back to work
Alright, it's been a long time since I last posted. Truth be told, with all the rumors and hearsay about the future of the newspaper, I haven't been all that inspired to write on here. I hope all of you who still know the web address will let other potential readers know. The Journal Register Company wanted to put a banner ad on the blog, and I refused, so they promptly removed the link to it from The Herald's website. That is no problem. I will continue to blog on here on my own time.
So let people know that they can still find the blog at www.talkinsportsnb.blogspot.com, as you obviously know if you're reading this.
So, it's been a while since football season ended, so I won't really do a wrapup there. Now it's on to basketball season.
Shane Leupold asked me the other day if I was going to be blogging about basketball this winter. The answer is simple: of course I will be.
After all, basketball is the sport that I feel most comfortable talking about at the high school level. I just feel when I'm watching basketball that I get a good sense of players as individuals, with differing talents and weaknesses. I don't know football nearly as well on a skills level, or at least as a rater of talent. I know baseball and softball well, but those are sports you really have to see a player every single game to know just how good they are and see all their skills in action.
With basketball you can see a player's skills pretty clearly just watching them a handful of times.
Sadly, I've only been out to one game so far. Rockville at Farmington girls on opening night.
But I'm pretty familiar with a lot of local players, and I've been taking a lot of phone calls in the office and getting to see how teams are doing.
So, I'll give you a quick rundown of what I see so far, starting with the girls teams.
First off, the Connecticut Sports Writers Alliance has started a new poll for girls basketball this season. I'm a member of the organization so this is a bit of a shameless plug. But look for the poll in print and on TV. You should see it pop up.
The voters have come to the conclusion that New Britain is the top team in the state, and I see nothing to dissuade me from that stance, which I already held.
Simply put Symone Roberts is deceptively good. A lot of people think she's just a scorer and nothing else. What they overlook is that the best part of Symone's game is her defense, and they fail to see just how stifling she can be for the opposing team's top guard. Symone is quicker on the court than any high school girl I've ever seen. She gets most of her points off steals. If she ever learned how to shoot at a higher percentage, and I'm sure she's working on it, she'd average 30 points a game easily, if not 35 or 40.
Keep an eye on Symone's career point total. If she stays healthy, she should have 2,000 before February easily. She has an outside shot at 2,500 if she has a monster season, which would be unreal in this day and age when girls everywhere in Connecticut are growing up playing the game from a young age.
Meanwhile, Sarah Sideranko is very tough defensively as well, but needs to stay out of foul trouble. Add in what Tyler Kimball can do down low, actually a perfect complement to Symone and Sarah, and the 'Canes are going to be very tough to beat. Kimball can clean up a lot of Symone and Sarah's misses.
Meanwhile, Heather O'Bright, Monica Malec and others are turning into very nice role players. But depth will be a problem.
I'll talk a little about Farmington, since I saw them once. I went into the game expecting nothing from them, as they appear to be young and inexperienced once again. I came out thinking that while they won't be a great team, they should be able to hold their own against most of the teams on their schedule.
I like Kellie Nissen at the point, but she needs to keep improving. Emily Kitching is a nice guard with a decent shot and some intangibles. Their bigs are tough-nosed. But mostly, I respected the way the team played defense as a unit. They really contest everything at all positions.
Scoring will be a struggle for them, but defense will allow them to hang around and maybe surprise a few teams.
Berlin looks awesome so far. They haven't been tested and they've played a few decent teams. Simply put the only team in the Northwest Conference I see giving them problems at all is Northwest Catholic. But I think Berlin, with Katelyn Zarotney back healthy and the team playing as the unit it never was when she was there last year, will be hard to beat.
The team has three legitimate bigs, Zarotney, Sarah Byrnes and Kaitlyn Bovee, all of whom are offensive threats, and Byrnes is a very good defensive player. Meanwhile, Lexy Vasquez is lethal from 3-point range and should give the bigs plenty of room to work down low. If Kim Rasmussen can distribute at the point and play good defense, which with her speed and poise she should be able to do, this team has no holes on offense or defense. None.
This team might be better than anybody imagines at this point. The bench looks pretty good too, with some surprise names showing up early like Liz Long, Monique St. Jarre and Alyssa Barrett. Each has done some amazing things.
But trust me. They won't blow everybody out all season. We need to see how they react in a tough game for the first time this year.
Wethersfield has been almost as impressive so far, and looks even stronger than the team that earned the top seed in Class L last year. I'm sure they want to make amends for the first-round exit, too.
Abigail Corning is another player that is subtly excellent. I can't count the number of out-of-area sportswriters who have watched her play and told me they weren't impressed with her game. I am.
For one, she is tough, extremely tough, on the court. And she has a nose for scoring. That's hard to gauge, but Corning seems to know just when to drive baseline (which is her signature move in my opinion), when to pull up, and when to look for a trip to the foul line. A lot of players can't adapt to different situations like she can. They try to do the same thing every time. Her ability to change it up is the sign of a great player.
Heather Lyhne looks to be putting the pieces together after showing a ton of potential for two years. Erin Verre is the perfect interior player to go along with a pair like that. She doesn't need to have the ball in her hands to do things. She'll go grab the offensive rebounds and do the dirty work.
Her sister Brenna is turning into a better-than-expected point guard. Jackie English is tough to guard with her size and shooting ability, although she needs to be more consistent from outside.
I haven't seen the freshman Morgan Murphy. But I hear good things about her, and I know she's got some talented genes. Her brother Tyler is a phenomenal athlete and keeps getting better at both football and basketball.
I really like Wethersfield's chances again this year, and the game against Kolbe Cathedral next week should be fun, whether they win or not. Kolbe's a legit top five team in the state.
As for other teams, Rocky Hill's Joyce Grodovich may be joining the elite player ranks, at least if she keeps scoring 29 a game. Plus Ashley O'Connell's been a consistent performer for the Terriers. They look far better than expected, although they beat up on two pretty weak opponents so far.
Southington also hasn't beaten anybody really good yet, although Newington and Farmington aren't pushovers by any stretch. But the Knights don't seem nearly as good as last year. I have to see them in person to say more about them.
I really was impressed last year with some of Newington's young players, particularly point Kristina Forsman who I think will be a star. I think that team plays as well as she plays this year. But I know Al Ford will know how to use his team's speed and athleticism to frustrate opponents defensively, even if they struggle shooting as they have since Kelly McVey graduated.
Plainville's going to be in for a pretty long year, but the Devils got a nice win over St. Paul it seems. Still, Alyssa Martino will probably be a focal point for defenses, and that could make it a frustrating year for her. Give Jen Micowski a couple years and this team will be right back though.
As for the boys, my knowledge is not quite as in depth. They've only played one week so far, not even a complete one. Plus there was a lot more graduation turmoil for local teams.
That said...
New Britain should be very good. Darius Watson is an electric player and the addition of Steven Glowiak gives the team a very consistent outside threat to keep teams from packing the lane against Watson, Tebucky Jones and the other slashers. Look for them to get better as the season goes on, hopefully.
Wethersfield has a couple dynamite pieces in Victor Anderson and Murphy. It's too bad P.J. Santavenere left for Middletown, but the Eagles are dangerous again. I continue to love the effort put forth by Peter Skevas on defense. The kid is fun to watch.
Newington's a bit of a mystery. Leupold is tough as nails, and has some pretty good skills at getting to the basket. Jon Riddick could be the most dominant rebounder in the CCC, but if you talk to the kid you realize that he doesn't quite know that about himself. He needs the self-confidence on the court to make it happen, and admittedly must work on his touch around the rim. This kid could dominate and completely frustrate opponents, but at the moment he's just a bit too "nice" on the court for lack of a better word.
Another pesky defender is Eric Figueroa. He needs to cut down on his offensive mistakes so that coach Wenzel can keep him in the game for defense. I haven't seen the Indians yet, but I'm hoping they can put things together.
Leupold tells me they'll be better than last year. I hope he's right.
Farmington may struggle, but they've always got Spencer Noon who can singlehandedly take a game over, with far less inate skill at basketball than he has on the soccer field. He's one of these players that must drive opponents nuts, saying how is this kid beating us. But he does.
Congratulations to Plainville on getting a win out of the way early. After an 0-fer year last season, the Devils can breathe easy the rest of the way. They seem much improved, with coach Marc Wesoly making a good first impression.
Berlin and Rocky Hill are other question marks. The Terriers lost a lot to graduation and it wouldn't surprise me if they were around the bottom of the league this season. The Redcoats are impressing new coach John Fote, familiar to Wethersfield fans. He says they are extremely coachable which is, of course, the ultimate compliment from a coach. That means expect more from the group the further they get into the season. But don't expect too much. It still seems like a middle of the pack kind of year for Berlin, although we've all been wrong before.
So let people know that they can still find the blog at www.talkinsportsnb.blogspot.com, as you obviously know if you're reading this.
So, it's been a while since football season ended, so I won't really do a wrapup there. Now it's on to basketball season.
Shane Leupold asked me the other day if I was going to be blogging about basketball this winter. The answer is simple: of course I will be.
After all, basketball is the sport that I feel most comfortable talking about at the high school level. I just feel when I'm watching basketball that I get a good sense of players as individuals, with differing talents and weaknesses. I don't know football nearly as well on a skills level, or at least as a rater of talent. I know baseball and softball well, but those are sports you really have to see a player every single game to know just how good they are and see all their skills in action.
With basketball you can see a player's skills pretty clearly just watching them a handful of times.
Sadly, I've only been out to one game so far. Rockville at Farmington girls on opening night.
But I'm pretty familiar with a lot of local players, and I've been taking a lot of phone calls in the office and getting to see how teams are doing.
So, I'll give you a quick rundown of what I see so far, starting with the girls teams.
First off, the Connecticut Sports Writers Alliance has started a new poll for girls basketball this season. I'm a member of the organization so this is a bit of a shameless plug. But look for the poll in print and on TV. You should see it pop up.
The voters have come to the conclusion that New Britain is the top team in the state, and I see nothing to dissuade me from that stance, which I already held.
Simply put Symone Roberts is deceptively good. A lot of people think she's just a scorer and nothing else. What they overlook is that the best part of Symone's game is her defense, and they fail to see just how stifling she can be for the opposing team's top guard. Symone is quicker on the court than any high school girl I've ever seen. She gets most of her points off steals. If she ever learned how to shoot at a higher percentage, and I'm sure she's working on it, she'd average 30 points a game easily, if not 35 or 40.
Keep an eye on Symone's career point total. If she stays healthy, she should have 2,000 before February easily. She has an outside shot at 2,500 if she has a monster season, which would be unreal in this day and age when girls everywhere in Connecticut are growing up playing the game from a young age.
Meanwhile, Sarah Sideranko is very tough defensively as well, but needs to stay out of foul trouble. Add in what Tyler Kimball can do down low, actually a perfect complement to Symone and Sarah, and the 'Canes are going to be very tough to beat. Kimball can clean up a lot of Symone and Sarah's misses.
Meanwhile, Heather O'Bright, Monica Malec and others are turning into very nice role players. But depth will be a problem.
I'll talk a little about Farmington, since I saw them once. I went into the game expecting nothing from them, as they appear to be young and inexperienced once again. I came out thinking that while they won't be a great team, they should be able to hold their own against most of the teams on their schedule.
I like Kellie Nissen at the point, but she needs to keep improving. Emily Kitching is a nice guard with a decent shot and some intangibles. Their bigs are tough-nosed. But mostly, I respected the way the team played defense as a unit. They really contest everything at all positions.
Scoring will be a struggle for them, but defense will allow them to hang around and maybe surprise a few teams.
Berlin looks awesome so far. They haven't been tested and they've played a few decent teams. Simply put the only team in the Northwest Conference I see giving them problems at all is Northwest Catholic. But I think Berlin, with Katelyn Zarotney back healthy and the team playing as the unit it never was when she was there last year, will be hard to beat.
The team has three legitimate bigs, Zarotney, Sarah Byrnes and Kaitlyn Bovee, all of whom are offensive threats, and Byrnes is a very good defensive player. Meanwhile, Lexy Vasquez is lethal from 3-point range and should give the bigs plenty of room to work down low. If Kim Rasmussen can distribute at the point and play good defense, which with her speed and poise she should be able to do, this team has no holes on offense or defense. None.
This team might be better than anybody imagines at this point. The bench looks pretty good too, with some surprise names showing up early like Liz Long, Monique St. Jarre and Alyssa Barrett. Each has done some amazing things.
But trust me. They won't blow everybody out all season. We need to see how they react in a tough game for the first time this year.
Wethersfield has been almost as impressive so far, and looks even stronger than the team that earned the top seed in Class L last year. I'm sure they want to make amends for the first-round exit, too.
Abigail Corning is another player that is subtly excellent. I can't count the number of out-of-area sportswriters who have watched her play and told me they weren't impressed with her game. I am.
For one, she is tough, extremely tough, on the court. And she has a nose for scoring. That's hard to gauge, but Corning seems to know just when to drive baseline (which is her signature move in my opinion), when to pull up, and when to look for a trip to the foul line. A lot of players can't adapt to different situations like she can. They try to do the same thing every time. Her ability to change it up is the sign of a great player.
Heather Lyhne looks to be putting the pieces together after showing a ton of potential for two years. Erin Verre is the perfect interior player to go along with a pair like that. She doesn't need to have the ball in her hands to do things. She'll go grab the offensive rebounds and do the dirty work.
Her sister Brenna is turning into a better-than-expected point guard. Jackie English is tough to guard with her size and shooting ability, although she needs to be more consistent from outside.
I haven't seen the freshman Morgan Murphy. But I hear good things about her, and I know she's got some talented genes. Her brother Tyler is a phenomenal athlete and keeps getting better at both football and basketball.
I really like Wethersfield's chances again this year, and the game against Kolbe Cathedral next week should be fun, whether they win or not. Kolbe's a legit top five team in the state.
As for other teams, Rocky Hill's Joyce Grodovich may be joining the elite player ranks, at least if she keeps scoring 29 a game. Plus Ashley O'Connell's been a consistent performer for the Terriers. They look far better than expected, although they beat up on two pretty weak opponents so far.
Southington also hasn't beaten anybody really good yet, although Newington and Farmington aren't pushovers by any stretch. But the Knights don't seem nearly as good as last year. I have to see them in person to say more about them.
I really was impressed last year with some of Newington's young players, particularly point Kristina Forsman who I think will be a star. I think that team plays as well as she plays this year. But I know Al Ford will know how to use his team's speed and athleticism to frustrate opponents defensively, even if they struggle shooting as they have since Kelly McVey graduated.
Plainville's going to be in for a pretty long year, but the Devils got a nice win over St. Paul it seems. Still, Alyssa Martino will probably be a focal point for defenses, and that could make it a frustrating year for her. Give Jen Micowski a couple years and this team will be right back though.
As for the boys, my knowledge is not quite as in depth. They've only played one week so far, not even a complete one. Plus there was a lot more graduation turmoil for local teams.
That said...
New Britain should be very good. Darius Watson is an electric player and the addition of Steven Glowiak gives the team a very consistent outside threat to keep teams from packing the lane against Watson, Tebucky Jones and the other slashers. Look for them to get better as the season goes on, hopefully.
Wethersfield has a couple dynamite pieces in Victor Anderson and Murphy. It's too bad P.J. Santavenere left for Middletown, but the Eagles are dangerous again. I continue to love the effort put forth by Peter Skevas on defense. The kid is fun to watch.
Newington's a bit of a mystery. Leupold is tough as nails, and has some pretty good skills at getting to the basket. Jon Riddick could be the most dominant rebounder in the CCC, but if you talk to the kid you realize that he doesn't quite know that about himself. He needs the self-confidence on the court to make it happen, and admittedly must work on his touch around the rim. This kid could dominate and completely frustrate opponents, but at the moment he's just a bit too "nice" on the court for lack of a better word.
Another pesky defender is Eric Figueroa. He needs to cut down on his offensive mistakes so that coach Wenzel can keep him in the game for defense. I haven't seen the Indians yet, but I'm hoping they can put things together.
Leupold tells me they'll be better than last year. I hope he's right.
Farmington may struggle, but they've always got Spencer Noon who can singlehandedly take a game over, with far less inate skill at basketball than he has on the soccer field. He's one of these players that must drive opponents nuts, saying how is this kid beating us. But he does.
Congratulations to Plainville on getting a win out of the way early. After an 0-fer year last season, the Devils can breathe easy the rest of the way. They seem much improved, with coach Marc Wesoly making a good first impression.
Berlin and Rocky Hill are other question marks. The Terriers lost a lot to graduation and it wouldn't surprise me if they were around the bottom of the league this season. The Redcoats are impressing new coach John Fote, familiar to Wethersfield fans. He says they are extremely coachable which is, of course, the ultimate compliment from a coach. That means expect more from the group the further they get into the season. But don't expect too much. It still seems like a middle of the pack kind of year for Berlin, although we've all been wrong before.
Labels: basketball
posted by Ryan Pipke at
3:26 AM
2 Comments:
It sucks about what is happening at the local papers but I'm glad you're still blogging. I only recently found this blog and consider it to be a very valuable resource for sports fans in a coverage starved state. We don't just want to hear about UConn (And this is a UConn grad saying so) Keep up the excellent work!
nice website :)
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