ST. JOHN: You get the feeling the Indians are a year away, but in what looks like a down season in Northwest Indiana, Lake Central has the best players. The Indians have two Division I players in 6-foot-7 Tyler Wideman and 6-foot-5 forward Glenn Robinson. The only loss so far was at No. 2 Hamilton Southeastern and that's not a surprise. The key for LC is to not make the regular season the goal. LC's football team was 8-1 and they were immediately eliminated in the post-season. Lead guard Tye Wilburn has to be able to control the pace of the game. And LC needs to remember the 14-game Duneland Conference season is meaningless. Keep your eyes on the prize.

GARY: It's the moment of truth for Bowman. Bumped up to Class 2A, which is where they should have been the last three years, the Eagles now find out if they have a top program or if they've just been scamming the system the last few seasons when they were a 2A team in the 1A playoffs. Bowman is 0-2 after two games against Chicago powers and they'll be 0-3 after this Saturday's game at 4A power North Central, but ignore that. The Eagles have three Division I players in 6-foot-10 Stephan Hawkins, 6-foot-5 DJ Marerro and 6-foot-6 Elijah Ray. Bowman has gotten carried away with their "World Tour," where they play half their schedule out of state and it hurts them. Again this season, they will play very few Indiana schools. Last year they were not ready for 1A Morgan Township, the team that eliminated them at the sectional. Bowman is a young program and they may not totally accept that there is a vast difference between 1A and 2A in the post-season in Indiana. Bowman's first NW Indiana opponent is Lake Station on Jan. 10. Withhold judgment until they start playing local teams.

MERRILLVILLE: The Pirates have lost to Homestead (5-0), but that's a shame. New coach TJ Lux won't win 20, but he'll do well with 6-foot-7 center Ed Seay and junior guard Jake Raspopovich. Expect more full court pressure from the Pirates and a power low post game. This team is a work in progress and you have to put them on the 15-game plan. In a weak year in the DAC, the Pirates will finish near the top, but they have a big challenge ahead at sectional time. Like many perennial powers in the DAC, I could not now tell you who will lead Merrillville in scoring.

MERRILLVILLE: Andrean has more coming back than any other team with 6-foot-9 center Josh James and 6-foot-4 junior guard Nick Davidson. The toughest task they'll have during the regular season is to try to convince people they are somehow the underdog. The Niners have some nice nonconference games with Lebanon and Penn, but their schedule isn't anywhere near what it needs to be to make a state finals run. With eight juniors, you get the feeling they are a year away. Here's another team that can't get too excited about the regular season.

EAST CHICAGO: The Cardinals are off to a good start despite a four point overtime loss to undefeated South Bend Clay. Sophomore guards Josh and Jeremiah Ochoa combined for 27 points at Cay so they can play. I don't know who's going to rebound for them, but they will be speedy and fun to watch. EC always plays a good mix of region, South Bend and Indy area teams. They should be in every game.

MUNSTER: Munster has won three early games over three bad teams, but they won't win 20 like they have for three years in a row. The Mustangs lost four starters from last year's regional title team and there's some paperwork problems keeping 6-foot-6 Serbian transfer student Danilo Zekovic off the floor. The new ponies will be led by 6-foot-3 junior lead guard Michael Schlotman, the lone retuning starter. But if you could lose all your starters and come back next year with a team that's just as good, every school would have a winning team every year. Nobody knows for sure about Munster yet.

HAMMOND: Noll lost three starters off last year's team and they can't duplicate last year's 26-1 record. But 6-foot-4 Ronnie Beamon and senior guard John Dodson will be tough. This team has very little size, but they have the guards to challenge Bowman Academy at the sectional. Noll is crippled by playing in the weak Greater South Shore Conference where Wheeler is basically the only consistent competition. But Noll does play Bowman and neighbor East Chicago. Forget the regular season. It all comes down to one game against Bowman Academy at the sectional.

VALPARAISO: Who's the third best team in the DAC? I think it's Valpo, who has a 13-point loss to Lake Central already. The Vikings are mostly juniors and 6-foot-6 John Mosser and 6-foot-5 Quentin Palmer. Tyler Doane (10.7 ppg.) and Andrew Kittridge (10.0 ppg.) are physical guards if not prolific scorers. But these players are all new to major varsity minutes. They should develop during the season, but the question is: How much?

NORTH JUDSON: The Jays won their first two games by 45 points each and they know they're good after last season. It's now or never for this group with 6-foot-7 John Eckert (14 ppg.) in the middle and seniors Kendall Hochstedler (21 ppg.) and Winston Kergler (22 ppg.) on the perimeter. Judson wants to push the pace of their game, but so do new schedule foes Bishop Noll and South Bend Clay. They have a sectional showdown with Hebron (3-1) ahead and Noll or Bowman Academy awaits at the regional, but there's a lot to deal with here.

MICHIGAN CITY: I don't really have anybody for the 10th spot. Lowell (2-1) might get there when they get Danny DeBoer back in the lineup. He'll miss the first four games. Hebron (3-1) might get there now that 6-foot-6 Jay Patz is eligible. He also missed the first four games. Kouts (3-0) is very good in 1A but I don't know if they're better than Crown Point (1-1), which is replacing all five starters from last year. I'll go with Michigan City which returns 6-foot-1 senior Taylor Lavery and 6-foot-5 junior Ryan Taylor (17 ppg.). Big sophomores have arrived including 6-foot-6 Kennan Simmons (10 ppg.) and 6-foot-7 Stacy Whitt. But this team needs 15 games to get together, especially with the big school schedule they play.

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Revised: December 09, 2011 .