Showing posts with label Brian Stolarz. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brian Stolarz. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Merrillville at Munster

Merrillville and Munster entered Saturday night’s meeting with two losses each. Munster’s coaching staff is filled with Merrillville alumi. Coach Mike Hackett coached under Merrillville’s Jim East for many years and Munster’s JV coach Jake Argenta was on a semi-state team at Merrillville. So, there is a lot of familiarity on the coaching staffs.

The first quarter featured both teams playing zone defense and both offenses shooting over the top of the zones effectively. Jeremiah Jones, 6′3″ junior guard, hit 3 three pointers in the quarter while Munster hit three of their own. Merrillville had a 16-15 lead going to the second quarter.

Munster switched their defenses in the second quarter. They played man to man for the first portion and then went back to their 2-1-2. The man to man defense helped slow down Jones. Offensively, Munster rode 6′4″ junior Brian Stolarz. Stolarz had 16 points in the first half on 6-7 shooting. He hit a couple of 3’s and was really good finding gaps in the Merrillville zone which he exploited to get to the rim. Munster took a 29-28 lead into the locker room.

Read the rest of the report at Merrillville at Munster

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

IPSAC Midwest Basketball Challenge-Munster/Cathedral

The Munster vs. Indianapolis Cathedral game was the one I looked forward to the most. I wanted to see how the much hyped Collin Hartman was and I wanted to see how good Munster was when they played outside of the region. Well, both passed with flying colors. Munster was impressive as was Hartman.

Munster jumped out early by hitting 3's against Cathedral's zone. When I say Munster I should say Brian Stolarz as he went 4-4 from 3 in the first quarter. Munster led 17-7 after the first and 29-15 at the half. It always seemed like Munster was up by more since their defense was so good. Munster plays really hard and they are physical. A guy in front of me said something that was very true..."if you are going to beat Munster you are going to have to be tougher than they are." Not many teams can match Munster's toughness.

Collin Hartman
is counted on to do a lot for Cathedral. They have totally rebuilt from last year's team. Hartman is very good, but he can't carry them to wins against teams like Munster. His shooting form is great and he cuts really hard. Most seniors don't cut as well as he does. He handles the ball very well and can lead a fast break. Once he adds muscle he will be very tough to handle.

Joe Crisman 6'4 junior guard is more of a small forward right now. He can shoot it, strong, rebounds, a good defender. He doesn't handle the ball to well right now. It also looked shaky when he was dribbling like he could lose control at anytime. In order to be a D1 player he will have to tighten that up immensely as well as working on getting his shot off quicker. It seemed like it took him a decent amount of time to get off his shot.

Brian Stolarz 6'4 junior small forward had the fast start and didn't do much after the first quarter. If he can shoot it like he did against Cathedral than he can play at the mid-major level. He is strong, a good rebounder, and tough. He doesn't have guard like handles though and he is still not a great defender although it seems like he is making a great effort to get better defensively. I still think he is a low-major player unless he becomes a lights out consistent shooter.

Kyle Ritz
6'1 senior point guard is a true point guard if you will. He is Munster's leader, he is the floor general. He is very sure with the ball and has very good court vision. He did not look for his shot at all. I only had him down for two shot attempts. I think he would be a good NAIA point guard. He can score if he needs to. I think he just understands his role as the distributor on a good team.

Kevin Owens 6'9 senior center had some solid post moves. Owens could probably be a very good player if he was more aggressive and assertive. It seems like he has the physical tools to be very good.