Comments on High school sports in Northeastern Wisconsin: Ashwaubenon vs. Bay Port, Round II

Can I third the wise words from the man who began ...

2008-02-11T23:38:00.000-06:00

Can I third the wise words from the man who began his career at Army.

agreed

2008-02-11T14:03:00.000-06:00

agreed

AHS or as Bobbynight calls you, PS #64, work on te...

2008-02-11T13:34:00.000-06:00

AHS or as Bobbynight calls you, PS #64, work on team defense this week. It will help you advance further in the regional and sectional.

I've got a few pointers for the PS#64 Boys basketb...

2008-02-10T17:21:00.000-06:00

I've got a few pointers for the PS#64 Boys basketball team. Boys, you need to play defense. You can't expect your big guy to block every shot each time an opposing player gets by you. You can't expect #15 to make a steal at the end of each game to help solidify a win. Starters, you can't pick up two fouls in the first 2 minutes of a game. EVERYONE needs to step up their D. First try to move your feet and slide across the floor. Second, gets your hands off, anticipate where the player is going and beat him to the spot. Chest up as Bo says and get a little tougher. Is it fun playing good defense? Heck no, its tough work. The fun comes after posting the win. There could be great things ahead for you PS#64 but you have to work at all aspects of the game. Your coaches know what to do. Work together with them. You've got one more chance before the serious stuff starts. Get with it!!!

One more thought before you boys take to the hardw...

2008-02-08T10:35:00.000-06:00

One more thought before you boys take to the hardwood this weekend:
TEAMWORK.
As both teams come down to the end of their seasons, its time to "cement" this aspect of the game. You never know who might come through in the clutch situations. Play together, play hard.

BP and PS #64, I've got one theme for you today: I...

2008-02-07T15:20:00.000-06:00

BP and PS #64, I've got one theme for you today: IMPROVEMENT.
If you can come off the practice floor or out of the classroom today having improved any facet of your life, congratulations.
See you this weekend

Bob, The state's preps basketball report, a thing ...

2008-02-06T18:46:00.000-06:00

Bob, The state's preps basketball report, a thing called Wishoops, picked Kaukauna out of the Green Bay Sectional. Maybe your observations are moot. That means not viable, Bob.

If Bob gets a little wrapped up in all this and ov...

2008-02-06T15:49:00.000-06:00

If Bob gets a little wrapped up in all this and overbearing, let me know. Bill and I will shut him up. Please, don't call him Bobby,

I've gotten a few calls from north of the border. ...

2008-02-06T14:53:00.000-06:00

I've gotten a few calls from north of the border. Apparently in Green Bay that's Velp Avenue. Some folks from Bay Port are accusing me of being a PS #64 (heretofore named AHS) supporter. Hey, I'm here to encourage and compliment the fine jobs both schools are doing. I merely commented to Boryan earlier and addressed his insights on PS #64 because he has a game tonight at Iowa. After getting a few pointers from my son Pat, now a head coach, I'd like to talk to the team up north, BP. Due to the fact that the team colors from both schools don't appeal to me, how can I be anything but neutral?

Coach Rykal, you have done a fabulous job with this bunch of young men. Keep running these kids in and out, have them contribute, keep the team thing going and have some fun. Team BP, realize you're now at the top of the heap. Every opponent will be gunning for you. I understand your efforts at NDA were subpar. You have to guard against that happening again. I also noticed you have a player named Ruh on your team. Where's Eeyore, Tigger and Rabbit? C'mon guys, laugh a little at the old fat guy in the red sweater. I'm trying to keep you lose.

Mr. Meyer, play hard and play all the way to the end of the game. You know what to do. G-berg, or as I might say, iceberg, be ready for the big shot. You can shoot kid. Ta-ching, you can play, shoot and give valuable minutes. You played well at PS #64 Sat evening. Van-something and La-something, you two need to bang and chest up like my buddy Bo says. Understand you can now do this on offense or defense. H-stine, you've got the hops and the moves. I like the way you drove the lane with the ball up. Sure you're not a senior? Do you eat at HU HOT?

BP, you've gelled into a great team unit, maybe the best since PS #64 in 06 according to Bo. Stay unselfish and play as a team. Remember what happened last Sat night. You kept both of their big guys in check, especially P-rock in the 2nd half. Their bench isn't as deep as yours and that 33 kid is athletic but can be a turnover nightmare at times. I said it all the time to my guys; give me a smart player over an athletic one. You see that with Garceau vs Denny and P-rock vs 33. Although I will say that #11 kid off their bench doesn't have any hesitation in taking a big shot. He almost got you guys.

Remember Pirates its not so much that you have to put your team in a position to win, you have to put the other team in a position to lose. That's done with defense. That's done with team effort. That's done by every player knowing and doing their job. All that comes from good coaching and you've got it. Take advantage of it.

OK, its time for my afternoon walk. 55 in Lubbock right now. I'll be jetting up to AS Intl for games over the next few weeks even though I got that sublease. Its still a bit cold up there. Sometimes I have to wear 2 red sweaters to the games. Maybe that cold weather keeps you in the gym longer. BP, you're my kind of players even if your colors are blue and white. Who are you trying to be? Penn State?

Bo, best of luck at Iowa tonight. I was cleaning ...

2008-02-06T09:59:00.000-06:00

Bo, best of luck at Iowa tonight. I was cleaning out my office last evening and I came across some neat items: a valentines card from luke recker, a great picture of a young Coach Krzyzewski in a jock strap, a funny picture of Isiah dancing on a training table with a cheerleader, and that attractive plaid blazer I used to fit into in the 70's. Where's the time go?

In reference to this "chesting up" maneuver, I KNOW its a defensive tactic, hence my point. Hottenstine was defending the defender who was defending him from getting to the ball. So then he went offensive and laid it off the glass. Maybe its the way you say things up there a little differently. Heck, the other day I was in town my limo driver asked if I wanted some bakery. I don't need to be endorsing some bakery at my size. I told him I'd kill for a bear claw though.

Bo, this H-stine kid is a player. I bet he eats at that HU HOT place over on Oneida. How much hotter can you get?

Now, this Clay guy you talk about. What do you mean he's been passing to this P-rock kid his whole life? Geez, I'd think that even some friends would let you shoot every once in awhile. Maybe P-rock didn't share his toys when he was little. I want to see this P-rock guy get a triple double, and not over the course of 6 games!

As I said, since I resigned I'm going to watch this Bay Port vs Ashwaubenon thing develop. You realize that AHS, I can't stand spelling out that whole word, why didn't they name it like the HS's in NYC: PS 64, PS 32, etc? Anyway, these kids have lost three games by 2, 2, and 3 points. Hoopin tells me they went brain dead in Sheboygan and that Koch kid sweated enough to fill my hot tub. I like this Koch kid - he reminds me of Landon Turner, before the wheelchair. One thing about Landon, this guy is a winner despite his tragedy. If any kids are reading this I want to tell them there are great things you can do OFF a basketball court. He is a winner and I used to love bringing him to my practices. What an tremendous example. By the way nobody caught it yesterday when I was explaining the details from Monday. Not even that Venci guy, but he's just a kid. Wittman played on the 81 team not 76. I left out Tom Abernathy, another great role player. He could launch the jumper. Great player. I don't know if his parents liked me that much.

Now I'd like to address the AHS team, and boys, remember you are a team. Now is not the time to be looking for that individual ESPN highlight clip. Now is the time to come together as a team, ALL of you. When we won the Olympics in 84 and I watched 12 guys on the medal stand in LA during the playing of the national anthem and the gold medal ceremony I couldn't help but think first of "team". Each player had a part of it. AHS coaches, bring these guys together and great things will happen.

Bo you raise a point of how bad these kids want it. Yes, I agree they have to want it but I always felt it was my job as a coach and teacher to make a player the best he could be. To get beyond what they thought was "good enough". I've got news for you guys, good enough has never made the grade at Army, IU, or TTech!!! Meet the challenge, exceed your expectations. Seniors, you don't have much time left. I'm starting to see what this team can be and believe me, you're not there yet. There were certain guys at IU I could never get out of the gym after practice. Landon Turner was one of them. His persistence, perseverance, commitment and character have made him what he is today. He learned those skills on the court. He now uses them in life. LT handicapped? Not in your dreams! Step up AHS, don't limit yourselves to "good enough". That doesn't define champions.

Bo, sorry you won't be able to go fdishing with us. Tony, Bill and Hoopin will be disappointed but they realize what you and the Badgers mean to this state. Keep up the good work. I'll send you some pictures from the expedition. Can you imagine me with a spear in my hands??? Wish I would've had it when I threw that chair at Valentine. I would have dug it in at half court, taken off my sweater,hung it up, then walked off. Ahh.... I'm gonna miss some of those days.

Coach Knight,Great interview on ESPN today...First...

2008-02-05T23:49:00.000-06:00

Coach Knight,
Great interview on ESPN today...First you may or may not know that we were mildly interested in Adam a couple years back, and then we found his younger taller twin in Jon Leuer so yes I'm a tad familiar with the club. I know scary we actually know about basketball in Northeastern Wisconsin...My buddy east on I94 well he may struggle getting north of Fondy. That being said don't forget I wore orange and blue for a long time in pville, plus I'm a philly fan so those folks up there tend to shy away from in fears I utter 4th and 26. I also heard about that play by the bay port kid sounds like he's a hell of a player to go along with that post they got, understand I'm not so great with BP names, tend to shy away from schools that send kids to Tommy. That being said I need to correct you, the term chesting up is actually a defensive term. We use it to apply how we play defense so we rarely reach and draw a fair share of charges cause we teach our guys to challange shots with hands straight up and to get our chests on the offensive player...hence chesting up. Like I have mentioned before I was not at the ball game in person, just was receiving updates from a scout via text but as I have had it described to me I think you hit the nail in the coffin when it comes to that AHS team and their instincts. Clay's first instinct in that situation is pass, good or bad it is pass and that's from years of playing with Paprocki who has won many games on off balanced jumpers growing up. So to answer your question I think if he shoots it he probably misses because that wouldn't be his first instinct, for 8 some years he's been conditioned to pass that thing. Without seeing it I'd say he made the right choice cause he wasn't ready to shoot it, guess it just depends on how good of a look Jrock got at it. That being said AHS could probably use another kid with ice water in his veins, but some of the options available for that have been known to hurt the points per possession category by have a poor shot selection. I can't speak to the level that those kids have as far as confidence in each other or their coaching staff but now isn't the time or place to be questioning that either. I've had a couple of managers along the way that have come from that neck of the woods who believe in that coaching staff, and they seem to got that thing together, I looked in my records just the other day seems I sent Phillips a swing tape about 5 years ago...too bad its not being put to good use. At the end of the day they have too much talent to have 3 losses at this point in the season, and they've shown that against teams like vincent that they are for real just a matter of consistant effort, and a deeper belief with in. All comes down to the question of:

HOW BAD DO YOU WANT IT?

I got a kid in Krabbenhoft that is the prime example of the answer to that question, jags could use a few more kids wanting it bad, stiches and bruises are what they need.

Hey Coach Knight on your way up to Winnebago stop in Milwaukee and talk some since into those Milwaukee Bucks, hard to preach effort and good basketball with that crap going on in Milwaukee.

Also don't lie, the real reason you retired is cause you realized you might have to play zone and you didn't want to leave me as the only coach left playing only man.

Glad to hear my opinion matters on the subject, not sure how, but glad to hear that I've earned some respect around the state. Got to get some rest for Iowa tomorrow night, good night from Iowa City.

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bobbynight, way to funny.No wonder you are a blog ...

2008-02-05T16:00:00.000-06:00

bobbynight, way to funny.

No wonder you are a blog award winner.

Hey, Bob. Can I hang out with you, LaRussa and Pa...

2008-02-05T15:23:00.000-06:00

Hey, Bob. Can I hang out with you, LaRussa and Parcells in the shanty? You missed some great corn last night, and a good game.

Most of you bloggers want to know what actually ha...

2008-02-05T11:54:00.000-06:00

Most of you bloggers want to know what actually happened in Lubbock yesterday. Well... that new chancellor they brought in didn't like my sweaters so I got the feeling we were gonna go at it and I didn't want this latest rhubarb to distract my players. So I turned it over to Pat after talking with my mentor Pete Newell. Hell, 42 years is a long time.
Naturally, I had to distrct you yesterdsay from what was really going on. I told you Patnight was a lousy assistant - that's because he should be a head coach. Now he is. Pat's last duty as my assitant was to type that blog yesterday while I was chatting with the chancellor. He's a good boy, isn't he?
Folks asked about the timing of it all but there are a couple of good reasons. First, its just not the same as when I had Buckner ( smart, I mean this guy had basketball sense), Bobby Wilkerson, what an athlete, Scotty May, Randy Wittman and Kent Benson. How much better does it get than 31-0? Quinn was probably the best all around player I ever coached, even compared to Isiah. That was when coaching was coaching.
Secondly, I'm afraid I've become an FRCC boys hoops addict and those back and forth NetJet flights from Lubbock to Austin Straubel were brutal. I wish Hooters Air flew that route. Anyway, with the WIAA tournament coming up I thougt I'd monitor the play of the Bay Port Pirates and the Ashwaubenon Jaguars. I got a great deal on a sublease from one of the Packers and the cheese and sausage up here are awesome. Sturgeon season is coming up and do you think ESPN will be looking for me in a shanty on Lake Winnebago? I'll look like any other fat guy in a red sweater sloppin' around on the ice. This place is heaven.
I also understand there is a Western DePeir High School that may need some assistance even though their colors don't include red. In addition I want to meet Katie Braun. Now I understand she does wear red so we should get along fine. By telling all the parents to mind their own ##$%&&@#!! business this girl is very astute and maybe those folks in Western DePeir ought to listen up. If I were coaching their kids none of this nonsense would go on.
Finally, when I heard from my good friend Boryan the other day I was amazed at his unique interest in this Ashwaubenon squad. Hey Wisconsinites you can't knock Bo. Bo knows basketball from Plattville to Milwaukee to Madison. For reasons unknown to me he also has an in depth knowledge of Jaguar hoops history so maybe he can bring some karma to these kids. How can you not like a team in Green Bay that wears Packer colors even if they're not red?
So I'll give you two thoughts on last Saturday's match up of these two fine teams. Not to step on Katie's contention that this is meddling, but after all, who has more wins than me?
Play of the game: Some might say the dunk, others the fictional goal tend call, perhaps AHS #11's deep three to tie it up. Nope, to me the play was in overtime when Bay Port's H-stine took it baseline, chested up (thanks Bo)against #33 who is pretty well put together, and went glass. It was an aggressive move by a guy who made several key plays
all night. He and Bay Port were not going to be denied. Jags, you need to man up and be ready to play every possession, every night if you want to compete with these guys.
Lastly, on the final play and I couldn't see it too well from my skybox, Koch intentionally misses the FT, the ball gets back tapped to T-shek who passes to P-rock for an off balance shot that didn't have much chance. Two ways you can look at this and Bo, I don't know why but I'd like your opinion. If T-shek had an open shot why didn't he take it with time left? He had Koch and the other big under the boards so if he missed those two possibly had a shot with time left for a tip or rebound? I understand getting the ball to your best player but if your first instinct is to pass rather than shoot how does that mentally affect a player in a clutch situation over the course of a season? You don't want to be thinking at that point, you want to react. Even if another guy is wide open, with 1 or 2 seconds left you've got to shoot it. There's no substitute for game experience so if it gets to crunch time and any player other than Koch or P-rock has the ball in their hands with no time left they need to have the confidence to shoot. More importantly, win or lose the rest of the team has to support and respect that player's decision. That comes through an establishment of trust. AHS, does every one on your team share this ideal of respect and trust(coaches included)? You win as a team and lose as a team. It looks like you have three games left to answer this question.
I have to go clean out my office and call Parcells and LaRussa to see if they want to go sturgeon fishing. The Big Tuna sturgeon fishing - don't ya love it? This retirement gig migtht just be OK.
And by the way..... quit calling me Bobby!

Well after, Phantom. I'll tell you all about it l...

2008-02-05T09:00:00.000-06:00

Well after, Phantom. I'll tell you all about it later.

Bobby, your last post was at 8:46pm. Was that befo...

2008-02-04T21:10:00.000-06:00

Bobby, your last post was at 8:46pm. Was that before or after you retired?

Bo, sorry i can't respond right now. I've had kin...

2008-02-04T20:46:00.000-06:00

Bo, sorry i can't respond right now. I've had kind of a busy day here in Lubbuck.

Once again my former mentor (I listened in at a co...

2008-02-04T18:15:00.000-06:00

Once again my former mentor (I listened in at a coaching clinic by Bob on how to play solid defense, I came away impressed) has made many solid points, and has inserted the details that I may not have recieved via text message, but his in depth analysis doesn't shock me as I could easily fill in the blanks as to what probably happened. I am shocked at the fact that Bobby used the words despite when talking about the lack of the 06 jags playing zone...come on Bob solid man to man thats how we get it done. I mean you got to admit watching the 06 sectional Aeast vs Ashwaub you were salvating right there with me and my buddy dick, come on that was bennet ball at its finest... 2points in the first quarter, scored by the guy Bobby was probably refering to. And also for that matter when did you start using these new hip shortened names, 1 initial last name stuff, come on only guy that works for is JBO, and it don't get much better than JBO, although Jrock or Jpap would definatly be a step in the right direction of fixing the big pap problem. Going disagree with the all out running strategy, granted they probably could run more if they valued the rock a bit more...got to keep those points per possesion up around 80%. Also as hoopin reminds us no parker makes a little difference...a very little difference...Cause he's one of those guys that sometimes seems lost in his identity, his role with the ball club. Same thing can be said about those other two guards, although Ostrowski often brings some of those elements that they could use in a bigger body...luckily I'm all set cause i got dakota joe down here in Madison. I like Bay Port in the rematch unless in 1 months time AHS finds an identity, at the end of the day, talent wise AHS reminds me a bit of Indiana, tons of it to go around, but sometimes talent doesn't win ball games. Bobby looking forward to your visit here in bo-ville, maybe I'll even pull out my red suit coat.

On the subject of sons its really too bad tommy didn't hang on to the former unnamed coach's kid, would have loved to scream travel to good old eddy everytime he touched the ball. Too bad Will or Matt wouldn't type for me, oh well guys from Chester Pa like to do things themselves.

Good Luck to both Ashwaubenon and Bay Port as they battle down the stretch, I'm off to more important matters like Carver Hawkeye Arena.

Message for both teams still remains,

NEXT

Hey, Bobby. I think the neck hole in that sweater...

2008-02-04T11:42:00.000-06:00

Hey, Bobby. I think the neck hole in that sweater is getting a little tight.
For the Jag fan that predicted Koch would get 10 dunks - so sorry...
Great spectator game. You had a feeling AHS would come back in the 4th quarter. Who knew it would be a reserve guard leading the way? Nice job kid, you showed a thousand fans you've got game. I've only got one question - where have you been????
Bay Port is just a better all-around team at this point. Bobby, I like that Hottie kid too. Nice ups, as they say. This team is so unselfish.
If these teams meet again it might be a different story as depicted in the first picture from this blog. No C. Parker for AHS. They need him badly inside.
Fun weekend of hoops. By the way Bobby, you missed the inside scoop on a WI Basketball Hall of Famer in attendance. I'll let you have a few guesses. Maybe you know SV.
Hope it stops snowing. Gotta get to that popcorn at MHS tonight.

Glad to see we've got another quality coach in the...

2008-02-04T10:51:00.000-06:00

Glad to see we've got another quality coach in the blog who likes red sweaters, although mine's got bigger logos. You know, when you've won more games than any other men's coach in D1 you do your homework. Or, in my case, you have someone do it for you. I promised my recap and here it is....
SV, you said I originally offered little more than sarcastic remarks to the blog, well here's some substance. Although I got the score wrong I thought the better TEAM would win this game - they did. BP will win the FRCC by handling Sheb North in their last game at home and be seeded #1 in the regional. Appleton East and Kaukauna will vie for 2-3 and Aswaubenhon should be 4. I think that sets up a possible rematch at the Kress for BP and AHS. OK, back to Sat's game.
Since I've watched BP this year I've liked H-stine and Meyer, and G-berg. It's hard to keep track of everyone the way Coach R subs his guys but if you watch there is virtually no fall off from performance. Once Koch sat in the 2nd the Jags had nobody to seal down low and BP took advantage. With the two main players for AHS continuing to struggle in the 3rd BP took control and the jam by H-stine was a defining moment or a PTP as my loud-mouth friend DV would say. But you knew that AHS wouldn't go away. The reserve guard for the Jags, #11 hit some crucial shots and when Koch and P-rock struggled this kid had the guts to go down firing. Meyer had a great down low move around Koch to put BP up three but #11, H-bach, tied it up with a deep 3. Even the final OT flurry with Koch missig the FT and the back tap to P-rock was incredible and it shows that AHS never gives up. At the end both teams looked gassed and rightly so. BP locked down the two kids from AHS and they had no answer for the balanced Pirate line up.
My buddy Bo makes some great points, but you expect that from a
quality coach. It's been said all along that AHS, aside from Paprocki who really isn't a guard, the starters T-shek and O-ski can't shoot consistently. T-shek is coming on the last few games and hit some nice 3's. There was one play in the game for BP where I think it was H-stine (I like this kid's play) drove baseline, got shut down and kicked it out to the arc for a G-berg 3. I doubt you'd see this from AHS. Once the ball goes into the paint it becomes a "black hole" for the Jags. What would happen if the Jags went low to Koch and had him kick it to the arc to T-shek or #11 and let them fire. Wasn't it 2 or 3 games ago when AHS made 10 three balls in a game and it wasn't all Koch or P-rock? Obviously some other Jags can shoot.
My main Pirate post man, the Big Cole had a solid game. Although I think he got a little winded at times he battled down low and showed great touch at the foul line. On thing big guy, when you face the basket get your feet under you. You had a couple of travelling calls but one was a make up call on the Koch block that was called a goal tend. For you throw backs I like to call this kid the Dan Issel of the FRCC. Plays big, tough with a soft touch.
Bo, you say this AHS team needs an identity. EXACTLY! The team you speak of with AKoch and the boys had a leader (you know who he was). They had role players. They had shooters and bench players all working towards one goal - State. They got there and despite the zoneless JeffVL defense you can say they were a team similar in some ways to Bay Port yet different in a bunch of others. They played as a TEAM. This AHS group needs a leader because this Regional may be the toughest in the state to get through. Perhaps it's also time to remove the governor from this engine and let it run.
Bay Port, I offer you congratulations from beautiful downtown Lubbock. You have a TEAM capable of taking you a long way. You have 12 leaders and a solid coach. Play hard Pirates. You might get to Bo-ville.
FINALLY..... my Assistant Coach/son TedNight, oops, he's dead, I mean PatNight that no good kid I used to kick on the bench in Bloomington, wanted me to reference that quote Hoopin (he's a hunting buddy of mine but I know more than he does) threw out awhile back:
Picture the Chicago Bulls first NBA Championship vs the Lakers.....
Coach PJackson (sub Coach Phillips)
MJ (sub P-rock or Koch)
JPax (sub T-shek or H-bach)

Coach Jackson: Michael, who's open?
MJ: Pax
Coach Jackson: Get him the ball then!
Most of us know what happened.

I'm off to get some barbeque. Whew, that was a ton of typing. Actually, that's not true, Pat typed it for me. He really is a good son but a lousy assistant.
Hey Bo, see you at the Final Four. We can talk Pirates and Jaguars at that time. I'm working on another endorsement deal so I might have to logo the back of my sweaters.

Hey Scott, if you want to get that line up card si...

2008-02-04T10:10:00.000-06:00

Hey Scott, if you want to get that line up card signed, Ethan Turriff's dad owns a tavern in West De Pere. It's attached to Best Golf on the west frontage road (Mid Valley Rd). It's call the T & C. I'm sure he can get it handled for you.

Give Bo a break its 3 Am in the morning and he for...

2008-02-04T04:10:00.000-06:00

Give Bo a break its 3 Am in the morning and he forgot to fax this to me before posting...he meant state tournament not state title, and obviously it should have been too not two and Clark grabbed big not guy offensive rebounds.

What would Bo do without me.

Wasn't at the game due to duties that required mys...

2008-02-04T03:50:00.000-06:00

Wasn't at the game due to duties that required myself watching penn state upset michigan state (those in Ashwaubenon know what a bad night it must have been for JV coach Craig Hoiska) but I was receiving text updates and doing my best to keep up with the game. Sounds like it was well fought and that the BP Ashwaubenon rivalry has officially resurfaced after years of wishing and not wishing Deac...the unnamed former coach from BP was still at the helm at the very least the rivalry could have used another Biolo. Having a little trouble sleeping (you would too after coaching at the barn) so I decided to catch up on last months FRCC action. Noticed a few weeks back an observer made a 13 point pledge that really could have been summed up in two, Ashwaubenon can sometimes become two reliant on Koch and Paprocki (and for gosh sakes Venci get "Big Pap" a better nickname and realize that the Big O doesn't realy fit Jake either) and that indeed Kevin Phillips is not Jeff VandeLoo, rather obvious just look at the hair differential. The latter point is really mute, cause yes Jeff likes zone defense as much as I do but other than that Kevin took GB East to state not all that long ago so you can't question his experience(granted winning 24 games and taking a school to the state title in your last year due to "unknown" circumstances isn't too bad either). And the second point that yes in order to beat Bay Port or Appleton East the Jags will need to learn to share and share alike. That doesn't mean you can't have two leading scorers, it just means that everyone else needs to be comfortable in their role and ready to step up when their time comes, for example during that 24 game win streak Anderson, Hudak, and a much young Paprocki all hit big shots at the end of tight ball games to take pressure off Adam Koch. Clark grabbed guy offensive rebounds and a guy like Selner stood in their and took big charges, as I like to say he chested up. You need hustle guys, like some of the folk that BP has, and beyond all these Jags need to have fun playing the game...personally I get the sense of them chasing history, trying to live up to other identities, other teams, and doing so have failed to find an identity for themselves. Its like I'm telling my guys this year, No Alando, No Kam, who cares, who are we? We play to our rules and most of the time we come out ahead. Who are the Ashwaubenon Jaguars? Right now I think the only answer to that question would be koch and paprocki, key is getting that answer to be Hustle, Commitment, Unselfishness or determination, or any of the other one word ways to describe a team. Don't worry though your love affair with Atown athletics can continue as I'm confident that Ashwaubenon will recover and get another crack at the Pirates, just for extra insurance I'll send Phillips one of my old school platville swing tapes, and as always after a tough loss the jags need just one word...

NEXT

Great game by two solid teams. It goes to show th...

2008-02-03T15:46:00.000-06:00

Great game by two solid teams. It goes to show that there is some quality basketball being played north of Milwaukee. I'll give you my in depth review later. Congrats Bay Port, that was a total team victory.

Another Venci prize goes unclaimed! The game defi...

2008-02-03T12:18:00.000-06:00

Another Venci prize goes unclaimed! The game definitely lived up to the hype. Can't wait for round 3 - these 2 teams will clash aain come tourney time.