Today was the annual Wisconsin/Minnesota Border Battle, hosted this year at Apple Valley HS. There are some years where the games aren’t great and/or the teams don’t have high profile players, but this year’s lineup was really strong. Especially from the perspective of a Badger fan, there were a number of really interesting games today. The highlight was certainly the 6PM game featuring Kobe King of Lacrosse Central and Nate Reuvers of Lakeville North, but there were other teams and players worth seeing. I missed the first three (of seven) games, which means I missed 2020 guard Jalen Suggs of Minnehaha Academy in the 11:30AM game. UW was out to see Suggs last weekend in advance of the UW/Minnesota game. Suggs is something else, probably the next really high level guy (i.e. top 25 nationally) to come out of Minnesota after Matthew Hurt. Worthy of an offer, even though he’s just a freshman, but I don’t think UW has much of a chance.
The first game I saw was the 2:45PM game between Stevens Point and Cretin-Derham, which had a pair of really nice 2018 forwards (Joey Hauser and Daniel Oturu). Hauser is certainly high on UW’s priority list, and Oturu had some interest from the Badger staff, but he did not have a UW offer prior to his commitment to Minnesota a couple weeks ago. Hauser has missed all but the last two games of SPASH’s season with a bad ankle sprain, so he’s still working himself back into shape and into the flow of the team. Still, it was really fun to see a pair of Big 10 level prospects match up with pretty respectable teams around them. I was somewhat surprised to see Cretin hang with SPASH as well as they did. I expected SPASH to win, but Cretin seemed to gain control late in the first half and was in charge throughout the second half. SPASH made a bit of a run at the end, but Cretin won 71-68. I won’t spend much time on Oturu, but he’s a nice prospect who’s getting better. He’s a little taller than Joey (probably 6’9” vs. 6’8”) with good length, but he will need to get a little stronger/bigger over the next couple years. He’s not overly explosive, but he does move pretty well laterally and up and down the court. Offensive skills are still a bit of a work in progress, but he has a good motor and pretty soft touch. On the other end, he’s a force defensively and on the boards. Oturu had 30 (14-18 from the floor) and 10, and also 5 blocks, at least 4 of which were on Hauser shots. Minnesota landed a pretty good one.
I’ve posted it before, but I’m a big fan of Joey Hauser. I see him as exactly what UW needs to finish up their 2017/2018 recruiting. I think his size and skill set would be the perfect fit with the other four guys already on board. This afternoon was not Joey’s best game, likely due to some rust, but also due to some pretty good defense by Cretin. I was disappointed to see Oturu and Hauser not matched up head to head on either end, but it was probably a good plan by Cretin. They had a couple reasonably athletic guys in the 6’4” or 5” range who defended Joey, which allowed Oturu to play centerfield and help whenever Joey got near the hoop. Joey’s first shot was on a strong drive to the bucket, but Oturu was right there to block it. Later in the half, Joey blew by his defender and was headed in for a baseline dunk, but Oturu was there to block that one as well. Hauser ended up with 22 and 11 in the loss, but he only made 8 of 23 shots from the floor, including 4 of 15 inside the arc. With his size, shooting and ball-handling skills, I see Joey as an ideal 4 at the next level. He moves his feet well enough to hedge on ball screens and occasionally switch onto shorter guys, but he is also tall enough and big enough to guard post players. He has always been a very good shooter (made 4 of 8 from deep today) and his ball handling is very respectable for a 6’8” guy, but I was really surprised to see how much time he spent on the perimeter today. He was essentially running the point, as he brought the ball up the court more than anyone else on the team, and most of his shots came on dribble drives or catch or shoot situations. This was my first time seeing SPASH this season, so I’m not sure what else they have for ball-handlers, but I don’t think it’s the best way to use Hauser. I only recall one true post up situation, which he turned into a bucket after a great spin move off his defender. I hope he is not trying to transform himself into a 3 for the next level, as I don’t think he’ll ever be quick enough or athletic enough to really be successful as a perimeter player. That is especially true defensively, but I think he will have trouble at the next level if he tries to play on the perimeter with 6’4” or 5” guys guarding him regularly. He has excellent perimeter skills for a guy who is 6’8”, but I would like to see him use those abilities while being guarded by guys his size or bigger. He looks like he’s slimmed down a little over the past year, but he still has the size to post up smaller guys when he is defended that way. I would expect Joey to get better this season as he gets healthier and back in the swing of things, and I still really like what he would bring to the table at UW.
The next game was DeLaSalle vs. Kaukauna. I expected this to be a tough game for Kaukauna due to how good DLS is defensively, but this was a ridiculous blowout. DLS jumped out to a big lead and was up 60-33 at the half. It ended up 97-65 and really wasn’t that close. Just a couple quick comments because Jordan McCabe was a guy UW looked at and many UW fans wanted. In my opinion, UW absolutely made the right decision to go with Trice and then Davison as their PGs of the future. Without a major shift in philosophy, McCabe is not a fit at UW. I’m not intending to rip the kid, as he’s a very skilled young man and a very good competitor, but the way he plays is not for me. And apparently not UW either. I counted 6 turnovers in the first half and at least as many possessions where I just shook my head because he was the only one who touched the ball for Kaukauna and it ended being a bad shot. Jordan plays with a lot of swagger and flash and I wish his luck in the future, but I think the UW staff made the right decisions in the PGs they offered and landed.
The 6PM was what I really wanted to see. It was pretty cool in the gym tonight, as it really filled up for that game and there were lots of Badgers shirts and sweatshirts. Lots of buzz as the game got going too, as Kobe and Nate started out hot and played very well throughout. I also thought it was really cool to see Brad Davison sitting front row for the game and the three guys hanging out together after the game. I think UW put together an excellent group in the 2017 class. All three guys bring a lot of good things to the table and appear to be great fits for the program on and off the court. The game ended up being a comfortable win for Lakeville North (98-83). I expected Central to really challenge them, but North played a very nice game. Reuvers led the way, but they got a lot of nice contributions from a number of guys. Very impressive game for North. King was really, really good, but he did not get much help.
Starting with Kobe, this was by far the best I have seen him play. He was pretty much unstoppable tonight, making 12 of 23 inside the arc and 5 of 6 from deep. He made 10 of 10 from the line for 49 points in total. I also counted 12 boards (6 offensive) and 3 assists. The video posted below has some of the highlights, and I think the best description of Kobe’s game is “smooth”. He moves around the court with a grace that kind of hides the explosiveness. His height has been discussed at length, and he’s shorter now than I was expecting to him to be after seeing him earlier in his HS career. I would say he’s 6’3”, maybe 6’4”, but he has good length and athleticism, so he plays taller than whatever he’s measured at. In assessing his game, I would say his shooting is his biggest weakness, though you certainly couldn’t tell that tonight. And that’s not to see he’s a bad shooter, he’s just a very complete player even at this stage of his development. He slashes to the basket very well and is a load to stop in transition. He is relentless on the offensive glass and is very good in the post, both at getting all the way to the hoop and in clearing enough space from the defender to get off a mid-range jumper. I really like the way he attacks the bucket. He got a couple charges early tonight (I thought at least one was a weak call), but he kept going at the defense without putting himself in position to be called for more charges. Regarding his perimeter shooting, he gets excellent elevation, and has a nice release and good rotation on the ball, but his shot is still a little flat. That likely means he has days like today where he’s on and everything is going in, but it also gives him a little less margin for error on days where he’s just a little off. I don’t know what the exact numbers were, but he had a stretch in the second half where he had a bunch of points in a row for Central. The best part of that run was that the points were from all over the floor. He had a couple 3s where he came off a screen and went right up in one motion (think BK’s shot in overtime against Minnesota), he had a great up and under vs. Reuvers, a couple drives and I think an offensive board or two. The offense was extremely impressive this evening, but I also like that he plays unselfish and pretty disciplined ball. On ball defense is good, he pays attention in weak side situations, is willing and able to feed his teammates when he’s doubled, just a very nice all around game. I don’t pay much attention to rankings, but not having Kobe in the top 100 is foolish. I love what UW is getting with King.
This was my third time seeing Reuvers this season and he continues to be rock solid. Central could not match up with Nate, even when Kobe tried to guard him in the second half, and his stat line showed that with 12 of 14 shooting inside the arc. He could have scored more than the 33 he ended up with, but he had a bit of an off night from downtown (2 of 9 on 3s). Overall, he made 14 of 23 shots, pulled down 8 boards and blocked 4 shots. I continue to be impressed with his combination of size, shooting and ball-handling. He plays a little bit of point for North, and again had a play where the brought the ball up the court, beat his man at the top of the key, then spun away from a help defender and finger rolled the ball into the hoop. His skills on the perimeter are progressing to the point that he can almost always beat his man off the dribble to get a good look, which should translate very nicely to the next level. His mid-range game is also something that not many prospects have at his age and size. When he shoots a 15’ jumper, he is able to shoot above pretty much any sort of defense. He’s tall and jumps well, which typically gives him a clean look, then he also has a high release point, making it almost impossible to block the shot. Of his 12 2-point buckets, I think he has 3 or 4 really nice mid-range shots. In my prior viewings this year, I mentioned that I’d like to see him spend a little more time in the post on the offensive end, and he has some excellent scores tonight around the bucket. One was with Kobe guarding him, where he got a deep post position, then just turned and scored once he caught the entry pass. He had another where caught the pass, took one power dribble to get his base set, and then went up strong and scored thru the defender. Per the norm, he also had one Jon Leuer moment in this game (he’s had at least one play every time I’ve seen him that is reminiscent of how Leuer played at UW). In this example, he took two dribbles with his left hand from the 3-point line, jump stopped, and then went straight up over for defender for a very smooth 10’ jumper. Nate is a great fit for how UW uses their bigs. Like Kobe, he is an excellent get for the UW program.
I stayed for the first half other the final game between Apple Valley and Milwaukee Riverside, but didn’t pay real close attention. Overall, a very entertaining day of hoops and a great scene for UW hoops fans.
The first game I saw was the 2:45PM game between Stevens Point and Cretin-Derham, which had a pair of really nice 2018 forwards (Joey Hauser and Daniel Oturu). Hauser is certainly high on UW’s priority list, and Oturu had some interest from the Badger staff, but he did not have a UW offer prior to his commitment to Minnesota a couple weeks ago. Hauser has missed all but the last two games of SPASH’s season with a bad ankle sprain, so he’s still working himself back into shape and into the flow of the team. Still, it was really fun to see a pair of Big 10 level prospects match up with pretty respectable teams around them. I was somewhat surprised to see Cretin hang with SPASH as well as they did. I expected SPASH to win, but Cretin seemed to gain control late in the first half and was in charge throughout the second half. SPASH made a bit of a run at the end, but Cretin won 71-68. I won’t spend much time on Oturu, but he’s a nice prospect who’s getting better. He’s a little taller than Joey (probably 6’9” vs. 6’8”) with good length, but he will need to get a little stronger/bigger over the next couple years. He’s not overly explosive, but he does move pretty well laterally and up and down the court. Offensive skills are still a bit of a work in progress, but he has a good motor and pretty soft touch. On the other end, he’s a force defensively and on the boards. Oturu had 30 (14-18 from the floor) and 10, and also 5 blocks, at least 4 of which were on Hauser shots. Minnesota landed a pretty good one.
I’ve posted it before, but I’m a big fan of Joey Hauser. I see him as exactly what UW needs to finish up their 2017/2018 recruiting. I think his size and skill set would be the perfect fit with the other four guys already on board. This afternoon was not Joey’s best game, likely due to some rust, but also due to some pretty good defense by Cretin. I was disappointed to see Oturu and Hauser not matched up head to head on either end, but it was probably a good plan by Cretin. They had a couple reasonably athletic guys in the 6’4” or 5” range who defended Joey, which allowed Oturu to play centerfield and help whenever Joey got near the hoop. Joey’s first shot was on a strong drive to the bucket, but Oturu was right there to block it. Later in the half, Joey blew by his defender and was headed in for a baseline dunk, but Oturu was there to block that one as well. Hauser ended up with 22 and 11 in the loss, but he only made 8 of 23 shots from the floor, including 4 of 15 inside the arc. With his size, shooting and ball-handling skills, I see Joey as an ideal 4 at the next level. He moves his feet well enough to hedge on ball screens and occasionally switch onto shorter guys, but he is also tall enough and big enough to guard post players. He has always been a very good shooter (made 4 of 8 from deep today) and his ball handling is very respectable for a 6’8” guy, but I was really surprised to see how much time he spent on the perimeter today. He was essentially running the point, as he brought the ball up the court more than anyone else on the team, and most of his shots came on dribble drives or catch or shoot situations. This was my first time seeing SPASH this season, so I’m not sure what else they have for ball-handlers, but I don’t think it’s the best way to use Hauser. I only recall one true post up situation, which he turned into a bucket after a great spin move off his defender. I hope he is not trying to transform himself into a 3 for the next level, as I don’t think he’ll ever be quick enough or athletic enough to really be successful as a perimeter player. That is especially true defensively, but I think he will have trouble at the next level if he tries to play on the perimeter with 6’4” or 5” guys guarding him regularly. He has excellent perimeter skills for a guy who is 6’8”, but I would like to see him use those abilities while being guarded by guys his size or bigger. He looks like he’s slimmed down a little over the past year, but he still has the size to post up smaller guys when he is defended that way. I would expect Joey to get better this season as he gets healthier and back in the swing of things, and I still really like what he would bring to the table at UW.
The next game was DeLaSalle vs. Kaukauna. I expected this to be a tough game for Kaukauna due to how good DLS is defensively, but this was a ridiculous blowout. DLS jumped out to a big lead and was up 60-33 at the half. It ended up 97-65 and really wasn’t that close. Just a couple quick comments because Jordan McCabe was a guy UW looked at and many UW fans wanted. In my opinion, UW absolutely made the right decision to go with Trice and then Davison as their PGs of the future. Without a major shift in philosophy, McCabe is not a fit at UW. I’m not intending to rip the kid, as he’s a very skilled young man and a very good competitor, but the way he plays is not for me. And apparently not UW either. I counted 6 turnovers in the first half and at least as many possessions where I just shook my head because he was the only one who touched the ball for Kaukauna and it ended being a bad shot. Jordan plays with a lot of swagger and flash and I wish his luck in the future, but I think the UW staff made the right decisions in the PGs they offered and landed.
The 6PM was what I really wanted to see. It was pretty cool in the gym tonight, as it really filled up for that game and there were lots of Badgers shirts and sweatshirts. Lots of buzz as the game got going too, as Kobe and Nate started out hot and played very well throughout. I also thought it was really cool to see Brad Davison sitting front row for the game and the three guys hanging out together after the game. I think UW put together an excellent group in the 2017 class. All three guys bring a lot of good things to the table and appear to be great fits for the program on and off the court. The game ended up being a comfortable win for Lakeville North (98-83). I expected Central to really challenge them, but North played a very nice game. Reuvers led the way, but they got a lot of nice contributions from a number of guys. Very impressive game for North. King was really, really good, but he did not get much help.
Starting with Kobe, this was by far the best I have seen him play. He was pretty much unstoppable tonight, making 12 of 23 inside the arc and 5 of 6 from deep. He made 10 of 10 from the line for 49 points in total. I also counted 12 boards (6 offensive) and 3 assists. The video posted below has some of the highlights, and I think the best description of Kobe’s game is “smooth”. He moves around the court with a grace that kind of hides the explosiveness. His height has been discussed at length, and he’s shorter now than I was expecting to him to be after seeing him earlier in his HS career. I would say he’s 6’3”, maybe 6’4”, but he has good length and athleticism, so he plays taller than whatever he’s measured at. In assessing his game, I would say his shooting is his biggest weakness, though you certainly couldn’t tell that tonight. And that’s not to see he’s a bad shooter, he’s just a very complete player even at this stage of his development. He slashes to the basket very well and is a load to stop in transition. He is relentless on the offensive glass and is very good in the post, both at getting all the way to the hoop and in clearing enough space from the defender to get off a mid-range jumper. I really like the way he attacks the bucket. He got a couple charges early tonight (I thought at least one was a weak call), but he kept going at the defense without putting himself in position to be called for more charges. Regarding his perimeter shooting, he gets excellent elevation, and has a nice release and good rotation on the ball, but his shot is still a little flat. That likely means he has days like today where he’s on and everything is going in, but it also gives him a little less margin for error on days where he’s just a little off. I don’t know what the exact numbers were, but he had a stretch in the second half where he had a bunch of points in a row for Central. The best part of that run was that the points were from all over the floor. He had a couple 3s where he came off a screen and went right up in one motion (think BK’s shot in overtime against Minnesota), he had a great up and under vs. Reuvers, a couple drives and I think an offensive board or two. The offense was extremely impressive this evening, but I also like that he plays unselfish and pretty disciplined ball. On ball defense is good, he pays attention in weak side situations, is willing and able to feed his teammates when he’s doubled, just a very nice all around game. I don’t pay much attention to rankings, but not having Kobe in the top 100 is foolish. I love what UW is getting with King.
This was my third time seeing Reuvers this season and he continues to be rock solid. Central could not match up with Nate, even when Kobe tried to guard him in the second half, and his stat line showed that with 12 of 14 shooting inside the arc. He could have scored more than the 33 he ended up with, but he had a bit of an off night from downtown (2 of 9 on 3s). Overall, he made 14 of 23 shots, pulled down 8 boards and blocked 4 shots. I continue to be impressed with his combination of size, shooting and ball-handling. He plays a little bit of point for North, and again had a play where the brought the ball up the court, beat his man at the top of the key, then spun away from a help defender and finger rolled the ball into the hoop. His skills on the perimeter are progressing to the point that he can almost always beat his man off the dribble to get a good look, which should translate very nicely to the next level. His mid-range game is also something that not many prospects have at his age and size. When he shoots a 15’ jumper, he is able to shoot above pretty much any sort of defense. He’s tall and jumps well, which typically gives him a clean look, then he also has a high release point, making it almost impossible to block the shot. Of his 12 2-point buckets, I think he has 3 or 4 really nice mid-range shots. In my prior viewings this year, I mentioned that I’d like to see him spend a little more time in the post on the offensive end, and he has some excellent scores tonight around the bucket. One was with Kobe guarding him, where he got a deep post position, then just turned and scored once he caught the entry pass. He had another where caught the pass, took one power dribble to get his base set, and then went up strong and scored thru the defender. Per the norm, he also had one Jon Leuer moment in this game (he’s had at least one play every time I’ve seen him that is reminiscent of how Leuer played at UW). In this example, he took two dribbles with his left hand from the 3-point line, jump stopped, and then went straight up over for defender for a very smooth 10’ jumper. Nate is a great fit for how UW uses their bigs. Like Kobe, he is an excellent get for the UW program.
I stayed for the first half other the final game between Apple Valley and Milwaukee Riverside, but didn’t pay real close attention. Overall, a very entertaining day of hoops and a great scene for UW hoops fans.
