Delano 82 Chisago Lakes 67: Five Things to Know

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>What were my thoughts after Delano defeated Chisago Lakes 82-67 in the season opener? Here are five things to know!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>One. Guard Depth</strong>. Teams are going to have a lot of trouble getting bodies out to [player_tooltip player_id='1284231' first='Will' last='Strandemo'], Jack Schultz and [player_tooltip player_id='1560739' first='Max' last='Iversen']. When you have three guys like this that can all shoot, and can all put the ball on the deck, you stretch defenses to the max and ultimately space comes easy for the skill players to take a close game and make it 20+ like Delano did to Chisago Lakes on Friday. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1284231' first='Will' last='Strandemo'] had 19 points on 7 of 21 shooting, [player_tooltip player_id='1560739' first='Max' last='Iversen'] had 21 points an 13 rebounds on 7 of 19 shooting, and Jack Schultz had 20 points on 7 of 11 shooting including three threes. Strandemo took constant advantage of his ability to beat his man to either shoot the pull-up or drop off a nice assist because a Wildcat defender was standing around and not defending the Delano size. Schultz had a slower first half but an excellent second half as a catalyst when the lead hit 20+.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Two. Frontcourt Tiger Workers</strong>. I loved how the Delano frontcourt players complimented the Tiger guards. First of all, senior Frankie Nau and junior [player_tooltip player_id='2103353' first='JJ' last='Longstreet'] did a great job getting length on the talented [player_tooltip player_id='1288720' first='Patrick' last='Rowe']. They made most of Rowe's first 25 shots come over the top and Rowe made only eight of those 25 when the game was in it's closer stages. Longstreet also grabbed six rebounds with three assists, Nau had a dozen rebounds plus 11 points on his 4 of 4 shooting, and senior [player_tooltip player_id='2365731' first='Dominic' last='Lucarelli'] had eight points and five assists. Nau, Longstreet and Lucarelli are all in that 6-foot-4 to 6-foot-6 area and all played their roles very well. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Three. Iversen Growth</strong>. Growth has multiple meanings here. First of all Max looks taller. I am going to guess he is an inch or a fraction of an inch over six feet now maybe? He's also doing more than what I saw the previous two years and what I mean by that is rebounding, fighting another step or two on defense, attacking and creating more. Sure that insanely quick release has range and can come from any separation move, Max is still a shooter of course. One of the deadliest few shooters in the state. But 13 rebounds! And two passing lane jumps for lay-ups the other way! </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Four. Rowe for 30</strong>. Chisago Lakes senior [player_tooltip player_id='1288720' first='Patrick' last='Rowe'] scored his 30 points on 12 of 29 shooting. He is a long 6-foot-6/6-foot-7 wing that handles for the Wildcats because he is their best option to handle. With the Cats having a couple 6'4/6'5 physical bodies up front Rowe spends a lot of his time away from the cup handling to start, and creating throughout the duration of the shot clock. At his size and lift Rowe can get a look at the rim pretty much at any time and the form looks solid. Rowe did struggle in the middle of the game but bounced back scoring 13 points late including his last four attempts.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Five. Deeper Than Expected</strong>. Chisago Lakes is a bit deeper than I thought they were. Six-foot-3 senior Zander Schmidt is a feet set shooter that knocked out six threes on his way to 18 points. Six-foot-5 senior Ian Larsen had ten boards and four scorers, 6-foot-6 strong senior Ben Paulsen had six boards, and I thought 6-foot-6 junior Riley Estes did some good things in the paint off the bench. They seem to be short on guard/wing depth which is why Rowe handles a lot of load but I think the Wildcats could have a good year. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->