PHOTOS: June 4th 7-on-7

Here are some photos from Monday night's opening 7-on-7 session between the Piper Pirates, Bonner Springs Braves and Basehor-Linwood Bobcats.

My apologies to the Piper football team for only having one shot of you guys. Don't sweat it too much, though.

I'll be at all the 7-on-7's this month and I'll get plenty of Piper photos. I'll more than make up for it.

 

 

 

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Thoughts on the first 7-on-7

By NICK SLOAN, NJSloan212@gmail.com

The Basehor-Linwood Bobcats, Bonner Springs Braves and Piper Pirates hooked up Monday night for some 7-on-7 football action at Basehor-Linwood High School.

Here are some random notes, with some thoughts mixed in.

• From the "no kidding" files: Ben Johnson, provided he's healthy, will keep Basehor-Linwood in the Kaw Valley League race this year. He's such a tough match-up for any player with size or speed. Piper placed a speedy and aggressive corner on him. That did not work, as Johnson beat the corner's efforts to jam up and had a wide open reception. Johnson has great hands and he did a lot of damage over the middle and on the sidelines tonight. As a Missouri fan, one of the underrated parts of Mizzou leaving for the SEC is the fact that I don't have to see him destroy our "line up 12-15 yards in front of the wide receiver" defensive scheme. Seriously, Ben Johnson should be listed as one of the losers of conference realignment considering Missouri hasn't had a good passing defense since 1944. The word "beast" is becoming overused in sports. However, it applies perfectly to Johnson and he's an early candidate for the KCK Preps Player of the Year for 2012.

• Both Zac Hevel and Tanner Garver had good moments for Basehor as they battle for the starting quarterback position. I think Hevel was a little bit better on Monday, but there's still a great opportunity and plenty of action left for Garver to catch up. The good news for Basehor fans is both have confidence in themselves, which is important considering they are replacing Colin Murphy.

• The best play of the night was Piper quarterback Tanner Eikenbary hooking up with Paul Jones on a beautiful 40-yard touchdown pass. It was a great throw by Eikenbary and a good route by Jones. Jones looks to be a larger part of the offense this season and based on his early production tonight, that's good news for the Pirate Nation.

• Speaking of Eikenbary, I thought both him and Jordan Jackson from Bonner Springs displayed their abilities to throw the ball deep with accuracy. It wasn't a great night for either guy - interceptions were thrown and mistakes were made. However, I think they'll continue to grow, mature and make some great plays this season. Both made some outstanding throws from 40 yards out. 

• Piper's defense had some great moments. They clamped down in the red zone against both Basehor and Bonner Springs. Red zone stops are what builds character for a defense and the Pirates did not buckle. Outside of three consecutive catches for Ben Johnson on one drive, Piper's defense did a much better job against Basehor than Bonner did, from at least what I saw of them.

• The evolution of the spread offense that Bill Snyder and Urban Meyer really mainstreamed in football was on display. All three teams ran some variation of the spread offense and all three looked sharp on some plays. As someone who grew up watching I-Formation and power football in the 1990s, the spread offense has been a breath of fresh air and all three teams will be fun to watch this fall.

• Dalton Hays (Piper) and Caleb Hiss (Basehor-Linwood) each made some great catches. Piper loses some wide receivers from last year's team and I think Mays is ready to step up and fill the gap. Colton Beebe, the sophomore from Piper, will also be a nice weapon for Eikenbary in the passing attack. Piper has a great chance of being a balanced team this year.

• This does not mean a thing in the long-term, but if I had to rank the teams in terms of performance, I would say 1. Basehor, 2. Piper and 3. Bonner Springs. Piper should be considered a dark-horse though in the KVL race. They have some nice talent, good coaching and are aggressive on both sides of the ball. My main concern with Piper is depth, but some young guys can step up and the Piper coaching staff has done a tremendous job the past three years in placing players in open positions.

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KCK schools provide most of KCKCC's first ever women's soccer team

By ALAN HOSKINS

If numbers are an indicator, Kansas City Kansas Community College soccer coach Ruben Rodriguez is delighted with the prospects for the College’s first women’s soccer team.

“We have 22 women signed up which is a very good turnout for a first year team,” said Rodriguez, who will be head coach of both the men’s and women’s teams. Assistant Tait Einerson will be in charge of many of the responsibilities of the women’s team.

Rodriguez said that room remains for additional new players.

“We’re excited. Our expectations from the high schools has been fantastic,” said Rodriguez, who can be contacted at 913-288-7255 or rrodriguez@kckcc.edu.

The pre-season will begin Aug. 1 with the first game Thursday, Aug. 23, against the Blue River campus of Metropolitan Community Colleges in Kansas City, Mo.

In their first meeting with the Lady Blue Devil squad, Rodriguez and Einerson encouraged prospects to take part in conditioning camps or other physical activities in order to be in top condition when the pre-season workouts.

Most of the players attending the opening meeting are from area high schools including seven from J.C. Harmon, Danielle Alvarado, Blanca Bueno, Mayra Castaneda, Karen Gaytan, Alyssa Trammel, Claudia Rivera and Vanessa Walters. Others from Wyandotte County high schools include Tanya Estrada and Heidi Chavez, Bishop Ward; Araceli Rodriguez, Wyandotte; Alyssa Martinez, Turner; and Stephanie Long and Natalie McGinnis, Piper.

Others include Nancy Martinez, SM North; Ericka Marquez, SM Northwest; Alma Rodriguez, Alta Vista Charter; and Emily Angerstein of Lake Stevens. Jasmine Hamilton of F.L. Schlagle and Phuong Huynh of Overland Christian School, have also signed up but were not available for the initial meeting.

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PHOTO: Off-season conditioning will be a priority for Kansas City Kansas Community College’s first women’s soccer team coached by women’s assistant Tait Einerson (left) and men and women’s head coach Ruben Rodriguez. The pre-season will begin Aug. 1 and room remains for additional players. (KCKCC Photo by Alan Hoskins)

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Rajon Rondo's excellence in the postseason

By NICK SLOAN, NJSloan212@gmail.com

One of the most important parts of any NBA player's legacy is how he performs in the postseason compared to the regular season.

Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo averages 10.8 points, 8.1 assists and 4.4 rebounds a game during his regular season career. That's a pretty good stat-line for what someone would want in a "pure" point guard.

When May or June comes around, Rondo steps up his game - in a historic way.

In 89 postseason games, Rondo's stat-line is this: 14.4 points, 9.0 assists and 6.0 rebounds a game.

Doing the math, he's averaging about four more points, one more assist and nearly two more rebounds a game once the postseason arrives.

Generally speaking, all of Rondo's numbers each season have increase when the postseason comes around.

In a few postseasons, those number increases have been dramatic. A look at two of those postseasons real quick:

2011-2012 (16 games so far)

Regular season averages: 11.9 points, 11.7 assists and 4.8 rebounds
Postseason averages: 17.6, 11.7 assists and 6.6 rebounds

(Differences: +5.7 points, 0 assists, +2.1 rebounds)

2008-2009 (14 games so far)

Regular season averages: 11.9 points, 8.2 assists and 5.2 rebounds
Postseason averages: 16.9 points, 9.8 assists and 9.7 rebounds

(Differences: +5 points, +1.6 assists, +4.5 rebounds)

Additional numbers that support an argument of Rondo being the best point guard in the postseason:

• In his five postseasons, Rondo has led the NBA in postseason assists in four of them. Keep in mind that he's not just benefiting from long postseason runs. In two of those postseasons, Rondo's team was eliminated in the second round. He still led the league in postseason assists in one of those seasons.

• Rondo has 15 regular season triple-doubles in 437 games. In 89 postseason games, Rondo has nine triple-doubles. Only Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Jason Kidd have more career triple-doubles in the postseason than Rondo, who's currently tied in fourth with Wilt Chamberlain.

The argument of who's the best point guard in the league is tough to settle. I still like Chris Paul by a bit because he can take over games scoring wise in the final minutes. Though he's been great against Miami, Rondo's jump shot still needs improvement.

However, it's getting harder and harder to not at least consider Rondo as the best point guard in the league.

He has been excellent in the postseason and if Boston wins another title this year, his legacy as one of the game's all-time best postseason players will be settled.

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