Couple of thoughts on the teams I saw yesterday:
Salesian is pretty young, but will be right there in the third tier of teams come February and March (First tier is St. Mary's Stockton. Second tier is Miramonte and Mitty). The third tier should have about 7-10 teams that can all beat each other on a given night. The Pride have a very good lead guard in Moore and numerous players who can apply pressure. Angel Jackson is already a solid post option and has a chance to be outstanding.
Sacramento has a lot of experience back and will have balanced scoring this year. Players like Hernandez, Brown and Turney are all good and they have some intriguing post players who could hit for a big game every now and then. I question if they have a closer to get them over the hump against a top team in the playoffs. Team could move into the Top 10 or fall out of the rankings. Lot of outcomes still out there for them.
Brookside Christian goes as McDonald goes. Depth is a big issue and their offense is what McDonald can get or create and easy points off turnovers. They will continue to compete and possibly beat top teams, but don't have the staying power of other top teams. I do reserve some judgment when the transfers come in.
Bishop O'Dowd is similar to Salesian, but a slightly better version. They have a really tough matchup in Myah Pace and a number of ball handler who can also apply pressure. I wonder how they will get consistent offense without a real shot maker on the team. Team always plays hard.
Antelope is more well rounded than I thought with Hawkins and Spann inside. Still a guard oriented team, but won't get killed inside. They have the shooting and can put pressure on defenses with the Johnsons and Baylon being able to work off the dribble. Not sure how this style and personnel plays against elite teams. Seems like they may have a ceiling, but that ceiling could still be high.
Salesian is pretty young, but will be right there in the third tier of teams come February and March (First tier is St. Mary's Stockton. Second tier is Miramonte and Mitty). The third tier should have about 7-10 teams that can all beat each other on a given night. The Pride have a very good lead guard in Moore and numerous players who can apply pressure. Angel Jackson is already a solid post option and has a chance to be outstanding.
Sacramento has a lot of experience back and will have balanced scoring this year. Players like Hernandez, Brown and Turney are all good and they have some intriguing post players who could hit for a big game every now and then. I question if they have a closer to get them over the hump against a top team in the playoffs. Team could move into the Top 10 or fall out of the rankings. Lot of outcomes still out there for them.
Brookside Christian goes as McDonald goes. Depth is a big issue and their offense is what McDonald can get or create and easy points off turnovers. They will continue to compete and possibly beat top teams, but don't have the staying power of other top teams. I do reserve some judgment when the transfers come in.
Bishop O'Dowd is similar to Salesian, but a slightly better version. They have a really tough matchup in Myah Pace and a number of ball handler who can also apply pressure. I wonder how they will get consistent offense without a real shot maker on the team. Team always plays hard.
Antelope is more well rounded than I thought with Hawkins and Spann inside. Still a guard oriented team, but won't get killed inside. They have the shooting and can put pressure on defenses with the Johnsons and Baylon being able to work off the dribble. Not sure how this style and personnel plays against elite teams. Seems like they may have a ceiling, but that ceiling could still be high.
