July 2009 Archives

Because I went to the USA Basketball event in Thomas & Mack Saturday night, I didn't see as much of the high school action Saturday as I did the previous three days.

So, I'm cutting the wrap-up to a "Top 10 performances I saw Saturday":

*Marvin Baynham (6-7/Miami Norland Senior/Florida Rams/Class of 2010)
*Ryan Boatright (6-0/Chicago Auroa/Derrick Rose All-Stars/Class of 2011)
*Kyle Collinsworth (6-6/Provo, Utah, High/Utah Pump-N-Run Red/Class of 2010)
*Trae Golden (6-2/Powder Springs, Ga., McEachern/Atlanta Celtics/Class of 2010)
*Corey Hilliard (6-1/Kansas City Raytown/Kansas City Pump-N-Run/Class of 2011)
*Cady Lalane (6-8/Orlando, Fla., Oak Ridge/Florida Rams/Class of 2010)
*Justin Martin (6-7/Indianapolis Lawrence North/Derrick Rose All-Stars/Class of 2010)
*Jordan McRae (6-5/Midway, Ga., Liberty County/Atlanta Celtics/Class of 2010)
*Trevor Releford (5-11/Kansas City Bishop Miege/Kansas City Pump-N-Run/Class of 2010)
*David Williams (6-7/Jacksonville, Fla., First Coast/Atlanta Celtics/Class of 2010)

Mike Krzyzewski gave a lot of praise to Rudy Gay (Memphis) and Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City and UCLA) when I spoked to him a few minutes ago.

Gay was the most impressive player in the game (he scored 27 points on 11 of 12 from the field) but I thought Brook Lopez (New Jersey and Stanford) and Ronnie Brewer (Utah) were equally impressive, in large part because of the defense they played.

Barring injuries or other calamities, I would think at least four of the 19 players who saw action tonight (Devin Harris of New Jersey had a slight injury and didn't play) will be on the 2012 Olympic team in London.

All in all, Rudy Gay (Memphis) and Brook Lopez (New Jersey) were the most impressive of the 20 players in the first half in Thomas & Mack.

Ronnie Brewer (Utah) is also playing well at both ends of the floor and it wouldn't be a shock if he was a member of the 2012 squad that goes to London to win gold medals.

Mike Krzyzewski has to be impressed with the way he guards.

Eric Gordon of the Clippers is struggling . . . he's missed several wide-open jumpers.

I'm on the UNLV campus tonight checking out a scrimmage involving NBA players who have been part of the USA Basketball "mini-camp" the past three days.

There are 20 players (most of which are 25 or younger) participating with the coach of the U.S. program, Mike Krzyzewski of Duke (who recently signed on to continue coaching the program after lead the U.S. to gold last summer in China), sitting on the scorers' table watching and, no doubt, evaluating.

One quarter has been played and the "White" team leads the "Blue", 23-15.

Rudy Gay and O.J. Mayo (both of Memphis) played pretty well in the quarter, as did Greg Oden (Portland).

Eric Gordon of the Clippers and two former UCLA players, Kevin Love (Minnesota) and Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City) are also participating.

Here are the 15 players who most impressed me Friday during stops at Foothill (Henderson), Rancho (North Las Vegas) and UNLV:

*John Bailey (6-8/Mesa, Ariz., Dobson/Joe Ward Phenom/Class of 2010)ti
*Blondy Baruti (6-9/Mesa, Ariz./Joe Ward Phenom/Class of 2010)
*Wayne Blackshear (6-4/Chicago Morgan Park/Mac Irvin Fire/Class of 2011)
*Jamal Branch (6-3/Humble, Texas, Atascosita/Houston Swoosh Select/Class of 2011)
*Perry Jones (6-9/Duncanville, Texas/LBA Seawolves/Class of 2010)
*Sheldon McClendon (6-4/Houston Bellair/Houston Swoosh Select/Class of 2011)
*Mitchell Patton (6-9/Vincennes, Ind., South Knox/Indiana Elite Red/Class of 2010)
*Katin Reinhardt (6-3/Mater Dei/Mater Dei/Class of 2012)
*LaQuinton Ross (6-7/Jackson, Miss., Murrah/MBA Elite/Class of 2011)
*Josh Selby (6-2/Baltimore Lake Clifton/Baltimore Assault/Class of 2010)
*Deville Smith (5-10/Jackson, Miss., Callaway/MBA Elite/Class of 2011)
*Josh Smith (6-9/Kent, Wash., Kentwood/Seattle Rotary Select/Class of 2010)
*Roscoe Smith (6-7/Mouth of Wilson, Va., Oak Hill Academy/Baltimore Assault/Class of 2010)
*Ahmad Starks (5-8/Chicago Whitney Young/Mac Irvin Fire/Class of 2010)
*Tony Wroten (6-4/Seattle Garfield/Seattle Rotary Select/Class of 2011)

The California Supreme squad won the eight-team "Create-N-Finish Cup" title Friday night at Foothill High in Henderson, Nev., knocking off Texas Blue Chip, 75-55.

Seniors-to-be Gary Franklin Jr. (15) and Tyler Lamb (14) combined for 29 points while Keala King of Dominguez -- who could be joining the aforementioned duo at Mater Dei for his senior season -- added 11 in the final.

Here are the 15 players who most impressed me on Thursday during stops at Foothill High in Henderson and UNLV (listed alphabetically/there are some repeats from Wednesday:

*Maverick Ahanmisi (6-2/Valencia, Calif., Golden Valley/Branch West/unsigned Class of 2009)
*Gary Bell Jr. (6-2/Kent, Wash., Kentridge/Seattle Rotary Select/Class of 2011)
*Wayne Blackshear (6-4/Chicago Morgan Park/Mac Irvin Fire/Class of 2010)
*Brenden Dawson (6-4/Gary, Ind., Lew Wallace/SYF Players/Class of 2011)
*Kyle Drainginis (6-4/Nampa, Idaho, Sky View/Boise Flite/Class of 2011)
*Tim Hardaway Jr. (6-4/Miami Palmetto/Mac Irvin Fire/Class of 2010)
*Terrence Jones (6-8/Portland Jefferson/I-5/Class of 2010)
*Meyers Leonard (7-0/Robinson, Ill./Mac Irvin Fire/Class of 2010)
*Darius Nelson (6-4/Sacramento Sheldon/Team Odom/Class of 2011)
*Jordan Omogbehin (7-2/Hanover, Md., National Christian/Team Takeover/Class of 2011)
*Norvel Pelle (6-9/Compton Dominguez/Team Odom/Class of 2011)
*Jereme Richmond (6-7/Waukegan, Ill./Mac Irvin Fire/Class of 2010)
*Michael Shaw (6-8/Chicago De La Salle/Mac Irvin Fire/Class of 2010)
*Joshua Smith (6-9/Kent, Wash., Kentwood/Seattle Rotary Select/Class of 2010)
*Tony Wroten (6-4/Seattle Garfield/Seattle Rotary Select/Class of 2011)

Here are the best perfomers I saw Wednesday at the GBOA Challenge of Champions in Henderson:

*Devon Collier (6-8/Jersey City, NJ, St. Anthony's)
*DeAndre Daniels (6-8/Taft High./Belmont Shore)
*Branden Dawson (6-5/Gary, Ind., Lew Wallace/SYF Players
*Josh Hairston (6-8/Montrose, Christian, VA/D.C. Assault)
*Joe Jackson (6-0/Memphis White Station/Memphis Magic)
*Nick Johnson (6-3/Gilbert, Ariz./California Supreme Black)
*Bryce Jones (6-5/Taft High/Compton Magic Black)
*Terrence Jones (6-8/Portland Jefferson/I-5 Elite)
*Jalen Kendrick (6-6/College Park, Ga., West Lake)
*Keala King (6-5/Dominguez High/California Supreme Red)
*Ray McCallum (6-3/Detroit Country Day/Team Detroit)
*Quincy Miller (6-8/Raleigh, NC, Quality Education Center/D-One Sports)
*Joshua Smith (6-8/Kent, Wash., Kentwood/Seatte Rotary Select)
*Tristan Thompson (6-8/Henderson, Nev., Findlay Prep/Grassroots Canada)
*Tony Wroten (6-4/Seattle Garfield/Seattle Rotary Select)

Ben Howland (UCLA), Kevin O'Neill (USC), Roy Williams (North Carolina), Lorenzo Romar (Washington), Ken Bone (Washington State), Herb Sendek (Arizona State), Mark Few (Gonzaga), Billy Donovan (Florida) and Mike Anderson (Missouri), Paul Hewitt (Georgia Tech) and Mark Fox (Georgia) and dozen or so other head coaches were in the crowd just now for the most entertaining game of the day, the Memphis Magic vs. Seattle Rotary Select.

The Seattle team won (67-62) in large part because of the presence of junior guard Tony Wroten and senior center Joshua Smith (the Kent Kentwood product who will end up signing with UCLA or Washington in November).

Memphis has four or five high-major prospects, the most notable of those Joe Jackson (a slick and quick 6-footer) and 6-6 Jalen Kendrick.

The Portland-based I-5 just smoked North Carolina's D-One team, 103-43 . . .

I'm hard pressed to think of anyone in the western class of 2010 who is better than Portland Jefferson's 6-9 Terrence Jones. My analysis: He's Lamar Odom with a lot of energy.

OK, here are some of the coaches in the stands now: Ben Howland, Mike Krzyzewski, Lorenzo Romar, Ken Bone, Bob Huggins, Jamie Dixon, Isiah Thomas, Jeff Capel . . .

They're here to watch I-5 (with Portland-area players Terrence Jones and Steven Holt) vs. D1 (with a bunch of quality prospects from North Carolina).

Former Lakewood High and USC standout Duane Cooper isn't returning to Dominguez High after serving as the school's interim boys' basketball coach last season, he said Wednesday in Henderson, Nev., after watching one of his now-former players (center Norvel Pelle) play in the GBOA Challenge of Champions at Henderson International School.

Cooper lacked the California teaching credential needed to serve as a full-time staff member at the school.

Cooper said the school had hired a full-time replacement for Russell Otis but wasn't sure who that coach is.

The program's two best prospects who were underclassmen last season, 6-5 Keala King and the 6-8 Pelle, seem likely to be headed to different schools in the fall.

King, the MVP in the San Gabriel Valley last season, has reportedly registered for classes at Mater Dei.

Keith Shamburger, who is scheduled to play for Serra High next season after being ineligible at Cabrillo as a junior (following stops at Dominguez and LaVerne Lutheran), hit a 3-pointer from the left corner to give the California Supreme Black team a 77-76 victory over the New York Panthers -- coached by Orlando Magic point guard (and former Panther) Rafer Alston.

Finally, a good game!

Nick Johnson, a junior to be, and his brother, Chris (who just graduated from Gilbert, Ariz., High) played well for California Supreme.

They are the sons of former Banning standout (and jumper supreme) Joey Johnson and the nephews of the late Dennis Johnson of NBA fame.

They haven't been released yet but here's your chance to look at the opening-day match-ups for the third annual 76 Men's Basketball Classic in the Anaheim Convention Center (Nov. 26-27 & 29):

Long Beach State vs. West Virginia; Texas A&M vs. Clemson; UCLA vs. Portland; Minnesota vs. Butler.

The winners of the LBSU-West Virginia and A&M-Clemson games will play in one semifinal on the second day, with the winners of the UCLA-Portland and Minnesota-Butler games in the other semi.

Team Odom, a Southern California-based squad that includes the likes of Norvel Pelle (Dominguez), Ramon Eaton (Sacramento), Conner Gillett (La Mirada) and Allen Guei and Anthony January of Compton, was just dominated by the New Jersey Playaz.

The New Jersey squad had some very good players who look liked they had been playing together for a long while. The L.A. team's players looked like they'd just been introduced.

Game III, by the way, has been delayed ... a second referee just showed up.

Inland (made up teams from Riverside/San Bernardino areas) just got smacked by 33 points by a pretty good team from Illinois in the GBOA's one-day event at Henderson International School.

Lots of coaches in this very small gym: Tom Crean (Indiana), Mike Brey (Notre Dame), Isiah Thomas (Florida International) . . .

Ben Howland of UCLA and Kevin O'Neill are on the way. Right now they're at Cimarron Memorial High for the adidas Super 64, watching sophomore Shabazz Muhammad.

Well, actually, my day will be spend in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson, where myself and lots and lots of famous college basketball coaches will watch the 11-game schedule during the Grassroots Basketball Organization of America (GBOA . . . naturally) Challenge of Champions at Henderson International School.

Nearly every high-profile college coach -- including Ben Howland (UCLA), Roy Williams (North Carolina), Bill Self (Kansas), Mike Krzyzewski (Duke), Tom Izzo (Michigan State), Jay Wright (Villanova) and John Calipari (Kentucky) -- is expected to be in the building for large portions of the 9 a.m. to (give or take) 11 p.m. schedule.

Traveling teams from the west scheduled to participate are: Inland (vs. Illinois Bobcats/9 a.m.), Team Odom (vs. N.J. Playaz/10:15), Portland's I-5 Elite vs. North Carolina's D1 Sports (2 p.m.), California Supreme vs. D.C. Assault (3:15), Compton Magic vs. SYF Players of Indiana (5:45), Seattle Rotary Select vs. Memphis Magic (7), Belmont Shore vs. Grassroots Canada (8:15).

Be sure to check up my blog updates, as well as my Twitter postings (FrankieBur) and, of, my notebooks in the Press-Telegram (print and on-line versions).

Jesse Scroggins of Lakewood High will be among the dozen top-flight senior-to-be prospects participating next week (July 20-23) at the EA Sports Elite 11 in South Orange County (SOKA University if Aliso Viejo).

Scroggins is joined by two other players invited from California, Tyler Bray (Kingsburg) and Nick Montana (Oaks Christian), who will be among the 12 quarterbacks who will receive instruction from some of the event's alumni who are now standout quarterbacks in the NFL.

Bray (San Diego State) and Montana (Washington) have already committed to college programs and Scroggins is expected to eventually select either USC or Tennessee.

For those of you in the mood for some boys' high school basketball, of a fairly high level . . .

*The Fullcourt Press Cream of the Crop Challenge (traveling teams) is taking place today and Wednesday at Cabrillo High, with some games also played at Lynwood High. Games begin at 8:30 a.m., with the last

The Compton Magic Elite team, which won the Pangos Sweet 16 last week (also at Cabrillo), is particularly well-endowed with talent, including the likes of juniors-to-be Damien Cain (Harvard-Westlake), Dominique Dunning (Corona Centennial) and Wesley Saunders (Windward).

The Compton Magic Black team includes seniors-to-be Deonta Burton (Compton Centennial) and Bryce Jones (Taft).

The adidas/Three Stripes Tournament (also made up of traveling teams) got underway Monday evening at Cal State Dominguez Hills, continued today and wraps up Wednesday with championship games tipping off at 4:30 in the Gold and Silver Divisions.

All-star games were played Monday at CSDH (the second session of the West Coast Camp) and the Hawthorne Athletic Exchange (for the Fullcourt Press All-West Camp).

Some of the more impressive players at each were:
*West Coast Camp: Guards Jordin Mayes and Denzel Douglas (Westchester); Gelaun Wheelright (a junior at Corona Centennial who recently committed to USC); Roschon Prince (a 6-4 freshman at Poly); and Robert Upshaw (a 6-10 sophomore at Fresno Edison).

The best of the 'Cream of the Crop' (Top 30) game at the HAX Monday included Bryce Jones (probably the best prospect in the entire event); Ben Vozzola (a 6-5 point guard at Centennial in Las Vegas); and 6-9 Josh Ritchart (Forest Lake Christian High in Auburn, Calif.)

The final day of competition in the Pangos Summer Sweet 16 boys basketball tournaments takes place Friday at Cabrillo High.

Play begins at 1 o'clock in the Silver Division, with Gold Division contests getting under way at 3:20.

There were some decent matchups Thursday night, most notably in games in which Belmont Shore edged Team Odom.

Among the head college coaches in attendance Thursday: Kevin O'Neill (USC), Lorenzo Romar (Washington), Bobby Braswell (Cal State Northridge) and Tony Barbee (UTEP).

The West Coast All-Star Basketball Camp completed its first session with five all-star games Thursday at Cal State Dominguez HIlls.

A rundown on the area representation:

Frosh/Soph: Landon Drew (5-8 sophomore/Taft); Marqise Lee (6-0 sopomore/Serra).

Junior: Ryan Anderson (6-6 Jr.) and Alexis Moore (6-1 jr.) of Poly; Darius Middleton (6-1 Jr.) of Leuzinger.

Honorable Mention: Tyler Funk (6-0 Sr.) of Orange Lutheran.

Senior Class: Tim Chung (6-3) of Los Alamitos.

Best of the Best: Shelton Boykin (6-4 Sr.) of Poly; Craig Carter (6-3 Sr.) and Steve Hester (6-1 Sr.) of Serra; Tim Douglas (5-8 Sr.) of Mayfair; Brandon Hrboka (6-6 Sr.) of San Pedro; Ryan Okwudibonye (6-7 Sr.) of Ocean View.

The second session of the camp, which gets underway Friday afternoon at 1:30 with all-star games (beginning at 10:20 a.m.) wrapping things up on Monday.

The Pangos/Belmont Shore Sweet 16 Boys' Basketball tournaments get under way this afternoon, with games at both Cabrillo High and Long Beach City College.

Gold (top) Division games begin at 4:30 today.

Here is a link to the brackets:
http://www.fullctpress.net/09sweet16brackets.html

I'll go to the quarterfinals in both divisions (which will be played at Cabrillo, beginning at 6:50 p.m.) on Thursday.

I caught the better part of Tuesday's action at Cal State Dominguez Hills during the Week 1 (Session 1) of the West Coast All-Star Basketball Camp.

My thoughts:
+As expected, the talent level (at least as pertaining to Division I programs) isn't strong and will be much better during Week II (Friday-Monday).
+Shelton Boykin (a 6-4+ senior at Poly High), Robert Upshaw (a 6-10 soph-to-be at Edison in Fresno), Byron Wesley (a 6-3 junior-to-be at Cajon who may be relocating), Spencer Dinwiddie (a 6-2 junior-to-be at Taft), Ryan Anderson (a 6-6 junior at Poly) and Eli Mara (a 6-4 senior from Surrey, British Columbia) were the best prospects I saw a lot of Tuesday.

I'll be back Thursday for the camp all-star games, which get under way at 10:20 a.m. (frosh/soph) and wrapping up with the noon "Best of the Best" contest.

Some of the college coaches I saw/talked to Tuesday: Bob Burton (head honcho at Cal State Fullerton), Jason Levy (Loyola Marymount), Rod Palmer (Long Beach State), Scott Garson (UCLA), Reggie Geary (SMU), Gib Arnold (USC), Senque Carey (Fresno State) and Phil Cullen (Grand Canyon College).

Because of an editing mistake in my column today, Poly High freshman football player David Price Jr.'s father was identified as "Dennis Price".

David Price Jr.'s father's name is David Price. Dennis Price (no relation) was another standout for the Jackrabbits later in the 1980s who went on to play at UCLA and in the NFL.

Apologies all around . . .

I've got three comments on the Lakers' free-agency pickup of Houston's Ron Artest and the Lakers' decision to let Trevor Ariza depart via the same path:

1. Artest is, without question, a better "player" now than Ariza and Ariza isn't likely to ever reach Artest's stature as a "complete" player (Artest handles and passes better; he's much more 'physical'; and he is a superior rebounder and defender).

There is no doubt that in terms of "sheer talent", the Lakers are better off after the "swap".

2. I have a gut feeling that Ariza was made to look like a better player than he actually is while playing for the Lakers. The triangle offense, especially when it possesses components the likes of Michael Jordan and Scotty Pippen or, in the case of the Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom, makes the "support" players much more effective/impressive than they would in other settings.

Will Ariza be as impressive with the Houston Rockets as he was with the Lakers (and wasn't at his first two NBA stops in New York and Orlandoi)? Probably not.

3. Even after explaining my stances on 1 and 2, I'm not sure the Lakers are going to be "better" off in either the short or long terms.

Ariza fit in perfectly in his role with the Lakers. He was the ideal "third, fourth or sometimes fifth option", was a good (if a bit overrated in that regarded by much of the L.A. media) defender and always played with "energy".

Will we be able to say the same things about Artest next season? Will his ego allow to be a near afterthought at times, offensively, when he is on the floor with Bryant, Gasol, Odom (assumes he is re-signed) and/or Andrew Bynum?

Can he keep his temper in check?

It was definitely a role of the player personnel dice by GM Mitch Kupchak and whoever else was involved in that decision making.

But Kupchak & Co. have made a lot of outstanding decisions -- which led to the run the the title -- and they certainly are worthy of every benefit of doubt this time around.