From my vantage point at the shootout here's what caught my eye.
Game 1 Central vs Long Beach Poly (Girls): Poly is loaded, Jasmine Dixon is nice player but forced too many shots. April Cook was big on defense and Monique Oliver is a dominating post player. Losing Theairra Taylor to foul trouble in the first half was a big loss for Central. But once it was shown the Kyana Johnson wasn't going to be able to handle Poly's pressure, Willie Taylor needed to make the adjustment to Kiana Buford much sooner than he did. 66-51 Poly wins and it wasn't that close.
Game 2 Princeton vs Mobile, AL LeFlore. Wow, did I get this one wrong. This turned out to be the best game of the day. Nick Williams was about the only player who showed up for LeFlore as Demarcus Cousins looked really disinterested. But all credit goes to Princeton who played a terrific game. Berggren had his hands full with Cousins and more than held his own. Nice job with a box and 1 on Cousins late to get back in it, but I would have gone diamond and 1 with Berggren in the back so that Cousins wouldn't have gotten the 2 big offensive rebounds late. Cousins was really frustrated by it which I also saw last week against Vincent, front him and he gets mad. He'll need to work on that as that's not a good sign. Nice show of a triangle and 2 for 1 possession too, I thought they'd try it more at that point. Princeton gets to within 4 but then a 20-4 run by LeFlore late puts it away. Nice adjustment by coach Hughley to get Nick Williams at the high post where he hit 2 critical jumpers during the run to seal the game. The problem is that this was there all day and he didn't come back to it until that late. It'd be really funny if Princeton actually ran the Princeton offense since they have the mascot and colors to match.
Game 3: Cass Lake-Bena vs Memphis, TN White Station. Joe Jackson was well worth it with his 29 pts. Quick, athletic, big hops, a true stud. CLB got nothing out of their defense. White Station ended up with a balanced attack. CLB was just outclassed in this game 99-68.
Game 4: Hopkins vs Dematha. Raymond Cowles was flammable early (26 total) and Trent Lockett played well with 16. Dematha had some success with their 2-3 trap and it took Hopkins a while to move their back line post player to the high post to break it. Hopkins showed on Thursday vs Kennedy that they like to keep both posts low against zone so it made some sense that Novak took time to adjust. Naji Hibbert showed he's a player for Dematha with his 29 pts. Josh Selby took tough shots but his 20 pts were also worth watching. The big story here though is that Hopkins was up 12 late and tried everything possible to give the game away. Very surprising from a Ken Novak team to see quick, bad shots in those situations. With the score only being 4 pts and a minute left, Broghammer tips a missed FT to Lockett who gets a 3 pt play out of it and that finally sealed the deal for the 73-66 Hopkins win.
Game 5: Minnetonka vs Campbell Hall. Close 1st half though a late Campbell Hall run took a 2 pt game to 7 at halftime. Only 7 pts at the 13:42 TV timeout and then Jrue Holiday put on a show. He finishes with 30 and totally dominated the run in the 2nd half. Hedstrom tried Udo and McBounds on him amongst others and it didn't matter. For those who think Kyle Risinger would have made a difference, forget it as Holiday was just that good. One of the best performances in the history of the shootout. CJ Erickson was impressive for the Skippers. He surprises you with his athleticism, especially in the area of blocking shots. One area that Tonka could have gone to more I thought was Sedrick McBounds on the post against James Johnson. Couple of strange things from this game. A 10 second FT violation which I've never seen before and a cheerleader in full uniform with a full neck brace. Fortunately she wasn't doing any of the routines. Yes girls, cheerleading can be dangerous. Dallas Rutherford (1st 10 pts for the Vikings) and Keegan Hornbuckle also played very well for the Vikings with 23 and 14 pts respectively.
Game 6: Benilde St. Margaret's vs Madison Memorial. Some awards to give out. 1) Most creative student section goes to BSM. 2) Most anemic offense from a team that has enough talent to score goes to Memorial. 3) Biggest disappointment of the shootout, Memorial
Memorial's offense was unbelievably awful. Devonte Maymon took bad shot after bad shot and didn't make them and still kept taking them. Shot them right out of the game. Vander Blue was impressive with 23 and will develop nicely in that program. Jeronne Maymon's stats were deceptive, yes he had 20 rbs and 19 pts, but most of those 19 were on the offensive glass in the 2nd half. He's really bulked up since they played here 2 years ago vs Jefferson and will be a nice player for someone down the road. His problem is that he plays post for them and he'll be a wing at the next level. In the 1st half he was awful missing bunny after bunny. All around this was an awful performance by Memorial. Strange that they tried an inverted triangle and 2 on Battle and Taylor to start both halves. I got it totally wrong on the sophomore guards, they didn't guard Taylor. Matt Thomas and Spencer Bata put an end to the junk D with 7 3s between them. This should have been a great matchup for Memorial (no Stu Neville, ankle injury) with 4 guards vs 4 guards and Maymon vs Battle so I thought they could have been successful with straight man. Fun highlight of the night comes in the last 20 seconds when you had mask vs mask. 2 broken nose masks for Matt Laubmeier (Memorial) and Max Carlson (BSM). Laubmeier takes the ball and scores against Carlson with 10 seconds left but Carlson comes back and gets 2 just before the horn. Mask vs Mask is a draw. BSM rolls 71-56, Taylor and Battle both with 15, but Taylor didn't control the halfcourt game which didn't surprise me.
My All-Shootout Team
Jrue Holiday - Campbell Hall (MVP)
Joe Jackson - White Station
Nick Williams - LeFlore
Dallas Rutherford - Campbell Hall
Jared Berggren - Princeton
Missota Conference Strength
Props to the Missota conference, 3 teams ranked in this week's polls (Shakopee #7 4A, Red Wing #6 3A and New Prague #9 3A) and only 1 team below .500 (Northfield at 2-3). Who would have thought that Prior Lake's 6-3 record would only be the 5th best in the league. New Prague and Red Wing are both 8-0, Shakopee and Farmington are both 6-1, Hutchinson is 5-3 with a win over Mankato West and historically strong Holy Angels is 4-3 against a good schedule. Should make for a very interesting conference season. Granted, the schedules haven't been the toughest, but you still have to win the games.
Timberwolves Shootout Preview
Game 1: Long Beach , CA Polytechnic vs St. Paul Central (Girls) 10:00 AM
Long Beach Poly comes in at 8-1, ranked #4 USA Today and they beat #1 Notre Dame Academy , Middleburg , VA last week and had a 30 pt win over #16 Hampton , VA in the same tournament. St. Paul Central comes in 7-1 ranked #2 in 4A with their only loss to #13 national Centennial in the Hamline tournament at Thanksgiving. Lots of high profile players in the game, but I expect a blowout with Central's lack of discipline on the offensive end and gambling defense.
Players to watch for Long Beach Poly
Mich St Princeton to have serious trouble handling their pressure before they even get a chance to let Berggren touch it inside. It wouldn't surprise me if Princeton ends up with more turnovers than points. This game is billed as a matchup of star big men, but don’t be surprised if you’re disappointed as this should easily be the worst game of the day.
Players to watch for Long Beach Poly
- 6-1 Sr G Jasmine
- 5-8 Sr G April Cook (Wazoo, #84 Hoopsgurlz.com)
- 6-3 Jr C Monique Oliver (#5 Hoopgurlz.com)
- 6-0 Jr F Kelli Thompson (#36 Hoopgurlz.com)
Players to watch for St. Paul Central
- 5-10 Sr W Kiara Buford (
- 6-2 Sr C Georgie Jones (
- 5-11 Sr PF Megan Howard, 13.1 PPG, does all the dirty work inside for them
- 5-9 Jr G Theairra Taylor, 13.5 PPG, talented guard who some think may be better than Taylor Hill.
Game 2: Mobile, AL LeFlore vs Princeton, 12:00 PM
- LeFlore 6-3 Sr G/F Nick Williams (
- LeFlore 6-9 Jr C Demarcus Cousins (#4 Scout.com, #5 Rivals.com) 18 PPG
- Princeton 6-10 Sr C Jared Berggren (
Game 3: Memphis, TN White Station vs Cass Lake-Bena, 2:00 PM
Now the fun begins. White Station comes in at 9-6 but they have stud guard Joe Jackson. Cass Lake-Bena comes in at 4-1 ranked #1 in Class A after a loss to #1 in 2A Crosby-Ironton. CLB's style is fun to watch, especially when they hit shots. If their 2-3 trap can contain Jackson, this game could be interesting. But if CLB's defense doesn't generate turnovers, it could be a long day.
Players to watch
- White Station 6-0 So G Joe Jackson (#7 Rivals.com), 25.9 PPG. Offered by Memphis, Tennessee, Mississippi and Texas A&M.
- White Station 6-7 Jr W Ferrakohn Hall (#70 Scout.com, Rivals.com #60). Averaged 14.0 PPG last year at Memphis University School. Offered by Memphis and Tennessee.
- CLB 6-0 Sr Travis Huesers
- CLB 6-0 So PG Martin Wind
- CLB 6-5 Sr Joel Salscheider
- CLB 6-5 Sr Nate Salscheider
Game 4: Hyattsville, MD Dematha vs Hopkins, 4:00 PM
This should be a very interesting game with one of the most storied programs in the history of high school basketball coming in. Too bad Morgan Wooten has retired. Dematha comes in 7-2 while Hopkins is 7-0 and #2 in 4A with a win over #1 3A Benilde-St. Margaret's. Both teams are young and have good guards. Mike Broghammer will need to be big for the Royals to win.
Dematha players to watch
- 6-5 Jr SG Naji Hibbert (#61 Scout.com, #54 Rivals.com), offered by Miami, Syracuse, Texas A&M, Xavier, Marquette, Maryland and Clemson
- 6-2 So G Josh Selby
- 6-2 So G Marcus Rouse
- 5-10 Fr G Quinn Cook
Hopkins players to watch
- 6-4 Jr G Trent Lockett (Arizona St commit, #97 Rivals.com)
- 6-8 Jr PF Mike Broghammer, offered by Iowa, UW-Green Bay, NDSU and Colorado St.
- 6-4 Jr F Raymond Cowles, offered by Loyola, Ill, Northern Iowa, Western Michigan, UW-Green Bay and UW-Milwaukee.
- 7-0 Sr C Anthony DiLoreto (Cal Poly signee)
- 5-11 Jr PG Marcus Williams
- 6-4 So G DJ Peterson
The Vikings return to the shootout with an 11-4 record, but 3 of those losses have been to nationally ranked teams. Jrue Holiday is a smooth a player as you'll find and he plays smart. But he can score at will. Minnetonka is as deep as any team around with 10 legit players. They come in 8-0 and #1 in 4A. Anthony Tucker can be quiet and then he'll beat you late. This game will be up and down and fun to watch.
Campbell Hall players to watch
- 6-4 Sr SG Jrue Holiday (UCLA, #3 by Rivals.com and Scout.com)
- 6-3 Sr PG Dallas Rutherford (mid major player)
- 6-6 Jr F Keegan Hornbuckle (mid to high major player)
- 6-6 So F James Johnson
Minnetonka players to watch
- 6-4 Sr G Anthony Tucker (Iowa), great shooter, super quick release.
- 6-5 Sr F CJ Erickson (Evansville).
- 6-7 Sr F Sedrick McBounds
- 6-6 Sr F Tyler Schilling. Mr Intangibles
- 6-0 Sr PG Andy Burns
- 6-2 So G Cole Stefan
Steve Collins brings his Spartans program back to the shootout at 6-1 ranked #3 in Wisconsin's Division 1 (MN 4A) with star Jeronne Maymon. With a couple of new starting sophomore guards in Vander Blue and Tre Creamer, they really get after people defensively. With the size and quickness of their guards they may have a chance to shut down Jordan Taylor like Hopkins did. BSM comes in 3-1 ranked #1 in 3A with their only loss to Hopkins. Armond Battle vs Jeronne Maymon could be a fun 1 on 1 matchup in this game while Taylor's experience will take on the size and youth of Memorial's sophomore guards. BSM's other guards like Darren Glover and Matt Thomas will have to hit outside shots in this game, but a big game from Stu Neville may be needed to put the Red Knights over the top.
Madison Memorial players to watch
- 6-6 Jr F Jeronne Maymon, #3 Jr in Wisconsin
- 6-3 So W Vander Blue, #10 Soph in Wisconsin
- 6-3 So W Tre Creamer, #19 Soph in Wisconsin
- 6-1 Sr PG Jordan Taylor (
- 6-7 Sr W Armond Battle (
- 6-7 Sr F Stu Neville
- 6-3 So G Darren Glover
Surprises and disappointments coming into conference play.
Surprises
- Shakopee 6-0 with wins at Washburn and at home over Mounds View. Without Eric Carlson, I thought they'd be a middle of the road team at best. Big grudge match on Friday vs the next team in the list.
- Armstrong 6-2 with a 3 pt loss to Cooper, a come from behind win at STA and a rout at Stillwater and a game they should have won vs CDH. With the way they shoot, they'll always be a threat.
- Red Wing 8-0. A 500 team last year, they've started 8-0 props to them.
- Forest Lake 7-1 They could contend in 7AAAA. When I saw them vs Como Park their offense was brutal and I don't think they should have lost to Blaine, but give them credit for the win over Rocori. While they're still a level below the leaders in the Suburban East, they're better than I expected.
- Central 5-3. You had to think they'd be much better this year, but they're doing a nice job avenging the non-conference losses of last season and will be a major factor in St. Paul City play.
- Hill-Murray 0-6 I know they've had a difficult schedule, but I expected more from them with Peter McKeown.
- Washburn 3-4 This is a team that has the talent to compete in tough section 6AAA, but if they want to win the section they have to better than 3-4.
- Henry 3-3. Great guards, but young. They're talented enough that they should have beaten Eagan and Rosemount. And they'll need to be better than this to over take Spring Lake Park in 3AAA.
- Trinity 1-5 with their tradition I thought they'd get more wins. A 32 pt loss to Mound-Westonka and a 28 pt loss to St. Croix Lutheran were surprising.
- DeLaSalle. Yes they played 3 games in Houston and played their other 2 games without Royce White, but nobody could have expected 0-5.
- Breck 5-3, this gets a disappointment for losses to Edison and Roosevelt at home. With 7 of their 8 at home, anything worse than 7-1 had to be a disappointment.
Games of the WBY Shootout
Some notes on the games and teams of the WBY shootout
Day 1:
St. Bernard's vs Madison East. SB was ahead 39-32 in the 4th, then fell asleep to allow East star Marquis Mason to get 8 in a row to get back in the game. Bernard's hangs on 54-47.
Sussex Hamilton vs Germantown. Kameron Cerroni gets 23, but him and Brett Meinecke are their only offense (40 of their 53 pts). They're small and start 4 sophs so they're building for 2 years from now. Ben Averkamp and Germantown's size were too much as Germantown wins 66-53.
Milwaukee Vincent vs Oshkosh West. Vincent led 16-4 early with pressure, but West fought their way back. Vincent leads 38-33 with 5 minutes left and goes 4 corners, which was the only offense they ran all night. After a minute of stall and a Vincent timeout, Oshkosh West goes 1-2-2 trap and Vincent takes bad shots and commits turnovers. West takes the lead in the last 90 seconds only to see a Steve Stovall bucket off a scramble tie it with 26 seconds left. John Benkoske of West gets the ball on top and gets fouled throwing up a prayer with 0.8 left, tough call. He makes both FTs and West wins 42-40.
Milwaukee Pius XI vs Mobile, AL LeFlore. LeFlore sleepwalks to a 16-14 deficit after 1 quarter. After that, their depth and pressure was too much. Korie Lucious shoots 5-22 with many of them tough shots. Nick Williams and DeMarcus Cousins only play half the game for LeFlore as they roll 79-51. The steal and behind the back dribble and dunk by Cousins is my play of the year, absolutely sick move. LeFlore coach Otis Hughley is the worst dressed coach around. Jumpsuit???!!! Please, you make Dennis Stockmo look like he's wearing Armani. He also makes Larry McKenzie look like Mother Teresa. You make a mistake, you get an ear full and then you're on the bench. But when you have the level of talent they do, you can reasonably tell a kid "I've got 15 guys who can play, if you won't get it done, I'll get somebody who will." Their 3rd stringers are more athletic than just about anybody I see play.
Whitefish Bay Dominican vs Racine Horlick. WBD tried to use run and jump all game without success. Horlick made them pay with layups and on the glass. Add in poor shooting vs Horlick's 2-3 zone and the Rebels pull off a 70-60 upset to knock Dominican from the #1 spot in D3. Jamil Wilson gets 14 and 10, but Antwon Oliver had 17 and played really well for Horlick.
Day 2:
Manitowoc Roncalli vs St. Bernard's. Roncalli runs as good a motion offense as you'll see anywhere. I haven't seen anything like it since Kraig Ulveling's Red Wing boys teams. A real treat to watch in both games. Bernard's holds Roncalli down to 34% shooting overall, but Roncalli rains down 3s late to tie it up and with 5 seconds left tied at 45 Roncalli inbounds, passes out of a trap and throws up a prayer only to have it bounce to C Adam Koss who puts it in at the horn for a 47-45 Roncalli win to move them up to #1 in D3. Great game, Jordair Jett was a force with 18 pts and getting to the rim at will for Bernard's.
Milwaukee Vincent vs Mobile, Al LeFlore. Vincent matched athletes and didn't turn the ball over vs LeFlore's pressure and made them pay. A great game plan by coach Tom Diener to sandwich DeMarcus Cousins. Vincent also got every rebound and led 45-32 after an early 4th quarter score. Nick Williams brought the Rattlers back with 10 pts in a 13-0 run and with DeMarcus Cousins hitting 9 of 10 FTs down the stretch it looked like LeFlore would win, but Marvin Fitzgerald hit a desperation 3 to send it to OT
In OT, Cousins fouls out with 2:28 to go so they're without the inside force they used at the end of regulation. LeFlore leads by 2 with 1:01 to go. They turn it over and Nick Williams gets called for an intentional foul. Vincent makes the 2 FTs and after a timeout, they get a layup with 20 seconds to go to take the lead. LeFlore gets the ball across halfcourt and with 6.7 left, LeFlore takes 3 consecutive timeouts before inbounding (that's not a typo). Nick Williams gets denied coming to the top but they get a open 10 footer because of that help and it rims out. Vincent rebounds and makes 1 of 2 FTs to win 69-66 in an OT thriller. It was very interesting to see coach Hughley's yelling and screaming and then trying to be positive and keep his team believing they were still in it, don't know if the players see thru this or not. Williams had 29 in the game and Cousins had 20.
Milwaukee Pius XI vs Whitefish Bay Dominican: A battle of the top 2 seniors in the state. Korie Lucious of Pius didn't shoot well in this game either (9-25), but he had 9 pts and an assist to start the 4th quarter to bring Pius back. He ended with 25. He had a chance to tie it late, but missed. Kwamain Mitchell very quiet in the game but Dominican holds on 51-47.
Teams
Day 1:
St. Bernard's vs Madison East. SB was ahead 39-32 in the 4th, then fell asleep to allow East star Marquis Mason to get 8 in a row to get back in the game. Bernard's hangs on 54-47.
Sussex Hamilton vs Germantown. Kameron Cerroni gets 23, but him and Brett Meinecke are their only offense (40 of their 53 pts). They're small and start 4 sophs so they're building for 2 years from now. Ben Averkamp and Germantown's size were too much as Germantown wins 66-53.
Milwaukee Vincent vs Oshkosh West. Vincent led 16-4 early with pressure, but West fought their way back. Vincent leads 38-33 with 5 minutes left and goes 4 corners, which was the only offense they ran all night. After a minute of stall and a Vincent timeout, Oshkosh West goes 1-2-2 trap and Vincent takes bad shots and commits turnovers. West takes the lead in the last 90 seconds only to see a Steve Stovall bucket off a scramble tie it with 26 seconds left. John Benkoske of West gets the ball on top and gets fouled throwing up a prayer with 0.8 left, tough call. He makes both FTs and West wins 42-40.
Milwaukee Pius XI vs Mobile, AL LeFlore. LeFlore sleepwalks to a 16-14 deficit after 1 quarter. After that, their depth and pressure was too much. Korie Lucious shoots 5-22 with many of them tough shots. Nick Williams and DeMarcus Cousins only play half the game for LeFlore as they roll 79-51. The steal and behind the back dribble and dunk by Cousins is my play of the year, absolutely sick move. LeFlore coach Otis Hughley is the worst dressed coach around. Jumpsuit???!!! Please, you make Dennis Stockmo look like he's wearing Armani. He also makes Larry McKenzie look like Mother Teresa. You make a mistake, you get an ear full and then you're on the bench. But when you have the level of talent they do, you can reasonably tell a kid "I've got 15 guys who can play, if you won't get it done, I'll get somebody who will." Their 3rd stringers are more athletic than just about anybody I see play.
Whitefish Bay Dominican vs Racine Horlick. WBD tried to use run and jump all game without success. Horlick made them pay with layups and on the glass. Add in poor shooting vs Horlick's 2-3 zone and the Rebels pull off a 70-60 upset to knock Dominican from the #1 spot in D3. Jamil Wilson gets 14 and 10, but Antwon Oliver had 17 and played really well for Horlick.
Day 2:
Manitowoc Roncalli vs St. Bernard's. Roncalli runs as good a motion offense as you'll see anywhere. I haven't seen anything like it since Kraig Ulveling's Red Wing boys teams. A real treat to watch in both games. Bernard's holds Roncalli down to 34% shooting overall, but Roncalli rains down 3s late to tie it up and with 5 seconds left tied at 45 Roncalli inbounds, passes out of a trap and throws up a prayer only to have it bounce to C Adam Koss who puts it in at the horn for a 47-45 Roncalli win to move them up to #1 in D3. Great game, Jordair Jett was a force with 18 pts and getting to the rim at will for Bernard's.
Milwaukee Vincent vs Mobile, Al LeFlore. Vincent matched athletes and didn't turn the ball over vs LeFlore's pressure and made them pay. A great game plan by coach Tom Diener to sandwich DeMarcus Cousins. Vincent also got every rebound and led 45-32 after an early 4th quarter score. Nick Williams brought the Rattlers back with 10 pts in a 13-0 run and with DeMarcus Cousins hitting 9 of 10 FTs down the stretch it looked like LeFlore would win, but Marvin Fitzgerald hit a desperation 3 to send it to OT
In OT, Cousins fouls out with 2:28 to go so they're without the inside force they used at the end of regulation. LeFlore leads by 2 with 1:01 to go. They turn it over and Nick Williams gets called for an intentional foul. Vincent makes the 2 FTs and after a timeout, they get a layup with 20 seconds to go to take the lead. LeFlore gets the ball across halfcourt and with 6.7 left, LeFlore takes 3 consecutive timeouts before inbounding (that's not a typo). Nick Williams gets denied coming to the top but they get a open 10 footer because of that help and it rims out. Vincent rebounds and makes 1 of 2 FTs to win 69-66 in an OT thriller. It was very interesting to see coach Hughley's yelling and screaming and then trying to be positive and keep his team believing they were still in it, don't know if the players see thru this or not. Williams had 29 in the game and Cousins had 20.
Milwaukee Pius XI vs Whitefish Bay Dominican: A battle of the top 2 seniors in the state. Korie Lucious of Pius didn't shoot well in this game either (9-25), but he had 9 pts and an assist to start the 4th quarter to bring Pius back. He ended with 25. He had a chance to tie it late, but missed. Kwamain Mitchell very quiet in the game but Dominican holds on 51-47.
Teams
- Wauwatosa East is loaded and they have enough to win it all despite being in brutal section 8.
- Manitowoc Roncalli isn't the most talented team around, but they work hard and really execute and are very well coached. A pleasure to watch, especially their motion offense.
- Germantown will be a tough out with solid guards (Rick Bowers at the PG) and a star inside in Ben Averkamp
- Madison East gets nothing from anyone besides Marquis Mason.
- Wisconsin Lutheran can be very dangerous in D2 with Flavien Davis and they have other talent around him.
Player Observations from the WBY Shootout
So I spent 2 days and 18 games worth at the WBY Shootout in Milwaukee. The Al McGuire Center is a nice building. My thoughts on the players
DeMarcus Cousins (LeFlore), played little in the blowout of Pius but he hit 9 of 1o FTs down the stretch against Vincent before fouling out in OT. Was unstoppable inside and has range to the 3 pt line. Against Pius he made a steal at 3 Quarter court, made a behind the back dribble and dunked. Sick move, despite the fact that he probably walked on the play. My play of the year.
Nick Williams (LeFlore), played little in the blowout of Pius but had 10 pts in a 13-0 run to lead them back against Vincent. He finished that game with 29 and was dominant in the 2nd half. Strong, can shoot it, post up and rebound it. Could be another in the long line of good Marquette guards.
Larry Bradley (Vincent). He doesn't play like a freshman. Solid guard and you'll hear more about him down the road. Vincent ran a surprising amount of stuff for him.
John Benkoske (Oshkosh West). Great big guy, he hit 2 clutch FTs with 0.8 left to beat Vincent on day 1. Goot feet, good shooter. Will be a nice player with his former HS coach at Loyola of Chicago.
David Anderson (Oshkosh West). Another solid big, but at 6-8 he plays smaller because he brings the ball down too much where even I could get at it. But he's only a sophomore and he'll be the man for them next year. It shows a lot when you have a sophomore big doing large amounts of ball handling.
Flavien Davis (Wisconsin Lutheran). Gets to the rim at will and can finish. Can defend when he wants to, but that was all of about 4 plays in 2 games.
Jamil Wilson (Racine Horlick). Great athlete, so-so shooter. Played within himself in the upset win over Whitefish Bay Dominican. Was in foul trouble, but still got 14 and 10 along with a late lob dunk.
Nathan Zastrow (Manitowoc). Exciting player, think Zach Towle of Concordia. Still got points after Tosa East put a 6-5 guy on him to face guard him.
Korie Lucious (Milwaukee Pius XI). Very quick, good handle. Forced shots and shot poorly in the event (5-22 and 9-25). He'll need to get stronger for Tom Izzo. He did come up big to get Pius back in the game vs Dominican in the 4th quarter.
Kwamain Mitchell (Whitefish Bay Dominican). Solid point guard, rebounds well. Good vision. Quick enough to get his own offense.
Jake Barnett (Wauwatosa East). Very underrated. I thought he was better than a couple of other seniors who were higher ranked in the event (Tom Neary and Dan Kratz). Can defend, hit 3 NBA 3s , good vision, will be a nice pickup for a D2 team. May be overshadowed by the fact that his team is so loaded.
Kameron Cerroni (Sussex Hamilton). Great footwork with 2 foot jump stops and stepping thru, solid shooter, good vision. Plays for a small and young team who's building for 2 years from now. Had a tournament record 36 in a double OT win over Wausau East and 23 in their loss to Germantown. Takes too many tough shots and can be turnover prone.
Ben Averkamp (Germantown). Nice big guy for the Warhawks. Can block shots and shoot it and is strong enough to play inside.
Marquis Mason (Madison East). Quiet 2 days, but he had 8 in a row vs St. Bernard's when they fell asleep to get them back in the game. A force on the low block.
Tom Neary (Waukesha Catholic Memorial). Nice shooter, had 27 vs Germantown.
TJ Bray (Waukesha Catholic Memorial). Nice young point guard. Good shooter and good vision, plays within their system.
Jordan Fischer (Wausau East). Struggled in their 1st game, but had 27 and a clutch 3 vs Sussex Hamilton. Nice pickup for UW-Parkside
Andy Smith (S. Milwaukee). Nice big guy. Plays a bit too soft for my liking since he has enough bulk to play strong. Good feet but could have been more active. Had 21 in a loss to Milwaukee Madison. Servicable big guy for Mercer.
Rick Bowers (Germantown). Good point guard, really made them go. Quick.
DeMarcus Cousins (LeFlore), played little in the blowout of Pius but he hit 9 of 1o FTs down the stretch against Vincent before fouling out in OT. Was unstoppable inside and has range to the 3 pt line. Against Pius he made a steal at 3 Quarter court, made a behind the back dribble and dunked. Sick move, despite the fact that he probably walked on the play. My play of the year.
Nick Williams (LeFlore), played little in the blowout of Pius but had 10 pts in a 13-0 run to lead them back against Vincent. He finished that game with 29 and was dominant in the 2nd half. Strong, can shoot it, post up and rebound it. Could be another in the long line of good Marquette guards.
Larry Bradley (Vincent). He doesn't play like a freshman. Solid guard and you'll hear more about him down the road. Vincent ran a surprising amount of stuff for him.
John Benkoske (Oshkosh West). Great big guy, he hit 2 clutch FTs with 0.8 left to beat Vincent on day 1. Goot feet, good shooter. Will be a nice player with his former HS coach at Loyola of Chicago.
David Anderson (Oshkosh West). Another solid big, but at 6-8 he plays smaller because he brings the ball down too much where even I could get at it. But he's only a sophomore and he'll be the man for them next year. It shows a lot when you have a sophomore big doing large amounts of ball handling.
Flavien Davis (Wisconsin Lutheran). Gets to the rim at will and can finish. Can defend when he wants to, but that was all of about 4 plays in 2 games.
Jamil Wilson (Racine Horlick). Great athlete, so-so shooter. Played within himself in the upset win over Whitefish Bay Dominican. Was in foul trouble, but still got 14 and 10 along with a late lob dunk.
Nathan Zastrow (Manitowoc). Exciting player, think Zach Towle of Concordia. Still got points after Tosa East put a 6-5 guy on him to face guard him.
Korie Lucious (Milwaukee Pius XI). Very quick, good handle. Forced shots and shot poorly in the event (5-22 and 9-25). He'll need to get stronger for Tom Izzo. He did come up big to get Pius back in the game vs Dominican in the 4th quarter.
Kwamain Mitchell (Whitefish Bay Dominican). Solid point guard, rebounds well. Good vision. Quick enough to get his own offense.
Jake Barnett (Wauwatosa East). Very underrated. I thought he was better than a couple of other seniors who were higher ranked in the event (Tom Neary and Dan Kratz). Can defend, hit 3 NBA 3s , good vision, will be a nice pickup for a D2 team. May be overshadowed by the fact that his team is so loaded.
Kameron Cerroni (Sussex Hamilton). Great footwork with 2 foot jump stops and stepping thru, solid shooter, good vision. Plays for a small and young team who's building for 2 years from now. Had a tournament record 36 in a double OT win over Wausau East and 23 in their loss to Germantown. Takes too many tough shots and can be turnover prone.
Ben Averkamp (Germantown). Nice big guy for the Warhawks. Can block shots and shoot it and is strong enough to play inside.
Marquis Mason (Madison East). Quiet 2 days, but he had 8 in a row vs St. Bernard's when they fell asleep to get them back in the game. A force on the low block.
Tom Neary (Waukesha Catholic Memorial). Nice shooter, had 27 vs Germantown.
TJ Bray (Waukesha Catholic Memorial). Nice young point guard. Good shooter and good vision, plays within their system.
Jordan Fischer (Wausau East). Struggled in their 1st game, but had 27 and a clutch 3 vs Sussex Hamilton. Nice pickup for UW-Parkside
Andy Smith (S. Milwaukee). Nice big guy. Plays a bit too soft for my liking since he has enough bulk to play strong. Good feet but could have been more active. Had 21 in a loss to Milwaukee Madison. Servicable big guy for Mercer.
Rick Bowers (Germantown). Good point guard, really made them go. Quick.
Final Christmas thoughts
Ah the joy of being snowed in. I was supposed to leave for the holidays this morning, but so much for that idea. Gives me more time to write and to add stuff to the blog. You'll see I added links to the site, including the other 2 places where I post. I know many of you came from MinnesotaPreps, but if you don't read that stuff regularly, I highly recommend it.
Today begins the best 2 week stretch of the basketball regular season in my mind. Starting with all of the fun Christmas tournaments this week and finishing with the Timberwolves shootout on January 5th. I'm looking forward to see the top Wisconsin players at the wonderful Al McGuire Center in Milwaukee in addition to getting a preview of Mobile LaFlore before they come here before the TWolves Shootout. Thank goodness for padded seats. I may even sneak in a game at the old UW fieldhouse in Madison, always good to get back in the real barn.
Look for the following posts in the new year.
34 games (25 boys, 9 girls), make it 50 if you want to count 16 JV games.
64 teams (47 boys, 17 girls, 16 Wisconsin teams split 8 boys and 8 girls)
23 buildings
25 National Anthems
12 Hot Dogs
2 genders
Seeing a 45 ft half-court buzzer beater: priceless
Teams I've seen in the current AP poll
4A: 7 (Missing Eastview, Tartan and Kennedy)
3A: 7 (Missing STA, DLS and Mankato W)
2A: 3 (HF, SB and Concordia)
1A: 1 (MCA)
To all, thank you for reading. This blog has become far more than I ever expected. Your feedback (positive and negative) has been a great asset for me to make this blog more enjoyable for everyone. Have a safe and happy holiday.
Today begins the best 2 week stretch of the basketball regular season in my mind. Starting with all of the fun Christmas tournaments this week and finishing with the Timberwolves shootout on January 5th. I'm looking forward to see the top Wisconsin players at the wonderful Al McGuire Center in Milwaukee in addition to getting a preview of Mobile LaFlore before they come here before the TWolves Shootout. Thank goodness for padded seats. I may even sneak in a game at the old UW fieldhouse in Madison, always good to get back in the real barn.
Look for the following posts in the new year.
- Review of the WBY Shootout in Milwaukee
- Surprises and Disappointments along with a review of some of my predictions as we approach the beginning of conference play for most schools.
- Speaking of the start of conference play, if you go the Blog Archive (right side below the links), you'll see the 12 conference preview postings I did in the week or so leading up to the start of practice in November.
- Preview of the Timberwolves Shootout
34 games (25 boys, 9 girls), make it 50 if you want to count 16 JV games.
64 teams (47 boys, 17 girls, 16 Wisconsin teams split 8 boys and 8 girls)
23 buildings
25 National Anthems
12 Hot Dogs
2 genders
Seeing a 45 ft half-court buzzer beater: priceless
Teams I've seen in the current AP poll
4A: 7 (Missing Eastview, Tartan and Kennedy)
3A: 7 (Missing STA, DLS and Mankato W)
2A: 3 (HF, SB and Concordia)
1A: 1 (MCA)
To all, thank you for reading. This blog has become far more than I ever expected. Your feedback (positive and negative) has been a great asset for me to make this blog more enjoyable for everyone. Have a safe and happy holiday.
Early border battle watching
A few teams from the area made the trip to Milwaukee this weekend for games against Wisconsin teams, here's how they fared. (Note: Wisconsin rankings have been converted to reference the class the same way we would in Minnesota, Division 1 in Wisconsin = 4A here in MN, 2 = 3A, 3=2A, 4 = 1A)
- Central rolls again as they got out to a 35-12 lead at the half. Nice work to rebound from a 20 pt loss to a solid Milwaukee Lutheran team on Friday night.
- Johnson takes the #4 4A team in Wisconsin to the limit
- South with a nice win over the #10 3A team in Wisconsin. They couldn't do much of anything against Osseo's 1-3-1 on Thursday night and then they play Adams-Friendship who is famous statewide in Wisconsin for their 1-3-1 and beats them. Go figure.
- Washburn gets a nice win over Plymouth, WI
- Breck comes from behind to get an OT victory over Milwaukee Custer.
Christmas Tournament Previews Part II (3 day events)
Now we get to the big time events, these are the 3 day events and they are all Th-Sat. With the exception of the Breck event, these are all 8 team events. Breck is a round robin event with 4 teams.
Bethel: Sibley will roll to the championship game on their side, Eden Prairie has a tough opener against Minneapolis North and then will have to go thru Mounds View to get to the championship game. Sibley vs Mounds View or Eden Prairie will be a wonderful championship game.
Catholic Spirit (St. Thomas): Armstrong vs CDH is a 4:45 quarterfinal matchup that will be great. Johnson wins their opener against Woodbury but gets beat by New Orleans St. Augustine. St. Augustine vs the winner of the CDH/Armstrong game will be a very good final.
Joe Hutton (Hamline): STA vs Washburn in a quality opener. Montevideo gets a bad break having to play Hopkins in the night cap. A STA/Hopkins rematch in the championship is good, but I don't expect the near upset that we had last year.
Tartan: Prior Lake vs Spring Lake Park is a good opening day game with the winner playing Elk River. Tartan rolls on their side of the bracket and wins the championship.
Hastings: Minnetonka rolls to the final on their side of the bracket. Henry vs Rosemount in the semis could be interesting. Tonka vs Henry in the final should be fun.
Breck: Breck goes 3-0, PACT surprises one of the 2 city schools and all 4 teams win a game.
Bethel: Sibley will roll to the championship game on their side, Eden Prairie has a tough opener against Minneapolis North and then will have to go thru Mounds View to get to the championship game. Sibley vs Mounds View or Eden Prairie will be a wonderful championship game.
Catholic Spirit (St. Thomas): Armstrong vs CDH is a 4:45 quarterfinal matchup that will be great. Johnson wins their opener against Woodbury but gets beat by New Orleans St. Augustine. St. Augustine vs the winner of the CDH/Armstrong game will be a very good final.
Joe Hutton (Hamline): STA vs Washburn in a quality opener. Montevideo gets a bad break having to play Hopkins in the night cap. A STA/Hopkins rematch in the championship is good, but I don't expect the near upset that we had last year.
Tartan: Prior Lake vs Spring Lake Park is a good opening day game with the winner playing Elk River. Tartan rolls on their side of the bracket and wins the championship.
Hastings: Minnetonka rolls to the final on their side of the bracket. Henry vs Rosemount in the semis could be interesting. Tonka vs Henry in the final should be fun.
Breck: Breck goes 3-0, PACT surprises one of the 2 city schools and all 4 teams win a game.
Christmas Tournament Previews Part I (2 day events)
Part I of my preview of metro area (or metro area teams in other tournaments) Christmas Tournament previews. Part I is the 2 day events.
I will be at the 2 day WBY Shootout in Milwaukee seeing 18 games. St. Bernard's plays a solid Madison East team with star sophomore Marquis Mason and then possibly highly ranked 2A Manitowoc Roncalli. Whitefish Bay Dominican (who plays at DLS on Feb 2nd) has 2 high profile games in the event as well. They're #1 in 2A in Wisconsin and have the #2 senior in Wisconsin Kwamain Mitchell.
Mounds Park Academy (Wed/Th): Mahtomedi wins this event easily.
Chisago Lakes (Th/Fri): Good event. I'll take Holy Family to win it. The late game on opening day vs the hosts is interesting and an Esko/HF matchup in the championship could be entertaining as well.
Edina (Th/Fri at the Edina Community Center): The opener of this event will determine the champion as Kennedy plays Cooper. This is the best game of all the 2 day events.
Totino-Grace (Th/Fri): New event and good teams. Minnehaha vs TG is a very good opener of the event with the winner likely playing Braham for the title. Interesting that the host has the play the 1st game. Usually the host is always in the final game of the night.
Cloquet: Look for St. Michael-Albertville to roll, especially if Chad Calcaterra doesn't play for Cloquet.
HLWW (Th/Fri) Look for Columbia Heights to win the Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted event over the hosts and a couple of MCAA teams.
Jordan (Th/Fri): Look for Brooklyn Center over West Lutheran in the final
Lakeville N (Th/Fri): Shakopee over Lakeville N in the final with the battle of Lakeville as the nightcap of day 1.
Cannon Falls/Randolph (Fri in Randolph/Sat in Cannon Falls): Look for St. Agnes to steamroll thru this event.
St. Croix Lutheran (Fri/Sat): Look for an interesting New Life Academy vs St. Croix Lutheran final.
Warrior Club (Winona St Fri/Sat): Bracket D has Park Center and my arch-nemesis La Crosse Logan (swampies!) in my projected final. Much to my dismay I have to pick the Rangers (who had an impressive win over ranked 2A rival La Crosse Aquinas last night).
I will be at the 2 day WBY Shootout in Milwaukee seeing 18 games. St. Bernard's plays a solid Madison East team with star sophomore Marquis Mason and then possibly highly ranked 2A Manitowoc Roncalli. Whitefish Bay Dominican (who plays at DLS on Feb 2nd) has 2 high profile games in the event as well. They're #1 in 2A in Wisconsin and have the #2 senior in Wisconsin Kwamain Mitchell.
Mounds Park Academy (Wed/Th): Mahtomedi wins this event easily.
Chisago Lakes (Th/Fri): Good event. I'll take Holy Family to win it. The late game on opening day vs the hosts is interesting and an Esko/HF matchup in the championship could be entertaining as well.
Edina (Th/Fri at the Edina Community Center): The opener of this event will determine the champion as Kennedy plays Cooper. This is the best game of all the 2 day events.
Totino-Grace (Th/Fri): New event and good teams. Minnehaha vs TG is a very good opener of the event with the winner likely playing Braham for the title. Interesting that the host has the play the 1st game. Usually the host is always in the final game of the night.
Cloquet: Look for St. Michael-Albertville to roll, especially if Chad Calcaterra doesn't play for Cloquet.
HLWW (Th/Fri) Look for Columbia Heights to win the Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted event over the hosts and a couple of MCAA teams.
Jordan (Th/Fri): Look for Brooklyn Center over West Lutheran in the final
Lakeville N (Th/Fri): Shakopee over Lakeville N in the final with the battle of Lakeville as the nightcap of day 1.
Cannon Falls/Randolph (Fri in Randolph/Sat in Cannon Falls): Look for St. Agnes to steamroll thru this event.
St. Croix Lutheran (Fri/Sat): Look for an interesting New Life Academy vs St. Croix Lutheran final.
Warrior Club (Winona St Fri/Sat): Bracket D has Park Center and my arch-nemesis La Crosse Logan (swampies!) in my projected final. Much to my dismay I have to pick the Rangers (who had an impressive win over ranked 2A rival La Crosse Aquinas last night).
Rivalry day scoreboard watching
The Friday before Christmas is a great day to catch some non-conference rivalry games. Results of those rivalries from last night.
- Kennedy with a nice win at Jefferson. Kennedy has a difficult stretch coming up with 5 of their next 7 against Cooper, Hopkins, Rosemount, Eastview and Eden Prairie, but 3 of those are at home and the Cooper game is the opener of the Edina tournament next week.
- Holy Angels over Richfield
- CDH over STA at STA.
- White Bear Lake over Mahtomedi
- Eden Prairie beats Eastview by 1. Big win for the Eagles as they needed to win that game at home to keep pace in the Lake.
- Shakopee by 15 at Mounds View. Wow, another impressive win for the Sabers.
- Hopkins blows out Sibley. But remember this was at Hopkins and the Minnetonka/Sibley game was at Sibley, so don't go too far in comparing the scores.
- Armstrong beats Stillwater by 5, but they were up 18 at the half, wow. Damario Cruz with 21 for the Falcons.
- Cooper beats Spring Lake Park. Rodney Williams Jr with 23 and Joe Bright with 18 in his return to the Hawks lineup. Surprised they held Cory Polta to only 8 pts.
- Tartan beats Rochester Mayo by 15. Another nice win for the Titans.
- Rosemount with a big win over Lakeville N. I thought this game might be pretty close the way Lakeville N was playing.
- Red Wing goes to 7-0. They regressed to 5-20 2 years ago after Kraig Ulveling took over the girls program, improved to 14-12 last year and are rolling this year.
Thoughts on STMA/Spring Lake Park
Nice new building at Spring Lake Park, I highly recommend it. The game was a 5 pt game with 5 minutes to go then St. Michael-Albertville goes on a 14-0 run with classic clock management (spread the floor, get layups and FTs) in the next 4 minutes and wins going away 68-51. Remember the name Joe Carpenter for STMA, a talented freshman player who could be very good for them down the road. Theo Rothstein is the real deal for them and as a team they are very sound and will run you out of the building if you fall asleep. A matchup with a Henry, Johnson or STA would be interesting and entertaining. BSM has more firepower.
As to SLP, Cory Polta is a beast. But if he continues to drop his left shoulder to run over people, he'll starting ending up on the bench in foul trouble. Elijah Sabah will be a nice replacement for him next year. Taylor Hall at the PF spot is athletic and can hit the 3 which is important for spacing the floor for Polta. They're game isn't the same when he's on the bench as they can't do their high-low stuff. Shaun Jensen is a nice PG for them, but I wish he'd be more involved in the offense. Something like a high screen/roll to the left with Polta rolling and Hall filling in at the top would be very effective for them.
As to SLP, Cory Polta is a beast. But if he continues to drop his left shoulder to run over people, he'll starting ending up on the bench in foul trouble. Elijah Sabah will be a nice replacement for him next year. Taylor Hall at the PF spot is athletic and can hit the 3 which is important for spacing the floor for Polta. They're game isn't the same when he's on the bench as they can't do their high-low stuff. Shaun Jensen is a nice PG for them, but I wish he'd be more involved in the offense. Something like a high screen/roll to the left with Polta rolling and Hall filling in at the top would be very effective for them.
Holy Family/Minnehaha thoughts
The 1st half was close, but Holy Family controls the 2nd half to win 72-59 and it wasn't that close. Trent Johnson with a nice 2nd half to finish with 23 pts. Taylor Sparkman was in foul trouble all night (very tightly called game) and that was a factor as HF was down 5 when he picked up #3 with 7:44 left in the 1st half but led by 3 at halftime. Minnehaha got a great boost from Greg Meyer with 18 pts in the 1st 20 minutes but he got nothing after that (it was 46-42 HF when he last scored).
Minnehaha played 2 waves of guys and Lance Johnson put his 5 bench guys out there for the 1st 4:02 of the 2nd half (-6). Overall the bench outplayed the starters, Meyer and David Burnham along with Taylor Hanson are a nice group. The backups played 1-3-1 and man, but the starters only played man. With this group in the 1st half, Meyer got a lot out of a dribble handoff and then taking his man on the dribble. This largely carried their offense when Sparkman was down with fouls in the 1st half. Minnehaha never came back to this after Meyer's last points except for a couple times when the score was already out of hand. Instead they ran their Shuffle offense which negated the athletic advantage they had. Overall, a very entertaining team that is very dangerous due to their depth and their athletes. If they hit 3s, they're tough to defend.
Trent Johnson did pick up his 2nd foul at 8:14 of the 1st half do that may have eliminated some of his eagerness on the defensive end during that same time period but he didn't get #3. Give HF credit for hitting 3s to get Minnehaha out of the 1-3-1 zone and playing a very sound game. So while the final score was 13 pts, HF was up by 19 more than once in the 2nd half and if you include the 8 pt advantage after Sparkman's 3rd foul, HF outscored Minnehaha by 27 pts over a 22 minute span before garbage time.
Minnehaha played 2 waves of guys and Lance Johnson put his 5 bench guys out there for the 1st 4:02 of the 2nd half (-6). Overall the bench outplayed the starters, Meyer and David Burnham along with Taylor Hanson are a nice group. The backups played 1-3-1 and man, but the starters only played man. With this group in the 1st half, Meyer got a lot out of a dribble handoff and then taking his man on the dribble. This largely carried their offense when Sparkman was down with fouls in the 1st half. Minnehaha never came back to this after Meyer's last points except for a couple times when the score was already out of hand. Instead they ran their Shuffle offense which negated the athletic advantage they had. Overall, a very entertaining team that is very dangerous due to their depth and their athletes. If they hit 3s, they're tough to defend.
Trent Johnson did pick up his 2nd foul at 8:14 of the 1st half do that may have eliminated some of his eagerness on the defensive end during that same time period but he didn't get #3. Give HF credit for hitting 3s to get Minnehaha out of the 1-3-1 zone and playing a very sound game. So while the final score was 13 pts, HF was up by 19 more than once in the 2nd half and if you include the 8 pt advantage after Sparkman's 3rd foul, HF outscored Minnehaha by 27 pts over a 22 minute span before garbage time.
Osseo at South thoughts
Labels:
Sam Dower
Osseo blows out South on Thursday night of week 4. Mostly due to a 2-3 and some 1-3-1 zone. South really struggled against those as it doesn't allow them to use their athleticism as much.
Osseo has a nice squad with a star in Tankson, a couple of nice big guys in Dower and Peterson and a sniper in Dan Brown. They're more dangerous with Dower on the floor instead of Peterson due to Dower's speed, rebounding and shot blocking ability. While he had a quick trigger in this game, he's plenty good offensively (and lefty to boot). Peterson could then be used against a team's 2nd unit for lesser minutes where his stamina wouldn't be an issue.
Tankson takes more bad shots for a disciplined team than anyone I see. When they go in its great, but if he misses that hurts them. He picked up a really silly 2nd foul (reach around) with about 5 min left in the 1st half and had to sit, but Osseo went zone and made a nice run without him to end the half. Osseo is a much different team with him on the floor though as he's the 1 guy for them who can consistently generate his own offense and that opens it up for guys like Brown and forces big guys to help giving Dower and Peterson more chances.
Osseo has a nice squad with a star in Tankson, a couple of nice big guys in Dower and Peterson and a sniper in Dan Brown. They're more dangerous with Dower on the floor instead of Peterson due to Dower's speed, rebounding and shot blocking ability. While he had a quick trigger in this game, he's plenty good offensively (and lefty to boot). Peterson could then be used against a team's 2nd unit for lesser minutes where his stamina wouldn't be an issue.
Tankson takes more bad shots for a disciplined team than anyone I see. When they go in its great, but if he misses that hurts them. He picked up a really silly 2nd foul (reach around) with about 5 min left in the 1st half and had to sit, but Osseo went zone and made a nice run without him to end the half. Osseo is a much different team with him on the floor though as he's the 1 guy for them who can consistently generate his own offense and that opens it up for guys like Brown and forces big guys to help giving Dower and Peterson more chances.
Last follow-up to the story of the ref collapse
As written in the pioneer press, the suspended game between Fridley and Simley won't be finished. The game will not count on either team's record.
Response to MN Scores on my Chad Calcaterra posting (THE FRESHMAN)
(Czar's Note 1/18/08, Click here to read my evaluation of Chad's 3rd game back from injury vs Mounds View on Jan 14th. I take a look at his performance and skills in detail in that entry. A timeline of reports on his injury can be found here)
Due to technical difficulties I do not have an account on MN Scores and that prevents me from responding to the specific THE FRESHMAN post on MN Scores that I'm questioning. I will do that in due time.
AAUObserver: I greatly appreciate you quoting me on other sites, however I don't appreciate being misquoted which is exactly what you did and it appears at a glance to be quite deliberate. You removed my direct reference to you as my source of information and as my demonstration that not only did I not have solid information, I was looking for anyone who had information. Your misquoting gave the appearance that I was reporting it as official news which I wasn't. I wrote my post in response to the Cloquet - Calceterra? thread on MN-Scores to see if anyone knew anything, I had nothing to report and I thought I made that clear in my post. My post was written in response to this on MN-Scores
"Courtesy of AAUObserver:
Minnesota Gopher prospective recruit, 6'10" Chad Calcaterra from Cloquet, sustained a fracture to a bone in his foot which will keep him out of action for six weeks. Bad break for Chad as he was really coming on last fall. On a positive note, this could help out Cloquet which will have that time to work on creating offense elsewhere, as well as force them to toughen up on defense without the skyscraper waiting to block shots at the basket. Cloquet fell to Grand Rapids, 57-42 in their opener last night..."
Here's what AAUObserver quoted me as saying, notice the "coincidental" omission of the 2nd sentence of my original post.
"Taken from Twin Cities Boys Hoops website:
Chad Calcaterra Injury
"6'10 Cloquet C Chad Calcaterra has not played this season due to an injury. I'm reading that it's 6 weeks due to a broken foot. Sounds like he may not be available for the January 14th game at Mounds View which is a shame.
He's a top 100 player that's been offered a scholarship by the U so I was really looking forward to seeing him play. Then again, at 5'2 to 5'4 depending on my mood (or in the words of comedian Ron White, I'm 5'1 to 5'5 depending on which convenience store I'm leaving), post play wasn't my game so I tend to not fully appreciate the development of big guys."
"
The full text that I actually wrote can be found here so that everyone can judge for themselves. When I was forced to make my updates this afternoon, I pondered deleting the post due to the new found inaccuracy but since it was referenced elsewhere I had to keep it up but I went out of my way to leave the original untouched.
I respect your hoops knowledge AAUObserver, but I think you owe me and the readers a public apology. You're better than this.
To my loyal readers, I apologize for this mess. If I could share the full information with you, I would and I hope to at an appropriate time. But one must be careful with private information so I'm going to error on the side of caution with this one. At the same time, the information that I had previously posted is wrong and it's my duty to correct it which is why I added the note to the original post. My site is not a news site, it's an opinion site, so I don't post rumors without explicitly saying that. I made it clear in my original post that I was looking for information, not giving it. Now I have that information and I wouldn't say that if I didn't feel the information was absolutely reliable.
Czar of the Whiteboard, author Twin Cities Boys Hoops blog
Due to technical difficulties I do not have an account on MN Scores and that prevents me from responding to the specific THE FRESHMAN post on MN Scores that I'm questioning. I will do that in due time.
AAUObserver: I greatly appreciate you quoting me on other sites, however I don't appreciate being misquoted which is exactly what you did and it appears at a glance to be quite deliberate. You removed my direct reference to you as my source of information and as my demonstration that not only did I not have solid information, I was looking for anyone who had information. Your misquoting gave the appearance that I was reporting it as official news which I wasn't. I wrote my post in response to the Cloquet - Calceterra? thread on MN-Scores to see if anyone knew anything, I had nothing to report and I thought I made that clear in my post. My post was written in response to this on MN-Scores
"Courtesy of AAUObserver:
Minnesota Gopher prospective recruit, 6'10" Chad Calcaterra from Cloquet, sustained a fracture to a bone in his foot which will keep him out of action for six weeks. Bad break for Chad as he was really coming on last fall. On a positive note, this could help out Cloquet which will have that time to work on creating offense elsewhere, as well as force them to toughen up on defense without the skyscraper waiting to block shots at the basket. Cloquet fell to Grand Rapids, 57-42 in their opener last night..."
Here's what AAUObserver quoted me as saying, notice the "coincidental" omission of the 2nd sentence of my original post.
"Taken from Twin Cities Boys Hoops website:
Chad Calcaterra Injury
"6'10 Cloquet C Chad Calcaterra has not played this season due to an injury. I'm reading that it's 6 weeks due to a broken foot. Sounds like he may not be available for the January 14th game at Mounds View which is a shame.
He's a top 100 player that's been offered a scholarship by the U so I was really looking forward to seeing him play. Then again, at 5'2 to 5'4 depending on my mood (or in the words of comedian Ron White, I'm 5'1 to 5'5 depending on which convenience store I'm leaving), post play wasn't my game so I tend to not fully appreciate the development of big guys."
"
The full text that I actually wrote can be found here so that everyone can judge for themselves. When I was forced to make my updates this afternoon, I pondered deleting the post due to the new found inaccuracy but since it was referenced elsewhere I had to keep it up but I went out of my way to leave the original untouched.
I respect your hoops knowledge AAUObserver, but I think you owe me and the readers a public apology. You're better than this.
To my loyal readers, I apologize for this mess. If I could share the full information with you, I would and I hope to at an appropriate time. But one must be careful with private information so I'm going to error on the side of caution with this one. At the same time, the information that I had previously posted is wrong and it's my duty to correct it which is why I added the note to the original post. My site is not a news site, it's an opinion site, so I don't post rumors without explicitly saying that. I made it clear in my original post that I was looking for information, not giving it. Now I have that information and I wouldn't say that if I didn't feel the information was absolutely reliable.
Czar of the Whiteboard, author Twin Cities Boys Hoops blog
Wild end to Stillwater/Johnson
So Stillwater is down 6 with about 20 seconds or so to go. Johnson makes a defensive mistake and gives up a 3 to Aaron Anderson to make it 62-59 Johnson. After a timeout, Johnson gets called for an illegal screen. Johnson had run the exact same inbound play about 20 seconds earlier and the same kid set the same illegal screen. Huge props to the Stillwater staff for getting the refs on this one as it was absolutely the correct call. But its an offensive foul so Stillwater gets the ball out, no bonus FTs. After 10 seconds of not being able to get a shot, Anderson runs into a kid and draws the blocking foul (either way kind of call on a dribble handoff.). He calmly drains the 2 FTs with under 10 seconds to go. 62-61 Johnson. Stillwater comes with a full-court diamond press and Johnson throws the ball away in front of their bench with 5.2 seconds to go. Stillwater's ball at 3 quarter court. Out of Stillwater's final timeout, Johnson goes to an extended 1-2-2. Stillwater gets nothing on the inbound, Paul Franklin gets the ball in the backcourt, dribbles under pressure across the timeline on the right wing and has to heave it from there as time is running out. Down the hatch it goes at the horn, we've got pandemonium and Stillwater steals one 64-62.
Week 4 Tuesday night scoreboard club
Scores that caught my eye from 12/18/07
Lake
Lake
- Rosemount wins big.
- Kennedy wins at Burnsville. 2 tough home losses for the Blaze in conference play as they prepare for a 3 out of 4 non-conference stretch.
- Cooper wins big again without Joe Bright.
- BSM and Spring Lake Park roll. BSM only had 24 combined pts from Battle/Taylor. 22 for Stu Neville though.
- TG with a nice road win over Chisago Lakes.
- Central continues to roll with a win over Roseville.
- St. Agnes blows out New Life by 26, possible subsection preview and a surprising result as I wouldn't have called a blowout in that game.
- STA blows out Duluth East by 53. Another rough time against the metro for Duluth East.
- Shakopee blows out Washburn, very impressive and so much for any thoughts of the Sabers rebuilding.
- Bethany held MN Transitions to 70 pts, that was a game I thought could get ugly.
- Mound-Westonka beats Trinity by 30+. Wow, did that score get transposed?
Observations from Tonka/Sibley
Labels:
Jake Kreuser,
Mike Bruesewitz
My thoughts from Tonka at Sibley, what a game. Give Sibley credit for hanging tough.
Sibley Notes
Sibley JV coach got tossed right before the half of the JV game. Hair-trigger temper from the official, but the coach grandstanding to the crowd after he got tossed was pathetic. Just as players are held accountable for their Ts, so too should the coaches. Dasovich should discipline him for his actions with a 1 game suspension and he shouldn't have been on the bench for the varsity game.
Mike Brusewitz is the real deal. I wish all players had his intensity.
Peter Leslie had a nice game at the point, but he flops way too much on defense.
Jake Krueser. DNP-Varsity. Very surprised at this just because of the Varsity minutes he got last year. Played most of the JV game. You can see the talent is there, but defensively he still looks lost at times. I wonder about his morale after all the varsity minutes he saw last year and now he's been relegated to JV. Him and RJ Lennon played most of the 1st half of JV and Tonka's JVs blew them out.
With 3 starters and Krueser back next year, Sibley will be dangerous again. No fluke this year either with a heartbreaker at Osseo and taking Tonka to the limit. 4AAAA looks more brutal everyday with Sibley, Stillwater, CDH, Tartan and Central all together.
Minnetonka Notes
Tonka's talent level (JV and Varsity) is just criminal. JVs are loaded, Varsity bench could win many leagues. Just loaded.
Anthony Tucker, silent assassin. Up 3 in the last 2 minutes he hits a big 3 (that wasn't the greatest shot in the world, but when you're that good a shooter, you can say its never a bad shot) and gets a clutch assist which were the final daggers. With his quick release and their transition game, he'll get a ton points that way alone.
Sedrick McBounds didn't start and didn't play as much as I thought. Looks like he's still trying to find his place in the new system. But I can understand why coach Hedstrom would want to keep that starting group intact.
No Kyle Risinger, but lots of Cole Stefan. So much for my prediction there.
UT Udo looks like he's improved and he gave them nice minutes off the bench.
Best moment of the night. With 7 seconds left, Tonka student section chants "This game's over" and proceeds to walk out as a group right past the Sibley students. Absolutely classic.
Finally, do we really need hand-dryers in restrooms to be as strong as leaf-blowers? I thought I was going to get blown away.
Sibley Notes
Sibley JV coach got tossed right before the half of the JV game. Hair-trigger temper from the official, but the coach grandstanding to the crowd after he got tossed was pathetic. Just as players are held accountable for their Ts, so too should the coaches. Dasovich should discipline him for his actions with a 1 game suspension and he shouldn't have been on the bench for the varsity game.
Mike Brusewitz is the real deal. I wish all players had his intensity.
Peter Leslie had a nice game at the point, but he flops way too much on defense.
Jake Krueser. DNP-Varsity. Very surprised at this just because of the Varsity minutes he got last year. Played most of the JV game. You can see the talent is there, but defensively he still looks lost at times. I wonder about his morale after all the varsity minutes he saw last year and now he's been relegated to JV. Him and RJ Lennon played most of the 1st half of JV and Tonka's JVs blew them out.
With 3 starters and Krueser back next year, Sibley will be dangerous again. No fluke this year either with a heartbreaker at Osseo and taking Tonka to the limit. 4AAAA looks more brutal everyday with Sibley, Stillwater, CDH, Tartan and Central all together.
Minnetonka Notes
Tonka's talent level (JV and Varsity) is just criminal. JVs are loaded, Varsity bench could win many leagues. Just loaded.
Anthony Tucker, silent assassin. Up 3 in the last 2 minutes he hits a big 3 (that wasn't the greatest shot in the world, but when you're that good a shooter, you can say its never a bad shot) and gets a clutch assist which were the final daggers. With his quick release and their transition game, he'll get a ton points that way alone.
Sedrick McBounds didn't start and didn't play as much as I thought. Looks like he's still trying to find his place in the new system. But I can understand why coach Hedstrom would want to keep that starting group intact.
No Kyle Risinger, but lots of Cole Stefan. So much for my prediction there.
UT Udo looks like he's improved and he gave them nice minutes off the bench.
Best moment of the night. With 7 seconds left, Tonka student section chants "This game's over" and proceeds to walk out as a group right past the Sibley students. Absolutely classic.
Finally, do we really need hand-dryers in restrooms to be as strong as leaf-blowers? I thought I was going to get blown away.
Observations from Roosevelt/Oh Day Aki
On Monday I attended the Roosevelt/Oh Day Aki doubleheader (which was really a boys game plus a Roosevelt JV vs Oh Day Aki Varsity girls exhibition).
Overall, the game was very ugly. In fact, Roosevelt's starters were so bad that coach Stockmo yanked all 5 starters 2 minutes into the 2nd half after a 11-4 ODA run to tie the game at 45. The reserves then proceeded to go on a 14-0 run over the next 4 minutes. Bring back the starters and tack on a couple more buckets for the 18-0 run that put the game away and win 85-71. Xavier Jones and Derek Scully are nice guards for Roosevelt, but their level of athletes may be the worst in the Minneapolis City league. Its a credit to Dennis Stockmo that he gets as much out of his roster year in and year out as he does.
As to Oh Day Aki, they have some athletes and they have a shooter (who also shoots too much). They didn't handle Roosevelt's pressure well and didn't display much discipline on offense. Defensively they were absolutely horrible in both their zone and man defenses. The zone might just as well been made of swiss cheese. In man, Roosevelt cutters and dribblers routinely got easy layups. That explains why in their last 4 losses they've given up 87.5 pts a game.
My evaluation: On talent alone they'll beat up on weak A teams, but don't look for the major upsets of a year ago. The top teams on each side of Section 4A should blow them out. Prediction: They'll be the #5 or #6 seed in the East Subsection (behind St. Agnes, CHOF, NLA and MN Transitions in no particular order) and get bounced in the 1st round (assuming that's not a play-in game). Give them props for playing a very tough schedule and dealing with not having a real home court.
Overall, the game was very ugly. In fact, Roosevelt's starters were so bad that coach Stockmo yanked all 5 starters 2 minutes into the 2nd half after a 11-4 ODA run to tie the game at 45. The reserves then proceeded to go on a 14-0 run over the next 4 minutes. Bring back the starters and tack on a couple more buckets for the 18-0 run that put the game away and win 85-71. Xavier Jones and Derek Scully are nice guards for Roosevelt, but their level of athletes may be the worst in the Minneapolis City league. Its a credit to Dennis Stockmo that he gets as much out of his roster year in and year out as he does.
As to Oh Day Aki, they have some athletes and they have a shooter (who also shoots too much). They didn't handle Roosevelt's pressure well and didn't display much discipline on offense. Defensively they were absolutely horrible in both their zone and man defenses. The zone might just as well been made of swiss cheese. In man, Roosevelt cutters and dribblers routinely got easy layups. That explains why in their last 4 losses they've given up 87.5 pts a game.
My evaluation: On talent alone they'll beat up on weak A teams, but don't look for the major upsets of a year ago. The top teams on each side of Section 4A should blow them out. Prediction: They'll be the #5 or #6 seed in the East Subsection (behind St. Agnes, CHOF, NLA and MN Transitions in no particular order) and get bounced in the 1st round (assuming that's not a play-in game). Give them props for playing a very tough schedule and dealing with not having a real home court.
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