 |
2007 Northern Semistate Boys Basketball Preview:
Class 4A Marion (21-3) vs. East
Chicago (21-3)
|
|
|
2007 Northern Semistate Boys Basketball Preview:
Class 4A Marion (21-3) vs. East
Chicago (21-3)
|
|
LAFAYETTE (3-17-2007) A lot of
times Northwest Indiana teams get
overconfident when they reach a level in the
state tourney that has them playing outside
the home area. For East Chicago (21-3), that should not
be a problem this time.
The Cardinals will take on one of Indiana's
greatest franchises, seven-time state champ
Marion, which defeated No. 1 Muncie Central
64-62 in last week's regional championship
game.
Marion, like Muncie Central, lives in a
time warp. All time past relates to high
school basketball and this team is no
exception. The Giants have won 64 sectional
championships and 35 regional titles.
They were three-time consecutive state
champs from 1975-77 and Marion defeated
Crown Point in the semistate on the way to
the 1998 state title with now-NBA player Zac
Randolph (Portland Trail Blazers) playing
center.
The Giants' strength is shooting. They are an elite three-point shooting team with 175 three-point baskets in 24 games. They shoot 40% from behind the line. Marion set a school record by shooting 77% from the foul line during the regular season. Jordan Bragg (11.9 ppg.) hit a state record 11 3-pointers in one game this season and he is a ridiculous 36-of-39 (92.3%) from the line. Soph guard Scott Wood (11.7 ppg.) was 10-of-15 against Muncie and 5-of-5 from three-point range. You must guard the perimeter against them or you cannot beat them. Top scorer Julius Mays, a 6-foot-1 junior, scored 22 and hit a 15-foot shot with three seconds left for the 64-62 victory over Muncie, which had been in the state title game the last two seasons.
Marion is not a big team. They have no one over 6-foot-5, but Mays (20.5 ppg.) is a certain junior all-star. Bragg and Wood are great shooters while 6-foot-5 forwards Jay Edwards (9.2 ppg.) is a quick player inside and Jordan's twin brother Jarrett Bragg is a solid defender.
The Giants only go seven deep. They have only five players who have played in every game. Marion, like all teams, gives the pretense of balanced scoring, but team stats show that Mays takes twice as many shots as anybody else.
EC, which got smoked for 50 by North Central's Eric Gordon and 49 by Lake Central's Zac Fehrman, has not been good at stopping top individual players.
East Chicago's edge here is inside with 6-foot-4, 260-pound Kawaan Short, who was the difference in EC's win over Valparaiso. The Vikings could not match Short inside and, it would appear that Marion can't either.
In the post-season, the Cardinals have gotten a lift from 6-foot-10 Angel Garcia, who has hung around the basket defensively and contested shots. Marion's goal, however, will be to spread the Cardinals out and attack Garcia one on one. EC played a zone defense against Valparaiso and the Vikings responded with just 2-of-16 from three-point range. They cannot count on Marion to shoot that poorly. But if they can pick up the pace, they can get into the seldom-used Marion bench.
This is not a great Marion team and they are junior-dominated, with nine of the 12 players being underclassmen. This is a return-to-glory squad that has picked the Giants up from some hard time (Marion was under .500 in 2003 and 2004). But I think they're aiming towards the 2008 playoffs. What is happening now is actually a year ahead of schedule.
One of the 6-foot-4 Bragg twins will
guard EC all-stater E'Twuan Moore (21 ppg.).
Lamar Jackson is a 6-foot-5 center, but he
does not play the entire game. He's going to
be overmatched by Short inside.
If Garcia does not put the ball on the
floor, he can get any shot he wants.
Wood is a 6-foot-4 wing and an up-and-coming
star. May is 6-foot-2 and he's the smallest
starter, so the Giants create matchup
problems all over the floor. But understand what we're talking about
here. Jordan Bragg has 60 three-point
baskets, Wood has 55, Mays has 45. The ball
will be shot from the perimeter. Marion was
16-of-29 from 3-point range at the regional
in two games against teams that knew they
were trying to shoot 3s. You cannot run
away from the shooters and the zone defense
that EC used against Adams and, to some
extent, against Valparaiso will not work
here. Only Mays scores off the dribble. Layups don't matter.
Marion will try to take the charge on E'Twaun Moore. Teams don't drive to the
basket consistently on the Giants. Marion
allowed just 48 points a game and they were
champions of Indiana's famed North Central
Conference so the Giants don't feel there's
anybody much better than the
players that they've already seen.
Jefferson is no longer in the North Central
Conference so Marion has not played at Jeff
in three years. It's unlikely any of the
present Giants have ever played there so
there is no home court advantage of any kind
for either side.
EC has to get tighter offensively. They
throw the ball away far to much to advance
much further. I don't know how this Marion
team wins 20 games with the lack of
rebounding they appear to have, but they've
beaten nine teams by 19 points or more and
only four schools (Anderson, Lawrence North,
Snider and Muncie Central) have scored more
than 60 on them.
East Chicago has to change up defense here. They want to press, but that will give up three-pointers at the other end. If they do not press Marion, the Giants will slow the game and wait for that long shot they like. EC has to overload Marion's small baseline. Get Short and Garcia close to the basket on the same side and watch the Giants try to defense them close to the basket. The Cardinals also have to resist the desire to 'help' defensively on Mays because that creates the open three-point shot.
This is a high quality game that may hinge on the other team's breaking point. Marion's three losses were all close and very winnable. EC got blown out three times. The Cardinals are just not good on covering shooters and Marion is way too effective from the three point line and the foul line, places where the quickness of EC won't matter.