2014-2015 Preseason Preview

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2014-2015 Preseason Preview

Postby sbfromcopley » Sun Jul 27, 2014 2:30 pm

GO
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Re: 2014-2015 Preseason Preview

Postby Bluejay » Sun Jul 27, 2014 11:56 pm

Okay, I'll bite I guess.

There's a lot of talent that graduated, so I don't think Ohio will be as strong nationally as in 2013-2014, especially with most of the top teams from last year losing significant contributors. Despite that, Ohio still has a team that can compete with the top teams in the nation, that being Northmont, of course. However, it's basically a race for second place in the state for everyone else.

Northeast:

I don't know if Copley loses anybody. If they don't, then this team can only go up, and could easily contend for second in the state.

Solon loses Brian and Jack. Rohin Devanathan is a rising junior, and there's a multitude of kids who have attended ACE camp and a bunch of tournaments last year. The other big change is that Bob Weiser retired from coaching. I hope this doesn't affect their tournament attendance.

Olmsted Falls has been on a slow decline, which definitely showed last year as they failed to make the HSNCT playoffs. With Andy gone, there's huge ground to be made in order to be a contender once again.

Beachwood manages to always have a decent-to-good team despite attending few tournaments. If Ryan Reilly returns, they're an instate contender.

I believe Cloverleaf loses Brian? That's a huge loss if so.

East:

South Ranges loses everybody, including coach Bonnie Molnar. I'm not sure what's going to happen to them from this point onwards.

I'd like to see more teams from the Youngstown area go to more tournaments. I'm sure someone in the area would know more about Mahoning County could say more, but I'm guessing the usual contenders such as Boardman will field a decent team, but won't show their abilities off outside the league.

What happened to Hubbard? They attended like every other tournament back in the fall, but either I haven't been paying attention or they stopped going places.

Central:

Dublin Scioto loses everyone except Koh Yamakawa, who led the team in scoring when Arjun wasn't around and put up a decent 20 PPG at NSC and 18 PPG at HSNCT. From what I've seen he seems eager to improve and keep the team going, which is a great thing, so I don't believe they'll be off the radar or anything.

Fisher Catholic lost Tom Moore, which definitely hurts, but they don't lose anyone else iirc. Brandon may be the second-best player in the state, though, so this team definitely has the potential to repeat last year's results.

St. Charles loses everybody except Stephen Susa. They won't be as strong as they were last year.

Dublin Jerome loses Roger, so they won't be nearly as good as they were this year, when they emerged as last year's biggest surprise team.

West/Southwest:

Northmont finished in 7th place at PACE, but a disappointing t21st at HSNCT. Sam is easily one of the best players in the high school circuit right now, and his team largely depends on him. As is such with teams like this, however, I think Northmont's finish at national tournaments will depend on how much support he gets. Within the state, I don't see anybody beating Sam, though.

Sidney loses nobody, and will likely have the most balanced scoring out of Ohio's top teams. A second place finish at states is definitely doable.

I don't know anything about Tippecanoe, so I can't really predict how they'll do.

What happened to Walnut Hills? They were the premier program from the Cincinnati area and now they don't even attend NAQT States.

EDIT: Added a team, fixed wording
Last edited by Bluejay on Mon Jul 28, 2014 4:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: 2014-2015 Preseason Preview

Postby QuizBoss » Mon Jul 28, 2014 1:53 am

I'll answer regarding Boardman, Hubbard, et al.

Boardman and Austintown Fitch both had registered for HSNCT at one point. Boardman withdrew because they wouldn't have had their top scorer due to a jazz band concert conflict (graded) and Fitch's players didn't think they could raise the money in time.

Hubbard, I don't know what happened. They won their county title, did practically nothing from January to OAC Regionals, then nearly cracked the top 4 at North Coast. If they had put together a whole season of events, they'd probably have finished at least fourth.

The Mahoning League is going to be wide open. All the literature points are back on the table now. Most of the history points go back into circulation, too. Everyone is losing somebody except Sebring and Lowellville. I'm looking to add teams to create a Third Division -- perhaps split into North and South sub-divisions -- that will keep the competitiveness up for a while. I want Hubbard to be a part of that. Same with Harding, Salem, and others in the area that I couldn't invite while the league was under the ESC umbrella. Ditto with middle schools in the area -- I'm hoping to have that set for late winter/spring.

The new Ashtabula League will be (hopefully) 12 teams, all 9 from Ashtabula County and perhaps 3 from the northern reaches of Trumbull. I don't expect anyone there to be awesome right away, but it may be the start of something.

I will also have a say, if not control over, the Portage County competition. Details haven't been worked out yet.

The coach and de facto head of the Stark County league that included the smaller schools -- Canton South, Fairless, etc. -- retired. I may try to see if they would like my services.

The goal for the old East Central region is to run tournaments, get the local teams to at least come out to those, then push (again) for them to go elsewhere. In the meantime, they get to play decent questions on a weekly basis in the winter and can take a few scalps at Regionals if they go to them.

I hope Sebring will go to SSNCT, and perhaps Lowellville will join them. The date is going to be a major factor in that. Both teams' captains have played my former employer's event in the past, and might do so again if it's more convenient/cheaper.

I might try to approach the powers that be at Youngstown State to try to revive the tv show there. With new leadership, there may not be a better time. The show itself wasn't anything to get hyped about, but it did get teams off their collective butts early for the tapings.
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Re: 2014-2015 Preseason Preview

Postby sbfromcopley » Mon Jul 28, 2014 9:34 am

Grant is going to Germany for his senior year so we won't have him, but some other people on our team seem really eager to get better and have been studying pretty hardcore (or at least that's what they told me)
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Re: 2014-2015 Preseason Preview

Postby Baisang » Thu Jul 31, 2014 2:10 am

Overall I think there’s a lot of open ground to be taken. As Jasper said, I’m not sure if we’ll be as successful on the national level, but within Ohio the race for 2nd along with possible upsets of Northmont will be interesting for sure.

My Top 5 for Ohio:

Disclaimer: I've been requested to write in a somewhat amusing style, but this order does reflect my actual predictions as of now.

1. Northmont
Northmont has dominated Ohio for the past two years and of course returns superstar Sam Blizzard, the top scorer at this past year’s HSNCT, along with the rest of their A team. I expect to see them continue to dominate within Ohio, but their success on the national level will hinge on Sam’s teammates. With another year of experience under their belts, Northmont may finally be able to capture that elusive top 10+ finish for Ohio.

2. Sidney
I was always impressed with Sidney’s balanced play, and they’ve demonstrated based on the results from Marietta’s ACE camp that they have not stopped improving. Nour and Jack are great players with deep knowledge in their respective fields. However, they struggle to close out games and can be remarkably inconsistent despite their obvious talent. If they are able to maintain cool heads throughout the season, I would expect Sidney to be serious contenders for 2nd place, if not pulling off several upsets against Northmont in the process.

3. Copley
Despite losing Kerry and Manit (and Grant for most/almost all of the year), teams should expect to see a lot of familiar faces from the #indiannation squad. Saajid’s brother has been putting up great numbers the past few years, and along with a young and thirsty cast of players such as Kevin Du, Bobby Wagner, and Cristina Lee, I believe Copley will turn out as strong contenders for next season. Whether they will be able to challenge Northmont is dependent on their work ethic this summer.

4. Solon (this section will inevitably be the longest)
Solon loses its trio of myself, Jack Zhai, and Andy Lui, but returns perhaps soon-to-be better players. Rohin Devanathan (not to be confused with Rohan Achar) has performed remarkably this past year only as a sophomore with a broad knowledge base. He is rejoined with fellow A team member Aakash Singh, who has decent current events knowledge. From the depths of the B team expect players such as John Xiang and Aniketh Udipi to be promoted to the main squad. While on paper this may seem strong, they lack the experience to close out games, and the true depth of their knowledge base is questionable. They also have a new coach as Mr. Weiser is retiring. If Solon is able to find its rhythm, then perhaps we’ll see them be able to more consistently take down other top teams this season.

5. Fisher Catholic
Despite losing phenom Tom Moore, Fisher Catholic FC returns striker Brandon Shull, an incredible player in his own right. Nonetheless, other players on the FC squad will need to step up to ensure their success against other top Ohio teams. Brandon did put up good numbers at Marietta, winning the History tournament, but he will need a strong supporting cast to fill the gaps Tom covered last year.

Up and coming teams:

Tippecanoe looked pretty strong at states last year. I believe they return most of their A team, so with a little more study this summer I think they’ll be able to be at least a top 8 team in Ohio this season.

Beachwood does return Ryan Reilly, I believe, along with other members of their A/B teams. He’s a good player and another year of experience would only improve their standings.
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Re: 2014-2015 Preseason Preview

Postby Get Lynned » Thu Jul 31, 2014 12:56 pm

hasty thoughts (note; I wrote these a couple weeks ago and made some edits the other day)

Solon will be a force with Rohin, and if that John kid returns and works on good buzzes vs bad buzzes then Solon will be strong at science and lit. I'm not sure who is inclined toward history for them, and hopefully for them all of their fine arts knowledge did not graduate with Brian. They'll probably be the top team in the North Coast region, and probably by a mile and a wiff of grapeshot.

Copley will be pretty God damn good. Sayeef and Kevin are going to do some damage.

Sidney will be pretty damn good too, they had a relatively good run last year for their youth. They have a seemingly unreachable ceiling potential wise, so expect them to win some tournaments and be a threat west of I-71.

Northmont will be okay. Might beat a couple more national powerhouses as they make more great quiz bowl adventures across this great country. Might win a couple tournaments here or there... might win a couple games in Columbus come April and May. Might win the whole state, again.

I'm still shocked to hear Carroll or Chaminade didn't offer the Blizzards a new Hummer and some vintage NFL jerseys in exchange for a key prep prospect to be lacing up for them Saturday mornings in a classroom. (But seriously, Coach Jones and the Bolts are going to continue to wreck the GWOC and be the frontrunner for states yet again. It's hard to believe it is Sam's last year)

St Charles - Will Dr. Vandemeer still be involved with the quiz bowl team this year? I know the phys science teacher I had at Fisher was chosen to fill her shoes in the science department at SC for this school year. I'm not sure what SC has coming up aside from Stephen.

Fisher - Brandon Shull will lead Fisher in his senior campaign, and I know he's poised this year to break my Fisher scoring records. I think he'll be fine without me, two years ago when I missed OSU's January tournament he averaged +100ppg as a sophomore. I'm not sure exactly who on Fisher A will pick up on the lit, it may end up being Brandon (he already knows a good deal). Andrew Smith also returns, apparently he got second behind Rohin in science at Marietta. Andrew knows a lot of quiz bowl science on the surface and the actual scientific understanding of what things actually are, I think with Andrew the biggest thing will be confidence and firing on high when he knows he's right. If he gets +30ppg then Fisher is going to be difficult to beat. I'm not sure who will be in seats three and four for the Irish, it'll probably be Hunter Wotruba (yes, brother of Coert Wotruba from the 2004 Fisher team that won OAC states) and a class of 2017 kid. Hunter had two nice powers in one of our NSC games, and that's from just being electic like Brandon was when he joined the team. I think Hunter is covering fine arts, geography, and maybe some lit.
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Re: 2014-2015 Preseason Preview

Postby sbfromcopley » Sat Aug 02, 2014 8:40 pm

Northmont: They will be good. Something something something bad pun about a blizzard or snow or something

Copley: I think we will be good. Someone on our team who you probably don't know is apparently getting good so that will be cool.

Solon: I heard they have some guy named Rohin who is pretty good. Pretty good this year, if he studies mucho he could get really good.

Fisher: Brandon is good, but not enough to carry them to really high placements. If he studies this summer then he can for sure.

Cloverleaf: I think they lose everyone. Idk

Dublic Scioto: I don't know who is left on their team either

Dublin Jerome: Roger graduated so they are probably gone too, especially since they were already on the edge of the TU/B scene already, losing their super carry probably means they will be discouraged to attend more.

St.Charles: Zel is gone, idk if they have anyone to fill, I think lots of people graduated.

Sidney: Everyone stays. If they specialized better they could be pretty legit

South Range: Graduates at least 3 of their 4 from this year, plus no coach could be bad news

Olmstead Falls: loses all of their scoring from Andy. Probably not gonna have a strong showing this year
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Re: 2014-2015 Preseason Preview

Postby BobKilner » Sat Aug 02, 2014 9:28 pm

I'm glad everyone filled in the blanks because there were a lot of guys I thought were graduating (Sidney's guys, Ryan Reilly, etc.) that are totally not.

That said, can we please stop referring to Sayeef as "Saajid's brother"? I think by now he's established himself as one of the better players in the state in his own right and deserves that at least.
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Re: 2014-2015 Preseason Preview

Postby BobKilner » Sat Aug 02, 2014 9:28 pm

And yes, Bossick's blizzard warning finally expires in about 10 months.
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Re: 2014-2015 Preseason Preview

Postby Get Lynned » Sat Aug 02, 2014 10:18 pm

sbfromcopley wrote:Northmont: They will be good. Something something something bad pun about a blizzard or snow or something

Copley: I think we will be good. Someone on our team who you probably don't know is apparently getting good so that will be cool.

Solon: I heard they have some guy named Rohin who is pretty good. Pretty good this year, if he studies mucho he could get really good.

Fisher: Brandon is good, but not enough to carry them to really high placements. If he studies this summer then he can for sure.

Cloverleaf: I think they lose everyone. Idk

Dublic Scioto: I don't know who is left on their team either

Dublin Jerome: Roger graduated so they are probably gone too, especially since they were already on the edge of the TU/B scene already, losing their super carry probably means they will be discouraged to attend more.

St.Charles: Zel is gone, idk if they have anyone to fill, I think lots of people graduated.

Sidney: Everyone stays. If they specialized better they could be pretty legit

South Range: Graduates at least 3 of their 4 from this year, plus no coach could be bad news

Olmstead Falls: loses all of their scoring from Andy. Probably not gonna have a strong showing this year


I'll respectfully disagree re: Fisher - Brandon led them to a top four finish at an OSU winter tournament I wasn't at two years ago. Our playing together was a big example of shadow effect. Not to the magnitude Max & Ben from Ladue were, but perhaps like Saajid and Jackson from Copley years ago. I do agree Lancaster FC will be behind Northmont, and likely Sidney and Copley (Solon remains to be seen regarding their travel) by the mid-point of the season, but FC is in the thick of it again when it's all said and done.
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