THE FRONT ROW WITH MARK NELKE: Sunday, February 28, 2016
Thoughts after watching four straight days of postseason basketball, in three different buildings, two different cities:
• The rims at North Idaho College’s Rolly Williams Court are some of the softest (re: shooter friendly) I’ve seen anywhere.
Watching three games there on Monday and three more on Wednesday, I lost count of how many shots looked like they were going to roll off the rim, only to roll back through the net like water down a drain.
The regulars at NIC theorized the rims were that way because of all the dunking that goes on in that gym. But even they couldn’t help but chuckle at some of the shots that went in.
The rims were so loose, I half expected a screw to fall out if one of the shots clanked off the side of the rim.
By contrast, I remember covering a state 2A high school girls basketball tournament at Bishop Kelly a few years ago, where the rims were so tight that missed shots seemed to trampoline off the rim.
In any event, soft rims or not, NIC continues to be the ideal location for the 3A and 4A state-qualifying basketball tournaments, with the central (well, as central as possible) location and the cozy atmosphere of Christianson Gym. Hopefully all sides can find a way to keep the tourneys there for a long, long time.
• There was a little bit of a “game within the game” during Post Falls’ 77-70 victory at Coeur d’Alene on Saturday in the second-place game of the 4A Region 1 boys basketball tournament, with a berth to a state play-in game going to the winner.
Senior guard Max McCullough scored 36 points for Post Falls, and junior point guard Brody Lundblad countered with 28 for Coeur d’Alene.
Now certainly, Post Falls coach Mike McLean didn’t pull McCullough aside before the game and say, “Look, Max, we need 36 out of you tonight.”
But what he did need — and what McCullough thought needed to happen — was for the 5-foot-11 McCullough to attack the rim from the start, and either score, or dish off for layups or 3-point shots.
That had worked after Post Falls had fallen behind by 21 and 20 points in the last two games at Coeur d’Alene before the Trojans came back to within 4 points in the first game and pulled even in the second. This time, McCullough attacked from the start.
They didn’t guard each other — though for a time, Lundblad guarded McCullough in the fourth quarter.
In reality, it only happened a few times when one of them scored right after the other scored.
But during one stretch in the second quarter, McCullough’s 3-point play put Post Falls up 17-16. Lundblad answered with a 3-pointer, McCullough scored five straight points, including a 3-pointer, and Lundblad came back with another 3 to tie the game at 22.
McCullough, who hit 13 of 16 from the field, said that mano-a-mano stuff means more when both guys are guarding each other. And in this case, it was more like two really good high school players doing whatever they could to help their team win. But still ...
“Yeah, definitely, for sure a little bit — he hits a big shot and I want to come back down and quiet him down a little bit, respond for sure,” McCullough said.
Like McCullough, Lundblad has the quickness to beat defenders off the dribble for layups, or feed others for easy baskets. Lundblad shot 6 of 12 from 3-point range.
“Brody shot the crap out of the ball,” McCullough said. “We had hands up; there’s nothing we could do. We had to go DNL on him — do not leave, as we call it — because he was just making everything.”
Both Lundblad and junior forward Joey Naccarato have been a load to stop all season for Coeur d’Alene. Naccarato finished with 20 points.
“That kid’s a warrior,” McLean said of Naccarato. “That’s the kind of guy I want in my program; that’s the kind of guy we strive to build, starting at a young age. Just that relentless, go, go, go, diving all out. I could watch Joey Naccarato play all day long — not necessarily against me, but I would come watch him play.”
Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.