Battle at the Lakes: Austin & Thompson Excel

<p>We break down what we saw on the final day at the Battle, now!</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Zeke for the W</h2>   <p>It doesn't seem to matter what the setting is, [player_tooltip player_id='1575328' first='Ezekiel' last='Austin'] finds ways to win games. </p>   <p>At Albany he has been the point guard for a state champ and a third place finisher. With the Comets you will notice he's been the lead guard for a team that is currently ranked second in the state at 17 and Under. And this past weekend he joined his family members (the Kings) and their team to help the Minnesota Lightning earn wins. </p>   <p>The first and obvious thing to say is Austin's teams win, and we have said that already. I would say the next thing I would bring up about Austin is that he uses his size and feel to continually win battles against opposing guards game after game. Is the other guard smaller? Austin is going to leverage them into playmaking production continually wearing them down. He's going to use his size to get stops, he's going to rebound and push and then make the right choice on scoring quickly, or he will make the choice to slow it down and let the halfcourt offense do the job.</p>   <p>He had 15 in the final win over the Phenom making 6 of 11 shots and in the second minutes of the game he continually won four of five plays against his man leading to the 69-56 win. </p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Thompson Tough</h2>   <p>In watching Thompson as a 16u player I often came away with the thought that he was one of the most confident three point shooters you will see in Minnesota and he was the modern stretch four, with an attitude. He did other things too but the stretch four stuff is what stuck so heavy in the mind. </p>   <p>This spring we are seeing something totally different. </p>   <p>Thompson made his threes, in one game he made four in the first half! But in the game with Wisconsin Crusaders for example, everything was of an attacking forward or an in the paint bull getting buckets. Thompson went at the basket with force throwing down four dunks against the Crusaders, one of which was a halfcourt attack straight over the top of a very good Wisconsin big. </p>   <p>Thompson plays with a confidence, fight, and skilled battle that will land him in a high major opportunity. Today's college basketball landscape is so odd but they are going to need young players at some point and the physical, skilled, confident approach of Thompson will be wanted. </p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">In the Mix</h2>   <p>Sunday I became a believer in Rogers guard [player_tooltip player_id='2422928' first='Trey' last='Mix']. I've been trying to figure out what I think separates him and Sunday I came to the conclusion that this young man is a guy that will battle for his team to the final moment. It might be unconventional, there might be some risks in the choices made, but my third viewing of Mix with the [program_tooltip program_id='2075310' first='Northstar' last='Titans'] seems to make it obvious that he will win more of the battles than he losses. </p>   <p>The biggest shot against the Minnesota Rise was the late game three made while being fouled. A four point play opportunity. It seemed to be the momentum play that gave the Titans the edge for a 55-54 win. Mix finished the game with 17 points making 6 of 10 field goals and 5 of 7 foul shots. He made some jumpers, attacked the rim, and won his share of possessions against his man.</p>   <p>Mix was the third leading scorer at surprising Rogers last year and he is one of three guys that will be back from last year's rotation, along with forward [player_tooltip player_id='1574224' first='Colton' last='Kazmierkoski'] and point guard [player_tooltip player_id='2770743' first='Dylan' last='Bachmeier']. </p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Battle Bullet Points</h2>   <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1587155' first='Jack' last='Gross'] of Rise/BOLD is unique. He has the size at guard with the skills to play both guard spots plus you could use him as the taller guard in a three guard group. Jack had 17 points on 8 of 13 shooting vs the Titans plus he grabbed nine boards from his guard spot. There is a lot a team can do with him at the next level. He uses his body so well to get to that left hand touch. </p>   <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1436459' first='Nathan' last='Johnson'] of [program_tooltip program_id='2075310' first='Northstar' last='Titans']/Hutchinson impressed. His defense, rebounding effort (8) and all around activity helped his team pull out a win. I thought he had a nice Dennis Rodman like impact with his activity and it has me encouraged to see what he can do in the future. </p>   <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2420955' first='Ethan' last='Lee'] of Lightning/Kasson-Mantorville. I love that [player_tooltip player_id='2420955' first='Ethan' last='Lee'] used his frame to score whatever the defense gave him when the Lightning beat the North Dakota Phenom. Lee can play on the perimeter but he's become stronger and he used that scoring feel to continually produce points in the paint lead to 16 on 7 of 11 shooting. </p>   <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1288748' first='Tyler' last='Wagner'] of [program_tooltip program_id='2075431' first='D1' last='Minnesota']/Totino-Grace. Teams want shooting. [player_tooltip player_id='1288748' first='Tyler' last='Wagner'] is a 6'6 shooter who is shooting the ball very well. Today's college landscape is tough to formulate with the high school recruits but five years ago I would likely call Wagner mid major plus: as in mid majors should look hard at this shooting/play and high major teams should be at least chatting on him and he should be on their radar. So.... will it be tougher for Wagner to land one of those spots? Or does the lack of commitment from players to schools mean that schools will be less committed to four years of the player resulting in them taking more chances on guys? If that is the case I think you could see Wagner find some different options of quality. </p>

We break down what we saw on the final day at the Battle, now!