OmahaHSHoops Mailbag: First Edition
- Jonathan Snover
- Dec 20, 2017
- 5 min read
OmahaHSHoops readers and followers,
Before I dive into the questions we received for this week’s mailbag, I want to personally thank each and every one of you guys for your continued support through week three and into week four. We wanted to report based on the scores, standings, and other aspects of the team game when we started it, and connecting with the communities each of these schools contains is amazing. It’s also the factor that led me to start a mailbag, which I’m going to get to right now.
Thank you,
Jonathan Snover
Senior Writer, Co-Founder
Q: Way too early Class A All-State team?
A: This is not an easy question to begin, but I’ll give it a shot. I put a ton of thought into this one.. If I were to vote on a Class A All-State team right now, it’d consist of:
Kearney’s Kanon Koster (25.8 ppg, ~8 rpg)
Millard South’s Kyle Perry (23.5 ppg, good wing defender, 36 against North)
Papio South’s Tuach Dol (21.8 ppg, 10.6 rpg)
Creighton Prep’s Akol Arop (18.6 ppg, 11.6 rpg)
Omaha Burke’s Shereef Mitchell (23.3 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 37 against Central)
Honorable mention to Sam Griesel, Donovan WIlliams, and Xavier Watts
Q: Who is your sleeper team for this season?
A: Omaha South would be my pick here. After losing All-State star Aguek Arop, they’re struggling with a rough schedule early. Tyreek Crawford, a crafty senior guard that can get to the rim when needed, leads the way with 14.9 points per game for the Packers. He’s complimented by talented bigs led by Rashawn McNeal-Lee, who averages seven boards a game. But they have way more assets than that, and that’s why I’m sold on them. The Packers haven’t lost a game by more than three points this season, so watch out.
Q: Looking at numbers, Tuach Dol of Papio South continues to put up great numbers each night. What are your opinions on him?
A: Tuach is definitely a vital asset for Joel Hueser’s Titans. He uses every bit of his 6’8”, 165 lbs to run the floor and utilizes the paint. He can get up and over people to grab boards as well. Dol reminds me a lot of Aguek Arop minus the deep range.
Q: Who do you think will win the Metro Tournament? Why?
A: On paper, one would say it would be a team like Millard South or Creighton Prep. But that’s not the answer I’m going to give. Because of the parity of the middle of the pack in the metro, I honestly think a team like Millard West, Omaha North, or Papillion-La Vista can take the crown this year. I’m not going to make my predictions until I do a lot more research, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see a non-top 10 team win it all this year.
Q: Which team has the best backcourt in the state?
A: Another very, very difficult question because there’s so many good combinations in Nebraska basketball this season. If I had to choose one, it’d be the dynamic duo of Xavier Watts and Shereef Mitchell. They average a combined 36.7 points per game and have accounted for 217 of the Bulldogs’ 379 points as a team thus far. Not only can they shoot, but they know how to get the ball into Hickman and Honz to create havoc in the paint.
Q: Which team has the best frontcourt in the state?
A: I did some extensive research on this one because I’ve already talked a lot about them int this mailbag and I really didn’t want to sound biased. But I’m going to have to go with Papillion-La Vista South’s combination of Lok Wur and Tuach Dol. There’s plenty of good forwards and centers that will do great things around the state, but no two are paired like the Titans' crew is. The two combine for 12 rebounds a game, which is highlighted by Dol’s 53 to this point. They’re so explosive offensively, and there’s just not anyone that matches up in my opinion.
Q: What do y’all think on Millard South’s chances of winning state?
A: At the current moment, Millard South is 6-0 and owns the most wild card points in Class A. They’d get Lincoln Northeast in the first round of districts and then someone in the middle of the pack for the title game. I really, really like the way the Patriots run the floor and have the ability to slow it down and make the extra pass. That’s what happens when you have destined floor generals such as Kyle Perry and Tyrell Carroll. I like this team a lot, but I think it comes down to matchups. On paper, they have the numbers of a championship caliber team.
Q: All of Papio South’s losses are to top ten teams, and they have been close. Thoughts on their chances to make state?
A: Again, it comes down to district seeding. They only have four games left, not including the holiday tournament, that are against teams that are currently in our top ten (three in the World-Herald’s). I think they have a shot in those games to put themselves in a good spot going into districts. They have the assets to do so.
Q: What do you think about the Lincoln teams this year?
A: This is a loaded question with a lot of ways I could answer it. I’ll start by doing a ranking and add some notes to the end.
Lincoln East: The Spartans are great because of two names: Sam Griesel and Jordan Janssen. They’re good because they can slow the pace down and spread the ball in the half-court offense. They average 10 assists per game to their 20 made baskets per game.
Lincoln Southwest: Alex Bahe’s Silver Hawks are good. Their leading scorer averages 13 points per game, so they’re good at spreading the rock and getting everyone involved. They also had Creighton Prep on the ropes a few weeks ago.
Lincoln North Star: The Donovan Williams show is rolling through town and people are coming to see it. He holds the highest scoring average by a difference of 11 points, but they’ve managed to win four games including one over Omaha South in overtime on his back.
Lincoln High: This is where Pospisil and I disagreed this week in our rankings. He had the Links sliding it at ten, but I’m not sold here. But North Star owns the head-to-head and the Links don’t have a “solid win”. They do average 13 assists on 24 made baskets per game, however, so that ball movement may catch up to them at some point.
Lincoln Pius X: The Thunderbolts are .500 through three weeks of play. This is their first year of playing a full Class A schedule in recent times, so they’re still feeling out for it. Pius did make the state tournament last year, but they played a lot of Class B teams.
Lincoln Southeast: Flat out, they’ve disappointed this season. After losing their first two by a combined five points, the Knights have gone stagnant. They looked good in their trip to Bellevue East and when they hosted Papillion-La Vista, but they’ve now fallen off the map.
Lincoln Northeast: Yeah, they’re not very good. Their closet loss was by 17 to Pius X, which is what drops them below the Knights. The Rockets are averaging just 39 points per game and they only have four players averaging more than one and a half points per game.
That’s going to be all for this week. These will be a biweekly occurence and may just turn into a podcast if enough questions start rolling in. Feel free to interact on Twitter or Facebook regarding any points made in this article.
*All statistics are per MaxPreps.