Versatile chesterton big man caden schneider on the rise heading into game at valparaiso and the postseason

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

The strongest signs of Chesterton’s basketball team jelling come on the court, where the Trojans have played well enough of late to bring a four-game winning streak into Friday night’s DAC finale at Valparaiso.
Other signs are evident in interviews with the players. Ask sophomore point guard Tobias Ray how he has improved so much during the season and the first two words he says are “Malachi Ransom.” Going against a player with Ransom’s quickness has made him better prepared for what he faces in games, Ray said.
Ask junior center Caden Schneider to trace the source of his improvement and he immediately points to Bradly Basila, a freshman midseason addition to the roster.
“He has really good footwork and by having to keep him in front of me, that’s helping me on defense,” Schneider said. “I’m able to keep my guy in front of me better, like I don’t fall for a pump fake or stuff like that. And then when I’m on offense, he’s super tall and can block a lot of shots, so that helps me work on what I can do in the paint.”
Trojans coach Marc Urban explained how the help has gone in both directions between the centers.
“I think Caden has done a good job of putting his arm around Bradly, trying to help him and teach him, and he goes at him and competes with him,” Urban said. “I think that with Caden having that attitude and that leadership has helped his game in a lot of ways, and it’s really cool to see.”
How Schneider has been used by Urban brings out the best in him as well. He’s not an old-school big man who shoves people around to secure every rebound in sight, stays glued to the post, and banks teams to death. Some of his best work is done on the perimeter.
Schneider had a big game in the win at Michigan City, including several on-target bounce passes to cutters from the high post, keeping the back door spinning all second half.
“He has a good feel and timing with it,” Urban said of those passes. “We have guys who can cut. Logan’s a very hard cutter. Jaylon (Watts) is a good cutter, TJ (Ray). When you have a guy who can deliver it, that’s obviously good.”
Schneider’s long-range shooting touch also forces his defender to chase him to the perimeter, which helps the cutters chances of finishing. Schneider is shooting .389 on 3-pointers.
He’s an extremely efficient shooter. Statistics are available for just about everything now. Some are about as useful as a 7-iron in a blizzard, but effective field goal percentage (eFG%) is a good one. It’s calculated by dividing the number of 3-pointers by two and adding it to the number of all field goals made, and then dividing that number by the number of all field goal attempts. Unlike FG%, it takes into account that 3-pointers are worth more than 2-pointers.
An eFG% of .500 is considered average. Schneider’s eFG% is .596, the best on the team, although considering he’s not a high-volume shooter, that’s not necessarily as significant as other unusually high ones produced by Logan Pokorney (.581) and Jaylon Watts (.573.).
Only a pair of eyes and a seat in the bleachers, not statistics, are needed to know Schneider is playing much better than he was early in the season.
“Caden’s starting to grow. He’s starting to play with a lot more toughness. That’s huge,” Urban said. “He had another good game at Hammond Central (a 64-58 victory). His confidence is skyrocketing. He had a couple of blocks, and he rebounded really well. That’s helped us this last stretch.”
Schneider ranks fifth on the team with a 5.1 scoring average, third with 3.7 rebounds and first with an assists-to-turnover ratio.