Five Minutes With Tonka’s Hedstrom

We caught up with Minnetonka boys’ basketball head coach John Hedstrom about Saturday’s Gatorade-Timberwolves Shootout, and discussed how his team might handle prized UCLA recruit Jrue Holiday and what an event like this does for high school basketball.

The top-ranked Skippers face Campbell Hall at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

Q: On Minnesota’s talent…
Hedstrom: It’s fun for the kids to get out there and show what they got, and show off Minnesota basketball against the best players and teams. What’s really exciting is that the Timberwolves put this together for us and all the guys down here do a great job. It’s an honor to be in it. I’m a little nervous because we play a Hill Murray team tomorrow night, and it’d be proverbial to look over Thursday’s game to Saturday. But the kids were excited about it ever since we got the call and were invited.

Q: On preparing for Campbell Hall and Jrue Holiday…
Hedstrom: We really don’t (do anything differently). We really feel like there’s an objective of focusing on our concepts, focusing on what we want to do well and from there making game adjustments as needed. We don’t really get hung up on matchups and who’s guarding whom. A lot of guys are going to get the chance to guard (Holiday). They also have some other players that you can overlook who will be college players … some Division II and III players.

Q: On the Skippers’ Anthony Tucker, who averages 22 points per game…
Hedstrom: Anthony is so smooth. He plays the game at a pace where people look at and you just don’t think he’s working very hard. But then you look at the stat sheet and he has 22 points and 10 assists, six rebounds. He’s a very talented athlete, very skilled and shoots the ball very well. In addition, over the last three years he has really improved his defense.

Q: On his team’s depth…
Hedstrom: We have a really deep team. C.J. Erickson is another player for us that will be going to Evansville on a Division I scholarship. Tyler Schilling is another key player for us. We are very senior-oriented. We have Andy Burns, a point guard that is just fabulous for us. And then we have some guys that help us off the bench. So we’re really excited about our season, excited about Saturday, but after Saturday we have 17 weeks of two games a week coming up. We have to be ready.

Q: On keys to Saturday’s game…
Hedstrom: For us, it’s going to be how well we rebound the ball. We have to keep them off the glass and keep them from getting second chances. You’re never going to stop a guy like Jrue Holiday from getting shots, but it’s the kind of shots he gets and does he get second shots. If we keep them off the boards and keep them from getting second looks at the basket, I’ll think we’ll be fine. Another big key will be how well they handle 18-minute halves opposed to four quarters of eight. The bigger floor will also be a factor … how we handle getting up the floor and the conditioning that takes place.

One of the things that Minnesota teams have is that they start their seasons a lot earlier. We started the Monday after Thanksgiving. Conditioning will be a little bit of a concern for me.

Q: On changes in the high school game…
Hedstrom: The (Minnesota) State High School League is trying to experiment with the shot clock, which is changing the game. We use it at Minnetonka. It’s a temporary experiment, both teams must be notified and agreed and the officials as well. We try to host a lot of top AAU tournaments as well which is one reason why we have (the shot clock). It’s the kind of situation where it doesn’t play a part in games unless they are really close. Then you can’t stall out the game. We’ve had two home games and I think the shot clock went off twice. What it does do is it rushes you in a possession where you normally wouldn’t have to. It does gear up your guys to play defense and get that shot clock violation. I’ve seen our defensive intensity improve and that’s one of the reasons why we’ve been happy to use it at home games. I really hope it’s a thing that becomes permanent because it forces coaches to play more guys and it really increases participation.

Q: On the impact of 18-minute halves…
Hedstrom: Most states do not have 18-minute halves like we do but do have the shot clock. We’re going 36 on Saturday so there is more basketball than these teams are used to. There are more minutes and more basketball. More kids can play. More kids can score points. Moms and dads are happy. Grandmas and grandpas are happy. That’s one of the things that teams from outstate Saturday are going to find is an adjustment. I remember two years ago, that first part of the year we were really having a hard time getting use to that extra four minutes because you no longer had the first and third quarter stoppages.

Q: On other intangibles that could play a role Saturday…
Hedstrom: I think TV timeouts are something that teams aren’t use to. I think the open environment of the Target Center as compared to a local gym that could play a part. It’s really interesting because whenever we play here, this is the fourth time, you have the 3-point line and then you have the NBA line. A lot of times kids will spot up at the NBA line and realize how far away it is. That makes a difference too … how well kids adapt to that backdrop and environment.

Q: On the opportunity to practice at Target Center…
Hedstrom: We were able to get in here yesterday afternoon and practice for a couple hours. It was really exciting for the guys to watch Portland practice for a half hour. It was a nice holiday gift. The Timberwolves have been awesome with their support and doing anything we need to be successful.