Pre-season Picks for Regions across State

by **north_border_eagles2106** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 1:14 pm

I think Region 2 will have Thompson, North Border, May-Port CG, and Midway-Minto (no particular order)placing in the top four spots. Thompson should make it to the championship game, probably playing against Midway-Minto in the semifinals and a North Border/May-Port CG semi-final game is a good match-up that could easily go either way. May-Port CG is always a defensive minded team, but I don't know if Lorenz is going to be able to carry the team all the way back to the state tournament. Four starters and a 6th man are gone from graduation, might be too much to overcome with such a competitive Region.

by **peppers** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 4:33 pm

Lorenz is a great player dont get me wrong, but I dont think he'll be able to carry his team through their own district.

by **rep** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 4:44 pm

my bet for region 3 is to pencil in linton and lamoure for the championship.

as far as other schools, i'll give a nod to bcn and lmm. bakkum will be the wild card for steele, on any given night he could go out and drop 50.

teams that had more than 5 wins last season and the reason why i'm not picking them:

ashley - loses most if not all of their starters if i remember right.

central prairie - richie heinrich was their team last year...everything ran through him offensively and defensively and he is what made them somewhat competitive. i don't know if there is a player on that team this year that can take over that role.

ellendale - i think they lost grant and schlosser and without them, they lose about 80 percent of their scoring and abouty 60-70 percent of their rebounding.

hmb - lost fettig. he scored 20 points and had 10-15 rebounds a game. he did it all and he aint there anymore.

kulm - i normally overlook this team and for the last two years anyway, they have been pretty decent.

pbk - loses all five starters and basically everything that made the team go a year ago. be interesting to see what they look like at the end of the season versus at the beginning.

strasburg-zeeland - personally i don't think they'll jump out and surprise anyone, but they were very athletic last season and if they can learn a bit of control and consistency all of a sudden they could be scary.

tappen - lost their top scorer perry anderson, but will have derek barnick back (i think) who isn't too shabby. don't know what else returns though.

wing-tuttle-pettibone - they lose three starters i think, with the biggest hit being the graduation of ben smith. that kid was good. they'll have some talent with the two (?) returning starters, but i don't have any clue as to what they have for depth or players that will be stepping in.

by **north_border_eagles2106** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 7:42 pm

They will definitely make the Region II Tournament, but they aren't going to make it very far in the tournament. Thompson is the only other threat to do anything out of that district. Hatton-Northwood loses almost every starter, and they were 4th last year. Central Valley has been down for a few years, and Delvo isn't going to carry that team himself, although he is a very good player. Maybe Dakota Prairie or Griggs County Central will surprise people this year, they've been in the dark for 3 or 4 years now and it might be time for them to break out and have a good year. Not sure who Hillsboro has back but they lose Evenson and Vettel which was most of the little offense they scored last year. So I don't see how you could say Lorenz can't carry them through the district. There isn't enough good competition in that district for them to fold over.

by **baseball** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 8:19 pm

the 2 returning starters for WTPR are Hetletved and Winkler. Winkler will be looked for to score 20 a game and Hetletved will ahve to pick up his scoring, his main thing was defense last year.

by **classb_fan00** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 7:18 am

peppers wrote: Lorenz is a great player dont get me wrong, but I dont think he'll be able to carry his team through their own district.

i watched lorenz play in the state tournament last season. i don't think he was that big of offensive threat was he?

by **baseball** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 11:31 am

he can score if he has to, but jsut like any star to come from may-port hes a defensive stopper.

by **AandBfan** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 1:05 pm

I think MPCG will be towards the top again, they're one of the best coached teams in the state.

by **bballer2** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 4:58 pm

AandBfan wrote:I think MPCG will be towards the top again, they're one of the best coached teams in the state.

hard to disagree with that... lorenz is a winner... knows how to win and plays big in big games... also dave nelson isnt too shabby himself... id look for them to be on the top but tough to win the region with thompson having the better team...

by **Ming01** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 5:13 pm

What are everyones pre season Region champion picks?

by **power-aid14** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 6:51 pm

bballer2 wrote:
AandBfan wrote:I think MPCG will be towards the top again, they're one of the best coached teams in the state.

hard to disagree with that... lorenz is a winner... knows how to win and plays big in big games... also dave nelson isnt too shabby himself... id look for them to be on the top but tough to win the region with thompson having the better team...

was lorenz the kid who missed a fast break dunk at state

by **rep** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 7:42 pm

power-aid14 wrote:
bballer2 wrote:
AandBfan wrote:I think MPCG will be towards the top again, they're one of the best coached teams in the state.

hard to disagree with that... lorenz is a winner... knows how to win and plays big in big games... also dave nelson isnt too shabby himself... id look for them to be on the top but tough to win the region with thompson having the better team...

was lorenz the kid who missed a fast break dunk at state

you might be thinking of pbk's ross florhaug...i think he missed one against mayville in the first round.

i don't know if lorenz would dunk in a game or not. that seems a bit too flashy for him.

by **cubsfan** » Fri Oct 06, 2006 2:55 am

you shouldn't count mpcg out yet. luke lorenz is by far the best player in the state, dustin klath is the second best shooter in district, and dave nelson is the best coach in the state.

by **AandBfan** » Fri Oct 06, 2006 5:37 am

cubsfan wrote:you shouldn't count mpcg out yet. luke lorenz is by far the best player in the state, dustin klath is the second best shooter in district, and dave nelson is the best coach in the state.

Thats a pretty big statement, Lorenz is towards the top but to call him by far the best player in the state might be alittle much.

by **spoilers23** » Fri Oct 06, 2006 7:03 am

i wouldnt look past grafton in region 2.....they have a lot of young returning talent...size and speed with two kids returning at 6'7"

by **AandBfan** » Fri Oct 06, 2006 11:18 am

What are the names of the two 6'7 kids returning?

by **baseball** » Fri Oct 06, 2006 12:38 pm

cubsfan wrote:you shouldn't count mpcg out yet. luke lorenz is by far the best player in the state, dustin klath is the second best shooter in district, and dave nelson is the best coach in the state.

defensively i argee...there are alot of great players in the state. The Packineaus are the top 2 players in the state IMO.

by **boysbballfan** » Fri Oct 06, 2006 4:21 pm

does anyone know how four winds is going to be next year. It was fun watching them in the state tournament with their fast pace.

by **spoilers23** » Fri Oct 06, 2006 10:35 pm

the two from grafton are shiller and klinske

by **cubsfan** » Sat Oct 07, 2006 6:48 am

if luke lorenz played defense against either of the packineaus he would shut them down. if either of them guarded him he would absolutely dominate them. so as i said before luke lorenz is the best all-around player in the state period.

by **Jens** » Sat Oct 07, 2006 11:25 am

cubsfan wrote:if luke lorenz played defense against either of the packineaus he would shut them down. if either of them guarded him he would absolutely dominate them. so as i said before luke lorenz is the best all-around player in the state period.

dont speak so soon, i dont think he would shut down the multi offensive talented neil packineau.

by **rep** » Sat Oct 07, 2006 12:25 pm

i would put my money on lorenz. it isn't that he plays good defense on a player...he just takes them out of a game. he denies them the ball. and for most high school players that lead their team in scoring, they are used to getting the ball. and so lorenz wears players down mentally as well as physically. lorenz plays basketball with the agility of a spider.

who knows...maybe neil would be able to do some things. all i know is that i have seen lorenz essentially take 15-20 point a night scorers that were older than him out of state tournament games.

by **player22** » Sat Oct 07, 2006 1:08 pm

nice post "cubsfan" and "rep". i agree you with you on lorenz. its hard to say if lorenz can shut down neil or not but i think if it came down to it lorenz could do take him out of his game. and lorenz could also put some points on the board while playing his good defense.

by **cdub1** » Sat Oct 07, 2006 2:03 pm

I played against the Packineaus and they didnt seem that amazing to me. Even in comparison to Bakkum I would say Bakkum was better than both of them and much harder to guard.

by **rep** » Sat Oct 07, 2006 2:11 pm

bakkum has rediculous range. last year in the region tournament, the opening day was the first time i had seen him play that year. he started casting up shots from three and four feet behind the three-point line and initially i was thinking 'sweet christ who gave this kid the green light?'

but he was hitting a good majority of them and really, he began stretching the defense and his perimeter game started opening up all sorts of things inside. after the game i was talking to their coach and he basically said, yeah, they used to be surprised when bakkum would uncork a long shot, but really after watching it all season and watching him make them all season, he was comfortable with it and thought that it was one way he could exploit other defenses.

in short i really like bakkum as a player, it'll be interesting to see what happens with steele's role players this year...if he can get some help or not.

Pre-season Picks for Regions across State

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