Totino-Grace vs Minnesota Crossfire Notes

One of the Max Wagner videos that really caught my eye was the Totino-Grace vs Minnesota Crossfire video. The Crossfire fall team is a beefed up roster so there was a lot of things that caught my eye from the clips. Thoughts are below (video too). Obviously it’s not the full game but I’ll take what I can get and be happy. Basketball in Bullet Points is the method today: Totino-Grace <ul> <li>One minute into the game T-G had three fast break scores and all were forced via the guard blindly moving the ball and it was intercepted and moved the other way. It’s an indication of the level of athletes - [player_tooltip player_id="958638" first="Demarion" last="Watson-Saulsberry"] and [player_tooltip player_id="962199" first="CJ" last="O’Hara"] for starters - that the Eagles have on the wing. Even on a Crossfire miss O’Hara took the ball out and sent it ahead to a streaking [player_tooltip player_id="532607" first="Carter" last="Weierke"] for an easy two.</li> <li>A play that screams "CONFIDENCE" was the [player_tooltip player_id="958638" first="Demarion" last="Watson-Saulsberry"] d-board push into a pull-up three. Not exactly the best shot when it comes to selection but Demarion taking and making that shot shows that confidence that the 6-foot-7 wing is playing with right now. </li> <li>Five of TG’s first six scores were quick fast break scores at the rim simply beating the other team up the floor regardless of the type of transition. </li> <li>That 6-foot-9 center from T-G is [player_tooltip player_id="958709" first="PJ" last="Ebeling"], a junior that has lost a ton of weight. Ebeling is getting time in fall play with the varsity because he’s moving much better and we are seeing skill. Immediately Ebeling fed a cutting Patrick Bath for the score. </li> <li>That attacking right, followed by a right to left crossover into a step-back from O’Hara, plus the three we saw earlier, seeing O’Hara make jumpers in a number of ways is a good sign prospect wise. Throw in those active baskets set up with his work behind the play and you have a scorer. </li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="962198" first="Taison" last="Chatman"]. He has a man closing on him a bit too hard, a bit too much to Taison’s left. There couldn’t be better early recognition from a player, nor could there be any worse sign for a defense that a one-dribble attacking finish is coming. </li> <li>I can’t get over how comfortable [player_tooltip player_id="962198" first="Taison" last="Chatman"] is with either hand dribbling the basketball at such a young age.</li> <li>I can’t get over how quickly [player_tooltip player_id="962198" first="Taison" last="Chatman"] can get that pull-up jumper over. The look on the face of the defense is so helpless because really, what can you do if you aren’t in perfect position?</li> <li>The Eagles have eight quick transition lay-ups and [player_tooltip player_id="532607" first="Carter" last="Weierke"] has either scored or passed on half of them. </li> <li>A player picked up [player_tooltip player_id="962198" first="Taison" last="Chatman"] in transition, and then just left him. Taison did what came natural, made a three. Then he went back the other way and just observed the floor as if it was the previous five seconds was the most natural occurrence a Sunday has ever seen.</li> <li>If you weren’t aware, [player_tooltip player_id="962203" first="Tommy" last="Humphries"] can put it on the ground and knock shots out from the arc too. Just hit his second. I’m also quite encouraged how well he handles the ball from the wing, attacking up the floor. Starting to make me think about a few other 6-foot-7 wings that love to push with comfort. </li> <li>Senior defender tries to get up in O’Hara’s frame but CJ just used his size to physically maul his man for a lay-up. Such an impressive one on one move going at a guy’s heart. </li> <li>Best play of the game for me so far was the [player_tooltip player_id="962199" first="CJ" last="O’Hara"] instinctive behind the back dribble to avoid a defender trying to steal the ball followed by the dunk at the rim. All instinct. </li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="962198" first="Taison" last="Chatman"] had a player on an island with 90 seconds to go and not only did he clear that player, he basically slapped the hands away while putting the finishing touch on an easy score. It was like "I beat you, don’t make it worse, go away". </li> </ul>   Minnesota Crossfire <ul> <li>Team first Josh Streit. Always team first Josh Streit, he could of taken a contested deep post shot and likely scored but instead he fed [player_tooltip player_id="962214" first="Nolan" last="Winter"] for the easy two. Josh always thinks Ws, not his own personal box score. </li> <li>It’s been some time since I have seen [player_tooltip player_id="774737" first="Keijuan" last="White"] of DeLaSalle play. First time in the game he caught, took a nice dribble left, and scored on a clean pull-up. Good looking make. About three minutes later Keijuan stopped and popped to hit a three on the wing. Calm demeanor, noticed the defender a step back, hit the shot with a good looking release. Nicely done once again. </li> <li>Josh Streit doesn’t always think of his offense but when he does it’s usually in the right situation. He had Ebeling isolated and while PJ is moving better, he can’t deal with Streit one on one so Streit used his quickness and strength to back down his man, quickly spin, score. </li> <li>Third bucket for Keijuan followed by a second from Cristo Rey Jesuit guard [player_tooltip player_id="774750" first="Erick" last="Burgess"]. Erick has the ball skills to run a team and of course push the break. Twice in the game already Erick attacked a gap and then took contact using a strong frame to stay balance, score at the cup. </li> <li>What can [player_tooltip player_id="962214" first="Nolan" last="Winter"] do? There a good sample in the first half when Ebeling - a center - was defending Nolan, who is a 2023 forward at about 6-foot-7 I believe. Nolan beat his man down the court and the ball handler recognized that Nolan would have a quick transition three and Nolan caught to burry it punishing the Eagles for not getting back and getting a hand up. </li> <li>Lakeville South guard [player_tooltip player_id="567123" first="Trystan" last="Ressler"] continues to shoot the basketball well every time I see him play in a Crossfire jersey. With a shooter like [player_tooltip player_id="774734" first="Reid" last="Patterson"] on the floor, and [player_tooltip player_id="774771" first="Avery" last="Mast"] scoring in many ways, Ressler is going to have a lot of open chances this winter. </li> <li>The first basket of the second half [player_tooltip player_id="774737" first="Keijuan" last="White"] went from looking like a guy directing a teammate, to a rapid attack in the heart of the lane for the lay-up and the Eagles were all completely froze by his quickness. Another impressive play for Keijuan. </li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="532590" first="Rowan" last="Nelson"] has used his frame to hold guys off and score on the quick turn three times now. Rugged first hits in the post are keeping Eagle players away from a heavy post defense. </li> <li>The jumper of [player_tooltip player_id="962214" first="Nolan" last="Winter"] is so clean. He steps off the screen on the block and quickly moves to the arc with hands up, feet set, ready and loaded to drain. This is a shooter, not just a guy who makes shots but all pieces of being a shooter, Nolan seems to have. </li> <li>Josh Streit is the guy you MUST block out on the backside the offense is getting another possession. He’s such a do everything jack of all trades, somebody is going to have a four year worker that they are going to use a lot at the college level.</li> <li>Demarion had a dunk on the previous possession as nobody picked him up. Next time down the floor Josh Streit made sure to pick Demarion up, and he swatted Demarion at the rim. That is a true rare occurrence as Streit went brick wall on that attempt. Then Josh went back and hit a three. And moments later, another three for Josh. </li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="774737" first="Keijuan" last="White"] with the attack and then a one handed extension bullet out to [player_tooltip player_id="962214" first="Nolan" last="Winter"] for a three. Keijuan is getting where he wants to off the bounce in this game. Looks very good. </li> <li>Clutch late three from [player_tooltip player_id="962214" first="Nolan" last="Winter"], he hits them in big moments too! [player_tooltip player_id="567123" first="Trystan" last="Ressler"] hit one late as well. </li> <li>Another big play from [player_tooltip player_id="774737" first="Keijuan" last="White"] attacking the cup with 30 seconds to go to score. So impressed with [player_tooltip player_id="774737" first="Keijuan" last="White"] in this game. </li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="774737" first="Keijuan" last="White"] with yet another attack and this time he kicks and [player_tooltip player_id="962214" first="Nolan" last="Winter"] knocks out the corner three with five seconds left! Another clutch triple for Nolan. </li> </ul>   Top Five Players of the Game [player_tooltip player_id="774737" first="Keijuan" last="White"] (1) [player_tooltip player_id="962199" first="CJ" last="O’Hara"] (2) [player_tooltip player_id="962214" first="Nolan" last="Winter"] (3) [player_tooltip player_id="962198" first="Taison" last="Chatman"] (4) [player_tooltip player_id="567037" first="Joshua" last="Streit"] (5)   Five Prospect Impressions <ul> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="774737" first="Keijuan" last="White"]’s performance in this game is a great signal. Totino-Grace had nobody that could keep him in front and he was a playmaker throughout. White had the game winning assist and a clutch bucket just before that. Looking forward to seeing him this winter.</li> <li>I said it in the notes above but in addition to the physical tools CJ has scoring in the natural athletic ways, I love seeing the array of jumpers, the physical one on one attack using his frame, and the active off buckets. Big time scorers do all of it.</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="962214" first="Nolan" last="Winter"] scored 20 including two clutch threes down the stretch (game winner included). Such a natural shooter.</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="962198" first="Taison" last="Chatman"] is special. Every time I see him he does something that is rare and backs up the 5-star, top 20-25 status that Prep Hoops put his name next to in the national rankings last spring. </li> <li>Josh Streit hit threes, he boarded, he blocked one of the most explosive players in the Midwest at the rim, he passed the ball well, defended, scored with his back to the bucket, and finished actively. Likely did more all around stuff than any other player on the floor. </li> </ul>   <iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/SvfH4dCAyh4" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe>