Augustine’s Analysis: 6A State Championship
The 6A state championship is finally here. The two teams playing for the right to own the title of 6A state champ are very familiar with each other. Pinnacle and Chaparral are in the same region and have squared off…
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Continue ReadingThe 6A state championship is finally here. The two teams playing for the right to own the title of 6A state champ are very familiar with each other. Pinnacle and Chaparral are in the same region and have squared off twice.
Pinnacle won the first match-up by 16 at Chaparral. However, in the second match-up, Chaparral lost on a last second buzzer beater from Nico Mannion. The game, which was tied at 88 at the time of the shot, would have gone to OT if Mannion had missed.
Augustine’s Analysis: Chaparral
1. Underdog Mentality – Chaparral was not on anyone’s radar as far as being a team that could win or play for the 6A state title. While the team brought back talent from last year’s group, the team was making the leap to 6A.
While it is nice to be the favorite, being the underdog can be advantageous. They have no reason to feel tight or pressure. In fact, due to how close the game was last time, it is conceivable that this underdog is coming into the game with a chip on their shoulder and a belief that they can shock the basketball world.
2. Balanced Attack – Chaparral has four prospects who are all averaging over ten points per game: Alem Huseinovic, Alec Bryan, Jordan Josephs, and Blaise Threatt.
Huseinovic is there most prominent playmaker. However, Threatt makes this group go. He is one of their best on-ball defenders, and he creates for others while shooting the basketball at a high percentage from everywhere on the floor. Pinnacle’s ability to keep him from facilitating will be crucial to their success.
Further, Josephs and Bryan provide Chaparral with good size. Bryan and Josephs are solid on the glass and provide something that Pinnacle lacks – depth and height. While Tosh Baker is strong and possesses good size, there is a significant drop off in size after him.
3. Shooters
Chaparral has 7 shooters shooting above 30% from 3. Their ability to extend the court from 3 makes them extremely tough to guard. With that said, the top knockdown shooters for this group are Threat, Huseinovic, Bryan, and Jake Tenberge.
The number of shooters that Chaparral possesses makes them extremely hard to guard. They are able to spread the floor and make opposing teams pay when they help. Their ability to shoot the basketball at a high level from deep could play a huge role in this game.
Augustine’s Analysis: Pinnacle
1. Top Tier Talent – Pinnacle comes into this game with the top two prospects. Nico Mannion and Trent Brown are the two best players on the floor.
While Mannion gets plenty of attention, and deservedly so, Brown makes this team go. He is a knockdown shooter and an elite on ball defender. Further, he never makes mistakes. His ability to hit open shots, lock up on defense, make his teammates better, and play mistake free basketball make him an attractive prospect and one of the biggest keys to the team’s success.
Brown deserves a lot of credit. However, make no mistake about it; Mannion is special. While the word “Elite” gets thrown around a lot to the point that it gets watered down, reality is that Mannion truly is elite. He makes next level plays and does not look like a high school prospect on the floor.
It is impossible to shut these two down. Rather, the hope is to make them inefficient. That is a tall task that few have been able to accomplish.
2. X-Factor Contributions – While the score does not show it, Brophy and Pinnacle were engaged in a close game until the midway point of the 3rd quarter. What was the game changer? Marcus Libman. Libman hit 4 threes in about 3 minutes which opened the flood gates and got the group going.
Last night, Tosh Baker played that role. While Dylan Anderson demonstrated that he is a skilled prospect, Baker was solid defensively and provided some nice post moves near the room. Even more impressive than his finishes was his passing. He did a great job of drawing defenders and finding his kick outs to open shooters.
In order for Pinnacle to win the state title, the role players are going to have to keep being X-Factors that make them special. At this point, everyone’s game plan is to make someone other than Mannion and Brown beat them. If the role players do their jobs, it will be impossible for that plan to work.
3. High IQ – The thing that sticks out to me the most when watching Pinnacle is their high basketball IQs. They have phenomenal instincts and execute at a high level. Their cumulative high IQ makes them extremely tough to guard and to score on.
Last night, prior to Perry moving to a 1-3-1, Mannion set a couple of on ball screens to get favorable match-ups on switches. Further, Libman made some incredible passes to players who knew where to be while Brown kept the offense flowing and facilitated the game well. Moreover, Baker found shooters and demonstrated that he is a skilled passer.
Skill and IQ are a deadly combination.