Preseason Predications

Well with the opening game looming for Class L this Friday night...all eyes will be on the preseason favorites, Memorial and Trinity who face off at Memorial (I believe). It should be quite an interesting matchup.

If I had to pick a final four - I think I'd go Memorial/Trinity/Dover/Alvirne. There's plenty of hype out there around BG, but I've yet to see them play as a team with their new additions. I really like Alvirne's exprience and depth, and the coaching at Memorial and Trinity will be a huge asset to the kids come playoff time - not to mention those two teams have the firepower to outscore most teams on any given night.

Should be a pretty good year, plenty of parity, and the opportunity for a lot of seniors to step up and fill some shoes lost to graduation. Any other thoughts/predicitions?

Here's my Top 5....

1. Memorial
2. Trinity
3. BG
4. Dover
5. Alvirne

I think any of those top 5 teams could put it all together come March however.

Listen, I appreciate your enthusiasm for N.H. sports, but you've GOT to back up your opinion with some facts. It's great that you think Dover will be in the final four, but how do you come to that conclusion when they don't have a player taller than 6-foot-2? If you read good sports articles, e.g., from the Globe, ESPN, Sports Illustrated, etc., they make their predictions . . . then they tell you why they think that. I think this website has potential to be something special, but if you want to be a professional sports journalist, that's what you have to do. Give me some news I can use! Otherwise, why do I care what you think? OK, I've gone on long enough here, I really like this web site, keep up the good work, but try to dig a little deeper. Do the research and you'll have a much better product that people will want to read!

First of all this is a forum - anybody can put whatever they want up, backup opinions or not. I simply put some stuff out there and am trying to get people to talk about it. This is the furthest thing from a sports "journalism" website. I don't charge money to be a member on the board, nor do I felicitate marketing (as long as you register and are a member there are no ads).

If you want to read my "professional" opinions and game reports go to NHSportsPage.com where I am a contributor (not an editor or main journalist - I just chime in and contribute as time allows in my busy schedule - amazingly running this website earns me $0 per year so I've decided to keep my day job).

That said - fair enough, you want some backup information? Ok here ya go:

1. Memorial - The Fitzpatrick duo should be more than enough to make this team competitive night in night out.
2. Trinity - No Fitzy, Richard Madol or Air Laguerre, but they'll be plenty powerfull with Phil Hayden running the point and David Madol controlling the paint. Good coaching, an impossible atmosphere to play in and Trinity will make another run.
3. BG - Add Junior transfer Connor Green to the offensive juggernaut that is SF Sean McClung and big man Senior Scott St. Lawrence and you've got a three headed monster that is the NH Class L equivalent of the Celtics Pierce/Allen/Garnett. Yes...I just made that comparison haha. Big question is...will they play any defense?
4. Dover - Alex Burt, Alex Burt and Alex Burt. I'm checking ESPN right now, don't see anything on him - but he's the best scorer in Class L - and in a year where the Senior class is largely considered weak, having one 'stud' can take you to UNH. Alex Burt could do that for Dover.
5. Alvirne - Gone in Brennan "big dog" Donnelly, but his younger brother Caleb is now in is second year at the Varsity level as a Junior and C Ryan Sweeney was no slouch with his size and improved collection of post moves. Senior G/SF Joe O'Hearn has been around the Alvirne varsity lockerroom since he was a Freshman and seen minutes since he was a Sophomore, so he's got the experience to lead this team back as well. I like PG Tony Beaulieu as one of the best Sophomores in Class L (sorry Javon Williams).

So now...pick me to pieces please.

Assistant, I like your picks. It sounds like (sorktossippee) thinks you're cutting in on his Website traffic.

Hey I can take some criticism, I just don't want people to get confused about what the Forum is. It's not a website I'm trying to make a name for myself on. Just trying to talk some hoops and enjoy the collective opinions from a bunch of strangers around the state!

Hey now you're cookin'! That was some good anaysis. Here are my thoughts. The question marks in your Top 5 are Memorial and Dover. Sure they both have good players, but how deep are they? I doubt the Fitzpatricks can carry the Crusaders to the title, and I am certain that Burt will not be able to do it alone for Dover. He's only 6-2, he'll get gang-guarded all night every night, and even if he manages 20 points a game, it remains to be seen how good his supporting cast will be.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the nature of this site. I'm just saying that opinions in general, whether they appear on this site or on ESPN, are better if they have some meat behind them. I look forward to checking back often.

I believe Dover won the BST summer league without Burt scoring alot. According to the box scores Faustino and Al-Darraji were the lead scorers.

http://www.nhsportspage.com/display_full_story.php?story_id=287


Memorial positively has the fire power. I think they need to get some consistency, which they will have soon I'm sure.

Predictions from NHSportsPage.com are up:

NHSportsPage.com Class L Preview

It looks like Merrimack has all the pre season bases covered. Jeremy L. picked them 1st, I picked them 6th and NH SportsPage picks them 10th. Salem is another team that had a wild pre season pick ride. NHS picked them 4th, Jeremy 8th and I put them in the 10th + category. This is further evidence on how wide open Class L is this year. No results and scores are going to surprise me on Tuesdays and Fridays.

You also get the feeling a lot of people are picking Pinkerton around 7th to 9th, but wanted to put them higher. It would be interesting if Pinkerton hadn't experienced the incident at the end of last year, if they would be picked 3rd to 6th this year in pre season picks. Even after I looked at Pinkerton in the 7th to 9th area of pre season picks I'm thinking to myself they could really have a 13 - 5 or 12 - 6 year and finish high. I don't know what the record is for blocked shots in a game or season, but Zack Mathieu will set both records before the season is done. At Salem last year I saw him make 3 blocks on the same possession. He has a knack of making blocks with out getting the lower part of his body creating contact on the shot taker. Proulx is one of the most unguardable forwards in L. He can hit a soft 10 to 15 foot jumper on the side or elbow extended. When the defense plays him tight, then he slashes to the hoop and finishes strong or when hit on the dribble drive knocks down the charity tosses. Pardon me for going on about Pinky, but that's Class L this year.

Gotta agree with you on Pinkerton...its just tough to pick a team that seems to be in disarray...but it's a new season. A fresh start. Proulx is one of my favorite players in L. Often times he was the best player on the court last year...but most people won't tell you that. As I believe you mentioned in your preseason prediction thread, big men are hard to come by this season. There's a handful of talented bigs - Mathieu is one of em and could dominate if he keeps his head screwed on tight. He's a real talent, especially defensively, and when he's not forcing shots I like his offensive game. Proulx is deadly from the foul line extended...let's see if they have anybody to get them the ball.

This season definitely starts with more questions than previous years...and don't look for answers tomorrow night, if anything I think we'll have more questions, for instances....is X team for real? or a unknown player going for 25 or something like that.

Has anybody heard anything about Keene? They tend to be the Class L outcasts since they're so far away and haven't really been in the picture since the Luptowski/Fisk days...which isn't that long ago (2 years) but I never know what to expect out of the Blackbirds come December....

Keene is really a three player team. They have a athletic two guard named Theo Speas that is a good athlete and runs the floor very well. A point guard that is a decent shooter and does not turn the ball over and another guard that has decent range if you leave him open. After that it is a severe droppoff. Milford scrimmaged them on Tuesday and the first 20 minute running time period was about a 6 point game. The second period was not the same. I believe the score of that was something like 47 - 19.
I do not see them getting many wins but they do have energy and play hard. That will not be enough to get them anywhere close to the playoffs.

This should get you in the mood if you're headed to the Dover game tomorrow night...Preseason POY for many: