I hope everyone is having a great start to the beginning of 2009. The Warriors are also looking for a great start to the new year as they open up play in 2009 by hosting Northern St tonight at 8 pm. The Warriors enter tonight's game with a 9-4 record but only 2-2 in NSIC play. The Wolves enter tonight's game 10-1 overall and a 3-1 record in NSIC play. This is the first meeting of the teams this season after last years domination by the Warriors who gave the Wolves all 4 of their losses on the season, the final loss a 68-60 game sent the Warriors to the Elite 8 and onto a second NCAA National Championship in three seasons.
Both squads have lost a ton of talent from last years team but both return many players who played a huge role in both teams successes last year. For Northern St. they return their top player from last season in 6'7 forward, Kevin Ratzsch, who is averaging a NSIC high 23 ppg and 6 rebounds per contest. In addition to Ratzsch NSU has formed another nice supporting cast around him lead by 6'10 post, Robert Thomas, 13 ppg and 6'5 guard, Mitch Boeck, 12 ppg. To go along with the double figure scoring, Thomas averages a team high 8 rebounds per game, while Boeck is off to an outstanding start from behind the 3 pt line hitting 45% of his shots from there. These three have been the main threats for the Wolves this season but many others are capable of having big games for them as they play very well as a team.
Now for some keys to the game. Obviously one of the biggest keys of the game many people will be looking at is how WSU is going to stop Kevin Ratzch. Well I don't think we will be able to stop him but our hope is to contain him. He is just too good of a player to be stopped and in all honesty the only one to stop him is probably going to be himself. Our goal as a team is to just be solid on him and not let him get any easy looks, we want to make him work for everything he gets and hopefully wear him out over the course of the game. But he is so good that shutting him totally down is probably not a realistic goal. Another key as most games will be rebounding. We need to rebound the ball and hold them to only one shot. They like to run the shot clock down and get the ball to Ratzch up top for him to go one on one or use a ball screen for that one great shot. We must hold them to that one shot and not let them get a lot of extra possessions to do this we will need to be very physical. The next key to the game will be getting our guys on the inside going right away. We need to get the ball inside and we need to finish inside when we do get the ball in there. While we will be smaller at almost every position inside we will be quicker and more athletic. We will need to use those advantages to us to score. Finally the last key will be hitting some outside shots early. If we can drill some 3's right away we become so much harder to defend and it gives us some great driving lanes to the basket. So knocking down some 3's right away will put a ton of pressure on them to contain us as we will be quicker and have the ability to go by them.
Overall this should be another great NSU-WSU match-up. The only difference between the past couple of years and this year is we are now the under-dog in this game. We are not expected to win and many people pick NSU to win our league this year so all of the pressure of this game is on them. I think our guys love being in this new role and they have done very well in the past games when we are the under-dogs. This game should be a close game and one that should come down to the wire. If it comes down to the end, it will be the team that executes better down the stretch that will win. I know our guys are ready to go and tonight should be another fun night of NSIC basketball. If you would like more info on NSU you can go to the following link: http://nsuwolvesathletics.com/index.aspx?path=mbball&tab=basketball
On another note I have had many people asking how our recruits for next year have been doing. Well so far they are all off to great start on their seasons. Zander Culver is the leading scorer for his Champaign Central team. Zander is a very quick guard who has a great stroke from the outside and is capable of going off for big games as he did against Verona Area up in Milwaukee right before Christmas when he had 30 points. If you wish to follow Zander most closely you can do so by going to the following link: http://www.news-gazette.com/sports/prep/
Once on the site you will just have to find Zanders Champaign Central squad to get updates on his team.
Our other recruit from Illinois, Xavier Humphrey, has his Fenwick squad playing well in the Chicago area. Xavier is another player who can do a little bit of everything on the floor and he is a very fun player to watch. He brings a defensive mindset to the table every night but is very capable of having big nights as he also had 30 points, 9 rebounds and 4 steals in a game right after Christmas. Xavier is not known so much for his scoring but his ability to do it all and we love what he brings to the table. If you want to follow him and his Fenwick team a little closer you can go to the following link: http://yourseason.suntimes.com/schools/fenwick/index.html
After most games the site usually has a little article on the game to go along with some stats.
The final recruit of the 09 year is our 6'7 do it all guy Kellen Taylor from Wayzata, MN. Kellen's team is off to the best start of all three teams as his squad is currently 7-1 on the year. Kellen is again versatile just like the other two and has the ability to play multiple positions on the floor for us. He greatest attribute for us is his ability to guard a variety of players on the floor for his size and his ability to knock down the 3 pt shot. Kellen is not a scorer per say but he can fill it up when give the opportunity. His best basketball days are ahead of him as he is going to be a beast someday with his size and basketball abilities. In Kellen's last game he put up 13 points in a win over Anoka at a holiday tournament. You can follow Kellen and his teams progress by going to the following link: http://preps.startribune.com/teamschedule.php?yid=0809&sport=101&tid=2921
We wish all three of our guys the best of luck on the rest of their seasons and look forward to following them along the way.
Go Warriors!!!!
Both squads have lost a ton of talent from last years team but both return many players who played a huge role in both teams successes last year. For Northern St. they return their top player from last season in 6'7 forward, Kevin Ratzsch, who is averaging a NSIC high 23 ppg and 6 rebounds per contest. In addition to Ratzsch NSU has formed another nice supporting cast around him lead by 6'10 post, Robert Thomas, 13 ppg and 6'5 guard, Mitch Boeck, 12 ppg. To go along with the double figure scoring, Thomas averages a team high 8 rebounds per game, while Boeck is off to an outstanding start from behind the 3 pt line hitting 45% of his shots from there. These three have been the main threats for the Wolves this season but many others are capable of having big games for them as they play very well as a team.
Now for some keys to the game. Obviously one of the biggest keys of the game many people will be looking at is how WSU is going to stop Kevin Ratzch. Well I don't think we will be able to stop him but our hope is to contain him. He is just too good of a player to be stopped and in all honesty the only one to stop him is probably going to be himself. Our goal as a team is to just be solid on him and not let him get any easy looks, we want to make him work for everything he gets and hopefully wear him out over the course of the game. But he is so good that shutting him totally down is probably not a realistic goal. Another key as most games will be rebounding. We need to rebound the ball and hold them to only one shot. They like to run the shot clock down and get the ball to Ratzch up top for him to go one on one or use a ball screen for that one great shot. We must hold them to that one shot and not let them get a lot of extra possessions to do this we will need to be very physical. The next key to the game will be getting our guys on the inside going right away. We need to get the ball inside and we need to finish inside when we do get the ball in there. While we will be smaller at almost every position inside we will be quicker and more athletic. We will need to use those advantages to us to score. Finally the last key will be hitting some outside shots early. If we can drill some 3's right away we become so much harder to defend and it gives us some great driving lanes to the basket. So knocking down some 3's right away will put a ton of pressure on them to contain us as we will be quicker and have the ability to go by them.
Overall this should be another great NSU-WSU match-up. The only difference between the past couple of years and this year is we are now the under-dog in this game. We are not expected to win and many people pick NSU to win our league this year so all of the pressure of this game is on them. I think our guys love being in this new role and they have done very well in the past games when we are the under-dogs. This game should be a close game and one that should come down to the wire. If it comes down to the end, it will be the team that executes better down the stretch that will win. I know our guys are ready to go and tonight should be another fun night of NSIC basketball. If you would like more info on NSU you can go to the following link: http://nsuwolvesathletics.com/index.aspx?path=mbball&tab=basketball
On another note I have had many people asking how our recruits for next year have been doing. Well so far they are all off to great start on their seasons. Zander Culver is the leading scorer for his Champaign Central team. Zander is a very quick guard who has a great stroke from the outside and is capable of going off for big games as he did against Verona Area up in Milwaukee right before Christmas when he had 30 points. If you wish to follow Zander most closely you can do so by going to the following link: http://www.news-gazette.com/sports/prep/
Once on the site you will just have to find Zanders Champaign Central squad to get updates on his team.
Our other recruit from Illinois, Xavier Humphrey, has his Fenwick squad playing well in the Chicago area. Xavier is another player who can do a little bit of everything on the floor and he is a very fun player to watch. He brings a defensive mindset to the table every night but is very capable of having big nights as he also had 30 points, 9 rebounds and 4 steals in a game right after Christmas. Xavier is not known so much for his scoring but his ability to do it all and we love what he brings to the table. If you want to follow him and his Fenwick team a little closer you can go to the following link: http://yourseason.suntimes.com/schools/fenwick/index.html
After most games the site usually has a little article on the game to go along with some stats.
The final recruit of the 09 year is our 6'7 do it all guy Kellen Taylor from Wayzata, MN. Kellen's team is off to the best start of all three teams as his squad is currently 7-1 on the year. Kellen is again versatile just like the other two and has the ability to play multiple positions on the floor for us. He greatest attribute for us is his ability to guard a variety of players on the floor for his size and his ability to knock down the 3 pt shot. Kellen is not a scorer per say but he can fill it up when give the opportunity. His best basketball days are ahead of him as he is going to be a beast someday with his size and basketball abilities. In Kellen's last game he put up 13 points in a win over Anoka at a holiday tournament. You can follow Kellen and his teams progress by going to the following link: http://preps.startribune.com/teamschedule.php?yid=0809&sport=101&tid=2921
We wish all three of our guys the best of luck on the rest of their seasons and look forward to following them along the way.
Go Warriors!!!!
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