The Week That Was #7, New Year Edition

#x posting 1.7.2007
your daily dose of girls basketball news & information

THE WEEK THAT WAS #7
Six games in six days.

Not a lot of great offensive performances this week. Not one HS team above 100pp100. But defenses ruled this past week. Or was it a couple weeks not in the general rhthym of school life that put teams off their offensive pace.

TRENDS
Compared to last year the numbers are still down. The overall totals are 74.11 for pp100 overall and .362 floor %. Now this week I saw three AAAA teams.
Here are the #s for AAAA last year and this year so far
2006 84.7, .412
2007 79.56, .389
Only 11 teams have been able to crack 100pp100, and only four teams have cleared the .500 mark, and only one has done so against a quality opponent--Benilde-St. Margaret's against Burnsville (.597)
My hope is that the numbers will get better as the year goes on as we near March. But my litany of complaints
Passing--strength, distance/spacing, forcing, staring
Dribbling--no vision, the dreaded spin (taking vision off the basket), elbows too far away from body.
shooting---when to take the shot, follow throughs that players burn their hand on the air and have to quickly take it down. The Movie "Love & Basketball" which seems to be a favorite of some had the scene where the coach ripped on a player for keeping her hand in the air "showing off" well guess what, these players need to keep their hand in the air UNTIL the ball hits the floor. You need to strike a pose so that the photographers can snap your picture. Photographers haven't had to take many photos this year of the games I have seen. and I can not STAND players coming down and jacking up a shot in the half court without bothering to involve others. They might as well have four folding chairs out there with the shooter. Also the first open 3 seems to draw the players like moths to the flame.
Spacing/angles--I have seen many fast breaks ruined because players crowd the lanes instead of running the sidelines. I have seen players cut to low and taking away the glass. I have seen offenses where one defender can guard two, sometimes three players.
Screening/Cuts--a lost art on both counts.

Enough of the rants.

Another trend I see is the early verbals and the young players making impacts throughout the state. So far I have counted 17 from the 2008 and 2009 classes that have made verbals. Good or bad it is a trend worth noting. Last year at this same time there were zero verbals from the 2007 class in MN, this year there are five for 2008.

On to the team and player of the week

TEAM OF THE WEEK
They had the best pp100 for the week, and their defense shut the door on a top 10 team. Bloomington Kennedy gets the nod for their convincing win over Burnsville. They worked the ball for the best shot and limited Burnsville to things they didn't want to do.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
For Player of the week, and in keeping with the new year and youngster theme, we go with a one of the diaper dandies Shakila Boler of Kennedy. Great composure, good decisions, good speed, active defensively. She is the second from the 2010 class to make player of the week. The other was Cassie Rochel of Lakeville North in week four. For those keeping track 3 players have been Player of the week from the 2007 class, 1 from the 2009 class. Kachine Alexander (2007) has topped the list twice.
Again the rules for those unfamiliar: 1. had to see the player during the week. 2. player had to have 10+ possessions; 3. had to have +100 pp100, and +.500 floor %. This week I had to dip into the 90s, and sub .500s to fill out the second team. *starred player
TEAM OF THE WEEK
First Team
Shakila Boler, Bloomington Kennedy
Emily Hendricks, St. Louis Park
Tromessa May, St. Louis Park
Alex Montgomery, Cannon Falls
Brittany Zins, Bloomington Kennedy
Second Team
Melissa Borstner, St. Francis
Abby Kenealy, Farmington*
Taylor Luke, Amery, WI
Jessica Meyer, Totino-Grace
Lizzi Nauman, Totino-Grace*
Special Mention-JUCO
Lakita Davis, Minneapolis
Brittany Johnson, Minneapolis

DEFENDERS OF THE WEEK
Again it is wraps that count. For example Mara Hjelle, Mahtomedi had great post defense, but her numbers weren't as high on wraps, therefore not on the list, but still a wonderful defender.
Shakila Boler, Bloomington Kennedy
Tromessa May, St. Louis Park
Alex Montgomery, Cannon Falls
Majra Mucic, St. Louis Park
Veronica Scott, Totino-Grace

This week promises to have a lot more games that are worthy of viewing. The plate is full from last weeks thin offering.

GAMES TO SEE
Monday Jan 8
Blue Earth at LeSueur-Henderson. A battle between two 2AA West foes. Two Stars
Tuesday, Jan 9
Hawley at Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton. A Heart O'Lakes battle with 6-2 Angie Jetvig of Hawley going against 6-0 Jennifer Lopez of DGF. two stars
Cretin-Derham Hall at Edina. #7 vs #5 in AAAA, Suburban East vs Classic Lake. Alyssa Karel vs Lauren Young. Three stars.
Minneapolis Roosevelt at Mpls North. Big implications for the city championship. Two Stars.
Cannon Falls at Winona Cotter. The leaders of the Hiawatha Valley Blue and Gold. CF has lost three in a row. They will have a tough task to beat Cotter in Winona. Two stars.
Centennial at Blaine. Both are undefeated in conference play. Two Stars
Park-Cottage Grove at White Bear Lake. Both have one loss in conference. WBL is the top team right now in 4AAAA. Two Stars
WISCONSIN: Ashwaubenon (8-2) at De Pere (9-0). The last two state D1 champs in a battle of Bay Conference powers. Three Stars.
Wednesday, Jan 10
Mpls North at Mpls South. This is the what the MaxPreps site indicates. The MSHSL site & MN Scores don't have it listed. this would be another critical match up for the Minneapolis title. Three stars.
Thursday, Jan 11
Pipestone at Marshall. Important SW Conference game. Two teams that could be in the state tournament from different classes. Two Stars
Detroit Lakes at Moorhead. Cross Class powers in NW MN. Three Stars.
New London-Spicer at Albany. An important West Central North battle between perennial powers. Two Stars.
Friday, Jan 12
Eden Prairie at Burnsville. Both teams are in the hunt for the Lake Title. Will Burnsville bounce back? Will EP continue their run this year? Two stars.
Austin at Albert Lea. Important for 1AAA seeding. Also a Big 9 battle between neighboring rivals. Two Stars.
Becker at Rogers. #2 and #6 in AAA, and a battle for the Mississippi 8. Game was switched from Becker to Rogers. Three stars.
Red Wing at Holy Angels. Missota conference battle. Can Red Wing bounce back from their recent losses? Two stars.
Park-Cottage Grove at Hopkins. Another cross conference battle with the 6-0 line of PCG against the defending State Champs. Three Stars
Springfield at MN Valley Lutheran. Tomahawk battle. Springfield doesn't have a conference loss, MVL has one. two stars.
Saturday, Jan 13
Crookston vs Winona Cotter at St. Ben's. The Marquee match up this week. #1 vs #2. Kamille Wahlin vs Devin Bowlin. Crookston doesn't have a match up for Jenny Gilbertson. Four Stars.
DeLaSalle at Marshall. Important AAA battle. Marshall is looking to get back in the top 10.

Next up: tomorrow morning with the parade of states plus another out & about.