I've been doing a lot of observation through this winter, and I must say this:
There are many youth and high school basketball coaches who are simply
dropping the ball. I've been to over 100 games this winter while
recruiting the best talent possible for our King of Kings College
Prospect division, and I've seen much more that I haven't liked than I'd
like to. Whether it's skill development, strategy, or working with
young players to help develop their basketball IQ, there's a lack. I've
seen about a dozen post players with more than one move. Many teams
shoot 30+ threes in a 32 minute game - literally either layups or 3s.
There's quite a bit of real estate (and the meat & potatoes of
basketball) in between those two. Also, and perhaps more disheartening,
I've found myself playing pickup basketball with a couple high schoolers
here and there lately. They tend to be top players at their schools.
Every time I play, I find myself coaching them and teaching them
concepts of the game they've never been taught. Not advanced,
college-level things; things they should have been taught before they
even hit the JV level. When to cut, when to relocate, how to roll off a
screen, etc. As someone who considers themself a hoops purist and
student/teacher of the game, it pains me to see others who consider
themselves "teachers" of the game doing everything but actually
teaching.
It
makes you appreciate the work that good coaches put into their craft. I
give loads of credit to solid youth basketball coaches, such as James Desroches, who mainly volunteer their time and give youngsters a good fundamental background in the game. When
these youngsters hit the upper levels, they'll be leaps & bounds
ahead of the competition with strong youth instruction. I also give a
lot of credit to the high school coaches who keep teaching while working
with players to develop their game. Phil Schoff
is one of those coaches - watched his teams twice, and not only did his
players look smarter on the court in read & react situations the
2nd time, they just looked like they improved as players. The kids have
put in work, and the coach has given them the tools and continued to
teach every step of the way. The amount of coaches who care is not as
high as I'd hope - be thankful if you have one!
- Jeff Mlinar
Friday, February 21, 2014
Monday, February 17, 2014
The Walkthrough: Section III Class AA Boys Quarterfinals
(9) Liverpool @ (1) Fayetteville-Manlius
F-M has 2 Ws over Liverpool already - 1 came harder than the other. Early in the season, the Hornets fought for a 67-62 W on their home floor. 3 weeks ago, they had a big 4th quarter to win 80-56. Liverpool held John Schurman, the Hornets' leading scorer and Binghamton-bound bombardier, to 13 points. However, he went off the second time around, finishing with 27. He's also averaging 12.5 rebounds per game against Liverpool. The visiting team's leading scorer has been.. not usual suspects Caleb Taylor or Tyler Sullivan, but Jaydakis Scott. He had 12 & 15 respectively. His & Sullivan's counterpart at the point guard spot, F-M's Jake Wittig, has averaged 11 points & 13 assists per game in the 2 meetings. F-M amassed 20 steals in the most recent meeting. Since they lost to Henninger a month ago, they've won 8 straight - closest margin of victory has been 23 points. After going through a rough stretch, Liverpool has won 3 of their last 4, including a 61-48 first round victory over Oswego. Tyler Sullivan had 16, and Caleb Taylor added 15. They've held their opponent under 50 points 8 times - they're 7-1 in those games. When they allow more than 50, they're just 3-8. They can lock you up on D at their best, but Fayetteville-Manlius can fill it up. Advantage: Hornets.
(5) West Genesee @ (4) Cicero-North Syracuse
This one has dogfight written all over it. That's what the sectionals are supposed to be, right? They've split this season. In mid-December, C-NS won 70-69; 2 weeks ago, West Genny won 64-46. I'm sure the Northstars want revenge from that beatdown. Connor Evans has dominated for C-NS, scoring 27 in the win and 20 in the loss. Shane Temara has nearly equaled that for West Genesee, scoring 23 in their win and 18 in their loss. The Wildcats got a big boost from Nick Cunningham the second time around - he didn't factor much into the box score in December, but dropped 26 two weeks ago. C-NS is on a roll. They started off 4-4, but have won 8 of their last 10. Nearly the same for West Genny - they also started 4-4, and they've won 7 of their last 10. That includes a 77-67 1st round W over RFA. Shane Temara had 21 and Nick Cunningham had 20 in that win. If they can get production from Cunningham and little bro Troy Temara on the road, they have a great shot of advancing to the semis. However, there could also be too much Evans & company on their home court. I'm sure the Chirp Crew will be out. This one's too close to call... one of the best quarterfinal games! Advantage: whoever scores the most points.
(6) CBA @ (3) Henninger
We can only hope CBA puts up a better showing than they did over Christmas break. These teams met once - in the consolation game at CBA's Bottar Leone Christmas tournament. Both teams came off tough losses, Henninger to Nazareth and CBA to J-D. Henninger led 40-22 at halftime en route to a 72-48 victory on CBA's home court. Floor general Romero Collier had 14 points & 13 dimes in the W, and Keisean Scott led them with 16. Charlie Russo had 16 for CBA, but Monte Stroman, a potent scorer, was held to 6. No one else finished in double digits for the Brothers. Things have changed since then. Shaitique Blatche was on Henninger's team back then. Not anymore. That loss knocked CBA down to 3-4. They dropped to 4-6 at one point - they've since won 8 of 9. That includes handling Nottingham 58-44 on Saturday. Russo had 16, but he had help. Stroman had 13, Mike Trasolini had 11, Dante Hatem added 10. That win over Christmas break started a 7 game winning streak for Henninger. Proctor broke that a couple weeks back, and they went 2-2 to end the season. They're coming off a 62-44 W over West Genny to end the regular season. Despite losing a talented player in Blatche, they haven't really missed a beat. Plus they're on their home court. Advantage: Henninger.
(7) Baldwinsville @ (2) Proctor
The only AA quarterfinal where opponents haven't played each other. Plenty of common opponents, however. For example, Baldwinsville played Corcoran 3 times. They went 2-1, including each of their last 2 wins, the last one being a 52-46 1st round W. 2 of the 3 games were 3 point games, and the 3rd was a 6 point game. Proctor played Corcoran over Christmas break and won by 16. Proctor beat Henninger by 1, Baldwinsville lost to Henninger by 12. The Bees are coming in hot, winning 6 of the last 7. Devyn McLeod has stepped it up for them of late, including an 18 point, 11 rebound performance in the 1st round game. A little undersized for a post player when it comes to height, but he's crafty and can carve space well. Proctor, as usual, is a very athletic group. Interesting team that seems like they play to the level of their competition - they beat Corcoran by 16, West Genny by 7, Henninger by 1, but allowed Oneida, Whitesboro, RFA, and even Clinton to hang right around and keep games to about 10 points. If they have a performance like that, Baldwinsville will nip them. However, Proctor has kept winning - only one loss since before Christmas, and out of their 3 losses, only 1 was to a Section III team (first game of the season to C-NS). This one is tricky, but to me... Advantage: Raiders.
F-M has 2 Ws over Liverpool already - 1 came harder than the other. Early in the season, the Hornets fought for a 67-62 W on their home floor. 3 weeks ago, they had a big 4th quarter to win 80-56. Liverpool held John Schurman, the Hornets' leading scorer and Binghamton-bound bombardier, to 13 points. However, he went off the second time around, finishing with 27. He's also averaging 12.5 rebounds per game against Liverpool. The visiting team's leading scorer has been.. not usual suspects Caleb Taylor or Tyler Sullivan, but Jaydakis Scott. He had 12 & 15 respectively. His & Sullivan's counterpart at the point guard spot, F-M's Jake Wittig, has averaged 11 points & 13 assists per game in the 2 meetings. F-M amassed 20 steals in the most recent meeting. Since they lost to Henninger a month ago, they've won 8 straight - closest margin of victory has been 23 points. After going through a rough stretch, Liverpool has won 3 of their last 4, including a 61-48 first round victory over Oswego. Tyler Sullivan had 16, and Caleb Taylor added 15. They've held their opponent under 50 points 8 times - they're 7-1 in those games. When they allow more than 50, they're just 3-8. They can lock you up on D at their best, but Fayetteville-Manlius can fill it up. Advantage: Hornets.
(5) West Genesee @ (4) Cicero-North Syracuse
This one has dogfight written all over it. That's what the sectionals are supposed to be, right? They've split this season. In mid-December, C-NS won 70-69; 2 weeks ago, West Genny won 64-46. I'm sure the Northstars want revenge from that beatdown. Connor Evans has dominated for C-NS, scoring 27 in the win and 20 in the loss. Shane Temara has nearly equaled that for West Genesee, scoring 23 in their win and 18 in their loss. The Wildcats got a big boost from Nick Cunningham the second time around - he didn't factor much into the box score in December, but dropped 26 two weeks ago. C-NS is on a roll. They started off 4-4, but have won 8 of their last 10. Nearly the same for West Genny - they also started 4-4, and they've won 7 of their last 10. That includes a 77-67 1st round W over RFA. Shane Temara had 21 and Nick Cunningham had 20 in that win. If they can get production from Cunningham and little bro Troy Temara on the road, they have a great shot of advancing to the semis. However, there could also be too much Evans & company on their home court. I'm sure the Chirp Crew will be out. This one's too close to call... one of the best quarterfinal games! Advantage: whoever scores the most points.
(6) CBA @ (3) Henninger
We can only hope CBA puts up a better showing than they did over Christmas break. These teams met once - in the consolation game at CBA's Bottar Leone Christmas tournament. Both teams came off tough losses, Henninger to Nazareth and CBA to J-D. Henninger led 40-22 at halftime en route to a 72-48 victory on CBA's home court. Floor general Romero Collier had 14 points & 13 dimes in the W, and Keisean Scott led them with 16. Charlie Russo had 16 for CBA, but Monte Stroman, a potent scorer, was held to 6. No one else finished in double digits for the Brothers. Things have changed since then. Shaitique Blatche was on Henninger's team back then. Not anymore. That loss knocked CBA down to 3-4. They dropped to 4-6 at one point - they've since won 8 of 9. That includes handling Nottingham 58-44 on Saturday. Russo had 16, but he had help. Stroman had 13, Mike Trasolini had 11, Dante Hatem added 10. That win over Christmas break started a 7 game winning streak for Henninger. Proctor broke that a couple weeks back, and they went 2-2 to end the season. They're coming off a 62-44 W over West Genny to end the regular season. Despite losing a talented player in Blatche, they haven't really missed a beat. Plus they're on their home court. Advantage: Henninger.
(7) Baldwinsville @ (2) Proctor
The only AA quarterfinal where opponents haven't played each other. Plenty of common opponents, however. For example, Baldwinsville played Corcoran 3 times. They went 2-1, including each of their last 2 wins, the last one being a 52-46 1st round W. 2 of the 3 games were 3 point games, and the 3rd was a 6 point game. Proctor played Corcoran over Christmas break and won by 16. Proctor beat Henninger by 1, Baldwinsville lost to Henninger by 12. The Bees are coming in hot, winning 6 of the last 7. Devyn McLeod has stepped it up for them of late, including an 18 point, 11 rebound performance in the 1st round game. A little undersized for a post player when it comes to height, but he's crafty and can carve space well. Proctor, as usual, is a very athletic group. Interesting team that seems like they play to the level of their competition - they beat Corcoran by 16, West Genny by 7, Henninger by 1, but allowed Oneida, Whitesboro, RFA, and even Clinton to hang right around and keep games to about 10 points. If they have a performance like that, Baldwinsville will nip them. However, Proctor has kept winning - only one loss since before Christmas, and out of their 3 losses, only 1 was to a Section III team (first game of the season to C-NS). This one is tricky, but to me... Advantage: Raiders.
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