Now that the dust has settled one week later from the state tournament the review is upon us.
The 2022 season is now officially in the books with the closing of the state tournament. We will examine the basketball, and the society,
SOCIETY
The season started off in the shadows of the pandemic. Now people openly disregard the solemn pronouncements from the announcers stand of ‘masking up.’ EVERYONE was supposed to be wearing a mask inside at Williams arena. The only real people obeying the commands were the workers and courtside workers. Either people don’t care if they get a disease, or don’t believe the officials that require lifestyle changes. I have not seen this much open disobedience…….and NOTHING being done about it. Not one fan was booted from the arena for not masking up.
Even more about the society— turning to basketball (of course)—–there is a quite clear distinction now between the haves and have nots. What once was a gap is turning into a gulf or canyon. Not only on a team basis, maybe classification, but now even at the granular player level. The gaps between the best and the worst have grown considerably in AAAA. It filters down. More and more players are devoting time and resources to more coaching. It shows on the court, and not in the way one would expect.
Let’s examine the coaching of these phenoms. Of course, there is the standard high school coach. And with the teams getting to state, there is that halo effect around those teams. Add in the mix the club coach. The better players do take part in the increasingly crowded summer scene. Success in summer equals success in winter. Or is it success in winter equals success in summer. What comes first the chicken or the egg?
Most of the all tournament players have a high profile club team. Add to that mix is an individual or specialized shooting/skill training/fundamental coach (maybe even a strength training coach, I don’t think players have their own nutritionist…..yet). How that impacts the game is the player with the individual skill set is working in isolation getting better but is missing out on making her teammates better. I can tell these coaches are having an impact by the amounts of mega dribblers I see out there. Any time a player bounces over ten times I count that as a mega dribble. Just using championship Saturday as an example, in 2013 the A class only had eight (8) mega dribble events (by the way the lowest). In 2022 there was 35. All four classes were up from 2013. The highest total in 2022 was AA with 59. The total megas in 2013 across all four classes was 93. In 2022 it was 178, almost double that of 2013. What is so bad about megas? It slows the game down (for those of us who crave the need for speed); many players stand around and watch one; more isolation; more individual; more self-narcissism. Less about the team. “oh, but player x can create off the dribble,” is a mantra I hear constantly. Not everything revolves around the dribble. If I ran the world… I will save it for a few paragraphs later.
Another change from 2013 is the number of 3s attempted and made. Only 21 were made in the title games in 2013—the best was Hopkins with five made. It is rare to be under that number in 2022. Only two teams failed (not for lack of trying either). This year there was 40 made on championship Saturday. The attempts have jumped as well. There were 108 Championship attempts in 2013, 138 this year, that is only thirty more divided out among eight teams—-almost four more attempts per team. Clearly shooting as improved from 19.4% to 29.0%. This change is probably due to the impact of Steph Curry and his splashdowns.
Speaking to the tournament, Glaeser’s theorem again proved true. In order to win a tournament a team has to survive a bad half. Hancock did it with their bad first half in the title game against Minneota. Hopkins had their bad half in the game against White Bear Lake. Providence and Totino-Grace perhaps didn’t have the grueling struggles, but their opponents did (and their opponents opponents did. Becker did not survive their bad half. Neither did Fergus Falls or Minnehaha, or Mountain Iron-Buhl. Teams that struggle and then survive have the grit to become champions. Everything will not go perfectly. The chaos of the game will ebb and flow. Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. And the games get physical. No calls now, were fouls in December.
If I ran the world—–
I would change a few rules. #1 jump balls go to the defense. This eliminates rewarding crappy offense. #2 10 bounce max. If a player bounces 11 times, that would be a turnover. Maybe even start a new league—the NDA (No Dribbles Allowed). We do this in practice in the full court and half court. It makes players move and rewards quick action/moves/decision making. The more bounces, the more turnovers.
#3 I would restructure the state tournament. It could revert to the good old days of one class. There still is a one class Olympics. The sections would reflect the eight Minnesota house districts in the US congress. Who would make it in that scenario? Highest QRF left of the teams that were involved last week in the state tournament (with alternates heading into the event)
1 Mankato East
2 Rosemount (Shakopee)
3 Hopkins
4 White Bear Lake
5 Totino-Grace
6 St. Michael-Albertville
7 Grand Rapids (Brainerd)
8 Fergus Falls
OR we could go the route of the QRF. The top 64 teams would be the dividing line for the “top” class. I don’t care how many students sit in a desk. This will be QUALITY not QUANTITY. The teams would be decided by January 17, Martin Luther King day would be the dividing line. The 64 would be clarified that day. The 64 teams would be divided into eight eight team sections. After that the remaining schedule would be home & away—a 14 game “conference” schedule. No ducking. No playing the little sisters of the poor; real games with real teams. How would that look this year? Remember this is the top 64 on January 17.
SECTION 1
Austin; Mankato East; Mankato West; Roch Century; Roch JM; Roch Mayo; St. Peter; Winona Cotter
SECTION 2
Eagan; Goodhue; Lake City; Lakeville North; Prior Lake; Rosemount; Shakopee; St. Croix Lutheran
SECTION 3
Chanhassen; Chaska; Eden Prairie; Edina; Holy Family; Hopkins; Minnetonka; Orono
SECTION 4
Centennial; East Ridge; Hill-Murray; Park-Cottage Grove; Roseville; St. Paul Como Park; Stillwater; White Bear Lake
SECTION 5
Benilde-St. Margaret’s; Bloomington Kennedy; DeLaSalle; Holy Angels; Minneapolis Southwest; Minnehaha; Spring Lake Park; Totino-Grace
SECTION 6
Andover; Blaine, Cambridge-Isanti; Champlin Park; Maple Grove; Providence; Rogers; Wayzata
SECTION 7
Becker, Buffalo, Elk River, Hutchinson, Mayer Lutheran, Sartell-St. Stephen, St. Michael-Albertville, Waconia
SECTION 8
Brainerd, Cloquet, Fergus Falls, Grand Rapids, Marshall, Mt. Iron-Buhl, New London-Spicer, Pequot Lakes
These teams would play home & away. Then each section would be square with each other—great rivalries would be born. A real race would happen. If you notice section 1 had two state teams; section 2 three; section 3 (the ‘toughest’ section) one; section 4 four; section 5 three; section 6 one; section 7 three; section 8 four. Also all eight section champs from AAAA would be included in this as would seven of the AAA champions (not Detroit Lakes); four of the AA champs; and two A teams (Mayer Lutheran and Mountain Iron-Buhl). This would be heavyweight central. Real games, real teams. The beauty of this system is that every year would have a different flavor. From November until mid January you would position your team for the top rung. This would be more in line with relegation in the European soccer leagues.
Of course (sigh) it will never happen. Administrators don’t like adjusting on the fly—-no “new” conferences on January 17. The admins want certainty decided on April 1 the year before (no foolin’). Did some teams make this list that should not be there. Yes indeed. Six teams at the end of the year were better than six on Jan 17. Who just missed the original cut off? Albany, Mahtomedi, Robbinsdale Armstrong, Rochester Lourdes, St. Louis Park, Willmar. They would have participated in the AAA tournament. Who “didn’t belong” at the end of the year: Bloomington Kennedy; Buffalo; Mayer Lutheran; Minneapolis Southwest; Rochester Century; Winona Cotter.
So what about the other classes? There would actually be six classifications based on this. We already examined 6A
According to the QRF on January 17 the “winner” of 5A would have been—–the Simley Spartans, on March 11 the winner was Chisago Lakes. State entrants Rochester Lourdes, Hancock, Albany, Montevideo, LCWM, Hayfield, Minneota might disagree with either assessment.
4A’s top team would be MN Valley Lutheran. There were no state entrants
3A’s top team would be Two Harbors. Nevis made state in this group.
Next would be AA. Top team on Jan 17 would be South St. Paul. But Detroit Lakes caught fire and made the state for real. Perhaps the Lakers win this division. They topped the end of the year list at 117. On January 17 they were mired under #256.
At the end of the list would be 82 teams and the best of that bunch (Class A) was Bigfork on Jan. 17. Rush City topped the list in March.
If that dream can’t happen I would take the second place teams from each section and bring them into the state tournament to play in a 3v3 tournament. There would be 32 teams, again one class. Teams would have to identify four players prior to arrival. Games would be 10 minutes long or first to 21; one & done. Games would take place prior to the warm ups of the standard tournament. You might say….”Well if Hopkins were allowed in the 3v3 they would win.” Maybe, could be, perhaps. But I am trying to add to the attendance. And add to the drama. Who knows who would survive that rigor.
I would also like to see if teams could play with no bounces—-The NDA. The game would change—–a lot.
PP100
In this state tournament the best PP100 belonged to Minnehaha in their quarterfinal win over Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial with a 134.4. The Red Hawks dropped down to earth on Friday in their loss to Fergus Falls with an 83.8. But the best team of the tournament—-any class—was Hancock. There were only eleven 100+ entries in this event with Hancock dominating with three. Now this does not mean the Owls could bounce to another class and beat all the others. What it means is they were the only team, in the entire tournament, to have three games over 100 pp100, make that over 110. Their worst performance was 110.2 in the championship vs Minneota. Their window was 120.3 to 110.2—remarkably consistent. Fergus Falls had two, with an 88 in the title game. That is why Hancock is the “team of the week.”
In the table below you might notice AAAA as the lowest at 80.53. That is true, but only 2.5 games were charted. A had the most games with seven; AA and AAA each had five.
| Average | 88.47 |
| A | 86.89 |
| AA | 93.37 |
| AAA | 90.55 |
| AAAA | 80.53 |
| W | 101.5 |
| L | 75.44 |
| WED | 93.46 |
| THUR | 79.05 |
| FRI | 91.34 |
| SAT | 92.26 |
So where were we at in pp100 compared to 2013? Better. Much better. 2013’s champions included Minneota, the only team to get to the coveted century mark right on the nose at 100, NRHEG, DeLaSalle, and Hopkins. The 2013s averaged 79.11. That is down 13.15 from 2022’s championship Saturday.
31 CLUB
There were 23 entries into the 31 Club, of which six made the 41 Club, one of which made the 51 Club. This does not mean that 23 players entered the exclusive club. Only 17 did. Five had more than one entry. Ellie Colbeck of Fergus Falls was the only three time member. All three of her entries were in the 41 Club with the 51 Club on Championship Saturday. Three others made it on both days I charted them, and all three made the finals with all three winning titles: Hannah Herzig of Totino-Grace and Carlee Hanson of Hancock both made the 41 Club once and Maria Counts of Providence. Tess Johnson of STMA made the 31 Club in the two times I charted her. Most of the 31 Club members ended up winning their particular game. Five of the 23 entries did not win. With Colbeck’s elevated performance, she is “player of the week.”
STREAKING
Here is the current winning streaks headed into 2022-23
AAAA: 14 Hopkins
AAA: 5 Totino-Grace
AA: 18 Providence
A: 17 Hancock
SEEDING THE STATE—–2023
The more things change…..
AAAA
- Hopkins (6)
2. St. Michael-Albertville (8)
3. Eden Prairie (2)
4. Maple Grove (5)
5. Rosemount (3)
6. East Ridge (4)
7. Lakeville North (1)
8. Centennial (7)
AAA
- Becker (5)
2. Benilde-St. Margaret’s (6)
3. Alexandria (8)
4. Grand Rapids (7)
5. Mahtomedi (4)
6. Stewartville (1)
7. Marshall (2)
8. DeLaSalle (3)
AA
- Providence (5)
2. Minnehaha (4)
3. Goodhue (1)
4. Sauk Centre (6)
5. Pequot Lakes (7)
6. Montevideo (3)
7. Glencoe-Silver Lake (2)
8. Perham (8)
A
- Hancock (6)
2. Mountain Iron-Buhl (7)
3. Hayfield (1)
4. Sleepy Eye (2)
5. Nevis (5)
6. Southwest MN Christian (3)
7. Badger-Greenbush-Middle River (8)
8. United Christian (4)