In The Locker Room, we feel like summer hoops does give a true indication of what's going to happen during the prep season.
And people who've been following North Chicago this summer say they're going to be better than they were last year.
As for Z-B, some are saying that the graduation of Rodney Clinkscales is gong to hurt more than you might think. It might make it easier to double-team star point guard Ronald Steward, make him give up the ball and create some turnovers.
By the way, in The Locker Room, our pick to lead the area in scoring average next winter is Mundelein junior guard Ben Brust.
Would agree but look for Mundlein to be below .500 as a team. That usually happens when teams have a high scoring player.
They will most definitely miss Rodney this year. He always took the toughest defensive assignment and made sure that Ronald was able to bring the ball up court by always being a helping hand.
It would be nice if you gave a fraction of attention to local girls basketball that you do to boys basketball.
114 blog entries about the boys game versus 9 for the girls? Really?
I know girls basketball doesn't have a local state powerhouse like Warren anymore, but it would be nice if the work of local athletes and coaches was given more recognition.
Just a thought.
Jeff - when you say 'we' in the locker room, who are you referring to besides yourself? In talking with Don Kloth, I can tell you that I am not the only one who thinks summer league isn't a true indication or projection of what's to come. I'll take that as support for my point.
Where can North Chicago go but down, after a fine run in the state playoffs last year? I hope they can exceed, but the odds are against them.
Summer league is a subset of a full team, playing games whose results really carry little recognition, asst coaches running the show... its like saying the NFL preseason or NBA summerleague is an indication of what is to come. Or MLB spring training. How'd the Cubs do in spring training - not very good, but look where they're at now.
Sorry Jeff, got you on this one.
If you watch the big summer-league hoops games, the players go at it with tremendous intensity.
Spring-training baseball and preseason grid and NBA exhibitions lack intensity. The high-school kids WANT to win. I think that's how summer hoops is different from the pro preseasons.
Yes, there are games when North Chicago plays 18 guys and they get beat by a Lakes team that they will beat by 30 during the regular season. But it's pretty easy to factor that in, and dismiss a result when the good players aren't getting any meaningful minutes.
While I would agree that there is some intensity shown in the summer league games, it can not compare with the regular season, especially conference games. Keep in mind that there are players playing in the summer games that are unlikely to see much, if any, court time in the regular school season. While I am sure that North Chicago will have a fine team, I don't see them beating the ZB's (or even coming close) when they meet for the NSC championship in February. Clinkscales and Stewart will be missed, yes, but the Bees will reload ... they always do.