Tuesday 1/6 Games

A lot of interesting games on the docket tonight. . .

Game of the Night Londonderry @ BG- This is an opportunity for Bishop Guertin to establish that they are a top tier team in the state. Londonderry is coming over a difficult loss, albeit to a very talented team, to Pelham and needs to get back on track. If Guertin can play some tough hard nose D they might have a shot tonight, if not Londonderry will run them out of the gym.

Bedford @ South- South will continue to roll in this one. Bedford is still looking to find their identity and South is coming off the high of winning the tournament that they host.

Exeter @ Concord- Holmes and Morrisette might be the most talented back court in the state and the scary thing is they are both underclassmen. Concord doesn't have enough fire power to keep up with these lights out shooters.

Keene @ Central- Central doesn't win pretty, but they do win. At home against a 0-2 Blackbird squad they should be able to take care of business.

Merrimack @ Trinity- Trinity needs to find more scoring options than just Walsh. Merrimack will come away with a tight W here.

North @ Pembroke- Pembroke is going to be too much for them down low.

Winnacunnet @ Pinkerton- Pinkerton continues to roll. Pinkerton is going to be too big for most teams this season.

Salem @ Spaulding- Spaulding off to a hot 2-0 start and they won their X-mas tourney. This could be an interesting team down the stretch. Tonight will be a good matchup as McLaughlin's group always plays hard nose in chest basketball. Spaulding in a tight one up in the Lilac City.

Alvirne @ Memorial- Does anyone know who is playing for Memorial tonight? Either way they are too athletic for Alvirne and should be able to pick up a W tonight.

Oyster River @ Coe-Brown - CBNA returns some players missing from their opener, which should be enough to get them a win. CBNA.
Bishop Brady @ St. Thomas - 5 on 5 off and chuck the three ball isn't the way to beat Brady, it's the way to give up 100. Brady.
Hollis-Brookline @ Timberlane - Statement game for Timby, is the move to D2 going to help or is it more of the same. Timby.
Milford @ Souhegan - When the bottom of the playoffs are sorted out, coaches will think back to this one as a could have should have. Milford.
Pelham @ Windham - Rivalry games tend to be close, think Jets-Patriots, but just too much talent for Pelham. Pelham.

North gave Pembroke all they could handle last night as the Titans played very well in losing in OT to the Spartans. The Titans are a well coached group and Coach Lane extracts every ounce of available basketball ability out of this group. Believe me, the Spartans were on the ropes in this one until Max Curran came up with a key steal in the waning moments of regulation and put home a dunk to tie up the game at 52 all. If Curran hadn't made the steal we might be talking about a Titan upset.

It's not open heart surgery with regards to Pembroke. If their Bigs settle for chucking one 3 after another, like they did in this game with the Titans, then most any team in D1 will hang around with them for the majority of the game. If their front line makes a concerted effort to establish their offensive will in the Benjamin Moore part of the court early and often then the Spartans will have early game point chasm comfort zone and will be putting the opposing team in foul trouble and most likely defeat the majority of their opponents by 7 to 12 points. Chuck the 3 at will then Pembroke will have games very similar to their OT victory over the Titans at home.

Speaking of home courts...... The rims do get smaller in the playoffs at UNH.

Not open heart surgery, just basic fundamental old school basketball.

I was at the Londonderry Bishop Guertin game last night and Londonderry is better than advertised.  They have to be the most offensively talented team in the state.  Defensively they play a high tempo; big risk-big reward defense, but with their length and speed they should be able to get away with that most nights.  They shoot well; they attack the rim well and Ball and Coleman have the ability to create their own shots on every possession.  If this team can lock teams down in the half court (they didn't have to last night); then they are the team to beat in NH.

Things are becoming a little bit more clear in D1........ Kind of.

Spaulding and Alvirne are quietly having good seasons so far with 3 - 0 records.

BG and Merrimack can't be happy with their 1 - 2 records so far. One of these 2 teams will be very unhappy this Friday as BG plays at Merrimack in a big one.

What I thought was going to be a real log jam between seed 6 or 7 to 10 or 11 might be even more log jammed with it going deeper to the 13 and 14 seeds. In other words, there won't be too much difference between a #6 and #14 seed. The final record of a 6 or 7 seed could be 11 - 7 or 10 - 8. The final record of the 13 or 14 seed could be 8 - 10 or 9 - 9. Lot of potential vanilla ice cream between #6 to #14 seed.

I just have a feeling things aren't going to turn out well for Memorial. Already you hear "lack of depth" when Memorial loses. With no Gopp or Maughn Kabongo is asked to do a lot for the Crusaders. If you watch Memorial in the next couple of weeks check out how many times Kabongo rests his arms on his thighs due to sheer exhaustion.

Memo to D1: If you'd like to beat Central try attacking the paint early and often. At 6'2 to 6"3-ish, Joe Martin/Jalen Leroy are technically their centers at any given time, not as if it matters in 2015 NH high school basketball. If you try to run and chuck 3's at them you"ll just keep extending their present 30 game winning streak.

Now, you want to talk Bigs, well...... A BIG matchup this Friday is in the schedule: Pembroke at Pinkerton. There will be a combined 14 to 16 players between the 2 teams at 6"3 or better, depending on the type of sneakers the players wear. These are the 2 biggest teams in D1 and probably the whole state. It'll be interesting to see which team tries to chuck 3's and which team tries to attack Benjamin Moore. This could be huge for potential Final Four placement and the reward to host prelims and quarters in your home gym.