Season Opener: Salmen High vs Slidell High 5 Takeaways

<p>COVID-19 has changed the landscape of the social world. Social distancing and masks are mandatory, and it’s difficult to find excitement in social events without worry of risking health. Tuesday, November 17th was an exception. Slidell High School and Salmen High School brought the 2020-2021 season in with a exciting game that went down to the wire. Here are my 5 take aways from that game.</p> <hr /> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>1. Fresh Faces Under Unfortunate Circumstances:</strong></p> <p>Both Salmen and Slidell High’s starting roster was fairly different from last year besides two or three players.(Salmen’s [player_tooltip player_id="765911" first="Devon" last="Lizana"] was out due to injury; Slidell’s Tre Ball, James Parlow, Shawn Eaglin, and Derrick King,was out due to COVID exposure) Although each team was missing important pieces, the "new guys" did not miss a step with running the offense for their respective teams. The spartans ran with a starting five in which only one (Kyle Weaver) stood above "6’0", while Slidell starters had only one player (Tyler McGee) standing below "6’0".</p> <hr /> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>2. Salmen High School’s Scrappy Playstyle:</strong></p> <p>With the small stature of the team, Salmen has huge heart. Taking it right to the tigers, Salmen scored majority of their points in the post. Their transition offense was something that the tigers struggled with all game. When Slidell was able to get the spartans in a half court setting, Salmen was able to score easy baskets due to their elusiveness which made Slidell miss assignments on defense. It seemed Salmen had an extra player on the floor as every time you look, someone was open under the goal. They also knocked down big threes to keep them in the game and even exchange the lead a few times early on in the first half. Although inexperienced, they showed enough poise to handle the pressure Slidell was putting on them with traps, different defensive sets ranging from 1-3-1 zone, full court presses, and half court  man to man sets. A very even scoring from each player, the leading scorers being Amir Giles (Sr.) with 13 points, and Jaylin Williams (Jr.) with 10 points.</p> <hr /> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>3. Slidell High School’s Durability:</strong></p> <p>Basketball is a game of mental chess. A great gameplan is needed to not only be drawn up but executed to dominate. The tigers had the gameplan drawn up but seem to fall short on the execution time and time again in this game. It may have been the lack of time to mesh together as a unit, or simply just mental lapses that led to failed assignments. Their offense was had more ups than their defense had downs, and as a result they were able to remain in the ball game. Their ability to score to stop Salmen’s runs, and put together runs of their own was a big factor in their messy, but important win on Tuesday night. The ability to maintain and fight through their internal mishaps and overcome was very commendable.</p> <hr /> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>4. Salmen High School’s Jayshawn Williams:</strong></p> <p>I’m not one to ponder to much on "what if’s" but this is one that has been on my mind for certain. Early in the first quarter Jayshawn made it clear he was up for the challenge that was prevalent. Aggressive in his approach to scoring backfired and landed him in early foul trouble drawing a few charges and tic tac fouls. This led to him being benched for majority of the game. By the time he was put back in, the game wasnt decided but he wasn’t able to get into a groove or make an impact. From what I did witness in the short minutes he was in, he was the fastest, most aggressive on the court which would’ve became a big problem for a Slidell team that seem to have many mental lapses on the defensive end. If he’s able to get a hold of that motor and figure out how and when to switch gears he will be a definite threat this season as there seems to be no date as to when Devon will make his return.. Make sure you go catch Jayshawn in person.</p> <hr /> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>5. Slidell High School’s Tyler McGee &amp; Micah Willis:</strong></p> <p>Tyler McGee impressed me Tuesday night. Tyler started at point guard, ran the offense, handled pressure, and proved himself to be a solid floor general for the tigers. Considering before this he barely tacked minutes on varsity, to playing almost the entire game, its respectable to see how well he handled everything. Although I noticed him becoming gassed early on, he persevered and showed up for the team scoring 11 points stat wise. Besides the stats, I saw a point guard become comfortable in his role that was demanded of him, accepted it and flourished. Coach Green might have to do some thinking on how often Tyler sees the floor after watching him run his offense and help the team stay afloat.</p> <p>While Tyler took over the floor general position, Micah Willis stepped up as the go to scorer that was needed to not only win the game, but keep hope alive that Slidell will survive the night. Micah poured 26 points into Slidell Highs 62 point final score. 15 of those points came in the second half when it seems Willis found his rhythm. A junior with a nice jumper, the shooting guard stayed solid throughout the night when the tigers needed him and did it with poise. </p> <p>These two were a nice combo in this game and I would like to see them together after some refinement and added aggression on both sides of the floor.</p>