Few thoughts from way up north:
1.) Congrats to Grape's community. Great win and with essentially every key player returning next year the Blue Devils should be in the driver's seat to repeat. My beloved Bulldogs shit the bed in the 3rd quarter against that mickey mouse on line private Christian school that can recruit kids from Coeur'd'Alene to Spokane, but in any case my Dawgs need to pull the string and just beat 'em next year. They and Council both lose more than Rockland does so I think next year will come down to Genesis and Rockland to challenge Dietrich. It was still a blast to be there all weekend.
2.) I went and watched Connor Harding play and it is hard to really project how he will do at the next level. He is an adequate athlete for a wing player. Does not yet appear to me to be in the same league as say Travis Hansen or Kyle Collinsworth and likely even less athletic than Lee Cummard. He handles the ball well and has picture perfect shooting mechanics. Despite this he does not take games over as much as I think a legitimate D1 player should do against Idaho high school competition. On Thursday night he missed a bunch of free throws and most of the 3's he took. He really lets the game come to him and does not force it. I think he might border on a bit of a defensive liability on the perimeter as he doesn't lock down the perimeter kids he is covering. I mean he is a good HS defender and perhaps I expect too much but I gotta believe if you are going to be a good D1 perimeter defender you should be hell on wheels when covering kids from Madison County or Mountain View High. I also would think that a kid with Connor's ability to handle the ball could get to the rack at will, but he doesn't. In some ways this might be a good thing as he is likely a consummate team player but I just cannot imagine him ever being the man for BYU. Everyone who has seen him play more than I have assures me he is a reliable shooter, but I did not come away impressed by his shooting either on Thursday nite or Saturday - although on Sat he made like 14-16 free throws. As I said his fundamentals are sound and pretty but he just doesn't seem to dominate like he should. That also might be coaching. On Thursday Highland played Mountain View, who I thought would struggle to finish higher than last or next to last in the Marmonte League of old, and it wasn't until the 2nd half it dawned on the Highland coach that MV had nobody on the court taller than 6'2" and that Connor could score at will in they just put him in the paint and threw the ball into him. In any case I think he is a solid D1 prospect but I didn't see the offensive or defensive dominance that jumps out at you and screams top 100 level player. But I do think he might develop into a really solid support/glue type of guy.
1.) Congrats to Grape's community. Great win and with essentially every key player returning next year the Blue Devils should be in the driver's seat to repeat. My beloved Bulldogs shit the bed in the 3rd quarter against that mickey mouse on line private Christian school that can recruit kids from Coeur'd'Alene to Spokane, but in any case my Dawgs need to pull the string and just beat 'em next year. They and Council both lose more than Rockland does so I think next year will come down to Genesis and Rockland to challenge Dietrich. It was still a blast to be there all weekend.
2.) I went and watched Connor Harding play and it is hard to really project how he will do at the next level. He is an adequate athlete for a wing player. Does not yet appear to me to be in the same league as say Travis Hansen or Kyle Collinsworth and likely even less athletic than Lee Cummard. He handles the ball well and has picture perfect shooting mechanics. Despite this he does not take games over as much as I think a legitimate D1 player should do against Idaho high school competition. On Thursday night he missed a bunch of free throws and most of the 3's he took. He really lets the game come to him and does not force it. I think he might border on a bit of a defensive liability on the perimeter as he doesn't lock down the perimeter kids he is covering. I mean he is a good HS defender and perhaps I expect too much but I gotta believe if you are going to be a good D1 perimeter defender you should be hell on wheels when covering kids from Madison County or Mountain View High. I also would think that a kid with Connor's ability to handle the ball could get to the rack at will, but he doesn't. In some ways this might be a good thing as he is likely a consummate team player but I just cannot imagine him ever being the man for BYU. Everyone who has seen him play more than I have assures me he is a reliable shooter, but I did not come away impressed by his shooting either on Thursday nite or Saturday - although on Sat he made like 14-16 free throws. As I said his fundamentals are sound and pretty but he just doesn't seem to dominate like he should. That also might be coaching. On Thursday Highland played Mountain View, who I thought would struggle to finish higher than last or next to last in the Marmonte League of old, and it wasn't until the 2nd half it dawned on the Highland coach that MV had nobody on the court taller than 6'2" and that Connor could score at will in they just put him in the paint and threw the ball into him. In any case I think he is a solid D1 prospect but I didn't see the offensive or defensive dominance that jumps out at you and screams top 100 level player. But I do think he might develop into a really solid support/glue type of guy.
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