Gopher Team Camp: Saturday Notes
Gopher Team Camp continued Saturday with a full day of action on all the courts at the University of Minnesota. NHR was there to cover the action and produce the following notes on the standouts of the day. The Rochester…
Access all of Prep Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingGopher Team Camp continued Saturday with a full day of action on all the courts at the University of Minnesota. NHR was there to cover the action and produce the following notes on the standouts of the day.
- The Rochester JM win over Cretin-Derham Hall is something that really stood out. The Rockets lost some close games to good teams earlier in the camp which is kind of what happened against Red Wing, Lakeville North, and Woodbury last year. Oddly enough after the head coach went back home, the team sprung together and defeated a full strength Raiders team that is expected to be top five in the state next year.
- The Rockets were led by the 32 points from Matthew Hurt who scored on 9-12 field goals and 16-17 free throws. His hotly contested three-point makes and Matthew’s constant ability to get to the front of the lane on anybody that defended him will not be soon forgotten. An outstanding performance by the young 2019 talent as nobody on the Raiders could deal with him.
- Great day for Dedoch Chan of the Rockets too. Had 16 points and 11 boards in one game and then 19 points and 10 rebounds in the other. Two double-doubles playing very active basketball, nobody could keep him from boarding and putting shots back. Some of the most active basketball I’ve seen the 6-foot-6/6-foot-7 forward play.
- Must add in that 2018 John Marshall wing Eric Stai looked very promising. Add him to go with Ray Adams who wasn’t there, Hurt, Chan, and Isaiah Walden, that’s a nice group of five players. Stai was in double figures in every game yesterday scoring off the ball in all ways possible (back-cuts, putbacks, transition runs) and there were also a couple attacking baskets.
- My first time seeing Ryan Larson with Cretin-Derham Hall and he played a major scoring role hitting three treys on his way to 25 points and a handful of assists vs JM. He will give them the ball handler and outside shooter at the guard spot that they definitely need. Ryan is more athletic and faster than people give him credit for.
- A new name to remember is Ray Sean Treadwell from Cretin-Derham Hall, a junior to be. The first look at Ray Sean shows a guy that has a perimeter touch with range, has a good athletic build meaning he could be a good defender and on balance athletic attacker, and he has good size for the position. Definitely a good development for them with Larson, Daniel Oturo, Jacob Prince, and others.
- 2019 Khari Broadway of Park Center first caught my attention with an excellent defensive effort on Gabe Kalscheur followed by some physical completed driving attacks. He scored after a quick first step and getting DeLaSalle physical defenders on his hip and holding them there as he extended to touch in baskets against the physical help defenders. To produce like he did on both ends against DeLaSalle was impressive.
- In regards to Gabe Kalscheur and Daniel Oturo, I like the way Gabe ran the break and distributed yesterday. It was an element to his game I hadn’t seen before and it was impressive. Oturo’s game with JM was cut short by fouls (does CDH always get the lower end from the refs or does Jerry Kline just make me believe that?) but Daniel still had 13/8.
- Few players are as good as Sage Booker in transition. I swear he had about 15 open floor baskets in his team’s three games yesterday. The Islander guard does a fantastic job of releasing, getting to an angle, and then physically attacking the lane to the rim and finishing ahead of or over contact. One of Minnesota’s best transition players.
- Race Thompson had his 15 against JM and much of it was physical around the basket. That needs to be said first as Race and his physical contributions were key. The Armstrong guard group of Isaiah Miller, Davonte Saeed-El, and Calvin Green, they didn’t just surprise me, they shocked me. This three some worked incredibly well together in all aspects. All of them hit double figures with Saeed-El scoring the most at 18. Loved the vision of Miller, the attack of Green, and the ability of Saeed-El to find space with or without the ball and finish plays. Surprising development that is good for the Falcon future.
- Tyrell Terry of DeLaSalle is a 2019 but he plays like a junior in high school version of former Hopkins and St. Thomas Academy standout Tyler Nicolai. They have the same frame and smooth/crafty playing style at guard. I think Tyrell can be better as he seems to be developing earlier and looks like he will be bigger, but that comparison is a big compliment. Terry’s ability to handle and get a defender off balance to get him to space and create a play is very unique. Tyrell is so intelligent when it comes to reading a defender as well as the defenders behind them, and getting them to shift off balance with a move or fake so he can get into his playmaking. Very impressed with how he understands space and angles, and how to use his skill to get to the space and angles.
- Finally, McKinley Wright and Theo John dominated yesterday. Nobody could deal with the two of them. McKinley hit a posted up or on the move Theo John numerous times for scores and their 1-2 connection was unstoppable. I don’t know that I understood their level of connection as strong as I should have. They play so well together that I have a hard time seeing anybody beating them much at all the next nine months.