So I’m looking at the seedings for the WOBM coming up and I decided I’d throw a couple of thoughts out there. But before I started writing I read my colleague Nep’s breakdown of the top teams. I think Nep refers to me as the “human posting machine because I post all year long”. Actually, that’s not quite accurate. My initial post this season was in early November and prior to that I hadn’t posted since March. So I actually took a seven month hiatus. But hey, I’m glad someone’s reading my stuff. Nep does a great job as always with his picks but I’ll go on record as saying I don’t think Raritan should be near the top. As good as Mike Aaman is, and he has gotten even better, their inexperience, especially at the guard positions, will hurt them in the long run.
Let’s get back to the WOBM. My initial thought after seeing the seedings was I don’t think St. Rose should be a two seed. They’ve lost too much to graduation. Mark Kukoda is a really nice player but he’ll be heavily defended this year and I think his supporting cast isn’t strong enough to warrant a second seed. As a matter of fact I think the WOBM is pretty wide open. Jackson Memorial probably deserves the top seed just based on their size. They could conceivably have a front line that averages 6’6″ and a 6’3″ point guard but I think they’re beatable based on lack of depth. I think the game of the opening round is Ocean/Southern. Those are a couple of very tough 8/9 seeds. Assuming Jackson gets by Brick in the opener they will have a difficult opponent in Round 2. Point Boro is also on that side of the bracket and they are an absolute contender for the crown. They’ll have to get by Barnegat and the McGuigan brothers will make that a difficult task. The other side of the brackets features a very good team in Toms River North and an underrated Brick Memorial team led by point guard Vince Lombardi, who is the best point guard nobody ever talks about. Manchester should also be in the running.
Other thoughts- I sure hope every coach at the Shore allows time for free throw shooting in practice. Every game I attend makes me wince. What should be the easiest part of the game has become an adventure….One of my readers asked who I thought were scholarship players this year. In other words, what players will receive Division 1 or Division 2 scholarships? Well, ok, here are the players who have either received offers or who I think will receive offers by the end of the school year. Seniors only. Mike Aaman of Raritan, Jason Huelbig of Middletown North, Hunter Wysocki and Steven Faust of Colts Neck, Brandon McDonnell and Brian Kenny of Jackson Memorial, Bill Wrightson of Toms River North, Josh Jenkins and Ikie Calderon of Neptune, Thommond Hammary of Asbury Park. Remember this is seniors only. Certainly Mike Gesicki of Southern, Keith Kirkwood of Neptune and Anthony Firkser of Manalapan have scholarship opportunities. If I left someone off you think will gain a scholarship this year please tell me and I’ll give you my honest assessment. I’d love to be wrong. Last year I would have said not a chance to Kevin Alter getting a D-1 scholarship. I hope I’m wrong about other kids. What I really want is for kids to make the right choice. Be happy, learn a little, have fun, be productive.
I”m the Shore Scout, I’ll be watching and I’ll see you at the games.
December 13, 2011 at 3:28 pm |
Why is Lacey getting no shot agaisnt Boro ? They have four starters back from last year co- champs team. There fron line will mostly go 6’6″ 6’5″ 6’5″ and in Cahrew they might have the fastest point gaurd with the ball in the shore conference.
December 16, 2011 at 8:34 pm |
Kids like Shaw and Donnelly could have pursued DI interests, but seems like they put academics first – there are probably a few others too
January 17, 2012 at 12:33 pm |
george……not sure i agree with that statement about D1, maybe D2 for Donnelly, both nice HS players but not D1.