Eagles need win if anyone is going to notice
This entertaining act has been going on for a couple of years now.
Whenever a particular prep sports reporter from a large Chicago newspaper - let's just say his last name sounds like hockey photo - is in the same room with Jacobs boys basketball coach Jim Hinkle, Hink breaks into his no-respect-for-Jacobs routine. (The following quote would be funnier if read aloud by one of Hinkle's former players doing an impression of him. They all try to master his unique delivery. Northern Iowa freshman guard Johnny Moran does a spot on Hinkle. Others sound more like Hank Hill.)
"You turn on Algonquin Rd., and that takes you to Algonquin," Hinkle explains to the reporter like he's speaking to the hearing-impaired. "That's where we are. That's where we're located."
The bit goes on and on, and the reporter laughs and gives it back a little, all good-natured. I always enjoy it because, well, Hinkle is generally hysterical. If every Illinois high school basketball coach was as animated, the IHSA finals would air on Cartoon Network.
His underlying point, couched in humor, is about regionwide respect for the Jacobs boys basketball program, or what Hinkle contends is a lack thereof.
When the veteran coach launched his most recent installment of his no-respect serial at a Wednesday news conference in Schaumburg for today's 14th Annual High School Hoops Showdown at the Sears Centre, he likened both himself and his program to Rodney Dangerfield.
Despite an audacious win total the last two seasons (52-5) and a 13-2 start in 2008-09, Hinkle says his program gets no respect from the two Chicago metro dailies, neither of which ranked Jacobs among its top teams this week. (Jacobs is ranked No. 5 this week in the Daily Herald Top 20, which includes high school teams within our suburban circulation area.)
"We were 52-5 and managed to never get a sniff from (hockey photo) or any of his other friends (doing) the ratings and that stuff," Hinkle said at the news conference at Lou Malnati's Pizzeria. "We understand, 52-5, hey, there might have been a team better than that record-wise. There's no question there were teams better. I can't find a better record, but you (media) probably have since 52-5 can't crack your top 20.
"So one of our goals is to get to Peoria without being ranked by (hockey photo). That's one of our primary goals, and we think we have a chance to do that."
Hinkle laughed when both Schaumburg coach Bob Williams and St. Joseph coach Gene Pingatore later pointed out their teams went unranked in the preseason by the Chicago dailies in years they won state titles.
It's true. Jacobs has dominated the Fox Valley area for two seasons and has been the most consistent winner locally. But if the Golden Eagles want to be considered state title contenders regionally or statewide, which is really what all rankings are about, they have to break through with a quality win against a bona fide state contender like Schaumburg (14-2), their opponent in tonight's 6:30 p.m. game at the Sears Centre.
The Saxons are ranked No. 8 in The Associated Press' Class 4A poll this week with 26 points. The Golden Eagles remain unranked with 2 points.
Jacobs has won 11 games in a row, powered by a talented post tandem. Four-year varsity performers Conrad Krutwig (22.5 ppg, 9.4 rpg) and Tim Moran (10.4 ppg, 5.5 rpg) enjoy a rare chemistry among big men. Krutwig (6-foot-5) is a finisher and Moran does a little of everything, including set the table for Krutwig with heady interior passes. Moran leads the area in assists with 4.9 per game, a remarkable total for a 6-foot-3 forward.
Jacobs has a young but improving backcourt that has reduced its assist-to-turnover ratio since the start of the season. And wild-card athlete, junior forward Mike Barch, has demonstrated an ability to score in bursts and change a game's complexion.
However, unless this group goes out tonight and accomplishes what the last two Jacobs teams couldn't - namely, win a big game against a good team in the glare of the spotlight - the statewide basketball inelligencia will remain unimpressed.
Unquestionably, going 65-7 the last three seasons is a tremendous feat. But the 2006-07 squad lost a chance to gain the state's respect after going 26-1 in the regular season and failing to win a regional title.
Last year Jacobs went 26-2 in the regular season, but those two losses came against teams they needed to beat to gain the respect of poll voters outside the Fox Valley. Jacobs lost at the Sears Centre in the High School Hoops Showdown against highly regarded Fenwick. If they had won that game, the Eagles would have been ranked by everybody. They also lost by 2 points at Quincy early in the season.
Jacobs did win a regional last year, but the Eagles lost on their home court in a sectional semifinal to Rockford Boylan, unable to protect a 17-point, second-quarter lead.
A loss like that gets a team statewide attention for the wrong reasons. Beneath the Dangerfield mask, Hinkle understands this.
"The reason we don't get ranked is because we don't have a signature win of that type," he said in a more earnest tone later in the news conference. "Our conference (Fox Valley) has never been to Peoria. Not one team has ever been there. Until someone does we're not going to get ranked.
"So, yeah, the serious part of it is we need to beat a team like Schaumburg so we can get something for our conference and for us. That's the serious part, and that's the truth of it. Until we can compete against teams of that level, it doesn't matter how many games we win. We have to win some of those big ones to get that state recognition that we'd like to have."
Broader respect is just sitting out there, waiting to be claimed by the players from Jacobs tonight. If they want recognition beyond the Fox Valley, they have to earn it by notching that signature win against Schaumburg. Time to sign on the dotted line.
Who knows? With a win Jacobs might even crack the hockey rankings.
BEGIN_ATTRIBUTIONjfitzpatrick@dailyherald.comEND_ATTRIBUTION