Lakeville North 73 Eastview 68: Five Things to Know

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>North avenged a loss from earlier in the season when they knocked off Eastview 73-68 Tuesday night. The Panther team game was on full display leading to high percentage finishes for Winter and Robison on a regular basis.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>One.</strong> <strong>Panther Ball Movement</strong>. North made 14 of their first 20 shots and it was the spacing and rapid ball movement from their offense that led to those high percentage attempts. [player_tooltip player_id='962214' first='Nolan' last='Winter'] seemed to be dunking or one foot finishing regularly and that was a result of the precision passing from the Panthers. And [player_tooltip player_id='1139350' first='Hudson' last='Vaith'] only took three first half shots (made them all) and five or six for the game because the team simply didn't need his perimeter scoring when you can get dunks and three foot makes from Winter and [player_tooltip player_id='1284147' first='Jack' last='Robison']. [player_tooltip player_id='1269166' first='Matt' last='Drake'] did a great job of starting the offense as well as finishing possessions with the big pass. This isn't the NBA so we don't have injury reports but based on box scores and twitter it looks like last night was Drake's first game back and what a game it was with seven points, six assists, and five rebounds. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Two</strong>. <strong>Eastview Can't Find Late Game Offense</strong>. My worry for Eastview has always been and after last night will continue to be, when they need shot creation at key times, where does it come from? [player_tooltip player_id='1287440' first='Jonathan' last='Mekonnen'] (more on him later) is the main scoring option but at this point he's not a high level individual shot creator. Sixth Man [player_tooltip player_id='1139192' first='Dylan' last='Omweno'] has the best separation skill and the ability to get off a shot whenever he can but last night he was 1 of 8 and the percentages have not always been great. [player_tooltip player_id='1178256' first='Elias' last='Batala'] is the closest thing and he did hit a three and several foul shots late when his team needed them but Eastview still had a lot of chances late to get something on the board but just wasn't able to. This likely won't be an issue against .500 and sub-.500 teams but against the Panthers it was a concern. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Would like to add that Batala has really come a long way to be the talent he is right now. Love his steady hand on the ball, his toughness on defense, and his offensive improvements. He scored 16 points for the Lightning. [player_tooltip player_id='1625012' first='Myles' last='Adams'] added 13 points and played one of his best games that I have seen in a long time. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Three. Helping the Mr. Basketball Cause</strong>. [player_tooltip player_id='962214' first='Nolan' last='Winter'] 25 points on 10 of 19 shooting with 11 rebounds and three blocks. He made one three and 4 of 5 foul shots. There were times where I felt that Winter was simply unstoppable at the back end of the possession because his off ball positioning is perfect and he's too big at 6-foot-11 for a rotating defender to get to. That said, when the [player_tooltip player_id='1287440' first='Jonathan' last='Mekonnen'] length was on Winter (or at times [player_tooltip player_id='1625012' first='Myles' last='Adams'] or [player_tooltip player_id='1140498' first='Chet' last='Kloss']), Winter had trouble last night scoring over that positioned length which is where a healthy share of the nine misses came in. However, his And1 over the top of his man late in the game was a huge basket and that was against a positioned defender scoring with his right on the left side. Bottom line, this Panther offense is outstanding moving the ball and Winter has the smarts of where to be, the finishing skills to finish off plays, and a comfortable touch to put up the big numbers in a big game situation. This was a big South Suburban game and the Panthers won largely because of the play of Winter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Four. [player_tooltip player_id='1284147' first='Jack' last='Robison'] MVP.</strong> I think the game winning finishes, and the most important makes of the game came off the hand of junior [player_tooltip player_id='1284147' first='Jack' last='Robison']. A few times it was Jack creating with the ball, and a few times it was Jack finishing after the offense created the space for Jack to finish the play. Last night was the perfect test for Robison because Eastview has players that have that 6'6/6'7 size that move really well and with Robison at that same size he was able to create offense in one on one spots, or active offensive spots. Jack's step through in the post to make the score 66-60 with two minutes to go was likely the play of the game (or at least the clincher). Robison scored 23 points on 9 of 16 field goal shooting and 5 of 6 foul shooting. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Five. Mekonnen Back-ups Up the Claim</strong>. You have heard us talk about [player_tooltip player_id='1287440' first='Jonathan' last='Mekonnen'] in extensive detail since last spring because we saw him regularly with the Minnesota Heat and his impact in those games made headlines here and on social media. We stated big things were coming and Mekonnen's junior season of 19 points and nine rebounds a game has backed that up. But even more, I would say his 24 points on 8 of 17 shooting with three threes and 5 of 7 foul shooting going against Winter and Robison supported those details in the strongest way. Throw in six rebounds, five assists and three blocks and you have a pretty complete night. Mekonnen hit three comfortable looking threes and he faced up and used the dribble to get to the rim for the finish better last night than we have seen. He also scored those active buckets at 6'7/6'8 that take a good point total and make it great. He was the most agile player with size on the floor last night as well as the most explosive. He is an up and coming talent with mid-major ability and the possibility to grow into high major with time if those skills keep developing. I would say I am most comfortable saying mid-major at the moment. It's been fun to watch him grow with the Heat and continue that with the Lightning this winter. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->