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Post by WorcesterGray on Oct 30, 2018 14:14:50 GMT -5
Governor's Academy schedule is out. The school is in Byfield, pretty easily accessible to those on the North Shore and Cape Ann (and about 1 1/2 hours from Worcester). Away games at, among others, Milton Academy, Middlesex School, Groton School and St. Mark's (I'm looking at you, NAD), St. Sebastian's (Needham) and Noble & Greenough (Dedham).
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Post by Non Alum Dave on Oct 30, 2018 16:02:50 GMT -5
Thanks for posting, WooGray. Schedule cooperates; at St. Marks Saturday 2/9; we're playing Sunday that weekend. Really interested in seeing him too - love those blood, sweat and tears types!
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Post by WorcesterGray on Nov 16, 2018 8:07:16 GMT -5
Governor's Academy opens its season tonight up in New Hampshire with an exhibition (?) vs. Tilton, the defending NEPSAC AA champs (two steps up from Governor's class) - good competition right out of the gate.
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Post by nhteamer on Nov 16, 2018 8:55:48 GMT -5
Governor's Academy opens its season tonight up in New Hampshire with an exhibition (?) vs. Tilton, the defending NEPSAC AA champs (two steps up from Governor's class) - good competition right out of the gate. would have made that one but headed in the opposite direction |
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Post by rgs318 on Nov 16, 2018 10:38:13 GMT -5
Travel safe, nht.
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Post by WorcesterGray on Dec 13, 2018 13:02:04 GMT -5
Schedule for this weekend's tournament at Rivers, for anybody thinking about attending - looks like the Governor's vs. Marianapolis game on Friday has been re-scheduled to a 6PM start. Hope to get to the Saturday morning game to watch JP. www.rivers.org/page/athletics/holiday-tournament |
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Post by WorcesterGray on Jan 20, 2019 9:19:29 GMT -5
Had the opportunity to watch Joe Pridgen in action yesterday, as Governor's Academy took on the Groton School. Both
schools are members of the Class B Massachusetts Independent School League (ISL), which doesn't feature a high level of
competition, though it does produce some D1 payers (Pat Benzan, for one). Pridgen is the only player from the ISL in
NERR's 2019 top forty.
Governor's (which won this game handily) is currently running in the middle of the ISL pack, while Groton is (understandably, imo) winless. The halves are 16 minutes long and the Governor's coach pulled Pridgen and the rest of the starting five for good, just four minutes into the second half. JP played 16 minutes total. Mentioning all this to give some context.
Physically, Pridgen is lean, but solidly built, strong upper body. Pretty athletic, quicK hands, good hops, fast in transition. Guessing he's a legit 6'5" - he jumped center vs. (and mostly guarded) Groton's 6'8" soph, Robbie StanKard (27th in NERR's New England Class of 2021), and appeared to be a few inches shorter. Pridgen won the jump, btw.
Offensively, JP spent most of his time in and around the paint, and wasn't featured in the half-court offense in large measure because Groton was very conscious of his whereabouts each possesson. Groton opened in a 3-2 zone, in part it seemed to deny entry passes to Pridgen who rotated around the lane the first few possessions, following the ball. He moved to the corner and short corner as the game progressed, but attempted only one shot outside the paint (a miss from about 12 feet). I had him 6-8 from the field - three flushes on breaK-aways, a straight drive and flush from the short corner out of a half-court set, a post-up, and a put-bacK. He made both his FTs. Also made two very nice touch passes from mid-post to teammates down low. On the down side he also had a couple bad TOs trying to force his way through the lane.
Defensively, he played very tight, aggressive man against Groton's big, and generally held him out of scoring range. Governor's also mixed in a half-court 1-2-2 press and Pridgen played at the top meeting the ball handler and influencing him to the sideline. He had a pair of steals and two rejections. Clear to me, he could have guarded anybody, 1-5, on the court vs. this level of competition, and guessing his assignment each time out is to guard the opponent's top threat
regardless of position (he's Governor's tallest player btw). This was the most impressive part of his performance yesterday.
Best guess on his box score line . . . 16m, 14p (6-8 FG, 2-2 FT), 4r, 2a, 2st 2bl.
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Post by HC92 on Jan 20, 2019 9:26:12 GMT -5
Thanks for the report, WG.
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Post by trimster on Jan 20, 2019 9:32:00 GMT -5
Thank you for the detailed report. I watched a 5 minute highlight reel of JP and really liked what I saw. (I know, what do you expect from a highlight reel). It appears to me he is very athletic, (he was a very good wide receiver on the football team last fall), good hops, attacks the rim, decent shooter and a very willing passer. I think this kid and the Ann Arbor cousins can make an immediate impact next year. Looking forward to seeing them in purple.
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Post by Non Alum Dave on Jan 20, 2019 9:37:30 GMT -5
Thanks WG. Still planning on going to the St. Mark's game.
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Post by WorcesterGray on Jan 20, 2019 9:42:12 GMT -5
Might see you there, NAD. Fwiw, they may be the only team in the ISL worse than Groton.
Hoping the Class B tournament is somewhere reasonably close, to see JP vs. better competition
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Post by Non Alum Dave on Jan 20, 2019 9:51:19 GMT -5
Wow...quite a drop off from Stauskas, Tarcewski, and Green.
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Post by WorcesterGray on Jan 20, 2019 9:59:19 GMT -5
Why Groton didn't post up their big is beyond me. Maybe he prefers shooting from outside, but Pridgen bascally smothered him when they gave him the ball beyond the arc and rendered him ineffective.
Believe both Pridgen and Wade will be capable of playing m2m here, if that option exists
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Post by KY Crusader 75 on Jan 20, 2019 11:27:34 GMT -5
Why Groton didn't post up their big is beyond me. Maybe he prefers shooting from outside, but Pridgen bascally smothered him when they gave him the ball beyond the arc and rendered him ineffective. Believe both Pridgen and Wade will be capable of playing m2m here, if that option exists It doesn't matter if they run 4.4 second 40's and have 42 inch verticals; when they join the HC team some posters will say they are "not athletic". I'm not one of those so I am happy to hear your report about JP's attributes |
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Post by Xmassader on Jan 20, 2019 11:47:18 GMT -5
WG Thanks for the report on Pridgen. Having seen Lowder and Wade several times each in person, I can confirm that they have the quickness to play MTM defense. Your report indicates that Pridgen has the quickness, size and defensive mentality to do so as well. Hopefully, their presence next yr. will encourage the staff to play more MTM, particularly in end of game scenarios vs. teams with scoring guards (e.g. Tejada, Petrie, Jaworski and Kostecka).
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Post by trimster on Jan 20, 2019 11:50:35 GMT -5
WG Thanks for the report on Pridgen. Having seen Lowder and Wade several times each in person, I can confirm that they have the quickness to play MTM defense. Your report indicates that Pridgen has the quickness, size and defensive mentality to do so as well. Hopefully, their presence next yr. will encourage the staff to play more MTM, particularly in end of game scenarios vs. teams with scoring guards (e.g. Tejada, Petrie, Jaworski and Kostecka). It's going to take a seachange for that to happen. Who knows, maybe it will happen. Question is will the junior class be able to play man. |
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Post by WorcesterGray on Jan 20, 2019 11:53:10 GMT -5
Your report indicates that Pridgen has the quickness, size and defensive mentality to do so as well. Hopefully, their presence next yr. will encourage the staff to play more MTM, particularly in end of game scenarios vs. teams with scoring guards (e.g. Tejada, Petrie, Jaworski and Kostecka). Honestly, he seemed to have more fun playing D than O. If, as I suspect, he gets the job of defending the opponent's biggest scoring threat,he's likely pumped to excel at that every time out. |
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Post by Xmassader on Jan 20, 2019 12:29:54 GMT -5
trimster Based on what we have seen over CBC’s 3+ years as coach, I don’t see a “sea change” to MTM (meaning to me playing MTM as the primary defense) coming for ‘19-‘20. But I would hope that the new personnel (Pridgen, Wade, Lowder and, effectively, Hargis) would add enough depth and quickness that MTM becomes a viable option at least 10-20% of the time if for no other reason than a change of pace or to lock down a hot shooter at the end of a close game.
As for the overall concern related to playing MTM vs. teams with greater athleticism, I think back to my son’s HS team in ‘91-‘92 playing almost exclusively MTM in a league where most of the opponents were more athletic, including one that literally started 5 D-1 players, all of whom were more athletic than their counterparts on my son’s team. Nevertheless, my son’s team finished 17-7 and went to the quarterfinals (elite 8) in the state tournament.
I simply believe that MTM defense taught properly and with appropriate rotations and “shelling/covering down” can be played effectively (at least some of the time during a game) by a team of lesser athleticism. Certainly, there are many benefits to MTM and, among them, are an increased ability to single out and defend the opposition’s best player with your best defender, the better ability to box out and get defensive rebounds (and prevent offensive rebounds) and a diminution of ambiguity in the defensive mindset (essentially saying to each defender, “you’ve got #X-check him”).
I suspect that the staff’s concerns with MTM this yr. relate to the limited roster depth and the limited defensive quickness, particularly among the bigs. Hopefully, the depth issues (at least for the overall roster) will be ameliorated next yr. and we’ll see more MTM with the big guys holding their own.
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Post by HC92 on Jan 20, 2019 15:18:46 GMT -5
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Post by KY Crusader 75 on Jan 20, 2019 16:20:03 GMT -5
Very, very interesting. Eric Green certainly excelled in his role in that defense. I believe we had hope at one time that Kyle Copeland would work well in the 1-3-1 but that has not yet come to pass. |
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Post by Xmassader on Jan 20, 2019 16:38:20 GMT -5
HC92 Agree that Pridgen would be good along the baseline in the 1-3-1 if that’s what CBC sticks with. Probably at the top too. I believe that Cohen was recruited to fill EG’s shoes in that role and, unfortunately, we know how that went.
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Post by HC92 on Jan 20, 2019 16:51:41 GMT -5
1-3-1 works best with length and speed. Looking at our team for next year, I think we’ll be as well positioned to run it effectively as we have ever been in the Carmody era. Here are some potential spots for each guy in that defense. As Xmass notes, same guys can often play top and bottom.
Top - Grandison 6’6” and Copeland 6’4”
Bottom - Pridgen 6’5” and Hargis 6’7”
Middle - Faw 6’9”, Niego 6’8” and Verbeek 6’10”
Wings - Green 5’10”, Butler 6’5”, Louder 6’0”, Wade 6’2”, Clayton 6’4”
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Post by possum on Jan 20, 2019 17:23:02 GMT -5
Optimistic thinking that all will be contributors next year hope you're right.
As far as Cohen is concerned in addition to his obvious issues it doesn't look like he's much of a player as he's not lighting it up at D-2 Pace.
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Post by trimster on Jan 20, 2019 17:50:39 GMT -5
1-3-1 works best with length and speed. Looking at our team for next year, I think we’ll be as well positioned to run it effectively as we have ever been in the Carmody era. Here are some potential spots for each guy in that defense. As Xmass notes, same guys can often play top and bottom. Top - Grandison 6’6” and Copeland 6’4” Bottom - Pridgen 6’5” and Hargis 6’7” Middle - Faw 6’9”, Niego 6’8” and Verbeek 6’10” Wings - Green 5’10”, Butler 6’5”, Louder 6’0”, Wade 6’2”, Clayton 6’4” Who is Clayton? |
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Post by trimster on Jan 20, 2019 17:54:20 GMT -5
1-3-1 works best with length and speed. Looking at our team for next year, I think we’ll be as well positioned to run it effectively as we have ever been in the Carmody era. Here are some potential spots for each guy in that defense. As Xmass notes, same guys can often play top and bottom. Top - Grandison 6’6” and Copeland 6’4” Bottom - Pridgen 6’5” and Hargis 6’7” Middle - Faw 6’9”, Niego 6’8” and Verbeek 6’10” Wings - Green 5’10”, Butler 6’5”, Louder 6’0”, Wade 6’2”, Clayton 6’4” Who is Clayton? Never mind. Based on past performance, Indon't think we will see much of him in the rotation but one never knows. |
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