Rankings

[bballjunkie1]

Since we dont have Duerr with his rankings, I think we should start our own on here. My rankings are all teams but QHS in the surrounding area.

1. QND, probably not a team close to them
2. Pfield, a bit better than I thought
3. Macomb record is not great, but I think they would beat most teams below them
4. CP only lose are to teams 1 and 2
5. WH they could move up to 2 with a good Macomb tourny
6. IW still not enough games to get a full gauge on them, could be 2nd best team, could be 15th
7. SE Regan is a stud Grosnic is a great side kick
8. Payson deep talented team, as Pfield showed, if you knock freethrows down you will beat them. Not sure if their style will work in post season
8. Liberty Kasp keeps on winning
10. WC down a bit right now, but I believe the Day kid is hurt. Will not be an easy out in Regionals
11. BC up and comer, need to play some better teams and beat them to move up
12. Western I know they beat WC by 20, but it was a tied game late 3rd qtr.

[CHUCK26]

Junkie, do you agree that Western could beat basically anybody on this list on a given night AND also lose to any team mediocre or better in the area on a given night? From watching them a couple of time (vs WC, G/P, Beardstown) it looked like they can be REALLY good and then REALLY average depending on the night.

Good rankings. IW may be a little high at this point, but they need to play 3 or 4 more games to get a good read on them.

[bballjunkie1]

Junkie, do you agree that Western could beat basically anybody on this list on a given night AND also lose to any team mediocre or better in the area on a given night? From watching them a couple of time (vs WC, G/P, Beardstown) it looked like they can be REALLY good and then REALLY average depending on the night.

Good rankings. IW may be a little high at this point, but they need to play 3 or 4 more games to get a good read on them.

Western is that one team you never know about. They have a nice starting 5 with two really good guards and one of the best bigs in the area. Their bench is a little weak compared to last year, but they seem to be getting their roles down. If Robbins is hot, i think Western could beat any team outside of QND in our area, and if not they could lose to any team in the area. And I mean any team.
IW is so tough to gauge right now. Talent they are high, but with only two games who knows.

[German/Irish_67_9]

Regionals should be interesting.. I like where QND got placed this year coming back down to 2A. Should be fun to watch them and Macomb duke it out yet again. Sorry to the rest of the area but i don't see QND losing before the Sectional title game. They're very talented and their 2nd 5 could start for any program within 100-200 miles. Pittsfield is looking great but i'll wait until the QND game to judge. I'm basically judging the area 2A schools based on their performances against QND (if they play them) Not to be biased and over confident but just b/c QND is that much better this year i feel.

QND handled Macomb easily but as always we here at Ole' Notre Dame challenge anyone to give us a fight through regionals. Used to see some great matchups with these same schools.

[Titanfan89]

Ummmm, I believe QND has already lost one game and is going to take some lumps at the State Farm Classic.

[fanofthegame]

You are probably right Titan, but they lost to a ranked 3A team with two 6'8 studs, and they wont play anyone at the State Farm Classic that is 2A so that really wont give any type of indication of how area 2A teams will fare against them. I think it will be interesting come time for regional seed meetings to see how QND gets seeded. From this point on, their schedule is brutal. The regional gets dangerous if you have to go through Reno Pinkston and Macomb at the hanger.

[Titanfan89]

You are probably right Titan, but they lost to a ranked 3A team with two 6'8 studs, and they wont play anyone at the State Farm Classic that is 2A so that really wont give any type of indication of how area 2A teams will fare against them. I think it will be interesting come time for regional seed meetings to see how QND gets seeded. From this point on, their schedule is brutal. The regional gets dangerous if you have to go through Reno Pinkston and Macomb at the hanger.

When are the regional seeding meetings? I think where QND is at at that point will determine how they are seeded in the regional. If they have stacked up some losses, they may get bumped down maybe a notch but I think every coach at the seeding meeting will know what QND has went through and will seed them accordingly. Don't count out IW in this regional either, I think they are athletic enough to give QND some fits.

[fanofthegame]

I'll reserve judgement on IW until I get to see them play. I could be wrong but I dont see QND playing an athletically superior team until at least the sectional if they get out of the regional. QND has some weak spots (not one stud scorer to go to in a close game, no great outside shooters, and a tendency to play out of control) but athleticism isn't one of them.

[PhotoGuy]

We are going to know a LOT about Illini West following this Saturday night, because the folks from Sturgeon can play some ball.

Sturgeon just beat what most people consider the best Class 2 team (about the same as in Illinois, more or less) in NEMO, the Macon Tigers.

If IW lays it to the Bulldogs, opens up a giant can of you-know-what on them, then I will be impressed.

Sturgeon dominated a very good Paris team, beat Macon to win the Centralia tournament and has put the wood to everybody else including a 104-31 win... it's HARD to get 104 points in a game with the clock running mercy rule.

Personally, I think it will be a good game... but Illini West better bring it or they are going to end up in the house of pain.

With Macon.

[fanofthegame]

Ill be interested to see how that game turns out PhotoGuy. We will get a much better gauge on what QND's potential is too in the near future. Breese Mater Dei comes to town tomorrow followed by a roadtrip to Jacksonville Saturday, a shootout date with marshall on monday and the State Farm Classic for the holidays.

[German/Irish_67_9]

Not to mention Columbia Hickman and Whitfield at the Subway Shootout in February..

As for QND and IW.. Can't get on any boat that thinks IW can beat QND.. anything can happen but from what i'm reading Macomb and IW seem pretty similar and if thats the case than the Raiders romp the Chargers. Again.. QND might not throw a stud out the gates at you but by being able to get the same production from their 2nd five as they do from the five starters.. they just wear you out.

Scott Douglas knows nothing more than a deep bench when it comes to basketball.. he's seen this for years and he knows how to utilize those strengths.. With QND's schedule til March i have to think the Raiders will be overly ready to start the 2A postseason.

[PhotoGuy]

We are going to know a LOT about Illini West following this Saturday night, because the folks from Sturgeon can play some ball.

Sturgeon just beat what most people consider the best Class 2 team (about the same as in Illinois, more or less) in NEMO, the Macon Tigers.

If IW lays it to the Bulldogs, opens up a giant can of you-know-what on them, then I will be impressed.

Sturgeon dominated a very good Paris team, beat Macon to win the Centralia tournament and has put the wood to everybody else including a 104-31 win... it's HARD to get 104 points in a game with the clock running mercy rule.

Personally, I think it will be a good game... but Illini West better bring it or they are going to end up in the house of pain.

With Macon.

I was wrong. It wasn't a good game.

I was right... Illini West needed to bring it... and they didn't... instead, it was the house of pain for them.

IW was blown out of the gym, the game was never in doubt. Sturgeon put in the subs when the lead hit 30 points.

I stayed late hoping to see a good game, but the little school from Missouri (133 students) dominated the game from tip to buzzer over a school almost four times their size.

IW is not special this year.

Now we know.

[PhotoGuy]

I've seen Payson and IW so far this year. Payson IMHO is better, at least at this point in the season.

[German/Irish_67_9]

too bad about IW.. was hoping to see a game against QND coming up after x-mas in Carthage..

[PhotoGuy]

IW should improve when their kids get into shape for basketball... they were absolutely gassed at the end of the game, and quit. It wasn't a 30 point game from the start, (more a 15-20 point lead from the second quarter on) but from about the middle of the third until the middle of the fourth, it got pretty ugly... then Sturgeon put in the subs.

Carthage is a tough place to play as well, and QND is a big motivator.

Having said that, unless for some reason IW just didn't get off the bus, I don't see them putting up a real challenge for QND.

[Titanfan89]

I think we have to give IW some more time to get their basketball legs under them and to give the new coach some more time to implement his systems. Have to remember they went through a coaching change this year. I think they will beat the teams they are supposed to beat and play .500 or less ball regarding teams that are at their level or higher. From all the things I have heard about this Sturgeon team, it sounds like they are a pretty good bunch of players and are going to make a deep run in Missouri this year.

[tiredoldman]

I don't buy that excuse of not being in shape, they been practicing for a month now and that was their third game. I understand football shape is different than basketball shape, but its not like they were at home sitting on the couch during football season, our kids were in good shape by the second game. Unless they are doing no running in practice, I don't buy that excuse.

[PhotoGuy]

They are pretty good, but they are also a team that hasn't even won their districts the last several years... and remember, this is a school that in Illinois would be a Class 1 school. In Missouri, they are a Class 2 school but they are the smallest in the class.

They are good, but again they may not even get out of their district which has several good teams in it.

As far as deep into Missouri Class 2? Not that good. If they win their district (and that is a BIG if) then they play the winner of the Knox/Scotland/Schuyler district, most likely Schuyler County who are very good and have three really talented big kids (up to 6-7) who can play ball... and that will be a tough nut for them to crack.

Now if they were in Class 1 with the schools with 130 kids or less (remember, they have 133) then I would say they would definitely be a top-5 kind of a school.

They play well and as a team, but they are not supermen. I am still surprised the beat a good Macon team, but they beat them by 3 and Macon has a transfer point guard and are not hitting on all cylinders either.

Honestly, I was more impressed by the IW JV team who took apart a very young and inexperienced Iberia varsity team. Iberia was pretty good last year, but graduated everybody... still it was JV vs Varsity, and the IW kids tore em up.

My only complaint is the IW JV uniforms. What on EARTH could the coach who picked out those things have been thinking? They look like they escaped from prison.

Your analysis looks right on the money to me about IW's varsity... they are a good team. They just are not in the elite this year.

[Vikingfan1]

Even though IW lost badly, I still think they are a team to watch out for and could make some noise in the Macomb holiday touranment and I think they will be able to play right with Macomb later this week.

[tiredoldman]

Not later this week , its tomarrow.

[Vikingfan1]

Wasn't sure what day it was, just knew it was this week. Should be a great game!

[guest07]

I don't buy that excuse of not being in shape, they been practicing for a month now and that was their third game. I understand football shape is different than basketball shape, but its not like they were at home sitting on the couch during football season, our kids were in good shape by the second game. Unless they are doing no running in practice, I don't buy that excuse.

I tend to agree with you. We're talking about 16, 17, 18 year old athletes. These guys play three games a day during the summer, and then jump into football practice. Not being in shape really has nothing to do with how well they're playing.

[German/Irish_67_9]

I wish IW would play Macomb (they probably do somewhere along the line) so i could size them up. B/c Macomb came out very flat when i saw them this year. A game against IW would give me a better understanding of both those teams this year.

[wolverine55]

They play tonight actually. I would expect a close game with Macomb coming out on top.

[PhotoGuy]

Macomb 50-39 victory.

Still bombing away (click for story) (http://www.mcdonoughvoice.com/sports/x1136808625/Still-bombing-away)

Jacob Schmudlach led Illini West tonight, he's a good ball player.

[fanofthegame]

Well, I said we would learn a lot about QND in a short period of time. Friday they beat a good Breese Mater Dei team 58-54. The led pretty much throughout, but honestly I thought it was an incredibly sloppy team from both games. Breese wasnt as good ad I thought they would be, and QND didnt play as sharply as the result might indicate. Tonight QND went to the IC shootout and from the sounds of it, dismantled a Marshall team that finished 3rd in the state last year. From what I understand Marshall had one loss last season, in the state semis, and both their freshman and JV teams went undefeated. Needless to say, a big win for the Raiders tonight. I can honestly say I still dont have a good read on this team. Their two most impressive results on paper would be tonights win against Marshall and the shallacking they put on Macomb on the road. Unfortunately I wasnt in attendance at either game. I have seen them play: Kirksville, Western, CPC, PND, and BMD. Maybe I am selling this team short up to this point, but I would say they have "out athleted" teams so far more than they have outplayed them. The good news is, with improvement in execution this team could be unbelievable, the bad news is without improvement I could definitely see a well coached disciplined team upsetting them sometime down the road. I just hope its not in the postseason.

[German/Irish_67_9]

Well, I said we would learn a lot about QND in a short period of time. Friday they beat a good Breese Mater Dei team 58-54. The led pretty much throughout, but honestly I thought it was an incredibly sloppy team from both games. Breese wasnt as good ad I thought they would be, and QND didnt play as sharply as the result might indicate. Tonight QND went to the IC shootout and from the sounds of it, dismantled a Marshall team that finished 3rd in the state last year. From what I understand Marshall had one loss last season, in the state semis, and both their freshman and JV teams went undefeated. Needless to say, a big win for the Raiders tonight. I can honestly say I still dont have a good read on this team. Their two most impressive results on paper would be tonights win against Marshall and the shallacking they put on Macomb on the road. Unfortunately I wasnt in attendance at either game. I have seen them play: Kirksville, Western, CPC, PND, and BMD. Maybe I am selling this team short up to this point, but I would say they have "out athleted" teams so far more than they have outplayed them. The good news is, with improvement in execution this team could be unbelievable, the bad news is without improvement I could definitely see a well coached disciplined team upsetting them sometime down the road. I just hope its not in the postseason.

I agree completely but QND will definately find their stride soon enought (i hope). They're playing great ball but the turnovers are killing them. And in the postseason turnovers equal quick outs. Rakers is a stud. Hands down the best ball player in the area by a long shot in my eyes. Darnell needs to step it up and play like he did in the 3A post season last year.. he's a great athlete with a lot of ball handling skills and should be running circles on everyone they face.. but with foul trouble and poor shooting so far he's been held in check. The rest of the Raiders are as sound as any starting 5 in the area. I've said this before. But without being able to play with each other with any combination is killing the Raiders right now. They'll find their own i'm sure of it. Give the best coach in this area talent and depth like this and i'm sure he'll find a way to take them on a deep run this year.

Good luck to the Raiders in Bloomington. Springfield whooped QHS who's ranked HIGH in 4A so they've got their hands full from the start.

[German/Irish_67_9]

Macomb 50-39 victory.

Still bombing away (click for story) ("http://www.mcdonoughvoice.com/sports/x1136808625/Still-bombing-away")

Jacob Schmudlach led Illini West tonight, he's a good ball player.

Macomb looks great but until they can absolutely start stomping these weaker local schools i'm still not convinced they're anything to write home about. I was thinking the Bombers would host a clinic on IW from the way IW sounded.. hmm.. makes me wonder if maybe IW is better than words are portraying them or if Macomb is as bad as QND exposed they were..

[PhotoGuy]

Tonight QND went to the IC shootout and from the sounds of it, dismantled a Marshall team that finished 3rd in the state last year.

Don't read very much into that, they graduated EVERYBODY last year from that team. They may have had a great freshman team or whatever, but this year's varsity is getting their tails kicked all over the Show-Me state.

This year, Marshall is 2-6 going into the game. Fulton had blown them out 60-30 and Mexico had torn them up 70-47 in just the last week.

Marshall is not a team you can use to gauge yourself against. Their only wins have come against winless Boonville and winless Sacred Heart (Sedalia).

[Titanfan89]

Did QND play Marshall, Illinois or Marshall, Missouri? I have seen it both ways.

[PhotoGuy]

Well, I assumed it was Marshall, MO but it couldn't be if the team they were supposed to be playing was good... because last year Marshall was terrible as well... as in BAD.

They are not in my area, I was thinking about Kirksville... not Marshall. Brain lock on my part. Kirksville was really good and had a big graduation (and had their best younger player move to Macon).

It must be Illinois if the team they played was supposed to be good. I think Marshall, MO won like 2 games last year.

Could be wrong, not really in a spot where I can look it up.

I shouldn't type first thing in the morning... I am not a morning person!

[CHUCK26]

It was Marshall, IL. They are located on the Illinois/Indiana border and finished third last year in 2A. They graduated some good talent, but had a good squad coming back. Good win for the Raiders.

Photoguy, have a cup of coffee and all will be better....

[fanofthegame]

Don't read very much into that, they graduated EVERYBODY last year from that team. They may have had a great freshman team or whatever, but this year's varsity is getting their tails kicked all over the Show-Me state.

This year, Marshall is 2-6 going into the game. Fulton had blown them out 60-30 and Mexico had torn them up 70-47 in just the last week.

Marshall is not a team you can use to gauge yourself against. Their only wins have come against winless Boonville and winless Sacred Heart (Sedalia).

I dont think we are talking about the same Marshall, PhotoGuy. This Marshall returned an all stater and two other starters from their state team last year. They also had a 44 game regular season winning streak going into last nights game. Marshall is 5-1 on the season now.

[PhotoGuy]

Yep. Mia culpa.

[nobody]

Did QND play Marshall, Illinois or Marshall, Missouri? I have seen it both ways.

Marshall. IL

[wolverine55]

I thought it was Marshall, IL who was undefeated coming in?

[wolverine55]

OH, didn't see it had been corrected already. I will also say that expectations must be really high this year if some people are still struggling to get a good read on this year's Raider team!! Their start seems more than impressive to me!!

[bballjunkie1]

I agree completely but QND will definately find their stride soon enought (i hope). They're playing great ball but the turnovers are killing them. And in the postseason turnovers equal quick outs. Rakers is a stud. Hands down the best ball player in the area by a long shot in my eyes. Darnell needs to step it up and play like he did in the 3A post season last year.. he's a great athlete with a lot of ball handling skills and should be running circles on everyone they face.. but with foul trouble and poor shooting so far he's been held in check. The rest of the Raiders are as sound as any starting 5 in the area. I've said this before. But without being able to play with each other with any combination is killing the Raiders right now. They'll find their own i'm sure of it. Give the best coach in this area talent and depth like this and i'm sure he'll find a way to take them on a deep run this year.

Good luck to the Raiders in Bloomington. Springfield whooped QHS who's ranked HIGH in 4A so they've got their hands full from the start.

I cant believe that I am going to say this, but I think QNDs own fans might be selling their team a bit short. Do I think they can go to state? Yes, with the right matchups. Do I think they are the best team in the area? Not even close, not counting QHS. (Can they please play this year, I think it would be a great game) For teams that play QND and get hammered I would not look to far into that. But for Macombs sake they have them in regionals. Lucky for Western, CPC and the rest of 1a teams they get to use it as a learning tool. I agree with what a few have said about Darnell struggling. He is the engine of that team, as he goes they will go. If he plays good in the post season I think the team can beat some really good ones. If he is eratic, then they could get upset by an average team. This team is deep, but come post season I think Douglas will get the rotation down to 8 or 9. I think that will help with the team to click on all cylinders.
To me, Rakers is the best player in the area. Again not counting QHS.
Other guys that impress me so far in no particular order:
Schmudlach, Kid from WH cant spell his name, Main CP, Conley CP, any other top 6 kid on QND would be a load for any other team in the area, Ruble, Robbins, Wilson and Hendricks from BC, Hamilton/Cawthon PField and I know this team is not great but Gregorich? from PHill. Payson also has a slew of kids, but for my money harris is their best player.

[PhotoGuy]

That's the thing I get into when saying "who is the best team in the area" in Missouri.

Here in Missouri it is obvious... Moberly. Absolutely no question about it. But... they don't play any schools around here except Hannibal because they are Class 4...

A Class 4 school SHOULD be a lot better than a Class 2 or Class 1.

Kind of like QHS. QHS should be the best team in the Quincy area every single year, because they have 2000 or so students to draw from. They should always be able to take out teams from Barry, Carthage & Pittsfield, simply because they are like all three of those schools put together in size... and THEN some.

[fanofthegame]

bballjunkie, coming into this season, I thought QND could be very good, or very average. Then the first AP Poll came out and the Raiders were ranked at #9. Now, I know those polls mean nothing, and especially in the preseason you get ranked on past success. Since then though Ive been evaluating QND based on whether or not I think they deserve that state ranking, and quite frankly Im still not sure. The last two state ranked teams in 03-04 and 04-05 at least in this early stage of the season would take it to this years team IMO. Those teams though were ranked anywhere from 1st to 5th in the state so I guess expectations were slightly higher for them. They also had 8-10 seniors both years while this years team has quite a mix of juniors and seniors that havent played together much before this season.

To expand on the comparison between these three teams, IMO this years Raiders are much more athletic across the board than the 04-05 team, and while they arent quite as athletic as the 03-04 team, they are the closest QND has seen since then in pure athletic ability. This is where my main concern with this years squad comes in. They are nearly as athletic as arguably the best squad in school history and more athletic than the team that went 30-2 in 04-05. The difference in my mind though is attention to detail and execution. The two previous teams seemed to know where everyone on the floor was going to be at all times. The played great fundamental man to man defense. They excelled in full court pressure situations, and they executed half court offense very well. When those two teams met someone that matched them athletically, they came away victorious because of execution. This years team up to this point has achieved similar results in the area because to this point they have overmatched ever team they have played with their abundance of great athletes. The question I have is when they meet their match athletically out of this area, how will they respond?