The Sentinel Title Services Division II Semifinal Scouting Report
2016-03-17
Austin Whaley and Lebanon are back to Durham for a fourth consecutive time
By Dave Haley Photo by The Valley News
As we do in both basketball and football we hand over our semifinal previews to the people that know the four teams better than anyone; the coaches who have competed against them all year. The following are scouting reports from three Division I coaches we spoke to using blind quotes.
Thank you to all of the players & their families that registered for full access to our website through next (2017) season. Those registers will be given a simple login before the site is registration only and will have complete access to our videos, statistics & previews.
I will be ordering everyone’s NHsportspage shirts at the end of this week for all of our registers. If you haven’t already please send me your shirt size at davehaley@nhsportspage.com
Look for our enhanced coverage of the two final fours. Video highlights, play by play and post-game celebrations of each game plus our Division I championship preview video and Jen Chick’s Championship Saturday video as well.
If you can’t make it to Durham listen to Justin McIsaac & I call the game live simply by clicking on www.mcisaaconsports.com from your phone or computer.
Division II
(5) Bishop Brady vs (1) Portsmouth
One year after these two teams completed 68 minutes of basketball tied at 121 they meet again with the favorite very clearly defined.
Jim Mulvey’s Clippers were as dominant as any team of the last fifteen years and will try to leave Division II (the program successfully petitioned up to Division I starting next season) as champions. Something they missed by 12 seconds one year ago.
We asked Division II coaches to break down the top seed; “ They play defense a level above anyone else in our division, “ said one head coach we spoke to. “ They know where to defend you and where not to. Where to trap you and where they don’t need to; that is such a huge piece to their success. To have that intelligence in high school basketball is a very valuable asset.”
Fellow coaches agreed, “ Jim (Mulvey) does such a good job, his team is so disciplined and so skilled. That is a pretty dangerous combination when you are facing them.” Who are the players to watch for? “Romeo Ingram is their best defender. He stays in front of every ball handler he is assigned to and he is smart about when to go for the reach (steal) and when to set his feet.”
How do you beat the Portsmouth defense? “ You have to attack their press, almost like you would attack a zone. I think you can’t just beat it you need to come away with points. If there is a hole in that defense it is the baseline jumper. They will give you the baseline, they pretty much invite you to go baseline because that’s where Joey (Glynn) comes over and sets the trap. If you have a player who can hit that 12 foot pull up jumper from the baseline, before Joey rotates over, you can score on them. That shot will be open all night. If you wait too long and the trap arrives, you’re in big trouble. You have to get Joey off the baseline and pull him away from the basket so that you can get some movement to the baseline without him being there to stop you.”
How about the Clipper offense? “ They have so many guys that can hurt you. (Cody) Graham is their best player getting to the rim, (Shon) Parham beats you from a couple of different angles…but the guy who we could not stop was Glynn. He knows how to set screens, how to slip those screens, he can finish at the rim or if you back off of him he will hit that elbow jumper all day long. He goes to the glass constantly. When we scouted him that was the kid where we said ‘This guy is going to be a real problem for us.’”
How would you defend Portsmouth? “ I would actually go man to man but you have to be prepared to go to a zone. The key to playing them is studying what they like to run and going over it time & again with your kids. You have to scout them to understand what play they are running from each position on the floor. “
How about the defending champs? “ Joe Bell is playing at an extremely high level right now and he is going to have to play great tonight for them to even stay with Portsmouth.” Another tournament coach talked about the Bishop Brady game plan. “ They will have to slow it down and make Portsmouth chase. They’re going to need a player, maybe Matt Quirk, to hit jumpers early to extend that defense. Cole (Etten) will have to come up with something special.”
Coaches talked about the job Cole Etten has done in his second year as head coach. “ I think he has done a phenomenal job. Who had Brady getting back here (to UNH) with all that they lost last year? Not me. I think he has really proven he is a heck of a coach for only two seasons on the sidelines.”
So what will Brady do on offense tonight? “ Everything goes through Joe. They need their forwards (Bryce Johnson and Matt Desmarias) to make shots and attack Glynn at the basket. Maybe he picks up a couple of quick fouls and that opens up your looks against their defense.”
What will Bishop Brady do defensively? “ I think with their personnel you need to go zone because I don’t think they can stay in front of Portsmouth. You have to seal up the middle of the paint and make Portsmouth hit medium range jumpers. The most important aspect isn’t your defense at all; it’s how well you take care of the basketball. If they turn it over this one might be over early.”
(3) Manchester West vs (2) Lebanon
Lebanon went to Manchester on February 23rd and beat West in front of a packed house in a game we covered. Lebanon vs Manchester West
We asked our coaches to breakdown the rematch tonight in Durham.
First the Lebanon Raiders; “ They play excellent defense and KJ (Matte) is a tremendous point guard. You can tell these are kids that have played a lot of basketball and a lot of games together. That shows out on the floor. They don’t get away from what they are running, even when things start to go wrong. They trust each other and that goes for their coach (Keith Matte) as well.”
A fellow tournament coach agreed, “ (Keith) runs some really good stuff and their kids know how to execute it.”
How do you try and stop the Lebanon offense? “ They are very good against man to man defenses. If they struggle it is against zones. As well as they shoot the ball they have had games where they couldn’t get out of the 40’s against a good zone defense.”
“Their other weakness is their rebounding. They really get after the ball but they are small and teams with more size can get second and third shots against them.”
What about the Lebanon defense? “ Excellent defensively, Matte and (Ryan) Milliken keep their man in front of them and they are very opportunistic when it comes to steals. They want to pressure you and get their points easily in transition. They can finish on the break or kick it out to shooters like (Greg) Roberge and (Austin) Whaley.”
What about Danny Bryson’s Manchester West team? “ They run and rebound the ball very well. If you get into a track meet with them you can get into trouble because they have the players to score in the open floor.” Another coach talked about the player you have to prepare for the most, “ Joe Simpson does some really nice things for them and I recognize that Keenan Caron has had a good year but (6’9) Akok Akok is the difference maker for that team. You have to focus your defense around stopping him in the post because he can kill you down there.”
How do you defend Manchester West? “ If you can turn them into a jump shooting team you can beat them. They sometimes struggle to get their plays going and in any sort of offensive sync. At the end of the Hollis-Brookline (quarterfinal game) their best play was shooting the ball and four guys crashing the offensive glass. That’s how they stayed in that game.”
Another tournament coach talked about West’s ability to rebound. “ They are a good rebounding team but not a great one. Their effort level isn’t always there. At times Caron & Akok go hard after a rebound and you feel like they are going to take over the game. Then you look up and five minutes has gone by without either player going after an offensive rebound. They can tend to turn it off & on and their ability allows them to get away with it most nights.”
What about the West defense? “ They are solid defensively. They put good pressure on the ball but their help side defense is very slow and so the middle opens up against them.” Another tournament coach talked about how West will match up with Lebanon. “ If they play zone, make Lebanon shoot from the outside and protect the defensive glass they can win. Their guards (Jacobee) Burpee and (Joe) Simpson need to take care of the ball against pressure. If they do they have a shot to beat Lebanon.”
Thank you to all of the players & their families that registered for full access to our website through next (2017) season. Those registers will be given a simple login before the site is registration only and will have complete access to our videos, statistics & previews.
I will be ordering everyone’s NHsportspage shirts at the end of this week for all of our registers. If you haven’t already please send me your shirt size at davehaley@nhsportspage.com
Look for our enhanced coverage of the two final fours. Video highlights, play by play and post-game celebrations of each game plus our Division I championship preview video and Jen Chick’s Championship Saturday video as well.
If you can’t make it to Durham listen to Justin McIsaac & I call the game live simply by clicking on www.mcisaaconsports.com from your phone or computer.
Division II
(5) Bishop Brady vs (1) Portsmouth
One year after these two teams completed 68 minutes of basketball tied at 121 they meet again with the favorite very clearly defined.
Jim Mulvey’s Clippers were as dominant as any team of the last fifteen years and will try to leave Division II (the program successfully petitioned up to Division I starting next season) as champions. Something they missed by 12 seconds one year ago.
We asked Division II coaches to break down the top seed; “ They play defense a level above anyone else in our division, “ said one head coach we spoke to. “ They know where to defend you and where not to. Where to trap you and where they don’t need to; that is such a huge piece to their success. To have that intelligence in high school basketball is a very valuable asset.”
Fellow coaches agreed, “ Jim (Mulvey) does such a good job, his team is so disciplined and so skilled. That is a pretty dangerous combination when you are facing them.” Who are the players to watch for? “Romeo Ingram is their best defender. He stays in front of every ball handler he is assigned to and he is smart about when to go for the reach (steal) and when to set his feet.”
How do you beat the Portsmouth defense? “ You have to attack their press, almost like you would attack a zone. I think you can’t just beat it you need to come away with points. If there is a hole in that defense it is the baseline jumper. They will give you the baseline, they pretty much invite you to go baseline because that’s where Joey (Glynn) comes over and sets the trap. If you have a player who can hit that 12 foot pull up jumper from the baseline, before Joey rotates over, you can score on them. That shot will be open all night. If you wait too long and the trap arrives, you’re in big trouble. You have to get Joey off the baseline and pull him away from the basket so that you can get some movement to the baseline without him being there to stop you.”
How about the Clipper offense? “ They have so many guys that can hurt you. (Cody) Graham is their best player getting to the rim, (Shon) Parham beats you from a couple of different angles…but the guy who we could not stop was Glynn. He knows how to set screens, how to slip those screens, he can finish at the rim or if you back off of him he will hit that elbow jumper all day long. He goes to the glass constantly. When we scouted him that was the kid where we said ‘This guy is going to be a real problem for us.’”
How would you defend Portsmouth? “ I would actually go man to man but you have to be prepared to go to a zone. The key to playing them is studying what they like to run and going over it time & again with your kids. You have to scout them to understand what play they are running from each position on the floor. “
How about the defending champs? “ Joe Bell is playing at an extremely high level right now and he is going to have to play great tonight for them to even stay with Portsmouth.” Another tournament coach talked about the Bishop Brady game plan. “ They will have to slow it down and make Portsmouth chase. They’re going to need a player, maybe Matt Quirk, to hit jumpers early to extend that defense. Cole (Etten) will have to come up with something special.”
Coaches talked about the job Cole Etten has done in his second year as head coach. “ I think he has done a phenomenal job. Who had Brady getting back here (to UNH) with all that they lost last year? Not me. I think he has really proven he is a heck of a coach for only two seasons on the sidelines.”
So what will Brady do on offense tonight? “ Everything goes through Joe. They need their forwards (Bryce Johnson and Matt Desmarias) to make shots and attack Glynn at the basket. Maybe he picks up a couple of quick fouls and that opens up your looks against their defense.”
What will Bishop Brady do defensively? “ I think with their personnel you need to go zone because I don’t think they can stay in front of Portsmouth. You have to seal up the middle of the paint and make Portsmouth hit medium range jumpers. The most important aspect isn’t your defense at all; it’s how well you take care of the basketball. If they turn it over this one might be over early.”
(3) Manchester West vs (2) Lebanon
Lebanon went to Manchester on February 23rd and beat West in front of a packed house in a game we covered. Lebanon vs Manchester West
We asked our coaches to breakdown the rematch tonight in Durham.
First the Lebanon Raiders; “ They play excellent defense and KJ (Matte) is a tremendous point guard. You can tell these are kids that have played a lot of basketball and a lot of games together. That shows out on the floor. They don’t get away from what they are running, even when things start to go wrong. They trust each other and that goes for their coach (Keith Matte) as well.”
A fellow tournament coach agreed, “ (Keith) runs some really good stuff and their kids know how to execute it.”
How do you try and stop the Lebanon offense? “ They are very good against man to man defenses. If they struggle it is against zones. As well as they shoot the ball they have had games where they couldn’t get out of the 40’s against a good zone defense.”
“Their other weakness is their rebounding. They really get after the ball but they are small and teams with more size can get second and third shots against them.”
What about the Lebanon defense? “ Excellent defensively, Matte and (Ryan) Milliken keep their man in front of them and they are very opportunistic when it comes to steals. They want to pressure you and get their points easily in transition. They can finish on the break or kick it out to shooters like (Greg) Roberge and (Austin) Whaley.”
What about Danny Bryson’s Manchester West team? “ They run and rebound the ball very well. If you get into a track meet with them you can get into trouble because they have the players to score in the open floor.” Another coach talked about the player you have to prepare for the most, “ Joe Simpson does some really nice things for them and I recognize that Keenan Caron has had a good year but (6’9) Akok Akok is the difference maker for that team. You have to focus your defense around stopping him in the post because he can kill you down there.”
How do you defend Manchester West? “ If you can turn them into a jump shooting team you can beat them. They sometimes struggle to get their plays going and in any sort of offensive sync. At the end of the Hollis-Brookline (quarterfinal game) their best play was shooting the ball and four guys crashing the offensive glass. That’s how they stayed in that game.”
Another tournament coach talked about West’s ability to rebound. “ They are a good rebounding team but not a great one. Their effort level isn’t always there. At times Caron & Akok go hard after a rebound and you feel like they are going to take over the game. Then you look up and five minutes has gone by without either player going after an offensive rebound. They can tend to turn it off & on and their ability allows them to get away with it most nights.”
What about the West defense? “ They are solid defensively. They put good pressure on the ball but their help side defense is very slow and so the middle opens up against them.” Another tournament coach talked about how West will match up with Lebanon. “ If they play zone, make Lebanon shoot from the outside and protect the defensive glass they can win. Their guards (Jacobee) Burpee and (Joe) Simpson need to take care of the ball against pressure. If they do they have a shot to beat Lebanon.”