NHR Scout: Hopkins vs Cooper
When the Hopkins Royals walked off the bus and into the Robbinsdale Cooper gym last night they didn’t have nationally ranked top 50 talent Amir Coffey with them. He was home sick. When the line-ups were introduced they also didn’t…
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Continue ReadingWhen the Hopkins Royals walked off the bus and into the Robbinsdale Cooper gym last night they didn’t have nationally ranked top 50 talent Amir Coffey with them. He was home sick. When the line-ups were introduced they also didn’t have starting point guard Vinnie Shahid who wasn’t able to play either.
Taking away talent like Coffey and Shahid often puts the thought of “we have a chance” into the heads of opponents and Robbinsdale Cooper has had a very good season, the Hawks came into the game 10-4 overall. But Hopkins is Hopkins and when you sit one of them down, another player steps into his place.
Stepping into the role of Shahid? That was Xavier Johnson. The explosive sharp shooting guard scoring 14 points a night changed his game into an attack minded creator putting up nine points and nine assists.
So who scored in the role of Johnson? Sophomore Anthony Davis started the game and slashed his way to an explosive 16 points as he continues to remind me of a version of Andre Wallace.
What about Amir Coffey? His 21 points, eight rebounds, and five assists are tough to replace. Yes they are but Ishamel El-Amin scored the 16 points he usually averages in the first half and then added another 15 in the second half for 31 on the night. Big men Simon Wright, Joe Hedstrom, and Erik Davis all had more chances to score and all hit double figures.
Cooper may have had a shot but it was short lived as they weren’t able to stop the Hopkins transition game nor were they able to ever stop the attack of Johnson and El-Amin. Therefore they were down 56-33 at the break and lost 112-70. Those 112 points were a season high for Hopkins besting the 111 they had against Chanhassen and Waconia.
Hopkins
Ishamel El-Amin (6-ft-3, Jr, SG). Cooper is an active and athletic team but they didn’t have anybody that could stop Ishmael from getting a step to the lane nor were their help defenders able to do anything with his attack. El-Amin was either top long and skilled finishing over a positioned help defender or he was too quick to the space for them to help over to. And in transition he was fantastic.
Simon Wright (6-ft-6, Jr, SF). I’ve become a big fan of Simon this year because of the toughness and discipline he’s played with and because he has been hitting his three point stroke at a much higher percentage this season. Cooper took some shots at Simon and he backed down from nobody. Moved off the ball well to get in position deep in the paint to score and he knocked out a corner trey.
Xavier Johnson (5-ft-10, Sr, G). Johnson loved the role of lead guard in this game as no Cooper player could stop him from getting deep paint. He didn’t take many shots nor did he need to. Johnson would get middle and dish time and time again often attacking and then finishing with flare. Coach Novak said he would have liked to see more ball reversals which would have cut down on the turnovers but Johnson was able to get middle whenever he wanted and most of the time it was a flashy assist into a bucket.
Anthony Davis (6-ft-2, So, SG). I look at Davis and see an explosive 73 or 74 inch guard that excels running in the open floor and can lift and finish over bigger players regularly. His body control and lift in the open floor beat Cooper players to the spot and Davis had a nasty backside alley oop. There are things to his game that remind me of Andre Wallace, the former EP guard.
Blaise Beauchamp (5-ft-10, 8th, PG). Blaise simply finds way to produce the second he gets on the floor. Against Cooper he leaked out for an open floor score, then hit technical foul free throws followed by a three on a reversal. It was seven points in a minute.
Joe Hedstrom (6-ft-10, So, C). Hedstrom walked on the floor, blocked two shots, got in a scrum and threw an aggressive guard off his arm, and then got in position to score six times in the paint most of which was off Hopkins attack and dumps (Cooper may have given up 35 lay-ups last night by the way). Hedstrom gets up and down the floor as well as any big in this state at his age and his touch with back to the basket or facing up is quite encouraging. Definitely a D1 big but to what level depends on his development.
Cooper
Jaylin Miller (6-ft-3, Fr, Sg). Miller is a talent in the freshman class that needs to be watched closely. Miller already has very good size for his age and the comfort level in which he attacked Hopkins and made plays caught me off guard. To attack Ishmael El-Amin and use a behind the back fake into a finger roll in transition was an instant highlight I will not soon forget. Miller scored ten points in a variety of ways and he has the type of potential that we need to watch closely going forward.
Damien Gordon (6-ft-4, Jr, SF). Gordon has hit double figures for five straight games and has really been coming on as of late. Good size on the wing for a junior seems to be a decent athlete and showed off the skill to hit a trey followed by the ability to attack and finish against Hopkins contact. Another player that we need to watch closely moving forward.
Melvin Newbern Jr (6-ft-4, Sr, SF). Pound for pound I don’t know if there is a better offensive rebounder in the state than Melvin. He collected thirteen rebounds and at least seven of them were on the offensive end including five putback scores in the second half. Hopkins was not able to react to his quick second bounce to stop him from scoring but they did foul Melvin often. Definitely one of the best lateral moves and quick leapers in the senior class. Scored 25 with the 13 boards.