NHR Commentary: Rockets peaking at the right time
Last Friday night at Northfield High School the now 21-3 Rochester John Marshall Rockets traveled to play the 15 win Raiders in a game that you would expect to be a reasonably close contest. That exact opposite took place. The…
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Continue ReadingLast Friday night at Northfield High School the now 21-3 Rochester John Marshall Rockets traveled to play the 15 win Raiders in a game that you would expect to be a reasonably close contest. That exact opposite took place. The Rockets looked like a state contender hammering the Raiders.
Michael Hurt
With a large contingent of Mr. Basketball committee members sitting in the front row and his brother Matthew sitting on the bench in foul trouble, Michael simply took the game over. With trail threes, cutting scores after passing the ball away only to receive it for a finish, putbacks (one of the best offensive rebounders out there), and made attempts on the attack and with feet set or moving without the ball and then catching to finish, Michael scored 22 in the first half giving the Rockets a 41-2 lead.
Michael finished with 30 points on 10 of 17 shooting, he made all of his seven foul shots, and sunk three treys. Michael also grabbed nine rebounds and dished out four assists plus had a pair of blocks and steals. All in all, it was a stat stuffer of a dominating performance that grabbed the attention of many. Hurt then turned around and had 19 points, nine boards, and eight assists in another blowout the next night against Faribault.
Hurt has put himself in position as a strong candidate for the Mr. Basketball award and he’s helped his team peak at the right time.
JM Peaking
The thing that was most encouraging about John Marshall was their team defense and the way they moved the ball. This is a team clicking on all cylinders at the right time.
Defensively the Rockets have grown to be this team with five players in a stance, they talk really well on defense led by Hurt who does a great job of leading that communication, and the positioning ball side and on the backside was outstanding. This JM defense hasn’t allowed a team to score 60 or more since they lost to Red Win over a month ago.
In fact the 59 points the Raiders scored was the most a team has put up against the Rockets in the last ten games. JM has blown everybody but Austin out by 30 or more since that Red Wing game (the rematch with Red Wing is this Friday).
Others
Isaiah Walden (Jr): Definitely a quality third or fourth option for this team. They can ask him to handle or they can have him get his feet set to hit shots. A third or fourth double figure scoring option.
Ray Adams (Jr): Ray is an encouraging athlete with some quality potential. Has good straight line and later agility, good frame, can defend on the one end or finish on the move on the other.
D’Angelo Tines (Sr): Knocked out three treys at Northfield and is also a physical wing that is tough to move around because he is reasonably agile and strong enough to stop advance with physical contact.
Dedoch Chan (Jr): I was quite surprised at how Chan has assimilated with this team. Loved how unselfish he was offensively waiting for his chances to come to him. He’s playing better on defense and does a great job in the team framework. Had a couple flashing throw downs.
Matt Hurt (Fr): After sitting with foul trouble Matt played more in the second half to get his 14 points, six rebounds, and three assists. Matthew has special talent skill wise, blocking shots, and he had a two hand thrown down that shows that he is much more explosive than people realize. Love his composure on the court despite guys drilling him, he still made 5 of 6 foul shots.