Minnetonka 78 Wayzata 51: Five Things to Know

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Playing great team basketball will almost always get the job done. Tonka is playing great team basketball and they dominated Wayzata on Friday. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>One. How?</strong> Minnetonka won with defense that seriously had me thinking back to Tartan two decades ago or DeLaSalle last decade. I know that sounds crazy but there were similar sized Tonka athletes just jumping off of screens at Wayzata players switching and making things worse for [program_tooltip program_id='2075965' first='Trojans' last='']. There were Tonka defenders enjoying making Wayzata uncomfortable and that is what good defenses do. And then the other way, Tonka was moving the basketball to one another willingly and watching each other score with joy. Meanwhile, Wayzata had shots coming off of hands that made me think... he felt he hasn't taken a shot recently enough in his mind. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Two. The Right Mix</strong>. Tonka is short on size and if they play CDH someday that might be an issue. But if it's not an issue against Wayzata, it's not going to be an issue in many other places outside of a game with the Raiders. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2760056' first='Malachi' last='Boadi'] and Caleb Francois are future college football players at UST and Iowa State respectively. But on the court they are smart, they are consistent, and they are physical athletes that are very productive. Then you have [player_tooltip player_id='2436860' first='Jacob' last='Hudson'] coming over from Hopkins playing with an edge that Tonka is using to defend the opposition's best guard. And often with success (seven assists against Wayzata). Then you have [player_tooltip player_id='1574218' first='Duke' last='Richardson'] playing with a smile and having fun for the first time in some time. Duke scored 21 points on 9 of 14 shooting against Wayzata. Throw in [player_tooltip player_id='2121339' first='Anthony' last='Ortiz'] off the bench and the glue that holds it all together.....</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Three. [player_tooltip player_id='1567964' first='Isa' last='El-Amin'] for All State First Team</strong>. [player_tooltip player_id='1567964' first='Isa' last='El-Amin'] was so good running the team for [program_tooltip program_id='2075431' first='D1' last='Minnesota']. He was efficient and smart. Everybody knows he is a good player but I don't think most expected him to have Tonka closing in on the top five of Class AAAA and playing like a top ten Mr. Basketball candidate. Four Skipper starters graduated from the state title team and it didn't seem like there was enough returning for El-Amin to get them to this level, but here they are. And let's of course give credit to the coaching staff as well. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Four. Wayzata Out of Rhythm Early</strong>. [player_tooltip player_id='1560807' first='Isaac' last='Olmstead'] is the point guard and he was scoring early. He's such a talented junior with a quick jumper and nasty separation handles. But when he was scoring early, the other standouts [player_tooltip player_id='1560867' first='Christian' last='Wiggins'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1560778' first='Nolen' last='Anderson'] weren't finding comfortable touches. Surely you can credit Tonka for defending the way they were, but those first Wiggins and Anderson shot attempts were not high percentage and they were not in a rhythm. Anderson was the last of the ten starters on the floor to shoot the ball and you could tell that he knew that when he took his first low percentage attempt. Anderson and Wiggins never got in a rhythm so this pair averaging nearly 40 points a game, scored 14 points on 5 of 20 shooting combined. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Five. Will this Maintain?</strong> For Minnetonka, they will no longer surprise anybody. The upcoming games - against STMA, Buffalo, Edina, EP and Armstrong - are all contests the Skippers will be favored in. But they will be getting everybody's best effort. Right now you have to start talking about Tonka as a 2AAAA favorite. As for the [program_tooltip program_id='2075965' first='Trojans' last=''], the next opponent is likely in for a night mare. And it is.... (as I search the schedule right now)...Buffalo. The Bison, EP and Edina are the next Trojan opponents. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->