The Key Questions after the AAA Regular Season Finale
The regular-season finale between the top 2 teams from the AAA San Francisco section. Abraham Lincoln coming into a game with a scorching hot record of (23-3)(14-0) sporting a 15 game win streak. Behind the play of the Aquino trio,…
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Continue ReadingThe regular-season finale between the top 2 teams from the AAA San Francisco section. Abraham Lincoln coming into a game with a scorching hot record of (23-3)(14-0) sporting a 15 game win streak. Behind the play of the Aquino trio, they’ve trampled all competition in the AAA. Mission(15-12)(11-3) having a rough preseason with a tough schedule has shown promise throughout league play to be a favorite to make it to the AAA league finals for the CIF Nor-Cal automatic bid. With the playoffs coming to both teams chose to sit a few key players recovering from injuries or needing rest. With sophomore Maurice Oliver missing from Mission the Bears made do with Junior Marcelo Solis. A tough fought game by the Bears, But the Mustangs show why they’ve stormed through the league and ended up winning this tough home matchup 80-71.
The question you would ask now is how is the AAA going to stop Lincoln from capturing the league title?
That’s going to be tough. First, you start off with coaching, the man behind the madness is Coach Carl Jacobs, a long time staple in Bay Area high school and AAU basketball. He keeps the foot on the gas with a full-court press and a high powered offense that’s similar to the 1990s UNLV “Run N’ Gun” team. After you figure the head of the monster you get to the heart, Sophmore point guard Jordan Aquino. He runs the offense all 94 feet choosing whether he wants to complete the fast break or break down the defense with speed, passing, and slashing across the middle of the floor for an easy shot or a back door alley-oop to Senior Andre Kelly and he has a web-like control over the defense when its time to be aggressive and go for 50/50 steals to locking in mentally and get the stop through the coach’s philosophy.
What is Mission missing?
Three years from winning the 2017 CIF Div III State Championship you wonder why the drop off in record ? Where is the heart from the team? That’s exactly what Mission is the heart. The players are Upperclassmen and also underclassmen a great mixture, but the chemistry needs to be there the timing and rhythm of shots is off from the usual way Coach Zelaya lays out the way of play. When a team fully buys into a coach’s system that is when the full potential of the bears will come out and will be back in mention as one of the top public school programs in Northern California.
What level of prospect is big man Andre Kelly?
High NCAA/NAIA D2, Mid-Major NCAA Div 1
Senior Andre Kelly is a 6’6 power forward who loves to crash the board for exhilarating putback dunks and breathtaking blocks on the defensive end. A big forward who loves to run the floor through transition and is also well-conditioned for the battle late in the game. Defensively has the IQ to be able to defend a crafty big man or a finesse forward who knows how to work the floor with their back to the basket. The way that Kelly can tap into his full Division 1 potential would be bulking up in the gym, developing the mid-range game to be able to step out the post to not be so predictable or too prone to drawing a double team from defenders. The passing ability out of the post from Kelly also shows major promise in his game because of the improvement in court vision he’s shown throughout the season playing off the unpredictable passes from the Aquino brothers.