Minnesota High School Basketball: 10 Questions

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Practice starts today! So, we give you the answers to 10 questions that we receive the most. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Who will win Class AAAA? </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I go with Park Center simply because they have the most talent in Class AAAA basketball and if anybody can match that talent, the Pirates will be more explosive and athletic, but also the way they've been coached on D gives them the edge.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Who will win Class AAA?</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Totino-Grace is by far the most talented AAA team and they have depth too. They have one or two of everything and that gives them a massive edge.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Who will win Class AA?</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This is a tougher question to answer but I like Holy Family because they have a top point guard, elite skilled size up front, and experienced workers at wing. Other teams are good but some don't have the same depth, others don't have the same type of quality size, and others don't have the same chemistry coming in. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Who will win Class A?</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It's tough to go against two time state champion Hayfield when they have the player of the year back, three starters back, and an elite coach leading the way.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Who will win Mr. Basketball?</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>To me it has to be [player_tooltip player_id='962198' first='Taison' last='Chatman']. He led his team to a title last year and he did it by taking over the state title game. It's hard to not start with Taison. That said, if [player_tooltip player_id='962212' first='Boden' last='Kapke'] has huge numbers again and his team wins a title, what about him? What if [player_tooltip player_id='962218' first='Nasir' last='Whitlock'] has another amazing run late in the year and they have a title chance? What if [player_tooltip player_id='962206' first='Max' last='Shikenjanski'] does the same thing with his basketball team that he did with his football team?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Who is the biggest impact transfer?</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We've never seen a transfer year like this and you outstate fans, don't you dare point the finger at the metro as it's just as wild in the outstate as it is in the metro. [player_tooltip player_id='1287442' first='Kole' last='Hanson'] is a big one, the talent headed to Cherry is huge for them, Stewartville may have added the needed piece in [player_tooltip player_id='1476739' first='Caleb' last='Bancroft'], Minnehaha Academy reloaded, but to me [player_tooltip player_id='962199' first='CJ' last='O'Hara'] headed to Park Center is the biggest one. I think he will lead them in scoring and rebounding, and be the center piece of their run.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>What is the biggest day of the year to see talent?</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>That's easily the Breakdown Tip Off Classic at Hopkins High School on December 10th. You get 1 vs 2 in Hayfield/Cherry, you get 1 vs 2 in Holy Family/PEM, and you get an AAAA/AAA 1 vs 2 when Totino-Grace plays Lakeville North. That game also gives you a chance to see Ohio State signed [player_tooltip player_id='962198' first='Taison' last='Chatman'] against Wisconsin signed [player_tooltip player_id='962214' first='Nolan' last='Winter'], the two biggest senior draws in the state of Minnesota. And you see [player_tooltip player_id='1151197' first='Daniel' last='Freitag'], [player_tooltip player_id='1288733' first='Isaac' last='Asuma'], [player_tooltip player_id='1550877' first='Jayden' last='Moore'], [player_tooltip player_id='1284147' first='Jack' last='Robison'], [player_tooltip player_id='962212' first='Boden' last='Kapke'], and so much more.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Have injuries hurt teams as of yet?</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Yes. West Central Area was my pick to win Section 2AA but [player_tooltip player_id='1492609' first='Cole' last='Anderson'] is out for the year which really hurts them. Rockford had very little returning outside of [player_tooltip player_id='1256138' first='Henry' last='Skinner'], but Henry hurt his knee and he is out for the season. [player_tooltip player_id='962200' first='Jack' last='Janicki'] has a shoulder injury that will keep him out for some time although not in the way that Anderson and Skinner are out. And Park Center led the Breakdown Fall League in players on the bench in soft casts. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>What teams will look very different?</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Hopkins lost five players to transfer</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Rock Ridge is a new school and they combined players from Virginia and Eveleth-Gilbert with Greenway transfer [player_tooltip player_id='962252' first='Grant' last='Hansen']</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Minneapolis South lost all but one player from their rotation (to transfer) and none of those players were seniors</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Cherry High School is a top Class A team and they added a pair of double figure scoring underclassmen in [player_tooltip player_id='1579910' first='Noah' last='Sundquist'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1579911' first='Carson' last='Brown']</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Holy Family added a new coach (Joe Burger from Edina), a top point guard ([player_tooltip player_id='1287442' first='Kole' last='Hanson']), and a D1 big from Canada (Colin Mulholland)</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Osseo had three new players getting run on their team in fall league that were transfers</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Mankato East not only graduated several players, they lost two players to transfer but also have a ton of good young players coming up</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Minneapolis North has a new coach (Ricky Davis), a new top player (Max Wilson), and it will have a new rotation</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Minnehaha Academy has a brand new backcourt with 20 point per game guard transfers [player_tooltip player_id='1499627' first='Lorenzo' last='Levy'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1284157' first='Jerome' last='Williams Jr']</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ul> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>What should you do as a fan in the stands?</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Clap. Cheer on your son. Cheer on your son's team. Cheer on the team in the community. Limit your anger towards a ref to a quick clap of the hands or a comment to the person that is there with you, and let it go. Limit your anger towards a coach by just biting your lip. Limit your anger towards a player by doing nothing. For every time you think that the official is doing something wrong in your way, it is not intentional 19 times out of 20 and in the grand scheme of things it's not important enough for you to say anything. Let the coach and/or captain handle it. For every time you think the coach on your team is doing something in the way of you or your son, 29 times out of 30 it is not intentional, and in the grand scheme of things not important enough for you to say something. I know, I know, your situation is different though! Lol, no. Not it is not. Go to the games, cheer, clap, support your son, your team and your community, and stop making high school basketball a place with declining coaching and officiating numbers. And no, the declining numbers are not ALL the fault of those cheering on these teams. The lack of money for what they do is just not worth the pressure received so that should change too. However, tough for schools to do that on limited budgets. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->