2011 Gotta Make Shots Part 3

The 2012 Gotta Make Shots Series rolls on with part 3.  After a look at the small schools, its time for a look at the last 2 years of the AAA state tournament.  To see all posts in this series, click here.

2012 Class AAA State Tournament

• ROCORI vs Minneapolis Washburn
  Washburn with 14 extra shot attempts.  They shoot only 34% for the game.  ROCORI shoots 56.3% in the 2nd half for a 48.7% overall result.  Washburn 1 extra 3 and 1 extra free throw.  They win 2nd chance points 12-6 and points off turnovers 20-8 (21-11 advantage in turnovers)
• St. Paul Johnson vs Austin
  Johnson with 4 extra shots.  They shoot 44.6% compared to 50% for Austin.  Johnson with a 17-6 edge at the foul line.  They also win points off turnovers 20-6 and 2nd chance points 15-12.  Austin with 12 2nd half turnovers to only 5 for Johnson. 
• Detroit Lakes vs De La Salle
  Detroit Lakes gets up 16 more shots but this game was out of hand early.  Detroit Lakes shoots 35.7% in the first half to 60% for the Islanders.  That number was down to 30.3% in the 2nd half for Detroit Lakes.  10-0 DLS at the foul line.
• Mankato East vs Grand Rapids
  7 more attempts for Mankato East.  Grand Rapids outshoots them 40.8 to 32.1.  16-6 edge for Grand Rapids at the foul line.  They also had a 17-8 win in 2nd chance points. 
• Minneapolis Washburn vs St. Paul Johnson (Semifinal #1)
  Washburn with 13 more shot attempts and a 45.9% shooting clip.  Johnson shoots 43.8% for the game.  Washburn 25-16 in 2nd chance points and 26-21 in points off turnovers.  That 2nd number is always huge against Johnson who relies so much on their defense to generate offense.  Washburn's advantage in offensive rebounds was 22-11. 
• De La Salle vs Grand Rapids (Semifinal #2)
  DLS with 9 more shots.  Grand Rapids held to 30.4% shooting in the 2nd half while DLS shot 57.1% in that half.  That led to a 17 point DLS margin in that half.  DLS wins the overall FG% 50-39.  They also made 5 more 3s.  24-8 for DLS in points off turnovers. 
• Grand Rapids vs St. Paul Johnson (Third Place)
  Equal field goal attempts in this one.  Grand Rapids gives up 60.9% in the 1st half to Johnson while shooting 41.7%.  Johnson wins points off turnovers 22-15. 
  
• De La Salle vs Minneapolis Washburn (Championship)
  Washburn gets up 4 extra shots.  They shoot 38.9% for the game.  DLS 44% for the game.  14-9 for Washburn at the line, 4-0 for DLS from 3.  Washburn 20-13 in points off turnovers and a 15-9 edge in 2nd chance points.  27.6% shooting in the 2nd half for Washburn but with 12 more attempts in the half they make 1 more field goal. 

The team with more shots had a record of 4-3.  The team with the higher shooting percentage also had a record of  6-2. Turnovers again looming large.

2011 Class AAA State Tournament

• New Prague vs St. Paul Johnson
  Johnson put up 12 more shots but got outshot 14-7 from 3.  I was court side for that one and it was truly a lights out shooting display.  New Prague ends up at 55.8% for the game while Johnson shot 50.9%.  New Prague shot 68.4% with 8 of 11 3s in that second half to come from 8 down.
• Marshall vs Columbia Heights
  Columbia Heights with 6 more shots in the game.  They shoot 47.5% on those.  Marshall shoots 27.3% in the 2nd half for 35.8% overall.  Heights with a 22-0 advantage in points off turnovers.  Despite giving up 21 offensive boards vs 14 of their own, Heights still won 2nd chance points 19-14
• Grand Rapids vs Waconia
  Grand Rapids put up 2 more shots at only a 38.3% clip.   They shoot 29.2% in the 1st half compared to 56% for Waconia.  Wildcats use that advantage to open a 19 point halftime lead.   Grand Rapids never closer than 9 after that.
• St. Cloud Apollo vs Orono
  2 more shots for Orono and they win FG% 45.8% to 43.9%.  Apollo 1-11 from the floor in the overtime to seal their fate. 
• New Prague vs Columbia Heights (Semifinal #1)
  Heights with 12 more shots but cold at 35.6%.  New Prague not much better at 38.3%.  New Prague again with a big advantage in 3s, 11-1.  Heights countered with a 14-3 edge at the foul line.  They also had a 22-13 edge in points off turnovers and 18-11 in 2nd chance points (18-6 on the offensive glass).
• Waconia vs Orono (Semifinal #2)
  Orono got up 5 more field goal attempts.  Spartans shoot 32.7% to 34.1% for Waconia.  Waconia with an 18-8 edge in 2nd chance points.  Orono with 7 3s and an 18-13 edge in points off turnovers.
• New Prague vs Waconia (Third Place)
  Both teams shoot 40 times and make 45%.  Waconia with a 19-11 edge in free throws, 13-6 in 2nd chance points and 22-18 in points off turnovers.
• Columbia Heights vs Orono (Championship)
  Heights 15 more shot attemps and they made 39.7% of those.  Orono 66.7% in the 2nd half on their way to 53.4% for the game.  Orono makes 5 more 3s.  Columbia Heights +4 in points off turnovers  and +10 in 2nd chance points thanks to a 24-14 edge on the offensive glass.  Both teams equal at the charity stripe but it took Heights 6 more attempts.

7 games to count up in this group.  The team with more shot attempts had a record of 4-3.  The team with the better shooting percentage fared 1 game better at 5-2.

2011 Gotta Make Shots Part 2

In part 1 of this year's Gotta Make Shots Series, we took a look at the results from class A.  In part 2, let's take a look at the last 2 years of the AA state tournament.  To see all posts in this series, click here.

2012 Class AA State Tournament

• Worthington vs Perham
  Worthington 4 more attempts.  They lose FG% 48.8 to 46.7.  Perham 8-2 advantage in made free throws and 13-8 lead in points off turnovers.
• Watertown-Mayer vs Litchfield
  Litchfield with 1 more shot attempt in their win.  They shot 39.5% compared to 43.2% for WM.  Litchfield with a 17-5 advantage in made free throws.  They also won points off turnovers 19-7 thanks to 21 Watertown-Mayer turnovers.
• Plainview-Elgin-Millville vs St. Peter.
  PEM with 15 extra shots.  They shot 37.1% for the game.  St. Peter held to 36.2% (33.3% 2nd half).  St. Peter did have a 27-17 lead in made free throws.  PEM 15-7 advantage in points off turnovers.
• St. Croix Lutheran vs Braham
  St. Croix Lutheran shoots 51.5% for the game while Braham shoots 48.4%    2 extra attampts for St. Croix Lutheran.  Braham would make 7 bombs to 1 for SCL in the 2nd half to make a huge comeback.  Overall advantage from 3 was 11-2.  St. Croix Lutheran won points off turnovers 22-11
• Perham vs Litchfield (Semifinal #1)
  Litchfield with 4 extra shots in a snoozefest.  They make 38.9% of those shots.  Perham makes 43.8%.  Litchfield hung in with a 15-2 advantage in points off turnovers.
  
• Plainview-Elgin-Millville vs Braham (Semifinal #2)
  PEM gets up 1 extra shot.  They shoot 52.6% and make 8-17 3s.  Braham shoots 46.4% but only 6-27 from 3.  PEM 16-9 in free throws made and 15-10 in points off turnovers.
• Perham vs Braham (Third Place)
  Braham with 24 more shot attempts but only 32.9% shooting (30.3% 2nd half).  52.9% shooting for Perham in the game.  Braham 24-9 edge in points off turnovers.  Perham 13-4 in made free throws.
  
• Litchfield vs Plainview-Elgin-Millville (Championship)
  PEM 5 extra shot attempts.  They shoot 45.8%.  Litchfield shoots 28% in the 2nd half, 32.6% overall.  PEM with a 25-2 edge in points off turnovers. 

The team with more shots had a record of 5-3.  The team with the higher shooting percentage also had a record of  5-3. Turnovers a huge factor for the teams with more shot attempts.

2011 Class AA State Tournament

• Rochester Lourdes vs Long Prairie-Grey Eagle
  LPGE gets 5 more shots but Lourdes wins the percentage 45.5% to 34.2%.  That included 56.3% to 31.6% in the first half.  Lourdes 19-4 in points off of turnovers despite the turnover difference between 15-12.
• Redwood Valley vs Minnehaha
  Minnehaha Academy got up 9 more shot attempts.  They shot 43.9% for the game in the loss.  Redwood Valley 47.9% from the floor and a 20-8 advantage in made free throws.  Minnehaha won points off of turnovers 10-4 but lost 2nd chance points 14-5.
• Virginia vs Perham
  Not really fair to evaluate this game at this was the return of Zach Gabbard game.  It was over early as Perham shot 62.5% to Virginia's 26.1% in the 1st half on the way to a 24 point halftime lead.  52.3% for the game for Perham and 32.6% for Virginia.   Virginia with 2 more shots in the game.
• Waterville-Elysian-Morristown vs Zimmerman
  WEM would come from 10 down at halftime thanks to a huge shooting advantage in the 2nd half. They shoot 61.9% to 35.5% in that second half.  WEM shoots 55% overall to 43.1% for Zimmerman.  WEM with 18 less shots in the game but they made 7 more free throws.  They also won points off turnovers 23-12 despite losing the overall turnover count 22-18.
• Rochester Lourdes vs Redwood Valley (Semifinal #1)
  In a trend that has been rare in these stats, Lourdes gets more shots (8) and shoots a lower percentage (32.6 to 31.4) but they win a classic but ugly semifinal in 4 OT, 48-42.  Redwood Valley also outrebounded Lourdes 44-27.   Redwood Valley with 20 turnovers.
• Perham vs Waterville-Elysian-Morristown (Semifinal #2)
  WEM with 8 more shots but they were stone cold at 25.5% including 1-11 in the 2 OTs.  Perham overcomes 34.9% shooting to win 45-41.  Most of the other stats even, 9 blocks to none in favor of Perham. Free throws and 3s even.
  
• Redwood Valley vs Waterville-Elysian-Morristown (Third Place)
  WEM 9 more shots attempts and they shoot 48% on those attempts.  Redwood Valley not shabby from the field as they shot 51.2%.  58.3% shooting in the 2nd half brought WEM back from 4 down at halftime.  14-3 advantage for WEM in points off turnovers. 
• Rochester Lourdes vs Perham (Championship)
  Lourdes with a huge advantage in attempts 49-31.  They make only 32.7% of those attempts.  Perham shoots 38.7%, makes 12 extra free throws and 4 extra 3s.  Lourdes wins 2nd chance points 13-2.  Perham 14-8 advantage in points off turnovers.

The team with more shots lost 6 of the 8 games for a 2-6 record.  The team with the higher shooting percentage had a record of 6-2.

2012 Gotta Make Shots Part 1

Long time readers will recall that in the fall of 2009 and again in 2010 I wrote posts analyzing shooting as a factor in winning at the state tournament.  For those who didn't see those articles or want a refresher, check out the links below to see the details. 

The Original Gotta Make Shots Article (explanation)
Gotta Make Shots 2010 Series

Those posts explain the Hubie Brown theory of a bad team needing more shots to win.  I then concluded that it really boils down to shooting percentage.  So in this 1st part of a 5 part series, I take a look back at some more historical data to see if the theories still hold up.  We'll start with a look back at the class A state tournament games.  Then we'll progress through classes AA, AAA and AAAA.  Then in the final installment of the series, we'll tally it all up and add some extra data.

2012 Class A State Tournament

• Lakeview Christian Academy vs Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa
  LCA with 2 extra shots in the game.  They shoot 38.1% compared to 52.5% for BBE.  They overcomes a 12-5 advantage in 3s for LCA.  BBE forces 21 turnovers for a 23-16 advantage in points off turnovers.
  
• Mountain Lake-Butterfield-Odin vs Browerville
  Browerville with 14 more shots, but only 35.3% shooting.  That included 29% in the second half when MLBO pulled away.  MLBO 46.4% for the game
• SW MN Christian vs Fosston
  Fosston with 15 more shots but another state tourney early exit thanks to 29.3% shooting.  SW MN Christian shoots over 50% in each half for 51.2% overall.
• Prairie Seeds Academy vs Rushford-Peterson
  PSA with 16 more shots in the game but again that's no help.  The Lycans shoot 44.3% for the game and give up 54.5% on the other end in the 2nd half.  Rushford-Peterson ends up at 44.4%.  A huge 26-5 advantage at the foul line and 26-13 on points off turnovers keeps PSA from moving on.
• BBE vs MLBO (Semifinal #1)
  BBE gets 11 more shots in the 2nd half as MLBO can't buy a bucket.  MLBO 9.1% shooting in the 2nd half (not a typo, they were 2-22).  They hold BBE to 25.9 in that half but too big a margin to overcome.  BBE also with a 28-3 advantage on points off turnovers (23-9 total turnover advantage).  13-3 in made free throws also went to BBE.  Jags roll 56-36.
• SW MN Christian vs Rushford-Peterson (Semifinal #2)\
  SW MN Christian with 9 more attempts and they lose the FG% battle 39.5% to 31.9%.  SW MN Christian overcomes all of that by winning the turnover battle 14-9 and with a 12-7 win on the offensive glass.
• MLBO vs Rushford-Peterson (Third Place)
  Rushford-Peterson rolls with 15 extra shot attempts.  23-11 advantage in points off turnovers and a 22-9 advantage in 2nd chance points.  Rushford-Peterson shot 49.1% to 47.5% for MLBO.  Huge factor was a 15-4 advantage in made 3s for Rushford-Peterson.  32 of their 55 attempts were from the great beyond.
• BBE vs SW MN Christian (Championship)
  SW MN Christian with 6 extra attempts.  They shot 34.6% while BBE shot 39.1%.  SW MN Christan 3-20 from the 3 point line.  18.5% shooting for SW MN Christian in the 2nd half to lose a 4 point halftime lead.  BBE 17-6 advantage in made free throws.  BBE 22-8 in points off turnovers (23-18 advantage in turnovers).

The team with more shots had a record of 3-5.  The team with the higher shooting percentage had a record of  7-1.  The 1 loss being in the game where SW MN Christian made up the difference with turnovers and free throws.

2011 Class A State Tournament

• Goodhue vs Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa
  Goodhue had 4 more shots in the 70-54 loss.  They shot 35.7% for the game compared to 40.4% for BBE.  Huge advantage for BBE at the line 27-8.   They also held a 22-7 advantage in 2nd chance points thanks to a 22-8 advantage on the offensive glass.  Goodhue won the turnover battle 25-19 but lost the points off of turnovers 22-18.

• MACCRAY vs Maranatha
  MCA with 12 more shots but they lost 61-52.  MACCRAY shoots 47.8% compared to 37.9% for the Mustangs.  MACCRAY also with a 10 point advantage in made free throws.
• Chisholm vs Fosston
  This game saw the teams dead even in field goal attempts.  Chisholm only shoots 40.4% but they hold Fosston to 25.5%.  The Bluestreaks forced 19 Fosston turnovers for a 15-4 advantage in points.
• Springfield vs Upsala
  Upsala with 13 more shot attempts but they shoot only 33.3%  for the game.  They forced 23 Springfield turnovers compared to 19 of their own but Springfield was +6 in points off turnovers.  Springfield was very efficient on offense as they shot 50% in each half. 
• BBE vs MACCRAY (Semifinal #1)
  MACCRAY with 4 more shots.  BBE shoots 55.4% for the game compared to 41.7% for MACCRAY.  That included 38.5% in the 2nd half.    BBE took 23 turnovers and turned them into a 36-15 advantage. 
  
• Chisholm vs Springfield (Semifinal #2)
  The Bluestreaks get off 6 more shots than Springfield.  Chisholm held to 32.7% while Springfield wasn't much better at 36.7%. (26.7% in the 2nd half).  Springfield makes 6 extra free throws in the OT to put it away.
• MACCRAY vs Chisholm (Third Place)
  MACCRAY with a couple of extra shots.  They shoot 45.3% on those and hold Chisholm to 37.3%. (24% in the 2nd half).  That allows MACCRAY to pull away.\
• BBE vs Springfield (Championship)
  BBE gets up 80 shots compared to 59 for Springfield.  They shoot only 33.8% on those shots but hold Springfield to 37.3%.  BBE with a 26-14 advantage on the offensive glass for a 26-12 advantage in pionts.  Springfield would recover with a 17-8 advantage in points off turnovers.  They would have a 20-2 advantage at the foul line and held BBE to 2-27 from 3 to win 70-58.

The team with more shots lost 6 of the 7 games with a shot differential for a 1-6 record.  The team with the higher shooting percentage had a record of 8-0.

Welcome to Czar Season 6

Welcome to my 6th season here in cyberspace.  As is the usual case with the start of the school year, I've flipped the menu links to the new season, 2012-13 in this case.  Overall you'll find very little has changed.  If it ain't broke don't fix it.  I've simplified the 2012-13 season menu to have less clutter.  Links for the Timberwolves Shootout and other big events will come later.  I've updated the top menu to include the fall ball link so that its easily accessible on mobile devices.  

Links to the current recruiting calendars for D1 and D2 are updated in the Recruiting Links section.  The Rankings link has been updated to include the very latest national rankings from Rivals, Scout, ESPN and CBS for local players and I've maintained the links to the full Minnesota rankings for Northstar Hoops Report subscribers.  Those rankings go all the way out through the class of 2016.

Hard to believe fall basketball and another school year is already here.  Seems like I was just in Las Vegas to end the summer season.  Should be another outstanding season.  I'll begin my annual season previews and predictions in mid-October ending just before regular season practice starts in November.

Reflections on Las Vegas 2012

Another trip to Las Vegas is in the books.  Here is what I'll remember.  Game and team details can be found in my Northstar Hoops Report article.   I was on my own for the trip so thanks to the outlying venues of the other tournaments, I ended up only doing the Adidas Super 64.

Best Game
Fury Dixon vs Pump N Run 16s.  This game was setup by both teams winning their way to the round of 16.  No team held a lead of any note in the 2nd half and it came right down to a Fury buzzer beater to win it.  Fury storms the court after the win and you can't blame them.  They lost the 1st 3 meetings of the year, including last week at the buzzer during the Best Buy Summer Classic.  Great win for the Fury squad.

Best Win
Fury Davis over Dallas Mustangs.  Fury Davis took on the loaded Dallas Mustangs squad and controlled the 2nd half.  Another typical performance from a Fury team where if you don't play well, they can make you look bad.  Very impressive.

Officiating
I made it out to a handful of outer gyms and the officiating for those gyms was just fine.  The main gyms at the 17U super pools court was another story.  Last year this was a NBA officials camp and the games were well done.  Not this year as the officials were still being evaluated but they were positively awful.  PNR 17s head man hit it on the head with "Do you guys just pick names?".  It was so bad that the evaluators came out during a timeout and chewed the refs tails.  Wish it would have gone on for the whole minute.  Absolutely shocking how bad it was for those premier games.

The Strange
The Urban DFW vs Compton Magic round of 16 game saw a donnybrook breakout.  The benches emptied and a punch was thrown (that thankfully missed, think Kermit Washington).  Both benches emptied and all players on the bench and the 2 players in the game who fought were ejected.  The last 5 minutes were played 4 on 4.  Urban DFW ended up winning that game and still had guys to play PNR in the quarters.  There was some question if DFW would be allowed to play that game as all of those players may have had to sit out.   Ultimately the game was played with PNR winning.

At one point on Saturday night at the PNR 15s game, there was 1 college coach watching and 2 fans using blankets thanks to the frigid air conditioning.  Not the only building where that happened.  Then there were a couple of other buildings that chose to open the doors and play with out AC despite the heat.

The casino floor had NBC, but no NBC in the rooms to watch the Olympics.

Had a group of teenage girls hoops players come up to me and ask me if I was a coach.  I showed my media pass and then asked what tournament they were in.  They had no idea.

The Food
Last year, they had outstanding pizza at the main Super 64 venue and didn't have it this year.  Major disappointment.  Thanks to getting in early, I was able to spend some time at the buffet.  While it was an expensive $16 (by Vegas standards), it was brunch and the bacon was some of the best I've ever had.  French toast, biscuits and gravy, a big slab of turkey with mashed potatoes and gravy.  A great way to fill up.  But no scramble eggs anywhere to be found, pretty surprised at that.  Had McDonald as part of the shops in the hotel.  But a 15 minute line at 12:30 AM?  What's up with that?  Thankfully the Super 64 is a Pepsi outfit.  With the Vegas heat, they did rather well out of my pocket book at the wonderful cost of just $1 per 12 oz can.  See locals, you can still make a profit at just $1.

The Gambling
I won 3 out of 4 nights.  More shocking is that I actually had the discipline to get up and walk away while on a streak.  This was really true on opening night.  Once again I had a big opening night and with nowhere to be until the games started at 5 PM, I had plenty of time to stay up.  But I took my winnings and left early that night.  Of course, on night 3, I wasn't smart enough to do that with losses and threw away some extra bucks in the last 30 minutes which ultimately kept me from a profit for the trip.  Night 4 was about the entertainment value of the dealers dressed as cocktail waitresses (for the record, yes its a distraction, hit me generally gets you smacked because you're not looking at your cards).  No Xena the Warrior Cocktail Waitress this year but we did get a quality Marilyn Monroe look-alike.  Overall, same as last year, dead even if you throw out the tips.  For 4 nights of entertainment, I'll take that.


Sadness
The trip was book-ended by tragic news.  We awoke in Vegas on Wednesday to find out about the deaths of former Henry stars Jordan Hughes and Mandela Jackson.  I saw both play numerous times at Henry.  Its a harsh reminder of how short life can be.  Then the trip ended with word of Southwest Minnesota State head coach Brad Bigler being seriously injured and losing his 5 month old son Drake in a car accident thanks to a repeat drunk driver.  We'll keep him and his family in our thoughts.

2012 Best Buy Summer Classic Preview

Its a big week in Minnesota summer basketball as Howard Pulley visits the Peach Jam, Select and Glory invade Louisville and Net Gain visits Milwaukee but most everyone else is home for the 4th annual Best Buy Summer Classic at Jefferson and Kennedy.  Pool play begins at 4 PM Thursday and ends Friday night.  Bracket play Saturday and Sunday with championships at 2:20 Sunday afternoon.  As is the case with most college coaches, focus here will be on the 17U division.

2 super pools in 17U with M33M, Dakota Schoolers I, Indiana Elite Stars MN PNR making up the 1st super pool.  The Schoolers bring in one of their better teams in recent memory.  Center Zach Hanson just committed to Creighton but had offers from Iowa St and Missouri.  Wing Lane Severyn just picked up an NDSU offer and athletic Skyler Flatten is another player at a D1 level for the Schoolers.  Guard Jordan Pickett leads the Indiana Elite Stars who were the 2nd Indiana Elite super pool team last week in Indianapolis.  They were 1-2 and knocked out in the round of 32.  Then you have the host Minnesota Pump N Run.  Reid Travis just picked up a USC offer.  Point guard Graham Woodward and guard Gerald McCarver both played well last week.

The team to watch is M33M.  #11 in the Rivals national ranking is 6'5 wing Robert Hubbs.  6'7 wing Austin Nichols is ranked 43rd by Rivals.  Then a couple of highly touted freshmen in 6'10 Skal Labissiere (#8 ESPN's 2015 rankings) and point guard Nyck Smith.  Hubbs stock has really shot up since he played here last.

Pool B has perennial power Franchize All-Stars, the returning Michigan Hurricanes, Illinois Warriors and the top team from last year's champion PrymeTyme.  Franchize features a pair of 2014 star wings in Mavin Saunders and Joe Burton.  The Hurricanes return with wing Bo Ziegler (#118 Rivals).  Hurricanes were bounced out of the top bracket last year by PrymeTyme.  Will PrymeTyme have another Fred Van Vleet (last year's MVP)?

Pool C is topped by Fury Davis and Bucknell commit Ben Oberfeld.  Heat Reese tops Pool D with Fury Ouse and Comets Stock.  Pool E features Comets Hanson.  Should be very interesting to see what D1 crowd turns out to see 7 footer Connor Voss.  The Wisconsin Jets were champions of the Dakota Showcase.  Guard Tim Wagner leads the Jets.

Duez Henderson's Iowa PNR squad highlights Pool G.  6'8 Forward Rylan Murray has offers from North Dakota, Nebraska Omaha and Central Michigan.    Dakota Pride and Triple Threat could decide pool J.  Heat Ogorek gets our sleeper BYC Elite (NM) in their pool.  Guard John Dawson has been outstanding all year for BYC.  Colorado just offered him.  Pool L closes out the list with a bang.  MN Lockdown and Logan Doyle have WI Starz Black with their center Blake Derickson.  ECI Prospects with NDSU commit AJ Jacobsen also in this pool. 

Other players of note include Taylor Schaefer of the ECI Prospects 16s and elite guard 5'10" Hyron Edwards of Team Indiana/Indiana Elite 15s.  He's #12 in the ESPN 2015 rankings and has offers from Purdue and Indiana.  They're in the PNR 15s super pool.  That game is at 6:20 Thursday night.

A couple of other very nice matchups.  Fury Dixon and Comets Lewis meet up once again in their 16U super pool.  That game is also at 6:20 Thursday.  Back in the 15U bracket, the Cyclones take on tNBA in their pool at 10 AM Friday morning.  tNBA has been off the radar due to conflicting schedules but they get their shot at Alex Illikainen et al.  Last we saw of tNBA was their loss to the very good WI Blizzard-Pronchinske group in the Best Buy Spring Tournament semis.

Heat Biwan 14s step up to 15U with a Schoolers group and SW MN Stars in their pool.  Fury Shelman, MN Phenom and Heat Lesewski also representing the best of MN in 15U.  Also looking forward to taking another look at the MN Warriors and Heat Garvis.  Looking forward to seeing all of the top teams come through Jefferson in all levels which is a change from last year.  I like it.  More of the premier games will be in the activity center which considering the weather is a good choice as well.  Don't expect another power outage though.

July Fashion Police

AAU Coaches will wear just about anything.  Many comments have been made this week on Twitter about some of those items.  So as a public service to our local coaches, I've put them together and provide them there.  Here are some things that Joan Rivers would cringe at. 

Headgear
This isn't baseball and you're not in the sun.  Take off the baseball cap.

Hair Style
If you're sporting a mohawk should any college coach really take your team seriously?

Clothing
Its become acceptable to either dress up, wear practice gear or team gear.  Jorts don't fit into any of these categories.  There's a reason they have a bad name.  Ditch them

Footwear
Flip-flops.  Really?  You can go to the beach or the bar afterwards.  The only known thing about men's feet is that they stink.  Wear shoes please.

Accessories
Heaven forbid somebody would steal your expensive Beats by Dre that you and the entire team have.  But there's no need to have those around your neck during the game.

If you get a T because you couldn't hear a ref tell you "No More" because you had earbuds in, not cool.

Coach yells at his team "don't make me look like a clown".  He's wearing sunglasses which pretty clearly already destroys his message.

July 2012 Open Period Day 3 Results

Bracket play underway in the1st open period, here's how the MN teams stand.

St. Louis (Mullen's High Exposure)
MN Cyclones def Kansas Heat Elite 87-44

Ames (IMBBall part 1)
MN Lockdown and MN Suns Brown both lost their bracket games.

Local (IMBBall part 2)
Howard Pulley White 17s lost 55-43 to All Iowa Attack Moore.  21 pts and 9 rebs for Peter Jok of the Attack.
tNBA 17s def La Crosse YMCA Steger 61-53
Heat Schumann 16s def Iowa Cornsharks 68-63
Howard Pulley Blue 15s def NIB Raptors 58-39.
Howard Pulley White 15s def ND Phenom 59-55

Milwaukee (NY2LA)
Bracket play is set.
15U
Fury Shelman will take on Net Gain in the round of 16.
MN Select takes on Chicago Select in the same quarter of the top bracket.
Heat Lesewski/Bui takes on Schoolers Mueller
Comets Elite will play WI Blizzard Kuranda in a Gold bracket pigtail.

16U
Round of 16
MN Select has a pigtail game with WI Swish for the right to play Ray Allen Select
SW MN Stars will play the winner of SYF and Milwaukee Rebels
Those 2 games are in the same quarter
Fury Grosz will play winner of IA Mavs Uthoff and WI Swing Litscher on the same side of the bracket.
On the opposite side.
Fury Dixon gets winner of WI Blizzard Pop vs ECI Prospects
In the same quarter Comets Elite gets a rematch with MN Warriors (who won a tight one at the Pulley tourney).  Winner will play top WI Blizzard team and then possibly Fury Dixon.

17U
Net Gain takes on ECI Prospects
Magic Elite takes on Ramey
Winner of that plays winner of Fury Davis and S. Dakota Heat.
Staying in that quarter of the draw Select Blue takes on Comets Hanson
Winner of that to play WI Playmakers White vs SW MN Stars winner.
On the other half
MN Select White vs Playground Elite Wilson

In the Gold Bracket
Magic Maroon vs WI Blizzard Thomas to take on WI Shooters/WOTN winner
Comets Stock vs top WI Blizzard to play winnner of IA Mavs Putz vs Fury Newll.

Comets Seevers and Fury Ouse are in the Silver bracket.

Indianapolis (Adidas Invitational)
17U
PNR def Ohio Phenoms 78-64 to finish 2-1 in their super pool.  Reid Travis over 20 points again.  They then beat Texas GCBC Cagers 87-77 in pigtail game to advance to final 32 of Championship bracket

Heat Ogorek lost to MBA Select in the 1st round of the Gold Bracket to finish 2-2.
Heat Reese def Illinois Exclusive to advance to final 16 of Silver Bracket.
Heat Frasier def TN Chosen Few in 1st round Bronze bracket thanks to a Robert Ben buzzer beater.
Heat Altena lost to Q6 All-Stars Elite in 1st round Bronze bracket to finish 0-4.

16U
PNR finished 2nd in their pool and then picked up a very good 3 pt win over Florida Elite to advance to the final 16 of the championship bracket.

Heat Vang had the day off after finishing 2nd in their pool.  They'll play Michigan Mustangs in the Final 16 of the Gold Bracket
Heat Frank finished 0-3 in pool and will play Indy Ice in 1st round of the Bronze Bracket.
MN Glory 0-3 will play Triple Balance in 1st round of the bronze bracket.

15U
MN PNR won their super pool with a 65-60 win over the WI Playground Warriors (where the Ellenson's once played).  They then lost to Indiana Elite Blaze 73-68 in the 1st round of the Championship Bracket.

July 2012 Open Period Day 2

Here are results from 2nd day of play in the July 2012 open period.

IMBBall (Ames)
17U
MN Suns Brown go 2-1 and finish 2nd in their pool.  Only loss was to the All Iowa Attack EYBL team 70-51.  They defeated Iowa Legacy 56-44 and 72-49 over Omaha Crusaders Foster.
MN Lockdown 2-0 to win their pool but lost to All Iowa Attack Moore 62-46 on Wed.  They defeated Omaha Crusaders Woodard 52-44 and All Iowa Attack Jensen 65-60.

Lockdown vs Cornsharks and Suns vs All Iowa Moore in brackets play was not yet posted.

16U
Howard Pulley top 16s go 0-3.  Lost to Omaha Crusaders 67-57, NE Select by 3 and 76-68 to the Iowa Cornsharks.

Heat Select 1-2 to finish 3rd in their pool
MN Lockdown was 1-1 to finish 2nd in their pool.

15U
Howard Pulley Top 15s swept their pool 3-0.  79-57 over IA Legacy, 79-38 over Omaha Crusaders and 56-39 over All Iowa Attack Johnson.
MN Suns Russell 2-1 to be 2nd in their pool.
Howard Pulley White was 0-2 and 3rd in their pool.

Adidas Invitational (Indianapolis)
17U
MN Pump N Run split their 2 games.  63-55 Loss to Team Nashville and 75-57 win over Dallas Mustangs.  Reid Travis 19 and 22 points in those 2 games.

Heat Altena lost to MBA Select 72-62, then lost 70-59 to Tennesse Tigers to finish pool 0-3.

Heat Frasier was swept in their 3 pool games.  They lost to Southern Indiana Spartans 61-55 and S. Texas Irish 64-45

Heat Ogorek split their games during the day.  They beat Club Elite Warriors 81-67.  They lost the pool title game 62-56 to Texas GCBC Cagers.  They finish 2-1 in pool.  Jack Martinek 20 pts in the loss.

Heat Reese fell to Spiece Higher Level 85-82 and beat Team Pro Look Boys 63-55.  They finish 1-2 in pool.  Brendan Taylor was 7-7 from 3 in the 1st half of that Team Pro win.

16U
MN Pump N Run lost to a very good Indiana Elite team 61-38.  They bounced back to defeat Devin Harris Super Stars 79-65 behind 20 and 9 from Paul Friendshuh.

Heat Vang won both of their games to finish 2-1 in pool play.  They beat Indy Jazz 2014 93-60 and Hoop Dreams 73-59.  Jake Knupp 6 3s, 25 pts in that last win.

Heat Frank lost 64-46 to Grand Rapids storm and 64-38 to Select Basketball to start 0-2 in pool.

Glory 16s lost to FIST 68-67 and to Atlanta Celtics 2 58-36 to start 0-2.

15U
MN PNR def CIA Bounce 65-49 and Colorado Hawks 71-51. Marshawn Wilson 2 huge dunks and 18 points in that Hawks game. 

NY2LA (Milwaukee)
17U
Magic Maroon lost to Next Level Basketball by 4
Fury Davis lost by 17 to WI Swing.
Net Gain def Iowa Mavs Putz (max +15)
Magic Elite def Iowa Mavs Green (max +15) and Playground Elite Wilson by 2
WOTN lost to WI Blizzard Kellett (max -15)
Comets Hanson def Colorado Titans by 6 and Playmakers Blue by 9 to finish 2-1 in pool but they can't win the pool even with help.
MN Select White def WI Shooters White 49-41 and def Team NLA-MA by 14.
Fury Ouse lost a couple of heartbreakers by 2 each to WI Starz and Kingdom Hoops Red
Comets Stock lost to top Schoolers team by 16 then def Flint Dream Team by 12.
MN Select Blue def Rockford Wildcats by 5 and WI Ballers Elite by 7
Comets Seevers loses by 4 to WI Blizzard Thomas

16U
MN Warriors def Next Level Basketball 65-62.  Garrett Goetz 37 points (17-17 FTs) to lead the Warriors
Fury Dixon def WI Swing-Litscher 70-67 in 2 OT.  
Fury Grosz def WI Blizzard Popp (max + 15)
MN Select def WI Swing-Smith (max +15)
SW MN Stars 16s def Randolph Boys Club White by 2
Comets Lewis def HLC Buch by 25 to start their pool play.


15U
MN Select def WI Blizzard Thomas by 12
Heat Lesewski def Randolph Boys Club by 3
Net Gain def Kingdom Hoops Red (max +15)
Fury Shelman def Peoria Irish by 4
Comets Elite lost by 2 to WI Blizzard Schneider

July 2012 Open Day 1 Results

Night 1 of the open period is in the books, 3 full days await most of the players.  Here are results from Day 1 of the July 2012 open period.

NY2LA (Milwaukee)
15U
Heat Lesewski/Bui lost to Kingdom Hoops Elite (max -15)
Net Gain lost to WI Blizzard top team (max -15)
Fury Shelman lost to WI Shooters by 3
MN Select lost to Schoolers (max -15)
Comets Elite def WI Swing Smith (max 15)

16U
Playground Elite def MN Warriors 68-66 at the buzzer.

17U
Magic Maroon lost to Kingdom Hoops Elite (max -15)
Fury Davis beat Schoolers 2 (max 15)
Net Gain def Ramey (max 15)
Magic Elite def Iowa Mavs Green by 32
WOTN lost to Milwaukee Spartans (max -15)
Comets Hanson lost by 10 to Green Bay Gunners

Adidas Invitational
16U
Shot Doc def Heat Vang 70-55

17U
Heat Altena lost 61-31 to South Florida Panthers
Heat Frasier lost 65-44 to Team Miami
Heat Ogorek def Southern Select Basketball 51-42
Heat Reese lost 60-48 to Iowa Barnstormers

5 Players to watch in July 2012

With the July recruiting period upon, here are 5 players who's progress I'll be watching this month.


#5) Carson Shanks - Minnesota Select White 17s
The list begins with the big man in the middle.  Select has struggled this spring as has Shanks.  Now Grassroots basketball is definitely not a big man's game so good matchups have been difficult to find.  Witness the bracket game in St. Cloud where Select couldn't find a good lineup to play against a smaller, more athletic Heat Reese team.  That was with or without Shanks on the floor.  Shanks definitely has the skills to perform above the level he played at in the spring.  Will he show that in July?

#4) Anders Broman - Howard Pulley Blue 17s
Broman took his game to another level this spring.  With Tyus Jones out at the Pulley tournament, he showed the ability to run the point.  He also showed quality ability to knock down open jump shots along with his usual scoring prowess.  That garnered him a handful of D1 offers.  The Peach Jam in the middle period is July's biggest stage.  Does he move to yet another level there?

#3) Connor Voss - Minnesota Comets Hanson 17s
Voss is the other big man in the middle on our list.  His story is entirely different.  He sat out a large chunk of the high school season due to injury.  That carried over to him missing the entire April recruiting period as well.  But he's gotten his legs back over the last 2 months and its showed. His performance at the North Dakota camp earned him an offer from the (insert non-offensive NCAA complaint nickname here).  Is he trending toward a July where he breaks through onto a bigger stage?

#2) Reid Travis - Minnesota Pump N Run 17s
The final 2 both fall into the category of "His team will go as far as he takes them".  Reid Travis was the catalyst for the PNR 15s run to the Super 64 title game last year.  For now, he's the 2014 player that has kind of been forgotten about.  The PNR team is his again and needs him to play at a high level.  Does he solidify a high major ranking with his play this month?

#1) Darrion Strong - Minnesota Magic Robertson 17s
I would argue that no single player has been more critical to his team's success than Darrion Strong.  Before joining the Magic, they were struggling to score points and their record (albeit against a difficult schedule) showed it.  It also showed when the Comets trounced the Magic 2 weeks ago with Strong not playing.  Strong joined the Magic in May and has been the single most dominant offensive player I've seen in the last 2 months.  He led the Magic to the Northstar Hoops Report State Championship with a virtuoso performance in the title game and to a runner up finish (double OT loss at the buzzer) at the Great Plains Alliance tournament at the end of the month.  It will be very interesting to see what interest he has after the month is over.

Warming up for Summer

A nice event at Irondale as the MN Heat put on a scrimmage for a group of local teams.  EOTO 15/16s as a team and their 17s, Fury Ouse, Net Gain 15s and 17s.  Plus all the noteworthy Heat teams which makes an event all by itself.  Net Gain played without Rashad Vaughn.  He'll be attending the Reebok Breakout Camp in Philly before rejoining NGS for bracket play at NY2LA this weekend. 

A blinding day as Andre Wallace had his usual bright pink shoes on for NGS.  At least grey halfways goes with pink.  Bremiah Snyder of the Heat pulled out some construction barrel orange shoes that could only make this native Wisconsinite think they'd be better served for a drive during deer hunting season.

Despite those blinding shoe colors, Hamline, St. Mary's and UMD were in the building flying their colors so kids remember this.  Anybody can be watching at anytime.  That's very often overlooked

Overall, a ragged night of play but that's to be expected with these teams having minimal ball together over the last month (outside of the Great Plains Alliance).  But after a couple of weeks of practice, good to have another look and quick warmup prior to the teams heading on the road tomorrow for the 1st of 3 open periods this month.

For more on July, you can checkout my Northstar Hoops Report article on 5 teams to watch this July (read that here).  In addition, come back for my next article here which will be 5 players to watch this July.

Hit the road for July 2012

Yes The Czar is still here.  The NCAA did not sanction me and force me to write under a new name as I haven't had any illegal contact with agents.  Speaking of the NCAA, in years past we'd be right in the middle of the 1st 10 day recruiting period.  Thanks to the same NCAA rule changes that opened up April this year, July has now changed too.  July's recruiting window is now 3 long weekends, 11-15, 18-22 and 25-29.  That's Wednesdays starting at 5 PM and ending at 5 PM on those Sundays.  That 1st period is upon us, here's where Minnesota teams will be.

NY2LA Next Level Invitational (Milwaukee)
15U
Top teams from the Fury, Heat, Select, Comets and Net Gain represent Minnesota in this division.  The Heat Lesewski crew has Pulley tournament champs Kingdom Hoops Elite in their pool.  They'll play at 5:20 on Wednesday.  Net Gain gets a tough draw as well with Best Buy Spring Classic runner-up WI Blizzard-Pronchinske at 7:40 on Wednesday night in their pool.

16U
MN Warriors draw one of the better 16U teams in the country RAS (Ray Allen Select) in their pool.  They'll meet at 4:10 on Friday afternoon.  RAS won the Best Buy Chicago Classic title over Memorial Day.  MN Fury Dixon draws the hard nosed Wisconsin Swing squad in their pool.  MN Fury Grosz also gets a Wisconsin draw with Terry Porter Elite.  MN Select takes on the top WI Blizzard team.  SW MN Stars and MN Comets Elite also representing MN in the 16U division.

17U
The best individual matchup here is Net Gain taking on Milwaukee Rebels in pool play at 3 PM on Thursday.  That's a pair of elite national wings with Rashad Vaughn taking on Kevon Looney.  WOW!  That's #11 (Looney) vs #20 (Vaughn) in the Rivals.com Class of 2014 rankings.  Don't forget about jitterbug point guard Damontrae Jefferson (#76 in the that same ranking) for the Rebels either.  On the next court at the same time, MN Fury Davis draws the loaded WI Swing squad.  That Swing squad features top 100 kids Bronson Koenig (WI commit) at the point and post Luke Fischer (Indiana commit).  Nick Fuller receiving lots of D1 interest for that Swing squad as well.  MN Magic Maroon draws Terry Porter Elite and Kingdom Hoops Elite in their pool.  They'll go up against Marquette commit Deonte Burton in 1 game and UNI commit Ted Friedman in the other.  Comets Hanson opens the tourney with a grudge match against the Green Bay Gunners who knocked them off in the 1st NY2LA tourney at Hopkins in April.  Gunners feature UNI commit Bennett Koch, the 3rd Koch brother to play for the Panthers.  Jake is at UNI now and college fans may remember Adam who was the 2010 Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year.  MN Select White and Carson Shanks take on ECI and recent NDSU commit AJ Jacobsen at 3 PM on Friday.  Fury Ouse takes on the Dakota Showcase champs WI Jets at 11:30 AM on Friday.  Comets Stock takes on Zach Hanson (recent Iowa State and Missouri offers) and the Dakota Schoolers at 9:10 Thursday morning.  WOTN, SW MN Stars, Fury Newell, Select Blue, Comets Seevers and Magic Elite Robertson all in the 17U division as well.

Adidas Invitational (Indianapolis)
The huge Adidas Invitational has Minnesota represented.  Minnesota Pump N Run sends all 3 of their teams.  The Heat send their top 4 17s (Reese, Ogorek, Altena and Frasier) and top 2 16s (Vang and Frank).  Then the surprise entrant, MN Glory 16s.  Glory has gone to the Hoosier Shootout for years.  Their 17s are taking the week off before heading to the Kentucky Hoopfest next week.  The field is loaded with too many big names to mention.  Schedule should be posted soon.

Others
MN Cyclones 15s will be at the Mullen's High Profile Tournament in St. Louis starting play at 6 PM on Friday night.

Quinton Hooker and Akolda Manyang will be in Washington DC for the Nike Skills U camp
Tyus Jones, who just won a gold medal with the USA 17U team in Lithuania, will also be in Washington DC for the Nike Global Challenge.  Pulley site lists him as invited but he's not listed on the Nike rosters.  Kyle Washington listed on those same USA rosters.

Also locally, the IMBBall tournament is in Eagan starting Friday night.  Local teams represented include Grassroots, Pulley White and tNBA in the 17s.  Pulley has both teams in the 16s with Triple Threat and Heat Schumann.  The 15s division has both Pulley teams, Southern MN Elite and MN Suns

2012 Fury Invite Preview

Its time for the 2nd annual Fury Invitational.  Eastview and Eagan both hosting the games on 4 courts each with some stray games off site.

17U
None of the top teams playing but some interesting games in the field.  The hosts Fury Davis should be an easy favorite over Magic White and Comets Seevers in pool A.  Triple Threat and Heat-Altena go at it at 1:10 Saturday at Eagan in a game that should determine the winner the 4 team pool B.  Very interesting pool C with the Pump N Run 16s, GetShook and MN Wolves.  GetShook and Wolves have both used their share of seniors this year.  Have to like the PNR 16s here but this is the toughest pool.  Pool D is the other 4 team pool.  Comets Stock vs Heat Reese at noon at Eastview should decide that pool.  Fury's 2nd team should be a heavy favorite against Magic Black and Heat Frasier in pool E.  MN Premier is my pick over Magic Maroon and Winnipeg Wolves.  EOTO Black is another squad that could have anybody but I'll take my chances with them.  Eastview and Heat Ogorek round out a difficult to pick pool G.  Fury Newell, MN Cagers and MN Crush round out the 17s in Pool H.  I'll take Fury here but the best bet in this pool is a Hat Lady sighting at Eastview late Friday and early Saturday.

Only pool winners move on to the 8 team championship bracket that begins at 7:00 on Sat night.  I'll take Fury Davis over Triple Threat, Heat Reese over the PNR 16s (classic size vs speed matchup but athletes have bothered the PNR 16s all year), Fury-Ouse over MN Premier and EOTO Black over Fury Newell.  Fury Davis over Heat Reese, EOTO over Fury-Ouse.  The hosts defeat EOTO to win their own tourney (never bad to pick the host).

16U
Fury Grosz has a good one on Fri night vs MN Rush but they'll still come out of pool A.  Heat Vang has to be the pick against Triple Threat Olmscheid and WOTN-Hickox in Pool B.  MN Warriors are the pick in pool C.  EOTO survives the northern invasion of the Winnipeg Wolves and North Dakota Phenom in pool D.  PNR 15s and MN Cyclones move up but should win pools E and F.  Heat Frank opens with a rematch against Fury Dixon in pool G.  Fury Dixon gave that Heat squad a massive beating when they opened at the Comets tourney.  Another watered down pool H with Rochester Ballers, Winnipeg and SW Slam. 

Same tourney format across the board and it gives us a rare 1 vs 2 matchup as the Cyclones project to take on Pump N Run in a rematch of the top 2 teams in the state in 15U.  PNR won their championship meeting in Iowa last Sunday.  I'll take PNR again because of their depth.  Fury Grosz over Heat Vang, EOTO in a good one over the MN Warriors, Fury Dixon over anybody in the other quarterfinal.  Fury Grosz over EOTO in a rehash of their many meetings last year as MN Elite vs Heat Select.  PNR 15s over Fury Dixon.  PNR 15s then knock off Fury Grosz again (see Comets tourney) to take home another title.

15U
This division will have a new champ as my old Magic crew won the 14s of this tourney last year (our best ball of the season too).  The 3 guys that are left together are at the ECI tourney this week after pulling out late (were scheduled to be in pool A).  The top Fury squad (with one of my old guys) looks to win pool A.  Heat Prins by default in pool B.  Another division with a stacked pool C.  East Metro (Johnson kids), TC Running Rebels and the top 43 Hoops squad is a tough pool. I'll go East Metro here but anybody could win this pool.  Heat Fossum is a loaded 14U squad playing up with Comets Elite and MN Bulldogs in pool D.  I'll go Comets Elite here.  Fury 2nd team takes out the 2nd 43 Hoops team and MN Crush to win pool E.  Heat Boone is another high level 14U club playing up.  They won the 14s in Iowa last weekend.  They have WOTN and Winnipeg Wolves in a pool where I think they win.  The top Heat team wins pool G and rumor says they may have a major pickup for the weekend.  Balanced Pool H with ND Phenom, MN United and my pick Triple Threat.  Fury Shelman, East Metro, Fury Johnson and Heat Lesewski all win the quarters.  Fury Shelman takes out East Metro but falls to Heat Lesewski in the finals.

2012 Howard Pulley Invitational Review

MN Comets Lewis 16U Champs!

Another year is in the books at the 2012 Howard Pulley Invitational.  Nice new uniforms from EOTO or should I say E1T1 but confusing.  They look so much like the Florida version that I thought it was that group who once had Duke star Austin Rivers.

No surprise with this being the 1st off week after 2 open period weekends that we'd have plenty of missing bodies.  No Ted Friedman from Kingdom Hoops, No Tory Miller from KC Run GMC, no Tyus Jones or Akolda Manyang from the top Howard Pulley group.  Always something in the spring with weddings (Friedman), injury (Manyang), or illness (Tyus).  We even get the Illinois Warriors not showing up because they thought the tournament was next week.  How does that happen?

Czar not only samples the Little Caesars pizza (I'd rather have Dominos) but because you, the loyal reader, want to know all about food, I also snagged a chocolate chip cookie off a mom that was intended for a player (playing at the time).  Me want cookie!  I prefer to view it as quality control and it was outstanding and gained my seal of approval for eating.  Mmmmm, cookie!!!  

Friday Night
Highlights of Friday night for me were my old Magic guys (down to 3 remaining together) hanging around with tNBA before falling 68-52.  That same group took us behind the woodshed last year at the state tournament.  MN Warriors 16s make a statement by knocking off Comets Lewis 54-52.  That would be the Comets only loss of the tourney.  Warriors are a team that if you let them run their stuff, they can pick you apart.  Anders Broman would fill in at the point some for Tyus Jones as the top Pulley squad would run away midway thru the 1st half on their way to a 76-47 win.  Comets Hanson 17s pulling out their high school warmups on Friday night in a first.  That was a quality look.  The look didn't help as Zach Hanson and the top Schoolers club beat them down to the tune of 46-15 at half and a 55-30 win.  Pulley White 17s would get a steal and layup with less than 10 seconds left to upset Kingdom Hoops Elite 56-54 in a thriller.  That would ultimately decide the winner of pool D.

Saturday Pool Play
A couple of good early games with KC Run GMC 15s pulling away from tNBA 64-47 (foreshadowing) and EOTO knocking off the SW MN Stars 58-55.  Andre Wallace joined EOTO for the weekend and his play down the stretch with a free throw, bucket and assist helped close the game out.  Comets Hanson goes to regular Comets T-Shirts for their 1st warmups of the day but that doesn't help.  KC Run GMC took them out 64-35.  Connor Voss played for the Comets this weekend, but as expected didn't have his legs but had moments where he moved pretty well but others where the lack of stamina showed.  Waiting to see what the next new warmups will be.  Iowa Flight took out All Iowa Attack 58-50 in OT in an entertaining finish.  That allowed them to hang on and win pool D.  KC Gamespeed using the old KC PNR uniforms and going with the smallest 3 guard lineup I'll see all season.

In 16s Pool B, Comets Lewis took care of business beating Lockdown 77-57 to go 2-1 in the pool.  They had to wait for their seed as KC Keys and MN Warriors were still in action.  The Keys bang in a long 3 with 30 seconds left, get an unforced turnover with 20 seconds left and knock down a 3 from the right corner with 0.6 left to steal that game 63-60.  That forces a 3 way tie for the pool tie at 2-1.  Comets easily win the point differential.  Then they stay with point differential so despite the head to head loss, the Warriors will get the 2 seed and the Keys end up with 3 which they would have gotten with a loss.

Pulley Blue 17s put on a shooting clinic vs the Dakota Schoolers 2nd team.  They knock down 17 3s on their way to a 95-52 win and win pool A.  Jake Wright with a handful of those.  He gets his feet set, forget about it.  Renard Suggs with at least 3 of those, everybody knocking it down.  KC Run GMC gets all they want from the Schoolers top 17s as they win 63-56 to win pool C.  Comets Hanson would struggle with MN Lockdown (a group that is run by former Comets) before picking up a 55-45 win.

Saturday Bracket Play
On to the brackets, my old Magic guys gave the top Kingdom Hoops team (eventual champs) all they wanted.  Down 1 with 3:30 to go before Kingdom makes a 3, a bad shot results in a layup and another turnover results in a 3 for a quick 8-0 run to put the game away.  73-65 Kingdom Hoops Elite moves on in the 15U bracket.  Schoolers top team would beat Kingdom Hoops II, Pulley Blue def SW MN Stars, tNBA def Dakota Schoolers II and KC Gamespeed defeated Howard Pulley White.  Those were pigtail games to determine the quarterfinals.

In the 16U bracket, 8 round of 16 games.  Pulley Blue knocked off Lockdown, TVA def KC Keys, Comets Lewis def Schoolers 2nd team, WI Playmakers pull a major upset knocking off MN Warriors.  EOTO def MN Posse, SW MN Stars def Chicago Demons, Schoolers top team def Pulley White.  KC Run GMC gets a bye thanks to the Ill Warriors not making it.

The 17U bracket also had their round of 16 games.  All Iowa Attack knocked off tNBA, Iowa Flight def Schoolers 2nd team, Pulley Blue def SW MN Stars 68-48, Chicago Demons knocked off Kingdom Hoops Red, KC Run GMC def KC Gamespeed 59-47, Schoolers top team def EOTO, Pulley White def Lockdown and Kingdom Hoops Elite def Comets Hanson.

Sunday Championships
In the 15U quarters, Kingdom Hoops Elite def Pulley Blue, Desert Reign def Schoolers top team 57-52 in OT, tNBA def All Iowa Attack, KC Run GMC def KC Gamespeed.  Schoolers knocked down a 3 with 2 seconds left in regulation to send that game with Desert Reign to OT.

In the 15U Semis, Kingdom Hoops Elite would pull away from Desert Reign in the 2nd half for a double figure win.  tNBA would get revenge on KC Run GMC with a pair of clutch 3s late by Evan Nolan (1 to beat the shot clock).  They get the 58-55 win.  They would open the championship vs Kingdom Hoops Elite on an 11-2 run but Kingdom Hoops Elite was too much as they would go on to win the 15U title 74-63.

In the 16U quarters, Pulley Blue def WI Playmakers, Comets Lewis def TVA, Schoolers top team impressive big win over EOTO (up 20 late) and KC Run GMC def SW MN Stars.  KC Run GMC would pull away from the top Schoolers group to win their semifinal 67-49.  Comets Lewis would open up a double figure lead on the top Pulley squad.  Then Pulley would come all the way back to tie with 2:47 left.  Teams trade missed front ends in the last 35 seconds.  Ryan Bruggeman would make a pair of FTs and Austin Poe would close it out with a 3 point play.  Comets win 63-55.

In the 16U final, Comets Lewis opened up a 41-26 halftime lead on KC Run GMC.  The lead was still 15 with 10:19 left before a 7-0 KC run cut the lead to 8.  They would miss 3 of 4 FTs with a chance to cut into the lead further.  Comets see the lead get down to 6 but held on to win the 16U title 67-61.  Austin Poe 16 points, Austin Rund and Brian Goodwin with 12 each.  Ryan Bruggeman 9 points and 6 assists.  Christian Pekarek 10 points.

In the 17U quarters, KC Run GMC def Kingdom Hoops Elite 54-45, Schoolers top team def Pulley White 79-63, Pulley Blue def Chicago Demons 82-39, Iowa Flight get another close win over All Iowa Attack 51-49.  That would set up a KC Run GMC vs Schoolers rematch from pool play.  Zach Hanson would get off to a hot start as the size of the Schoolers bothered KC.  KC Run GMC would hang on again for a 60-51 win.  Pulley Blue had a bunch of guys banged up but was able to fill the roster with guys from their eliminated White squad.  Didn't matter as they blew out Iowa Flight 79-29 in their semifinal.

In the 17U final, Howard Pulley Blue and KC Run GMC in the expected title game.  Pulley would use their hot shooting to go on a 10-0 run to end the 1st half.  34-28 Pulley at half.  KC would open the 2nd half on a 17-4 run with their own hot shooting.  45-38 KC with 11:36 to play.  Big moment late when KC star Connor Frankamp (Kansas commit) fouls out with 1:42 left.  The FTs on the foul tie the game at 58.  Out of a timeout, KC gets a layup against a 1 time 2-3 zone from Pulley.  Then a bad turnover and a great set for a clutch Kyle Smith (Frankamp replacement) 3 with 55 seconds left pushes the lead to 5 and there is your dagger, thank you Wayne Larrivee.  KC Run GMC wins the 17U title 67-60.  Connor Frankamp 7 bombs and 25 points to lead KC.  Power forward George Funtarov comes up huge for KC with 3 3s of his own and 17 points.  Anders Broman 4 3s for Howard Pulley as he leads the way with 17 points.  Quinton Hooker with 12 points.  The game was a shooting gallery as the teams combine for 25 3s from 10 different players.  Pulley makes 12 3s but gives up 13 of them.

2012 Sabes Invitational Preview

This weekend marks the 12th annual Sabes Invitational put on by Howard Pulley.  As expected the games are at High Performance Academy in Eagan Friday through Sunday.  With this being an non-open week for the D1 coaches after 2 straight weeks of play, there are many teams that would like to have the week off.  That means this year's field isn't what we've seen in the past but still plenty to see.

17U Division
In Pool A, you have Tyus Jones and the top Howard Pulley team.  Anders Broman, Quinton Hooker and Akolda Manyang on display as well.  Though Manyang was injured last week, we'll see how healthy he is this week.  The rest of the pool consists of 2nd teams from the Dakota Schoolers and Kingdom Hoops along with tNBA.  tNBA with former Pulley player Harrison Patt of St. Thomas Academy on their roster.  I'll predict the pool in order listed (Pulley, Schoolers II, Kingdom Hoops Red and tNBA).

In Pool B, the Chicago Demons make another appearance.  Iowa Flight, SW MN Stars and All Iowa Attack make up the rest of the pool.  If this is All Iowa Attack's EYBL roster, then its possible they have star wing Peter Jok and high major prospect Akoy Agau in the middle.  But Agau has played with Team Nebraska and Jok wasn't at the EYBL here 2 weeks ago as far as I know.  I'll take the Attack by default, but this is easily the weakest pool.  Don't sleep on Iowa Flight.  They were the runner up at the Jayhawk Invitational last week.  Though the Jayhawk wasn't certified so it was a very down event from years past.

As opposed to Pool C which is the toughest top to bottom.  KC Run GMC (former KC Pump N Run now moved from Adidas to Under Armour) makes their annual trip.  The guards for KC are outstanding with high major prospect guard Dominique Collier (Denver, CO) playing up a year, Missouri commit Travis Jorgenson and the star of the group Kansas commit Connor Frankamp.  Frankamp is a lights out shooter who teams up with Tyus Jones on Team USA.  The Dakota Schoolers top team is also here with star center Zach Hanson who could be a high major kid as well.  Looking forward to seeing him play again.  The Comets top team joins this pool with their backcourt of Nate Huot and Scottie Stone.  No Connor Voss to go against Hanson though as Voss is still out with injury.  MN Lockdown has athletes but expect them to be overmatched in this pool.  Again I'll take the teams in order listed.  Comets might be deeper 1-10 but Hanson is a star and not having Voss to contest him is a big loss so I'll take Schoolers to win that pool game.

Rounding out the field in pool D is the pool favorite Kingdom Hoops (their elite squad).  When I saw them play the WI Playmakers at NY2LA 2 weeks ago they got taken behind the woodshed and then came back to win the whole thing by beating a loaded WI Swing squad in the final.  KC Run GMC was also in that tourney.  Keep an eye on bigs Ted Friedman and Nate Gehring for Kingdom Hoops.  Star soph Jay Knuth also moves up a level to the 17s this season.  An athletic Illinois Warriors squad that just played in the Best Buy Spring Classic returns to the metro.  They took out a solid Team Breakdown squad in showcase play there.  Howard Pulley's 2nd team with Hopkins point guard Kamali Chambers and frosh Sam Neumann playing up is also in the pool.  KC GameSpeed rounds out the pool.

Pool Games to watch:
Fri 8:30 PM Ct 3 Schoolers I vs Comets
Sat 11:30 AM Ct 5 Kingdom Hoops vs Illinois Warriors
Sat 4:30 PM Ct 1 Schoolers I vs KC Run GMC

17U Picks: Pools A and B are on 1 side of the bracket while pools C and D are stacked on the other side.  Pulley makes an easy run to the final before falling to KC Run GMC.  KC has a rough road to the final with HP White in the round of 16 Saturday night.  Then a rematch with the Schoolers before Kingdom Hoops in the semis.  Hoping for a Pulley Blue vs KC Run GMC final.

16U Division
Pool A features the top Pulley team with Bjorn Broman.  The Playmakers, Schoolers 2nd team and Village Athletics (who gave PNR fits in St. Cloud) also in that pool.  Comets, Lockdown, KC Keys and MN Warriors in pool B.  Warriors are my sleeper in the 16U division.  Looking forward to their game with the Comets.  Illinois Warriors, a quality SW MN Stars team, EOTO and the 2nd HP team make up another deep pool C.  KC Run GMC's squad heads up pool D.  Chicago Demons, All Iowa Attack and the top Schoolers team round out that pool.

Pool Games to watch:
Fri 6:00 PM Ct 3 Comets vs Warriors
Fri 7:15 PM Ct 2 EOTO vs SW MN Stars

16U Picks:  HP Blue, Comets, EOTO and KC Run GMC to win their pools.  Comets take out Warriors for a 2nd time to make the semis vs HP Blue and I'll take Comets to win that game.  Whoever takes 3rd in pool C (EOTO, Ill Warriors or SW MN Stars) take out the 2nd place team from pool D.  Ultimately I'll take KC Run GMC to win it. 

15U Division
Only 13 teams in this division so you have 2 pools of 4 and the last pool with 5.  Most of these games are banished to the back Pool A has HP Blue and Matt Anderson from Stillwater and Joe Rosga from CDH on the roster.   Desert Reign making the trip in from Las Vegas if I'm reading right.  Again making the assumption, but they may have had star Rosco Allen on their roster as a 15U kid. 

Pool B has KC Run GMC who's always good.  A Magic team that might be my old kids or the Blue team that made the semis at the Comets tourney.  tNBA in this pool after winning the Jayhawk Invitational 15U division last week which included 2 impressive wins over the very good WI Blizzard team (team that beat them at Best Buy Spring Classic before bowing out in the final to the PNR 15s).   5 teams make up the final pool with the top Kingdom Hoops team, Schoolers I, All Iowa Attack, HP White and SW MN Stars in that pool.  Very balanced pool there.  I'll take the KC Run GMC squad to win here too.  They won the Jayhawk Invitational 16U division last week.

Pool Game to watch: Sat 10:15 AM Ct 6 tNBA vs KC Run GMC

Houston Hello

Each year I try to join a team on the road.  This year's road trip takes me deep in the heart of Texas as I joined the Magic Elite 17s in Houston for the H-Town Classic.  This marks the 3rd road trip of the season already for the Magic when many teams were getting out of state for the first time this past weekend.  Full game by game details are in my Northstar Hoops Report article.

Friday
An early afternoon departure gets us into George Bush Intercontinental Airport just in time for the middle of rush hour.  Despite being setup north of the airport, the trip still takes forever in the hellish traffic that Houston is known for.  Its claimed that everything is bigger in Texas and the roads didn't disappoint.  1 way frontage roads doubled as extra lanes and every major exit seemed to have a flyover ramp.  A quick drop and run at the hotel and we go next door for dinner.  Hoping for some BBQ later in the weekend, I go with a chicken sandwich for dinner.

Then a quick chance to setup the laptop in the hotel and its off to the Legends Sports Complex for the 8:30 game vs Mississippi D1 Ambassadors.  Its a 2x2 setup for the 4 courts with plenty of room to move around but a very strange setup for the college coaches.  You also had to worry about running into the numerous garbage cans they had around to catch water from the leaky roof.  Magic would use a big 1st half run to open the margin.  Final score shows the Magic picking up the win 65-53.  Reggie Lynch comes up 1 block short of a triple double on my sheet.  Minor scoring issue late as a Tom Aase layup gets credited to the wrong side of the scoreboard.  So the final score should have been 16.  Where the point differental max is +15 that could come into play.  The evening's campfire session is in the continental breakfast room for a review of the night's game.  Back to the room to type up the evening's notes before turning in late.

Saturday
Only known game of the day isn't until 2:30 PM and nothing in the championship bracket after the 3:35 game.  But no rest as the other pool game between FOH Seattle and the Mississippi D1 Ambassadors is at 10:10 so up early for a quick banana and hard boiled egg for breakfast (Czar's not a big breakfast guy).  No OJ but the apple juice was worth it.  Coaches and I mosey over to watch that pool game and then while the coaches round up the players for lunch I stick around for the rest of play in the other pools.  FOH Seattle the most impressive team that I saw with 2 high major prospects and a kid off of the bench getting a mid-major head coach in the building to watch him.  I did the BBQ Pork Sandwich for lunch from the concession stand.  Oversized bun and overflowing to the point where half the sandwich ended up in the tub it came in.  2 words: Finger Food.  No way The Czar is letting that go to waste!  Good stuff with the big sandwich and enough kick to be an attention getter but not too much.  With FOH Seattle winning easily, that meant that only seeding was at stake in the Magic game.  Both teams were guaranteed to make the quarters of the top bracket at 8 AM on Sunday.  An off day for everyone on the Magic squad as FOH takes them out 64-47.  Magic did hang around but too much from a very good Seattle club. 

After a break in the hotel, the team runs around trying to find a Golden Corral only to find its out of business.  After about 3 different changes of mind, its Chipotle for half the group.  The coaches go with the Garfield rules of eating plan by having yogurt while waiting.  I hold out for Rudy's BBQ and I get my wish after dropping the kids off.  MN Triple Threat director Brett Rhodes (a Houston native who recommended the place) and Jerry Robertson forever make The Czar's Christmas Card list for making that happen.  Its a gas station look and when coming inside there's a great sight.  A line of about 50 people.  Add in a 30 foot ice filled bin of every bottle of soda you could imagine and a menu that begins with half pound portions  Get up to get the food and none of this sissy plate stuff.  Here's a crate lined with wax paper, we'll just throw your meat in there.  YA!  I went with a half pound of lean brisket, a small portion of potato salad and a 12 oz bottle of Pepsi.  That's living.  Back to the hotel to catch the end of day 1 of the NBA playoffs and an early turn in for a long Sunday.

Sunday
Thanks to the loss on Saturday, the Magic draw Gold Coast (a pre-tourney favorite) in the bracket opener.  Magic would take a lead late in the first half only to see Gold Coast take control from there.  Magic would fight back in the 2nd half but Gold Coast would never give up the lead.  Magic's hot shooting can't get them over the top.  Gold Coast moves on with a 74-68 win.  They would end up winning the tournament.  Major shock that they didn't play FOH Seattle in the championship game.  With an evening flight, its back to the hotel for some R & R.  Off to TGI Friday's for a late lunch and then back to the airport and home in plenty of time to rest up for the week ahead.  Magic finish 1-2 with losses to arguably the 2 best teams in the tournament.  Gold Coast was on the ropes and they hung around with FOH Seattle despite dismal shooting.  Magic take the week off before making the trip to Iowa next week.

Results from The Big Weekend

So what a weekend it was.  Games and food galore.   I spend Friday night, the last session on Saturday and the semis/finals Sunday at the Pump N Run tourney.  Saturday's first half was at NY2LA and then the night session of the EYBL.  Tough call between the Fritos Walking Taco at Hopkins or the Famous Dave's BBQ Pulled Pork sandwich at the EYBL.  Add in a cinnamon roll and that's not a bad Saturday of food.  People galore at Pulley.  Full from the divider to the sideline and then on the 1 open baseline, 5 deep from the wall right to the edge of the court.  Parking was even worse as cars were being towed left and right.  Double parked, parking on the grass, you name it.  Anything to find a spot.  In fairness, all the of events did a nice job with their setups to manage the crowds and the coaches.    Amazing to see all the head coaches from Jim Boeheim to Coach K to Bill Self and the list goes on and on and on.

Pump N Run lost a heartbreaker on Friday night to the KC 76ers.  A great play call gave Cullen Russo a wide open layup that wouldn't go down and KC held on 56-54.  Liked point guard Martez Harrison and forward Joey Lillis for the 76ers.  Anybody named Cornsharks (Iowa) is worth seeing but no sight of their outstanding logo.  Illinois Warriors hung on in an entertaining game vs Team Breakdown.  Pump N Run 16s couldn't make a shot as Illinois Basketball Academy (with their Muscle Milk Jerseys) knocked them out in the semis.  Fury Dixon got a buzzer beater runner John Veil to beat IBA in that title game.  PNR 15s knocked off Wisconsin Blizzard-Pronschinske (last year's loaded Fox Valley Swing team) in a very good title game.  Cody Schwartz will be a player from that squad.  They took out a very good tNBA team in the semis.  Fun to see Schwartz go up against Henry Ellenson in the final.  Ellenson and Marshawn Wilson continue to impress.

15U Bracket Results
PNR def Heat Lesewski, NE Select Fisher def Triple Threat, WI Blizzard def KC 76ers, tNBA def Fury Shelman

PNR def Nebraska Select-Fisher
WI Blizzard def tNBA

PNR def WI Blizzard - Pronschinske 61-54

16U Bracket Results
PNR def MN Warriors, IBA def Chicago Magic, WI Blizzard def EOTO Black, Fury Dixon def WI Blaze

IBA def PNR, Fury Dixon def Blizzard

Fury Dixon def IBA 51-49  (Fury Dixon's only loss was to Heat Vang, they actually beat 2015 stud Diamond Stone and the Milwaukee Young Legends, corrected from original post)

17U Results
PNR def KC 76ers 67-50 for title

PNR def Team Breakdown, KC 76ers def Team Breakdown

KC 76ers def Team NE, Fundamental U def Grassroots, PNR def Fury Davis, Team Breakdown def AK Hawks.

KC 76ers def KC Premiere, Team NE def Fury Ouse, Fundamental U def MI Hurricanes, Grassroots def Ill Warriors, PNR def WI Blizzard, Fury Davis def Omaha Crusaders, AK Hawks def WI Jets, Team Breakdown def TX D1 Ambassadors

NY2LA Spring Extravaganza
Net Gain goes 2-2 as they lose to Texas Select in pool play and then bow out in the quarters to WI Swing on a buzzer.  Comets Hanson had a crazy overtime game to finish pool play and then lost to TP Elite in the round of 16.  43 Hoops lost their pool to ECI after beating them in St. Cloud.  43 then knocked out both Select before losing to the Green Bay Gunners in the semifinals of the gold bracket.  Comets Stock knocked out Getshook in the Silver bracket and then lost in the Silver title game by 4.

In the 16s Comets Lewis fell in the round of 16s to a very good KC Run GMC club.  MN Select lost in the round of 16s to eventual champ RAS (Ray Allen Select)  Net Gain 15s won their quarterfinal before losing to KC Run GMC in the semifinals.

The Rest
The Minnesota Cyclones lost to the St Louis Eagles at the IM Bball tourney before rolling through the Red bracket to win that title.  My old Magic crew was 1-3 in that same division.  Howard Pulley's top 17s went 3-1 and could have been 4-0 if not for a close loss to Albany City Rocks.

The Big Weekend Brackets

Here are championship brackets for Sunday of The Big Weekend 2012.

Best Buy Spring Classic
17U Semifinals - 12:30 PM Courts 1 and 2 Jefferson
KC 76ers vs Fundamental U
Minnesota Pump N Run vs Team Breakdown (FL)
Team Breakdown came from double digits down in 2nd half to beat Arkansas Hawks.

16U Semifinals - 11:25 AM Courts 1 and 2 Jefferson
Minnesota Pump N Run vs Illinois Basketball Academy
Wisconsin Blizzard vs Minnesota Fury-Dixon

15U Semifinals - 11:25 AM Courts 3 and 4 Jefferson
Minnesota Pump N Run vs Nebraska Select - Fisher
tNBA-Brown vs Wisconsin Blizzard Pronschinske

15U Championship - 1:40 PM Court 3 Jefferson
16U Championship - 1:40 PM Court 1 Jefferson
17U Championship - 2:45 PM Court 3 Jefferson

NY2LA Sports Spring Extravaganza
17U Quarterfinals - 9:10 AM Courts 1,3,4 and 5 Hopkins
Texas Select vs KC Run GMC
Kingdom Hoops Elite vs TP Elite
WI Playmakers White vs I-Can All-Stars
Net Gain Sports vs Wisconsin Swing

17U Semifinals - 11:30 AM Courts 3 and 4 Hopkins
17U Championship - 1:50 PM Court 4 Hopkins

16U Quarterfinals - 8:00 AM Courts 1,3,4 and 5 Hopkins
Wisconsin Swing-Litscher vs Milwaukee Rebels
Inland Empire vs Wisconsin Playmakers
RAS vs SYF Hoopmatics
Iowa Barnstormers vs KC Run GMC

16U Semifinals - 10:20 AM Courts 3 and 4 Hopkins
16U Championship - 12:40 PM Court 4 Hopkins

15U Semifinals - 10:20 AM Courts 1 and 5 Hopkins
Kingdom Hoops Elite vs DTA Spartans
Net Gain vs KC Run GMC

15U Championship - 12:40 PM Court 3 Hopkins

IM Bball Spring Showcase
17U Bracket Semifinal 1 10:10 AM at Metcalf
17U Bracket Semifinal 2 11:15 AM at Nicollet
17U Bracket Championship 2:30 PM Eagan Court 1

15U Red Bracket Semifinals - 9:05 and 10:10 AM Eastview Court 2
Minnesota Cyclones vs Wisconsin Playground Elite
MOKAN vs All Iowa Attack Moore

15U Red Bracket Championship - 1:25 PM Eagan Court 3

15U Black Bracket Semifinals - 10:10 AM Courts 1 and 2 Burnsville
Illinois Elite vs Pumas 15U
MN Magic Blue vs DSM Knicks 15U

15U Black Bracket Championship- 1:25 PM Eastview Court 1

EYBL
Howard Pulley vs NJ Playaz - 9:30 AM Court 1 Hight Performance Academy

The Big Weekend Preview

The biggest weekend in Minnesota basketball history comes to town this weekend.  Nike brings their EYBL to town at High Performance Academy in Eagan.  It'll be very interesting to see how the setup there works with all of the fans, coaches and media.  IM BBall has the lesser 17s and the 15s/16s from that division.  That's at Bursnville and Eastview.  NY2LA looks to cash in as they add to their list of tournaments by adding an event here this weekend.  They'll take over Hopkins and Minnetonka.  Then there's the annual Best Buy Spring Classic in Bloomington.  Here's what catches my eye.


Best Buy Spring Classic
Most Interesting Pool Matchup: SW MN Stars 16s vs MN Pump N Run 16s- 1:10 PM Saturday Court 5 Jefferson.

I'm hoping Ishmael Wainright rejoins the 76ers for the tournament.  He was the leader for a club that swept the late period last July by winning the Fab 48 in Las Vegas and The Best of Summer in Los Angeles.  The Michigan Hurricanes return to the cities with star forward Byron Ziegler.  Team Nebraska Express also returns after losing last year's Best Buy Summer Classic title game in double overtime.  Traditionally strong Team Breakdown from Florida makes the trip in.  The Wisconsin Jets make the trip in as a next kid on the block but they've picked up some nice talent in kids like Tim Wagner who played here with Gale-Ettrick-Trempeleau last fall and winter.

I'm hoping for a tNBA vs Pump N Run final in the 15U bracket on Sunday at 1:40.  tNBA might have to go through the top Fury team in the quarters though to do it.    In the 16s could get a Fury Grosz vs PNR semifinal.  EOTO with a tough pool on the other side of the bracket.  In the 17s I absolutely love the bracket format with the big games on Friday night.  Pump N Run vs KC 76ers (Travis vs Wainright?, that would be cool), Fury Davis vs Team Nebraska Express, Omaha Crusaders vs Iowa PNR-Henderson, Illinois Warriors vs Team Breakdown highlight that schedule.

EYBL/IM BBall
No less than 30 of the top players in 2013 are expected at the 1st session of the EYBL.   No surprise then that it also means you have some of the most talented teams in the country.  That list begins with the Oakland Soldiers and star Aaron Gordon.  The 2014 talent is loaded with Andrew Wiggins, Jahil Okafor, Trey Lyles and D'Angelo Russell.  Oh yeah and some kid named Tyus Jones too.

Howard Pulley has 4 games all outside their pool, highest profile should be vs Jackson Tigers on Saturday night at 6:30 on court 2.  Kyle Washington not eligible for the EYBL but he will play in the 17U division of the IM BBall event with the 2nd team.  Might be the only chance to see him with Pulley in true AAU ball.  This group is loaded at 15s/16s with the Nike teams.  Minnesota Cyclones, Mokan Elite, Playground Elite, CIA Bounce and top Pulley team (along with the remains of my old 14U team) all in the top 15U division.  Similar criminal level of talent in the 16U field.

NY2LA Spring Extravaganza
Best Pool Matchup: KC Run GMC vs Wisconsin Swing - 1:50 PM Saturday Court 3 Hopkins.
Must See Game: Wisconsin Playmakers White vs Net Gain  - Friday 7:10 Hopkins Court 4
Crazy Schedule Game: ECI vs 43 Hoops in a pool rematch of last week's quarterfinal in St. Cloud


Top Minnesota Players: 
Riley Dearring and Rashad Vaughn - Net Gain
Carson Shanks and Jon Sobaski - Minnesota Select White

2013 Top Players: 
Connor Frankamp - KC Run GMC
Luke Fischer, Nick Fuller and Bronson Koenig - Wisconsin Swing
Turner Botz, Toby Hegner and Matt Thomas - Wisconsin Playmakers White
Deonte Burton - TP Elite

2014 Top Players: 
Emanuel Mudiay - Texas Select
Kevon Looney - Milwaukee Rebels
Dominique Collier - KC Run GMC