Vander's Team Back to State

[GGGG]

Vander Blue and Madison Memorial made it back to the Kohl Center by beating Middleton last night.  (Middleton upset Madison East on Friday.)

J.P. Tokoto's Memomonee Falls team lost to Arrowhead in the sectional finals, and Marquette University High School made their first WIAA state tournament by beating up on Milwaukee King.

[romey]

My alma mater Catholic Memorial won in AA is it?  I'm living out of state.  Was TJ Bray ever on MU's radar?  Headed to Princeton I heard for academics, and should be a pretty solid Ivy League player.

[willie warrior]

How is Mr. Blue doing this year? I looked at one web site and saw that he is averaging about 17 points per game.

Is he dominant, or is he more of a team first type guy? Anybody out there following him this year?

[GGGG]

My alma mater Catholic Memorial won in AA is it?  I'm living out of state.  Was TJ Bray ever on MU's radar?  Headed to Princeton I heard for academics, and should be a pretty solid Ivy League player.

Division 2.  Bray is a solid player, but not BE level.  They will likely be state champions this year.  My guess is that they will play a pretty tough Northwestern team in the championship game.

[GGGG]

How is Mr. Blue doing this year? I looked at one web site and saw that he is averaging about 17 points per game.

Is he dominant, or is he more of a team first type guy? Anybody out there following him this year?

I have not seen him play, but this Memorial team is weaker than previous ones.  They were the second seed in the sectional, but they got there.  My guess is that they are in the championship game...most of the other contenders seem to be on the other side of the bracket.  (Hamilton, Arrowhead, Marquette)

[romey]

Thanks Sultan.  Down here in Ga. 5A is top level, then 4A etc.

[ChicosBailBonds]

How is Mr. Blue doing this year? I looked at one web site and saw that he is averaging about 17 points per game.

Is he dominant, or is he more of a team first type guy? Anybody out there following him this year?

Last night was a struggle

http://m.host.madison.com/sports/high-school/basketball/article_ce029ab4-2f11-11df-8143-001cc4c002e0.html

he missed 14 of his last 15 shots and Memorial survived a 3 point shot dimming out to win by 2 points.   For the year, he's doing well. 

[Warrior of Law]

Not sure why the WIAA permits private schools to compete at sub-Division 1 levels. Cath Mem has played and beaten Division 1 teams including Arrowhead. I have no problem with Cath Mem bringing in players from all over, but at least play the big boys then (like MUHS & Pius). A CM vs. MUHS matchup would be great.

[Jay Bee]

Memorial did everything they could to lose that game at the end, but Middleton just barely came up short.  Not a good game for Vander. I think Buzz's system will be 90x better for him than what he currently plays in.

[BrewCity83]

Not sure why the WIAA permits private schools to compete at sub-Division 1 levels. Cath Mem has played and beaten Division 1 teams including Arrowhead. I have no problem with Cath Mem bringing in players from all over, but at least play the big boys then (like MUHS & Pius). A CM vs. MUHS matchup would be great.

It's based purely on size of enrollment.

[Chili]

Not sure why the WIAA permits private schools to compete at sub-Division 1 levels. Cath Mem has played and beaten Division 1 teams including Arrowhead. I have no problem with Cath Mem bringing in players from all over, but at least play the big boys then (like MUHS & Pius). A CM vs. MUHS matchup would be great.

Yeah, a school of 750 should be competing in D1. Memorial won the the Classic 8 going 14-0 this year. They could probably win D1 this year, but they are correctly competing in D2. I mean should Dominican at like 400 students compete in D1 too? What about Brookfield Academy?

[NersEllenson]

I'm not sure Blue is going to come in and have the impact many MU fans seem to think.  He may be highly rated, but he's just been marginally impressive this year - granted he is the focal point for other teams to stop, but still.  From the link Chicos posted:

It certainly didn't help the third-ranked Spartans that Blue's shots weren't falling. The senior guard finished with 14 points but missed 14 of his last 15 shots from the field and finished 3-of-17 overall. The Marquette recruit was also just 7-of-14 from the free throw line for Memorial, which shot a lowly 40 percent as a team from the line.

Enter Creamer, who took over as the Spartans' go-to player. His biggest shot was a 3-pointer from the wing off a feed from Blue that gave Memorial a 51-43 lead with 2:54 left in the game.

"I leaned on my right-hand man, Tre," Blue said. "I said, 'Go get the ball ... it's your turn now.' I get a lot of the limelight, but he's just as valuable to the team."

[77ncaachamps]

Not sure why the WIAA permits private schools to compete at sub-Division 1 levels. Cath Mem has played and beaten Division 1 teams including Arrowhead. I have no problem with Cath Mem bringing in players from all over, but at least play the big boys then (like MUHS & Pius). A CM vs. MUHS matchup would be great.

If BrewCity is correct (it's based on enrollment size), that's how they do it out here in CA.

And you're right. Solid, small private schools get to play weaker small public schools.

[ChicosBailBonds]

If BrewCity is correct (it's based on enrollment size), that's how they do it out here in CA.

And you're right. Solid, small private schools get to play weaker small public schools.

Well, not always.  My alma mater, St. Bonaventure, has moved from Division 11 all the way up to Division 4 in football because we've won so many CIF titles in the last 10 years.  This is despite having an enrollment of 650, we are playing schools 5 or 6 times bigger than us.

[bilsu]

I truly believe Newbill is better than Blue. Competition in Philadelphia is tougher than competition in Madison. He certainly was not scared away by Blue. Blue might be more athletic, but Newbill is more skilled.

[GOMU1104]

I truly believe Newbill is better than Blue. Competition in Philadelphia is tougher than competition in Madison. He certainly was not scared away by Blue. Blue might be more athletic, but Newbill is more skilled.

Wow.  Provide some evidence.

[77ncaachamps]

Well, not always.  My alma mater, St. Bonaventure, has moved from Division 11 all the way up to Division 4 in football because we've won so many CIF titles in the last 10 years.  This is despite having an enrollment of 650, we are playing schools 5 or 6 times bigger than us.

Chico, I thought this was about basketball.

I know CA Football has open divisions and high schools - regardless of size - can elect to go "open division" if they are eligible.
Bellarmine, my alma mater, elected to do so though only ~1500 students. They've played teams with HS enrollments of 3,000+.

[77ncaachamps]

Wow.  Provide some evidence.

Looks like the kid's already used to Marquette-like games.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOSbQODVYxA

w-o-w.

[bma725]

I truly believe Newbill is better than Blue. Competition in Philadelphia is tougher than competition in Madison. He certainly was not scared away by Blue. Blue might be more athletic, but Newbill is more skilled.

Blue was very clearly the better player when the two played against each other at the elite camp, in fact Blue was the best player among a slew of elite high school prospects.  Newbill, while nice, isn't on that level.   If you really think Newbill's better, then you really don't know much about the two players, because there isn't a single aspect of his game that is better than Blue's.

[GOMU1104]

Blue was very clearly the better player when the two played against each other at the elite camp, in fact Blue was the best player among a slew of elite high school prospects.  Newbill, while nice, isn't on that level.   If you really think Newbill's better, then you really don't know much about the two players, because there isn't a single aspect of his game that is better than Blue's.

Not to mention some of the east coast analysts who are skeptical...even saying that Newbill doesnt belong anywhere near the Big East...

[ChicosBailBonds]

Chico, I thought this was about basketball.

I know CA Football has open divisions and high schools - regardless of size - can elect to go "open division" if they are eligible.
Bellarmine, my alma mater, elected to do so though only ~1500 students. They've played teams with HS enrollments of 3,000+.

It is about basketball, but with my alma mater we are in a league and forced into a Division 4 league for all sports, not just football (we're not in an open division).  So it affects all sports, including basketball.  Next year, they are forcing us up again since we went 4 straight years of winning every conference game we played in football in the Channel League.  Next year we're in the Marmonte League (they're also forcing Oaks Christian into that league) so we'll have 4 of the top 10 football powers in the state in one conference, but basketball has to come along, too.

Bellarmine Prep....I have a few Bells working for me.  

[77ncaachamps]

Chico, alright. Didn't know that.

Oaks Christian huh? That's talent - and name - loaded.

[Blackhat]

I'm hoping Blue's "funk" is in part due to his readiness to move out of the madison area.  

Getting "a-hole" chants when at the line is fine and he needs to stay mentally tough but it's got to be weird when 95% of the population you live amongst thinks you are a traitor.

Blue has proven himself against elite competition in AAU play causing Rivals to rank him amongst the elite and it's nice to hear BMA's report on Blue.

[Aughnanure]

Not to mention some of the east coast analysts who are skeptical...even saying that Newbill doesnt belong anywhere near the Big East...

I love how we have a few guys on here that are very very knowledgeable and trustworthy about prep players, analysis, rankings, etc...just curious if you could expand on that a little bit. What is it they say about him that makes him not Big East calibur? He at least has good guard size, and I know he plays in a much smaller school division in Philly, wondering if not being able to play against elite talent regularly is part of that, especially if he didn't play a lot of AAU which I have no idea about either haha. If you saw him play personally, Id be curious what you or bma thought.

[GOMU1104]

I love how we have a few guys on here that are very very knowledgeable and trustworthy about prep players, analysis, rankings, etc...just curious if you could expand on that a little bit. What is it they say about him that makes him not Big East calibur? He at least has good guard size, and I know he plays in a much smaller school division in Philly, wondering if not being able to play against elite talent regularly is part of that, especially if he didn't play a lot of AAU which I have no idea about either haha. If you saw him play personally, Id be curious what you or bma thought.

I dont claim to be any type of insider, or scout. I just do research, ask questions, and read reports that are available to all of us.  BMA is clearly the guy to go to for the real dish.

Regarding "not being a Big East player"...I am trying to find the exact quote, but it was in an article when he committed.

I did ask someone that is heavily involved with recruiting for a high major D1 school, and he had never heard of DJ Newbill before he committed to MU.

Again, I have not seen him play, just going off of what I read/was told. Others have seen him play and can provide more input. In the end...Buzz thinks he is worth a scholarship, who am I to argue?

What I do take exception the post by bilsu:

I truly believe Newbill is better than Blue. Competition in Philadelphia is tougher than competition in Madison. He certainly was not scared away by Blue. Blue might be more athletic, but Newbill is more skilled.

All I want to hear from him is an explanation and some back up.