- Conference previews including teams you want to see and teams you don't want to see. I expect to include players to watch and surprises to be watch for.
- Games you don't want to miss.
Upcoming Updates
Coming soon to a blog near you:
Minnesota-Scores has moved and RPI vs QRF
For those of you who used Minnesota-Scores.com, it is now at Minnesota-Scores.net. It has all the same stuff, just a different address. This is my site of choice when I want to look up schedules, conference standings, scores etc since MaxPreps is so ungodly slow and most of the time I don't need player stats.
Its a simple site to follow and navigate and their QRF ranking is as good a tool as you'll find for comparing teams that don't play each other. It's a mini-Sagarin ranking for lack of better comparison. Simple RPI is nice, but it leaves out a couple of interesting factors that the QRF does have.
1) Margin of Victory. This is relevant to a point as a 30 pt win isn't really any different than a 50 pt win. RPI doesn't use it at all.
2) Class of the team you played. In many cases, getting a W over a 3A team says much more than a win over a 1A team. RPI doesn't take this into account. But if you St. Bernard's last year and you played a high level schedule, it can also artifically inflate your QRF. Let's face it, you shouldn't get extra credit for beating someone like a St. Paul Arlington or Mound-Westonka. Granted you will take the hit in the opponents win portion of the calculation.
Note that the RPI does take into account the winning % of the opponents opponents (basically did all the teams you beat, beat good teams or bad teams). QRF doesn't address this.
Neither system takes out of state games into account which is a shame. A game like DLS vs Whitefish Bay Dominican of Milwaukee should count as it will pit 2 of the top teams in 3A in their respective states.
Definition of the QRF can be found here.
Its a simple site to follow and navigate and their QRF ranking is as good a tool as you'll find for comparing teams that don't play each other. It's a mini-Sagarin ranking for lack of better comparison. Simple RPI is nice, but it leaves out a couple of interesting factors that the QRF does have.
1) Margin of Victory. This is relevant to a point as a 30 pt win isn't really any different than a 50 pt win. RPI doesn't use it at all.
2) Class of the team you played. In many cases, getting a W over a 3A team says much more than a win over a 1A team. RPI doesn't take this into account. But if you St. Bernard's last year and you played a high level schedule, it can also artifically inflate your QRF. Let's face it, you shouldn't get extra credit for beating someone like a St. Paul Arlington or Mound-Westonka. Granted you will take the hit in the opponents win portion of the calculation.
Note that the RPI does take into account the winning % of the opponents opponents (basically did all the teams you beat, beat good teams or bad teams). QRF doesn't address this.
Neither system takes out of state games into account which is a shame. A game like DLS vs Whitefish Bay Dominican of Milwaukee should count as it will pit 2 of the top teams in 3A in their respective states.
Definition of the QRF can be found here.
Transfer rule working
Based on numbers from the star trib, it looks like the new transfer rule is working. 143 legit transfers, 119 transferred late. Since a percentage of those transferred to beat the new rule, the real test comes next year. Once the AJ Barker's of the world (MPA to DLS to play PG) are no longer counted, let's see what these numbers are and get the number from before this year (bad work star trib) to see the real impact.
Andrew Brommer Recruiting
The Star Tribune reported this week that Andrew Brommer has scholarship offers from the following schools.
Long Beach State (Dan Monson, who had him committed to the U when he was still here)
SMU (former gopher asst on that staff)
Colorado St
Valpo (him and Arden Skogland of Hopkins fame, I weigh more than the 2 of them combined)
He also has lots of other schools coming in this week. I'm surprised he's gotten this much interest after a poor season last year. I saw him get dominated by Elliot Post of Burnsville last year. What will happen at the D1 level? I know the Lake Conference is brutal, but if Brommer is as talented as everybody says, how does his team go 9-17 last year and they were 4-22 the year before that (though he may have had injury problems that year). And of those 9 wins, only 3 were worth noting (Eden Prairie by 2, Eastview by 5 at home and a 8 pt win at Kennedy in OT).
The Lake Conference will be down this year, so if they don't finish in the top half of the league with at least an overall .500 record that will a major disappointment. He's a project who needs to put on weight and get tougher physically and mentally. But if Les Jespen can eventually play center for a decent Iowa team, I suppose he can succeed somewhere.
Long Beach State (Dan Monson, who had him committed to the U when he was still here)
SMU (former gopher asst on that staff)
Colorado St
Valpo (him and Arden Skogland of Hopkins fame, I weigh more than the 2 of them combined)
He also has lots of other schools coming in this week. I'm surprised he's gotten this much interest after a poor season last year. I saw him get dominated by Elliot Post of Burnsville last year. What will happen at the D1 level? I know the Lake Conference is brutal, but if Brommer is as talented as everybody says, how does his team go 9-17 last year and they were 4-22 the year before that (though he may have had injury problems that year). And of those 9 wins, only 3 were worth noting (Eden Prairie by 2, Eastview by 5 at home and a 8 pt win at Kennedy in OT).
The Lake Conference will be down this year, so if they don't finish in the top half of the league with at least an overall .500 record that will a major disappointment. He's a project who needs to put on weight and get tougher physically and mentally. But if Les Jespen can eventually play center for a decent Iowa team, I suppose he can succeed somewhere.
Single Game Rivalries
So you have your basic conference rivalries, but what about the non-conference rivalries that only get played once a year. Here are some of those games
Armstrong vs Cooper. District rivals and former conference foes, fun game
Minnetonka vs Eden Prairie, great in football or basketball.
Richfield vs Holy Angels, bragging rights in Richfield on the line.
Cretin-Derham Hall vs St. Thomas Academy. Too bad this went away in football, but still a good basketball game.
Mahtomedi vs White Bear Lake, bragging rights in the NE metro, but these teams don't have much on the basketball side.
Armstrong vs Cooper. District rivals and former conference foes, fun game
Minnetonka vs Eden Prairie, great in football or basketball.
Richfield vs Holy Angels, bragging rights in Richfield on the line.
Cretin-Derham Hall vs St. Thomas Academy. Too bad this went away in football, but still a good basketball game.
Mahtomedi vs White Bear Lake, bragging rights in the NE metro, but these teams don't have much on the basketball side.
Season Preview: Section Winner Predictions for 4A
Labels:
07-08 Previews
Last but not least, here are my predictions for the 6 metro area sections in 4A.
Section 2: Eden Prairie has to be the happiest team around after finally getting away from Hopkins and Minnetonka and all the heartbreaking losses the last few years. With Shakopee losing Eric Carlson and Bloomington Jefferson losing Cole Aldrich, EP is the class of this section. Jefferson might still make some noise with Moses Alipate, but EP's Ethan Wragge will finally lead them to state.
Section 3: This is the most wide open section in the metro. Apple Valley and Lakeville S lose most everything. Park is dangerous with Jake Lindstrom back and Rosemount has Andrew Brommer returning in the middle. I'll take Burnsville here, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Eastview make some noise.
Section 4: This is a tough section. Cretin-Derham Hall has a bunch of people back, but they were disappointing last year. Henry Sibley will get better as Jake Kreuser continues to improve and they have plenty of people back. Stillwater will be a tough out with Joel Armstrong in the middle. Ditto for Tartan with their backcourt of Sam Ryan and Marc Sonnen. St. Paul Central could be a tough out as the 5 seed as they have a bunch of people back and they are tall and athletic. We'll see if they learned from their 1-13 non-conference record last year. I'm picking CDH to come out of this section with a tough win over Sibley.
Section 5: 3 teams in here to watch. Mounds View, Osseo and Cooper. Mounds View has everybody back including Mike Schramm and Ziggy Kauls knows how to coach. Osseo has Carrington Tankson and Zach Peterson back and Tim Theisen knows how to coach too. Rodney Williams Jr is a monster for Cooper and they bring in Mpls North transfer Joe Bright so they'll have a couple of very good wing players, but the loss of Dennis Williamson is huge. In addition, they have to find somebody to play the point. This section final is a must see whoever it is among these 3 teams. Give me Mounds View over Osseo.
Section 6: Minnetonka and Hopkins. Need I say more. These are the top 2 teams in the state, write down their 2 regular season meetings and this section final as game you absolutely must see. With Minnetonka getting De La Salle transfer Sedrick McBounds, that puts the final piece in place with their entire team returning. Minneapolis North is probably the 3rd most talented team in this section, but that's mainly because Armstrong and Wayzata lost everything to graduation. Give me Tonka over Hopkins as seniors beat juniors to move on to state.
Section 7: Blaine has been down in recent years and Andover has been the class of this section. I think they'll contend again, but I'll take Duluth East and star sophomore Dyami Starks to move on to state.
Section 2: Eden Prairie has to be the happiest team around after finally getting away from Hopkins and Minnetonka and all the heartbreaking losses the last few years. With Shakopee losing Eric Carlson and Bloomington Jefferson losing Cole Aldrich, EP is the class of this section. Jefferson might still make some noise with Moses Alipate, but EP's Ethan Wragge will finally lead them to state.
Section 3: This is the most wide open section in the metro. Apple Valley and Lakeville S lose most everything. Park is dangerous with Jake Lindstrom back and Rosemount has Andrew Brommer returning in the middle. I'll take Burnsville here, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Eastview make some noise.
Section 4: This is a tough section. Cretin-Derham Hall has a bunch of people back, but they were disappointing last year. Henry Sibley will get better as Jake Kreuser continues to improve and they have plenty of people back. Stillwater will be a tough out with Joel Armstrong in the middle. Ditto for Tartan with their backcourt of Sam Ryan and Marc Sonnen. St. Paul Central could be a tough out as the 5 seed as they have a bunch of people back and they are tall and athletic. We'll see if they learned from their 1-13 non-conference record last year. I'm picking CDH to come out of this section with a tough win over Sibley.
Section 5: 3 teams in here to watch. Mounds View, Osseo and Cooper. Mounds View has everybody back including Mike Schramm and Ziggy Kauls knows how to coach. Osseo has Carrington Tankson and Zach Peterson back and Tim Theisen knows how to coach too. Rodney Williams Jr is a monster for Cooper and they bring in Mpls North transfer Joe Bright so they'll have a couple of very good wing players, but the loss of Dennis Williamson is huge. In addition, they have to find somebody to play the point. This section final is a must see whoever it is among these 3 teams. Give me Mounds View over Osseo.
Section 6: Minnetonka and Hopkins. Need I say more. These are the top 2 teams in the state, write down their 2 regular season meetings and this section final as game you absolutely must see. With Minnetonka getting De La Salle transfer Sedrick McBounds, that puts the final piece in place with their entire team returning. Minneapolis North is probably the 3rd most talented team in this section, but that's mainly because Armstrong and Wayzata lost everything to graduation. Give me Tonka over Hopkins as seniors beat juniors to move on to state.
Section 7: Blaine has been down in recent years and Andover has been the class of this section. I think they'll contend again, but I'll take Duluth East and star sophomore Dyami Starks to move on to state.
Season Preview: Section Winner Predictions for 3A
Labels:
07-08 Previews
Here are my predictions for sections winners in 3A
Section 1: This really isn't a metro section, but since the hands down winner is St. Thomas Academy, I had to mention it.
Section 3: Nothing special in this section, Minneapolis Henry is the easy pick here. Spring Lake Park is traditionally good and Totino-Grace will be OK, but Henry is far and away the best team.
Section 4: This section is bad. I'm picking Johnson to beat Como Park to move on. With new coach Dick Ghizoni and a star big guy in Peter McKeown, Hill-Murray could surprise here.
Section 6: This section is as tough a section as I've seen, absolutely brutal. Benilde-St. Margaret's is the team to beat here with Jordan Taylor and Armond Battle. However, De La Salle and Washburn return just about everybody from very successful teams last year so watch them. Especially Royce White and all the guards that De La Salle returns. Holy Angels and Waconia can make noise here too. Orono loses Jon Leuer and has a new coach, but they'll be respectable. The 4 vs 5 game in this section will be a great game. Last year this game was Orono at De La Salle which DLS won on a last second layup.
Section 1: This really isn't a metro section, but since the hands down winner is St. Thomas Academy, I had to mention it.
Section 3: Nothing special in this section, Minneapolis Henry is the easy pick here. Spring Lake Park is traditionally good and Totino-Grace will be OK, but Henry is far and away the best team.
Section 4: This section is bad. I'm picking Johnson to beat Como Park to move on. With new coach Dick Ghizoni and a star big guy in Peter McKeown, Hill-Murray could surprise here.
Section 6: This section is as tough a section as I've seen, absolutely brutal. Benilde-St. Margaret's is the team to beat here with Jordan Taylor and Armond Battle. However, De La Salle and Washburn return just about everybody from very successful teams last year so watch them. Especially Royce White and all the guards that De La Salle returns. Holy Angels and Waconia can make noise here too. Orono loses Jon Leuer and has a new coach, but they'll be respectable. The 4 vs 5 game in this section will be a great game. Last year this game was Orono at De La Salle which DLS won on a last second layup.
Season Preview: Section Winner Predictions for 1A and 2A
Labels:
07-08 Previews
Here are my predictions for section winners in the metro area sections
1A - Section 4 is the only metro section. This section is abysmal. In the west sub-section, you have Maranatha by default. Heritage might make a little noise there with Stu Herman, but MCA is an easy pick here until beaten.
In the east sub-section, you have the metro lakes schools and a few leftovers. Oh Day Aki vs St. Agnes is my prediction for a quality sub-section final. MCA has been the class team of this sub-section for years, but I'm going out on a limb. Give me St. Agnes going to state over MCA due to a stellar performance by Jordair Jett.
2A - Again Section 4 is the only metro section. In the west sub-section, you have the defending state champions Holy Family and the addition of 2 minneapolis schools, Edison and Roosevelt. This sub-section is terrible, give me Holy Family to defeat Breck by default as the other 6 teams in here aren't any good. Breck is still better than the other 6 teams even after losing Marcus Hill.
The east sub-section is much more difficult. St. Bernard's moves back up to 2A and with Mpls North transfer John Bright, they could make a little noise. St. Croix Lutheran returns Chris Breuer from their section final team of a year ago so they may pull an upset. Minnehaha over Concordia (Roseville) is my selection here as Minnehaha returns their top 8 kids including junior Taylor Sparkman. Junior Zach Towle returns at the point for Concordia and he's one of the most exciting players to watch in the metro. My section pick is Minnehaha over Holy Family in a rematch of a Dec 21st game to move on to state.
1A - Section 4 is the only metro section. This section is abysmal. In the west sub-section, you have Maranatha by default. Heritage might make a little noise there with Stu Herman, but MCA is an easy pick here until beaten.
In the east sub-section, you have the metro lakes schools and a few leftovers. Oh Day Aki vs St. Agnes is my prediction for a quality sub-section final. MCA has been the class team of this sub-section for years, but I'm going out on a limb. Give me St. Agnes going to state over MCA due to a stellar performance by Jordair Jett.
2A - Again Section 4 is the only metro section. In the west sub-section, you have the defending state champions Holy Family and the addition of 2 minneapolis schools, Edison and Roosevelt. This sub-section is terrible, give me Holy Family to defeat Breck by default as the other 6 teams in here aren't any good. Breck is still better than the other 6 teams even after losing Marcus Hill.
The east sub-section is much more difficult. St. Bernard's moves back up to 2A and with Mpls North transfer John Bright, they could make a little noise. St. Croix Lutheran returns Chris Breuer from their section final team of a year ago so they may pull an upset. Minnehaha over Concordia (Roseville) is my selection here as Minnehaha returns their top 8 kids including junior Taylor Sparkman. Junior Zach Towle returns at the point for Concordia and he's one of the most exciting players to watch in the metro. My section pick is Minnehaha over Holy Family in a rematch of a Dec 21st game to move on to state.
Rest of the Conference Realignment
Here's the realignment for classes 3A and down.
3A
The North Suburban picks up the left overs of the old Classic Suburban
Spring Lake Park
Totino-Grace
Fridley
Columbia Heights
North Branch
Chisago Lakes
Hill-Murray
Mahtomedi
Absolutely loaded for football
The Missota gets the short end of the stick as its the leftovers
Hutchinson
Holy Angels
Red Wing
S. St. Paul
Benilde-St. Margaret's
St. Louis Park
Northfield
New Prague
I hate Hutchinson in this league and Red Wing had nowhere else to go. BSM and AHA would be fun games. St. Louis Park might be too big for this league. Still loaded for football.
In 2A, the Tri-Metro stays the same, except the 3 smallest schools move down to 1A conferences.
Blake
Breck
De La Salle
Minnehaha
Brooklyn Center
Concordia (Roseville)
St. Croix Lutheran
St. Paul Academy
St. Anthony
De La Salle fits well here size wise, but I wouldn't mind seeing them in the Minneapolis City to balance this league and that league at 8 teams.
Where are the rest of the Tri-Metro teams? They move down to 1A leagues, an east/west split of the MCAA.
New Life
CHOF
St. Bernard's
St. Agnes
Mounds Park
Trinity
Bethany
Concordia (Bloomington)
Good basketball here with Bethany/Trinity/New Life and St. Bernard's
In the west half we have
Rivers Christian
Meadow Creek Christian
Maranatha Christian Academy
West Lutheran
Heritage Christian
Providence Academy
Southwest Christian
PACT
Spectrum
For football these would combine for 1 league as most of these schools co-op with a big school co-op with each other or don't play. In basketball, they'd be separate. CHOF, PACT and Spectrum are de facto MCAA basketball members anyway since they play just about everybody in the league for non-conference games so add them in and play a real home and home schedule on each side.
I didn't deal with the issue of Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity. They would move west somewhere, just like I should have done with Hutchinson
3A
The North Suburban picks up the left overs of the old Classic Suburban
Spring Lake Park
Totino-Grace
Fridley
Columbia Heights
North Branch
Chisago Lakes
Hill-Murray
Mahtomedi
Absolutely loaded for football
The Missota gets the short end of the stick as its the leftovers
Hutchinson
Holy Angels
Red Wing
S. St. Paul
Benilde-St. Margaret's
St. Louis Park
Northfield
New Prague
I hate Hutchinson in this league and Red Wing had nowhere else to go. BSM and AHA would be fun games. St. Louis Park might be too big for this league. Still loaded for football.
In 2A, the Tri-Metro stays the same, except the 3 smallest schools move down to 1A conferences.
Blake
Breck
De La Salle
Minnehaha
Brooklyn Center
Concordia (Roseville)
St. Croix Lutheran
St. Paul Academy
St. Anthony
De La Salle fits well here size wise, but I wouldn't mind seeing them in the Minneapolis City to balance this league and that league at 8 teams.
Where are the rest of the Tri-Metro teams? They move down to 1A leagues, an east/west split of the MCAA.
New Life
CHOF
St. Bernard's
St. Agnes
Mounds Park
Trinity
Bethany
Concordia (Bloomington)
Good basketball here with Bethany/Trinity/New Life and St. Bernard's
In the west half we have
Rivers Christian
Meadow Creek Christian
Maranatha Christian Academy
West Lutheran
Heritage Christian
Providence Academy
Southwest Christian
PACT
Spectrum
For football these would combine for 1 league as most of these schools co-op with a big school co-op with each other or don't play. In basketball, they'd be separate. CHOF, PACT and Spectrum are de facto MCAA basketball members anyway since they play just about everybody in the league for non-conference games so add them in and play a real home and home schedule on each side.
I didn't deal with the issue of Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity. They would move west somewhere, just like I should have done with Hutchinson
4A Conference Realignment
As promised here is my proposal for realigning the metro conferences. Main factors.
1) Size, none of this 3A school playing a 1A nonsense (that's you Tri-Metro).
2) Rivalries, existing rivalries need to be kept.
So here we go
Split the Northwest Suburban into these 2 leagues
Andover
Anoka
Coon Rapids
Blaine
Cambridge-Isanti
St. Francis
Elk River
Maple Grove
Osseo
Park Center
Champlin Park
Armstrong
Cooper
Wayzata
Gotta have Armstrong/Cooper and maybe Cambridge-Isanti vs St. Francis could be something in addition to the Andover/Anoka rivalry.
Stillwater
Forest Lake
Roseville
Centennial
Mounds View
Irondale
North (St. Paul)
White Bear Lake
I'd like to see each pair of teams here become rivalries. Stillwater/FL, Roseville/Centennial and especially the last 2 including Mounds View/Irondale. Irondale/Centennial might evolve too.
The Suburban East stays largely the same
Tartan
Woodbury
Park
Hastings
Cretin-Derham Hall
Henry Sibley
St. Thomas Academy
Simley
Existing rivalries + the addition of Sibley/STA.
Split the Lake Conference and add in the suburban Missota schools that have outgrown that league
Burnsville
Prior Lake
Eagan
Rosemount
Lakeville N
Lakeville S
Apple Valley
Eastview
Farmington
We stay south of the Minnesota River for these schools to add Prior Lake and Farmington while keeping the Apple Valley and Lakeville rivalries.
For the rest of the lake we have the following
Hopkins
Minnetonka
Eden Prairie
Chaska
Shakopee
Jefferson
Kennedy
Richfield
Edina
Hopkins, Minnetonka, EP for basketball, OUCH! And I didn't even mention the other tough hoops teams in the league. Minnetonka/EP in football is huge We keep Kennedy/Jefferson and add Richfield/Edina and Shakopee/Chaska which should be nice rivalries. I wanted Hopkins to play with their other Classic Lake rivals (Armstrong et al) so that we'd have 8 teams in both instead of 7 and 9, but the Hopkins/EP/Minnetonka rivalries were too much to pass up.
Due to rivalries and tradition, the St. Paul City and Minneapolis City do not change, but I was tempted. Roseville and/or CDH in the St. Paul City were considered.
1) Size, none of this 3A school playing a 1A nonsense (that's you Tri-Metro).
2) Rivalries, existing rivalries need to be kept.
So here we go
Split the Northwest Suburban into these 2 leagues
Andover
Anoka
Coon Rapids
Blaine
Cambridge-Isanti
St. Francis
Elk River
Maple Grove
Osseo
Park Center
Champlin Park
Armstrong
Cooper
Wayzata
Gotta have Armstrong/Cooper and maybe Cambridge-Isanti vs St. Francis could be something in addition to the Andover/Anoka rivalry.
Stillwater
Forest Lake
Roseville
Centennial
Mounds View
Irondale
North (St. Paul)
White Bear Lake
I'd like to see each pair of teams here become rivalries. Stillwater/FL, Roseville/Centennial and especially the last 2 including Mounds View/Irondale. Irondale/Centennial might evolve too.
The Suburban East stays largely the same
Tartan
Woodbury
Park
Hastings
Cretin-Derham Hall
Henry Sibley
St. Thomas Academy
Simley
Existing rivalries + the addition of Sibley/STA.
Split the Lake Conference and add in the suburban Missota schools that have outgrown that league
Burnsville
Prior Lake
Eagan
Rosemount
Lakeville N
Lakeville S
Apple Valley
Eastview
Farmington
We stay south of the Minnesota River for these schools to add Prior Lake and Farmington while keeping the Apple Valley and Lakeville rivalries.
For the rest of the lake we have the following
Hopkins
Minnetonka
Eden Prairie
Chaska
Shakopee
Jefferson
Kennedy
Richfield
Edina
Hopkins, Minnetonka, EP for basketball, OUCH! And I didn't even mention the other tough hoops teams in the league. Minnetonka/EP in football is huge We keep Kennedy/Jefferson and add Richfield/Edina and Shakopee/Chaska which should be nice rivalries. I wanted Hopkins to play with their other Classic Lake rivals (Armstrong et al) so that we'd have 8 teams in both instead of 7 and 9, but the Hopkins/EP/Minnetonka rivalries were too much to pass up.
Due to rivalries and tradition, the St. Paul City and Minneapolis City do not change, but I was tempted. Roseville and/or CDH in the St. Paul City were considered.
Restore the Catholic Spirit
The Catholic Spirit Christmas tournament is always one of the top events of all the local holiday tournaments. In the past few years, its gotten away from its private school roots. So here's my proposal for restoring it.
East Division
De La Salle
Hill-Murray
Totino-Grace
Cretin-Derham Hall
West Division
Holy Angels
Benilde-St. Margaret's
Breck
St. Thomas Academy
I would almost take these 8 teams and make them a conference, but Cretin is too big for any of them and Breck isn't big enough.
East Division
De La Salle
Hill-Murray
Totino-Grace
Cretin-Derham Hall
West Division
Holy Angels
Benilde-St. Margaret's
Breck
St. Thomas Academy
I would almost take these 8 teams and make them a conference, but Cretin is too big for any of them and Breck isn't big enough.
New coaches on the north side
I find it interesting that both Minneapolis North and Minneapolis Patrick Henry are looking for head coaches now. Brett McNeal at North looked really disinterested last year and in the last couple of years they haven't done nearly the amount of run and jump that I saw previously. Like all the standout city teams, they depended on their defense due to the mickey mouse offense they ran (see also Johnson, for the St. Paul equivalent). When was the last time North actually won a big game excluding the rivalry game against Henry. North plays a tough schedule, but look at their record over the last couple years against the premier teams on their schedule, not good. A team that had PJ Hill (going to Ohio St) and Romain Martin (Ohio Valley frosh of the year last year) should have been much better than it was.
But at least North tried to run something that looked like offense. Henry is still the class of the Minneapolis City, but I hope they get somebody in there who actually knows an X from an O. I once saw the Henry JV team inbound the ball and not touch it with no pressure with under 30 seconds to go and a 1 pt lead in a game. But at least we didn't have listen to Larry McKenzie yank guys and scream at them for the most minor of mistakes.
All that being said, there's a lot to be said for relating to players and I think McNeal did that well at North. It will be interesting to see what the schools do for new coaches. North gets the advantage of not having game 1 until after Christmas, but they also are in tough section 6AAAA with Hopkins and Minnetonka
But at least North tried to run something that looked like offense. Henry is still the class of the Minneapolis City, but I hope they get somebody in there who actually knows an X from an O. I once saw the Henry JV team inbound the ball and not touch it with no pressure with under 30 seconds to go and a 1 pt lead in a game. But at least we didn't have listen to Larry McKenzie yank guys and scream at them for the most minor of mistakes.
All that being said, there's a lot to be said for relating to players and I think McNeal did that well at North. It will be interesting to see what the schools do for new coaches. North gets the advantage of not having game 1 until after Christmas, but they also are in tough section 6AAAA with Hopkins and Minnetonka
Look for these posts before the season
No I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, but the summer is a quiet time. Before the season starts, look for my posts on the following.
Conference previews for all of the metro conferences (except the Metro Lakes, because quite frankly, who cares).
Schedule analysis including games you won't to miss.
My preseason predictions for the metro sections
My conference realignment plan for the metro area.
And as a potential bonus, while I'm realigning the metro, I might just realign the sections too.
Conference previews for all of the metro conferences (except the Metro Lakes, because quite frankly, who cares).
Schedule analysis including games you won't to miss.
My preseason predictions for the metro sections
My conference realignment plan for the metro area.
And as a potential bonus, while I'm realigning the metro, I might just realign the sections too.
Why gopher hoops isn't hopeless.
Dan Monson did wonders for running this program into the ground. But Minnesota isn't as bad a job as you might think. Here's why
1) After Detroit and Chicago, what's the next best recruiting area in the Big Ten. I would contend its the MSP area. Are there enough good players here? Ask Northern Iowa and Bradley about that since they raid this area. Ask Bo Ryan and Tom Crean if local kids are good enough to play big time D1 ball. Even NDSU steals players from here.
2) Williams Arena, do I need to say more.
3) With Iowa, Northwestern and Wisconsin as recruiting opposition, where would you rather go to school and play? I think the metro could be a big advantage there.
1) After Detroit and Chicago, what's the next best recruiting area in the Big Ten. I would contend its the MSP area. Are there enough good players here? Ask Northern Iowa and Bradley about that since they raid this area. Ask Bo Ryan and Tom Crean if local kids are good enough to play big time D1 ball. Even NDSU steals players from here.
2) Williams Arena, do I need to say more.
3) With Iowa, Northwestern and Wisconsin as recruiting opposition, where would you rather go to school and play? I think the metro could be a big advantage there.
Minnesota Conference Websites
- Arrowhead
- Big 9
- Big South
- Camden
- Central Lakes
- Central Minnesota
- Eastern Minnesota Athletic
- Gopher
- Granite Ridge
- Great River
- Heart O'Lakes
- Hiawatha Valley League
- Independent Metro Athletic
- Iron Range
- Lake
- Lake Superior
- Little Eight
- Metro East
- Metro West
- Minneapolis City
- Minnesota Classic Athletic Association
- Mississippi 8
- Northern Lakes
- North Star (can use Region 8 MN site)
- Northland
- Northwest
- Northwest Suburban
- Park Region
- Pine to Prairie
- Polar League
- Prairie
- Red Rock
- St. Paul City
- Skyline
- South Central (new 24-25)
- South Suburban
- Southeast
- Suburban East
- Three Rivers
- Tomahawk
- Tri-Metro
- Valley
- West Central
- Wright County
Abbreviations Key
Abbreviations by Conference. Note that the most schools that start with a city name followed by a school name usually are referred to by school portion of the name only. Ex: Armstrong and Cooper for the Robbinsdale schools, Kennedy and Jefferson for the Bloomington schools and of course all of the St. Paul and Minneapolis schools. North = Minneapolis North, NSP or North (St. Paul) is used to reference the other North high school.
Classic Suburban
Classic Suburban
- Henry Sibley ->Sibley
- Hill-Murray -> HM
- North (St. Paul) -> NSP
- St. Thomas Academy -> STA
- South St. Paul -> SSP
- Apple Valley -> AV
- Eastview -> EV
- Eden Prairie -> EP
- Concordia (Bloomington) -> C-Bl
- Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity -> LP/HT
- Maranatha Christian Academy -> MCA
- Meadow Creek Christian Academy -> MCCA
- New Life Academy -> NLA
- Southwest Christian -> SWC
- West Lutheran -> WL
- Academy of Holy Angels-> AHA
- Benilde St. Margaret's -> BSM
- Columbia Heights -> CH
- Totino-Grace -> TG
- Maple Grove -> MG
- Park Center -> PC
- Cretin-Derham Hall -> CDH
- Forest Lake -> FL
- Mounds View -> MV
- White Bear Lake -> WBL
- Brooklyn Center -> BC
- Concordia (Roseville) -> Concordia
- DeLaSalle -> DLS
- Mounds Park Academy -> MPA
- St. Bernard's -> SB
- St. Croix Lutheran -> SCL
- St. Paul Academy -> SPA
- Christ's Household of Faith -> CHOF
- St. Michael-Albertville -> STMA
The Czar's Basketball Library
Here's a list of basketball materials that are in The Czar's basketball library.
Videos
Videos
- Steve Alford, How to Run The 2-Out 3-In Motion Offense
- Dana Altman, The Complete Guide to the High Post Offense vs. Any Defense
- Eddie Andrist, Run and Jump Press "Where Fatigue is the Name of the Game"
- Eddie Andrist, Run and Jump Pressure The Press Stress Continues
- Jamie Angeli, Back Door Buckets
- Dave Arseneault, Forcing Tempo: The Grinnell Offensive System
- Dave Arseneault, Forcing Tempo: The Grinnell Defensive System
- Ganon Baker, Ball Skills for Post Players
- Ganon Baker & Boo Williams, Grassroots Basketball Series (5 video series)
- Ganon Baker, The Big Fella - Post Skill Workouts!
- Dick Bennett, The Mover-Blocker Offense
- Dick Bennett, The "Pack-Line" Pressure Defense
- Jack Bennett, Championship "Gap" Man-to-Man and Sliding Zone Defense
- Jack Bennett, Championship Zone Motion Offense
- Jim Boeheim's Complete Guide to the 2-3 Match-Up Zone Defense
- Bruce Brown, Basic Eight Defensive Drill
- Hubie Brown, How to Win with Less Talent
- Hubie Brown, The Secrets of Winning Basketball-Volume I
- Hubie Brown, The Secrets of Winning Basketball-Volume II
- Hubie Brown, Special Situations Part I & II
- Pete Carril, The Princeton Offense (4 video series)
- Mike Divilbiss, The Buzz
- Billy Donovan, Mastering the Full-Court Match-Up Press
- Kevin Eastman, Development for Inside and Perimeter Players
- Kevin Eastman, Chair Drills: Shooting Workout for Inside Players
- Kevin Eastman, Chair Drills: Shooting Workout for Perimeter Players
- Paul Hewitt, The Point Zone Defense
- Tom Izzo, Dominating Rebounding & Man-to Man Defensive Drills
- Steve Klaas, 1-3-1 Zone Defense: The Complete Package Basics and Traps & Adjustments (2 video set)
- Tod Kowalczyk, 1-4 Zone Offense
- Jim Larranaga, The 3-2 Disrupting Camouflage Defense "Philosophy & Practice Planning-The George Mason Way"
- Mike Lee, 25 Killer Scoring Moves
- Mike Lee, Secrets of Unstoppable Guard Play
- Pete Newell, Big Man Moves and Skill Development
- Tom Nordland, Swish 2
- Gregg Popovich, My Favorite Drills and the Motion Offense
- Dave Robbins, The Circle Defense
- Flip Saunders, Match-Up Zone Defense and Special Drills Part I & II
- Bill Self, High/Low Motion Offense
- Stu Vetter, The Fast Break and Secondary Break
- Herb Welling, The Dribble Motion Offense
- Herb Welling, Building the Dribble Motion Offense
- Herb Welling, "Must Have" Dribble Motion Offense Adjustments
- Roy Williams, Tar Heel Offense & Transition Drills
- Jay Wright, 28 Competitive Drills for Shooting and Footwork
- Jay Wright, Attacking Footwork Drills for Perimeter Players
- Jay Wright, The Inside and Outside Game
- Jamie Angeli, Primary/Secondary Break Pass Option Offensive Attack System
- Dave Arseneault, The Running Game
- Don Casey and Ralph Pim, Own the Zone
- Mark Dudzik and Katie Roberts Dynamite Drills
- Bob Kloppenburg, SOS Pressure Defense (4th Edition)
- Jim Larranaga, Coaching Basketball's Scramble Defense
- Al McGuire, Humpty-Dumpty Offense
- Al McGuire, Mosquito Defenses
- Lason Perkins, The Set Play
- Michael Podell, Perfect Practice Drills
- Dean Smith, Basketball Multiple Offense and Defense
- Stan Watts, Developing an Offensive Attack in Basketball
- Fran Webster, Basketball's Amoeba Defense
- Tex Winter, The Triple-Post Offense (Sideline Triangle)
- Backdoor Offense
- Buzzer Beaters
- Ferocious Full-Court Presses
- Lock Down Defenses Part 1
- Lock Down Defenses Part 2
- Out-Of-Bounds Strategies
- Pressure Beaters
- Scouting the Opposition
- Stoppers! Time-Tested Defensive Drills
- Swarm Defense
- Zone Busters
Contact The Czar
You too can contribute to this blog and there are many ways to do so. Here are just a couple of examples
Questions, comments, suggestions, corrections, broken links, news items, events to cover or anything else? They are always welcome. You can click here to contact me.
- If you saw a game and want people to know about it, write up a report on the game and email it to me. If I like what you wrote, I'll post it giving you credit for it. While I do reserve the right to edit the post for clarity, my intent is to leave the spirit of your text intact. Click here to see an example. My goal will be to post as many of these as possible, but I make no promises.
- Is there an event that people don't know enough about that you'd like to make known (ex: a team camp, scrimmage, showcase event like the East Metro Showcase)? Email me about it and I'll gladly try to spread the word.
Questions, comments, suggestions, corrections, broken links, news items, events to cover or anything else? They are always welcome. You can click here to contact me.
Editorial Policy
As the blog title states, I focus almost all of my attention on the Minneapolis/St. Paul high school boys basketball scene. That includes anything from regular high school games to spring/summer AAU games that include local players. It also includes recruiting info, interviews, rankings, coaching changes etc. I do make a trip back to Wisconsin each season to see at least one game, but I try to do that outside of the local boys season. For the top Wisconsin players and teams, I may comment on them here especially if there's a local connection. I will go watch the local high school girls play when the boys aren't playing, but I won't write much about it.
I cover the following Twin Cities sections
From mid-September until the start of the season I follow the multitude of fall leagues in the metro.
I do section and conference previews in late October and early November leading up to the start of practice around Thanksgiving.
During the season my week looks something like this.
Game coverage every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and most Mondays and Wednesdays (when there are games). Saturday usually will have 2 or 3 games that I cover. My posts usually are done late night on game days. I do lots of abbreviating because writing is painful. If any of the abbreviations are unclear, check out the abbreviations key. I go to all of these games as a fan first and a writer second. That means I keep all of my own statistics and notes by hand as I sit with the fans and cheer like anyone else.
Sundays are a recovery and catchup day. I write my weekly column for MinnesotaPreps.com and update my season totals with all of the different sights, sounds and tastes from the week.
As the regular season ends, I preview the sections and give predictions as I try to keep up round by round.
I also cover the spring/summer AAU scene by attending the local events and tracking some of the teams and players as they travel around the country. This may even include a road trip or 2 as I covered our local travel teams in Denver and Chicago in 2009.
I cover the following Twin Cities sections
- 2AAAA, 3AAAA, 4AAAA, 5AAAA, 6AAAA, 7AAAA
- 3AAA, 4AAA, 6AAA
- 4AA
- 4A
- Classic Lake
- Classic Suburban
- Lake
- Minneapolis City
- MCAA
- Missota
- North Suburban
- Northwest Suburban
- St. Paul City
- Suburban East
- Tri-Metro
- Metro area independents like CHOF, Minnesota Transitions, Spectrum etc
From mid-September until the start of the season I follow the multitude of fall leagues in the metro.
I do section and conference previews in late October and early November leading up to the start of practice around Thanksgiving.
During the season my week looks something like this.
Game coverage every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and most Mondays and Wednesdays (when there are games). Saturday usually will have 2 or 3 games that I cover. My posts usually are done late night on game days. I do lots of abbreviating because writing is painful. If any of the abbreviations are unclear, check out the abbreviations key. I go to all of these games as a fan first and a writer second. That means I keep all of my own statistics and notes by hand as I sit with the fans and cheer like anyone else.
Sundays are a recovery and catchup day. I write my weekly column for MinnesotaPreps.com and update my season totals with all of the different sights, sounds and tastes from the week.
As the regular season ends, I preview the sections and give predictions as I try to keep up round by round.
I also cover the spring/summer AAU scene by attending the local events and tracking some of the teams and players as they travel around the country. This may even include a road trip or 2 as I covered our local travel teams in Denver and Chicago in 2009.
The Czar's Profile
The Twin Cities Hoops Czar
Mike Fratello
I'm originally known by my TCHoopsCzar moniker (Twin Cities Hoops Czar) on the Minnesota Preps and Minnesota-Scores boys basketball forums. Its a tribute to the one and only Czar of the Telestrator, Mike Fratello (pictured). It comes from the early 90s when I feel he should have won the NBA coach of the year award in Cleveland. It also notes the fact that I can't walk by a whiteboard without drawing up a play on it. While there are many variations of the blog title and moniker used, (e.g tchoops, tc hoops czar, tc hoops blog, twin cities hoops blog, etc etc) very often it gets simplified to The Czar.
I'm a rabid high school basketball fan with no affiliation or allegiance to any metro school. I focus mostly on the boys basketball scene in the Twin Cities, but I may comment on the girls game or Wisconsin action if there's nothing going on with the boys. My perspective is that of a fan first and foremost. I combine that with my 3 seasons of experience as a player and 5 years as a manager. I also consider myself to be a basketball purist and student of the game. What I write here is best described as a diary of what I see and think as I follow the different teams and travel to the 120+ varsity games I see each season. I hope that you'll find the site to be an interesting source of opinion via my posts and also a valuable place to find free information on local players and teams via the many links to other sites that I've provided. If you do enjoy it, please pass the word on to others. In addition to writing this blog, I also write a weekly basketball column for MinnesotaPreps.com under my real identity, Kevin Alsteens (see my real picture here).
Details of how I cover the season can be read here. If you have corrections, suggestions, ideas or want to contact me, you can always contact me by clicking here.
The Cast of Characters and other stuff you should know
While I do take basketball seriously, it is only a game. Therefore, in the spirit of The Czar character, I use a royalty theme from time to time to lighten the mood. Here's an explanation of the references within that royalty theme.
Mike Fratello
I'm originally known by my TCHoopsCzar moniker (Twin Cities Hoops Czar) on the Minnesota Preps and Minnesota-Scores boys basketball forums. Its a tribute to the one and only Czar of the Telestrator, Mike Fratello (pictured). It comes from the early 90s when I feel he should have won the NBA coach of the year award in Cleveland. It also notes the fact that I can't walk by a whiteboard without drawing up a play on it. While there are many variations of the blog title and moniker used, (e.g tchoops, tc hoops czar, tc hoops blog, twin cities hoops blog, etc etc) very often it gets simplified to The Czar.
I'm a rabid high school basketball fan with no affiliation or allegiance to any metro school. I focus mostly on the boys basketball scene in the Twin Cities, but I may comment on the girls game or Wisconsin action if there's nothing going on with the boys. My perspective is that of a fan first and foremost. I combine that with my 3 seasons of experience as a player and 5 years as a manager. I also consider myself to be a basketball purist and student of the game. What I write here is best described as a diary of what I see and think as I follow the different teams and travel to the 120+ varsity games I see each season. I hope that you'll find the site to be an interesting source of opinion via my posts and also a valuable place to find free information on local players and teams via the many links to other sites that I've provided. If you do enjoy it, please pass the word on to others. In addition to writing this blog, I also write a weekly basketball column for MinnesotaPreps.com under my real identity, Kevin Alsteens (see my real picture here).
Details of how I cover the season can be read here. If you have corrections, suggestions, ideas or want to contact me, you can always contact me by clicking here.
The Cast of Characters and other stuff you should know
While I do take basketball seriously, it is only a game. Therefore, in the spirit of The Czar character, I use a royalty theme from time to time to lighten the mood. Here's an explanation of the references within that royalty theme.
- The Kingdom - Short for The Czar's Kingdom. Specifically refers to the 11 conferences and independent teams in the metro that I write about.
- The Old Kingdom - Not to be confused with The Czar's Kingdom. This refers to the La Crosse, Wisconsin area where I grew up. I make a trip back usually once a season to see a game, usually at the beginning of the season or around the holidays.
- The Emperor (of the Old Kingdom) and Her Majesty - The Czar's parents. You'll see The Emperor mentioned when attending a game with The Czar. Usually once or twice a season and usually in The Old Kingdom.
- The Emperor's Palace - The home of the Emperor and Her Majesty.
- Dacha de Czar - The Czar's home
- The Crown Prince - The Czar's brother and leader of the Kingdom's army. AKA The Secretary of Defense (SecDef)
- The Chairman (of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) - The Crown Prince's father and the senior advisor to the Secretary of Defense.
- The Basketblogger - A friend of The Czar. Will see a game with The Czar from time to time. He did his own blog on the local basketball scene during the 07-08 season before he ran off and got married. You'll see him add comments here from time to time.
- The Caveman - The Czar's best friend. The nickname is due to a nasty back injury he had back in high school that forced him to sit out an entire season. The huge back brace he had to wear caused him to look hunched over, like a caveman. A high school classmate came up with the nickname but it stuck with me and that's how I've known him ever since.
- Duchess Bubbles - The artist responsible for helping me with the site images that you see in the blog header.
- Czar's Seating Rules - This is a reference to where I'm usually located at games. It means top row (against something with a back rest due to morbid obesity), center court and opposite the benches.
- Bolshevik! - Remember that it was the Bolsheviks who overthrew the Russian Czar (Nicholas II) during the Russian Revolution of 1917-1918. In context of writings here, used to express a high degree of disgust with something or someone.
- THE WORLD'S WORST OFFENSE - This is my reference to The Flex Offense. I find that most teams run this offense like mindless robots and its almost always brutally painful to watch. Hence I use all caps to express my overwhelming dislike of the offense. It is not a reference to the team running it.
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