Every Tuesday we will breakdown teams from across all four divisions using scouting reports from opposing coaches. The idea is to give you a coach’s perspective of each team and the quotes are always anonymous.

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 Today we breakdown: Exeter, Hopkinton, Pelham, Keene & Epping

 

 Pelham

 Pelham Team Page

 Mike Larson took over for Matt Regan as head coach of the two time defending champions of Division III as Pelham moves back to Division II. We asked coaches to break them down.

 Strengths: “They understand what guys are supposed to fill certain roles,” said one coach we spoke to. “They understand that a senior (Kyle Frank) is going to dominate the ball and the other players on the floor work as unit to help him be successful. They also understand a freshman (Drew Brown) is going to take a lot of three pointers and they accept that as well. There are no egos with that team, they work together very well.”

 Coaches talked about how hard Pelham competes. “They take charges, they’re physical, and they go after loose balls. They are the most physical team we have played this season and so your kids need to be prepared for that.” Another coach talked about Pelham forward Joe Pantaleo, “He is a really good defender and he really anchors the back end of their full court press. He’s always in the right spot, he takes big charges at keys times and directs traffic for them.”

 “When we played them we let Kyle dictate the game and so if we played them again I would change the way we defend them. Everything goes through him offensively. Mike (Larson) is really doing a good job, the guys really seem to like playing for him.”

 Weaknesses: “They don’t have a true #2 scorer so that puts a lot of pressure on Kyle Frank night to night. Drew is a very good shooter but he needs his teammates to set him up. You can’t leave him; if you do he is going to bury open shots. Because of that he opens up a lot of driving lanes for Kyle.”

 Another coach talked about a lack of depth in the frontcourt. “If Pantaleo goes down or gets in foul trouble I don’t think they have enough guys to rebound for them. Blake Woekel has been consistently good and very solid defensively but after those two there just isn’t a lot of size.”

 

 Epping

 Epping Team Page

 Like the situation at Pelham Nick Fiset took over a succesful program at Epping and has gotten off to a very good start. We asked coaches to breakdown the 4-1 Blue Devils.

 

 Strengths: “They are most physical team we’ve played this season and they play very hard for (Nick Fiset). When you play them Jackson Rivers is someone you have to game plan for; he is very tough in the paint and is on most nights the best athlete on the floor.”

 “They rebound as a team. They don’t have much size but they have good athletes who are quick to the ball and not afraid to fight for the rebound. Epping gets the ball up the floor quickly and with the Bullock brothers (Tommy & Hunter); they can defend the ball very well. They’ll take chances going for the ball and do a pretty good rotating defensively when they get beat.”

 Another coach talked about the Epping offense. “Doug Nadeau can really shoot it. They don’t have as many shooters they’ve had in the past but they move the basketball and get Rivers the ball going to the basket. You’ll let him shoot three’s; he’s not a good outside shooter and when he is out that far from the basketball they become vulnerable as a rebounding team. They get back in transition defense well and have guards who can disrupt you coming up the floor.”

 Weaknesses: “They have to be careful how they use Rivers because when he tries to do too much they breakdown a bit offensively. When he is off the floor they are very small so they can’t really afford to have him off the floor.” Another coach echoed that analysis, “If I played them I would game plan to contain Rivers and tell the defender on Nadeau not to leave him alone on the perimeter. If you hold Rivers in check, do they have enough scorers around him to beat you? The Bullock brothers don’t score consistently in double figures and Nadeau can be contained.”

 

 Hopkinton

 Hopkinton Team Page

 The theme continues as Steve Signor took over at Hopkinton for longtime coach Dave Chase. The Hawks are off to a 6-0 start and we asked coaches to break them down.

 

 Strengths: “Their top six players are five seniors and one junior, so it is a veteran team with clearly defined roles,” said one coach we spoke to. “It seems like they are buying into what their new head coach is preaching and the kids are playing very hard for them. Against Kearsarge they really struggled in the half court but in the second half they opened it up and applied pressure. That seemed to really jump start them and they ended up winning the game.”

 Another coach talked about forward Henry Yianakopolos. “He’s a beast physically; he’s put on about 25 lbs. of muscle and is lightning quick. When he goes to the rim he is a man among boys and when they played Kearsarge he was the only person I’ve seen all season who moved (Tayler) Mattos) around on the floor.”

 “They will come at you in a 1-3-1 press and try to force the pace on you. Cam Cyr is a very good shooter and has to be covered at all times or he will bury you with three’s. Another coach we spoke to agreed, “Cam is a knockdown shooter, he more or less sits on the perimeter and you can’t leave him. You can pressure him when he has the ball but if you give him space to shoot he will hit it all day.”

 Weaknesses: “They are not very deep, especially now that Jacob Rockwood is no longer on the team.” A Division III coach talked about the Hopkinton playmakers, “There really isn’t a stand out offensive player in the group, they really beat you as a unit. They are just very, very solid 1 through 5 in that lineup and they beat you with athleticism and rebounding. They are a very good rebounding team; Kevin McGrath is a kid who does a lot of good things for that team. If there is a weakness it would be players able to create their own shot in end of game situations. Zach Signor and Cyr as really good shooters but they need to set up by teammates.”

 

 Keene

 Keene Team Page

 Kevin Ritter took over the Blackbirds head coaching job after Dave Sontag led Keene to back to back tournament appearances. We asked coaches to break them down.

 Strengths: “The first thing that stands out about them is that they are physical and just a very tough team. They really go to the beat of their leader Logan Galanes and he is a very confident player. A very good one too.” Another coach who has faced Keene talked about the effort level of the Blackbirds, “When we faced them I said to myself ‘That’s the hardest I’ve seen that team play in a long time.”

 What about the Keene offense? “They run a similar offense under Ritter to what they ran under Sontag but with different plays. They run some really good stuff in the half court and they do a nice job of getting Galanes looks. He is as good a player as we have faced so far this season and he is a player who should be at the top of every Keene scouting report. Jake Blaisdell is another very good shooter; I think he benefits a lot from all the attention being paid to Galanes.”

 Weaknesses: “They’re not very deep and I wonder if Galanes was out with foul trouble if Blaisdell could really be that #1 guy without him in there.” Another coach agreed, “I’d agree with that statement, they would have to get more offense out of their pressure defense. They attack you on defense a lot more than they have in the past. They are not sitting back; they are trying to cause chaos.”

 “They are not very big, not very deep and I don’t see a guy after Blaisdell that could get you 15 points when you needed it. Teams right now will really focus on shutting Galanes down, or at least slowing him down. Can Blaisdell pick up his production when that happens? That will be interesting to see. They could have won a few of these games early on. They could easily be 3-1 so teams need to understand Keene is a very tough team to beat this season. I think Coach Ritter is doing a very good job.”

 

 Exeter

 Exeter Team Page

 Jeff Holmes has Exeter off to another very strong start at 4-1. We asked Division I coaches to breakdown the Blue Hawks.

 Strengths: “They can really shoot it. Cody Morissette does so many things to help that team win; if you’re paying attention to his scoring you’re missing out on an awful lot. He just understands the game. The football player (that would be Bobby Cliché) can really shoot it and I think their forward Stephen Natola is one of the most underrated players in our league.”

 Another Division I coach talked about the Exeter offense. “Jeff (Holmes) runs some really good half court sets. He always has. Jeff has had Chris Petzy & his son Bryant, players who were big time scorers, so he understands how to get them good looks. If you haven’t scouted them and don’t know what Bobby Cliche can do he is going to bury you with three pointers. He doesn’t look like a shooter because he is a wide body but he can stroke it.“

Weaknesses: “You can score on Exeter and they will give up second shots. They have also shown they can win games in the high 50’s when they have to (A 60-57 win over Bedford). Where they are tough is they have a kid in Morissette who can create his own shot at the end of games, and a player in Natola who can score rolling to the basket as well. “

 “If there is a weakness it would probably be their ability to survive a poor shooting night. Every team is going to have those nights; can Exeter get enough points in the paint or create enough turnovers to survive that?”