Ahhhhhh hell yeah! Oh boy am I fired up for this one, the game of the year in Norcal to date in 2019. James Logan @ Dublin! Who woulda thought a Colt versus a half Gael, half Grizzly hybrid could be such a bad ass matchup? This game is worthy of me leaving my batcave tonight at midnight and driving all the way down the icy hill from Reno! Inspiring! Wish me safe travels please!
Personally, I do not put too much stock in early season games. It gives you a decent idea of what “tier” a team may be in generally, but throughout the course of the year teams, players, and coaches change/improve quite a bit. On the surface the changes may be subtle(unless you add a couple transfer studs!), but those who follow their squads more closely recognize the dramatic differences! You can throw the first match up between these two teams out the window, both are playing great basketball down the stretch!
If this were a 3 on 3 contest, give me James Logan please(even though Dublin easily has the best player on the floor). I really like #0, #1, and #32(who doesn’t?) for Logan. A ton of talent and versatility, that has gotta be close to any high school top 3 around NCS in any division…. Throw in the defensive presence of big/strong athletic guys like #23 and #33 and that’s one helluva starting 5. There are no breaks there.
Logan’s effort and intensity is for sure there on the defense end and nothing comes easy around the basket with their size, but I still like the way Dublin/Cal’s defense plays a little bit better. I haven’t seen them play a ton this year, but I’m glad to see they abandon that absurd press from last year’s squad that gave up wide open lay up after wide open lay up after wide open lay up early in games. That surely must have been a gimmick to speed the game up and create more possessions right??? They feasted on lesser teams that way, but struggled mightily with teams at their level and above, struggling to win post season games. Nonetheless, that is neither here nor there…. Dublin’s “grizzled” defense this year has a smart, controlled aggression about it that I haven’t quite seen out of James Logan.
Here is the deal though. At the end of the day not only is the game 5 on 5, but players 6 – 9 are critical. While Logan’s top 3 are just as good, if not potentially better than Dublin/Cal’s, players 4-9 in the rotation is a massive advantage for the “Gaels”! Every player, bird or mammal, that legendary Coach Costello throws at you, not only plays strong defense but also is a threat on offense in one form or another! Unfortunately not the same can be said of James Logan, who are incredibly thin(once you reach this level of play). Logan is going to have to shorten their bench to compete, while Dublin/Cal High will be able to run 9 or 10 relentless, more talented, and more fresh basketball players at them for 32 minutes. That will take its toll over the course of the game and lead the grizzled Gaels to their second NCS D1 title appearance in three years!
-donnie dublin
Personally, I do not put too much stock in early season games. It gives you a decent idea of what “tier” a team may be in generally, but throughout the course of the year teams, players, and coaches change/improve quite a bit. On the surface the changes may be subtle(unless you add a couple transfer studs!), but those who follow their squads more closely recognize the dramatic differences! You can throw the first match up between these two teams out the window, both are playing great basketball down the stretch!
If this were a 3 on 3 contest, give me James Logan please(even though Dublin easily has the best player on the floor). I really like #0, #1, and #32(who doesn’t?) for Logan. A ton of talent and versatility, that has gotta be close to any high school top 3 around NCS in any division…. Throw in the defensive presence of big/strong athletic guys like #23 and #33 and that’s one helluva starting 5. There are no breaks there.
Logan’s effort and intensity is for sure there on the defense end and nothing comes easy around the basket with their size, but I still like the way Dublin/Cal’s defense plays a little bit better. I haven’t seen them play a ton this year, but I’m glad to see they abandon that absurd press from last year’s squad that gave up wide open lay up after wide open lay up after wide open lay up early in games. That surely must have been a gimmick to speed the game up and create more possessions right??? They feasted on lesser teams that way, but struggled mightily with teams at their level and above, struggling to win post season games. Nonetheless, that is neither here nor there…. Dublin’s “grizzled” defense this year has a smart, controlled aggression about it that I haven’t quite seen out of James Logan.
Here is the deal though. At the end of the day not only is the game 5 on 5, but players 6 – 9 are critical. While Logan’s top 3 are just as good, if not potentially better than Dublin/Cal’s, players 4-9 in the rotation is a massive advantage for the “Gaels”! Every player, bird or mammal, that legendary Coach Costello throws at you, not only plays strong defense but also is a threat on offense in one form or another! Unfortunately not the same can be said of James Logan, who are incredibly thin(once you reach this level of play). Logan is going to have to shorten their bench to compete, while Dublin/Cal High will be able to run 9 or 10 relentless, more talented, and more fresh basketball players at them for 32 minutes. That will take its toll over the course of the game and lead the grizzled Gaels to their second NCS D1 title appearance in three years!
-donnie dublin
