Thursday, September 6, 2012

September Quick Hitters!!!

- In a convo with a local coach, he spoke of the results of SA area teams at the  state semifinals. His observation was that every local team that has made a recent state trip (Wagner, Jay, Reagan, Steele), has had to overcome double digits deficits in the first ten minutes of the game. The local teams typically dig themselves a hole early and play evenly afterwards. Is it because local teams often speak about "going to State" but not "winning State" ? Or intimidated?

-  In homage to football season, here is an observation. Wide receivers have become more important than running backs in the NFL. Why?  Spacing! Wide receivers only have to beat a few defenders and have more room to operate than running backs. A good running back must attempt to beat 11 players on every hand off. This pertains to basketball in the ability to score in transition as opposed to the half court. Every good team must be able to score in the half court(run the ball) but, the ability to score in the open court and maximize spacing(wide receiving) is playing a prominent role in local basketball.

- The city is the deepest its ever been in terms of talent. At least 9 schools have multiple D1 players:
 Johnson(4), Wagner(3/4?), Reagan(2), Stevens(2/3?), Judson(3/4?), Steele(3/4?), Jay(2/3?),
Brennan(4/maybe 6), Madison(2)

-The WNBA has 132 players on 12 Teams. Division 1 basketball institutions have approximately 5100 total players. That equates to a 2.6% chance of D1 players making it to the WNBA. Now add international players, D2, NAIA and D3 players. The odds of playing in the League are astronomical.