NHR Daily: Minnesota on the National Stage

Ryan James December 7, 2017 @ 01:06 PM

Tonight we have two of the best PG’s going head to head. ESPN no.1 PG (2018)Tre Jones vs ESPN no.1 (2020) PG Jalen Suggs. Talented players who are high level competitors. @ESPNU 8pm est. ???? ???????? Send me your recruiting & evaluating questions #AskCoachB
— Paul Biancardi (@PaulBiancardi) December 7, 2017

Apple Valley began selling the tickets a long time ago and the building will be packed. That said, how often do you get to watch a Minnesota high school game on TV when it's somebody other than David Lee telling you what's going on? Replays, multiple angles, and commercial breaks so you can use your own bathroom and go to your own kitchen? Sounds great. And the game should excellent as well. Let's run through the line-ups! Superstar: Tre Jones vs Jalen Suggs. I hope we get to see the five superstars, best PG in 2020 take on best PG in 2018 nationwide. They will have the ball in their hands the most and be the playmakers. That said I would guess that athletic, physical defender Kaden Johnson will see some Jones and maybe Lockett and his quickness as well. Regardless of the match-ups the Suggs and Jones playmaking on national TV is why the game is on TV. Shooter: Ely Hendrickson vs Lorenzo Smith. Shooter! Both are the type of guys that can change a game in seconds if they catch fire. Guys that must be located or they can swing the momentum of the game. Post: JaVonni Bickham vs Spencer Rolland. The size. A D1 scorer that is going to Denver against a future Harvard football player that moves his feet on screens as good as any big. Big body agile guys. Worker: Kaden Johnson vs Luke Martens. Two physical and tough wings that will battle you all day. Luke is headed to Winona State, Kaden is a 2020 two sport scholarship level guy. If they match-up it will be a heavyweight battle but both are such good defenders they will likely be used elsewhere. Other: Terry Lockett and Nathan Macho. In type of player these teams have the four similar spots mentioned above, but then you have Terry Lockett, the top PG in the sophomore class after Suggs, and Macho, a versatile wing/forward that gives the Eagles a few different things. Bench. Apple Valley will bring even more seniors off the bench (the starters were all seniors) like Logan Wangerin, Zach Korba, Josh Arnold. Ethan Thomas, and Michael Thomas. In this level of a game they may not go that deep but the Eagles have ten seniors who can play. Minnehaha Academy has some of the brighter young names coming off their bench and they already have three sophomores starting. Grade eight standout 6-foot-5 Prince Aligbe, 6-foot-9 Chet Holmgren, and junior Bennett Theisen are the reserves. Other Games. This isn't the only big game tonight. Eastview and Eden Prairie taking the court versus one another means several of the state's top sophomores are playing versus one another. Totino-Grace vs BSM should be a good game. Matt Todd and Monitcello are at Orono. Woodbury faces Lakeville North. Cretin-Derham Hall is at Edina. Waseca is at Byron. A very strong night for hoops this evening.