WEEKLY ROUNDUP *Minnehaha upsets Hopkins *Hopkins girls win 1-2 duel *Gopher men get interesting *Wayzata climbs in rankings *Top 20 boys, girls Volume 23 Issue No. 6 January 6 2016-2017 Big win by young Redhawks By Bruce Strand Afreshman phenom and two more ninth-graders propeled Minnehaha Academy to a signature victory last week. The Redhawks got 40 points from Jalen Suggs and toppled perennial Class 4A power Hopkins 86-74 at the Augsburg holiday tournament on Friday. Ninth-graders had 65 of the 86 points as Terry Lockett added 15 points and Kaden Johnson 10. Lorenzo Smith, junior guard, sank 17 points. Suggs, 6-foot-3 guard who averaged 17 points as an eighth-grader, is already a coveted Division I prospect. He s averaging 25.9 points. He did it by attacking the basket and getting to the free throw line, said coach Lance Johnson about Suggs performance against Hopkins. Drawing foul after foul, Suggs sank 23 of 28 free shots. He also generated 12 rebounds and 10 assists yes, a triple double along with five steals. Ishmael El Amin paced Hopkins (8-2) with 22 points. The win gives Minnehaha Academy the No. 1 slot in Class 2A, changing Minnehaha freshman Jalen Suggs gave Hopkins fits with a triple-double including 40 points as the Redhawks toppled the longtime 4A power 86-74. (Photo by Carrie Johnson) places with Caledonia, which lost to unbeaten Austin 85-71. The Redhawks get the nod despite three losses, which came to Class 1A s top-ranked Minneapolis North 79-74, Class 3A s No. 3 Totino- Grace 79-62, and St. Louis Park (a 4-4 Class 4A team) 77-74. They have beaten No. 4 Orono 94-88. And here s the kicker: the Redhawks have been playing without JaVonni Bickham, 6-foot-6 junior who has led them in scoring and rebounding the last two years, since their second game, due to an injury. Bickham, one of the state s top prospects in the Class of 2018, is due back in a week, his coach said. We have weathered a very, tough schedule without him, Johnson assessed. The Minneahaha victory over Hopkins was among several outcomes over the holiday break action that shook up the boys rankings this week. See Page 6.
Pacesetter Newsletter Minnesota Basketball News January 6 Page 2 Hopkins, MIB girls survive tests, stay No. 1 The top-ranked Hopkins girls fought off No. 2 Easview 65-60 in overtime in a possible state championship preview at the St. Olaf Holiday Hoops Classic. Dlayla Chakolis scored five of her 18 points for Hopkins in overtime, while also taking a charge that negated an Allie Pickrain layup. Deanna Suggs added 16 points, Paige Buckers 13 and DeAnna Winston 11 for the Royals (10-0). Pickrain kept Eastview (7-1) in the game with 19 points. Class 1A s top-ranked Mountain Iron-Buhl held off No. 5 Cromwell-Wright 66-61 in the finals of MIB s holiday tournament. Mary Burke scored 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Chelsea Mason added 20 points and 12 rebounds, going 6-for-7 on three-pointers. Teana Hakamaki netted 19 for Cromwell-Wright. St. Michael-Albertville won its own four-team holiday tourney, beating White Bear Lake 57-38 in the finals with Rae Johnson scoring 13 points, including 11-for- 15 on free shots. The Knights (7-2) had been upset by the Bears in overtime at the state tournament last year. Jordan Ferrand led the Bears (7-4) with 12 points. Gabi Haack, Elk River s 30-points-per game guard, led the No. 3 Elks (9-0) past No. 9 Park Center 71-66 and Class 3A s No. 4 Orono 65-59 at the Park Center Holiday Classic. Haack, a strong 5-foot-8 senior, scored 27 against Park Center, working inside and outside, and Sidney Wentlandt added 18 points. Mikayla Hayes had 18 and Danielle Schaub 17 for the Pirates. The New London-Spicer Wildcat girls won their own WildCard tournament (they co-host with the Willmar Cardinals each year) beating Minnehaha Academy 76-53 in the finals, led by Brooke Beuning with 23 points, five assists and four steals. Shea Oman added 13 for the Wildcats (7-1). Email Erik Olson at olsons1120@comcast.net
Pacesetter Newsletter Minnesota Basketball News January 6 Page 3
Pacesetter Newsletter Minnesota Basketball News January 6 Page 4 The road to Minneapolis-St. Paul By Jeff McCarron Pacesetter Director Youth teams now have Midwest Madness Playoffs There is a tug-of-war on for basketball players. This battle splits two ways: the groups that offer allstar team or club team tournaments and the groups that offer school team or community team tournaments. At Pacesetter, we provide for the hometown team group, where youth basketball teams in grades 4-9 that are school-based or community-based now have a Final Four-style playoff system, the Pacesetter Great Four- State championships, that involve over 900 teams in four states: MN-IA-ND-SD. Pacesetter Sports started this system in 2010 to give school teams an exciting playoff to match or surpass the lure of AAU teams traveling to tournaments around the country. All players playing in the Pacesetter Playoffs must either attend the same school or live in the same city, school district or tribal community. Smaller schools with under 400 enrollment in grades 9-12 may combine if the total enrollment when combined is 400 or less. Teams begin with Region Playoffs in February-April in their own section of their state, seeking to advance to their state championships. The top two teams in their state tournaments then advance to the Pacesetter Great Four-State champion-ships in the Twin Cities. The Target Center hosted the championships from 2010-2016. Due to construction this summer, the championships are likely to be held at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. Last year Minnesota and North Dakota won four Great State titles, Iowa won three four-state titles and South Dakota won one four-state title. Here is the honor roll of the 2016 Great Four-State champions: MINNESOTA 7th Grade Boys Stewartville 9th Grade Boys Perham 8th Grade Girls Eden Valley-Watkins 9th Grade Girls Mountain Iron-Buhl Taryn Hamling (21) of Grand Rapids was guared by Katie Ruhland of Eden Valley- Watkins at the Target Center last summr. NORTH DAKOTA 4th Grade Girls Bismarck Showtime 6th Grade Girls Central Cass 7th Grade Girls Dakota Thunder 8th Grade Boys St. John s/ Four Winds IOWA 4th Grade Boys Pella 5th Grade Girls Xavier Catholic 6th Grade Boys Mason City SOUTH DAKOTA 5th Grade Boys Sioux Falls Hurricanes Fliers, further information and registration are available at www.pacesettersports.net. In following a tournament tradition, all teams playing in the Great Four-State tournament are invited to a large team meeting, which could be held in a Marriott or Radisson ballroom, a Timberwolves suite, or on the main Target Center floor the night before their event, and all players from every team are introduced in front of the hundreds of players, parents and coaches. Their teammates are their friends from their own community, and they will be playing together soon on the same high school team. Most of the parents have known every player from childhood. The next day the players get to play together in front of all their fans on the Target Center floor, home of the NBA Timberwolves and the WNBA Lynx. It doesn t get any better than that.
Pacesetter Newsletter Minnesota Basketball News January 6 Page 5 Pacesetter! CHAMPIONSHIP Basketball & Volleyball Camps Serving Hometown Teams since 1980 Camps that come to YOUR school! Comments from Host Coaches - 2016 camps Great balance between skill work and compettitive games to keep kids engaged. Great camp, great competition, reasonably priced, can t wait till next year. Our campers were met with an enthusiastic and knowledgeable coach who desired to see each player improve their skills. Our director was amazing! He really worked with the girls well both as a team and individually. I was very excited and pleased to see the results from camp. I saw growth in every player... He helped me with my coaching questions. I was able to talk strategy with him and he gave me some drills and skills to address. I would love to host again... The Pacesetter Championship Formula 1) TOP COACHES - Master Teachers, Championship Coaches, Best Young Coaches 2) STRONG FUNDAMENTAL TEACHING - Through 37 years Pacesetter has fine-tuned it s program to provide players with the most important skills for game success at every age. 3) LOW COSTS - Most programs range from $50-$95 4) LOW RATIOS - Averages: 10-1 player/coach Select one of the most popular options or create your own... using the following hours and fees. SESSION LENGTH 3-DAY CAMP 4-DAY CAMP 1.5 HOURS $50/player $65/player 2 HOURS $60/player $75/player 2.5 HOURS $70/player $85/player 3 HOURS $80/player $95/player 4 HOURS $90/player $115/player 6 HOURS $120/player $150/player Sign up soon! - Only 5 schools will be scheduled for each week! Approximately $6-10/hour per player To Become a CHAMPION... Coaches: Book your camp today! Download camp brochure at www.pacesettersports.net Email Tracey: info@pacesetternet.com or call 320-243-7460...Learn from a CHAMPION
Pacesetter Newsletter Minnesota Basketball News January 6 Page 6 Holiday action shakes up rankings By Bruce Strand Several holiday tourney duels caused signficant revisions in the boys rankings. Among them: Wayzata (8-0), apparently not getting due respect with a No. 16 rating, won a clash of unbeatens over No. 4 ranked Park Center 59-54, with Gavin Baumgartner scoring 20 points, Ryan Lindberg 16 and Jacob Beeninga 13, then tripped No. 9 Cretin-Derham Hall 86-70, with Beeninga drilling 27 points, Lindberg 18 and Baumgartner 13, at the St. Thomas Invitational. Wayzata vaults 12 places to No. 4 this week. Rosemount was 6-0 and ranked No. 10 in Class 4A before falling to Class 2A s Lake City 70-64, and to Rochester John Marshall 66-59, at Rochester s Rotary U.S. Bank Classic. Lake City, staying unbeaten, trailed Rosemount 32-21 at the half but shot a blazing 16-for-20 in the second half, including 5-for-6 on three s. Tiger junior Marc Kips hit 21 points, freshman Reid Gastner 19, senior Mitch Marien 15 and freshman Nathan Neise 13, as they overcame Rosemount s 6-foot-7 twins Luke Loehr (25 points) and Alec Loehr (18). And Lake City (7-1) got its own first blemish the next night, as another 4A team, Robbinsdale Cooper (3-2), brought them back to earth with a 70-34 drubbing. Heritage Christian, ranked sixth in 1A, was handed its first loss by Perham 60-57. Perham (8-1) had Reid Moser with 15 points and Carter Cresap with 12 leading a balanced attack. Zach Johansen and CJ Woda hit 17 each for Heritage. St. Cloud Tech, overlooked in the rankings until this week, was 8-0 after handing Delano its first loss 61-56 at St. Cloud State with 6-foot-7 junior forward Brevyn Spann-Ford logging 20 points and 13 rebounds and junior guard Camden Jackson sinking 19 points. Tech was dislodged from the unbeaten ranks by Woodbury the next day 61-52 as Michael Jones hit 24 points and Jeremy Coddon and Ike Thilgen 15 each for the Royals. Spano-Ford had 20 and Jackson 16 for Tech. Maple Grove moved up to No. 2 in Class 4A by outgunning Apple Valley 103-87, led by Wisconsin recruit Brad Davison with 31 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, in the Breakdown Sports Granite City Classic. St. Cloud Cathedral boys engaged in two straight duels of unbeatens during their own holiday tournament and came away with a split. The Crusaders handed Watertown-Mayer its first loss 87-77 with Michael Schaeffer drilling 30 points (4-for-6 on three s), Mitchell Plombon 20 and Keaton LeClaire 18 in the semifinals. Then Melrose (8-0) toppled the Crusaders (8-1) in the finals 72-59 led by Dillion Haider with 20 points (mainly at the line, where he was 14-for-14) and Brady Birch with 19 points and nine rebounds. The Dutchmen were 23- for-25 overall on free shots. Austin won a duel of unbeatens over Class 2A s topranked Caledonia 85-71 with Duoth Gach pumping in six 3-pointers on the way to 24 points and eight assists. Both Gach added 19 points and seven rebounds. The Packers, No. 8 in Class 3A, had edges of 33-24 on rebounds and 8-20 in turnovers. Caledonia, also sparked by a brother combination, had Noah King with 26 points and Owen King with 23. Previously-unbeaten Big Lake almost toppled a solid 4A team but fell short against Blaine 56-55 on Tuesday. Kurtis Weigand scored 15 for Blaine (5-2) while Austin Miller led the Hornets (7-2) with 16. Blaine was just 6-for-18 on free shots but got one from Jackson Odegard for a 56-53 lead with 8.3 seconds left. Tanner Teiege of Big Lake drove for a layup and got fouled with 3.2 seconds left but missed the free shot. The Hornets, with the strong showing, moved up to No. 6 in the Class 2A rankings.
Pacesetter Newsletter Minnesota Basketball News 2017 Regional Playoffs Schedule All grades refer to the 2016-2017 school year. Teams may register for more than one region. See back for details. Region 1 4G, 6G, 8G, 5B, 7B, 9B 5G, 7G, 9G, 4B, 6B, 8B Region 2 4G, 6G, 8G, 5B, 7B, 9B 5G, 7G, 9G, 4B, 6B, 8B s Over 700 team in 2016! Region Champions invited to the MN State Championship. Teams with one loss invited to the MIT. Top two teams at STATE advance to the Great Four-State tournament. Minnesota s Great Four-State Champions 2016 7th Boys Stewartville 9th Boys Perham 9th Girls Mt. Iron-Buhl 8th Girls Eden Valley-Watkins Hometown Team guideline: All players on a team must either be enrolled in the same school system or live in the same city, the same school district or the same tribal community. Smaller schools may combine to form one team if the combined enrollment of their high schools for grades 9-12 is 400 or fewer. Schools that combine should be from the same area. See further information at www.pacesettersports.net RCTC - Rochester RCTC - Rochester MN State-Mankato MN State-Mankato Region 4 5B, 7B, 9B 4G, 6G, 8G 4B, 6B, 8B 5G, 7G, 9G Region 5 5G, 7G, 9G, 4B, 6B, 8B 4G, 6G, 8G, 5B, 7B, 9B Region 6 4G, 6G, 8G, 5B, 7B, 9B 5G, 7G, 9G, 4B, 6B, 8B Region 7 5G, 8B 8G, 5B 7G, 9G, 4B, 6B 4G, 6G, 7B, 9B Region 8 4G, 6G, 8G, 5B, 7B, 9B 5G, 7G, 9G, 4B, 6B, 8B Willow River Barnum Willow River Barnum SCSU-St. Cloud SCSU-St. Cloud Moorhead Moorhead Hibbing Hibbing Grand Rapids Grand Rapids Bemidji Bemidji If registered by Dec. 30: $165/team Starting Dec. 31: $175/team 3-4 game guarantee Combined team. List all school districts (See back for details) Circle Boys or Girls Circle Rating: Strong - Good - Fair - Weak Team Contact Person Team Color Cell # Mailing Address Email address Alternate Contact Person Alt# (Street) March 25 March 26 April 8 April 8 April 9 April 9 April 1 April 2 April 1 April 2 April 1 April 2 April 1 April 2 April 1 April 2 Minnesota State Championships Maple Grove 4G, 6G, 5B, 8B MIT - MN Invitational 4G, 6G, 5B, 8B State Championship 5G, 8G, 4B, 6B MIT - MN Invitational 5G, 8G, 4B, 6B State Championship 7G, 9G, 7B, 9B MIT - MN Invitational 7G, 9G, 7B, 9B State Championship All players are from one school district. School district Grade March 25 March 26 April 22 April 23 Region 3 5G, 7G, 9G, 4B, 6B, 8B Redwood Falls 4G, 6G, 8G, 5B, 7B, 9B Redwood Falls Team Entry Form - Pacesetter Minnesota Regional Tournament Page 7 Questions? Call Pacesetter at 320-243-7460 or email: info@pacesetternet.com www.pacesettersports.net Follow our Facebook page: Pacesetter Basketball n A n u al 5 2 th January 6 (City) (needed if two teams from same school register) (State) (Zip) (Email address required - Confirmation will be sent via email - Please write legibly) Cell # Send check with this entry form to: PACESETTER, PO BOX 222, PAYNESVILLE, MN 56362 Registration also available online at www.pacesettersports.net June 10 June 11 June 17 June 18 June 24 June 25 The Minnesota state champion and runner-up in each grade are invited to the Great Four-State Championship in the Twin Cities. (MN, IA, ND, SD) FREE Timberwolves Tickets (2017-2018 season) All players will receive a free ticket offer!
Pacesetter Newsletter Minnesota Basketball News January 6 Page 8 MBBN Top 20 boys MBBN Top 20 girls CLASS 4A CLASS 2A CLASS 4A CLASS 2A 1. Champlin Park 7-0 2. Maple Grove 5-1 3. Lakeville North 6-1 4. Wayzata 6-0 5. Park Center 7-1 6. Edina 4-1 7. Apple Valley 6-2 8. Hopkins 8-2 9. New Prague 10-0 10. Eden Prairie 6-3 11. Tartan 8-0 12. Osseo 6-2 13. Woodbury 5-3 14. St. Cloud Tech 9-1 15. Chaska 4-3 16. Cretin-Derh. Hall 2-4 17. East Ridge 5-2 18. Robb. Cooper 3-2 19. Rochester JM 4-3 20. Bloom. Jefferson 5-2 1. Minnehaha Acad. 5-3 2. Caledonia 6-1 3. Annandale 7-0 4. Melrose 8-0 5. St. Cloud Cath. 8-1 6. Jackson Co. Cent. 7-1 7. Lake City 7-1 8. Esko 8-1 9. Crosby-Ironton 9-0 10. Eden Valley-Watk. 6-0 11. Watertown-Mayer 6-1 12. Brooklyn Center 6-3 13. NRHEG 6-0 14. Waterville-Ely.-Mr. 5-2 15. Jordan 7-1 16. Sauk Centre 7-1 17. Virginia 9-0 18. Breckenridge 4-1 19. Perham 6-1 20. Hinckley-Finlay. 6-0 1. Hopkins 12-0 2. Eastview 8-1 3. Elk River 9-0 4. Apple Valley 9-1 5. Centennial 9-1 6. East Ridge 7-2 7. Lakeville North 8-2 8. St. Michael-Albert. 7-2 9. Cretin-Derh. Hall 6-1 10. Edina 8-3 11. Prior Lake 6-1 12. Woodbury 5-2 13. Roseville Area 8-2 14. Andover 6-3 15. Forest Lake 7-3 16. Robb. Cooper 9-1 17. Champlin Park 7-3 18. Minnetonka 6-4 19. White Bear Lake 6-4 20. Wayzata 8-3 1. Roseau 10-0 2. Sauk Centre 8-1 3. Plainview-E-M 9-1 4. Norwood-Y. A. 10-0 5. Watertown-Mayer 8-1 6. N. London-Spicer 8-1 7. Minnehaha Acad. 7-2 8. Hayfield 9-1 9. Pipestone 7-0 10. Annandale 7-2 11. Esko 9-2 12. Osakis 8-0 13. Barnsville 9-2 14. SW Christian 5-0 15. Rush City 8-0 16. Pequot Lakes 8-1 17. Two Harbors 9-0 18. Eden Valley-Wat. 6-2 19. St. Peter 7-1 20. St. Cloud Cath. 9-2 CLASS 3A CLASS 1A CLASS 3A CLASS 1A 1. DeLaSalle 7-2 2. Delano 8-1 3. Totino-Grace 5-1 4. Orono 7-1 5. Marshall 8-1 6. Big Lake 7-1 7. Mahtomedi 9-0 8. Austin 6-0 9. Alexandria 6-1 10. Fergus Falls 7-2 11. Waseca 9-0 12. Faribault 6-1 13. Minneapolis Henry 7-2 14. Benilde-St. Marg. 5-5 15. St. Thomas Acad. 8-2 16. St. Anthony Vill. 8-1 17. Northfield 4-3 18. Bemidji 4-0 19. Willmar 5-3 20. Mankato East 6-3 1. Minneapolis North 9-1 2. Red Lake 9-1 3. Cen. MN Christian 7-1 4. Goodhue 8-0 5. Cass Lake-Bena 8-2 6. Spring Grove 8-1 7. Hillcrest Lutheran 7-0 8. Heritage Christian 8-1 9. Lk. Park-Audubon 6-1 10. Mtn. Lake Area 8-2 11. Nevis 6-1 12. Springfield 6-1 13. Browerville-E.Vall. 3-2 14. Cleveland 7-0 15. Ada-Borup 6-0 16. Parkers Prairie 5-1 17. Mt. Iron-Buhl 5-1 18. MN Valley Luth. 8-1 19. North Woods 5-0 20. Red Rock Central 6-0 1. Holy Angels 10-1 2. Alexandria 7-2 3. Kasson-Mantorville 7-3 4. Winona 7-2 5. Orono 8-3 6. Grand Rapids 8-3 7. Mahtomedi 8-2 8. Northfield 8-2 9. Hutchinson 6-4 10. Zimmerman 9-1 11. Hermantown 10-2 12. Waseca 8-2 13. St. Paul Como 5-5 14. St. Anthony Vill. 8-3 15. New Ulm 9-2 16. Chisago Lakes 5-2 17. Sartell-St. Stephen 6-3 18. Fridley 7-2 19. Byron 6-4 20. Delano 5-3 1. Mtn. Iron-Buhl 9-0 2. Maranatha Christian 4-3 3. Goodhue 10-2 4. Wheaton-Hrm.-Nor. 9-0 5. Cromwell-Wright 9-1 6. SW MN Christian 7-0 7. Canby 10-0 8. Cedar Mt.-Comf. 8-0 9. Mankato Loyola 8-1 10. Lyle-Pacelli 7-1 11. Kimball 10-1 12. Stephen-Argyle 8-0 13. Ada-Borup 6-1 14. Heritage Christian 6-2 15. New York Mills 9-0 16. Parkers Prairie 6-1 17. Mayer Lutheran 8-2 18, Bigfork 11-0 19. GHECTL 9-1 20. Red Lake 7-1
Pacesetter Newsletter Minnesota Basketball News January 6 Page 9 Golden Gophers turning heads By Terry Kunze After 14 games, the Minnesota Gopher men have made people notice their continuing improvement this season. After last winter s 8-23 debacle, coach Rich Pitino s team went 11-1 in non-conference and upset Purdue on the road in their second Big Ten game. In non-conference play, the Gophers (14-2 overall, 2-1 conference) were coming together as a team as roles and pecking orders were being established. Although they beat only one team picked to be in the Big Dance, they quietly defined how they were going to play the rest of the season. What made people take notice was their 91-82 overtime win over the Purdue Boilermakers at West Lafayette, as a 12 point underdog in a game most saw as un-winnable. With Nate Mason s strong play (30 points) and leadership, the Terry Kunze Gophers simply did what you have to do to win on the road, a tough task in the Big Ten for anyone. They rebounded, got key stops, and made big shots down the stretch. Purdue started to play not to lose and became frustrated. They took questionable shots and attempted to force the ball inside to their bigs. Dupree McBrayer had two key deflected passes which helped nail down the win. The front court is very physical with 6-6 soph Jordan Murphy and 6-10 junior Reggie Lynch. Both are beasts on the boards and present tough matchup problems for opponents. Lynch blocks shots and is strong enough to not be bullied inside. Murphy is active and a great low box player. Murphy is also a strong rebounder. Both are foul-prone but can defend the paint and rebound. Konate Bakary has given them some solid backup minutes defensively, but does not score. Another bright spot is 6-9 freshman Eric Curry s scoring and rebounding. His improvement is a major factor for them. He has shown the ability to shoot while becoming very aggressive and active inside. He will be a very good player before he is done. The three spot belongs to 6-8 freshman Amir Coffey, who s long and active, and a solid perimeter defender. He gets to the hole and the foul line. He is not a standout shooter but good enough to force coverage. Coffey is their best passer and really runs the floor on the wing. He is what they have lacked in recent years, and it is nice to know that he will be around for years to come. Meanwhile, 6-7 freshman Michael Hurt is starting to see the floor more. He is smart and does not turn the ball over. The Gophers do defend! They are tough to score on, and are able to stay in the game even with scoring droughts. Besides solid defense, they are a solid defensive rebounding team. Against No. 15 Purdue on the road, they held their own on the boards. They also get to the basket and draw fouls which keeps you in the game on the road. This kind of game can turn your season around and give you belief in your abilities. They out-worked the Boilermakers in the trenches and came away with a W. Teams will be more focused now on preparation for the Gophers. This was a big win, a big step. The maroon and gold are propelled by a very good back court tandem of 6-2 junior Mason and 6-5 sophomore McBrayer. Mason, a potential first team all-big Ten player who s scoring around 14 ppg with an excellent midrange shooting game, is the key to the club. McBrayer (12 ppg) gives them a solid defender with length. He has the ability to get to the basket and has a much improved perimeter game. Spelling them is 6-4 senior Akeem Springs, a shooter with physical strength who can score in bunches and provides experience off the bench. This is a solid threesome, all capable defenders with length. Coming to The Barn this season, Big Ten teams will have to work hard and play well to leave with a victory. No longer will this be regarded an automatic win. Continued improvement, along with learning how to win, might make the team worthy of the Big Dance. Pitino and his staff have done an outstanding job of getting this team prepared. Little things determine wins and losses, and I see these little things in many cases going the Gophers way. Let s wish them well and also let s enjoy their journey. Terry Kunze, leader of Duluth Central s 1961 state champions and a former Gopher, with college and pro coaching experience, is a regular columnist for the Minnesota Basketball News.
Pacesetter Newsletter Minnesota Basketball News January 6 Page 10 Protecting lead, or inviting comeback? By Jeff McCarron Pacesetter Director If I had a nickel for every time I ve heard a coach say, You gotta work the clock or take some time off the clock or slow it down, protect the lead, I could buy a heck of a dinner or maybe even the whole diner! The coach truly believes he or she is coaching the right way Coaching 101 because somewhere along the line, they were coached that way and they won. That s the problem: It does work... sometimes. The coach who coaches this way has probably won more than half the games with this strategy - maybe as high as 60-70% of his games when leading by 10 or more points. Now, had the coach not told his team to slow down, work the clock, etc., he may have won 90-95% of the games, but who would know? The more games I watch, the more convinced I am that whenever a coach guides his team to Jeff McCarron slow down, what he is really doing is Inviting a Comeback! Suddenly, the team that had been throttled and is still on its heels staggering and choking on dust.gets handed a glass of water. How? As the losing team senses that sludge has been injected into the veins of the team that has been crushing them - they feel adrenaline in their own veins. They sense the vulnerability, the weakness and fear of failure in their foe and make them their prey! Imagine a bald eagle with its sharp talons clutching a rattlesnake s throat and pinning it to the ground. The large glaring eyes of the eagle show dominance and the razor-sharp beak is ready to tear the snake into bitesized strips. But what s this? The large predator has heard something and twists its head to the side it is Coach Wise Old Owl, offering advice from behind the bush, Take your time, Slow it down, Walk down to its tail and let go of the head. You can visualize the rest of the story. Dead eagle, and snake slithers away. When a coach tells a team to slow it down, they make more non-scoring passes, dribble away from the basket, pass up scoring opportunities, and act like they don t want to score or don t need to, as if some perfect CIA Psychological Defensive Operation has been performed! It is a defender s dream. The dominators have now become hesitant and fearful. With each cautious keep away pass, the coaches and fans and bench players cringe and watch the clock. Can they survive? The eyes of the defensive players become glassy and focused. They are now on their toes. A ball is tipped, stolen, passed to the other end and scored! Opposing fans, who haven t had anything to cheer about since the tip off, spill their drinks, and are now standing, screaming, Press!, Get it! DEFENSE!. Another steal, another basket and a foul the 10-point lead is now 5 points. An assistant coach talks into the ear of the head coach. Timeout! At the timeout, the agitated coach blames the players for throwing the ball away, not moving, not thinking. Then he encourages them to get out there and Be more aggressive. But now can they? Or has the dam broken beyond repair? From my own experience, we had a wonderful coach in high school - crazy, wild, emotional, but smart and completely committed. We made it to the state tournament. In the first game, we got out 19-point lead. Then we slowed it down... and won by 11. Second game, we again got a 20-point lead, slowed it down and won by 11. In the final game, we were up 13 points at halftime. He again slowed us down. Our point guard had never brought the ball up slowly in his life! Within minutes, it was a 1-point lead. We, coaches included, basically said the hell with this and started running and pushing it again and won by 16. Each time, we were fortunate to escape the comeback we had invited. Our coach thought he was doing the right thing, not recognizing how it brought the other team back into the game. It seems this philosophy has become embedded into the consciousness of almost all basketball coaches. The only time I have seen it work is when 1) the ball handling skills and quickness of the leading team are clearly superior, and 2) they move aggressively working the clock but still try to score, and 3) they have excellent free throw shooters. Next time you watch a team ahead by 10 or more points with more than five minutes to go, observe what they do. It is fascinating to watch, especially when you are close enough to hear the coaches. If you coach a team that gets into that situation and you have always coached to work the clock, go ahead and release your eagles, and get ready to love the taste of rattler!