Too tired last night to post anything, but after a good night's sleep here are my impressions of the tourney.
The overall low scores it seemed to me were because almost every team decided to try to win with defense. There were so many games with both teams being just about equal that the coaches decided to play conservatively on offense and very aggressively on defense. Teams that could score in the 90s were winning scoring in the 40s!!.
The refs ruined it for the big men. Here again, this is my opinion, but there were so many ticky-tacky fouls that some big guys never showed their stuff when it counted. In how many cases were the post players watching from the bench as early as the second quarter? Some was the other teams' defense, but it bordered on the ridiculous. In the 3A final, Tyler Borchers took only six shots and Pemsl eight. Pleasant Valley's Will Carius was relegated to shooting threes to get a shot off.
Was the floor slippery or what? Have you ever seen so many falls? Did they just wax it for the tourney?
The horizontal game and the guards ruled. I think teams like Hoover and North Scott were impressive mostly because of their guards. Hoover really lost a heartbreaker. Pella, Williamsburg and AP had nice horizontal games.
Gladbrook- Reinbeck showed a lot of guts and talent to persevere througha better-than-usual 1A field.
Treynor really impressed me in 2A. Happy for that SW Iowa school. I thought they put on one of the best performances at state and I was very impressed with their athleticism..
In 3A Wahlert certainly deserved the title, having beat three of the best four or five 3A teams at the Well. Never saw them play so poorly on offense (one guard, 4 forwards), but they were definitely trying to win with defense. I thought all year they had the greatest depth of talent, and in each tournament game they had a different leading scoring, none of whom was named Pemsl. I know that the Steelers used to have the "Bus" (Jerome Bettis), but the Golden Eagles had the "Ambulance" in Pemsl who had both legs either splinted or wrapped, a shoulder wrapped, a noticeable black eye and a swollen face with scratches (from a hard fall). This usually friendly guy with a quick smile looked like Rocky Balboa limping into the final round. Maybe best game in the 3A-- Williamsburg and LeMars that went double OT.
In 4A several things stood out. Never count out Tillo was one. No doubt that guy is a gamer. If he doesn't win Mr. Basketball, it'll be close. My friends in the Quad Cities were going crazy with both North Scott and Pleasant Valley in the finals. I honestly didn't know which would win. I had seen North Scott earlier (when they beat Wahlert by two) but I didn't think they would have their guys not named Seales and Stewart play so well. Pleasant Valley was an impressive team, with the most imposing front court in the tourney. I thought the ending would be much closer and that they would score more than 36 points! DM Hoover was very impressive with their main man, King. Senior leadership usually is a main factor in winning a championship and when your only senior has a sub-par game (David Dileo), Iowa City West's very young team struggled, but everybody knows they will be back. Last year they had an amazing point guard who willed himself to succeed, but this year he (Wyatt Lohaus) is at UNI.
And hats off to the great teams who were sidelined along the way. One of the top teams, Linn Mar, went 0-18 I think from the three before they hit their first against Kennedy, or they would have been there. Several top 3A teams were upset before having a chance to play-- MOC and Spirit Lake in the NW, among others. We certainly won't forget these very fine teams who came close.
Next year-- 4A- who will bet against IC West? 3A- Waverly brings back 13 varsity players headed by Austin Phyfe and Wahlert returns 11, and seven of their top 10 rotation players, including their top three guards. MOC, Spirit Lake and others will again be strong, with star big men. 2A- and 1A-- many, too many to name, will return.
Congrats to all the teams, and we certainly won't forget all the fine teams which did well during the year. A great year for Iowa basketball.
This post was edited on 3/15 11:52 AM by EastIowaHawk
The overall low scores it seemed to me were because almost every team decided to try to win with defense. There were so many games with both teams being just about equal that the coaches decided to play conservatively on offense and very aggressively on defense. Teams that could score in the 90s were winning scoring in the 40s!!.
The refs ruined it for the big men. Here again, this is my opinion, but there were so many ticky-tacky fouls that some big guys never showed their stuff when it counted. In how many cases were the post players watching from the bench as early as the second quarter? Some was the other teams' defense, but it bordered on the ridiculous. In the 3A final, Tyler Borchers took only six shots and Pemsl eight. Pleasant Valley's Will Carius was relegated to shooting threes to get a shot off.
Was the floor slippery or what? Have you ever seen so many falls? Did they just wax it for the tourney?
The horizontal game and the guards ruled. I think teams like Hoover and North Scott were impressive mostly because of their guards. Hoover really lost a heartbreaker. Pella, Williamsburg and AP had nice horizontal games.
Gladbrook- Reinbeck showed a lot of guts and talent to persevere througha better-than-usual 1A field.
Treynor really impressed me in 2A. Happy for that SW Iowa school. I thought they put on one of the best performances at state and I was very impressed with their athleticism..
In 3A Wahlert certainly deserved the title, having beat three of the best four or five 3A teams at the Well. Never saw them play so poorly on offense (one guard, 4 forwards), but they were definitely trying to win with defense. I thought all year they had the greatest depth of talent, and in each tournament game they had a different leading scoring, none of whom was named Pemsl. I know that the Steelers used to have the "Bus" (Jerome Bettis), but the Golden Eagles had the "Ambulance" in Pemsl who had both legs either splinted or wrapped, a shoulder wrapped, a noticeable black eye and a swollen face with scratches (from a hard fall). This usually friendly guy with a quick smile looked like Rocky Balboa limping into the final round. Maybe best game in the 3A-- Williamsburg and LeMars that went double OT.
In 4A several things stood out. Never count out Tillo was one. No doubt that guy is a gamer. If he doesn't win Mr. Basketball, it'll be close. My friends in the Quad Cities were going crazy with both North Scott and Pleasant Valley in the finals. I honestly didn't know which would win. I had seen North Scott earlier (when they beat Wahlert by two) but I didn't think they would have their guys not named Seales and Stewart play so well. Pleasant Valley was an impressive team, with the most imposing front court in the tourney. I thought the ending would be much closer and that they would score more than 36 points! DM Hoover was very impressive with their main man, King. Senior leadership usually is a main factor in winning a championship and when your only senior has a sub-par game (David Dileo), Iowa City West's very young team struggled, but everybody knows they will be back. Last year they had an amazing point guard who willed himself to succeed, but this year he (Wyatt Lohaus) is at UNI.
And hats off to the great teams who were sidelined along the way. One of the top teams, Linn Mar, went 0-18 I think from the three before they hit their first against Kennedy, or they would have been there. Several top 3A teams were upset before having a chance to play-- MOC and Spirit Lake in the NW, among others. We certainly won't forget these very fine teams who came close.
Next year-- 4A- who will bet against IC West? 3A- Waverly brings back 13 varsity players headed by Austin Phyfe and Wahlert returns 11, and seven of their top 10 rotation players, including their top three guards. MOC, Spirit Lake and others will again be strong, with star big men. 2A- and 1A-- many, too many to name, will return.
Congrats to all the teams, and we certainly won't forget all the fine teams which did well during the year. A great year for Iowa basketball.
This post was edited on 3/15 11:52 AM by EastIowaHawk
