OmahaHSHoops Mailbag: Third Edition
Q: Best teams outside the Metro that have a chance at making state?
A: To me, it looks like state will probably be evenly split at four or have a 5:3 split in favor of the Metro. Having an eight team tournament kind of limits opportunities, but I think a North Star or a Lincoln High
could slide in there to split it down the middle. That said, I think Lincoln East is in a position to get in whether they win their district or not, which is where the parity of 4:4 or 5:3 would come into play. I say the Spartans, Silver Hawks of Southwest, and Kearney will find their way to Lincoln and there’s a shot at adding Pius, North Star, or Lincoln High to that.
Q: Mailbag: Who will be the teams going to state in your opinion?
A: In no particular order: Kearney, Lincoln East, Bryan, Central, Burke,
Lincoln Southwest, Creighton Prep, and Lincoln Pius X.
Q: Who is the most valuable player to their team? Maybe not best player but the most valuable to what they do.
Out of respect for the teams I have yet to see, I went ahead and only considered Metro players to answer this question. After long, hard thinking and looking at statistics, I decided to answer this question as Jared Mattley of Papillion-La Vista South. He averages 13.7 points per game, but that’s not why my decision was what it was. Any team can have good forwards, but without someone to get them the ball that can mean nothing. Mattley is that guard component to this Titans team, and he can score when he has to.
Q: Best defensive team?
A: The best defensive team in the state, in my honest opinion is Lincoln East. They’re 15-0, but it’s a defensively driven 15-0. The most points they’ve given up is 50 to a top 10 team, and the average opponent score is 43.6. That’s about as low a number you’re going to find in Class A.
Q: Best 3 point shooter and 3 point shooting team?
A: Kyle Leudtke and his Creighton Prep Jr. Jays. Their offense is based on running and gunning, and that comes with the hot shooting from Kyle, Jaylin, Jayden, and Co.
Q: Who can possibly stop Prep now that they are full strength? If so, what team and what are they going to have to do to win?
A: Any time you want to beat Prep, you’ve got to slow the game down and keep track of Akol Arop on his backside cuts. It’s what Central did against them the first time around. Don’t let them get out in transition and cut off as many jumpers as you can. As far as who can do it, that’s a tough question that I don’t know if there’s an answer to. Traveling to Kansas City to see Rockhurst may be their toughest test left on the schedule.
Q: Can you provide some more insight into Jaylin Hunter’s recruitment? Was Nebraska there watching him last night? Have they ever offered him?
A: To the extent of my knowledge and in research, there’s no sign of an offer from Miles and his staff. We didn’t notice them at the game, but there was a very large crowd so they could’ve been there. The Huskers don’t have a great track record with local guys.
Q: Would OmahaHSHoops get into ranking individual players?
A: Right now it’s sort of a consistency thing. It’s something we could look into if there were popular demand for it, but they wouldn’t come until next season.