Forward/Backward

#3 posting 1.22.2006

THE WEEK AHEAD
It looks like you can't go wrong with a game on Tuesday. The big game looks like it will be Rosemount at Mpls South. Rosemount took Bloomington Kennedy off the unbeaten ranks on Friday. Do they have the ability to knock off the last unbeaten team in AAAA? The difference is South is at home.

Monday J23
Cedar Mt @ Sleepy Eye St. Mary's
Caledonia @ Elgin-Millville
Tuesday J24
Albert Lea @ Waseca
Benilde-St. Margaret's @ North Branch
Champlin Park @ Centennial
Waconia @ Litchfield
Worthington @ Marshall
Rosemount @ Mpls South
Lincoln HI @ Minneota
Detroit Lakes @ Moorhead
St Michael-Albertville @ Orono
Thursday J26
Ulen-Hitterdal @ Ada-Borup
Hermantown @ Hibbing
Monticello @ St. Michael-Albertville
Friday J27
Albert Lea @ Rochester Mayo
Barnesville @ DGF
Centennial @ Coon Rapids
Minnetonka @ Edina
Willmar @ St. Cloud Tech
Rochester Lourdes @ Winona Cotter
Saturday J28
Bloomington Kennedy @ Rochester Mayo
Roseville @ North St. Paul

DEFENSIVE ORIENTATION
These teams have been slamming the door when I have charted their games. Some of these teams are quite familiar as defensive brick walls, some may not have come to mind. Keep in mind these are only teams I have seen when using the charting method as described in Basketball on Paper.
Top Defensive Points per 100 possessions.
1. Rochester Lourdes 51.9
2. Lakeville North 59.4
3. Mounds View 59.5
4. Woodbury 63.6
5. Rosemount 67.2
Top defensive scoring %
1. Rochester Lourdes .241
2. Lakeville North .250
3. Woodbury .273
4. Mounds View .291
5. Tartan .322
6. St. Cloud Tech .323 (the only team with two games charted)

The team that people would find odd on the list is Mounds View. They are the only one with a losing record (6-10). Perhaps it is a reflection of the opponent that day (Stillwater) and their offensive problems. Perhaps it is Mounds View offense that is holding them back. We will have to check back.
Through 33 games, 66 teams have played (some more than once). 11 teams have a points per 100 rating over 100 (in other words one point per possession). Only 8 teams have a scoring % over .500. Hopkins is in that group twice. In fact they have the best offensive performance so far this year with a 125.5 rating against Cretin-Derham Hall in the Apple Valley Semifinals. Breck is a very close second with their 124 against the #1AAA Marshall. Both teams were against quality opposition.
Defensively there have been five times a team has held an opponent under 60 points with the points per 100 possessions benchmark. Six times the defense has held an opponent under .300.

PLAYER RATINGS #2
This is with the charting done since J13 with individual player possessions charted out. I have not, and probably will not retrofit all the games I have seen this year, but I will keep charting with these tools. I feel it gives a good indication of what a player can do. However it is only a snapshot. It would be better to have a complete record, but that is hard to achieve. Anyway here we go with the top five performances (must have had at least 10 possessions):
Points per 100 possessions
1. Ashley Robinson, Kennedy 150
2. Jenny Theisen, Champlin Park 135.3
3. Danielle Cook, Moorhead 123.5
4. Macie Michelson, Marshall 115.4
5. Jenny Grieg, Edina 108.3
Floor %
1. Ashley Robinson, Kennedy .714
2. Danielle Cook, Moorhead .647
3. Lauren Young, Edina .600
4. Jenny Theisen, Champlin Park .588
5. Julia Schultz, Marshall .556

I have been working through the AAAA roster of teams. My objective is to see the teams that have a better than .500 record. I have six more to go on my list. Then I look at AAA with 16 teams.