I went to the
Washington State High School Basketball Championships again this year. The
first game I saw was Bellevue High School against Lakeside High School. It was
an interesting matchup. The game turned out to be the most exciting of the
three I saw that day. The Lions ended up winning 58-54 and it was as close as
the score indicates. On offense the it showcased two very distinct strategies
for scoring points.
In 2014-2015, the
Lakeside Lions two stars were Daejon Davis and Isiah Brown. The official
program showed that those two players each averaged 20+ ppg, while nobody else
even managed 10. The offense is all about two guys scoring the rock. During the
game the team showed great ball movement and passing, which surprised me. I
figured the two scoring threats would dominate the ball and force shots. The
Lions passing was designed to move the ball quick and get to Davis and Brown
for scoring opportunities. Once the ball made it to them both players did a
good job scoring.
Much like his 28.2
ppg suggested, Brown appeared to be more of a pure scorer than Davis. Brown
showed the ability to make plays on his own and he definitely wasn't afraid to
take a shot. He made more than one impressive athletic play to twist and turn
past defenders in the lane. A few times he forced a shot when he really should
have passed, but as only a junior in high school this isn't a big deal. When it
was all said and done Brown ended up with 31 points. I definitely expect him to
play in college somewhere.
The Lions other
star, Davis, scored most of his points by taking advantage of what the game
gave him. He always seemed to find himself open for a catch and shoot or
positioned correctly for an easy put back basket. Despite not making many
flashy plays or any that particularly stood out, Davis managed to rake up the
points as well. He ended the game with 17.
On the other side,
Bellevue looked like the well balanced team their stats indicated. The official
program showed that the Bellevue Wolverines had all five starts average over
10.0 ppg. Throughout the game the Wolverines scoring came from several different
places. Lots of players scored in this game for Bellevue. Their most consistent
scorer was big man Gunther Klimes who scored 21. He collected buckets
throughout the game by consistently grinding away on the inside. Nothing as
exciting as the Lakeside tandem, but it got the job done. Another Bellevue big
man, Mikey Henn, also managed to score with inside play, but he didn't get a
large point total because he got into foul trouble and spent a lot of time on
the bench. In the fourth quarter guard Sharif Khan hit several key three
pointers to bring the Wolverines back into the game. He scored 14 for the game.
This game
highlighted the two common strategies for basketball offense. The first, which
was used by Lakeside, is a star focused scoring attack. The second, which
Bellevue used, is a team driven method, which relies on the ability of anyone
to be the nights star, depending on what the other team gives them. You see
both of these style all the way up to the NBA. In the history of basketball
neither has been definitively proven to be better than the other. Coaches,
commentators, and fans will continue to debate the merits of each for years to
come. The Bellevue versus Lakeside game was the perfect example of the two
strategies pitted against each other. And much like the history of basketball
neither strategy proved to be far better than the other.
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