Answering Your Questions (Pt. 1)
A little over a week ago, I put a questionnaire up to see if there were any questions you all wanted answers to, and there are a few things to respond to. Are you considering defense? Skill set transferring to…
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Continue ReadingA little over a week ago, I put a questionnaire up to see if there were any questions you all wanted answers to, and there are a few things to respond to.
Are you considering defense? Skill set transferring to the next level? Role on High school team vs. AAU team etc.?
Yes, I talked about this a little more in-depth when I talked about some of the things I looked for in guards and wings. Plenty of kids can score the ball at the next level, and most stay in college as long as possible. For instance, Caitlin Clark will likely play two more years, and Paige Bueckers will likely play three more. So, if you are not that level of a scorer, you have to do other stuff that will earn you minutes at the college level, and defense is a way to do it. Most of the time, I pay attention to what kids do away from the ball more so than on it because that makes a good defender, in my opinion.
What’s the first conference that comes to your mind when asked which one is the toughest in the state? OR. What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think about the Classic Eight conference?
The best conference in the state this coming year is the Fox Valley Association. That conference had a case that they had three of the five best D1 teams in the state last season when healthy in Neenah, Hortonville, and Kaukauna. It could be three of the best four if you swap Kaukauna out for Kimberly this season.
The Classic 8 is a top-three, four at worst, conference in the state. They are on par talent-wise with the Big Rivers, Badger, Big 8, and FRCC. That said, the first thing that comes to mind is the top three over the past few seasons. Kettle Moraine is a back-to-back state champion. If Waukesha West had a few good breaks from possibly splitting the conference and playing for a chance to go to state, and Arrowhead has the best assembly of young talent in the state. Those teams have a lot of pedigree and competition. Most kids in the Classic 8 know each other from club basketball or from playing on teams with other Classic 8 players from when they were younger because not much distance separates them.
After watching all types of systems and styles of play, is there a specific Offense and Defense you’ve noticed as being most effective?
It is tough to answer. Much of that relies on personnel. For instance, Brookfield East played zone, and it was nothing like Notre Dame playing their full-court press or Hortonville playing man-to-man pressure defense. I suppose most of the best teams I saw this year played man, but if you have disciplined defenders who read the game well, zones can make an elite form defense like the Spartans, or if you want to see a 2-3 zone, better than theirs you could go back and watch Pleasant Valley play its 2-3 zone defense from the state tournament in Iowa, that was probably the best defensive unit I saw all year.
Offensively, again, it depends on the personnel. Most of the best offenses I saw looked better because of the elite talent on the roster. St. Michael-Albertville with Tessa Johnson in Minnesota, Johnston has unreal spacing with Aili Tanke in Iowa, and Allie Ziebell Allie Ziebell 5'11" | SG Neenah | 2024 State WI scoring at Neenah takes their offense to another level by being on the floor. My question in return would be, does good offense mean getting good looks consistently even when things fail, or is it the result of scoring with volume and efficiency? You can have intelligent people disagree on that.
If you had to press me for an answer, Johnston down in Iowa ran some excellent stuff and scored at will, but I loved the process that teams like Notre Dame, Laconia, Kimberly, and Benet Academy had to get their shots.