The AAU Weekend: Week 8

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There are traditionally 14 weekends through the spring/summer that Minnesota teams play in events. With this being the 8th we are half way through the season. This is what is on tap for Memorial Day weekend. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>A Week Off</strong>! Twenty of the top 25 teams in the state at 17u are taking the weekend off to enjoy a long holiday weekend. Many of these teams have played five or six of the past seven weekends and many are playing next weekend so it's the perfect time to relax and rest. Maybe the most interesting travel/vacation event of the weekend is [program_tooltip program_id='2075674' first='Minnesota' last='Heat'] Academic competing as one of 60 teams in the Compton Magic Memorial Day Cup event. Minnesota Comets did this a few years back as well. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>EYCL</strong>. Howard Pulley likely has the biggest weekend ahead as they finish up EYCL league play (third weekend of play). They are 6-2 in their half of the 24 team league (12 teams in Group B). For one (maybe two?) of the EYCL teams they get a shot at playing in the Peach Jam. The Peach Jam is primarily the qualifiers of the 40 EYBL teams but they have some play in scenarios that they seem to tweak each year so I am not totally sure what you have to do to qualify but I would say winning it would do the trick.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Pulley is in third place at 6-2 so they would need to win out and to make it even tougher, the teams in front of them (Mokan 2 and Ohio Buckets) have already beaten Pulley in close games (70-63 and 85-81). All three games this weekend (maybe they play a fourth after they finish out their 11 league play games?) are against winnable opponents (combined record of 9-15). Also going in the favor of Pulley is that Ohio Buckets and MoKan 2 play each other plus Ohio Buckets has to play the 4th place team (Team Iso Joe, as in Joe Johnson). </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This event is in Kansas City.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Select Memorial Day Classic</strong>. Select is in Lakeville again with their event and they have 50 plus teams at the high school and youth levels competing. A great chance for the teams from Select, Twin Cities Elite, [program_tooltip program_id='2075447' first='E1T1' last=''], and/or [program_tooltip program_id='2076001' first='Wear' last='Out the Net'] to get some momentum heading into next weekend, the summer, or both. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Minneapolis Showcase</strong>. This event is running for the third or fourth straight year. It's at Chanhassen/Chaska. The field does not look as strong as last year's field but there are some good teams competing. Several teams that have spent most or all of their spring traveling have decided this is the event to play local and that would include J Sizzle, [program_tooltip program_id='2075485' first='Gain' last='Elite'], [program_tooltip program_id='2075681' first='Minnesota' last='Magic'], [program_tooltip program_id='2075496' first='Grassroots' last='Sizzle'] and the Minnesota [program_tooltip program_id='2075852' first='Spartans' last=''] (that is at 17s but remains pretty consistent down through 15u). </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Two very good teams from outside of Minnesota are coming up and that is Iowa United (they were here for Battle at the Lakes) and Chicago Hoops. Both will play J Sizzle in the two games the J Sizzle 17s team is playing. [program_tooltip program_id='2075485' first='Gain' last='Elite'] and the [program_tooltip program_id='2075852' first='Spartans' last=''] are in Pool A, [program_tooltip program_id='2075310' first='Northstar' last='Titans'] Bertsch is in Pool B along with the Magic, Lockdown and [program_tooltip program_id='2075496' first='Grassroots' last='Sizzle'], and an improved Lace Up team along with the second [program_tooltip program_id='2075852' first='Spartans' last=''] team and the Grizzlies are in Pool C. As for the 16s the Pools look all over the place. I'm not sure if this is on purpose or not but Pool C looks better than Pool B.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Next Weekend</strong>. The NHR State Tournament will have its biggest numbers ever for this seeded event as there will be two divisions at each high school age of play and both of those brackets are pretty full. About 65 to 70 percent of the top 30 teams in each grade are playing so we are going to have some very good state champions this year. More about this next weekend but NHR State should be exciting! </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->