Figured I'd just start a thread on Nate Reuvers for comments throughout his HS season. I got to see him tonight and should be able to see him a few more times this season.
I normally have to drive west or south in the Twin Cities area for hoops games, so I was very pleased when I saw that Lakeville North’s schedule had a game at Woodbury HS. I know very little about Woodbury’s hoops program, but I recently saw that they are ranked #10 among AAAA schools (largest category) in Minnesota. North was #2 in AAAA (they will drop after losing to #5 Apple Valley on Tuesday), so I was expecting a pretty competitive game. Woodbury put up a good fight, largely due to hot shooting in the first half, but North controlled the game pretty much from start to finish. You certainly can’t expect great officiating at the HS level, but the crew this evening was brutal. Many of the bad calls helped Woodbury, which helped keep them in the game in the second half. Pretty solid performance by North given the situation, with Nate Reuvers leading the way to an 85-74 win.
I had Reuvers for 36 points, 17 boards (6 offensive), 4 blocks and 3 assists. Pretty impressive stat line, which also included making 13 of 21 shots from the field (2 of 5 from downtown) and 8 of 11 from the line. He had a tough shooting night against some strong defense on Tuesday, but he bounced back nicely tonight and was the dominant force on the court. Woodbury does not have a lot of height, as I would guess the guy who defended Nate for much of the night was in the 6’4” or 5” range. The guy was a pretty good athlete, but Nate essentially got whatever he wanted in the first half. He had 25 and 9 at the break, with 9 total buckets coming from all over the floor. He made a pair of 3s, scored on several offensive rebounds and had a really smooth take going to his right with a couple dribbles for a pull up at the foul line. With his height and high release point, any sort of jump shot or pull up in the mid range is going to be very difficult to stop. The one bucket I liked the best was a relatively simple seal and score in the post, but it displayed a quickness and smoothness that is not common in young bigs. He had a defender sealed on his left side and there was a defender on the wing to his right. He caught a bounce pass with his right hand as the wing defender was collapsing with a double team. Just as he caught it, he pivoted between the defenders on his left foot for an easy lay in. Again, not terribly complicated, but great footwork and coordination to take advantage of good positioning.
Nate was a little quieter in the second half with only 11 points, but had a couple really nice contributions that helped his team win. First, he did a nice job keeping his team under control and talking to the officials. As I said, they were really bad, but he never let it get to him and helped keep his team focused and in the lead the entire way. The other big contribution was defensively. Woodbury had a guard who was probably 6’2” or so who caused problems in the first half by continually getting in the lane. Nate guarded him the entire second half and did a great job of minimizing the impact he was able to have. I don’t know for certain, but the Woodbury guard had maybe one bucket in the second half. Nate wasn’t always able to stay in front of him, but his length helped compensate even when the guard got Nate on his hip. Pretty impressive effort to have a 6’10” kid slide over and help keep a lead guard under control. I certainly don’t foresee that happening at the next level, but it does indicate that Nate has good feet and mobility, which should allow him to be very helpful with hedging in ball screen situations.
The knock on Nate is still his weight and strength, and that will probably be the case early in his time at UW. I thought he looked bigger in the upper body than when I last saw him in the summer, but he is still pretty slender. Certainly not rare for a young big to need additional strength and weight, so next summer with UW’s S&C group will be important. There were a couple instances tonight where he had a little trouble holding off his defender to catch an entry pass in post up situations. Some of those passes were not great (i.e. wrong side given where the defender was), but he will have an easier time holding off the defender as he continues to get stronger. Overall, UW is getting a really nice prospect who brings a lot of skills and length to the table. Good kid from a good family who should fit in very nicely in Madison.
I normally have to drive west or south in the Twin Cities area for hoops games, so I was very pleased when I saw that Lakeville North’s schedule had a game at Woodbury HS. I know very little about Woodbury’s hoops program, but I recently saw that they are ranked #10 among AAAA schools (largest category) in Minnesota. North was #2 in AAAA (they will drop after losing to #5 Apple Valley on Tuesday), so I was expecting a pretty competitive game. Woodbury put up a good fight, largely due to hot shooting in the first half, but North controlled the game pretty much from start to finish. You certainly can’t expect great officiating at the HS level, but the crew this evening was brutal. Many of the bad calls helped Woodbury, which helped keep them in the game in the second half. Pretty solid performance by North given the situation, with Nate Reuvers leading the way to an 85-74 win.
I had Reuvers for 36 points, 17 boards (6 offensive), 4 blocks and 3 assists. Pretty impressive stat line, which also included making 13 of 21 shots from the field (2 of 5 from downtown) and 8 of 11 from the line. He had a tough shooting night against some strong defense on Tuesday, but he bounced back nicely tonight and was the dominant force on the court. Woodbury does not have a lot of height, as I would guess the guy who defended Nate for much of the night was in the 6’4” or 5” range. The guy was a pretty good athlete, but Nate essentially got whatever he wanted in the first half. He had 25 and 9 at the break, with 9 total buckets coming from all over the floor. He made a pair of 3s, scored on several offensive rebounds and had a really smooth take going to his right with a couple dribbles for a pull up at the foul line. With his height and high release point, any sort of jump shot or pull up in the mid range is going to be very difficult to stop. The one bucket I liked the best was a relatively simple seal and score in the post, but it displayed a quickness and smoothness that is not common in young bigs. He had a defender sealed on his left side and there was a defender on the wing to his right. He caught a bounce pass with his right hand as the wing defender was collapsing with a double team. Just as he caught it, he pivoted between the defenders on his left foot for an easy lay in. Again, not terribly complicated, but great footwork and coordination to take advantage of good positioning.
Nate was a little quieter in the second half with only 11 points, but had a couple really nice contributions that helped his team win. First, he did a nice job keeping his team under control and talking to the officials. As I said, they were really bad, but he never let it get to him and helped keep his team focused and in the lead the entire way. The other big contribution was defensively. Woodbury had a guard who was probably 6’2” or so who caused problems in the first half by continually getting in the lane. Nate guarded him the entire second half and did a great job of minimizing the impact he was able to have. I don’t know for certain, but the Woodbury guard had maybe one bucket in the second half. Nate wasn’t always able to stay in front of him, but his length helped compensate even when the guard got Nate on his hip. Pretty impressive effort to have a 6’10” kid slide over and help keep a lead guard under control. I certainly don’t foresee that happening at the next level, but it does indicate that Nate has good feet and mobility, which should allow him to be very helpful with hedging in ball screen situations.
The knock on Nate is still his weight and strength, and that will probably be the case early in his time at UW. I thought he looked bigger in the upper body than when I last saw him in the summer, but he is still pretty slender. Certainly not rare for a young big to need additional strength and weight, so next summer with UW’s S&C group will be important. There were a couple instances tonight where he had a little trouble holding off his defender to catch an entry pass in post up situations. Some of those passes were not great (i.e. wrong side given where the defender was), but he will have an easier time holding off the defender as he continues to get stronger. Overall, UW is getting a really nice prospect who brings a lot of skills and length to the table. Good kid from a good family who should fit in very nicely in Madison.
