2013 D1 Summer Classic Review

The week was the annual D1 Minnesota Summer Classic.  Not the type of talent or level of coaches we've seen in the old days but plenty of interesting basketball none the less.  Here's what came to my attention.

Let's start with some of the funny.  Grassroots director and coach Brian Sandifer in camouflage shorts and tank top for the Thursday games.  Thankfully he had the huge white beach towel around his neck so we could see him (credit to Alex Focke for that line).  See also the Nations Elite pink uniforms with baby blue lettering.  Great for awareness.  Now I'm aware they should never be worn again.  Hoopmasters coach Greg Marshall gets a mention here for getting tossed from his game on court 1 and then leaving to go ref the next game on court 4.

Now I would have more comments about food here but both times I went for hot dogs there weren't any ready.  Boo Hoo!  Props to Tom Krosschell for keeping me healthy.  But there was a better menu at the pay window.  Tom's mom made some outstanding chocolate chip cookies (I tweeted a picture of them during the event if you want to see them).  Add in the always outstanding 24 oz Pepsi for a very reasonable $2 and there's no better way to wash it down.  So that means our song for the tournament is an obvious one.

Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner (DNA remix)

An oversized number of blowouts punctuated by a 113-33 D1 MN blowout of WOTN in the 15U semifinals.  Amir Coffey injured with 3:19 left in that game (70 point lead at the time).  Thankfully the broken leg isn't more serious (6-8 weeks which means he'll be fine for the regular HS season).  But that's a serious loss for D1 MN in Vegas.

But don't talk about blowouts with the Minnesota Warriors.  They beat Fury Zurn on a 3 with 0.6 left.  Then vs M33M Red, they get fouled on a putback with no time remaining in a time game.  Nick Varner steps up and knocks down the 1st of 2 for a 66-65 win to win the pool.  The Warriors use up their luck before Vegas though.  Against the SW MN Stars in the 17U quarterfinals, they don't get a shot off in the final 30 seconds of regulation in a tie game.  The Stars end up winning in overtime before falling to Fury Anderson in the semis.  The Warriors struggled early in most of these games too.

Shake N Bake vs PrymeTyme in the 15U quarters with a very strange ending.  PrymeTyme up 1 with the ball and 20 seconds left.  They jack up a bad 3 and it goes in for a 4 point lead and that looks to be a dagger.  Shake N Bake to the line with 6 seconds left shooting 2.  After making the 1st, they take a timeout.  They intentionally miss the second.  They get the rebound and kick it out for a 3.  The shooter gets whacked with 3 seconds left and makes all 3 FTs to force OT.  PrymeTyme would hang on to win by 5 in the OT.

Players that left an impression in my mind (in no particular order)

• Cordell Pemsl - Shake N Bake 15s (had Purdue watching him, Iowa has watched him during the HS season).  Skilled lefty big who showed off nice mobility, good passing skills, power in the post etc etc.
• John Hatch - WI Starz Black 17s.  Not a name that I mentioned in my preview but liked his length and was very productive inside.
• Cameron Kirksey - D1 MN 15s.  Very disruptive on the defensive end with his length.
• Will Moreton - MN Fury Peterson 15s.  The Edina lefty was in the packet so he was a classic tournament mystery man.  He was knocking down 3s from all over the place in the 15U quarterfinals vs D1.  They kept Fury close and they ended losing but only 66-58 thanks to that shooting.
• Ian Theisen - D1 MN 17s.  Very productive inside and was snatching rebounds.  He was a major factor in D1s title run and produced when need.  Showed his outside range as well.
• Marshawn Wilson - D1 MN 16s.  First step is absolutely explosive.  MN Basketball Academy had no answer for him off the bounce in the 16U title game.
• Brock Bertram - D1 MN 15s.  Finished everything inside when he got his hands on it.  Showed a couple of flashes of running the floor and finishing in transition too.  His size is very difficult to deal with at that age level
• Jack Roou - WI Playmakers 15s.  I knew about his sharpshooting teammate Logan Rohrscheib coming in but Roou showed he can fill it up too.  That will be a fun backcourt to keep tabs on for the Playmakers.
  
  Full Disclosure, the next 2 players mentioned here are kids I coached 2 years ago.
• Ben Khwice - MN Basketball Academy Witthus.  A classic defend and pass first point guard who took care of the ball and with a couple of big 3s in the 1st half kept tMBA close against the powerhouse D1 16s.  Much to D1's frustration I might add as their 3/4 1-2-2 trap produced nothing.  Plenty of others on the Chan roster (e.g Witthus) get the attention, but for that age group he's been the engine making it go.
• Ryan Jacobsen - Heat Bui.  Had a great sequence of a couple of assists driving to the bucket, a blocked shot and then a run out for a layup.  Has been very productive all spring and showed it again this weekend.  As a transfer, he had to sit out at St. Thomas Academy last year.  Could have a breakout season for the Cadets.

Notable Head Coaches Attending
Bo Ryan-Wisconsin
Bruce Weber - Kansas State
Fred Hoiberg - Iowa State
Buzz Williams - Marquette
Tom Crean - Indiana
Greg McDermott - Creighton
Richard Pitino - Minnesota

(Note: No AAU Bingo square for Tubby Smith, only his assistant Joe Esposito made an appearance)

Xavier, Denver, Ohio, Western Carolina, Bucknell, NDSU, North Dakota, South Dakota State, much of the NSIC just a few of the other schools in attendance.  You can mark your AAU Bingo cards for The Coolest Guy in the UMAC making an appearance as well.

17U bracket results
Pigtails
M33M def Nebraska Select
IA PNR Black def WI Playmakers Schieve
WI Starz Black def Fury Zurn
SW MN Stars def John Baylor Test Prep
Fury Anderson def WOTN 69-40 in a game I thought would be much closer
Nations Elite def WI Playmakers LAX

Quarterfinals
D1 MN def M33M Elite
WI Starz Black def IA PNR Black
SW MN Stars def MN Warriors
Fury Anderson def Nations Elite

Semifinals
D1 MN def WI Starz Black
Fury Anderson def SW MN Stars

Championship
D1 MN def Fury Anderson

16U bracket results
Pigtails
Southern MN Elite def Illinois Icemen
Nebraska Select def WI Starz Black

Round of 16
D1 MN def Southern MN Elite
Phenom West def Heat Bui
Heat Calistro def Comets Phillips
SW MN Stars def GetShook
MN BB Academy Brown def Nebraska Select
Grassroots def MN BB Academy Tlougan
Fury Ramey def MN BB Academy Witthus
WOTN def Old Gold

Quarterfinals
D1 MN def Phenom West
Heat Calistro def SW MN Stars
MN BB Academy Brown def Grassroots
Fury Ramey def WOTN
 Semifinals
D1 MN def Heat Calistro
MN BB Academy Brown def Fury Ramey

Championship
D1 MN def MN BB Academy Brown

15U bracket results
Pigtails
Fury Peterson def WI Playmakers
WOTN def Heat Duberry
SW MN Stars def Heat Schwartz
Fury Altenhofen def Nebraska Select Huskers
Shake N Bake def MN Swish (came from 15 down in 2nd half)
Pryme Tyme def Nebraska Select

Quarterfinals
D1 MN def Fury Peterson
WOTN def SW MN Stars
Fury Altenhofen def The Academy (Can)
PrymeTyme def Shake N Bake

Semifinals
D1 MN def WOTN
Fury Altenhofen def PrymeTyme

Championship
D1 MN def Fury Altenhofen

Sanford Pentagon Tournament Series inside look

One of the new elements of this 2013 AAU season was the Sanford Pentagon Tournament Series (SPTS).  With favorable reviews by the league members, I decided to take a deeper look into the league.  I had the opportunity to talk to league director Paul Seville to get some inside background on the league.

The Basics
The intent of the league was along the lines of the Nike EYBL.  EYBL member Howard Pulley and previous member All Iowa Attack had started discussions about having a league of teams from the upper midwest.  The Schoolers then ended up in the discussions.  After the possibility of 2 leagues, eventually the league ended up with 17 members.  3 teams backed out and gave the league its current 14 team membership.  Half of the teams are Minnesota based with other members from Iowa, both Dakotas and Wisconsin.  That includes top teams from Select, Heat, Comets, EOTO and Fury which explains why those teams haven't been as visible locally as they have been in past years.  The schedule is a round robin against all 13 teams with the top 8 advancing to the championship bracket.  The 1st 5 games were played at All Iowa Attack in the April open period. MN Select hosted the 2nd round of the event at their local tournament in May.  The Dakota Schoolers are hosting the final week and championships this weekend in the Sioux Falls area.

The Benefits
There were very interesting points made about the benefits of the league

• Eliminating duplication of opponents.  All of these Minnesota teams would see each other a ton, 2 Comets events, state tournament, Kings of the Court, Jayhawk, at least 1 of the D1 Minnesota tournaments.   Now many of those duplicate games are eliminated.  Playing a team twice in a season is enough, more than that gets old for the kids and coaches.
• A place to take all your teams.  One of the focuses of the league was to get organizations that had teams at all levels. As opposed to the EYBL which only has Howard Pulley's top team, an organization can have their top 15s, 16s and 17s all in the league.  Makes a director's life far easier for scheduling.
• Along those same lines, these organizations were able to take their 2nd teams and play against 2nd teams.  Ditto that for 3rd teams.  This means you have teams playing like competition many weeks rather than being stuck in a pool week after week with a top team and not having success.
• Similar to the point above and to the EYBL, you have teams with reasonably similar talent participating.  That makes for mostly competitive games week in and week out.  That's more enjoyable and more valuable to all the teams involved.  Its the old argument of quality vs quantity.  Better to play fewer games and have them all be quality then a bunch of blowout games from the standard pool play format of most tournaments.
• One of things Nike talked about with the EYBL was the importance of every game and how big it was to win.  The same is true here as each game goes on the standings.  However, a very interesting point was that not having that bracket game and loss made a loss in a league game far more manageable.  Losing didn't mean losing a tournament, you had more league games to make it up.   Keeps parents happy when you're going home not "losing" a tournament.
• Costs - Sanford covered the entry fee for all the teams.  Tournament expenses are a large chunk of the AAU budget and when it covers that much of a team's schedule, that's a huge benefit.  
• The Sanford Pentagon.  For those not aware, Sanford is building a brand new basketball palace known as the Sanford Pentagon.  That will open this fall and host the league championships in future years.  The championships on a D1 college level court make it something for all the players to strive for.

This Weekend
This weekend wraps up the first season of the league.  The teams will play their final 3 games of the round-robin schedule.  The top 8 teams will then advance to the championship bracket.  The Minnesota Comets Lewis 17s and the Dakota Schoolers Vincent 15s have run the table thus far in league play.  But once bracket play starts anything can happen.    The pressure on those teams that did well in the regular season schedule will be a major factor to watch.  As always, it will come down to matchups as well.  All of the NSIC, the 4 D1 Dakota schools and Northern Iowa all expected to attend.  A crew of 10-20 D1 schools are expected to attend.

2013 D1 Summer Classic Preview

Its annual Summer Classic at Bloomington Jefferson.  This year a few games at Kennedy but the middle court in the Jefferson Activity Center is the place to be.  Pool play Thursday and Friday.  Opening rounds of bracket play on Saturday.  Semifinals and Championships on Sunday.  Here's what I'll be watching.

17s
Most of pool C will make for up and down action.  Grassroots (playing as Nations Elite) vs TVA at 9 PM Friday night could decide that pool.  MN Phenom will have something to say about that.  They open with Grassroots at 3:10 Thursday afternoon and then have TVA at 6:30 Thursday.  The 2nd WI Playmakers squad is also in that pool.  SW MN Stars and the top WI Starz team will go at it in pool D.  That game is also at 9 PM Friday night.  WOTN has a tough draw with traditionally solid M33M Elite in their pool at 10:45 on Friday morning.  Fury Anderson and Nebraska Select will meet at 6:45 PM on Friday in a game that could decide pool F.  D1 Minnesota tops pool A in their only local appearance of the season.  Shooting guard JP Macura has had a big spring earning him many high major offers including Minnesota and Purdue in the last week.  The MN Warriors are another tourney favorite in pool B.  Those 2 pool winners will receive byes in the championship bracket.

High Profile Players to Watch
JP Macura - D1 Minnesota 17s
Henry Ellenson - D1 Minnesota 16s
Amir Coffey - D1 Minnesota 15s

Other names of note in 17U
Delshawn Strickland, Ian Theisen- D1 Minnesota 17s
Carter Kirk, Mitch Pfingsten - SW MN Stars
Jacob Schaefer, Garrett Goetz - MN Warriors
Noble Fahnbulleh, TC Robinson, Charlie Koontz - Fury Anderson
Tyler Weiss - WOTN
Jerry Ngobi, Isaiah Shell. Craig Evans - WI Starz Black
Chike Ukah - Iowa Pump N Run Black

My pool picks are D1 MN, MN Warriors, Grassroots, SW MN Stars, Fury Anderson and M33M Elite.  No pick in a wide open pool E.

In 16U, a possible championship between Minnesota Basketball Academy Brown and D1 Minnesota is on the schedule.  That would be one of the MN AAU games of the year if it comes to pass.  tMBA coming off a championship at the NY2LA event last week.  Joey Witthus with a big week in that tourney.  A pool game that will be off the radar is Fury Ramey vs John Rumpza and Southern MN Elite.  That's 4:30 Friday at Kennedy.  Same time at Jefferson also has a sleeper game between Heat Calistro and Nebraska Select.  Thursday at 4:15 features Grassroots taking on the Holy Family based Hoopmasters squad.  Big Justin Dahl will be on display in that one but that's a tough matchup with a pressing trapping run up and down Grassroots team.   A very interesting matchup between MN Phenom West and Team GetShook in pool I also at 4:15 Thursday.  Lots of west metro kids familiar with each other in that one.  Sean Burns and Jerome Dixon from Armstrong leading the Phenom West squad.

2013 Summer Hit the Road

We're past the 4th of July and its time for the annual July road show.  The next 3 Wed-Sun periods (5 PM - 5 PM) are open periods for the D1 coaches to come out and watch.  Here's where our Minnesota teams can be found during this 1st open period.

NY2LA Next Level Invitational (Milwaukee)
17s
Net Gain
Fury Davis
Fury Zurn
Fury Anderson
Comets Lewis
Comets Servaty
Comets Schmidt
E1T1 Red
E1T1 Black
MN Warriors
MN Suns
WOTN
Select Ohnstad
Select Ellis
SW MN Stars

16s
Magic Blue
Comets Stanfield
Fury Johnson
Fury Ramey
MN Select
SW MN Stars
WOTN
Hoopmasters
E1T1
MN BB Academy Brown
MN BB Academy Tlougan

15s
Net Gain
Fury Wilde
Fury Peterson
Fury Altenhofen
MN Suns Wilson
MN Select
WOTN
Heat Biwan

Adidas Invitational (Indianapolis) 
17s
D1 MN
MN Glory
MN Phenom
Heat Vang

16s
D1 MN
MN Glory
Heat Bui
MN Phenom West
Team GetShook

15s
D1 MN

Midwest Summer Slam (Ames, IA)
Howard Pulley White 17s
Howard Pulley 16s
Howard Pulley both 15s
Heat Wiley and Hopkins (17u)
Heat Calistro, Schmumann and McKee (16s)
Heat Duberry and Schwartz (15U)

The Rest
Nike Peach Jam
Howard Pulley Blue 17s

Hoosier Shootout  (Indianapolis)
Phenom East 16s

Mullen's High Profile Tournament (St. Louis)
MN Cyclones

There are also teams in Wisconsin Dells (43 Hoops?)

2013 Great Plains Alliance Wrap

It was a quick 24 hours in St. Cloud for the final bit of 17U pool play and a full day bracket play at the 2013 Great Plains Alliance.   Still miffed that I didn't order the pulled pork sandwich on Saturday.  Total menu miscue on my part.  That's always quality food there and it didn't disappoint on Friday.  But the hot dog was a servicable stand in.  No major surprises in the 17U pool results.  Comets Lewis, Fury Davis, MN Warriors, ND Phenom, Fury Anderson, ECI Prospects, Heat Vang, WOTN I and MN BB Academy Brown were the pool winners.

Those pool wins didn't come easy.  MN Warriors used hot shooting from 3 (18-29) to beat Comets Blue.  Then they opened a big lead on the top Schoolers squad and then had to hold on to win by 6.  ECI Prospects held off E Metro (Johnson) 71-64 to win that pool.  Fury Anderson and Select Ohnstad went down to the wire to decide their pool.  Fury looked to have the close game locked up, but a couple of questionable shots and a missed free throw late gave Select one last chance.  Ian Smith's 3 banked just long.  That allowed Fury to hold on 71-68 and win the pool.  Quality battle in that game between Champlin Park's Ian Smith and Spring Lake Park's TC Robinson in that game.   A big crowd of NSIC coaches had the chance to watch that game and the ECI/Johnson game side by side.

In 17U bracket play a pair of blowup performances in the round of 16.  Wheeler Baker of Fury Davis with 6 3s and 24 points in the 1st half against the top Playmakers crew.  Tyler Rudolph of North Dakota Phenom with 32 and 17 and the Phenom pulled off the 75-73 upset of Heat Vang.  Select Ohnstad held off MN BB Academy Brown 63-52 to advance out of the round of 16.  MN Warriors struggled against Comets Servaty.  The Comets had a 41-39 lead with 5:30 left in that game.  But they would only score 1 more time.  Comets had the ball down 3 with 13 seconds left but never got off a final shot.  Warriors survive and advance 46-43.

Off to the highly anticipated quarterfinals.  The 3 early games didn't have the drama I anticipated.  Select Ohnstad def ND Phenom 68-63, Fury Davis surprisingly rolled ECI Prospects 64-45.  Fury Anderson big over WOTN I 73-55.  But the final quarterfinal between the MN Warriors and Comets Lewis was all that I thought it would be.   Austin Poe out with an injured ankle for the Comets, Jacob Schaefer away with the family for the Warriors.  Warriors get into their stuff and take a 19-15 lead.  Then the Comets go to a halfcourt trap and get a pair of bombs from Clay Elrod for a 12-0 run.  Love the strategy of speeding the game up and getting the Warriors out of their bag of tricks.  The Warriors shooting brings them right back with 4 straight 3s of their own from 3 different guys.  27 all with 4 left in the 1st.  35 all late in the half before the Comets score, get a turnover and Christan Pekarek knocks down a halfcourt 3 at the buzzer for a 40-35 Comets lead at the break.

No way anybody was going to pull away in this one.  Comets up 4 before a pair of Warriors 3s put them back up with 8 minutes left.  After a Comets miss, Warriors would hold the ball up 2.  But a turnover would give it back to the Comets and a pair of free throws would tie the game with a minute left.  Garrett Goetz outstanding this weekend and he came up with a pair of bonus free throws with 45.5 left.  After a scramble Brian Goodwin would tie it with 20 seconds left and that would force over time.  The Comets score right off the tip and get a stop.  They score all 7 in the OT to win 63-56.

The Comets luck would run out in the semifinals against Fury Anderson.  Fury would take a 3 point halftime lead and extend it to 10 with 14 minutes left.  The Comets would counter with a 17-0 run of their own.  52-45 Comets with about 8 to play.  But the offense would disappear after that.  Fury storms back and wins 67-58.    Fury Davis no problems with Select Ohnstad in the other semi as they won 75-55.

That setup a Fury vs Fury final.  Jake Johnson and Michael Gorder all of the Fury Davis offense early, 23 all late in the 1st half.  Then Fury Anderson uses a 9-0 run to open up a 32-24 halftime lead.  TC Robinson with a pair of 3s for Fury Anderson as they stretch the lead to 12 early in the 2nd half.  Fury Davis would make a comeback.  Dennis Austin getting in the lane and Wheeler Baker would get on the board inside of 8 minutes left.  Fury Anderson up 46-45 with 7:35 left.   A big possession down the stretch.  Fury Anderson with a 3 point lead and they hold inside of 3 minutes left.  They get at least 2 offensive board on the possession but after 1:20 off the clock, the possession ends with a charge.  Then 2 more Fury Anderson turnovers.  Baker takes the 2nd one for 1 of 2 free throws with 1:05 left to tie it at 51.  Fury Anderson would make 1-2 on back to back possessions after a Fury Davis miss.  Fury Davis takes time with 17.6 left down 2.  They call their standard baseline double for Wheeler Baker.  Michael Gorder sets the ball side block screen and slips it for a wide open layup with 6.2 left and we're tied.  Fury Anderson gets 1 last look and can't convert and we'll play OT.  With 25 ticks left in OT, Fury Anderson down 3.  Jake Johnson jumps out and blocks a Matt Ambriz 3.  Brian Ishola takes that for a dunk and Fury Davis wins the 17U title 58-53 in overtime.  Loved what TC Robinson and Noble Fahnbulleh did for Fury Anderson on the weekend.  Michael Gorder and Jake Johnson turned out nice performances for Fury Davis. 

In 16U, Comets Stanfield, Schoolers Bertram, Fury Ramey, D1 MN 15s, S MN Elite, Fury Johnson, ECI Prospects and Schoolers Kraning won the 8 pools.  The Comets took out Schoolers Bertam 71-62 and then took out D1 MN 82-75 in the semifinal.  Really liked Ben Ellefson (Hawley) from the Comets.  Expect his stock to really increase in the next year.  No good matchup for Brock Bertram on either end of the floor (always a tough life for bigs in AAU).  When that advantage/disadvantage doesn't go your way, then other options have to be looked at.  With D1 MN down most of the game, I thought they should have made a lineup adjustment.  Fury Johnson over Schoolers Kraning in the other 16U semifinal 64-53.  Fury Johnson opened up a big lead on Comets Stanfield in the final and won their 18th straight game and 3rd straight championship.

Schoolers Vincent def Comets Stumpf 52-38 to win the 15U title.

2013 Great Plains Alliance Preview

Hello?  Hello?  Is thing on?  After a spring hiatus in the 2nd chair on the bench, The Czar is back to work for the summer portion of the 2013 AAU season.  As is standard, the big late June bang is in St. Cloud for the Great Plains Alliance tourney.   Biggest games at the Whitney Rec Center with Sauk Rapids Middle and High Schools being the main alternate locations.  Showcase games Thursday night for all teams.  Pool play all day Friday and bracket play all day Saturday with a 6:30 17U championship finish.

17s
In the 17s bracket, none of the name brand sponsored programs attending but all of the next tier of teams will be there.  Top teams from the Comets, Fury, Select, Heat, WOTN, Schoolers, ECI, and WI Playmakers along with MN Warriors and MN Basketball Academy top 16s all in the 28 team 17U portion of the bracket.

In the Thursday showcase games, there's generally 1 game per session that stands out.  At 5:20 its the top Comets group taking on the top Playmakers group.  This Playmakers group looked awful at the April event but they have a new coach now.  Should be very interesting to see how they look now.  At 6:30 its my personal favorite game of the showcases when the MN Warriors take on the ECI Prospects.  ECI very impressive in St. Cloud in April as they shot the lights out all tourney.  The Warriors have the ability to keep up with that.  The starting groups will be very entertaining but expect the 2nd units to be the difference.  At 7:40 its the top Fury group with John Veil and Michael Gorder, but no Joe Hanel (injury) taking on WI Blizzard Schalow.  The Blizzard have a big man from upper Michigan, 6'8 Alex Almquist, that coaches will want to get a look at.  Also at 7:50, its WOTN I and their top Shakopee bigs, Tyler Weiss and Jake Maiers, taking on the top Dakota Schoolers team.  A down year for the top Schoolers 17s as they are 3-7 right now in the Sanford league.  At 8:50 its the top Select crew led by the guard duo of Ian Smith and Mo Lawal taking on E Metro Elite (a St. Paul Johnson group).

In Friday's pool play, Comets Lewis and Fury Davis take the 1st 2 pools.  MN Warriors are my pick in pool C over the top Schoolers team. ND Phenom vs Heat Frasier in the pool D opener at 9:10 AM should decide that pool.  Top Select team gets my vote in pool E.  Pool F with ECI Prospects, E Metro Elite and WI Blizzard gets consideration for toughest pool.  I still like ECI there.  In pool G, Heat Vang should advance.  Top Playmakers vs top WOTN at 1:50 PM to decide pool H.  Pool I has Marquette Catholic from Indiana (if I can read the pools right), Comets Servaty and the top MN Basketball Academy 16s.  Expect great balance in that pool as well.

Some very good games on the projections from the quarters all the way to the end.

Quarters
Comets Lewis over Warriors (championship level game)
Select over WOTN I
Heat Vang over MN Basketball Academy Brown
Fury Davis over ECI Prospects

Semis
Comets Lewis over Select
Fury Davis over Heat Vang

Final
Comets Lewis def Fury Davis

Players to watch
Ryan Bruggeman, Austin Poe, Clay Elrod - MN Comets Lewis
John Veil, Ngor Barnaba, Dennis Austin, Wheeler Baker, Jake Johnson- MN Fury Davis
Nick Machemehl - MN Comets Schmidt
Garrett Goetz, Jacob Schaefer - MN Warriors
Ryan Casperson, Ajuda Nywesh, Colin Fleming - MN Heat Frasier
Ian Smith, Mo Lawal, Stevie Hjelmberg - MN Select Ohnstad
Patrick Strom, Taylor Schaefer, Jim Warmack, Andrew Kozlowski - ECI Prospects
Alex Almquist - WI Blizzard
Tim Hanson, Geno Crandall - MN Heat Vang
Luke Zuiker, Dakota Oskey, Gaelin Elmore - WI Playmakers Peterson
Joey Witthus, Tommy Gathje, GT Johnson, Evan Nolan, Jacob Hansen - MN BB Academy Brown 16s

15U/16U
Some brief comments on the 15s and 16s.  MN D1 15s will play up in the 16s division.  Grassroots played them tough in St. Cloud in March.  Grassroots has to get through the top Fury team in a 10 PM pool game. Tough draw for MN Basketball Academy Witthus in that pool, but those Chanhassen 2015 kids are under appreciated.  See a kid like Ben Khwice (full disclosure, I coached him once upon a time) who came up and played varsity point at the end of the year.  How about Justin Dahl (Hoopmasters) and John Rumpza (S MN Elite) in a Friday morning showcase game at 10:20 AM.  Tough pool H in 16s with Hoopmasters (Holy Family kids), top Schoolers and top WOTN.   Comets vs D1 MN 15s in 1 semifinal and who ever wins that Grassroots vs top Fury game would be a pick to make the championship on the other side of the bracket.

In 15s have to like the top Comets vs Fury Altenhofen showcase game at 5:20 on Thursday afternoon.  Keep an eye on the top Schoolers team as well.  They've run the table so far in the Sanford league.  The bracket includes no fewer than 3 14U teams.

2013 Heat and Pulley weekend preview

Teams are back off the road after 2 weeks of seeing the college coaches.  The Minnesota Heat and Howard Pulley host their annual tournaments.  Here's what sticks out to me.

Meg Vang Invitational
This is the Heat's tournament which is more known for its youth level and 230+ teams this year.   But not all bad in the upper divisions either.  The 16s and 17s will be playing at St. Michael-Albertville for the most part.

17U
Heat Vang the obvious pick over Fury Zurn for the pool A title.  Geno Crandall coming off a very good weekend in Denver last week leading coach Vang's squad to a 3-1 record.  Heat Frasier and one of the D1 MN squads (15s I assume but I can't imagine its the 17s) in pool B.  They meet at 7:40 Saturday night.  Second teams from the Fury, WI Playmakers and All Iowa Attack in Pool C.  Have to like Fury there after a good weekend in KC last week.  Finally in pool D, its WOTN and Heat Reese (Heat's top 16s).  That's the 1st game on Friday night and will be at Brooklyn Center.  1st and 2nd place teams move to the title bracket on Sunday.  A possible top Heat 16s vs top Heat 17s game in the semis.  D1 MN vs Fury 2 projects as another quality semifinal.

16U
In Pool A, Heat Calistro and Southern MN Elite finish Saturday at 8:50 PM in the premier matchup in that pool.  GetShook looks to be a winner in Pool C.  The 2nd Fury group and the top Heat 15s of Tyler Biwan highlight pool D.  That game is bright and early at 8 AM on Saturday.  Heat Bui and TC Runnin Rebels meet at 7:40 PM on Saturday in a highlight game in pool F.

15U
These games will be at the Bethel Sports and Rec Center.  Great balance in pool A with Heat East, Fury Peterson and my pick MN Swish.  Swish is a group of SW Metro (Waconia) kids that played well in the PNR tourney.  Keep an eye on Real Athletics Jay in pool E.  Fury Altenhofen in pool G and Fury Wilde in pool H are other favorites.

Howard Pulley Invitational
Its the 13th year of the tournament and it returns to High Performance Academy in Eagan.  The usual appeal is seeing Tyus Jones play.  Get there at least a game early to do it though.  Space is tight and parking is just as tough.  The smallest field we've seen in a long time.  But that's understandable considering that the last 2 weeks were open periods and most teams want this week off.  Locally that's very true with the Sanford league and Kings of the Court next week and everybody playing 3 straight weekends (Comets + the 2 open periods)

17U
Pool A highlighted by Tyus, Reid Travis and company.  They get MN Basketball Academy's top 16s who went 4-1 in KC last week.  (Czar's Note: 5/2 its actually the 1st event for their 17U group with Aaron Workin from Eden Prairie and others, the top 16s are off).  Pool B has the Minnesota Warriors as a favorite.  Pool C is the deepest pool with KC Run GMC and #61 overall Dom Collier.  The guard from Denver has interest from North Carolina amongst others.   Then the 24u group from All Iowa Attack led by Darrion Strong and Cullen Russo and TVA.  Pool D is the 2nd Howard Pulley 17s which is all of their top 16u guys like Bjorn Broman, Matt Anderson, Sid Tomes etc.  Kingdom Hoops brings Jay Knuth (a pair of D1 offers this week) and Nate Gehring who make a quality front line for them.  SW MN Stars with D1 propsect Carter Kirk and shooting guard Mitch Pfingsten round out that pool.    Gehring vs Kirk 7 PM Saturday night.  Darrion Strong vs Dom Collier 4:20 on Saturday.  Pigtail games late night Saturday (9:30) with quarters late Sunday and a 3 PM title game.

16U
Only 11 teams in this division All Iowa Attack highlights pool A with a talented group that is trying to quality for the 16U Peach Jam.  Keep an eye on Daniel Tillo  and Michael Jacobsen for them.  KC Run GMC and Kingdom Hoops highlight pool B.  KC Run GMC won NY2LA 2 weeks ago and lost by 1 at the end to the Illinois Wolves in the title game last week in KC.  Drew Lock and Jimmy Whitt are a pair of kids to watch there.  They also have Jarred Dixon, the younger brother of Michael Dixon who was in the KC Run GMC organization (when it was KC PNR) and went on to Missouri.  A 3 team pool with a Howard Pulley group with more kids playing up and 2 bad teams rounds out the list.

15U
Jabbar Washington's 15U Pulley group leads pool A.  A fun pool B with John Hedstrom (former Tonka coach) leading the Pulley 14s.  Edina's Walt McGrory on that group and was 6th man for the Hornets this season.  Also in that pool is Power Group, a loaded 14U team from KC.  Keep an eye on Michael Porter, a very good talent who can shoot it and athlete Mitchell Ballock.   KC Run GMC's 15s highlight pool C.  They've handled Net Gain's 15s twice this year.  Grassroots, the 2nd Pulley team and All Iowa Attack round out pool D.

2013 Jayhawk thoughts

I was fortunate enough to take the weekend trip to Kansas City for the Jayhawk Invitational.  My thanks to Al Harris, Grant Fossum and the folks at Net Gain Sports for helping make the weekend possible.  Great facilities as the New Century Fieldhouse is a bigger version of Joy of the Game facility in Chicago.  Outstanding setup for the showcase games and the 3 Olathe, KS high schools were nice venues for outer sites.  I could do without the officials camp which makes for lots more ticky tack calls than you'll see during the average AAU tournament.  Thankfully it wasn't the disaster of a camp that was the main gym at Super 64 in Las Vegas last year.

The concept of multiple 16 team brackets is fairly straight forward.  But the Jayhawk decided to use a Rube Goldberg machine to explain the brackets..  For many trying to figure out what was what was an exercise in rocket science.  Don't even ask about the names of the brackets, I have no idea.

As to food, Oklahoma Joe's was the selection for some BBQ.  After last year's trip to Houston, a high standard was set.  That standard was not met.  Good food, but can't beat the entire package from last year's trip.  I ended the trip by snagging a glazed donut (think Krispy Kreme) from the concession on the way out of town.  Any concession stand with donuts can't be bad so mad props for having those.

17s
In the 17s, Net Gain played in the I Will bracket.  NGS lost their showcase game 64-59 to Texas Select James.  NGS would trail most of the way but thanks to Andre Wallace would tie the game at 53.  Wallace finished with 15 points.  After losing their bracket opener 52-49 to a very talented Dallas Mustangs program, NGS dropped into the consolation side of the bracket.  A tough Utah Prospects crew was the opponent and too much.  Center Brekkott Chapman is #87 in the nation overall according to Rivals and NGS had no good answer for him down low in the 1st half.  BYU commit Dalton Nixon and guard Jared Stutzman also effective for the Utah Prospects in their 71-61 win.  Andre Wallace again leading the way with 17 for NGS. Big sequence in that game just before half.  NGS ball down 7, score and you're down 5 and feeling good.  They turn it over and the Prospects pull up in the open court for a dagger 3 at the halftime buzzer to push the lead to 10.  Significant game changer there.

After a tough 0-3 start, NGS rebounded with a 50-47 win over I Can All-Stars.  Andre Wallace 16 points to lead the way.  Scoring at a premium for both sides.  3 missed front ends late gave I Can a chance late but NGS would hold on to get their 1st win of the tourney.  They then bounced SYF Players 60-46 in their final game to finish the weekend at 2-3.  Andre Wallace proving to be the top scoring punch.  David Jesperson very active all weekend on the glass.

Other notes in the 17s.  Howard Pulley 2nd 17s barely survived their 1st round Protect This House bracket game.  Down 2 late, Pulley missed a pair of long shots and got the ball back.  A late pass to Bjorn Broman and a desperation 3 with 1 second left is no good but the officials clinic gives us the tick tack call.  Broman drained all 3 free throws for a 59-58 win over Gamepoint.  They would survive against Gateway basketball club as well before falling to the Iowa Barnstormers in the semis.  The Las Vegas Prospects took it to the youngsters in the showcase game on Friday night 66-35.  Pulley finishes 2-2 with a pair of 1 point wins.   Also in that bracket, Comets Lewis knocked off Team Superstar from the I Will bracket.  Brian Goodwin 4-4 clutch free throws in the last minute of the 56-52 win.  Comets without Andy Foley and Christian Pekarek not to mention the injured Ryan Bruggeman.  They would lose 69-62 to All Iowa Attack in the 1st bracket game. That AIA crew featured Darrion Strong and Cullen Russo, a couple of local names from years past.    Comets then lost to KC Keys and Dallas Mustangs Blue in a pair of tight games. 

Fury Anderson finished 3-1 in the Spine bracket with a loss in the quarterfinals.  Fury Zurn lost the title game of the Armour 39 bracket after knocking off Comets Schmidt 58-48 in the semis. 3 wins to get there from the Fury crew.  WOTN lost in the quarters of that same bracket but then knocked off Comets Schmidt.  

Ray Allen Select the only team on the circuit that I would accept running The Flex (I like it in this case so I won't call it by the usual name here).  A pleasure to watch the 2 way options, curling screens and not being robots in it.  A novel concept on the AAU circuit, a team that actually knows how to play and reads defenses rather than just running plays.  RAS down 18 to the Houston Defenders in the quarters at half, went up 5 or 7 very late with ridiculous shooting and then lost on a layup at the buzzer that may have been late. 

16s
MN Cyclones and MN BB Academy-Brown on separate sides of the I Will bracket.  Both would hold on in the 1st round.  MNBBA coming back in regulation before winning by 3 in OT, Cyclones by 4 after a double digit lead.  Both would fall in the quarterfinals.  After wins they would meet each other Sunday afternoon.  MN BB Academy would control that action in a 64-50 win for local bragging rights.  Alex Illikainen getting plenty of coaches to watch but he just didn't look right.  The rest of the roster didn't hit shots.  The lack of athletes showed in their loss against a smaller but athletic Illinois Wolves roster. 

Howard Pulley Black (Jabbar Washington) 1-3 coming out of the Protect This House bracket.  Howard Pulley Black (Thurston) won 2 before being knocked out in the semis of the Spine bracket.  They knocked out GetShook in the 1st round 52-32.  Fury Ramey won that bracket.  Comets Stanfield knocked out 1st round there, lost their 2nd game and beat a Mid-Kansas squad.  2nd MN BB Academy team was knocked out in the quarters of that bracket.  GetShook won 2 consolation games and lost the consolation Spine title by 1.

In the Armour bracket, Magic Elite lost opening round as did the 3rd MN BB Academy group.  Magic lost their 2nd before bouncing back with 2 wins.  Fury Johnson made a run to the title game before losing.

15s
Gamepoint won the I Will title in thrilling fashion.  After the St Louis Eagles White crew made a clutch 3 to tie inside of 10 seconds left in OT, Gamepoint rushed the ball back and was fouled with no time left.  2 free throws, 1st no good, 2nd up and in for a 60-59 win.  Small gym, an extra gamepoint team cheering like the old 43 Hoops teams used to.  They even pulled out an I Believe chant at the start of OT.  That's a first for that chant in AAU ball. 

Gamepoint knocked off NGS 62-49 in the 1st round.  NGS knocked off the Utah Prospects 51-44 after almost giving away a double digit 2nd half lead.  Then a win over TS Superstars before falling 61-40 to KC Run GMC in the consolation championship.  NGS with a big lineup of guys including Reed Nikko, Sam Sustachek, Luke Harris and Austin Slater.  Johnny Beeninga with 18 in the loss to KC Run GMC to lead from the guard spot.  They'll need to take better care of the ball and find more consistent outside shooting.  Have to love the spirit shown on their bench and they will get after you on the defensive end.

2013 Open Weekend 1 thoughts

Thank you to the 9999th batch of April snow for giving some extra time to put together thoughts from NY2LA Spring Extravaganza and the Pump N Run Spring Classic.

Czar Weekend Commentary
I took in the showcase games at NY2LA on Friday night.  Very entertaining games with KC Run GMC coming back from double digits down to steal one at the buzzer from Ray Allen Select.  KC Run GMC with great retro Kansas City Kings blue uniforms.  Look for those in 2 weeks at the Pulley tournament.  Net Gain fell behind by 11 at half to TP Elite in 17s and couildn't recover.  TVA blew an 8 point halftime lead but JJ Morris came up with a clutch 3 to force OT before TVA lost 56-55 to Iowa Elite.  Lester Prairie's Nick Machemehl clutch in the last minute of the Comets Schmidt opener with 2 buckets but it was a Chris Duff putback at the buzzer that gave the Comets crew a 60-59 win over Mid-Kansas.

Story game of the weekend had to be the Heat Calistro quarterfinal win over the D1 MN 15s.  Heat had a late 9 point lead before Amir Coffey sparked a huge comeback.  D1 would have a 74-70 lead with 2:37 left.  Heat would get a bucket and then convert after a turnover. D1 held for last shot and took a timeout with 11 seconds left to go for the game winner.  But Joh Farmer stole the pass to the backcourt and took it the other way for free throws.  He made both for the lead.  Amir Coffey took the inbounds and went coast to coast and missed an open layup at the buzzer to give Heat the 78-76 win.  Heat led that game most of the way and despite giving up the lead late, they pulled out a W.  The Heat has been high on that Heat Calistro group (3rd team on paper), keep an eye on them. 

Grassroots got down 23 to Top City in the 2nd half of the 17U semis.  They made a furious comeback behind hot shooting from Steve Makely but it wasn't quite enough as they fell by 2.  Nice weekend for Glory going 4-2 with a solid win over MN Phenom.  WOTN 5-1 this weekend as they won the Silver Bracket and their only loss was to Gold bracket champ Top City.  Shakopee's Tyler Weiss with effective play for WOTN.  Their squad is as talented a squad as they've had in a while.  Hard not to be impressed with the toughness of the Top City squad and they made open shots when available.  SW MN Stars with pool losses to the 2 bracket champs which eases the pain of a 3rd place pool finish but that's a group that had very high expectations.  They had chances at the end of their game against WOTN but chose not to go to their star Carter Kirk on any of them.

In 16s, sad to see Magic Blue coach Zach Towle physically confront an official after one of his players was rightfully tossed after an ugly sequence of events.  In a consolation game no less.  As coaches, we are role models for our players and need to set an example.  Apologies to sorry Sir Charles for that.  I loved Zach's intensity and toughness as a player.  I respect that he wanted to defend his player but there's also a right and wrong way to do it.  There is no place and no time, EVER, to physically confront an official, even bad AAU refs that are as abundant as plague rats.  Maybe I'm biased because 2 kids that I used to coach are on that team, but if there's anything right in the world, Zach will show he's learned from his mistake and he'll suspend himself for a minimum of their tournament.  I tell my players, the only bad mistake you make is the one you don't learn from.  For a young man and a young coach I hope that's true for Zach in this case.


Glad to see Top City and the D1 MN 16s win in the semifinals.  There's just something slimy to me about having a team full of seniors (spare me the reclassification nonsense) playing in the 17s division in April.  We could have had Grassroots vs EOTO Black in a 24u matchup of Suggs, Powell, Carter etc vs Nick Anderson, Jamal Davis, Melvin Martin et al.  There has to be a better way if we're getting these kids "exposure", especially if some are already committed (e.g Renard Suggs).  Similarly, seeing TVA go out of their way to add 2 seniors late just for the sake of getting April wins and then puff out their chest about how they were the last MN team standing in the NY2LA event.  It all just demonstrates the greed part of the grassroots scene.

On a lighter note, great to see Bo Ryan and Greg Gard playing along with my twitter feed about their viewing (or potential leaving during a game) of Henry Ellenson.  Its out of hand when they make sure they yell at me from the balcony on their way out to make sure I know it was a flight that made them leave the title game early, not lack of interest

$3 Hot Dogs were steep but the $4 meal deal with a bad of chips and 12 oz plastic bottle more than made up for it.  The hot dogs were absolutely outstanding.  Due to the Hopkins setup of having to go all the way up and around and fight the crowds, going back to the concession stand on Friday night was too much.

Wisconsin was at all of the D1 MN 16s games to see Henry Ellenson.  Ben Johnson and Creighton also made appearances for Ellenson.  South Dakota State, Northern Iowa, Elon and The Citadel some of the small schools on hand along with the NSIC D2s, NDSCS and DCTC.



Spring Classic Results
17s Pool A: Top City (KS), WOTN, SW MN Stars, Team EGOs
17s Pool B: D1 16s, IA PNR Gold, WC Wildcats, SW T-Hawks
17s Pool C: Pumas (MO), Heat-Frasier, NEI Nets, EOTO Red
17s Pool D: MN Warriors, MN Elite, CO Shining Stars, Comets Regional
17s Pool E: Grassroots, Fury Anderson, KC Premiere Preps, WI Starz Black
17s Pool F: EOTO Black, MN Phenom, Elevation Flyers (CO), Heat Hopkins
17s Pool G: KC Premiere, Glory, Heat Wiley, WI Starz Orange
17s Pool H: Next Level (CO), IA PNR Black, MN BB 16s, Fury Zurn

Championship Bracket
Quarters: Top City def Next Level 70-65, Grassroots def MN Warriors 77-71, D1 MN 16s def KC Premiere 69-47, EOTO Black def Pumas 75-62

Semis: Top City def Grassroots 70-68, D1 MN 16s def EOTO Black 59-39

Championship: Top City def D1 MN 16s 60-49

17U Silver Bracket
Quarters: WOTN def IA PNR Black, Fury Anderson def MN Elite, Glory def IA PNR Gold, Phenom def Heat Frasier

Semis: WOTN def Fury Anderson 70-64, Glory def MN Phenom 80-66

Championship: WOTN def Glory 69-47

16s Pool Results
A: Fury Ramey, IA PNR, MN BB Witthus
B: D1 MN 15s, Triple Threat, We Are Basketball
C: KC Premiere, ND Phenom, Heat Schumann
D: MN Phenom East, WI Blizzard Thomas, New Era
E: Next Level (CO), WI Magic, Glory
F: Pumas (MO), MN Elite, Heat Berndt
G: WI Starz Black, SW MN Stars, Hoopmasters
H: WI Blizzard Schneider, TC Runnin Rebels, Heat McKee
I: WI Blizzard Boots, Magic Blue, WC Wildcats
J: Heat Calistro, WOTN, Comets Regional
K: Nations Elite, MN BB Tlougen, WI Starz Orange

16 Championship Bracket

Pigtails
Blizzard Boots 60-58 over Blizzard Schneider in 3 OT, Phenom West def Next Level 83-65, Heat Calistro def WI Starz Black 74-50, Pumas def Nations Elite 80-56

Quarterfinals: WI Blizzard Boots def Fury Ramey 48-43, Phenom West def Phenom East 72-54, Heat Calistro def D1 MN 15s 78-76, Pumas def KC Premiere 68-39

Semifinals: Phenom West def WI Blizzard Boots 56-53, Pumas def Heat Calistro 57-39

Championship: Pumas def MN Phenom West 70-54

15s Pool Results
A: MN Swish, Real Athletics, WI Blizzard Phillips
B: MN Elite, Heat Duberry, KC Dragons
C: IA PNR Black
D: Omaha Celtics, SW MN Stars, WI Starz
E: CO Elite, MN Heat East, Pumas (MO)
F: The Academy (CAN), Fox Valley Storm, WOTN
G: Fury Peterson,
H: Fury Altenhofen, Heat Presbi, IA PNR Gold

15s Championship Bracket
Quarters: Swish def Fury Altenhofen, CO Elite def Omaha Celtics, Fury Peterson def MN Elite, The Academy def IA PNR Black

Semis: CO Elite def MN Swish 62-54, The Academy def Fury Peterson 40-36

Championship: CO Elite def The Academy 48-44

14u Championship: TP Elite def Real Athletics 62-60 with the best crowd of the weekend.

2013 1st Open Weekend Preview

Its the 1st open April weekend of the 2013 recruiting season.  Teams off to the 4 winds, here's what catches my eye.

Sanford Pentagon Tournament Series Session 1 (Ames, IA)
14 teams from the midwest have banded together to form their own league.  The league has 14 teams from Wisconsin, Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota and Minnesota.  Minnesota's reps include the top teams from the Comets, Select, Heat, and Fury.  Pulley's 2nd team, Suns and EOTO's top team round out the Minnesota group.  Dakota Schoolers, ECI Prospects, the top Omaha Crusaders team and All Iowa Attack round out the league. 

Session 1 of 3 is hosted by All Iowa Attack in Ames.  The Comets have a difficult weekend ahead with games against ECI, OSA and the Schoolers on Saturday.  They close out with the Heat and Fury top teams.  All of those teams looking for top half finishes in the league.  A sweep of the weekend would be huge for the Chris Lewis crew.  The league does the same thing for the 15s and 16s. 

Pump N Run Spring Classic (Bloomington Jefferson and Kennedy)
Thanks to a new Adidas deal, the top D1 Minnesota crew will be in Dallas at the Adidas VIP Exclusive run with all the other Adidas clubs.  The 15s and 16s for D1 Minnesota will play up again this week.  Looking forward to see who comes out to see Henry Ellenson for the D1 MN 16s.  Pool A has a noteworthy game between the SW MN Stars and WOTN on Saturday morning at 9:40.  The Stars have been very high on their group for a while.  After again making the stupid decision to stay out of the Comets tournament, the Stars will open this weekend.  Minnesota Warriors should make a run out of pool D.  Grassroots, Fury Anderson (2nd team who beat the top Fury team last week), the top WI Starz team and KC Premiere Preps make up a deep Pool E.  MN Phenom highlights pool F.  EOTO is some how listed in both this tournament and in Ames.  Look for another group of seniors to come out.  KC Premiere should be a favorite out of pool G.  MN Basketball Academy will also play up again this week in Pool H.

Its a simple setup with 3 pool games.  Winner plays 8 team championship bracket, 2nd place same thing in the silver.  Others get 1 friendship game Saturday night.  My picks in the title bracket are as follows.

Quarters
MN Basketball Academy over SW MN Stars
Grassroots over MN Warriors
D1 MN 16s over KC Premiere
Phenom over Pumas (MO)

Semis
Grassroots over MN BB Academy
D1 MN 16s over Phenom

Championship
Grassroots over D1 MN 16s

In the 16s there are 36 teams split in to 12 pools of 3 teams.  Pool L has a highlight matchup of Heat Bui vs Phenom West at Kennedy 6 PM on Friday.  Pool G looks deep with WI Starz, SW MN Stars and Hoopmasters.  Hoopmasters guard Jack Mugford with 38 vs Get Shook last week and they have big Justin Dahl inside.  Speaking of bigs, sounds like Sean Hjelle will be back for TC Runnin Rebels, they are in Pool H.  There are a bunch of WI Blizzard 16s in the bracket but the top team is across town at NY2LA.   Sleeper team is the 2nd MN BB Academy 16s of Larry Witthus in pool A.  Minnesota Fury Altenhofen is in pool H of the 15s coming off their Comets Shootout title. 

NY2LA Spring Extravaganza (Hopkins and Minnetonka)
Not too big of a local group there.  In the 17s, TVA, Net Gain, Comets Schmidt represent.  In the 16s, GetShook and the 2nd Comets group.  Comets 2nd team and Net Gain represent in the 15s.  Tons of other talent there though.  IBA Select (Sean O'Mara), Iowa Barnstormers, KC Run GMC, Madison Spartans, Ray Allen Select, Quad City Elite (UW commit Ethan Happ and Jalen Jones), TP Elite, Texas Select, WI Swing, Milwaukee Runnin Rebels (top 10 star Kevon Looney).  In the 16s, Young Legends look to have soph star big Diamond Stone.  The loaded WI Blizzard-Pronchinske squad with Cody Schwartz et al is also in this group.

2013 Comets Shootout Thoughts

Some random thoughts from the 2013 Comets Shootout

15u
With the 15s not playing at the Whitney until the championship game thoughts here will be minimal.   Fury Altenhofen took home the title with a 50-37 win over Fury Wilde.  Both have talented squads.  Fury Wilde took out a very good NGS squad during bracket play. Fury's Steffon Mitchell (Shakopee) showing some lefty versatility playing the point forward spot.  Very rare to see that on the circuit.  That game was one of the many AAU cases I run into during the year where there was no available information on either teams roster, so that made it difficult to watch.

16u
Comets Stanfield and D1 Minnesota (formerly Pump N Run) each went 3-0 to win their super pools.  The other pool winners in no particular order were MN BB Academy (Chaska guys?), MN Magic Blue (not last year's Magic Blue, they're now Magic Red), Get Shook, Grassroots, Southern MN Elite, ECI Prospects, MN Fury Ramey and Heat Calistro.

Championship Bracket Results

Round of 16
Fury Ramey def Heat Reese
Fury Anderson def Get Shook
Select def S MN Elite
Comets Stanfield def ECI Prospects 58-44
Phenom West def MN BB Academy 62-48
WI Playmakers I def Heat Calistro 55-32
Magic Blue def TC Runnin Rebels 62-50
D1 MN 15s def Grassroots 57-51

Quarterfinals
Fury Anderson def Fury Ramey 66-43
Comets Stanfield def Select 72-58
Phenom West def Playmakers I
D1 MN 15s def Magic Blue 83-64

Semis
Fury Johnson def Comets Stanfield 62-47
D1 MN 15s def Phenom West 78-72

Final
D1 MN 15s def Fury Johnson 84-81

Quality performances from Southern MN Elite (Blooming Prairie star John Rumpza on that roster), Phenom West (with 3 Net Gain guys from last year, Sean Burns, Marty Hill and Jerome Dixon) and Magic Blue.  Magic Blue with a couple of guards who played on a team I helped coach a couple of years ago.  They added Clay Sieffert a quality perimeter player from Prescott, WI and 6'9" center Kyle McKinley from the Stillwater JV squad.  McKinley with a break out weekend swatting shots and some strong dunks finishing plays inside.   Patrick Dembley with clutch play for the D1 MN 15s and Amir Coffey went off for 38 in the championship game.

Minnesota Heat Reese arguably the biggest disappointment in the 16U bracket as they didn't look good in their 2-1 super pool record.  They lost by 15 to Comets Stanfield and needed a late rally to survive 59-55 against the WI Playmakers.  They knocked off the TC Runnin Rebels 83-75 with the Rebels not having their center Sean Hjelle.  Then the Heat went out in the 1st round in an ugly loss to Fury Ramey.  New pieces were added this season and the chemistry on the opening weekend was definitely missing.

17u
Championship Bracket results

Round of 32
Comets Lewis def WC Wildcats 74-26
Glory def WI Playmakers II with a 3 with 4.1 left 49-48
WOTN def EOTO Red
Select Ohnstad def Heat Hopkins
D1 MN 16s def Comets Regional 69-44
ECI Prospects def MN Phenom (think Heat Garvis) 54-50
Fury Zurn def Comets Servaty 51-45
WI Playmakers I def MN Suns 61-37
Net Gain def Tropics 72-5
Heat Frasier def Comets Schmidt 64-60
Fury Anderson def Magic Elite
Heat Vang def Select Ellis 82-56
MN Warriors def ECI Select
MN BB Academy 16s def EOTO Black
TVA def Heat Wiley
Fury Davis def Comets Blue

Round of 16
Comets Lewis def Glory 88-63
Select Ohnstad def WOTN 66-54
ECI Prospects def D1 MN 16s 67-65
Playmakers I def Fury Zurn
Net Gain def Heat Frasier 81-36
Heat Vang def Fury Anderson 68-62 (great 2-2-1 call by Willie Vang to bring Heat back)
MN Warriors def MN BB Academy 16s 63-50
TVA def Fury Davis 71-65

Quarterfinals
Comets Lewis def Select Ohnstad 63-57
ECI Prospects def WI Playmakers I 78-45
NGS def Heat Vang 85-57
MN Warriors def TVA 69-59

Semis
Comets Lewis def ECI Prospects 78-72
NGS def MN Warriors 80-66

Final
Comets Lewis def NGS 69-67

The Net Gain ringer was David Jesperson from Merrill, WI.  He's the younger brother of Paul Jesperson who played some events here with the WI Playmakers and is currently at Virginia.  Since NGS has set the ringer bar very high (see UConn recruit Phil Nolan last year), this disappointed some folks. His play wasn't needed in the 1st round as NGS opened up a 54-0 lead vs Tropics and only allowed 2 FGs in a 72-5 win.  I thought Dejon Davis flew under the radar with all of the other Pump N Run kids last year.  He was great this weekend for NGS knocking down corner 3s against everybody.  Add that to his standout defense that he's known for and expect his name to get some interest this spring and summer.

The biggest shockwave came in round 2 when ECI Prospects had Tanner Kretchman bury a 3 at the buzzer to knock off the D1 MN 16s 67-65.  ECI had problems with their 4 man bench, but their top 4 guards shot the lights out all weekend.  They jumped on teams right out of the gate with scorching shooting (18-4 vs Phenom, 18-11 vs Comets, 21-9 vs D1 MN).  They knocked down 10 threes in the 1st half against the Comets and ended with 15 and still lost.  They were the team that surprised me the most.  A 78-45 quarterfinal victory over a talented but listless WI Playmakers top squad was particularly impressive.

Outside of possibly Tyus Jones, is there a player who has more control of his team and the ball than Garrett Goetz of the MN Warriors.  The Warriors run more sets and more sets well than maybe any AAU team I've ever seen.  Goetz is the guy who makes that go from the point guard spot.

The 32 team bracket I felt lent itself to tons of blowouts.  Only 1 competitive game in the 7 quarters that saw between 16s and 17s.  As long as the day is and as painful as it is for the players, I would prefer a smaller super pool format and then bracket rather than the 1st round games.  Even many of the 2nd round games weren't that interesting.   But that would eliminate that surprise team like Heat Reese last year and TVA this year.

Biggest disappointment in the 17U division may be a trend.  Fury Davis was upset here last year (see Heat Reese from last year) and this year they went out to TVA (another athletic group) in the 2nd round.  Fury Davis then lost to Fury Anderson in a consolation game.  Now adding new pieces is always difficult and last year Ben Davis led his squad to a sweet 16 run in the Adidas Super 64 and upset of the Dallas Mustangs.  So I expect that group to fine but once again opening weekend wasn't up to the usual high standards.  Most surprising was a late technical in the loss to TVA that put the Fury down 6 and they never recovered.

2013 Comets Shootout Predictions

Its time once again for the Comets Shootout.  As always its the big kickoff to the spring/summer grassroots season.   All of the NSIC and tons of D3/NAIA types can be expected to be watching throughout the weekend.  A major format change in both 17U and 16U this season.  17U will not have pool play this season and will instead play a 32 team straight bracket format.  That means only 2 games on Saturday night and no more than 3 (rather than 4) on Sunday.  That beats the 7 in 26 hours that has been the norm over the years for the teams that make the championship game.  All 17U games in the championship side starting in the round of 16 will be at the Whitney Rec Center.  Round of 32 games and consolation side of the bracket will also be held at Sauk Rapids High School.  That allows the 17U games to be pushed back until 4:10 PM with a trio of 2nd round games being held at 10 PM at the Whitney.

In 16U, its a 40 team group with 10 pools of 4.  The top 2 pools are super pools with all teams making the championship bracket to go along with the other pool winners.  Those 2 super pools fill out the early sessions at the Whitney.  15s and 16s fill out the 3 main courts and the auxillary gym at Sauk Rapids HS during the early sessions.  Pool play as always is Saturday and bracket play on Sunday in all divisions.

What The Czar Is Watching
I'm planning on taking a look at the 16U super pools early Saturday.  Heat Reese (last year's Heat Bui/Lesewski crew) has added some nice guard pieces with Jalen Mobley and Andrew Grosz.  How they improved inside will be a big key.  They have the top Comets crew and a sleeper team in the TC Runnin Rebels in their pool.  That's a NE metro crew.  Hoping to get a look at center Sean Hjelle.  The other super pool has Nick Carroll's MN D1 (formerly MN Pump N Run) 15U crew along with the top Fury group.  That Fury group has added some nice pieces in guard Grantham Gillard, wing Brenon Larson-Gulsvig who came on for Lakeville South and Lakeville North's Connor Flack.  Looking forward to seeing Trevor Rothstein from STMA with this crew as well.

Then in 17s, not much compelling in the round of 32 as the tourney has been seeded.  Main thing to see there is who Net Gain pulls out of the hat in their 4:10 PM opener.  Every year somebody seems to magically appear for them.  Will Rashad Vaughn be there, with NGS, with somebody else?

In the round of 16s, some interesting matchups late Saturday night.  Select I and WOTN have ties via coach Mitch Ohnstad.  Select with guards who can score and a solid group of bigs.  ECI Prospects has a solid group to battle the MN D1 16s.  MN Warriors vs MN BB Academy 16s (last year's tNBA guys) is a pair of groups that are may not be the most athletic but they are very well coached, unselfish and run great stuff.  They've also played together for years which is a big advantage in this tournament as nobody has had much practice time.

The rest is just straight talent and that means another NGS vs MN D1 matchup.  NGS kids with the year age advantage so I'll give them the nod.

17U Players to Watch

• Ryan Bruggeman, Clay Elrod, Austin Poe - MN Comets Lewis
• Adam Laine - MN Glory
• Tyler Weiss - WOTN
• Mo Lawal, Ian Smith - MN Select Ohnstad
• Henry Ellenson, Marshawn Wilson - MN D1 16s
• Patrick Strom, Taylor Schafer, Jim Warmack - ECI Prospects
• Luke Zuiker, Dakota Oskey, Gaelin Elmore - WI Playmakers Mallett
• Jon Sobaski, Andre Wallace - Net Gain Sports
• Nick Machemehl, D'Angelo Burns - MN Comets Schmidt
• Geno Crandall - MN Heat Vang
• Kory Deadrick, Charlie Koontz - MN Fury Anderson
• Jacob Schaefer, Garrett Goetz - MN Warriors
• Joey Witthus, Jacob Hansen, GT Johnson, Tommy Gathje - MN BB Academy 16s
• John Veil, Ngor Barnaba, Wheeler Baker, Michael Gorder - MN Fury Davis

16U Players to Watch

• Andrew Grosz, Jalen Mobley, Ben Boone - Heat Reese
• Sean Hjelle - TC Runnin Rebels
• Amir Coffey, Brock Bertram, Jake Dale, Rece Dietrich - MN D1 15s
• Ben Ellefson - MN Comets Stanfield
• Justin Dahl - Hoopmasters
• Logan Halvorsen, Connor Flack, Brenon Larson-Gulsvig - MN Fury Johnson

17U PREDICTIONS
ROUND OF 32
Comets Lewis over WC Wildcats
Glory over Playmakers II
WOTN over E1T1 Red
Select I over Heat Hopkins

MN D1 16s over Comets Regional
ECI Prospects over Phenom
Comets III over Fury III
Playmakers I over Suns

Net Gain Sports over Tropics
Comets II over Heat Frasier
Fury II over Magic
Heat Vang over Select II

MN Warriors over ECI II
MN BB Academy 16s vs E1T1 Black
TVA over Heat Wiley
Fury Davis over Comets Blue

ROUND OF 16
Comets over Glory
Select I over WOTN
D1 16s over ECI Prospects
Playmakers I over Comets III

NGS over Comets II
Fury II over Heat Vang
MN Warriors over MN BB Academy 16s
Fury Davis over TVA

QUARTERFINALS
Comets over Select I
D1 16s over Playmakers
NGS over Fury II
MN Warriors over Fury Davis (Hanel vs old team)

SEMIFINALS
D1 16s over Comets
NGS over MN Warriors

CHAMPIONSHIP
NGS over D1 16s

2013 AAU Bingo Rules

With a few Minnesota AAU teams opening up their season this weekend, its time for the game craze sweeping the nation, AAU Bingo!  For those of you new to the game, its all about the sights and sounds of the spring and summer basketball season.  This year we're playing blackout rules.   You have to fill the card to win.  These have to be seen in a gym at an AAU tournament unless otherwise noted.  First one to finish their card gets to take a Monday AM red-eye flight home after Las Vegas in July and work the same day.

If you see any items on the game card or other events that you feel should get credit, tweet them to me (@tchoopsczar) with the hashtag #AAUBingo to get credit.  I'll retweet them for everyone's amusement.

Here's the game card.

Row 1 (Coaching Accessories)
These must be seen while the coach is coaching

• Coach wearing any type of hat or headgear
• Coach wearing flip-flops or sandals or equivalent
• Coach wearing a bluetooth (or equivalent) or using a phone.  (Note: player or coach wearing headphones during the game or warmups also qualifies here)
• Coach wearing a backpack, fanny back or any other equivalent.
• Coach using a towel as an accessory (e.g John Thompson or Jerry Tarkanian)
  Bonus: Coach wearing sunglasses, mark the entire row

Row 2 (Tournament Play)

• Player shows up late for game or switches teams during a tournament
• Team has a set play called "Do Him" or equivalent
• Team runs THE WORLD'S WORST OFFENSE
• Team plays a junk defense
• Team skips at least 1 game of tournament to get home earlier.

Row 3 (Personalities)
You just have to see these people in the building to mark the square

• UW Ole or Late Night Hoops (Wisconsin reps)
• The Coolest Guy in the UMAC
• Hat Lady (has to have the center square)
• The Coolest Guy in the NSIC
• Gopher Lady, Tubby Smith or Sid Hartman (Minnesota reps)
  Bonus: If you provide me photographic evidence of Hat Lady, mark the entire row
  
  Knockout Blow: If you see Hat Lady in the gym on Kentucky Derby day and provide me a picture, mark all squares for victory.  If I correctly predict the color of her outfit before I see the picture, I mark all squares on my card.

Row 4 (Referees)
If you see these referees or issues with referees

• The Nutty Professor
• The Quickest Trigger in Minnesota hits anybody with a T
• The Official Formerly Known as The Reverend Al Sharpton makes a call from the opposite side of halfcourt.
• Slapping the backboard called goaltending.
• Dennis Haysbert
  Bonus: If you see Czar get tossed or threatened to be tossed (in jest counts too), mark the entire row

Row 5 (Incidents and Accidents)

• Concession stand charges $2 or more for 12 oz beverage, $2.50 or more for 20 oz beverage.
• Toddler runs on to court during play
• Coach or fan gets ejected
• Scorer's table worker using phone during the game.
• Czar eating a Walking Taco

2013 Class AA Championship

Prologue
A great contrast of styles for the Class AA title as Litchfield takes on Minnehaha.  Minnehaha a team that wants to get out and run and make the game hectic.  Litchfield very disciplined and sound.  They make you work.
 
Game Time
John Pryor back to 3s as the Redhawks start 3-3 from deep.  9-5 Minnehaha at the 1st TV break at 14:10.  Riley Pater with 3 straight nice post moves to pull the Dragons within 14-13 at the 8:40 minute mark.  Marcellous Hazzard with back to back 3s after Litchfield took a 17-16 lead.  TV Timeout at the 6:15 mark with Minnehaha up 22-19. Hazzard showing surprising range as he's 3 for 3 from the deep beyond and has 12 points.  Minnehaha switches to a 2-3 zone for a different look.  Litchfield only 1-6 from 3 after their hot shooting in the semifinals.  26 all tie at the 2:58 TV timeout as Zach Kinny buries a 3 and adds a pair of assists in the last 7 points for the Dragons.

Hazzard on the run after a miss for a layup.  Minnehaha up 38-33 inside of 14 to play.  Litchfield runs the same nice set (think Jameson Parsons of Eagan for 3) back to back for 1 3 and then misses a good look at another.  Jesse Johnson for 3 and that forces a Litchfield timeout with 12:25 left.  41-36 Minnehaha leading.  Litchfield pounds the ball inside with big Riley Pater scoring and a Dylan Koll getting a free throw off a post touch.  Its Pater again on the right block as Litchfield stays within 43-41 at the 10:08 TV timeout.

Pater with another easy bucket inside and Litchfield is back to even at 43 with 8:30 to play.  Zach Kinny with the spin for a 3 point play with 7:34 to play.  Litchfield back on top 46-45.  John Pryor with the response for the Redhawks with a right wing 3.  That's his first points since the back to back bombs very early in the game.  48-46 Minnehaha as we go to a TV timeout with 6:10 to play. 

One of the best student moments of the tournament.  Minnehaha kids pull out the "I Believe" chant and Litchfield kids respond with "I believe that you will lose" chant.  Outstanding take.  An off ball foul for 2 Litchfield free throws and then Hazzard drops the shoulder inside for a charge.  Lance Johnson not at all happy with that.  Pater stripped but gets the whistle.  He misses the front end after a Minnehaha timeout with 4:25 to play and a 1 point Redhawks lead.

Pryor with his 4th bomb, this one from the top, with 3:45 to play to give Minnehaha a little breathing room going to the final TV timeout with 3:24 left.  53-51 Minnehaha and Litchfield doesn't have a field goal since the Kinny 3 point play with 7:34 left.  Minnehaha grabs an offensive board on the possession.  They'll hold the ball.  Litchfield gives 1 of their 2 to give.  Timeout Litchfield to strategize the final 1:44.  53-51 Minnehaha with the ball.

Kaharri Carter off the bounce and draws a pair of fouls.  He steps up with 1:26 left and knocks down both ends of the 1 and 1.  Cameron Sundmark gets the kickout from Zach Whitchurch and buries the 3 with 1:06 left to cut the lead to 1.  Minnehaha off the bounce and the lefty layup is no good with 45 seconds left.  Litchfield grabs the board with a chance to take the lead.  Pater's bank from the left block is no good with 25 seconds left.  Great look. 

Carter back to the line with 16.2 left.  He makes the first and Thomas Gedion grabs the miss of the second. But he's off balance and has to throw it up.  Litchfield grabs that board and takes time with 12 seconds left.  They'll have it full court.  Whitchurch up and under at the buzzer is no good.  Minnehaha wins the state title 56-54.

Post Game
For Minnehaha, they only shoot 42.2% but make 8 of 15 3s.  Kaharri Carter 11 and 8.  Marcellous Hazzard 14 and 6.  John Pryor 4 3s for 12.  Riley Pater 16 points for Litchfield.  Zach Kinny a nice all around game with 8 points, 7 boards and 6 assists.  Litchfield 5-16 from 3 and 16-27 from 2.  Minnehaha wins the rebounding battle 33-20.  They grab 13 offensive boards for 13 points compared to 4 2nd chance points for Litchfield.

Class AA All-Tournament Team
Kory Deadrick - Esko
Matt Miller, Brett Ahsenmacher - Annandale
Zach Whitchurch, Zach Kinny, Riley Pater - Litchfield
Jesse Johnson, Kaharri Carter, Thomas Gedion, Marcellous Hazzard - Minnehaha

2013 Class A Championship

Prologue
Its Maranatha and SW Minnesota Christian in a heavyweight class clash for the 2013 Class A state championship.  MCA with 5 guys who can all score.  SW MN Christian with Leighton Sampson inside and a defender in Klint Knutson along with Dominic Nibbelink on the outside.   A great start to championship day.

Game Time
Interesting choice for MCA putting Isaiah Hanson on Sampson rather than Shan Cheema.  Garrison Gillard with back to back hoops.  1st TV timeout at 13:29 after 2 Knutson FTs, 9-8 Mustangs lead.  Both teams getting quality looks going to rim.  Maranatha via getting out and running.  Southwest MN Christian off the bounce.  Both teams still getting anything they want.  10:51 TV timeout 13-12 MCA.  Teams combining for 11-17 shooting.  7-0 SW MN Christian run with Nate Pfeifle knocking down a 3 and then blowing by and going all the way from the top of the key with no help.   Timeout MCA down 19-13 at the 9:06 mark.

Sampson inside for a layup as MCA not guarding anybody.  Then another straight line drive for another layup.  Sampson buries Isaiah Hanson inside for a bunny and then another layup on a loose ball and feed.  29-21 Eagles with 6:36 left in the half.  SW MN Christian a blistering 13-16 from the floor.   Sampson misses a bunny, Grantham Gillard runs the other way and Sampson smacks that into another dimension.  But MCA gets it back and converts to cut the lead to 4.  Eagles miss 2 bunnies and Isaiah Hanson buries a left wing 3 at the 2:45 mark.   Hanson stuffed by Sampson and puts it back at the 2:25 mark.  Mustangs on the run after a turnover and its Josh Goldschmidt draino from the right corner for 3.  Timeout SW MN Christian after the 12-1 MCA run.  33-30 MCA with 2:11 left in the half.  Both fan sections really into it.  Goldschmidt pressured on a layup and misses and Nibbelink counters with a jumper on the other end.  Isaiah Hanson beats the buzzer with a putback for 37-34 MCA lead at the half.  MCA shoots 51.6% and grabs 6 offensive boards.  But they give up 62.5% on the other end.  Isaiah Hanson 16 and 7 in the half.  Leighton Sampson with 12. 

MCA puts Grantham Gillard in to start the second half.  Sampson running the floor and gets the nice feed for a layup at the 15:35 mark.  Coach Jeff Wall not happy and he takes timeout for MCA as the game is back to even at 39.  Grantham Gillard with a step back 3 to stop the 7-0 run and Jeremiah Hanson with a 3 of his own for a 4 point MCA lead.  After a Nibbelink 3, Garrison Gillard with the tough And 1 followed by a Goldschmidt 3 with 12:45 left.  MCA out to a 51-44 lead after a 12-3 run.

Isaiah Hanson sits and MCA promptly gives up a BLOB layup and turns it over for another layup. Nibbelink for 3 and we're back to even at 55 with 10 minutes to play.  TV Timeout with 9:45 left and Isaiah checks back in to go with the original starting 5.  Nibbelink to the rack with 8:13 left and that's the 4th on Josh Goldschmidt.  Jeff Wall decides to leave him in there.  SW MN Christian stretches it to 62-58 at the 6:59 TV timeout.

Jeremiah Hanson with a drive and difficult lefty finish.  That's countered by Knutson right to the rim unchallenged for a layup. Jeremiah again before Nibbelink goes to the floater.  A Mustangs miss and Pfeifle comes alive with a straight away 3.   SW MN Christian crowd erupts as the lead grows to 7.  MCA misses again.  Nibbelink hit on the drive and makes both ends of the bonus.  That sends us to the last TV timeout with 3:09 left.  73-64 SW MN Christian ahead after a 7-0 run.

Only basket in the half for Isaiah Hanson before he knocks down a 3 inside of 2 minutes left.  Josh Goldschmidt puts back a miss after a turnover.  Last MCA timeout with 1:24 left with the Mustangs trailing 75-69.  A quick drive and miss by SW MN Christian leads to Garrison Gillard FTs on the other with 1:11 left.  The clock never starts so MCA gets a good 5 more seconds but that won't matter.  SW Minnesota Christian wins the Class A title 81-73.

Dominick Nibbelink with 22 of his 28 points in the second half to lead all scorers.  Leighton Sampson 22.  For Maranatha, Isaiah Hanson with 24 points and 8 rebounds.  Josh Goldschmidt 16 points and 7 rebounds.  SW MN Christian shoots a crazy 64.6% from the field including 16-24 (66.6%) in the 2nd half.  MCA wins the 2nd chance battle 18-2 thanks to 16 offensive boards but SW MN Christian wins points off turnovers 17-7.


Class A All Tournament Team
Anders Broman - Lakeview Christian
Seth Thompson - Rushford - Peterson
Upsala - Christian Pekarek
Leighton Sampson, Klint Knutson, Dominic Nibbelink - SW MN Christian
Grantham Gillard, Garrison Gillard, Jeremiah Hanson, Isaiah Hanson - Maranatha

2013 AAAA Semi: Park Center vs Edina

Prologue
Its the battle for Mr Basketball as Edina takes on Park Center in the 2nd Class 4A semifinal.  Quinton Hooker vs Graham Woodward in a showcase of point guards.   As expected a poor turnout from the Edina student section and though smaller, a great Park Center crowd.

Game Time
Josh Matthews picks up 2 fouls in the 1st 2:06 and that forces the small Pirates to go to their bench to find another guy against Reggie Lynch.  Hooker with a nice take and using the rim and reversing to score with Lynch looking for a block.  Graham Woodward knocks down a 3 to give Edina a 9-5 lead at the 14:20 TV timeout.  Hooker with the runout and finish to tie it.  He then kicks out to Devin Buckley for a 4 point play at the 12:40 mark.  That gives Park Center a 13-9 lead (8-0 run).  More importantly its the 2nd foul on Lynch and he'll sit.  That's a big advantage to the Pirates.

The Edina bench only goes 2 deep so Lynch comes back at the 11:07 mark.  That's a signficant gamble from coach Dorsey.  Any drive to the basket could easily get the 3rd.  Park Center trying to face guard Woodward to limit his touches.  Devin Paine just one of many guys getting their chances to defend Woodward.  But Woodward pulls up for 3 to keep Edina within 17-14.  Lynch gets his 3rd on a cheap reach going for an offensive board at the 8:45 mark and sits.  Edina to a zone at the 7:10 mark and Isaiah McKay buries his 2nd 3.  25-16 Park Center inside of 7 left in the half.  Then Treyton Daniels swats back to back shots on an Edina possession.  Hooker runs the other way and finds McKay for a layup going the other way.  27-16 Park Center as Edina needs a timeout at the 6:28 mark.  That's a 10-2 run after Lynch sat down.

McKay feeling it as he scores 2 buckets around a tough Woodward fade.   Devin Buckley out and running and Hooker finds him for a layup.  An Edina turnover and Pirates run for another McKay bucket to lead by 15.  Park Center goes with 3 bench guys to end the half rather than trying to throw a knock out blow.  37-22 Pirates at the half.  McKay with 14.  Quinton Hooker 6 points, 4 boards and 4 assists for 11 more points.  Graham Woodward 12 points and the Pirates athletes hassled him.  No help as the rest of the Hornets roster 3-18 in the half.  Park Center 15-28 with 22 points in the paint and 10-0 on the break.

Hooker behind the back, loses it and regains it in mid-air and almost converts.  The free throws are good and the Pirates run for another layup for a 41-24 lead.  Edina staying around at the 1st TV timeout of the half at 13:34, down 43-29.  Hooker right at Lynch on the break with 12:47 left and that's his 4th foul.  Back to the bench with the Hornets down 45-29 after the Hooker free throws.  Then Hooker off the bounce beats Woodward for 2 more.  That generates a Mr Basketball chant from the Pirates fans.  Hooker to Josh Matthews for a layup and the lead is up to 20.  That brings Lynch right back in with 11:32 left and the season on the line.  He promptly swats away an Arione Farrar Jr drive to the rim.  The lead isn't going anywhere.  Hooker grabs an offensive board under rim, sees Lynch there and pump fakes him and Lynch is gone with #5 at the 7:22 mark.  53-33 Park Center after Hooker makes the freebies.  Hooker draws the last 2 on Lynch with super high basketball IQ plays.  Great to watch.  Hooker upstairs to Daniels for a dunk and a Josh Matthews dunk are exclamation points.    Park Center wins 66-44.  That sets up an epic championship rematch with Apple Valley.

Post Game
Park Center controls the game after the 1st 4 minutes.  Too athletic which allowed them to switch multiple guys on Woodward and then get out and run for easy buckets.  Great balance from the Pirates with 4 in double figures.  Losing Lynch due to fouls was a major game changer and nobody stepped up for Edina.  Outside of Woodward and a Lynch dunk, the Hornets shot 7-37 from the floor.  Quinton Hooker finishes with 14 points, 8 boards and 7 assists for 17 more points.  He shot 4-9.  Hard to believe he doesn't win Mr Basketball now.  Devin Buckley a double double of 13 and 11.  Graham Woodward shoots 5-19 and scores 17 points.  Park Center 44-14 edge in points in the paint and 12-0 in fastbreak points.  They shoot 50% for the game compared to 13-57 (22.8%). 

2013 AAAA Semi Apple Valley vs Eden Prairie

Prologue
A quality pair of semifinals on tap in class 4A.  This game gives us John Lithgow running the show.  But's its free Pepsi all weekend and a courtside seat to watch Tyus Jones. 

Game Time
Eden Prairie's physical play vs Tyus Jones and the battle of Anthony Anderson vs Dennis Austin just a couple of appealing elements of this one.  Then how do I not mention Andre Wallace vs Dustin Fronk and Brock Bertram vs Jack Cottrell.  Even through most of the half.  Then Tyus off the transition ball screen to the basket for 2.  Then he finds Dennis Austin off the ball screen for 2.  21-17 Apple Valley as they force a turnover and look to gain momentum on the break.  But Zach Goring decides to go with the MoKiller timeout instead.  Eden Prairie fortunate to be that close as Brock Bertram is all over the boards but has 4 missed bunnies at the rim.  Apple Valley keeps their lead at 4 thanks to a bomb and a pair of free throws from Dustin Fronk.  Off a turnover, Grant Shaeffer comes up hobbling and Tyus takes that for a layup.  Valley D smacks the floor for the last possession and gets a stop.  10 Eden Prairie turnovers lead to a 12-3 advantage in points off turnovers for Apple Valley.   That's your difference in the half.  30-22 Apple Valley at the half.  Grant Shaeffer and Andre Wallace both miss time with 2 fouls combining for only 19 minutes in the half and 5 points.

Dennis Austin with a 3 point play as Apple Valley opens a 35-26 lead.  Tyus with a steal and bucket to keep the lead at 39-32 with 13 minutes to play.  Andre Wallace with a putback as Eden Prairie continues to hang around and hang around.  Our 5th TV timeout of the game comes with 10:49 left and a 41-36 Apple Valley lead.  Jack Cottrell with a nice lefty finish on the right side to pull Eden Prairie within 1 with 10 minutes left.  Apple Valley's shooting stays cold but a Tyus steal and touch call from the outstate official give Jones a 3 point play.  AV students get the USA chant going as Tyus pushes the lead back to 44-40 with 9:24 left.

Bertram misses back to back bunnies and will get a breather.  Tyus starting to assert himself with a bucket and a free throw.   That keeps the lead at 5.  Anthony Anderson inside through Austin for the 3 point play with 6:44 left.  Apple Valley leading 47-45 going to the TV timeout.  James Horton misses a pair of free throws but gives great help on an Anderson iso to stop a bucket.  That leads to a Tyus bucket and then Tyus to Austin for a layup running the floor.  All of this with Bertram waiting at the table to come back in for Horton.  Jack Cottrell stops the bleeding with a bucket and then a 3 point play with 4:04 left to cut the lead to 51-50.

Bertam finally gets a bunny to fall.  Austin denied on 1 end after a pretty Tyus feed but Wallace steamrolls a defender on the other end.  Last TV timeout with 2:42 left.  Apple Valley hanging on 53-51.  Tyus now plyaing off the ball coming off of baseline screens.  He slithers inside for 2 with 2:05 left and the lead is 4.  After an Eden Prairie miss, Tyus takes the ball looking to kill clock.  Robert Tobroxen to the line with 1:16 left after an Eden Prairie timeout.  The icing doesn't work as both ends of the bonus are pure.  57-51 Apple Valley up.  Shaeffer scores but Tyus with an absolutely perfect touch lob to Bertam for free throws with 52.1 left.  Ridiculous pass.  Bertram makes 1 of 2 and Shaeffer misses a fade away.  Tyus puts the game on ice with free throws.  Apple Valley advances to the state championship with a win.

Tyus Jones scores 23 points and adds 5 assists.  That doesn't count another handful of passes for free throws.  15 of those points in the second half.  Dennis Austin 15 points and 8 boards.  Jack Cottrell matches those numbers.  Anthony Anderson 11 and 11. Brock Bertram 9 points and 13 boards (6offensive).  Apple Valley 24 to 5 in points off of turnovers thanks to losing the turnover battle 18 to 5.

2013 Mr Basketball Finalists Announced

The Mr. Basketball committee has announced their 5 finalists for the 2013 award.  Here they are.

2013 Mr. Basketball Finalists
Graham Woodward - Edina
Quinton  Hooker - Park Center
Anders Broman - Lakeview Christian Academy
Aaron Lien - Moorhead
Riley Dearring - Minnetonka

Czar's Reaction

Woodward, Hooker and Broman were easy selections with their outstanding seasons and making the state tournament.  Lien was seen many times by the committee and was Mr Do-Everything in a big year for Moorhead.  His 53 point game in the win over Brainerd is one of the highlights of the season for any player statewide.  Dearring led the Skippers to a better than expected year and played well in some big games.   The committee shows again that missing games due to injury won't affect their selection if a player plays well enough, see Johnny Woodard last year who sat out until early January.   Other options for the 5th spot were Joe Aase from undefeated Austin and Scottie Stone who had a big year for Melrose.

Pirate ship will sail to state

Prologue
To Rogers for the 5AAAA championship.  A great setup with a full house and both bands for the 3rd meeting between Osseo and Park Center.  The parking setup an absolute nightmare and the slowest ever way to exit.  Not good, but well worth it for this game.  No concessions but Mr. Basketball makes up for that with his early trip for popcorn.  We get John Lithgow and 2 other bad refs for the game but overall they exceeded my expectations despite having their moments.

Game Time
A pretty even game early on.  Quinton Hooker with a coast to coast bucket and then a 3 for an 8-6 lead.  He picks up his 2nd foul on a charge at 11:17 and stays on Osseo scorer Wheeler Baker but doesn't pick up the 3rd.  Baker does get 5 in a row as part of a 9-1 Osseo run.  Orioles lead 17-12 at the 6:34 mark and Bo Powell takes a timeout to settle his guys down.  Hooker with a strong 2 and then he spins and hangs in the lane for 2 more.  That's part of Park Center's 9-1 run for a 21-18 lead at the 3:23 mark.  11-4 Osseo the rest of the half as Bridge Tusler scores 8 in a row.  A pair of drives and finishes with each hand and 4-4 at the charity stripe.  29-25 Osseo at the half in a pace that favors their style.

The 1st couple of minutes are much faster and hectic.  After trading 3s and 2s, a Tusler bucket puts the Orioles up .36-30 with 15 to play.  Park Center right back with 6 in a row to tie as Hooker knocks down a J and Devin Buckley heats up with the last 4.  Ian Theisen using his size advantage inside for a couple of post buckets.  That helps Osseo to a 42-38 lead with 11 minutes left.  Then Hooker pressured by Tusler forces a 3 and it falls.  Hooker also falls badly on the play and he'll sit as Park Center takes a timeout with 9:46 left.  But he's right back to the table 10 seconds later as Park Center trails 43-42.  Osseo gets the next 4 as Wheeler Baker takes a turnover for a dunk.  47-42 Osseo with 9:10 left.

Treyton Daniels counters with a drive and foul.  The free throw is no good but Isaiah McKay puts its back.  Tusler on the post countered by Hooker going to the line.  Hooker makes the first and misses the second.  However, Osseo again commits the greatest crime in the game (giving up an offensive rebound of a free throw) and its kicked out to McKay who knocks down an open 3.  That puts Park Center back on top 52-49 with 7:45 left.  Tusler on an inbounds and Theisen free throws after posting.  Hooker misses 2 freebies and Tusler counters.  55-52 Orioles with 5:50 left.

McKay with another clutch 3 to put the Pirates back on top. Theisen on the offensive glass to knot the score back up.  Hooker and Buckley with buckets in the lane.  Osseo turns it over and Hooker with a drive to the rack for 2.  63-58 Park Center with 3 minutes left.  An Osseo turnover but Park Center charges on the break, but Osseo can't score.  Another Park Center bucket with 2:12 left and the lead is 7.  Osseo gets a putback for a 3 point play to cut the lead to 4.  Then Hooker loses possession in the front court but dives on it and gets the timeout with 1:43 left.  Great play there to save possession.  hate timeouts like that early in games but late in a close game this case is a great move.  The ball gets loose again and Buckley grabs it.  His circus event in the lane somehow manages to go in with 1:15 left and that's the omen for the night.  67-61 Park Center with 1:15 left. 

Theisen with a putback, Buckley 1 of 2, Theisen another offensive board and makes 1 of 2 to keep the game at 4 with 41.6 left.  Hooker makes 1 and Tusler goes to the basket for 2.  Little bit tight in the collar as the lead is down to 3.  But no matter.  Its only fitting that Hooker steps up in the last 28 seconds and makes 4-4 to slam the door.  Park Center wins 73-71 to advance to state.

Post Game
The Big 3 for Osseo do their part.  Bridge Tusler leads with 21 points.  Ian Theisen with a double double of 16 and 14 on my sheet.  Wheeler Baker adds 19.   Matt Miedtke and Malik Wilson combine for the other 15.  The Orioles finish their season 25-4 and have 3 players who started tonight coming back. 

Park Center advances to state and their star Quinton Hooker steps up with another big game when needed.  He finishes with 27 points and made his last 5 free throws in the last 35 seconds to seal the win.  Park Center's wings, Devin Buckley and Isaiah McKay, combined for 24 of their 25 in the second half.  Ultimately they were the team that wanted it more as they were after it on the floor and on the offensive glass.  They did those little things that end up looming large.  I think Park Center earns the 2 seed at state despite the head-head win in December over top seed Apple Valley.  The extra 2 losses at Osseo and at Minnetonka are too much to overcome.

2013 All-Star Series Rosters Announced

The 2013 Minnesota Basketball Coaches Association All-Star Series has been announced.  Its Fri April 5th at 7 PM in St. Cloud (Halenbeck Hall) with Gold vs Maroon and Green vs Blue.  Then Sat April 6th 2:15 PM and 4 PM at Macalester.   Here are the rosters.  They feature 8 of the 10 Division 1 signed players from the class of 2013 and 8 more Division 2 signees.

Gold
Head Coach: Mark Torgerson (Morris)
Asst Coach: Roger Lindahl (Benson)
Joe Aase - Austin
Devin Buckley- Park Center
Grant Erickson - Lakeville North
Dustin Fronk - Apple Valley
Garrison Gillard - Maranatha
Aaron Lien - Moorhead
Reggie Lynch - Edina
Jack Martinek - Irondale
John Mattison - Rochester John Marshall
Quashingm Smith-Pugh - Johnson

Maroon
Head Coach: Dave Montibrand (BBE)
Asst Coach: Brad Goodwin (BBE)
Tom Aase - Austin
Nick Anderson - Washburn
Logan Doyle - Alexandria
Xavier Hall - Tartan
Kebu Johnson - Black
Mack Johnson - Roseville
Peter Kruize - St. Peter
Porter Morrell - Elk River
Austin Rambow - Willmar
Jake Wilson - Zimmerman

Green
Head Coach: Bo Powell (Park Center)
Asst Coach: Kevin Polite (Park Center)
Anders Broman - Lakeview Christian
Riley Dearring - Minnetonka
Jonah Eisenschenk - ROCORI
Quinton Hooker - Park Center
DeShawn Jones - Richfield
Zach Lindquist - Mahtomedi
Nick O'Hara - Armstrong
Luke Scott - DeLaSalle
Carson Shanks - Prior Lake
Jumah'ri Turner - Kennedy

Blue
Head Coach: Pat Hayes (Waconia)
Asst Coach: Rich Gove (Waconia)
Robert Ben - Spring Lake Park
Jordan Burich - Roseville
Shaq Coleman - Duluth East
Isaiah Hanson - Maranatha
Nate Huot - Dawson-Boyd
Mike Millard - Fergus Falls
Ben Oberfeld - Eastview
Devon Pekas - Hawley
Renard Suggs - Woodbury
Bridge Tusler - Osseo