ND Attack 17U: Season Review

Prep Hoops Dakotas is looking back at the season for [program_tooltip program_id='2075723' first='ND' last='Attack'] 17U. We have player comments and an in-depth Q&A with Coach Beaudrie.   See below for a boatload of info on [program_tooltip program_id='2075723' first='ND' last='Attack'] 17U.   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Artwork_PNG_NDAttackLogo.png"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Artwork_PNG_NDAttackLogo.png?w=450" alt="" class="wp-image-2406588" style="width:212px;height:auto" /></a></figure>   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/SeaonReview-.jpg"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/SeaonReview-.jpg?w=865" alt="" class="wp-image-1842251" style="width:201px;height:auto" /></a></figure>   Coaches: Shane Robinson, Alan Olsen, and Bob Beaudrie   Record: 12-20   Player Comments from Coach Beaudrie   <h1 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size">#0 – [player_tooltip player_id='2335325' first='Owen' last='Gilbert'] – 6'4 Lisbon</h1>   "Owen really came into his own as a post, as the season progressed. I thought he made a lot of progress with his post presence both offensively and defensively. Owen has a nice inside-out game and is extremely coachable."   <h1 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size">#1 – [player_tooltip player_id='1632740' first='Jayson' last='Schlenker'] – 6'1 Barnes County North</h1>   "Extremely impressed with Jayson! His effort, his basketball IQ, and his attitude. Jayson goes all out, all the time. Jayson has a very good mid-range game as well as strength getting to the rim. Very coachable player – who never takes a possession off."   <h1 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size">#2 – [player_tooltip player_id='1632692' first='Elijah' last='Robinson'] – 5'11 – Midway/Minto</h1>   "Eli is one of the quicker players I've ever had the pleasure of coaching. I don't know if anyone could catch him in a game of tag in a phone booth – except maybe his brother. Eli was one of our main scorers this season and had some big games for us this season. He's another kid who gives everything he has all the time."   <h1 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size">#4 – [player_tooltip player_id='1511062' first='Rocklin' last='Beaudrie'] – 5'10 – Westhope/Newburg</h1>   "Rocklin improved his offensive game tremendously from last season. He was one of our main outside threats this season and ran the point position for us quite a bit. Rocklin has always taken pride in his defensive aggressiveness and he has improved on the offensive end in order to match that skill."   <h1 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size">#12 – [player_tooltip player_id='1632700' first='Ezra' last='Robinson'] – 5'11 – Midway/Minto</h1>   "Ezra is extremely quick and did the majority of the point guard duties for us this year. He does a great job of finding the open man, leading transition, and finishing as well. Ezra had some huge offensive games for us this season and was a sparkplug on the defensive side."   <h1 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size">#14 – [player_tooltip player_id='2255562' first='Drew' last='Nitschke'] – 6'3 – Edgely/Kulm/Montpeliar</h1>   "Drew played a little over half the tournaments with us, and really got comfortable about his 2nd tournament in with this squad. Drew is a strong presence inside, and once he gets his hands on a rebound, it stays with him. Drew has nice post moves and can step out and knock down the outside shot as well. Drew has a high basketball IQ, and rarely, if ever, made a mental mistake on the floor."   <h1 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size">#15 – [player_tooltip player_id='1632705' first='Joe' last='Bear'] – 5'8 – Watford City</h1>   "Joe has energy for days!! Joe has improved dramatically on the defensive side of the ball, and was a spark plug for us on that side of the ball. He has no fear and will fly in for loose balls, or not give an inch to his man when he is guarding the ball. Joe hit some big shots for us this year as well, but really played his role extremely well."   <h1 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size">#21 – [player_tooltip player_id='2816325' first='Colby' last='Maus'] – 6'0 – Lisbon</h1>   "Colby made huge strides this summer. We had discussed him getting more aggressive on both sides of the ball early in the season, and Colby did a very good job of doing just that the rest of the year. Colby started to get more confident in his offensive game by the last few tournaments and hit a few key shots for us. Colby did everything we asked of him and was a great teammate!"   <h1 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size">#22 – [player_tooltip player_id='1921182' first='Gavin' last='Parnow'] – 6'1 – Hettinger/Scranton</h1>   "Gavin is hard to pigeonhole as he is very diverse. He can play a post position as well as handle the ball, and play a perimeter position. Gavin is another kid who will do anything that is necessary for the team to be successful. Gavin has a very nice touch on his outside shot, and can also take advantage of his quicker feet against bigger post players down low. Another very coachable athlete!"   <h1 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size">#32 – [player_tooltip player_id='1809393' first='Chase' last='Evenson'] – 6'2 – Northern Cass</h1>   "Chase missed the first few tournaments due to rehab of a knee injury and was only able to participate in a couple of tournaments before injuring himself again during an open gym. We really feel for Chase, as he was just starting to get back into the flow of things and then had to miss the rest of the season. Hoping for a full and speedy recovery for him."   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/QA.jpg"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/QA.jpg?w=865" alt="" class="wp-image-2508303" style="width:283px;height:auto" /></a></figure>   With Bob Beaudrie   PHD: What are some of your best memories from off the court?   "Getting to know the players on a personal level is something that I enjoy as a coach of [program_tooltip program_id='2075723' first='ND' last='Attack']. Some of these kids you watch during the year, and some you aren't able to see at all. So, just getting to know the athletes and their families is one of the biggest takeaways from our program. I love being around those kids, and it gives me and my family many teams to root for during the season, especially over the last 8 years of coaching a bunch of kids!!"   PHD: Can you tell us about a memorable play or game that really sticks out to you?   "We had a couple. One on the losing side and one on the winning side. We played a team known as Impact “Randy” in St. Cloud who was a very good team. The entire squad played exceptionally well against the eventual champions of our division. It was a back-and-forth game with both sides shooting very well. Rocklin, Jayson, Eli, and Ezra all made multiple threes, and Owen was battling in the post. Joe, Colby, Gavin were hitting their shots as well. In the end, they went on a mini-run in the last minute and ended up taking the win, but again, it was a very fun game to be a part of, and it was fun to see how well these boys could really play together."   "On the winning side – it would have to be our last game with these boys. We beat the [program_tooltip program_id='2075302' first='Sacred' last='Hoops']-Edman team by about 20 points in our last game with the program for these boys. It was a great way to finish it out. Rocklin, Eli, and Ezra had been with [program_tooltip program_id='2075723' first='ND' last='Attack'] since they were 5th graders. Jayson joined the program shortly after – either in 6th or 7th grade. The rest of the guys had all been with the program for at least 3 years, besides Colby, who was in his first year with us. So, it was really just a culmination of knowing this was it for these guys, watching them grow as players and as young men over the years, and trying to teach them some things on the way. It was a good way to end their era with Attack."   PHD: Who was your "go-to" player when you needed a basket?   "We had a couple. We had a few different sets to get specific guys a shot, and usually it would be either Jayson, or Ezra off a backdoor play. But if someone had to create something for themselves and we really needed someone to take over the game offensively, we usually relied on Jayson or Eli. Jayson can create for himself with his strength and mid-range game. Eli can create as he is hard to guard one-on-one, and he can also hit the outside shot pretty well.   PHD: Who was your most improved player?   "[player_tooltip player_id='2335325' first='Owen' last='Gilbert'] was our most improved from tournament 1 to the last tournament. Owen is a solid player all-around, but he really started to come around and be a major factor as the season went on. He listened to the coaches (Robinson and Olsen) when they were teaching him some things that would help him get better opportunities, and he would put them in his repertoire during the games. I was really impressed with how Owen finished out the year, and I really like him as a player this year for the Lisbon Broncos!"   PHD: How did the team improve from the start of the season to the end?   "Well, record-wise – we didn't improve – but I think there were times in games towards the end of the season, in which we started to figure some things out that the coaches and I had stressed the whole season. Distribution of the basketball is the key. Our guys are unselfish, but they often get caught overdribbling way too often. When they would pass and move more, we tended to get better opportunities for buckets. At times, when they would implement this, we looked really good, and I just hope that is something that they take with them to their own teams. The other aspect was knowing the tempo of the game. I thought that they improved dramatically with that. This team can run and play fast-paced, but they started to pick up on the momentum of games at the end of the year, and started to figure out when to push the tempo, and when to be a little more methodical with teams. So I guess it all boils down to this – they all improved their basketball IQ over the course of the season."   PHD: Who were a few of your hardest workers?   "It's hard to pick a few as all of these kids worked their tails off. If I were to pick the one that stood out as far as noticeable improvement from the beginning of the season to the end, it would be [player_tooltip player_id='1632705' first='Joe' last='Bear']. He really started to come into his own defensively and wasn't scared of anyone. Like I said, they all had a great work ethic, and none of them ever wanted to come off the floor!"   PHD: Can you talk about a time when you and the team overcame adversity?   "One of our early tournaments in Sioux Falls, we did not have the Robinson twins with us as they had a prior commitment. That's a big hit to our team offensively and defensively. The other boys really stepped up their games, most notably Jayson and Rocklin, as they took up a good portion of the scoring side of things. But all the boys really tightened up their defense during this tournament and we played 4 close games against some good competition. I was extremely proud of how they played that tournament."   PHD: Who was your top post player?   "[player_tooltip player_id='2335325' first='Owen' last='Gilbert'] was our only true post player, although Drew and Gavin also would play post and did very well in that role. But Owen was hard to guard, as he is a little bit quicker than most posts – has a lot of length – and can step out and hit the 3 ball. Owen was a good rebounder and shot blocker as well. As a team, we were usually a lot smaller in size than most of our opponents, but Owen always did the job on the inside, both offensively and defensively."   PHD: What kind of identity did this team take on?   "Scrappy! We were almost always undersized, so we had to take advantage of what we did best, which was try to cause havoc on defense, and get up and down the floor on offense. I think it came naturally to the boys, as many of their HS squads have the same mentality, so it was just a natural effect from that. Try to press and get steals – and get some buckets in transition."   PHD: Who emerged as an unexpected contributor or breakout star?   "Going into the season, we knew that Jayson, Eli, and Ezra would be our main three guys as far as scoring went. Not to sound biased at all, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much Rocklin took on a scoring role. There were a few games in which he led us in scoring or was right there with one of those three. Owen's progression was also satisfying to watch during the season as well."   PHD: What lessons from this season go beyond basketball?   "I really think that these boys have an advantage in life. We did not have a winning record this year, but every single positive thing that we achieved this year, they had to work their tails off for. They had to come together, play for each other, and do everything they could physically do to make us successful. I think they have an advantage in life because they know how hard it is to make yourself successful – they know how much work it takes to get ahead – they know that they can't do it alone – and they know that sometimes you have to put your ego aside, and just go out and do the job to give your teammates (family, friends, etc.) the chance to be successful. That's something that all of these boys took away from this season – and I think that is one of the best life lessons that anyone can learn!"   PHD: Any last comments?   "It was an absolute pleasure to coach this group of young men, and to get to know them and their parents. They are going to be positive contributors, not only to their High School, their teams, and their community, but also to their future communities. They were respectful, hard-working young men whom I am going to miss coaching. Good luck in your senior years Owen, Jayson, Eli, Ezra, Rocklin, Joe, Gavin, Colby, Drew, and Chase. You have all the the tools you need to be successful in life, and I can't wait to see what you can do with them!!"   BEST OF LUCK IN YOUR SENIOR SEASON OF HOOPS!!   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Artwork_PNG_NDAttackLogo.png"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Artwork_PNG_NDAttackLogo.png?w=450" alt="" class="wp-image-2406588" /></a></figure>

Prep Hoops Dakotas is looking back at the season for ND Attack 17U. We have player comments and an in-depth Q&A with Coach Beaudrie.