Five Takeaways: Park Tudor vs. Lawrence North
In their first game of the season, Lawrence North decided to set a tone. For the game but also for the season. Their length and size up and down their roster allowed them to press Park Tudor from the start and push things out early and often. Isiah Moore finished with 22 points as did Lawrence North wing Kevin Easley. Jared Hankins led all scorers with 23 points and 4 rebounds.
Lawrence North Press Is Dangerous
In this game, we saw Lawrence North completely dominate on the defensive pressure. On paper, their length and size is evident but that doesn’t always translate to success on the floor. At least in this game we saw how good it can be and how it can impact the game. When Park Tudor was able to get the ball over half court, which wasn’t much I the first half, they were knocking down shots. If not for all those other possessions that Lawrence North stole with their press, this game would have been a lot close. LN lead by 8 after the first quarter, 18 at the half. This likely won’t happen every game with the caveat being that Park Tudor just doesn’t have many quality ball handlers, but still, should be their priority every time out.
Park Tudor Has Possible Impact Freshman Class
I always like to look at the roster sheet every time I go to a game, to find things that we didn’t know before the season started. When looking at Park Tudor’s roster, they only have three upperclassmen on their roster and a host of incoming freshman. Last night we saw a couple of them standout like Cole Greenwalt, a 5’10 knockdown shooter. Also, 6’2 Keishawn Taylor had a nice game for the circumstances. Long, rangy wing that can shoot it a bit. They weren’t even able to play their best freshman in Ronald Johnson, a 6’0 guard. He’s still coming off an injury. Given the lack of depth at the older ranks, this freshman class will be a big part of this season and for seasons to come.
Isiah Moore Is Going To Post Big Numbers
As was evident as well last night, Park Tudor doesn’t have enough scoring threats right now. They have a very young roster, an inexperienced one, and they will have to find ways to win games. Their best method is likely to make sure their highly potent junior guard, Isiah Moore, takes the majority of the shots. Moore is extremely talented and while he is a bit inconsistent at times, his highs are really good. He only scored 22 points last night. You could easily consider that a low game for him. Give him a better matchup where he isn’t running all over the place and he is going to be even better.
Versatility Is Strong With Lawrence North
We saw last night that LN is going to be able to put some interesting lineups on the floor. They had one where everyone was 6’4 or taller, all with length. They also ran Michael Saunders and J.P. Carroll together a lot, giving them speed and shooting ability on the perimeter. They have enough true size in the post that they should be able to matchup with teams like Center Grove or Hamilton Southeastern that have really good post players. Their length is the key here. They have so many pieces at the 2-4 spots that allow them to switch pretty much everything and give them so many options to matchup with different offenses.
Jared Hankins To Be Lawrence North’s Most Reliant Scorer
We saw last night, just how good this Lawrence North team can be. However, look for junior guard Jared Hankins to be the most consistent scorer for them this season. With Kevin Easley drawing a ton of attention, combined with Hankins ability to put up large point totals, more often than not it looks like Hankins is going to be the beneficiary of some easy looks. Hankins is talented enough to take advantage of them. He’s already a tough defensive assignment because of his size and shooting ability and he put up big numbers when he was the biggest name on his AAU team this summer. Take the light off of him a bit and it could allow him to be their most reliant scorer this season.