Road Trip: Eastern Illinois

My first trip to Eastern Illinois was a success. EIU ended up winning by 10, I believe. They were down most of the first half but closed it out on a nice little run. The officiating was not very good but it was half way consistent for how bad it was. EIU battled in the second half and started getting to the rim more for easy looks. The "bigs" for EIU played well especially in the second half. Indianapolis native James Hollowell had a very good game and hit some big shots down the stretch.

Overall, I liked the gym although it probably only seats 5,000 (pure guess)but has a good atmosphere. The band was rocking all night and the crowd was into the game which isn't always the guess at smaller conference schools. The only thing missing was a few more Indiana kids on the Eastern Illinois roster.

All Rankings Updated

All rankings have been completely updated at inbasketballsource.com and all you have to do is sign-up for a free account.

Rankings will be kept up to date at that site. I will try to change the rankings anytime I change my database rankings.

Winter Plans Revisited

Before the high school season started I listed the high school teams I wanted to see. I will put an "X" by the teams I have seen.

Avon
Ben Davis
Bishop Chatard
Bloomington North
Bloomington South [x]
Bowman Academy [x]
Broad Ripple [x]
Carmel [x]
Centerville [x]
Chesterton [x]
Danville [x]
Hamilton Southeastern [x]
Howe [x]
Lake Central
Lawrence Central [x]
Lawrence North [x]
Luers [x]
Merrillville [x]
Michigan City
Muncie Central [x]
Munster [x]
New Castle [x]
North Central [x]
Park Tudor
Rushville
Southport [x]
Tech [x]
Valparaiso [x]
Warsaw
Winchester [x]
Whitko
Zionsville [x]

Not too bad plus I still have a couple weeks left and the postseason to see more teams. I think I am on a good pace though.

Danville at North Central

This game featured two Purdue commits (North Central’s Terone Johnson and Danville’s Travis Carroll) and two highly ranked teams (North Central #2 in 4A and Danville #1 in 3A). It did lose a little bit of its hype with North Central losing to Center Grove last night. Danville entered the game a perfect 17-0.

The first quarter was up and down just like North Central likes to play. Terone Johnson got off to a fast start. Johnson had 10 points in the quarter. Travis Carroll had a couple of impressive post moves to start the game. Carroll had 6 points and 5 boards in the quarter. North Central substituted very liberally early in an obvious attempt to wear down Danville with their superior depth. Danville held a slim 18-17 lead after the first.

North Central picked up the pace even more in the second quarter if that is possible. They extended their pressure up the court more into a full-court press and it started to wear down Danville. Aaron Bluitt had a strong second quarter…busting out for 7 points. Carroll had to help alleviate the North Central full-court pressure. He used up a lot of energy doing that. North Central did a great job of pushing Carroll away from the block. Carroll did a good job of facing up and making big time moves against the physical play of North Central. Carroll had 16 points and 8 rebounds in the first half on 8-10 shooting. Not to be out done, Johnson had 16 points himself.

Read the rest of the article at Danville at North Central

Feb. 19th and 20th

It looks like I am going to go to the Indianapolis Tech/Broad Ripple game tonight (Feb. 19th) and the Danville/North Central game tomorrow night (Feb. 20th).

I haven't seen Danville play yet this year. I would like to see how Tyler Hall can handle the pressure the North Central guards will apply. Danville's big man Travis Carroll should be able to have a good game as North Central lacks size down low. Fellow Purdue commit Terone Johnson will probably get his usual 30.

I've only seen Tech once this year and they didn't play well. Mo Cross was in foul trouble the whole game...I think he ended up fouling out in the 3rd quarter if I remember correctly. So, I would like to get a better look at Tech against the athletes that Broad Ripple has. We all know what the Broad Ripple guys can do...Ron Patterson, Steven Jamison, and Aaron Payne.

If anyone has suggestions for upcoming games I should go to please let me know. They have to feature really good teams or kids that have D1 potential for me to go in all likelihood.

Chesterton at Merrillville

I was excited for this game because of the big men featured by each team. Chesterton has 6′10″ junior Mitch McGary and Merrillville has 6′8″ sophomore Edward Seay. I had seen both in action last week and both had disappointing showings. I was hoping to see both play at a higher level against each other tonight. Those hopes were dashed though as we walked into the gym with news of Mitch McGary having mono and being out until sectional play.

Merrillville controlled this game early by going into Seay on the first possession and getting a basket. Seay dominated the boards in the first quarter by getting to four rebounds. Jeremiah Jones had a solid first quarter getting to the rim on a couple of easy drives. Chesterton ended the quarter with a few straight baskets and it was 12-12 going to the second period.

In the second quarter, Chesterton’s offense looked a lot better. They had more ball movement and were a lot more aggressive looking to drive. Junior shooter Scott Homner connected on 3 three point field goals and senior guard Remy Lewis had 8 points in the quarter including 2 three’s. Merrillville struggled against Chesterton’s 2-3 zone. The Pirates were trying to force passes inside and Chesterton was anticipating the passes. Chesterton led 27-23 at halftime.

Read the rest of the article at Chesterton at Merrillville

Newer 2012 Rankings

I have posted more updated 2012 rankings at inbasketballsource.com. You will need to create a free account to see them. The ranking will be updated regularly there especially when we see new 2012 prospects and 2013 kids we have yet to see.