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2005-2006 Boys BasketballWeek-1, Top-10 PollA USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith(12-8-2005) |
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2005-2006 Boys BasketballWeek-1, Top-10 PollA USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith(12-8-2005) |
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VALPARAISO (12-8-2005) The boys basketball season cannot win until the football season ends. Games are rescheduled. Boys aren't eligible. Nobody cares. That's why the newspaper Top-10s are nice, but you don't know much until everybody's played a game or two and you see what you have. Some teams cannot be analyzed in the pre-season because they have players who have never played on the varsity.
The best example this season is Crown Point, which changed coaches and graduated nine seniors. Only one player who played any significant minutes at all on the varsity returned. But the freshman team was 20-0 last year. So they have unpredictable, young talent. Even after opening with an upset win at LaPorte, you STILL don't know what they have because none of them have ever played consecutive weeks on the varsity.
Another tricky prediction is East Chicago, which gets a new coach (Pete Trgovich) and a senior transfer in Gary West Side's David Bell. Maybe it'll work, maybe it won't. It isn't a strong year in NW Indiana with all the Gary schools down a notch, half the DAC and LAC dominated by first year varsity players and only one PCC team (Hebron) returning the majority of their starting lineup.
The Region Rumble was again a disappointment with all-stater Tom Workman of Lakeland unable to play and Hammond's girls team taking a 29-point whipping from unranked Elwood. How did great teams pass through Lawrence North and (South Bend) St. Joseph's without either ever getting booked in the Hammond Civic Center? It's too hard to get them? OK. Why aren't powerful teams that are not in Lake County or the LAC (Boone Grove girls 2004-2005, Valparaiso boys 2005-2006) slated to appear? Indianapolis has had the nation's top player for 2007, North Central's Eric Gordon. The 'Rumble' needs him. SB Washington freshman Skyler Diggins (23.5) is high D-1. The 'Rumble' needs her.
Can we forget the tired 'Region against the World' format and 'simply match up two teams that never meet like Crown Point and East Chicago girls to draw a crowd? Penn is 7-0 with two top freshman. North Judson has a state finalist team, a good-sized fan base and a star player (Kristen Bolen). How about Judson vs. Munster in 2006? CP boys return all but two varsity players next year and they never play Andrean. Get them. Chesterton will have 7-footer Evan Schmidt and star Zach Novak next season and they don't play East Chicago. Get them. Get somebody. Permission to speak freely, captain? The 'Rumble' has to stop leaning on the 'easy-to-book' LAC fun bunch. The Wheelers and Hammonds and Munsters. The LAC is a football league. What would you rather pay to see? "LAC Day" in the Dome with Lowell, Andrean, Griffith and Hobart taking on Chatard, Roncalli, Cathedral and Brebeuf? Or Hammond vs. Elwood in girls basketball? Hammond vs. Elwood? Andrean vs. Lakeland? Lakeland???? It doesn't matter how good their players are. You've got to call Warren Central. Bedford North Lawrence. Kokomo. Crown Point and Plymouth puts 500 people in the Civic Center because they have tradition. Nobody knows where Elwood is. Paying customers are clearly rejecting the annual 'LAC Invitational.' You've got to get REAL basketball schools.
The good thing about boys basketball is, that even with a late start, the season is painfully long. What you are on Dec. 1 isn't what you'll be on March 1, which is the only day it starts to matter.
1.) Valparaiso (3-0)
22-3 (2005), 22-3 (2004), 17-4(2003)
VALPARAISO - With three wins by 14 points or more (over Boone Grove, Hobart and Lake Central), Valpo has started the season as expected. Check the heights on juniors Scott Martin and Rob Hummell. Both are now listed at 6-foot-8 after being 6-6 last season. This is a very big team, although they may not have a true post player or a true point guard. Hummell has the skills to play guard while Martin is a true forward. 6-4 Paul Coburn is a fine role player and word is that there are several capable guards making varsity debuts this season in the green uniforms. Martin scored 27 with 11 rebounds as the Vikings beat Lake Central 65-46 Friday (12-2-2005). Hummell had 11 points and eight assists. 6-3 wing player Nate Windsor hit four three-point baskets. It will take a team with a great post player or lead guard to beat them and I'm not sure that team plays in NW Indiana. Nobody likes to hear this, but Valparaiso has the No. 1 basketball program in NW Indiana. They are the standard by which you are judged.
2.) Munster (3-0)
16-8 (2005), 20-2 (2004), 21-2 (2003)
MUNSTER - Munster gets a lot of hype in NW Indiana and it really hurts them. I wish they could back away from all the publicity they get. This is a school that has never been beyond the regional level. This could be the year. With West Side a cut down from last season and Andrean in 3A, there could easily be a Munster-Valparaiso regional championship game. It will all come down to lead guard Michael Bizoukas, a highly-touted, highly skilled player who is the true lead guard that Valpo and Andrean lack. Scott Rutkowski, now listed at 6-foot-9, is not a scorer, but the ponies won't run far without his defense. On the bench are four players taller than 6-5. They start no one under 6-1 and the schedule, which includes six 3A schools, is tough about half the time. The overtime win 67-61 over a mid-level DAC team isn't that impressive and the 58-49 win over Fort Wayne North, an overrated team (pre-season rankings mean nothing), isn't much better. But Munster has to stop concerning themselves with the regular season. They have found out again and again that regular season success is about as impressive as UCLA against USC.
3.) Andrean (3-0)
21-3 (2005), 15-7 (2004), 11-12 (2003)
MERRILLVILLE - It's great to have a 6-foot-8 star player like Luke Harangody, who averaged 23 points a game last year. And it's even greater to have another 6-foot-8 player in senior Chris Kaba who can play the 'D' and pick up big points when teams double-up on Harangody. One thing that's lost about Valpo and Andrean both having two 6-8 players. That's a ready-made formidable practice partner. The 59ers, who coasted past injury depleted Lakeland Saturday (12-3-2005) at the Region Rumble, lost eight seniors from last season. But it doesn't matter who you lost, it matters who you have coming back. A major key is 6-foot senior lead guard Anthony Johnson. He is a question mark. But question marks can be answered in the affirmative.
4.) Gary West Side (1-2)
19-5 (2005), 12-7 (2004), 7-12 (2003) 23-4 (2002)
GARY - Gary West Side has struggled out of the gate against second tier teams they must beat at sectional time, confirming that the 'Side' has work to do before they approach last year's sectional and regional title scenarios. Highland upset Gary West Side 50-46 in overtime Friday night (12-2-2005) with Tucker scoring just 14 and the Side sinking just 8-of-16 free throws. The Cougars also lost 60-59 to Homewood-Flossmoor, but that's a moral victory. H-F (5-0) has a better basketball team and program that Gary West Side does. The Cougars always lose one or two early. It's almost like they need to. D-1 wing player Jamil Tucker fired home 24 points a game last year, but he is a perimeter player and the Cougars need power up front. Tucker hit 13-of-31 shots in Saturday's loss and if he's shooting 31 times, this team needs to work on its offense. Freshman guard DeShawn Clay is said to have top-level skills. This team can dominate other teams with no true point player and no true post player. The Cougars have seven players listed at 6-5 or taller and they are sure to win 75% of their games. But the season is a three-month warm-up for East Chicago or Munster at the Sectional and Valparaiso at the regional and West Side does not have to be told that.
5.) East Chicago (3-2)
13-8 (2005), 13-10 (2004), 18-6 (2003)
EAST CHICAGO - EC will be a very watchable team with transfer David Bell, a state class high-jumper moving in to play a role with 6-3 wing ETwan Moore, a 20 point per game scorer. New coach Pete Trgovich has been widely quoted as saying he has absolutely nothing, which means he can lie just like every other basketball coach. The Cardinals are listed with five players 6-4 or taller. They lost the opener 75-67 to Arlington in Indianapolis, but the Cards swept the EC Holiday tournament and nipped South Bend Clay 68-67 to go to 3-1 before losing at Snider Saturday (12-3-2005). EC is not scary in a half court set, but the Cardinals appear to have the depth to run and press. Let's see how committed Trgovich is to that style. Let's invoke the 'new coach' rule here and give them 15 games to get it together.
6.) Merrillville (1-0)
18-4 (2005), 9-12 (2004), 15-11 (2003)
MERRILLVILLE - I think there's a bit of a gap between the top five and everybody else, but the Pirates should also be fun to watch with 6-foot-3 double-figure scorer Greg Hill leading a gang of small, quick players. Merrillville graduated eight seniors from last year's team, so I don't know where the rebounding will come from. NW Indiana's top baseball player Darryl Evans is a very quick run and press player and senior James Rowe is a decent defender. I'm hearing about 6-6 freshman Ryan Smith and I know you can't count on freshmen. But last time I checked, Merrillville had freshmen and junior varsity teams. There's a reason Smith is on the varsity and he grabbed nine rebounds in his debut last Saturday, a 63-40 rout of Chesterton. The Pirates started late because of football and that's probably been a positive for them. In the DAC, I don't see how they can beat Valparaiso. But with the team speed they have, I could see them beating everybody else.
7.) Highland (3-0)
16-8 (2005), 16-7 (2004), 16-10 (2003)
HIGHLAND - It's now or never for the Trojans with seven seniors including 6-3 guards Andrew Helmer and Derek Moser plus four other boys 6-3 or taller. They have to keep the pace of the game relatively slow, but if they can, no one will dominate them. The Trojans are very experienced and that manifested itself in wins over Gary West Side 50-46 and Lowell 49-37 last weekend (Dec. 2-3). Helmer is more of a shooting guard than a point guard, so the Trojans will excel if they can find post players who can contribute consistently. The Trojans have East Chicago, Valparaiso and Merrillville on the schedule so the true tests will come outside of league play. Here's another post-season under-achiever (only 3 4A sectional titles in history) that is annually hyped to the skies locally. So the Trojans must remember that the LAC means nothing.
8.) Wheeler (3-0)
16-5 (2005), 20-5 (2004), 21-3 (2003)
VALPARAISO - This team returned all five starters from a 16-5 team, including 6-foot-7 Nate Kasper, shooter Zach Green and lead guard Lamar Micou. The Bear Cats beat a very experienced Hebron team by 22. There are three players 6-4 or taller on the bench. This is a very big team for Class 2A, but their problem is the LAC Blue Division, which will force them to play six teams that cannot beat them. The nonconference schedule isn't great either. Wheeler's natural rival is Valparaiso and they don't meet. But the Bearcats are hungry for that first-ever sectional title and you'd figure this has to be the year.
9.) LaPorte (2-1)
8-14 (2005), 21-4 (2004), 15-6 (2003)
LaPORTE - The Slicers were upset by Crown Point on Friday, but they have a lot of offense with 6-2 forward Kris Staats, who averaged 13 points a game last year. LaPorte sank 30 3-pointers in their first three games, but they will lose when they go cold from the three-point line. The DAC schedule will improve the Slicers, although it may not show in the record. To be honest, LaPorte and LC being in the poll indicates how weak the area is this year. The LAC Blue is all rebuilding except for Wheeler. The LAC Black has 3 sure-winning teams out of eight, the DAC has one top team and seven that could be .500 and Gary has West Side and they're 1-2. You bet LaPorte's in the top-10.
10.) Lake Central (0-2)
11-10 (2005), 14-6 (2004), 14-8 (2003)
ST. JOHN - They opened with losses to Gary West Side and Valparaiso, but that doesn't change the fact that they have good offensive players in 6-5 Joe Wingis and 6-4 Adam Short. New point guard Zach Fehrman scored 19 in the 65-46 loss to Valpo Friday (Dec.2). LC has a lot of guards, which won't work against teams like Valpo, but will be effective against smaller squads.
On the outside looking in...
11.) Hebron (2-1)
18-4 (2005), 9-12 (2004), 15-11 (2003)
HEBRON - The Hawks have six seniors and two three-year varsity players in Eric Luchene and Caleb Biggs. Biggs is the No. 1 three-point shooter in NW Indiana with 63 last season. The Hawks got blown out by Wheeler 68-46 last week, but they bounced back to bury Hanover Central 86-56. It's hard to tell exactly who the Porter County Conference (PCC) favorite is, but Hebron has more experience than anybody. The Hawks have tradition that outdates everyone in NW Indiana, with the possible exception of Valparaiso. So get ready for some small town 'throwback' Hoosier retro stories.
12.) Crown Point (2-0)
13-9 (2005), 6-16 (2004), 11-11 (2003)
CROWN POINT - Here's where you get into words and their meaning. Crown Point won their first two games on the road over LaPorte (2-1) and Morton (2-1). Are they 'that good?' Yes. Are they one of the top teams? No. How can both be true? CP is starting four sophomores off a 20-0 freshman team so they ARE that good. But they have absolutely no experience going through a varsity Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) schedule, so they won't be a Top-10 team any time soon. This is CP's tallest team in maybe 20 years with 6-7 Jacob Burkholder, 6-6 Aleks Alavania, 6-5 Andy Krumwied and 6-3, 225-pound Zach Cecich. Danny Bouchee can score in double figures on the wing, but the DAC includes Merrillville and Valparaiso and that's probably four losses right there.
The
five Bulldog positions have five question marks. The late start clearly
helped them, but this isn't the Lake Athletic Conference. Nobody
comes in with four sophomores and wins the league title. Let's just see
how many of those question marks can be answered positively.