Merry Christmas all. Hope Santa was good to you. My presents to you are some updates from the High School scene.
Michigan HS Hoops
Traveled to Kalamazoo Central last week with Double B to see a portion of the 1st Annual Don Jackson Holiday Classic which featured 4 games. We went to see the last two games of the night between Lansing Eastern / Saginaw Arthur Hill and Kalamazoo Central / Detroit Southeastern.
Saw two close games.
In the first one, Lansing Eastern beat Saginaw Arthur Hill 85-79. This one should not have been this close but SAH kept it close for one reason and one reason only, Jordan Hare. The 6'9" Center had 19 points and several impressive jams. This guys gets up in a hurry and with effortless ease, has a great wingspan and can pluck the ball anywhere near the rim. He has a nice touch around the basket but still needs to be aggresive with his body and not just his arms. The two stars on the floor for Lansing were none other than, Cha Cha Tucker (sophomore) and LeDontae Henton. LeDontae Henton had an outstanding game with 39 points and double digit rebounds. This was the quietest 39 point performance that I can remember. I was impressed with Henton's inside and outside game. I do not care for the rotation on this lefty's shots but they went in and he was hitting from 3 point land. He seemed to score with ease. I think he will be a good 3 for Dayton next year. Need to see him some more. The player that impressed me the most all night was Cha Cha Tucker. This sophomore guard is poised beyond his age, has a similar step back cross over dribble to Keith Appling, gets to the basket and sees the court extremely well. He is always around the play and made very few mistakes with the ball. This team when they get Steven Haney (6'6") eligle in January will be very strong.
The Detroit Southeastern / K-Zoo Central game was another close one that came down to the end. This game was intense on the defensive end and sloppy on the offensive end. K-Zoo Central has built a trademark aggressive, quick and suffocating defense and this year's team is no different. This team is very well coached and no surprise that coach Mike Thomas has modeled his defense after his high school alma mater Saginaw's stingy ways on the defensive end. Detroit Southeast had more talent on the floor but it was compromised by Perry Gibson's early and often foul trouble. The star of this game for Southeastern was neither D-1 standout Gibson (Dayton) or Brandon Kearney (MSU) but rather lightning quick and I do mean quick, Edward Brown, who finished with 16 to lead their team. This game went back and forth all night but Kalamazoo was able to pull it off down the stretch with stiff defensive and senior leadership in TJ Buchanan. Watching the first three quarters of this game, I felt Buchanan's game had not improved from a year ago, in fact I was beginning to think that he lost something. He turned the ball over at least 7 times, and was and is, a streaky shooter from the field. But he took over down the stretch and penetrated to the hole to score layups in traffic or get to the foul line. When this kid is determined to take it to the hole, he goes strong and it is tough to keep him out of the lane or deny him. His leadership, along with a late layup and some free throws were the difference and kept K-Zoo undefeated with a 59-56 win. On the other side of the ball, I was very dissapointed in the lack of leadership by Brandon Kearney. With Gibson out of the game (fouled out) Kearney had no less than three chances to tie or put his team ahead in the last minute of play and elected to pass off to other teammates and made some poor decisions that cost this team the win and gave them their first loss on the season. This kid has tremendous talent and skill but to not be able to recognize he was the best player on the floor and not want to try and take the game over or at least the last shot was very disappointing for this viewer. Will need to show leadership and ascertiveness or won't get much PT at MSU next year. I believe that Detroit Southeastern has more talent and on a neutral court with both sides at full strength, Southeastern should win the matchup 3 out of 4 games but you need to factor in the coaching advantage Mike Thomas brings to Kalamazoo and the ability for Gibson to play within himself to be able to keep himself on the court. I think Gibson can be a beast down low. This guy is built like a brick craphouse and when playing down low can position and score on just about anyone but needs to stay on the court and out of foul trouble. He had some real foolish fouls in this game and him sitting on the bench for over half the game was a difference maker. I would love to see these two play in the close confines of Southeastern's gym.
The 5 hour roundtrip car ride was well worth it for me to see these games and talent. Besides an intense and entertaining game between Southeastern and K-Central was the equally entertaining banter between one Kalamazoo rooter and the several Detroit followers. To see and hear the constant taunting and gesturing between these grown ups (that was questionable) was a bonus to what we saw on the floor. It was all well worth the $8 admission price.
National Hoops
Got a chance to watch some of the games from the City of Palms Classic in Florida and there was real talent there. The Championship game pitted #2 St. Patrick's (NJ) vs. #24 Milton (Alpheretta, Ga). At one point there was 9 players on the floor that had Division 1 offers. Milton has 6 players with D-1 offers. This was a great game, came down to a 3 pointer at the buzzer by St. Pat's to pull out a 69-67. St. Pat's has Michael Gilchrist - the #2 rated player in the country going to Kentucky. This kid is 6'7" and extremely strong and athletic. His game reminds me of Vince Carter except Gilchrist has to work on his outside shot. He is tough to stop inside of 12 feet. Derrick Gordan - another standout is taking his game to Western Kentucky where he will be an instant star there. He was the second highest scoring player in the entire tournament. They have a 6'10" freshman named Dakari Johnson that absolutely everyone will want. Still a bit uncoordinated and slow but has good skills, soft hands and is active around the basket. This kid has to be one of the top freshman in the country. This Milton team is loaded. All 5 starters have top offers from major programs. The star on this team is Shannon Scott - the son of Charlie Scott (Celtics, Phoenix) - he is going to Ohio State. Nice looking guard, gets all over the court, defends well, scores, passes, excellerates to the basket on the drive. I like his game. He is joined by 6'7" Julian Royal who is going to Georgia Tech, 6'3" Dai-Jon Parker who is athletic as they come and can jump out of the gym - is going to Vanderbilt, Jordan Lloyd is going to Furman and 6'7" Junior Evan Nolte has been offered by Florida. This was a fun team to watch. If they do not win the state championship again in Georgia, I want to see the team that does.
The most impressive player though was Austin Rivers from Winter Park. This is the son of Doc Rivers and is rated the #1 player in the country and for good reason. This kid can flat our play offensively. He can score, has great step back jumper, great crossover dribble, can get to the rack in a hurry or through crowds, can distribute the rock and has a great pull up shot off the drive. As good as he is offensively, he has a lot to work on defensively. Kid plays no defense at all. I know that will change at Duke under Coach K but really doesn't show desire or willingness. Also saw a bit of an attitude towards his teammates that I did not care for but it could have been that it was a close game and he is super competitive but once again that crap will not fly at Duke. He is a big time player at the guard position.
Got a chance to watch Simeon and Whitney Young out of Chicago along with Perspectives from Illinois in the Chicago classic the week before last. Whitney Young beat Perspectives bad. Some good talent here as well. Saw Anthony Davis - #3 rated player in the country - going to Kentucky. This kid is long and impressive. Nice touch, strong and sees the court extremely well for a big man. He is a 6'9" power forward and tough with the ball. Chicago Simeon played Lew Wallace out of Gary, Indiana and this was not even a game. Simeon won by over 40. Lew Wallace has Brandon Dawson (potential McDonalds All American) who committed to Michigan State. He is quick, very agile body with good control, nice soft touch on his shot and boards extremely well on the offensive end. Something MSU could use from a 6'6" small forward. Was tough to really assess his game as they were getting beat 43-13 at halftime. In the Whitney Young Game I got to see Sam Thompson (6'7") who is another top guard in the country who will be heading to Ohio State. He is one of 4 players in the top 50 class that will be at Ohio State next year. This guy is a great dunker, a high flyer, a good shooter and a better slasher. He would be an ideal 2 or 3 positon player at Ohio State. Reminds me a lot of Steven Thompson that use to play for Syracuse many years ago but a better shooter than him. I did see two very impressive sophomores in these games. I was most impressed with Jabari Parker. This kid is a little sleeker body than Draymond Green but so much more talented. He is 6'7" and is labeled (rightfully so) one of the best sophomores in the country. Fun to watch - he can go anywhere he wants. The other sophomore was 6"8" Thomas Hamilton from Whitney Young. This kid has a much bigger build than Parker and is slower but tough and strong and can rebound and score up close. He too will be ranked very high and get lots of looks from the top programs.
More National players will be in town this week at the Motor City Roundball Classic at Detroit Country Day. Here are some of the top seniors. The link to the webpage is http://motorcityroundball.com/
G- Aaron Thomas - Cincinnati Withrow - 6'5" - #70 ranking - Avg 28 a game - Florida State
SF-Mychael Henry - Chicago Orr - 6'6" # 81 ranking - Illinois
SF-Brandon Dawson - Lew Wallace (Ind) - 6'6" #15 ranking - Michigan State
C-Amir Williams - DCD - 6'10" #40 ranking - Ohio State
I plan on going on Wednesday night to see the Chicago Orr vs. DCD game at 7:20 followed by the Lew Wallace (Gary, Ind) vs. Detroit Southeastern at 9:00.
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