 12 and 6 on 6-9 shooting. Kenquane Brown with 8 points and 4 boards but costly turnovers. Rodney Williams 1-3 for 2 points.

Joe Bright keeping Cooper close with a pair of hoops as Rowland can't handle him. 37-27 Osseo at 14:35. Aaron Anderson with 2 FTs, Dower with a pair of postups around a straight away 3 that Rodney airballed. 43-27 Orioles with 11:42 to play. Bright with a bucket and a triple but Jayvin Reynolds is on him now and has swatted away a couple of Bright's inside looks. Rodney with 2 misses FTs and a missed front end. Quincy Bethea misses a front end and Rodney can't get the putback to go. 43-32 Osseo with 8:30 left. Bright with a nice interior pass to Brown for a layup and then a putback. 45-36 Osseo with 6:35 left. Timeout Osseo as the lead has now gotten under 10. Cooper turns up the defense and they really get after Bobby Fischer. Freddie Burton strips Fischer and that leads to 2 Brown free throws. DJ Phillips picks up his 5th foul on a technical called by an official a mile away from the play. Very strange. A big loss as Osseo needs his ballhandling right now. Brown makes 1 of the 2 FTs and then buries a triple on the possession. 51-44 Osseo with 3:05 left. Cooper gets to Fischer again but Bethea misses the layup. After Djerf makes 1 of 2, Brown counters with another triple. 52-47 Osseo with 2:20 left and momentum as Osseo is really struggling against the pressure. Rowland with 2 freebies and then Burton goes baseline and finds Brown in the opposite corner for another triple. 54-50 Osseo and there's still 1:35 left. Anderson held on the inbound and makes 2 FTs. Bethea and Burton get good looks at 3s and they're short. But Bright gets a steal from Anderson for 1 of 2 FTs with :55 seconds left. 56-51 Osseo. Osseo wins 58-51 to move on to state.

For Cooper, Kenquane Brown with 22 and 7 (5 triples) but a handful of turnovers. Joe Bright was a beast with 19 points. Rodney Williams ends his prep career on a very sour note. 6 points and 6 rebounds. 2-9 FG and 2-8 FTs. Cooper loses all 8 players who played for them tonight but they have a talented JV squad that will be very interesting to watch next year.

For Osseo, Sam Dower leads the way with 18 and 11. I had him 8-12 from the field. Junior Nick Djerf with a nice night of 16 points and he had a tough task of guarding Williams and Bright during the night. Djerf and John Rowland with a pair of triples each to extend the Cooper defense. They're probably looking at the #4 seed in the state tournament. Nice strategy by coach Thiesen to throw a bunch of different defenders at Rodney. That even included Dower on a critical possession in the last 90 seconds.

With tonight's results, I drop Rodney Williams out of my finalists for Mr. Basketball. He's replaced by Jordair Jett who's played sufficiently well in big games that I can no longer keep him off the list. It raises an interesting debate of how Mr. Basketball should be decided. Most Valuable to team (Dower, Wolters, Jett), best player (White) or combination of those factors (Bruesewitz).

Dower dominates again

A special (and last minute) trip to Andover tonight for the Huskies home game against NW Suburban front runner Osseo. Surprisingly small Osseo crowd. I don't recommend top row on the visitor side as the backboard and the American Flag keep you from having a clear view of the scoreboards. The PA guy is trying way too hard as well.

6'2 Kyle Mulrooney gets the unenviable task of guarding Dower on this night. But its Mulrooney who's off to the quick start as he makes back to back triples for a 13-5 Andover lead at 12:20. A couple of nice box outs and he's using his bulk nicely on Dower. Dalton Graff off the Osseo bench with a double-dose of 3s. But Jason Schneider gets a 3 point play and sophomore Tyler Finnes with a 3, 19-13 Andover at 9:35. Dower then picks up his 2nd foul, but with Osseo down, Coach Theisen keeps him in the game. Dower starting to get it going on offense. He makes his patented jump hook and then finds Nick Djerf for 3. Osseo takes time at 6:24 still down 27-20. Then Andover starts turning the ball over and Osseo makes the Huskies pay. Dower with a 3 point play and then finds Djerf going backdoor. John Rowland for 3 after the ball went thru Dower in the post. Dower 2 FTs and then Graff back to back triples again. All off of Andover turnovers. Osseo with the lead 36-29 at 4:04 and Andover needs a timeout after a 16-2 Osseo run in just 2:20. A minimum of 3 turnovers in that run for the Huskies. Dower now can rest with the 2 fouls. 4 more Andover turnovers but Osseo goes 0-5 (0-6 if you want to count a missed front end) at the charity stripe. Dower comes back at 1:48 with Osseo leading 36-33. He puts back a miss at 1:25 and another offensive board with 4 seconds left in the half for a free throw. 39-33 Osseo at the half. Dower 14 pts, 4 boards and 3 assists for another 8 points. Dalton Graff with 4 big triples off the bench for 12 points.

Dower comes out on a mission in the 2nd half as he gets the 1st 8 Orioles points of the half. During that stretch, Andover star Brett Tester with a 3 point play to cut the lead to 43-40. Out of a new set (see Osseo section), Andover mysteriously doubles Jayvin Reynolds at the foul line and he finds Bobby Fischer for 3. 50-40 Osseo with 13:30 left and the Orioles take off. John Rowland with a couple of threes and Dower puts back a couple of misses. 64-42 Osseo with 9:10 left. That's a 21-2 Osseo run over 7:30. A chunk of that run was against the Andover bench. The score is even the rest of the way, but the game feels like 40. Osseo's starters leave with 1:31 left after leading by as much as 27. Osseo wins 84-63.

For Andover, Jason Schneider leads the way with 12 points and 9 rebounds on my sheet. He's next year's only returning starter. Sophomores Ben Mei and Tyler Finnes also see significant minutes for the Huskies. They tried to double Dower, especially from Phillips but they allowed Dower too many easy catches on the post. The loss drops the Huskies to 5-12 and they've now lost 7 in a row after a 5-5 start.

For Osseo, Dower with 35 points, 11 rebounds and 3 after being held to 18 in the first meeting. I had him for around 14-18 shooting, but all of his attempts were inside of 6 feet. Dalton Graff and John Rowland come off the bench with 7 triples and 24 points total. No Aaron Anderson tonight for Osseo. Bobby Fischer and Nick Djerf getting the starts tonight for the Orioles. No full court run and jump from Osseo tonight in a bit of a surprise. They also unveiled a 2-3 high offense late in the 1st half and for a period in the 2nd half. The win allows the Orioles to keep pace with Champlin Park in the NW Suburban. Centennial 1 game back after the 18 point loss at Osseo on Tuesday.

The Czar talks Sam Dower with Gonzaga blog

For those of you who have kept up on Sam Dower here, you'll know that I've often referenced the Gonzaga blog, The Kennel Report. The good folks there have had their site rolled into one of the better named sites on the net, The Slipper Still Fits. Its a terrific source for anything with Gonzaga sports and they do a terrific job following the Zags recruiting scene. They were kind enough to ask me to give them some thoughts on their 2009 recruit Sam Dower. I had tons of fun doing this (and how nice after I just saw Dower play 3 times in the last 2 weeks). I only wish I could ask questions like they do.

Read my interview with The Slipper Still Fits here.

Dower powers Osseo over Wayzata

A big matchup of #5 Osseo hosting #6 Wayzata. Both teams came in at 10-1. Osseo's only loss to Sibley and Wayzata's only loss to Cooper. Trent Lockett on hand to watch as well as the Hopkins coaches. An interesting side note to this one. Sam Dower and Kyle Mason of Osseo played with Wayzata's Kellen Taylor and Jarrod Peterson played together for Net Gain Sports last summer. And I did make sure I didn't miss out on the pizza.

Eren Cur with the assignment on Dower. But Dower is guarding Taylor on the other end. Taylor starts the day with 2 free throws and a steal for a dunk with Jamar Franks adding an offensive rebound 2 and finishing up the 9-2 Wayzata start with a triple 4 minutes in. 3 straight Osseo turnovers in this span. Taylor then puts a nice spin move on Dower for an 11-4 Wayzata lead at 12:45. Jayvin Reynolds once again gone to the bench with 2 very quick fouls. Osseo with 8 in a row to get the lead back at 12-11 with 10:35 left in the half as Dower finishes the run with a dunk. 10 of the 1st 12 for Osseo go to Dower. Taylor gets his 3rd at 8:36 diving for a loose ball on a questionable call and Wayzata coach Mike Anderson is not happy with the zebras on this day. DJ Phillips with a pullup jumper at 5:45 puts Osseo out to a 20-13 lead. 16-2 Osseo over 7 minutes. Peterson with a jumper and then Cur gets a steal for 2 plus the foul at 5:09. Jamar Franks for some reason gets a T on the play and Dower makes the FTs. 22-18 Osseo. The end of the half sees a parade to the foul line. 35-27 Osseo at the break. Dower with 22 and 7 in the half and totally unstoppable. Jamar Franks and Jarrod Peterson with 7 each for Wayzata.

Bobby Fischer (does he play chess?) with a triple and fouled for the rare 4 point play to start the half. He got the start today and fills an important shooting role for them. Don't know how much that had to do with Aaron Anderson taking a practice ACT exam (Anderson did play today). Dower adds 2 more buckets as Osseo gets the 1st 10 of the 2nd half for a 45-27 lead at 14:35. Wayzata never gets closer than 12 after that. Jayvin Reynolds with a big 2nd half getting inside hoops and cleaning the glass (did that part vs Champlin Park too in the 2nd half). Dower adds a huge dunk off a couple of back screens late for some tasty icing on the cake. Osseo wins 81-59.

For Wayzata, they again struggle with post people after giving up 32 to Ra'Shede Hageman last Saturday. Disappointed they didn't seem to have anything special in for defending Dower. 4 guys in double figures with Kellen Taylor having 15 on my sheet. They fall to 10-2 with a couple of interesting games next weekend. St. Paul Central on Friday and then Milwaukee Lutheran in the East Metro Showcase next Saturday night.

For Osseo, they're on an 11 game win streak. Sam Dower was a monster with 37 points and 9 rebs on my sheet and I had something like 14-19 shooting. Jayvin Reynolds is an animal on the glass. 17 points and 7 boards basically in the 2nd half due to his 1st half fouls. They held Nolan Odland in check and didn't give Wayzata many good looks from outside the arc.

Champlin Park at Osseo Thoughts

As Ernie Banks once said, "Let's Play Two" as I'm in Osseo for a girls and boys doubleheader. Girls JV goes way over and we don't get started with girls game until almost 6:30. Osseo girls hang on 57-52. CP had an early 15-4 lead in that one. Once again I miss out on pizza, but the hot dog was worthwhile. Now to the important action.

CP goes with an interesting defensive choice in the boys game. Kyle Zimmerman (CP best big) guarding DJ Phillips (Osseo's PG). Sam Dower doubled on every touch but usually not by Zimmerman in a surprise. CP catches a break when Jayvin Reynolds picks up his 2nd foul 2 minutes in and he's gone for the rest of the half. The 1st 10 minutes are back and forth before Josh Pella breaks the press with a dunk and then off a Jasper Duberry steal he makes 1 of 2 FTs for a 17-14 Champlin Park lead at 6:53 of the 1st half. Nick Djerf with 4 of Osseo's 6 in a row as he finishes that spurt with a steal for 2 to put Osseo on top 20-17 at 5:40. Zimmerman makes 2 free throws after an offensive rebound and its 20-19 Osseo at 5:31. Osseo then goes on a 12-2 run capped by a nice set to get Dower a alley-oop dunk (we'll describe this later). Bobby Fischer off the bench with 2 triples in the run. 32-23 Osseo at the half. Dower with 12 and 5 in the half. Zimmerman 8 and 5.

Bobby Fischer with 2 more 3s for Osseo early in the half to offset a couple of CP triples. Osseo leads 38-29 3 minutes into the half. Zimmerman and Scott Theisen get buckets and the margin is only 5. The Orioles counter with a 12-2 run of their own over the next 5 minutes as Djerf gets 4 in the run. 50-35 Osseo with 9:10 to play. Theisen with 2 layups on nice feeds from Pella before a Dower bucket. Then Dower picks up his 4th foul (all in 2nd half) at 7:21 and it looks like CP has some life. That foul sends Zimmerman to the line down 52-39. He misses the front end. Osseo then gets 9 of the next 11 with Dower out (Djerf 5) and they have a commanding 61-41 lead when Dower returns at 4:47 (did he really need to come back in?). He gets a nice assist to Djerf and a couple of free throws and a bucket in that time. Osseo wins 75-54.

For Champlin Park, Scott Theisen leads the way with 20 points and I had 7 rebounds for him. 13 of those points in the 2nd half. They're now 7-5 and 3-1 in the NW Suburban. 3 league road games await them. Overall I thought they did an alright job on Dower, but did a poor job rotating to shooters. DJ Phillips is the guy you want to force to beat you. CP didn't take care of the ball when they had their chance with Dower out.

For Osseo, they are now 4-0 and stand alone on top of the NW Suburban. 10-1 overall with 10 wins in a row after that opening loss at Sibley. Great job by the Osseo bench. Nick Djerf with 15 points and Bobby Fischer (he plays basketball and chess too?) with 14 (4 triples) off the bench. John Rowland with 10 off the bench. They needed it with no one besides Sam Dower over 4 points from the starting lineup. Dower finishes with 20 and 10 on my sheet and had a couple of monster blocks in the 2nd half. Everything inside tonight, no settling for FT line jumpers which is nice. I'd like to see him show a counter or something else besides that lefty jump hook. They've got a good one vs Wayzata on Saturday and I'll be in attendance.

Play of the Day
In our play of the day, a look at the lob dunk for Dower at the end of the 1st half. Standard 1-4 high set with Dower on left elbow. Point guard takes the ball 1 or 2 dribbles 1 way and then comes back to the other side (we'll say right to left in this case). Left wing clears out. Right wing comes over the top of a Dower screen to the left box. Dower pops back to the top of the key for the pass from the PG who's on the left side now. The wing that cleared comes off a down screen from the other post and gets the ball at the right wing. Dower then gets a back screen from the guard that previously curled to the left box and they throw it up to him.

2009 Timberwolves Shootout Thoughts

Here's what I saw at the 2009 Timberwolves Shootout. This is the 5th consecutive shootout I've attended. In terms of competitve games, this was the worst one I've been to with 4 blowouts and 1 other game that got back to 4 points, but wasn't in doubt for much of the game. At least the Sibley/Memorial game lived up to the hype. That and a couple of Rodney Williams dunks were the main highlights.

Game 1: Cloquet vs Pelican Rapids
I got the not close part of the prediction correct as Pelican Rapids made 7 1st half 3s and got 29 total points from their stars Tydan Storrusten and Eric Shulstad. Nothing like triples to bust zones. Very strange that Chad Calcaterra played very limited 1st half minutes. Only 6 and 4 in the 1st half for him. He finished with 21 and 10 and 2 blocks (and 4 dunks, more on that later). Beyond Chad, Cloquet has almost nothing. Their inability to deal with the Pelican Rapids halfcourt trap was really painful to watch. They may have most of their roster returning for next season but that won't be enough. Pelican Rapids with all seniors except for 1 sophomore. Very impressive to watch. Storrusten with 29, Shulstad with 27 in the 87-56 win.

Game 2: Osseo vs Sioux Falls Roosevelt
Sam Dower with only 1 1st half point and 2 fouls that forced him to sit the last 13:15 of the 1st half. Osseo still had a 30-20 halftime lead as Aaron Anderson stepped up with 8 points. Osseo cranked up the 2nd half defense and Dower dominated inside in the 2nd half. 82-43 Osseo in another rout. Dower with 22. He hit jump hook after jump hook inside with no Roosevelt answer. Cody Larson with 14 for the Roughriders but didn't do anything of note. I did almost get their point total right. Nice job by Osseo with their full court scramble to generate some points from their defense.

Game 3: Henry Sibley vs Madison Memorial
Final Score 67-64 Memorial, I predicted 65-64 Memorial in my preview. Better to be lucky than good. Jeronne Maymon was an absolute stud in this one and clearly the MVP of the day. Totally unguardable. He scored the 9 of the 1st 11 Memorial points in the 2nd half and then got a couple of assists not long after that. Late in the game, Chris Halvorsen stripped him clean for a reverse dunk that brought Sibley back to a 56-55 lead after being down 55-50. But then he made a jumper and hit Vander Blue for a triple. Sibley with 3 straight turnovers vs the Memorial 1-3-1 in a 1 minute span with 3 minutes left that just killed them. Memorial missed a couple of late free throws that gave Maurice Hernandez a good look from the NBA line that would have tied it but no good and Memorial wins a thriller 67-64. Maymon with 26, Vander Blue with 16 all in the 2nd half including 9 in a row and he didn't start. Frosh Junior Lomomba didn't start either and finished with 6 points. He made a clutch shot late to push the lead to 5. Mike Bruesewitz with 20 and 10 for Sibley, but he was overmatched against Maymon.

Game 4: Hopkins vs Lake Geneva Badger
50-15 at the half as Hopkins used a 28-2 run over 8:30 to blow this game wide open. Royce White still put on a show with 13 and 6 in the 1st half as he showed all his skills. Trent Lockett with a couple of nice dunks during the half too. 79-41 Hopkins rolls as the clock runs the last 8 minutes (not 9 thanks to the scorer's table).

This game was totally pointless for both teams and shouldn't have been played. But the fans turned out in force for it so they got the financial part right. This game was a huge black eye to the Shootout. Badger is well coached, but they had no business being here. Not a single player in the rankings of any class in Wisconsin. It would have been one thing if this had happened in the Border Battle or East Metro Showcase. But this is the Minnesota showcase event, put on by our professional team with maybe the best Minnesota high school team ever. This cannot happen again. I know they tried to get teams like Chicago Whitney Young and other very good teams to come in and couldn't get anybody. I'm not criticizing the effort, but I have a hard time buying the idea that there were no teams in the midwest with a noteworthy player that would have come here for this instead of Badger.

Game 5: Eden Prairie vs Cooper
Rodney Williams with a double-clutch jumper and then a floater to beat the 1st half buzzer on a steal for a 28-18 Cooper lead at the half. Williams had 8 points with 3 blocks (2 of the volleyball spike variety) in the half. Ethan Wragge 5 points but cold shooting. Cooper stretches the lead to 16 in the 2nd half before Cooper goes back to their 1 on 1 offense and allows EP to come back within 4. Rodney gets a 360 dunk and then a half-court lob for a reverse dunk that puts the icing on the cake. He gets another lob but misses the dunk to make Chad Calcaterra the happiest guy in the building as both finish with 4 dunks on the day. 57-50 Cooper wins. Rodney with 16 points on 4 dunks and 4 blocks. Again, not a shooter. Brett Ervin with a big 2nd half as he finishes with 17 points. Ethan Wragge with 9 points but he couldn't buy a shot (he was something like 3-15). But his misses were all good looks (except 1 or maybe 2) against Rodney so I'm not buying the Rodney shut him down argument.

Game 6: St. Cloud Tech vs Manitowoc Roncalli
The building empties out which is a shame because they should have stayed for Nate Wolters of Tech. He had 9 first half points. Roncalli star soph Ben Stelzer 11 for a 35-34 Tech lead at the half. But Wolters gets 17 in the 2nd half with 3 steals for layups. They don't need him to guard Stelzer as Roncalli couldn't buy a shot in the 2nd half. 78-49 Tech rolls. Alex Hanks with 15. Stelzer finishes with 18. Nate Wolters with 28 points and a half dozen steals. Whatever school ends up with him is going to be very happy as I think they're getting a steal.

All Shootout Teams
1st Team
Jeronne Maymon - Madison Memorial (MVP)
Royce White - Hopkins
Sam Dower - Osseo
Vander Blue - Madison Memorial
Nate Wolters - St. Cloud Tech

2nd Team
Eric Shulstad - Pelican Rapids
Mike Bruesewitz - Sibley
Chad Calcaterra - Cloquet
Rodney Williams Jr - Cooper
Tydan Storrusten - Pelican Rapids

Osseo at Sibley Thoughts

Maurice Hernandez

I'm not the biggest fan of seeing a team twice in a row, but tonight's game of #8 Osseo at #2 Sibley makes it all worthwhile. Gotta love the Taco in a Bag, $3, but worth every penny and a nice variety for the Czar's ever expanding waist line. I must confess I did have it with the works (sour cream and salsa included, yum!). Note to self, must re-measure to see if I still have more height than depth. If you're familiar with the little game called Lightning (line of players at FT line, 2 balls, you have to put your ball thru the basket before the person behind you does or you're out, last one standing wins), a great one tonight at the half. Mike Bruesewitz's dad was the emcee with students from Osseo and Sibley participating. Big cheers from the Sibley students section when someone from Osseo was eliminated. One of the female members of the Sibley section went on to win. We even had a Rene Pulley sighting as he came in for the 2nd half. To the real game at hand.

Osseo's Jayvin Reynolds gets the assignment on Mike Bruesewitz and Bruesewitz gets the task of guarding Sam Dower. After Dower starts the game with a jumper, Bruesewitz with a post up for 2, Maurice Hernandez with a triple, Chris Halvorsen with 2 free throws and Hernandez gets 2 FTs for Dower's 2nd foul and to the bench he goes. 10-2 Sibley at 14:08 for a 10-o Warriors run. Dower with 3 of the 4 Osseo turnovers during the spurt and the Orioles couldn't buy a call either. Reynolds picks up his 2nd at 10:20 on a charge and back comes Dower. He gets a dunk off a Sibley turnover and the Sibley lead is cut to 12-9 at 9:47. Bru drives by Dower for 2, gets a tip in with another Hernandez 3 to push the lead right back to 10. Dower with a dunk and then he gets a rebound and runs the floor for the bucket +1 reward (always reward the big guy for running the floor). Bruesewitz again before Osseo's Aaron Anderson gets hot along with Sibley turnovers. Anderson hits back to back 3s then a floater via a steal to cut it to 23-22 Sibley. Mike Rostampour (Psycho to the Sibley students, love that), with a putback and the foul for a free throw. Technical on the Osseo bench at 5:05 gives Sibley the ball back for a Halvorsen assist to Francis Bungue. 29-22 Sibley at 4:15. Another Hernandez triple makes with 32-24 Sibley at 3:30. Osseo gets 6 of the next 7 to cut the lead to 3 but off a scramble Bungue nails a three at the 1st half buzzer and Sibley leads 36-30 at the break. On my highly unofficial stat sheet ,Dower 11 and 4, Aaron Anderson 11 for Osseo. Hernandez 3 triples and 12 points, Bruesewitz with 8 and 3 for Sibley.

Bruesewitz comes out on fire in the 2nd half. A drive for a bucket, an offensive rebound for 2, a jumper over Dower, a swat that stops a Osseo possession. Halvorsen converts a tough layin 8-1 Sibley run. Timeout Orioles at 15:12 44-31 Sibley leads. Bruesewitz again on the offensive glass for 2 and another swat. Then a handoff on an inbound to Hernandez who makes the defender look silly and knocks down a cold blooded 3 (4th triple of the night) and the lead is 48-31 Sibley. 12-1 run over the 1st 5 minutes of the 2nd half led by Bruesewitz. Unlike other games you'll see, Osseo isn't done yet. Bobby Fischer breaks the run with a 3, Anderson with 2 FTs, Dower an offensive rebound of his own for 2 free throws. Bruesewitz then called for a goal tend (close call but the right one it appears) and then a miss and Osseo's Joey Sonnenfeld makes on the other end over Halvorsen. 11-0 run for Osseo over 3 minutes, timeout Sibley at 9:40 48-42 they lead. Bruesewitz still getting it done with a tip in to break the run. DJ Phillips then misses 2 FT that would have cut it to 6. Halvorsen with 2 on the other end. Dower misses 2 FTs of his own. Rostampour dunks 2 minutes later to push the lead to 12 and Osseo doesn't threaten again. Hernandez with his final 3 of the night at 3:45 keeps the lead at 13. Bruesewitz handling the ball vs Osseo pressure too. Final Score 64-51 Sibley wins. To the highly unofficial stat sheet.

For Osseo, Aaron Anderson with 13 points. Sam Dower with 22 and 11 and at least 4 turnovers. He really didn't do much inside though from a post up point of view. His buckets were in transition or off the offensive glass. Great hands though and can really run the floor. After a hot 1st half, Anderson with only 2 free throws in the 2nd half. Kyle Mason with only 1 of 2 FTs on the night. He has to be a scoring threat for them in big games.

For Sibley, Bruesewitz 21 and 7 with 4 blks (not counting the goaltending call, all blks in the 2nd half). 5 triples and 19 points for Maurice Hernandez. He made all his open looks. Mike Rostampour with his required 4 fouls but in reserve minutes I had him for 8 pts and 10 rebounds along with a big time block late. He's such a relentless rebounder and such an effort player. Great motor.

(Czar's note 12/10/08, wow was I off, 16 rebs is being reported, I'm usually within 1 or 2, this one surprised me

12/11/08, now that I've seen a highly respected Gopher Hole reader say he had Bruesewitz for 8 rebounds, I'm calling shenanigans on the StarTrib report.)

X and O of the Day
Osseo on the inbounds in the subject of today's X and O segment. They'll have Dower set an interior screen right in the middle of the lane. His defender plays toward the baseline as that's where the ball is. As that happens, they'll throw the ball out high and Dower will turn and look for the ball posted in front of the rim with the guy on his back. Simple and effective.

Gonzaga blog update on Dower and Stefan

The Kennel Report had a chance to catch up with Net Gain coach Marquis Watts for an update on Sam Dower and Cole Stefan. A couple noteworthy items from the interview. Coach Watts thinks Sam should average 25 and 12 and Stefan's visit to Gonzaga for the Idaho game got cancelled. In addition they have a nice update on the schools looking at Stefan.

Read the entire interview here.

Best of National Signing Day

For the class of 2009, Rivals named their best prospect at each position for each conference today. Plenty of local flavor.

Royce White: Top SF for Big Ten
Mike Bruesewitz: Top PF for Big Ten
Chris Halvorsen: Top SF for Horizon
Sam Dower: Top PF for West Coast Conference

Others who made a local appearance last season.

Jeronne Maymon of Madison Memorial: Top SF for Big East
DeMarcus Cousins of Mobile LeFlore: Top PF for Conference USA

Rodney Williams commits to Gophers

From the Star Tribune, Rodney Williams Jr has committed to the Gophers. Congrats to him, let's hope he can maintain his grades and get that passing score on the ACT. This is a big moment in U of M recruiting. The Dan Monson era was marked by the best MN players leaving (Kammron Taylor to Wisconsin, Cole Aldrich to Kansas, Isiah Dahlman to Michigan St). Wisconsin made a killing getting guys like Jon Leuer, Joe Krabbenhoft and Mike Bruesewitz. Much to my own personal dismay as a Badger, this looks like Tubby slamming the door shut on big programs coming in here and getting the biggest names. Tubby really didn't have a chance with Mike Bruesewitz or Trent Lockett, but he could have done more with Sam Dower. With a post player still needed, we'll see if Tubby ends up regretting that move.

Interview on Sam Dower's Signing and Cole Stefan's Future

Gonzaga student blog The Kennel Report did an interview yesterday with Net Gain Sports coach Marquise Watts regarding the signing of Osseo standout Sam Dower and the future for up and coming Minnetonka junior Cole Stefan. Nice job by TKR as this provides some nice insight on both players. It was interesting to see that Stefan may be a better baseball player as Ryan James of Minnesota Preps just wrote an article that Stefan may be the top junior basketball player in the state. Should be interesting to see how he performs in front of at least 5 schools at an open gym tonight. With Wazoo hard after him and watching Tony Bennett play at UWGB when I was young, I'd be happy to see another Minnesota player end up in the Pacific Northwest. Stefan could really light it up in that system.

Read the entire TKR interview here.

Three more 2009 players make college choices

Congrats to the following local players for their college choices over the last few days.

Sam Dower (Osseo) - Gonzaga
Mike Broghammer (Hopkins) - Notre Dame
Ethan Wragge (Eden Prairie) - Creighton

Here are links to a couple of articles by respective local papers on the signings.

Spokesman review article on Sam Dower signing
South Bend Tribune article on Mike Broghammer signing

Rivals releases end of summer top 150

Rivals.com released their end of the summer recruiting period updates today. Read the entire rankings here. Here are the changes to Minnesota players (and others of note) from the last period (July 1, 2008).

Minnesota Players

• Royce White #19, Minnesota (down from #18)
• Trent Lockett #73, Arizona State (down from #53)
  
• Rodney Williams Jr #95 (down from #28)
• Sam Dower #119 (up from #130)
• Mike Bruesewitz #124, Wisconsin (up from #125)

Wisconsin Players

• Jeronne Maymon #46, Marquette (down from #42)
• Jamil Wilson #93 (down from #60)
• Johnny Lacy #110, Prep School (down from #97)
  

Other players who appeared locally this year

• DeMarcus Cousins #2, UAB
  
• DJ Richardson #57, Illinois (up from #74)
• Naji Hibbert #88, Texas A&M (up from #142)
• Darius Smith #113 (down from #80)
• Joseph Bertrand #116, Illinois (down from #81)
• Diamond Taylor #118, Wisconsin (down from #86)
• Michael Dixon #130, Missouri (down from #100)

U of M targets Eric Bledsoe and Matt Vogrich come in at #67 and #131 respectively.

The drop of Rodney Williams is totally shocking (read why here). Sam Dower was the only Wisconsin or Minnesota player to make a noteworthy move upward.

Sam Dower talks about unofficial visit to Minnesota

Sam Dower took an unofficial visit to the U of M yesterday. Gopher Hole interviewed him about it afterwards. A couple of things in the interview that stuck out to me. The rumor mill said Dower was concerned if Minnesota was actually serious about him which may have led to this visit. Interesting that it didn't come up in the interview.

He also mentions that he can play center or small forward. I don't know that you could use him at center right away because of the strength issues, but I can see him playing center in a small lineup or later in his career being used there. The small forward part of the statement was really amusing and surprising. Yes he can step out and shoot it a bit, but I think its very safe to say that the small forward position is not in his future unless its a temporary thing in a big lineup (which is rare these days thanks to the myriad of motion systems used today and a lack of big men). He's being recruited to be an interior presence with his perimeter abilities as an extra asset, not to be a face-up wing player. If I'm a coach watching Osseo this season, I want to see Dower dominating down low on the blocks, not settling for 17 foot jump shots from the high post. Last year the outside game was understandable when you had him and 7 footer Zach Peterson in the game together. This year he'll need to carry a bigger scoring load for the Orioles.

I'd like to see him in George Mason's scramble system as that would give them the type of backline shotblocker that they rarely have. With his abilities, I think that'd be a good fit. Dower mentions that he has family out at Cal, it'll be interesting to see if that's a factor in the final decision.

Read the entire Gopher Hole interview here.

Sam Dower evaluation article

The Kennel Report (Gonzaga Student Blog) has started to breakdown the 2009 recruits that Gonzaga is after. They started it with a nice breakdown of Sam Dower. Click here to read it.

The Czar travels and a Sam Dower interview

The Czar returns after a trip to see the Brewers/Astros game in Milwaukee last Saturday night. Its an annual cancer benefit trip that the Crown Prince (my brother) puts on. Over $900 raised this year putting the event over $2,000 for the last 3 years. Always lots of fun and we had the Miller High Life guy ("For 16 dollars I'll be a macadamia nut" guy) come over to our tailgate group. Fun moment.

In doing some catch up reading I came across an interview that The Kennel Report (Gonzaga student blog) did with Sam Dower and his AAU coach Marquise Watts of Net Gain Sports. This is from July 2nd and is well done. Though the comparison to Kevin Garnett may be a little much. Click here to read the entire article.

(Czar's Note 7/30/08, there are also 2 other interviews there as well)
July 29th
July 9th

Twin Cities Summer Classic Semifinals

Much to my dismay, I have this annoying thing called a day job that prevents me from doing useful things such as covering the quarterfinals or the championship games. But that doesn't mean I can't get to the 3 evening sessions of semifinal action. Overall this weekend it's been fun seeing college coaches but also good to see high school coaches out following their kids. Tom Dasovich, Greg Miller, Mark Klingsporn and Tim Theisen were ones that I saw.

15U Semifinals

• The MN Heat Elite had only 6 guys available for their quarterfinal game vs MN Heat Black thanks to the Concordia team camp, but they did manage to advance to face the Madison Spartans. Alex Richter back for the Heat and he was a force inside early. 13 first half points for him. He's got a great motor and is very aggressive. The Heat went Box and 1 on Miles Chamberlain to start the game which I found amusing as I love junk defenses. The teams trade 1st half runs to stay even and its 43-43 Spartans with 7 minutes left before Jaron Schaffner gets 7 straight Spartans points which the Heat never recover from. The final straw was Richter getting stripped by Chamberlain in a scramble that led to a Spartans layup that gave the Spartans a 54-50 edge with a minute to play. Big 4 point swing there. A couple of Heat misses later its over with the Madison Spartans moving on 56-53. Alex Richter with 18 points for the Heat, but a quiet 2nd half.
  
  
• 43 Hoops Carr taking on East Metro Elite (St. Paul Johnson Freshman) in the other semifinal. Close 1st half with 43 Hoops looking to break it open early with a 9-0 run, but East Metro counters that with a 10-0 run of their own. 32-31 43 Hoops at the break. They extend the lead out to 10 and Freddie Young gets a couple buckets in the 2nd half to keep it there. 43 Hoops Carr moves on 66-55. Jordan Smith shows great poise for a freshman point guard. Not to mention he's a solid shooter. Thomas Shalk looks like he'll be a good inside presence with the good guards (Varmah Sonie, Mitch Bires, maybe DJ Peterson too) at Apple Valley this season.

16U Semifinals

• 43 Hoops Harris vs 43 Hoops Gameli. Brett Irvin playing well for Gameli with a couple inside buckets and a couple of 3s. This game goes back and forth with no team getting out to a huge lead. With 6 minutes left, 43 Hoops Harris goes to a 1-2-2 zone down 38-36. Max Rosenbloom puts back 2 offensive rebounds to give 43-Harris the lead. Tim Lubke puts in the big bucket as he knocks down a clutch tiebreaking 3 with 1:40 left for a 43-40 lead for Harris. Leonard Glass gets a bucket and 1 while 43-Gameli is trying to foul for a 46-41 43-Harris lead with 33 seconds left. 43-Gameli gets a triple to cut it to 2 with 18 seconds left but they only have 2 team fouls. It takes them until 3.7 left to get to the bonus. Tony Gerding knocks down the final 2 to seal a 48-44 win for 43 Hoops Harris.
  
  
• In the game of the night, Mpls Redhawks vs MN Comets Elite. The Redhawks use a 12-3 run to get out to a 25-15 lead but the Comets don't go away. The Comets claw back in the 2nd half and get an offensive rebound and putback to finally tie it at 53 with 1:20 to play. The Redhawks hold for the last shot and don't get it. Taylor Filipek has a chance at the horn, but no good and we've got OT.
  
  In the OT, Taylor Hanson gets a layin with 1:20 left to give the Redhawks a 57-56 lead. Zach Noreen puts back a rebound for a 58-57 Comets lead with 20 seconds left. Parker Hines gets fouled with 8.7 left and buries both FTs for a 59-58 Redhawks lead. The Comets come back out of a timeout and push the ball upcourt, with a right wing drive to the bucket, the ball gets kicked cross-court to Scott Willenbring who knocks down the triple at the horn to send the Comets onto the title game with a 61-59 win.

17U Semifinals

• 43 Hoops Chatman vs Big Game Sports. Of note, Jamie Donnelly did not play for Team Missouri in the quarterfinal game vs BGS as he was out with the flu. Mike Bruesewitz gets a dunk off the opening tap and shortly after Chris Halvorsen gets 2 dunks during a 13-0 run that gets 43 Hoops out to a 21-6 lead. They coast from there to a 66-44 win.
  
• Net Gain Sports vs Illinois Warriors. Trent Lockett gets the last 9 of the 1st half for Net Gain as they lead 35-26 at the break. A dry spell for both teams in the 2nd half as Net Gain went scoreless for 4 minutes. The Warriors also go scoreless during that time and its 51-36 with 6:30 to play. But the Warriors turn up the defense and get as close as 57-53 with 1:30 left. But Sam Dower gets a bucket and Trent Lockett puts back his own missed bonus front end. Net Gain wins 67-55. Trent Lockett terrific in this game with 17 points. Sam Dower also played well with 16 points. Andy Burns went the whole way without a break and while he did crack a little at the end with a couple of costly turnovers, definitely a solid performance from him. Diamond Taylor for the Wolves was a major disappointment. I counted 6 times where he went to the basket and got blocked (often by Dower). For a player of his skill that surprised me.
  

Rivals releases updates to 2009 rankings

Rivals.com has made another tweak to their 2009 top 150 before the July recruiting period (read it here). Here are players that caught my attention.

Minnesota
Royce White (#18, no change)
Rodney Williams Jr (#28, no change)
Trent Lockett (#53, big jump from #98)
Mike Bruesewitz (#125, up from #144)
Sam Dower (#130, up from #130)

Wisconsin
Jeronne Maymon (#42, moves up from #60)
Jamil Wilson (#60, drops from #58)
Johnny Lacy (#97, up from #99)

Others who appeared locally or will be playing at the Twin Cities Summer Classic
DJ Richardson (#74)
Darius Smith (#80)
Joseph Bertrand (#81)
Diamond Taylor (#86)
Michael Dixon (#100)
Nik Garcia (#109)
Jack Cooley (#147)