First Round Team Rankings

I haven't had the opportunity to get to as many games as I have in the past but, still have seen about 25 teams play this year which lays a pretty good foundation for my first round of team rankings. As in the past I rank only teams that I have seen play and only rank teams based on the game that I have actually seen them play in. I feel it unfair to base a teams rankings based on here say or stats alone. I understand that a team may have a bad game when I see them play or be missing a player but, I still feel it is better to base my assessments on what I see not on what I have heard or read. Head to head match ups are taken in to account the most even though a team may lose to a team that they may beat 8 of 10 match ups but, lose the one game I'm at I'm still placing the team that won in the match up because I can not understand ranking a team ahead of another second team, when the second team has defeated the first team. I will rank teams on a whole and then will break down each by division and leaving out of state teams out of the division rankings. Well here are my first rankings.......


1. Madison East- Run the court extremely well and have a solid starting five that is as good as anyones in the state. Big man Marquis Mason is a difference maker on the inside whether he's scoring or not. Mason and Nimrod Hillard are one of the top combos in the state.
2. Racine Park- Another team that runs the court very well. There top five guards really carry this team have seven guys that could probably average double figures.
3. Sun Prairie- Have a lot of guys that can knock down the three point shot and handle themselves very well and have a lot of experience.
4. Madison Memorial- Probably have more talent then any team in the state. The question mark is whether then can "click" by the end of the year.
5. Milwaukee King- Another team with loads of talent that can go 12 deep and not lose a thing. Probably a year away from doing real damage.
6. Oak Lawn Richards Ill- Run the court very very well and can score in a hurry. Knock down the three very well in transition.
7. Port Washington- Very disciplined team that has a star in Josh Gasser but, they don't need to rely on him every game to get the win.
8. Waupun- Solid team overall that has the most impressive scorer that I've seen in Austin Armga.
9. Hamiliton Sussex- Another team that is extremely deep. Can go 12 deep with out losing much and every guy on the deep can hit the three point shot.
10. Verona- Fundamentally sound team that plays great defense and rebounds very well.
11. Appleton East- Live and die by the three and they shoot the three very well. Have some nice size with the 6'7 Mader brothers down low.
12. Valders- Great rebounding team that looks like a bunch of football players playing basketball, which is a good thing in this case. Pound the glass and run their offense very well.
13. Lacrosse Logan- Big man Trevor Jorgenson is the thing that makes this team good. Very soft touch on the inside.
14. Middleton- Great height and when they don't turn the ball over they do a good job of getting the ball to the inside.
15. Wisconsin Dells- Shoot the three very well and big man Nate Gibson is a difference maker.
16. Baraboo- Have a couple stars but, just don't have the ball handlers to compete with the tough teams.
17. Waukesha West- Big man Ryan Solberg is a good player but, the rest of the team is a year away from really doing something.
18. Milwauke South- Very athletic team but, doesn't shoot real great and don't run much of an offense.
19. West DePere- Very nice high low game but, lack overall athletic ability.
20. Shorewood- Lots of problems with this team. Take bad shots and don't rebound very well.
21. Rhinelander- Take lots of bad shots and don't have the size to compete with a lot of shots.
22. New Lisbon- Not much to say about this team. Not a good team.

I've decided to not due the rankings for each division since the 22 teams that I have ranked are the only 22 teams that I've seen. I figure most people can figure out where each team would be ranked in their individual divisions.