SW MN Heat lost to The Truth/DS All-Stars yesterday afternoon but won a head-head tiebreaker to win their pool at AAU D2 Nationals. They play VA Storm Orange this morning in the round of 32.
MN Glory def Midstate Ballerz 62-57 and then lost 75-65 to Spiece All Indiana in the round of 64 classic bracket.
MN Fury 1-2 in LA.
MN Pump N Run rolling along as they won their pool 3-0 and won 3 all championship bracket games to make the final 8.
Isaiah Zierden playing well in Wisconsin Dells as BSM is playing in a NCAA event with a bunch of Wisconsin teams including the Playground Warriors.
2010 Pacesetter Sweet 16 Preview
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2010 Pacesetter Sweet 16
The 2010-2011 season gets a preview this weekend as the Pacesetter Sweet 16 takes place at St. Benedict's college just outside of St. Cloud. Always a fun event with 4 of the top 4 teams from each class thrown together in a 16 team tournament format. See the full bracket here.
Day 1 features the round of 16 games at 10 and 11:20 AM with the quarters at 3:20 PM Semifinals and championship are Sunday.
Hopkins vs Waconia - Hopkins just too much here. I think they hound Ben Korteum to limit his 3 point looks. Marvin Singleton vs Shelby Moats is arguably the best interior matchup of the tournament.
Windom vs Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa. The Holt twins give Windom size inside and they're 2 of 4 top returnees for the Eagles . Windom only allowed 51.9 points per game last year. BBE was 25-4 last year and was #11 in offense at 71.9 points a game with a top 10 finish in point differential. I'll take BBE.
Apple Valley vs Braham. Guard play on display here as a pair of Howard Pulley teammates go at it. Tyus Jones lead Apple Valley in against Braham's Tyler Vaughan. But these teams aren't 1 man bands. Thomas Schalk is the other major Apple Valley threat. Ben Thiry was a 16 point a game scorer behind Vaughan's 26.7 a night. Expect a fast paced fun game in this one with Apple Valley being too much.
Orono vs Ellsworth. A pair of teams looking to make return trips to state. Jordan Smith leads the way for Orono along with Brady Wohler and the versatile Jeremy Borg. Despite the loss of Trevor Gruis to South Dakota, Ellsworth still has Casey Schilling who had a very nice summer for the South Dakota Heat and shooter Dalton Huisman. Look for Borg to matchup on Schilling. I'll take Orono with their dribble-drive style.
To the bottom half of the bracket and that brings us to Eastview vs Minnesota Transitions. While Kevin Noreen is gone, you may think he's in a different jersey as Eastview has a similar type of player in forward Joey King. While it'd be interesting to see Kyle Noreen or Rodney Owens guard him, MTS is known for nothing but zone and I don't expect anything different here. Tough game to pick but I'll take Eastview with their depth.
Benilde-St. Margaret's loses a stellar senior class but their junior class is loaded. Isaiah Zierden leads that cast of many against Waterville-Elysian-Morristown. WEM was 27-0 last season and then lost in the 2nd round of section play causing many to wonder if they were for real. They may be this year, who knows, but BSM is just that good so I take them to win.
I love the bottom quarter of the bracket. It starts with Lakeville South vs St. Cloud Apollo. Apollo looks to break the Little Falls curse and make a run for a state title with an entire cast returning this year. That includes bull Blake Maslonkowski inside. Lakeville South has their own bull in wing Alex Richter. 2 guys that are very tough to stop when they want to get to the basket. Jon Christenson and Spencer Pankonin will have their hands full defending Maslonkowski and Simon Krych in the post. I like Apollo in a very good game.
Plainview-Elgin-Millville vs Sebeka in a matchup of teams that made state last year. Sebeka returns 3 of their top 5 including John Clark. I hope he gets matched up with Cole Olstad. Hopefully Cole plays well on Saturday with the last day of colleges being able to watch. Another game where pace will be an issue. PEM was tops in AA in points against last year. Sebeka was #6 in points scored in class A. I think Olstad along with PEM's defense put them over the top.
Here are my picks for the rest of the bracket.
Winner's Bracket
Hopkins over BBE
Apple Valley over Orono
BSM over Eastview
Apollo over PEM
Hopkins over Apple Valley (love the idea of Chambers vs Jones)
BSM over Apollo (battle of 2 of 3A's best)
Hopkins over BSM for 1st
Apple Valley over Apollo for 3rd
Consolation Bracket
Waconia over Windom
Braham over Ellsworth (don't we wish that would have happened with Isaiah Dahlman and Cody Schilling)
MTS over WEM
Lakeville South over Sebeka
Braham over Waconia (big style contrast there)
Lakeville South over MTS
Lakeville South over Braham to win the consolation bracket
Waconia over MTS for 3rd in the consolation bracket
Day 1 features the round of 16 games at 10 and 11:20 AM with the quarters at 3:20 PM Semifinals and championship are Sunday.
Hopkins vs Waconia - Hopkins just too much here. I think they hound Ben Korteum to limit his 3 point looks. Marvin Singleton vs Shelby Moats is arguably the best interior matchup of the tournament.
Windom vs Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa. The Holt twins give Windom size inside and they're 2 of 4 top returnees for the Eagles . Windom only allowed 51.9 points per game last year. BBE was 25-4 last year and was #11 in offense at 71.9 points a game with a top 10 finish in point differential. I'll take BBE.
Apple Valley vs Braham. Guard play on display here as a pair of Howard Pulley teammates go at it. Tyus Jones lead Apple Valley in against Braham's Tyler Vaughan. But these teams aren't 1 man bands. Thomas Schalk is the other major Apple Valley threat. Ben Thiry was a 16 point a game scorer behind Vaughan's 26.7 a night. Expect a fast paced fun game in this one with Apple Valley being too much.
Orono vs Ellsworth. A pair of teams looking to make return trips to state. Jordan Smith leads the way for Orono along with Brady Wohler and the versatile Jeremy Borg. Despite the loss of Trevor Gruis to South Dakota, Ellsworth still has Casey Schilling who had a very nice summer for the South Dakota Heat and shooter Dalton Huisman. Look for Borg to matchup on Schilling. I'll take Orono with their dribble-drive style.
To the bottom half of the bracket and that brings us to Eastview vs Minnesota Transitions. While Kevin Noreen is gone, you may think he's in a different jersey as Eastview has a similar type of player in forward Joey King. While it'd be interesting to see Kyle Noreen or Rodney Owens guard him, MTS is known for nothing but zone and I don't expect anything different here. Tough game to pick but I'll take Eastview with their depth.
Benilde-St. Margaret's loses a stellar senior class but their junior class is loaded. Isaiah Zierden leads that cast of many against Waterville-Elysian-Morristown. WEM was 27-0 last season and then lost in the 2nd round of section play causing many to wonder if they were for real. They may be this year, who knows, but BSM is just that good so I take them to win.
I love the bottom quarter of the bracket. It starts with Lakeville South vs St. Cloud Apollo. Apollo looks to break the Little Falls curse and make a run for a state title with an entire cast returning this year. That includes bull Blake Maslonkowski inside. Lakeville South has their own bull in wing Alex Richter. 2 guys that are very tough to stop when they want to get to the basket. Jon Christenson and Spencer Pankonin will have their hands full defending Maslonkowski and Simon Krych in the post. I like Apollo in a very good game.
Plainview-Elgin-Millville vs Sebeka in a matchup of teams that made state last year. Sebeka returns 3 of their top 5 including John Clark. I hope he gets matched up with Cole Olstad. Hopefully Cole plays well on Saturday with the last day of colleges being able to watch. Another game where pace will be an issue. PEM was tops in AA in points against last year. Sebeka was #6 in points scored in class A. I think Olstad along with PEM's defense put them over the top.
Here are my picks for the rest of the bracket.
Winner's Bracket
Hopkins over BBE
Apple Valley over Orono
BSM over Eastview
Apollo over PEM
Hopkins over Apple Valley (love the idea of Chambers vs Jones)
BSM over Apollo (battle of 2 of 3A's best)
Hopkins over BSM for 1st
Apple Valley over Apollo for 3rd
Consolation Bracket
Waconia over Windom
Braham over Ellsworth (don't we wish that would have happened with Isaiah Dahlman and Cody Schilling)
MTS over WEM
Lakeville South over Sebeka
Braham over Waconia (big style contrast there)
Lakeville South over MTS
Lakeville South over Braham to win the consolation bracket
Waconia over MTS for 3rd in the consolation bracket
More results from the end of summer
In Orlando, Heat Elite 16s were knocked out of the Classic Bracket with a 54-47 loss to All Ohio Black in the round of 32.
MN Glory 17s lost 75-50 to WV Wildcats Select 17s to finish 0-3 in their pool. They open Classic Bracket play this morning against Midstate Ballerz.
SW MN Heat are 2-0 in their pool in D2 nationals. They defeated Southeastern Athletes 58-55. They play this afternoon for the pool title.
At the Desert Duel in Phoenix, Net Gain's 16s played up with Tor Anderson and some of the Comets 17s (Moten, Hinrichs). They lost their opener 62-46 to NJ Playaz. They beat the Carolina Cobras 63-56 and then lost 64-56 to Franchise All-Starz.
Pump N Run 16s def Ohio Basketball Club 71-49 in LA. The PNR 17s steamrolled Total Package 70-22
MN Glory 17s lost 75-50 to WV Wildcats Select 17s to finish 0-3 in their pool. They open Classic Bracket play this morning against Midstate Ballerz.
SW MN Heat are 2-0 in their pool in D2 nationals. They defeated Southeastern Athletes 58-55. They play this afternoon for the pool title.
At the Desert Duel in Phoenix, Net Gain's 16s played up with Tor Anderson and some of the Comets 17s (Moten, Hinrichs). They lost their opener 62-46 to NJ Playaz. They beat the Carolina Cobras 63-56 and then lost 64-56 to Franchise All-Starz.
Pump N Run 16s def Ohio Basketball Club 71-49 in LA. The PNR 17s steamrolled Total Package 70-22
Start of 17U AAU Nationals in Orlando
Heat Elite 16s lost their 2nd game to Richmond Metro Gold 54-50 and then pulled the upset of Rising Stars Gold 53-51. Thanks to tiebreaks the Heat were 1-2 but finished 4th in the pool.
They opened classic bracket play with a 58-35 win over the Westchester Hawks to advance to the round of 32 tomorrow.
Minnesota Glory 17s lost their opener 69-68 to the Memphis Hawg and then lost 83-76 to Seaport Shockers. They finish pool play tomorrow against the West Virginia Wildcats who won both their pool games today.
The SW MN Heat opened play in division 2 AAU nationals tonight with a late game.
They opened classic bracket play with a 58-35 win over the Westchester Hawks to advance to the round of 32 tomorrow.
Minnesota Glory 17s lost their opener 69-68 to the Memphis Hawg and then lost 83-76 to Seaport Shockers. They finish pool play tomorrow against the West Virginia Wildcats who won both their pool games today.
The SW MN Heat opened play in division 2 AAU nationals tonight with a late game.
Wrapping up Vegas plus non Vegas scores
Scores from Sunday action in Las Vegas in the top bracket and final results for some of the teams that didn't make the top bracket.
17U
Minnesota Pump N Run defeated M33M 82-63 in the round of 32, then lost 66-53 in a grudge match to Indiana Elite in the round of 16.
43 Hoops beat DC Assault 43-42 and then they lost again to Dream Vision 65-62. That game was also in the round of 16.
Memphis Magic and Pump N Run Elite (I think its the same squad) who played in the Best Buy Summer Classic are in the final 4.
Comets Hanson lost in the opening round of the Gold bracket to the Grand Rapids Storm.
Fury Gold/Heat Elite/Magic Elite lost in the round of 32 in the Gold bracket to Top Achievers Pistons
Comets Seevers lost in the opening round of the Silver bracket to 4PO Elite
16U
43 Hoops defeated Devin Harris Superstars 50-35 then lost to Team Indiana/Indiana Elite 77-58 in the quarterfinals of the championship bracket.
Fury 16s are currently playing NM Force in the final 8 of the Gold bracket as they've defeated the Tracy Hurricanes and Colorado Titans.
Comets Stock lost to Basketball Stars of America in the opening round of the Gold bracket.
15U
Minnesota Pump N Run Maroon loses 83-45 to the Arkansas Hawks in the round of 32.
The season is done for everyone in Vegas except Pump N Run as they move on to LA for the Best of Summer Classic.
Orlando
At the AAU Super Showcase, Magic Culp? 16s finished 1-2 and 3rd in their pool. They lost to NJ Shoreshots Select and Brookwood Elite. They defeated CF Elite Bobcats. They then lost their bracket opener to NJ Roadrunners.
MN Glory 17s and MN Heat Elite 16s are at AAU Nationals in Orlando.
Heat Elite 16s lost their opener 47-46 to Bull City Select. Glory opens play on Tuesday.
Kansas City Hoop City Classic
Howard Pulley 17 White lost their bracket opener to Spiece Select yesterday.
Howard Pulley 17 Blue was in the semifinals vs MeanStreets this morning as they've been rolling behind quality play from Isaiah Zierden and Marvin Singleton.
17U
Minnesota Pump N Run defeated M33M 82-63 in the round of 32, then lost 66-53 in a grudge match to Indiana Elite in the round of 16.
43 Hoops beat DC Assault 43-42 and then they lost again to Dream Vision 65-62. That game was also in the round of 16.
Memphis Magic and Pump N Run Elite (I think its the same squad) who played in the Best Buy Summer Classic are in the final 4.
Comets Hanson lost in the opening round of the Gold bracket to the Grand Rapids Storm.
Fury Gold/Heat Elite/Magic Elite lost in the round of 32 in the Gold bracket to Top Achievers Pistons
Comets Seevers lost in the opening round of the Silver bracket to 4PO Elite
16U
43 Hoops defeated Devin Harris Superstars 50-35 then lost to Team Indiana/Indiana Elite 77-58 in the quarterfinals of the championship bracket.
Fury 16s are currently playing NM Force in the final 8 of the Gold bracket as they've defeated the Tracy Hurricanes and Colorado Titans.
Comets Stock lost to Basketball Stars of America in the opening round of the Gold bracket.
15U
Minnesota Pump N Run Maroon loses 83-45 to the Arkansas Hawks in the round of 32.
The season is done for everyone in Vegas except Pump N Run as they move on to LA for the Best of Summer Classic.
Orlando
At the AAU Super Showcase, Magic Culp? 16s finished 1-2 and 3rd in their pool. They lost to NJ Shoreshots Select and Brookwood Elite. They defeated CF Elite Bobcats. They then lost their bracket opener to NJ Roadrunners.
MN Glory 17s and MN Heat Elite 16s are at AAU Nationals in Orlando.
Heat Elite 16s lost their opener 47-46 to Bull City Select. Glory opens play on Tuesday.
Kansas City Hoop City Classic
Howard Pulley 17 White lost their bracket opener to Spiece Select yesterday.
Howard Pulley 17 Blue was in the semifinals vs MeanStreets this morning as they've been rolling behind quality play from Isaiah Zierden and Marvin Singleton.
2010 Day 3 in Vegas Results
(NOTE: Post updated 11:30 PM Central 7/24)
Cleaning up some results from Friday night
In 17U, Fury Blue def Total Package Blue 62-48 to win their pool.
In 16U, Comets Elite lost 62-55 to Devin Harris Superstars in their championship bracket pigtail game. PNR lost 67-54 to Dream Vision in the same scenario. 43 Hoops saved Minnesota in the pigtail games with a 54-45 win over Arizona Premier Elite.
Now to the Saturday games
17U
16U
15U
Minnesota Pump N Run defeated Las Vegas Sankofa 58-34 to win their pool with a 3-0 record. They then defeated Arizona Premier in the 1st round of bracket play. They face the Arkansas Hawks in the round of 32.
Cleaning up some results from Friday night
In 17U, Fury Blue def Total Package Blue 62-48 to win their pool.
In 16U, Comets Elite lost 62-55 to Devin Harris Superstars in their championship bracket pigtail game. PNR lost 67-54 to Dream Vision in the same scenario. 43 Hoops saved Minnesota in the pigtail games with a 54-45 win over Arizona Premier Elite.
Now to the Saturday games
17U
- Fury Blue got bounced in their pigtail game of the championship bracket 71-40 by Houston Hoopstars
- Comets Hanson lost to AZ Magic PNR Williams 81-63
- Fury Gold/Heat Elite lost to Houston Select 71-57 dashing any hopes they had of a pool title.
- 43 Hoops won their pigtail game in the championship bracket. That was a 71-55 win over TNL Admirals. They defeated Houston Elite 78-53 to move to the round of 32 vs DC Assault. With a win they could get a grudge match against Dream Vision who knocked them out of the top bracket in Indianapolis during the early period. But it won't be easy. DC Assault added stud Sidiki Johnson to the roster. 2012 stud Shabazz Muhammed just went for 52 in a game today for Dream Vision.
- PNR won their bracket opener 67-49 over the WI Starz. They'll play M33M in the round of 32 with the winner of Indiana Elite/Detroit stars on tap in games tomorrow
16U
- MN Southside loses 62-61 to Team AZ Stars-Korver in the round of 32 of the championship bracket.
- 43 Hoops moves to the round of 16 tomorrow as they defeated Upstate Basketball Club 54-50. They'll play the Devin Harris Super Stars. With a win, 43 Hoops would get the winner of Grand Rapids Storm and Indiana Elite/Team Indiana in the quarters tomorrow.
15U
Minnesota Pump N Run defeated Las Vegas Sankofa 58-34 to win their pool with a 3-0 record. They then defeated Arizona Premier in the 1st round of bracket play. They face the Arkansas Hawks in the round of 32.
2010 Day 2 in Vegas Results
Thursday's late results include another blowout for the 43 Hoops 17s. 91-36 over Nor Cal Outlawz Orange. 2 wins by an average of 55.5 ppg, oh my. Comets Elite 16s lost 67-65 to Nevada CC Wolverines.
Friday Results
17U
16U
Pump N Run Maroon def Team Philly 43-40 They'll play tomorrow afternoon for the pool title against a Las Vegas team.
Friday Results
17U
- Comets Seevers finishes 0-3 in pool with a 79-46 loss to Gulf Coast Blue Chips
- Comets Hanson def Texas Cagers 65-43. At 2-0, they'll play in the morning for the pool title.
- Fury Blue wins another close one with a 66-65 win over Nor Cal PNR Black and was playing Total Package Blue for the pool title.
- Fury Gold/Heat Elite lost 51-49 to pyo allstars. They finish pool play tomorrow morning against Houston Select. Fury Gold can still win the pool via tiebreakers with a win
- 43 Hoops def the top Bound 4 Glory squad 67-49 to sweep their pool at 3-0. They enter the championship bracket with a pigtail game in the morning. With 2 wins tomorrow, they could play DC Assault and Quinn Cook on Sunday morning.
- MN PNR def NW Panthers 64-57 and Urban DFW Elite 57-55. They go 3-0 to win their pool. They play the WI Starz in the round of 64 to start bracket play. Then on Sunday the winner of Florida Rams/M33M Elite lurks with the next game possibly being a rematch with Indiana Elite or a matchup with a Virginia Assault squad that defeated 43 Hoops for the Gold Bracket title in Indianapolis 2 weeks ago.
16U
- MN PNR def DC Assault White 57-53 to finish 2-1 and win their pool. Currently playing against Dream Vision in opening round of championship bracket.
- Comets Blue def Jamestown Elite 70-68 to finish 2-1 in their pool (2nd place). They're playing Devin Harris Superstars in a championship bracket pigtail game.
- Comets Stock loses 61-54 to Tulsa Elite and def Triple Threat 62-57 to finish 1-2 in pool play.
- Fury lost 55-46 to RBLA and def NJ ShoreShots 65-47 to also finish 1-2 in pool play.
- MN Southside def Legend HS 59-36 and The Blue Squad 63-17. They go 3-0 and easily win their pool. They earn a bye to the round of 32 in the championship bracket.
- 43 Hoops def Emerald City Pioneers 63-48 to finish 1-1 in their pool (2-1 with a forfeit win). That placed them 2nd in the pool. They're playing in a championship bracket pigtail game against Arizona Premier Elite. With wins late tonight and tomorrow afternoon, Comets Elite could meet 43 in a round of 16 game. Southside would line up in a semifinal on that side of the bracket. Pump N Run is on the other side.
Pump N Run Maroon def Team Philly 43-40 They'll play tomorrow afternoon for the pool title against a Las Vegas team.
2010 Day 1 in Vegas Results
Results for Minnesota teams from opening day at the Adidas Super 64
17U
Comets Seevers loses to WI Starz 59-43 and Bay Area Heat 67-59
Comets Hanson def REACH Legends 79-64
Fury Blue def Tru-Playaz BB Club 53-48
Fury Gold/Heat Elite def Lakeshow 69-65
43 Hoops def Shining Stars White 100-44 and had a late game
PNR def So Cal All-Stars #1 65-64
16U
PNR lost to Urban DFW 59-56 and defeated Colorado Chaos 68-43
Fury lost to Eric Gordon All-Stars 70-40
Comets Elite def 707 Finest 56-45 and had a late game
Comets Stock lost to Upstate Basketball Club 71-65
43 Hoops won by forfeit and lost to Utah Pump N Run Red 51-49
Minnesota Southside won 72-56 over Southeast Elite
15U
PNR Maroon def Edge Basketball International 61-26
Duez Henderson's Bound 4 Glory 15s win 69-41 over Shining Stars Black
17U
Comets Seevers loses to WI Starz 59-43 and Bay Area Heat 67-59
Comets Hanson def REACH Legends 79-64
Fury Blue def Tru-Playaz BB Club 53-48
Fury Gold/Heat Elite def Lakeshow 69-65
43 Hoops def Shining Stars White 100-44 and had a late game
PNR def So Cal All-Stars #1 65-64
16U
PNR lost to Urban DFW 59-56 and defeated Colorado Chaos 68-43
Fury lost to Eric Gordon All-Stars 70-40
Comets Elite def 707 Finest 56-45 and had a late game
Comets Stock lost to Upstate Basketball Club 71-65
43 Hoops won by forfeit and lost to Utah Pump N Run Red 51-49
Minnesota Southside won 72-56 over Southeast Elite
15U
PNR Maroon def Edge Basketball International 61-26
Duez Henderson's Bound 4 Glory 15s win 69-41 over Shining Stars Black
Time to roll the dice
Its that wonderful time of year where a huge portion of the basketball world gathers in Las Vegas for the biggest recruiting bonanza on the planet. A different year this year with the Reebok Summer Championships and Nike Main Event not on the schedule this year. But that still leaves the Adidas Super 64 and that's where most of our teams are at. 13 different venues in use with games starting at 9 AM local time on Thursday.
The format is 32 teams from 8 4-team pools that all automatically qualify for the championship bracket. Then there are 40 other pools where the winners qualify for the championship bracket. Minnesota Pump N Run takes a spot in Super Pool E. For whatever reason, 43 Hoops not only didn't get a super pool spot, but is in 1 of the 16 pools that will have to play an extra game just to make the final 64. Those pigtail games are Saturday at 11:40 AM local time.
The Minnesota teams start in the very first session with Comets Seevers taking on the Wisconsin Starz. Nice to go all the way to Vegas and find a team that has played here in both Pump N Run events. 43 Hoops also comes across a team that has played locally as the top team from Bound 4 Glory is in their pool.
Minnesota Fury Blue is another local team that has to play the extra game if they qualify for the championship bracket. They have 3 western teams in their pool. While Heat Elite is listed, I think that team is Fury Gold. Comets Hanson takes a spot in the last pool.
Possible bracket games include the following.
Comets Seevers vs PNR in the round of 64 if both teams win their pool.
Fury Blue vs 43 Hoops in the quarters
Minnesota Southside is in the 16s bracket.
Minnesota Select is in the Ultimate Swoosh Showcase in Vegas
Howard Pulley has both of their teams in the invite division of the Hoop City Classic in Kansas City.
Minnesota Suns 16s are also in Kansas City.
The format is 32 teams from 8 4-team pools that all automatically qualify for the championship bracket. Then there are 40 other pools where the winners qualify for the championship bracket. Minnesota Pump N Run takes a spot in Super Pool E. For whatever reason, 43 Hoops not only didn't get a super pool spot, but is in 1 of the 16 pools that will have to play an extra game just to make the final 64. Those pigtail games are Saturday at 11:40 AM local time.
The Minnesota teams start in the very first session with Comets Seevers taking on the Wisconsin Starz. Nice to go all the way to Vegas and find a team that has played here in both Pump N Run events. 43 Hoops also comes across a team that has played locally as the top team from Bound 4 Glory is in their pool.
Minnesota Fury Blue is another local team that has to play the extra game if they qualify for the championship bracket. They have 3 western teams in their pool. While Heat Elite is listed, I think that team is Fury Gold. Comets Hanson takes a spot in the last pool.
Possible bracket games include the following.
Comets Seevers vs PNR in the round of 64 if both teams win their pool.
Fury Blue vs 43 Hoops in the quarters
Minnesota Southside is in the 16s bracket.
Minnesota Select is in the Ultimate Swoosh Showcase in Vegas
Howard Pulley has both of their teams in the invite division of the Hoop City Classic in Kansas City.
Minnesota Suns 16s are also in Kansas City.
2010 Best Buy Summer Classic All-Tourney Team
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2010 Best Buy Summer Classic
Based on the games and teams I saw, here's my 2010 Best Buy Summer Classic All Tournament Team
Ky Madden (MVP) - Arkansas Wings
Aaron Ross - Arkansas Wings
Adonis Thomas - Memphis Magic
Cody Zeller - Indiana Elite
Quinn Cook - DC Assault
Nigel Williams Goss - California Pump N Run
Jarion Henry - Dallas Showtyme
Roosevelt Scott - Minnesota Pump N Run
The Webcasts
Here are links to the games that I announced for Webcast America during the tournament. All are from the 17U division and the games were outstanding (if not my commentary).
Indiana Elite vs Arkansas Wings (tourney champs) - Super Pool opener for both teams.
Memphis Magic vs St. Louis Game Face- Super Pool D game
Minnesota Pump N Run vs Indiana Elite - Platnium bracket quarterfinal and one of the infamous power outage games.
The crew from Webcast America has 30 games from the tournament that can be viewed including the championship games. For a full list of the games, click here.
Ky Madden (MVP) - Arkansas Wings
Aaron Ross - Arkansas Wings
Adonis Thomas - Memphis Magic
Cody Zeller - Indiana Elite
Quinn Cook - DC Assault
Nigel Williams Goss - California Pump N Run
Jarion Henry - Dallas Showtyme
Roosevelt Scott - Minnesota Pump N Run
The Webcasts
Here are links to the games that I announced for Webcast America during the tournament. All are from the 17U division and the games were outstanding (if not my commentary).
Indiana Elite vs Arkansas Wings (tourney champs) - Super Pool opener for both teams.
Memphis Magic vs St. Louis Game Face- Super Pool D game
Minnesota Pump N Run vs Indiana Elite - Platnium bracket quarterfinal and one of the infamous power outage games.
The crew from Webcast America has 30 games from the tournament that can be viewed including the championship games. For a full list of the games, click here.
2010 Best Buy Summer Classic Champions
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2010 Best Buy Summer Classic
To championship day at the 2010 Best Buy Summer Classic. A very hectic day thanks to last night's power outage that interrupted 1 set of games and postponed another entire set. In the top brackets, the Minnesota Pump N Run 16s were in the early quarterfinal and managed to get their game in.
I started with the conclusion of the Indiana Elite vs Minnesota Pump N Run 17U quarterfinal. The last 1:20 was added to the 2nd half so we play a 17:20 second half. Pump N Run ahead late but Jeremiah Davis with a pair of long 3s to keep Indiana Elite in it. A crazy sequence late. With 30 seconds left and PNR up 66-60, Davis hits the first of the 2 3s from about 25-30 feet. In the process, Shelby Moats gets called for pushing Zeller on the rebound. Zeller has the bonus and he makes 1 of 2 to cut the lead to 2. After PNR scores, Davis with another 3. Then Roosevelt Scott gets trapped on the inbounds pass and his return pass appears to go off an Indiana leg but instead Indiana gets possession under their own rim with about 10 seconds left. Cody Zeller catches the inbound under the basket but misses a contested layup with 5 seconds left that would have tied it. Tyler then tied up on the inbounds by Davis and the arrow goes to Indiana Elite. Yogi Ferrell catches and has a great look at a 3 at the buzzer and its no good. PNR moves on with a 69-67 win. 5 players in double figures for Pump N Run. Jonah Travis 15. Zeller with 20 but 12 of those were early in the game last night.
The Heat Elite 16s took on Team Eleate in the 16U quarters. 72-70 Heat up and shooting the 2nd of 2 free throws with 5 seconds left as they cling to a lead. Nobody on the lane for the Heat and somehow Josh Tismer is able to rebound his own miss. He gets fouled and makes 2 more freebies to clinch a 74-70 Heat win. Team Eleate coach would have made a sailor blush with his language regarding that play. Very upset with his team for giving up that rebound and rightfully so.
The Indiana Elite vs MN Pump N Run 15s semi proved to be very good, but who would have thunk that the Grassroots vs All Iowa Attack game would be even better. Nick Anderson was very hard to contain off the dribble for Grassroots. So despite the brilliance of Peter Jok (especially in the 2nd half), All Iowa Attack needed a pair of Jok freebies late in OT to win 71-66. Indiana Elite won the other semi 68-59 over PNR in a quality game.
Meanwhile the Heat Elite 16s gave the Atlanta Celtics all they wanted. Heat lead 17-15 midway through the 1st half before giving up a 9-0 run and you think the Celtics have flipped the switch and will run away. Hold the phone. The Heat come back and only trail 39-38 at the half. The Celtics did manage to finally win 83-68. Shaq Goodwin might be the #68 player in the nation, but the Heat's Zach Meyer (White Bear Lake) was an absolute monster inside going up against the bigger and more athletic Celtics frontline. He finished with around 25 points in the game and you could reasonable say he played the best game of anybody in that one. Solid performance by the PNR 16s in the other semi to beat a very solid Iowa Barnstormers team 65-58.
Then the 17U semis and California Pump N Run had a surprisingly comfortable victory over Minnesota PNR. Cali wins 75-60 as our local guys found it very difficult to score. Jonah Travis with his usual effort but going against big size like 6'11 mountain Kyle Caudill (former AZ State commit) makes his life very difficult and he had no help in this one. Roosevelt Scott showed that he can be a real defensive demon with his athletic ability as he forced numerous turnovers. Minnesota quickly got down 15 in the first half but fought back to get the game under double digits but never really threatened to take the lead.
Peter Jok and All Iowa Elite handle Indiana Elite 83-68 to win the 15U championship.
In the 16U game, the Atlanta Celtics are a machine. 12-1 start before MN PNR can score a field goal. Jordan Adams 27 points, Shaq Goodwin 12 points as they both played above the rim. Adams did most anything he wanted as there was no answer for him. PNR used 3 point makes to stay somewhat close, but long misses equaled quick runouts for layups going the other way. Celtics win 81-67 but that doesn't reflect the level of dominance. Carnell Sheppard with 17 points to lead PNR.
Arkansas Wings lead most of the way and defeat California Pump N Run 74-66 for the 17U title.
Coming up later, the all tournament team and links to the webcasts that I did during the tournament.
I started with the conclusion of the Indiana Elite vs Minnesota Pump N Run 17U quarterfinal. The last 1:20 was added to the 2nd half so we play a 17:20 second half. Pump N Run ahead late but Jeremiah Davis with a pair of long 3s to keep Indiana Elite in it. A crazy sequence late. With 30 seconds left and PNR up 66-60, Davis hits the first of the 2 3s from about 25-30 feet. In the process, Shelby Moats gets called for pushing Zeller on the rebound. Zeller has the bonus and he makes 1 of 2 to cut the lead to 2. After PNR scores, Davis with another 3. Then Roosevelt Scott gets trapped on the inbounds pass and his return pass appears to go off an Indiana leg but instead Indiana gets possession under their own rim with about 10 seconds left. Cody Zeller catches the inbound under the basket but misses a contested layup with 5 seconds left that would have tied it. Tyler then tied up on the inbounds by Davis and the arrow goes to Indiana Elite. Yogi Ferrell catches and has a great look at a 3 at the buzzer and its no good. PNR moves on with a 69-67 win. 5 players in double figures for Pump N Run. Jonah Travis 15. Zeller with 20 but 12 of those were early in the game last night.
The Heat Elite 16s took on Team Eleate in the 16U quarters. 72-70 Heat up and shooting the 2nd of 2 free throws with 5 seconds left as they cling to a lead. Nobody on the lane for the Heat and somehow Josh Tismer is able to rebound his own miss. He gets fouled and makes 2 more freebies to clinch a 74-70 Heat win. Team Eleate coach would have made a sailor blush with his language regarding that play. Very upset with his team for giving up that rebound and rightfully so.
The Indiana Elite vs MN Pump N Run 15s semi proved to be very good, but who would have thunk that the Grassroots vs All Iowa Attack game would be even better. Nick Anderson was very hard to contain off the dribble for Grassroots. So despite the brilliance of Peter Jok (especially in the 2nd half), All Iowa Attack needed a pair of Jok freebies late in OT to win 71-66. Indiana Elite won the other semi 68-59 over PNR in a quality game.
Meanwhile the Heat Elite 16s gave the Atlanta Celtics all they wanted. Heat lead 17-15 midway through the 1st half before giving up a 9-0 run and you think the Celtics have flipped the switch and will run away. Hold the phone. The Heat come back and only trail 39-38 at the half. The Celtics did manage to finally win 83-68. Shaq Goodwin might be the #68 player in the nation, but the Heat's Zach Meyer (White Bear Lake) was an absolute monster inside going up against the bigger and more athletic Celtics frontline. He finished with around 25 points in the game and you could reasonable say he played the best game of anybody in that one. Solid performance by the PNR 16s in the other semi to beat a very solid Iowa Barnstormers team 65-58.
Then the 17U semis and California Pump N Run had a surprisingly comfortable victory over Minnesota PNR. Cali wins 75-60 as our local guys found it very difficult to score. Jonah Travis with his usual effort but going against big size like 6'11 mountain Kyle Caudill (former AZ State commit) makes his life very difficult and he had no help in this one. Roosevelt Scott showed that he can be a real defensive demon with his athletic ability as he forced numerous turnovers. Minnesota quickly got down 15 in the first half but fought back to get the game under double digits but never really threatened to take the lead.
Peter Jok and All Iowa Elite handle Indiana Elite 83-68 to win the 15U championship.
In the 16U game, the Atlanta Celtics are a machine. 12-1 start before MN PNR can score a field goal. Jordan Adams 27 points, Shaq Goodwin 12 points as they both played above the rim. Adams did most anything he wanted as there was no answer for him. PNR used 3 point makes to stay somewhat close, but long misses equaled quick runouts for layups going the other way. Celtics win 81-67 but that doesn't reflect the level of dominance. Carnell Sheppard with 17 points to lead PNR.
Arkansas Wings lead most of the way and defeat California Pump N Run 74-66 for the 17U title.
Coming up later, the all tournament team and links to the webcasts that I did during the tournament.
Day 2 of the 2010 Best Buy Summer Classic
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2010 Best Buy Summer Classic
So after a 15 hour day in the sweltering heat of the Jefferson main gym and the activity center, I slacked off and managed to get some rest at Dacha de Czar and only managed 9 hours in the gym today (short of expectations but more on that later). But upon arrival we find out that the main gym is even more of a sauna than yesterday (thank you mother nature).
Fury Blue opens my day with a 54-51 win over Grassroots Canada. Despite no Myck Kabongo for Canada, still another nice resume win for Fury Blue. Game 2 was a stubborn Wrath team falling 64-59 to DC Assault. Dylan Stewart 16 points and a great day as the 1 athlete who could matchup. That prompted one of the Meanstreets coaches (playing in the next game) to ask me who was looking at him. Needless to say, he had to jump on the radar screen for somebody today.
At this point, the main gym is unbearable and almost unplayable with the floor resembling a slip and slide. But its the game of the day with Memphis Magic taking on Indiana Elite in a round of 16 game that could easily be a final. Andre Hollins (Rivals #150) goes off in the 2nd half for 26 points on my sheet. Cody Zeller another productive day of 21 points. Back and forth game and Indiana looked like they'd pull away. Memphis has a chance to go full court with 5 seconds left down 3. Their inbound pass is tipped away and goes out of bounds under the basket with 1 second left. So Memphis is a BLOB play away from tying the game. But their inbound goes to a big who nails a 15 footer at the buzzer. That doesn't help and Indiana hangs on for the 75-74 win.
Fury Blue then easily def Grassroots MN in another round of 16 game. With Seantrel Henderson playing along side Jordan Hughes and Louis Cox et al, that's a bad loss on paper for the seniors. Thankfully Seantrel didn't slip due to the humidity and get injured. Simply put, I think he's making a really foolish mistake by spending anytime on a basketball court (either at this or at the Pulley Pro-Am) as he's likely putting millions of dollars on the line. Hopefully a responsible adult who he respects will make sure he understands that.
Then its off to spend some time flipping between courts to watch the 16s play their round of 16 games. With the Memphis/Indiana game running so late, Pump N Run and PrymeTyme had already won their games. WOTN and the Iowa Barnstormers rolled to easy wins in their games. James Harrington of the Barnstormers (Indiana State offer) gave Heat Red fits in the win. Heat Elite really struggled to beat the CS Bulldogs squad. Team Eleate showcased 2014 point guard Jeremy Lieberman. I can see why people are high on him. He's not the pure point guard that Tyus Jones is, but he's a better athlete and a better shooter. They pulled away to easily beat Old Gold. Finally, the Atlanta Celtics put on a dunk fest against California Pump N Run and Team Detroit took care of the SW MN Stars. Stars 6'7 forward Kyle Kilgore (Adrian) had a couple of nice moments in the game. He's a slightly more athletic version of Joey King but not as skilled or strong.
Then a really good one between tNBA and the PNR 15s. Tubby Smith on hand to watch Darrion Strong, but one couldn't help but be impressed by tNBA lefty point guard Grant Schaeffer. tNBA held a 10 point lead in the 2nd half but PNR was able to force overtime and then win by 2. tNBA isn't flashy and they don't have any big names, but a very united team squad that gives team fits. Think of a 15U version of the Wrath.
I missed the end of the game to go call the PNR vs Indiana Elite quarterfinal game. A shame because the clock got reset and I could have seen much more of it. A back and forth 1st half with Cody Zeller dominating early but Shelby Moats showed up inside. Then just before halftime, the whole west part of Bloomington loses power. The gym goes dark and after a delay to determine that we won't get things done tonight, everybody can go home.
The 810 PM games will resume at 8 AM from the point of stoppage on the same courts. Then the 920 PM games will be played. Then the regular schedule of semifinals and finals will resume.
Fury Blue opens my day with a 54-51 win over Grassroots Canada. Despite no Myck Kabongo for Canada, still another nice resume win for Fury Blue. Game 2 was a stubborn Wrath team falling 64-59 to DC Assault. Dylan Stewart 16 points and a great day as the 1 athlete who could matchup. That prompted one of the Meanstreets coaches (playing in the next game) to ask me who was looking at him. Needless to say, he had to jump on the radar screen for somebody today.
At this point, the main gym is unbearable and almost unplayable with the floor resembling a slip and slide. But its the game of the day with Memphis Magic taking on Indiana Elite in a round of 16 game that could easily be a final. Andre Hollins (Rivals #150) goes off in the 2nd half for 26 points on my sheet. Cody Zeller another productive day of 21 points. Back and forth game and Indiana looked like they'd pull away. Memphis has a chance to go full court with 5 seconds left down 3. Their inbound pass is tipped away and goes out of bounds under the basket with 1 second left. So Memphis is a BLOB play away from tying the game. But their inbound goes to a big who nails a 15 footer at the buzzer. That doesn't help and Indiana hangs on for the 75-74 win.
Fury Blue then easily def Grassroots MN in another round of 16 game. With Seantrel Henderson playing along side Jordan Hughes and Louis Cox et al, that's a bad loss on paper for the seniors. Thankfully Seantrel didn't slip due to the humidity and get injured. Simply put, I think he's making a really foolish mistake by spending anytime on a basketball court (either at this or at the Pulley Pro-Am) as he's likely putting millions of dollars on the line. Hopefully a responsible adult who he respects will make sure he understands that.
Then its off to spend some time flipping between courts to watch the 16s play their round of 16 games. With the Memphis/Indiana game running so late, Pump N Run and PrymeTyme had already won their games. WOTN and the Iowa Barnstormers rolled to easy wins in their games. James Harrington of the Barnstormers (Indiana State offer) gave Heat Red fits in the win. Heat Elite really struggled to beat the CS Bulldogs squad. Team Eleate showcased 2014 point guard Jeremy Lieberman. I can see why people are high on him. He's not the pure point guard that Tyus Jones is, but he's a better athlete and a better shooter. They pulled away to easily beat Old Gold. Finally, the Atlanta Celtics put on a dunk fest against California Pump N Run and Team Detroit took care of the SW MN Stars. Stars 6'7 forward Kyle Kilgore (Adrian) had a couple of nice moments in the game. He's a slightly more athletic version of Joey King but not as skilled or strong.
Then a really good one between tNBA and the PNR 15s. Tubby Smith on hand to watch Darrion Strong, but one couldn't help but be impressed by tNBA lefty point guard Grant Schaeffer. tNBA held a 10 point lead in the 2nd half but PNR was able to force overtime and then win by 2. tNBA isn't flashy and they don't have any big names, but a very united team squad that gives team fits. Think of a 15U version of the Wrath.
I missed the end of the game to go call the PNR vs Indiana Elite quarterfinal game. A shame because the clock got reset and I could have seen much more of it. A back and forth 1st half with Cody Zeller dominating early but Shelby Moats showed up inside. Then just before halftime, the whole west part of Bloomington loses power. The gym goes dark and after a delay to determine that we won't get things done tonight, everybody can go home.
The 810 PM games will resume at 8 AM from the point of stoppage on the same courts. Then the 920 PM games will be played. Then the regular schedule of semifinals and finals will resume.
Day 1 of the 2010 Best Buy Summer Classic
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2010 Best Buy Summer Classic
Whew, what a long day. 15 hours in the gym and 12 sets of games. I had a chance to take in a good chunk (if not a full game) of all 11 Super Pool teams in 17U and the Atlanta Celtics in 16s. Here's what caught my attention.
Gotta start with 12oz pop for $1. The people have spoken and the tournament director has listened. Outside of the games, that's gotta be the best part of this tournament. (I'm a fair guy, if I'm going to complain about $2, then I have to praise bringing the price back down).
Best game I saw was the Dallas Showtyme vs Grassroots Canada game late in the day. Back and forth and Jarion Henry wins it 67-65 with a driving layup with 5 seconds left. No Myck Kabongo for Grassroots Canada.
I called about 3/4 of the Memphis Magic vs St. Louis GameFace game right after that (that Henry game winner kept me late). GameFace had a 14 point lead late in the 1st half and ended up losing by 8. I also called the Indiana Elite vs Arkansas Wings game. Disappointing loss by Indiana Elite, 52-44, in that one. Links to my call of those games (and all other games I do during the tournament, including the championship games in 16U and 17U will be posted when available.
Now the players.
Best Player I Saw All Day: Adonis Thomas - Memphis Magic. #18 in the country is for real. When Magic got the lead late, he had enough ball skills to be trusted handling to close the game out. Can finish and shoot the 3.
Can't Touch Them
Ky Madden (Arkansas Wings) and BJ Young (St. Louis GameFace). Very similar big scoring guards who are better slashers than shooters. Both were able to generate offense whenever they wanted.
Matchups of the Day: Andre Hollins defense vs BJ Young. Hollins did a pretty good job against Young and showed that he can be a defensive stopper.
Aaron Ross (Arkansas Wings) vs Cody Zeller (Indiana Elite). Ross is an athletic wing who often had Zeller guarding him on the perimeter. Zeller did a fine job defending away from the basket.
Bigs
Cody Zeller - Indiana Elite. As advertised. Runs the floor, is a rebounding machine and showed he has some handles and shooting range.
Marshall Plumlee - Indiana Elite. Very disappointing day. Only 3 points, all on free throws, in the game I called vs Arkansas. Thought he would be more dominant.
Hunter Mickelson - Arkansas Wings. Made me think of Kevin Noreen as he's a thin face up 4 who can shoot it.
Utah Pump N Run doesn't have the name value of the Arkansas Wings or Indiana Elite in their pool, but they were really scrappy and finished 1-1 like everybody else in the pool. Via tiebreaker they finish ahead of Indiana Elite. Who would have seen that coming?
Minnesota Pump N Run got great balance (as usual) as they pulled away for an easy win over Memphis Select. Octavious Ellis only 1 breakaway dunk in that game for Select. 21 points for Cedric McAfee and a hot start. Roosevelt Scott and Kyle Noreen did nice work slowing him down after that start.
Good to see Quinn Cook play again. Nice to see a point guard with a true point guard mentality. DC Assault didn't play well against Memphis Select and only won by 7 but took out MN PNR to win the pool.
In non pool play, gotta like Jaleel Williams for the Texas D1 Ambassadors. This big athletic wing is going to make somebody very happy at the D1 level and he had a bunch of coaches watching tonight.
Pool play is complete, here are your brackets.
17U Platinum
California PNR vs MN Fury Gold
Utah PNR vs winner of Memphis Select and Mean Streets Blue
Memphis Magic vs winner of Indiana Elite and Texas D1 Ambassadors (WOW in round of 16)
WOTN vs MN PNR
Wrath vs DC Assault
Grassroots MN vs winner of Fury Blue vs Grassroots Canada (upset alert since Fury Blue seems to upset every other big name they play?)
Dallas Showtyme vs winner of St. Louis GameFace and All Iowa Attack
WI Starz vs Arkansas Wings
Grassroots with Louis Cox, Jordan Hughes, Kevin Thompson and Seantrel Henderson makes me interested to see them play DC Assault. But they'll have to play a full 36 minutes in that game. Grassroots is notorious for just showing up and then trying to flip the switch. They'll also give away games late (see last Saturday when Kevin Thompson hits 3 straight 3s but they blow a late 9 point lead and lose to Joe Hanstad and ECI in OT).
Quarterfinals are on the 2 show courts at 8:10 and 9:20.
16U Gold
MN PNR vs Indiana Elite
PrymeTyme vs tNBA
IA Barnstormers vs MN Heat Red
WOTN vs WI Starz
MN Heat Elite vs CS Bulldogs
Old Gold vs Team Eleate
Atlanta Celtics vs California PNR
SW MN Stars vs Team Detroit
How about a tough opener for the Celtics and then a possible game with Team Detroit in the quarters.
Round of 16 games are 2:20-5:50 with 1 quarterfinal at 8:10 and the rest at 9:20 in the activity center.
15U Gold
I don't have full brackets since many of the pool games were at Kennedy, but a couple of things stickout.
A possible quarterfinal with tNBA and MN PNR Maroon would be very good.
Another possible quarterfinal is Dakota Pride vs All Iowa Attack-Moore which would be a nice battle.
Gotta start with 12oz pop for $1. The people have spoken and the tournament director has listened. Outside of the games, that's gotta be the best part of this tournament. (I'm a fair guy, if I'm going to complain about $2, then I have to praise bringing the price back down).
Best game I saw was the Dallas Showtyme vs Grassroots Canada game late in the day. Back and forth and Jarion Henry wins it 67-65 with a driving layup with 5 seconds left. No Myck Kabongo for Grassroots Canada.
I called about 3/4 of the Memphis Magic vs St. Louis GameFace game right after that (that Henry game winner kept me late). GameFace had a 14 point lead late in the 1st half and ended up losing by 8. I also called the Indiana Elite vs Arkansas Wings game. Disappointing loss by Indiana Elite, 52-44, in that one. Links to my call of those games (and all other games I do during the tournament, including the championship games in 16U and 17U will be posted when available.
Now the players.
Best Player I Saw All Day: Adonis Thomas - Memphis Magic. #18 in the country is for real. When Magic got the lead late, he had enough ball skills to be trusted handling to close the game out. Can finish and shoot the 3.
Can't Touch Them
Ky Madden (Arkansas Wings) and BJ Young (St. Louis GameFace). Very similar big scoring guards who are better slashers than shooters. Both were able to generate offense whenever they wanted.
Matchups of the Day: Andre Hollins defense vs BJ Young. Hollins did a pretty good job against Young and showed that he can be a defensive stopper.
Aaron Ross (Arkansas Wings) vs Cody Zeller (Indiana Elite). Ross is an athletic wing who often had Zeller guarding him on the perimeter. Zeller did a fine job defending away from the basket.
Bigs
Cody Zeller - Indiana Elite. As advertised. Runs the floor, is a rebounding machine and showed he has some handles and shooting range.
Marshall Plumlee - Indiana Elite. Very disappointing day. Only 3 points, all on free throws, in the game I called vs Arkansas. Thought he would be more dominant.
Hunter Mickelson - Arkansas Wings. Made me think of Kevin Noreen as he's a thin face up 4 who can shoot it.
Utah Pump N Run doesn't have the name value of the Arkansas Wings or Indiana Elite in their pool, but they were really scrappy and finished 1-1 like everybody else in the pool. Via tiebreaker they finish ahead of Indiana Elite. Who would have seen that coming?
Minnesota Pump N Run got great balance (as usual) as they pulled away for an easy win over Memphis Select. Octavious Ellis only 1 breakaway dunk in that game for Select. 21 points for Cedric McAfee and a hot start. Roosevelt Scott and Kyle Noreen did nice work slowing him down after that start.
Good to see Quinn Cook play again. Nice to see a point guard with a true point guard mentality. DC Assault didn't play well against Memphis Select and only won by 7 but took out MN PNR to win the pool.
In non pool play, gotta like Jaleel Williams for the Texas D1 Ambassadors. This big athletic wing is going to make somebody very happy at the D1 level and he had a bunch of coaches watching tonight.
Pool play is complete, here are your brackets.
17U Platinum
California PNR vs MN Fury Gold
Utah PNR vs winner of Memphis Select and Mean Streets Blue
Memphis Magic vs winner of Indiana Elite and Texas D1 Ambassadors (WOW in round of 16)
WOTN vs MN PNR
Wrath vs DC Assault
Grassroots MN vs winner of Fury Blue vs Grassroots Canada (upset alert since Fury Blue seems to upset every other big name they play?)
Dallas Showtyme vs winner of St. Louis GameFace and All Iowa Attack
WI Starz vs Arkansas Wings
Grassroots with Louis Cox, Jordan Hughes, Kevin Thompson and Seantrel Henderson makes me interested to see them play DC Assault. But they'll have to play a full 36 minutes in that game. Grassroots is notorious for just showing up and then trying to flip the switch. They'll also give away games late (see last Saturday when Kevin Thompson hits 3 straight 3s but they blow a late 9 point lead and lose to Joe Hanstad and ECI in OT).
Quarterfinals are on the 2 show courts at 8:10 and 9:20.
16U Gold
MN PNR vs Indiana Elite
PrymeTyme vs tNBA
IA Barnstormers vs MN Heat Red
WOTN vs WI Starz
MN Heat Elite vs CS Bulldogs
Old Gold vs Team Eleate
Atlanta Celtics vs California PNR
SW MN Stars vs Team Detroit
How about a tough opener for the Celtics and then a possible game with Team Detroit in the quarters.
Round of 16 games are 2:20-5:50 with 1 quarterfinal at 8:10 and the rest at 9:20 in the activity center.
15U Gold
I don't have full brackets since many of the pool games were at Kennedy, but a couple of things stickout.
A possible quarterfinal with tNBA and MN PNR Maroon would be very good.
Another possible quarterfinal is Dakota Pride vs All Iowa Attack-Moore which would be a nice battle.
2010 Best Buy Summer Classic Preview
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2010 Best Buy Summer Classic
Its the 2nd annual Best Buy Summer Classic at Bloomington Jefferson July 13-15th. All pool games are on Tuesday with bracket play on Wednesday and Semifinals/Championships on Thursday.
Here's what to watch for. All player rankings are from the pre-July 2010 Rivals national rankings unless otherwise noted. We'll start in 17U with the 11 teams in the 4 Super Pools.
Super Pool A (Dallas Showtyme, Grassroots Canada, California Pump N Run)
Dallas Showtyme features one of the top players in Texas in 6'8 small forward Jarion Henry. He's ranked #83. #127 ranked 6'6 F Jalen Jones has an offer from UTEP.
Grassroots Canada is arguably the top program in Canada. They feature #11 ranked Myck Kabongo. He's a 6'2 PG from powerhouse Findley Prep. He'll attend Texas next year.
California Pump N Run (AKA Pump N Run Elite) is the top team in the Double Pump organization. 6'5 forward Amir Garrett is ranked #65 and has an Arizona offer. 6'5 2012 wing Jordan Tebbutt is out of Oregon and is ranked #41 in that class.
Super Pool B (Indiana Elite, Arkansas Wings, Utah Pump N Run)
Indiana Elite is absolutely stacked and my pick to win the tournament. Top player is #35 ranked Cody Zeller. The 6'10 forward blew up at the Adidas Invite last week and picked up a UNC offer this weekend which makes sense since he has a brother playing there. Speaking of brothers, #99 ranked Marshall Plumlee joined his brothers Mason and Myles by committing to Duke this weekend. Plumlee is a 6'11 Center. 5'10" Kevin "Yogi" Ferrill runs the point. He's the #22 ranked player in the 2012 class. #118 ranked Jeremiah Davis is a 6'3 SG who has Indiana hot on his trail. Why? Partly 6'6 Austin Etherington plays on this team too and he'll play at Indiana next year. Just for icing on the cake, we'll throw in 6'9 F Vinny Zollo who once committed to Kentucky before a coaching change. He has Notre Dame and Cincinnati after him.
The Arkansas Wings are a Nike program. They finished 6-8 and in 8th place in brutal Division D of the Nike EYBL. That means they missed out on qualifying for The Peach Jam (where Howard Pulley Blue is the #3 seed), Nike's premier event. We'll see if they come in to this tournament look for redemption. #19 ranked Ky Madden is a 6'4 G that leads the way. #97 Hunter Mickleson is a 6'10 center who has committed to Arkansas. 6'7 wing Aaron Ross is ranked #139 and he too has committed to the Razorbacks.
Utah Pump N Run is Utah's top program. They knocked off powerhouse Dream Vision at the end of April so don't sleep on this group. 6'5 Eli Robison was named the Utah 4A MVP. 6'1 Sam Orchard and 6'2 Mike Brown were named all state in their classes.
Super Pool C (Minnesota Pump N Run, Memphis Select, DC Assault)
Memphis Select feature 2 top 150 players. 6'3 Cedrick McAfee is ranked #56. 6'8 F Octavious Ellis is ranked #138.
DC Assault is one of the east coast's top programs. #23 ranked Quinn Cook is one of the nation's top point guards. He played in the 2008 Timberwolves Shootout with DeMatha. He'll attend Oak Hill Academy next year. He's currently playing in the u17 FIBA championships is Hamburg, Germany. His backup is #98 ranked 6'2 Jerome Seagears. He has offers from Florida and Cincinnati just to name 2.
Then the locals. 6'6 F Jonah Travis and 6'8 F Shelby Moats lead the way up front with Estan Tyler running the point. It would be very interesting to see PNR's physical style against Indiana Elite.
Super Pool D (St. Louis GameFace, Memphis Magic)
The Memphis Magic feature #18 ranked Adonis Thomas. He's with Quinn Cook at the FIBA championships and should just make the Tuesday night game. #150 Andre Hollins is a 6'2 G with Mississippi hot on his trail. He's a lockdown defender. Forwards Nino Johnson and Ryan Rhoomes are 2 more to watch. Not sure if #32 ranked 5'10 Chris Jones or #93 in 2012 6'1 Cameron Golden will join this group to fill the guard spots.
St. Louis GameFace features #33 BJ Young. He's a 6'4 G that has Indiana hot after him. He's really blown up this summer. Questions around whether he'll qualify or not, but if he does, expect his interest to skyrocket.
The other 27 17U Teams
27 other teams fill 9 3-team pools in the basic 17U bracket. Pool E features Heat Elite and the WI Starz. Fury Gold in a very balanced pool F with Old Gold (IL) and the 2nd Grassroots team. WOTN has a Belgium team in their Pool. Hard to know what to expect there. MN Wrath lead pool H with the top Select team. The top Grassroots team, Midwest Elite (Kansas City) and Team Eleate (CA) make up a very difficult pool I. I want to see if #44 ranked Demarques (Que) Johnson from 2012 plays for that Team Eleate group. Mean Streets Blue is the 2nd Mean Streets team but they may have a 7'2 guy in the middle. Heat (no) Sprang is also in that pool. Pool K has the Texas D1 Ambassadors with 2nd Comets and Select teams. 6'6 F Mark Nwakamma is coming off foot surgery. 6'6 W Jaleel Williams may make us think of Rodney Williams. 6'2 G Jake Kocher is a deadly shooter. Watch Levi Abercrombie for Select in this pool as well. Pool L has Team Game Point also from Texas. They were just in the same super pool as the Arkansas Wings in Tulsa. Derrick Fain and Charlie Alexander are 2 to watch. Fury Blue has them in their pool. The last pool has M33M also from Memphis with Team GetShook and All Iowa Attack. Looking for #106 6'4 G Bobby Parks Jr for M33M. He too has a UTEP offer.
My Pool Winners. Grassroots Canada, Indiana Elite, DC Assault, Memphis Magic to win the Super Pools. Heat Elite, Fury Gold, WOTN, Wrath, Mpls Gamblers (top Grassroots team), Mean Streets Blue, Texas D1 Ambassadors, Fury Blue, M33M to win the regular pools.
The Rest
In 16U, you have to take a look at the Atlanta Celtics. They won last year's Adidas Super 64, this year's Real Deal in the Rock, Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions and just won the Adidas Invite last week. Disgustingly good. They feature 2 more Oak Hill Academy players. #30 Jordan Adams is a 6'2 guard. #68 Damien Wilson is a 6'6 forward. #60 ranked Shaq Goodwin is a 6'8 forward. And they appear to have just picked up #7 ranked Jarnell Stokes, a 6'7 PF from the Memphis Select. He played with them in Indianapolis last week. They be a force in the 17U division (which they wanted to play in). No easier pick than to pick them to win the 16U tourney.
Team Indiana 16s might have a say in that. They feature #13 ranked Hanner Perea. Peter Jurkin is a big center ranked #37 by ESPN. #21 ranked D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera also is with this group but he'll miss July due to injury.
Look for #87 ranked Anthony January, a 6'6 F, to play with California Pump N Run.
6'6 F Andrew Wiggins should be playing up with the Grassroots Canada 15s. He's one of the top 14s in the nation and played here at the Augsburg Tournament over the holidays.
I'm also happy to announce that I'll be doing some webcasting of the games in association with Webcast America. I'll have more details as they become available. But you can check out some of the previous work here.
Here's what to watch for. All player rankings are from the pre-July 2010 Rivals national rankings unless otherwise noted. We'll start in 17U with the 11 teams in the 4 Super Pools.
Super Pool A (Dallas Showtyme, Grassroots Canada, California Pump N Run)
Dallas Showtyme features one of the top players in Texas in 6'8 small forward Jarion Henry. He's ranked #83. #127 ranked 6'6 F Jalen Jones has an offer from UTEP.
Grassroots Canada is arguably the top program in Canada. They feature #11 ranked Myck Kabongo. He's a 6'2 PG from powerhouse Findley Prep. He'll attend Texas next year.
California Pump N Run (AKA Pump N Run Elite) is the top team in the Double Pump organization. 6'5 forward Amir Garrett is ranked #65 and has an Arizona offer. 6'5 2012 wing Jordan Tebbutt is out of Oregon and is ranked #41 in that class.
Super Pool B (Indiana Elite, Arkansas Wings, Utah Pump N Run)
Indiana Elite is absolutely stacked and my pick to win the tournament. Top player is #35 ranked Cody Zeller. The 6'10 forward blew up at the Adidas Invite last week and picked up a UNC offer this weekend which makes sense since he has a brother playing there. Speaking of brothers, #99 ranked Marshall Plumlee joined his brothers Mason and Myles by committing to Duke this weekend. Plumlee is a 6'11 Center. 5'10" Kevin "Yogi" Ferrill runs the point. He's the #22 ranked player in the 2012 class. #118 ranked Jeremiah Davis is a 6'3 SG who has Indiana hot on his trail. Why? Partly 6'6 Austin Etherington plays on this team too and he'll play at Indiana next year. Just for icing on the cake, we'll throw in 6'9 F Vinny Zollo who once committed to Kentucky before a coaching change. He has Notre Dame and Cincinnati after him.
The Arkansas Wings are a Nike program. They finished 6-8 and in 8th place in brutal Division D of the Nike EYBL. That means they missed out on qualifying for The Peach Jam (where Howard Pulley Blue is the #3 seed), Nike's premier event. We'll see if they come in to this tournament look for redemption. #19 ranked Ky Madden is a 6'4 G that leads the way. #97 Hunter Mickleson is a 6'10 center who has committed to Arkansas. 6'7 wing Aaron Ross is ranked #139 and he too has committed to the Razorbacks.
Utah Pump N Run is Utah's top program. They knocked off powerhouse Dream Vision at the end of April so don't sleep on this group. 6'5 Eli Robison was named the Utah 4A MVP. 6'1 Sam Orchard and 6'2 Mike Brown were named all state in their classes.
Super Pool C (Minnesota Pump N Run, Memphis Select, DC Assault)
Memphis Select feature 2 top 150 players. 6'3 Cedrick McAfee is ranked #56. 6'8 F Octavious Ellis is ranked #138.
DC Assault is one of the east coast's top programs. #23 ranked Quinn Cook is one of the nation's top point guards. He played in the 2008 Timberwolves Shootout with DeMatha. He'll attend Oak Hill Academy next year. He's currently playing in the u17 FIBA championships is Hamburg, Germany. His backup is #98 ranked 6'2 Jerome Seagears. He has offers from Florida and Cincinnati just to name 2.
Then the locals. 6'6 F Jonah Travis and 6'8 F Shelby Moats lead the way up front with Estan Tyler running the point. It would be very interesting to see PNR's physical style against Indiana Elite.
Super Pool D (St. Louis GameFace, Memphis Magic)
The Memphis Magic feature #18 ranked Adonis Thomas. He's with Quinn Cook at the FIBA championships and should just make the Tuesday night game. #150 Andre Hollins is a 6'2 G with Mississippi hot on his trail. He's a lockdown defender. Forwards Nino Johnson and Ryan Rhoomes are 2 more to watch. Not sure if #32 ranked 5'10 Chris Jones or #93 in 2012 6'1 Cameron Golden will join this group to fill the guard spots.
St. Louis GameFace features #33 BJ Young. He's a 6'4 G that has Indiana hot after him. He's really blown up this summer. Questions around whether he'll qualify or not, but if he does, expect his interest to skyrocket.
The other 27 17U Teams
27 other teams fill 9 3-team pools in the basic 17U bracket. Pool E features Heat Elite and the WI Starz. Fury Gold in a very balanced pool F with Old Gold (IL) and the 2nd Grassroots team. WOTN has a Belgium team in their Pool. Hard to know what to expect there. MN Wrath lead pool H with the top Select team. The top Grassroots team, Midwest Elite (Kansas City) and Team Eleate (CA) make up a very difficult pool I. I want to see if #44 ranked Demarques (Que) Johnson from 2012 plays for that Team Eleate group. Mean Streets Blue is the 2nd Mean Streets team but they may have a 7'2 guy in the middle. Heat (no) Sprang is also in that pool. Pool K has the Texas D1 Ambassadors with 2nd Comets and Select teams. 6'6 F Mark Nwakamma is coming off foot surgery. 6'6 W Jaleel Williams may make us think of Rodney Williams. 6'2 G Jake Kocher is a deadly shooter. Watch Levi Abercrombie for Select in this pool as well. Pool L has Team Game Point also from Texas. They were just in the same super pool as the Arkansas Wings in Tulsa. Derrick Fain and Charlie Alexander are 2 to watch. Fury Blue has them in their pool. The last pool has M33M also from Memphis with Team GetShook and All Iowa Attack. Looking for #106 6'4 G Bobby Parks Jr for M33M. He too has a UTEP offer.
My Pool Winners. Grassroots Canada, Indiana Elite, DC Assault, Memphis Magic to win the Super Pools. Heat Elite, Fury Gold, WOTN, Wrath, Mpls Gamblers (top Grassroots team), Mean Streets Blue, Texas D1 Ambassadors, Fury Blue, M33M to win the regular pools.
The Rest
In 16U, you have to take a look at the Atlanta Celtics. They won last year's Adidas Super 64, this year's Real Deal in the Rock, Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions and just won the Adidas Invite last week. Disgustingly good. They feature 2 more Oak Hill Academy players. #30 Jordan Adams is a 6'2 guard. #68 Damien Wilson is a 6'6 forward. #60 ranked Shaq Goodwin is a 6'8 forward. And they appear to have just picked up #7 ranked Jarnell Stokes, a 6'7 PF from the Memphis Select. He played with them in Indianapolis last week. They be a force in the 17U division (which they wanted to play in). No easier pick than to pick them to win the 16U tourney.
Team Indiana 16s might have a say in that. They feature #13 ranked Hanner Perea. Peter Jurkin is a big center ranked #37 by ESPN. #21 ranked D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera also is with this group but he'll miss July due to injury.
Look for #87 ranked Anthony January, a 6'6 F, to play with California Pump N Run.
6'6 F Andrew Wiggins should be playing up with the Grassroots Canada 15s. He's one of the top 14s in the nation and played here at the Augsburg Tournament over the holidays.
I'm also happy to announce that I'll be doing some webcasting of the games in association with Webcast America. I'll have more details as they become available. But you can check out some of the previous work here.
FILA Showcase Day 1
To Minnehaha Academy for the opening night of the FILA Showcase.
In the opening session, the Mpls Jags 15s took out ECI Select 42-36. Ugly game there. River City blew out Mpls Ballers 71-50. The Jags are sound and athletic and played well in the tough MYAS state 15U tourney. They won't be an easy out at the PNR tourney next week either.
Second session: Mpls Gators break open a 25 all game late in the first half and roll over the CS Bulldogs 69-49. In the game I watched, Grassroots took on ECI Prospects. Ashby's Riley Mickelson played for ECI in this one and while he's not yet as big as his brother Kurt was, he was still a force in this one early. Grassroots with no answer for him. But ECI's guards let them down in this one. Washburn's Nick Anderson with 3 on the ball steals when ECI was bringing the ball up and that was just in the 1st half. ECI down 19-18 at the break but then it all falls apart in the second half. They get 4 baskets and get blown out 43-27. Anderson 8 points and 5 assists and easily could have had 3-4 more assists. He also had the best shot of the night with a 30 footer from the bench area at halftime. His pair of threes were when he was left alone with time to load up. His shot is definitely a work in progress but his floor vision and ability to deliver the ball definitely show in this pass first point guard. Now if him and Dwight Anderson ever manage to add each other's games with Dwight's height, you'd have a heck of a player. Really strange strategy from ECI not dealing with the press, not extending their zone or getting out of it until the game was already over, not playing Mickelson many minutes and letting their guards take bad shot after bad shot without Mickelson getting a touch.
All that frustration makes a person hungry so its off to the concession stand for the Taco In A Bag. No salsa and I passed on the sour cream so a very bland meal. Needed the salsa to add and get rid of heat as the hamburger was steaming hot. A worthy meal.
ECI Select 17s taking on River City 17s in the 17U bracket. River City runs out to a quick 15-4 lead but ECI claws back to down 22-20 behind DeWayne Liggins (hope that's the right guy). His slashing to the basket and finishing was impressive and hopefully it caught the eye of somebody like Valley City who was in the building tonight. River City blows the game open to 20 but then sees the lead cut to 2 at the very end before they hang on 74-70. Terrance Williams was dynamite at the point for the Cougars as he was clearly the best player on the floor in this one.
To end the night its Grassroots+ (post grad) taking on the Nebraska Magic. Grassroots sleep walks through another 1st half and trail 34-31 at the break. Then Seantrel Henderson shows up and he'll put on a uniform. He enters the game with 12:38 left and a 41-40 lead. He follows a miss for a layup. Then a defensive rebound and Unseld outlet to Jordan Hughes for 3. Hughes pick and roll with Ariel Deloney for a dunk. Louis Cox with a tough 2 and then former North star Kevin Thompson (always a Czar favorite) with a steal and he's goes the other way for the 2 handed jungle gym dunk. Timeout Magic. Its an 11-1 run over 2:40 and that basically puts the game away. Cox and Hughes with nice lobs to Thompson for 2 more dunks in the halfcourt late is nice icing on the cake in a 74-66 Grassroots win. Henderson only played about 5 minutes but his impact was obviously felt. Let's hope the DQ Blizzard after the game doesn't impact my waistline that much.
In the opening session, the Mpls Jags 15s took out ECI Select 42-36. Ugly game there. River City blew out Mpls Ballers 71-50. The Jags are sound and athletic and played well in the tough MYAS state 15U tourney. They won't be an easy out at the PNR tourney next week either.
Second session: Mpls Gators break open a 25 all game late in the first half and roll over the CS Bulldogs 69-49. In the game I watched, Grassroots took on ECI Prospects. Ashby's Riley Mickelson played for ECI in this one and while he's not yet as big as his brother Kurt was, he was still a force in this one early. Grassroots with no answer for him. But ECI's guards let them down in this one. Washburn's Nick Anderson with 3 on the ball steals when ECI was bringing the ball up and that was just in the 1st half. ECI down 19-18 at the break but then it all falls apart in the second half. They get 4 baskets and get blown out 43-27. Anderson 8 points and 5 assists and easily could have had 3-4 more assists. He also had the best shot of the night with a 30 footer from the bench area at halftime. His pair of threes were when he was left alone with time to load up. His shot is definitely a work in progress but his floor vision and ability to deliver the ball definitely show in this pass first point guard. Now if him and Dwight Anderson ever manage to add each other's games with Dwight's height, you'd have a heck of a player. Really strange strategy from ECI not dealing with the press, not extending their zone or getting out of it until the game was already over, not playing Mickelson many minutes and letting their guards take bad shot after bad shot without Mickelson getting a touch.
All that frustration makes a person hungry so its off to the concession stand for the Taco In A Bag. No salsa and I passed on the sour cream so a very bland meal. Needed the salsa to add and get rid of heat as the hamburger was steaming hot. A worthy meal.
ECI Select 17s taking on River City 17s in the 17U bracket. River City runs out to a quick 15-4 lead but ECI claws back to down 22-20 behind DeWayne Liggins (hope that's the right guy). His slashing to the basket and finishing was impressive and hopefully it caught the eye of somebody like Valley City who was in the building tonight. River City blows the game open to 20 but then sees the lead cut to 2 at the very end before they hang on 74-70. Terrance Williams was dynamite at the point for the Cougars as he was clearly the best player on the floor in this one.
To end the night its Grassroots+ (post grad) taking on the Nebraska Magic. Grassroots sleep walks through another 1st half and trail 34-31 at the break. Then Seantrel Henderson shows up and he'll put on a uniform. He enters the game with 12:38 left and a 41-40 lead. He follows a miss for a layup. Then a defensive rebound and Unseld outlet to Jordan Hughes for 3. Hughes pick and roll with Ariel Deloney for a dunk. Louis Cox with a tough 2 and then former North star Kevin Thompson (always a Czar favorite) with a steal and he's goes the other way for the 2 handed jungle gym dunk. Timeout Magic. Its an 11-1 run over 2:40 and that basically puts the game away. Cox and Hughes with nice lobs to Thompson for 2 more dunks in the halfcourt late is nice icing on the cake in a 74-66 Grassroots win. Henderson only played about 5 minutes but his impact was obviously felt. Let's hope the DQ Blizzard after the game doesn't impact my waistline that much.
The Media and July
Interesting article from the IndyStar (read it here) on the media and how July is covered. Eric Gordon 16U coach Matt Lacy was outspoken in his opinions of the media in the article. 2 notable comments from the article. He says there are too many people who shouldn't be credentialed that get in as media and they shouldn't be talking to the kids. Been there done at our state high school tournament. You could even make a case that I qualify for that distinction. Dead bang on with that comment and even if it was at my own expense, I could accept events cracking down on the media.
Its his other notable comment that I take real exception to. He talks about players having a bunch of media being around and because they're young, they haven't had anybody to help them through that. If he was referencing a high school team, I'd be more sympathetic to his statement. But he's talking about summer ball, I view that as falling 100% on him not teaching his players. Media and promotion are as much as part of the summer game as playing the game itself. The whole point of playing summer ball for a high level program like his is to be exposed and to put yourself on the radar. Dealing with the media as a player or a coach is part of that. So coach Lacy either needs to be the man preparing his players for that or I'd be OK if he made his players off-limits and dealt with all media inquiries himself (or in combination with the rest of the coaching staff).
Its his other notable comment that I take real exception to. He talks about players having a bunch of media being around and because they're young, they haven't had anybody to help them through that. If he was referencing a high school team, I'd be more sympathetic to his statement. But he's talking about summer ball, I view that as falling 100% on him not teaching his players. Media and promotion are as much as part of the summer game as playing the game itself. The whole point of playing summer ball for a high level program like his is to be exposed and to put yourself on the radar. Dealing with the media as a player or a coach is part of that. So coach Lacy either needs to be the man preparing his players for that or I'd be OK if he made his players off-limits and dealt with all media inquiries himself (or in combination with the rest of the coaching staff).
To Round 2 of the early period
With the 1st set of tournaments done, Minnesota converges on the Chicago area for the 2nd round of tournaments. 43 Hoops is at the NWI tournament on the Indiana side of the border. Their pool includes the loaded Mac Irvin Fire squad that features 3 top 30 kids in 2011 and a ton of other talent.
Everybody else is at the King James Summer Showcase in Waukegan, IL. This event is run by Dru Joyce, who was Lebron James' head coach in high school. He also runs the big King James event at the end of April.
There are 6 super pools. Pump N Run gets tested with hometown Rising Stars, a loaded Ohio Basketball Club led by #24 ranked Chane Behanan who has blown up as much as anyone in the nation this summer. And just for fun, there's the rematch with the Iowa Barnstormers. The Barnstormers won the PNR spring tourney over PNR in a double OT classic at the end of April (read about it here). The 16s also meet each other in super pool play. Fury Blue 17s also get super pooled and they have the loaded Hurricane Rebels out of Milwaukee (was DTA last year) that beat 43 Hoops twice last year.
As to the regular pools, almost every pool has a Minnesota team in it. Out of 16 pools, 10 of them include a Minnesota squad. 4 Heat teams in the pools with the other 2 Fury teams. Magic Culp, Magic Garvis and Magic Westside join Wear Out The Net as the other Minnesota teams.
In 16U, there are 15 regular pools. Heat Red, MN Ballers, Heat Gold, Fury, Suns, Heat Black, EOTO Elite, EOTO Black, Heat Elite and EOTO Orange are in the pools.
In 15U, Comets Elite, Fury Blue, Fury Gold, Heat Black and Heat Red, PNR Maroon, Magic Royal represent Minnesota.
Exceptions to Chicago include Select and Glory who are at the Kentucky Hoopfest.
Locally, Minnehaha Academy hosts the FILA showcase Friday night and all day Saturday and Sunday. 4 groups of teams in this tourney. College, 17U, 16U and 15/16U. 17U group will play a bracket, other groups are 6 teams and round robin play. A large St. Paul flavor to the event as its hosted by Grassroots. ECI has both 16s and 17s attending. Don't know if star Joe Hanstad will play or not. River City 15s had a nice run in the state AAU series and they are playing in the 15U/16U group.
Some of the Grassroots kids playing range from Jordan Hughes, Louis Cox and Alonzo Traylor (JUCO kids) to Stillwater's 6'8 junior forward Josh Johnson (arguably their best player next year) to Washburn soph point guard Nick Anderson just to name a few.
Everybody else is at the King James Summer Showcase in Waukegan, IL. This event is run by Dru Joyce, who was Lebron James' head coach in high school. He also runs the big King James event at the end of April.
There are 6 super pools. Pump N Run gets tested with hometown Rising Stars, a loaded Ohio Basketball Club led by #24 ranked Chane Behanan who has blown up as much as anyone in the nation this summer. And just for fun, there's the rematch with the Iowa Barnstormers. The Barnstormers won the PNR spring tourney over PNR in a double OT classic at the end of April (read about it here). The 16s also meet each other in super pool play. Fury Blue 17s also get super pooled and they have the loaded Hurricane Rebels out of Milwaukee (was DTA last year) that beat 43 Hoops twice last year.
As to the regular pools, almost every pool has a Minnesota team in it. Out of 16 pools, 10 of them include a Minnesota squad. 4 Heat teams in the pools with the other 2 Fury teams. Magic Culp, Magic Garvis and Magic Westside join Wear Out The Net as the other Minnesota teams.
In 16U, there are 15 regular pools. Heat Red, MN Ballers, Heat Gold, Fury, Suns, Heat Black, EOTO Elite, EOTO Black, Heat Elite and EOTO Orange are in the pools.
In 15U, Comets Elite, Fury Blue, Fury Gold, Heat Black and Heat Red, PNR Maroon, Magic Royal represent Minnesota.
Exceptions to Chicago include Select and Glory who are at the Kentucky Hoopfest.
Locally, Minnehaha Academy hosts the FILA showcase Friday night and all day Saturday and Sunday. 4 groups of teams in this tourney. College, 17U, 16U and 15/16U. 17U group will play a bracket, other groups are 6 teams and round robin play. A large St. Paul flavor to the event as its hosted by Grassroots. ECI has both 16s and 17s attending. Don't know if star Joe Hanstad will play or not. River City 15s had a nice run in the state AAU series and they are playing in the 15U/16U group.
Some of the Grassroots kids playing range from Jordan Hughes, Louis Cox and Alonzo Traylor (JUCO kids) to Stillwater's 6'8 junior forward Josh Johnson (arguably their best player next year) to Washburn soph point guard Nick Anderson just to name a few.
2010 Recruiting Period, Day 2 Results
Results for Minnesota teams after 2 days of games.
Milwaukee
17s
Howard Pulley White 1-2
Magic Elite Garvis 0-3
Comets Hanson 3-0
WOTN Gold 3-0
Magic Westside 1-2
WOTN Black 0-3
Comets Seevers 1-2
Comets Hanson could meet WOTN Gold in the quarters of top bracket.
16s
HP Black 2-1
MN Suns 1-2
Net Gain 2-1
Comets Elite 1-2
Magic Elite Tillman 0-3
WOTN 3-0
Comets Stock 2-1
Comets Stock vs MN Suns and Net Gain vs WOTN are possible quarters on 1 side of the bracket.
Comets Elites will play Pulley Black if Comets win their opening bracket game vs Pulley White.
15s
HP Black 1-2
HP White 2-1
WOTN 2-1
WOTN and HP Black could meet in semis of top bracket.
Indianapolis
43 Hoops 17s lost to Dream Vision in 1st round of Platinum bracket play but beat Club Ohio to move to Gold bracket quarterfinals.
43 Hoops 16s lost their platinum bracket opener to Grand Rapids Storm and then lost in 1st round of gold bracket to Michigan Mustangs.
Magic Elite Culp lost in 1st round of Silver bracket to Reach Legends.
Select 15s are playing in the Silver Bracket semifinals.
Milwaukee
17s
Howard Pulley White 1-2
Magic Elite Garvis 0-3
Comets Hanson 3-0
WOTN Gold 3-0
Magic Westside 1-2
WOTN Black 0-3
Comets Seevers 1-2
Comets Hanson could meet WOTN Gold in the quarters of top bracket.
16s
HP Black 2-1
MN Suns 1-2
Net Gain 2-1
Comets Elite 1-2
Magic Elite Tillman 0-3
WOTN 3-0
Comets Stock 2-1
Comets Stock vs MN Suns and Net Gain vs WOTN are possible quarters on 1 side of the bracket.
Comets Elites will play Pulley Black if Comets win their opening bracket game vs Pulley White.
15s
HP Black 1-2
HP White 2-1
WOTN 2-1
WOTN and HP Black could meet in semis of top bracket.
Indianapolis
43 Hoops 17s lost to Dream Vision in 1st round of Platinum bracket play but beat Club Ohio to move to Gold bracket quarterfinals.
43 Hoops 16s lost their platinum bracket opener to Grand Rapids Storm and then lost in 1st round of gold bracket to Michigan Mustangs.
Magic Elite Culp lost in 1st round of Silver bracket to Reach Legends.
Select 15s are playing in the Silver Bracket semifinals.
2010 Recruiting Period, Day 1 Results
Results for the Minnesota squads from day 1 of the big 2010 recruiting period.
Milwaukee
15s
Howard Pulley Blue lost to Martin Brothers by 3
Howard Pulley White 2-0 including an 11 point win over Kingdom Hoops Red
WOTN 1-1 with a 2 pt win over WI Blizzard
16s
Martin Brothers got the top Pulley squad again. This time by 6.
Suns lost to Playground Elite
Net Gain with a pair of wins including a good 10 point win over the Iowa Barnstormers
Comets Elite 1-1
Magic Elite Tillman lost by 4 to a WI Playmakers squad.
Pulley White def ECI Select.
WOTN 2-0.
Comets Stock with 2 double digit wins.
17s
Pulley White lost to Kingdom Hoops
Magic Elite Garvis lost by 13 to Terry Porter Elite
Comets Hanson 2-0
WOTN Gold def Illinois Heat by 7
Magic Westside 0-1
WOTN Black 0-1
Comets Seevers 0-2 including a double digit loss to WI Terror led by Connor Miller.
Indianapolis
Adidas Invitational 17s
43 Hoops won their super pool with a 74-57 win over the Nashville Celtics and a 76-71 win over KC Pump N Run.
43 Hoops 16s got moved up to a super pool and lost to Eric Gordon Central Stars 88-67 and lost to Ohio Basketball club 85-76.
Magic Elite Culp 16s split their 2 games with a 67-57 win over Speice Dominic James and a 52-51 loss to Brookwood Elite.
Team GetShook split 2 games in the Hoosier Shootout.
Minnesota Select II won their opener in the Indiana Shootout.
Milwaukee
15s
Howard Pulley Blue lost to Martin Brothers by 3
Howard Pulley White 2-0 including an 11 point win over Kingdom Hoops Red
WOTN 1-1 with a 2 pt win over WI Blizzard
16s
Martin Brothers got the top Pulley squad again. This time by 6.
Suns lost to Playground Elite
Net Gain with a pair of wins including a good 10 point win over the Iowa Barnstormers
Comets Elite 1-1
Magic Elite Tillman lost by 4 to a WI Playmakers squad.
Pulley White def ECI Select.
WOTN 2-0.
Comets Stock with 2 double digit wins.
17s
Pulley White lost to Kingdom Hoops
Magic Elite Garvis lost by 13 to Terry Porter Elite
Comets Hanson 2-0
WOTN Gold def Illinois Heat by 7
Magic Westside 0-1
WOTN Black 0-1
Comets Seevers 0-2 including a double digit loss to WI Terror led by Connor Miller.
Indianapolis
Adidas Invitational 17s
43 Hoops won their super pool with a 74-57 win over the Nashville Celtics and a 76-71 win over KC Pump N Run.
43 Hoops 16s got moved up to a super pool and lost to Eric Gordon Central Stars 88-67 and lost to Ohio Basketball club 85-76.
Magic Elite Culp 16s split their 2 games with a 67-57 win over Speice Dominic James and a 52-51 loss to Brookwood Elite.
Team GetShook split 2 games in the Hoosier Shootout.
Minnesota Select II won their opener in the Indiana Shootout.
Breck names new head coach
Matthew McCollister has been named the new head coach at Breck. McCollister replaces Daryl Woods who took over late in the 07-08 season. McCollister was a longtime assistant to Larry McKenzie both at Holy Angels and at Minneapolis Patrick Henry for a total of 8 years. He's also coached 1 year at Eastern Arizona College.
His top assistant will be no stranger to the system. That's Ross Forman who played at Edison before transferring to a loaded Henry team. Forman went on to play division 1 ball at Wyoming and Loyola-Chicago before finishing up his college career last season for the Division 3 National Champions, Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
His top assistant will be no stranger to the system. That's Ross Forman who played at Edison before transferring to a loaded Henry team. Forman went on to play division 1 ball at Wyoming and Loyola-Chicago before finishing up his college career last season for the Division 3 National Champions, Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
Chambers joins Rivals top 100
Labels:
Rivals Recruiting,
Siyani Chambers
Rivals just released their pre summer 2010 top 100 for the class of 2012. Hopkins adds another player to the national rankings as point guard Siyani Chambers joins the rankings at #81.
Here are others who have appeared locally.
#23 L.J. Rose
#29 Marcus Paige
#43 J-Mychal Reese
#59 Cameron Biedscheid
#90 Wesley Staten
#91 Cinmeon Bowers
#92 Phillip Nolan
#97 Arroyo Edwards
Read the entire rankings here.
Here are others who have appeared locally.
#23 L.J. Rose
#29 Marcus Paige
#43 J-Mychal Reese
#59 Cameron Biedscheid
#90 Wesley Staten
#91 Cinmeon Bowers
#92 Phillip Nolan
#97 Arroyo Edwards
Read the entire rankings here.
Who's where to start July
Happy 4th of July holiday to all. That means its the D1 recruiting period and teams scatter to the 4 winds to be seen by the D1 coaches. Here's where you'll find Minnesota's best.
NY2LA Next Level Invitational (Milwaukee)
In 17U there are 11 pools. Howard Pulley White makes 1 of the 3 super pools. Iowa Barnstormers, SYF Players, Martin Brothers, Kingdom Hoops and Wisconsin Playmakers are the other notable super pool teams. As to the other 8 pools, 6 of them have Minnesota teams. Magic Elite-Garvis who plays with Terry Porter Elite (won Heat tournament in May) and the top ECI team (which I think no longer has Joe Hanstad). Comets Hanson has the 2nd Wisconsin Playmakers team and former Chicago Bulls player Dickey Simpkins' top Team NLP squad in their pool. WOTN Gold has the 2nd ECI team in their pool. Magic Westside, Comets-Seevers and WOTN Black are the other teams attending.
In 16U, Howard Pulley sends both of their teams before the top 16s go off to the Peach Jam. Net Gain with Riley Dearring, Minnesota Suns, Magic Elite-Tillman, WOTN and the top 2 Comets teams are also there. Very good IA vs MN games in pool play as Net Gain has the Iowa Barnstormers in their pool. Howard Pulley Black has the loaded Martin Brothers squad in their pool (assuming all the stars stay down at 16s). The top Comets team has Kingdom Hoops in their pool. If that's the Wesley Staten squad, that should be an outstanding game as well.
In 15U, both Howard Pulley squads are attending along with WOTN.
Adidas Invitational (Indianapolis)
This is the old Adidas It Takes 5 tournament that used to be in Cincinnati. Now you have 3 tournaments in Indy. Its turning into the Las Vegas of the early period.
In 17U, 43 Hoops makes the last super pool along with the Nashville Celtics and Kansas City Pump N Run. Those games are Tuesday morning and afternoon. Its a loaded field with Indiana Elite, Dallas Mustangs, Dream Vision (all 1 pool, OUCH), New England Playaz, Compton Magic, Double Pump Elite, Atlanta Celtics just to name a few. If 43 Hoops wins their pool, they would get the last finisher out of Dream Vision, Indiana Elite and Dallas Mustangs in their 1st bracket game. Not a friendly draw at all.
In 16U, 43 Hoops and Magic Elite-Culp are also there. In 15U, not sure but tNBA might be there.
Also in Indianapolis, Team GetShook has their 17s in the Hoosier Shootout. Minnesota Glory (16s and 17s) and both 17s from Minnesota Select are in the Indiana Shootout field. Select's top 15s are also in the 15U draw.
Fury, Heat Elite and Pump N Run are all off for the 1st round of tournaments.
Here's a summary of where all the 17U teams are during this early recruiting period.
43 Hoops - Adidas Invitational, NWI Division 1 Tournament, NY2LA
Comets Hanson - NY2LA, Great Plains Alliance
Comets Seevers - NY2LA, Pump N Run
Fury Blue - King James Summer Showcase, Pump N Run
Fury Gold - King James Summer Showcase, Pump N Run
Glory - Indiana Shootout, Kentucky Hoopfest
Heat Elite - King James Summer Showcase, Pump N Run
Magic Elite Garvis - NY2LA, King James Summer Showcase
Magic Elite Culp - King James Summer Showcase (Chicago), NY2LA
Pulley Blue - Peach Jam
Pulley White - NY2LA, Great Plains Alliance
Pump N Run - King James Summer Showcase, Pump N Run
Select James - Indiana Shootout, Kentucky Hoopfest, Pump N Run
Select Hemmingsen - - Indiana Shootout, Kentucky Hoopfest, Pump N Run
Team GetShook - Hoosier Shootout, Pump N Run
Wear Out The Net - NY2LA, King James Summer Showcase, Pump N Run
NY2LA Next Level Invitational (Milwaukee)
In 17U there are 11 pools. Howard Pulley White makes 1 of the 3 super pools. Iowa Barnstormers, SYF Players, Martin Brothers, Kingdom Hoops and Wisconsin Playmakers are the other notable super pool teams. As to the other 8 pools, 6 of them have Minnesota teams. Magic Elite-Garvis who plays with Terry Porter Elite (won Heat tournament in May) and the top ECI team (which I think no longer has Joe Hanstad). Comets Hanson has the 2nd Wisconsin Playmakers team and former Chicago Bulls player Dickey Simpkins' top Team NLP squad in their pool. WOTN Gold has the 2nd ECI team in their pool. Magic Westside, Comets-Seevers and WOTN Black are the other teams attending.
In 16U, Howard Pulley sends both of their teams before the top 16s go off to the Peach Jam. Net Gain with Riley Dearring, Minnesota Suns, Magic Elite-Tillman, WOTN and the top 2 Comets teams are also there. Very good IA vs MN games in pool play as Net Gain has the Iowa Barnstormers in their pool. Howard Pulley Black has the loaded Martin Brothers squad in their pool (assuming all the stars stay down at 16s). The top Comets team has Kingdom Hoops in their pool. If that's the Wesley Staten squad, that should be an outstanding game as well.
In 15U, both Howard Pulley squads are attending along with WOTN.
Adidas Invitational (Indianapolis)
This is the old Adidas It Takes 5 tournament that used to be in Cincinnati. Now you have 3 tournaments in Indy. Its turning into the Las Vegas of the early period.
In 17U, 43 Hoops makes the last super pool along with the Nashville Celtics and Kansas City Pump N Run. Those games are Tuesday morning and afternoon. Its a loaded field with Indiana Elite, Dallas Mustangs, Dream Vision (all 1 pool, OUCH), New England Playaz, Compton Magic, Double Pump Elite, Atlanta Celtics just to name a few. If 43 Hoops wins their pool, they would get the last finisher out of Dream Vision, Indiana Elite and Dallas Mustangs in their 1st bracket game. Not a friendly draw at all.
In 16U, 43 Hoops and Magic Elite-Culp are also there. In 15U, not sure but tNBA might be there.
Also in Indianapolis, Team GetShook has their 17s in the Hoosier Shootout. Minnesota Glory (16s and 17s) and both 17s from Minnesota Select are in the Indiana Shootout field. Select's top 15s are also in the 15U draw.
Fury, Heat Elite and Pump N Run are all off for the 1st round of tournaments.
Here's a summary of where all the 17U teams are during this early recruiting period.
43 Hoops - Adidas Invitational, NWI Division 1 Tournament, NY2LA
Comets Hanson - NY2LA, Great Plains Alliance
Comets Seevers - NY2LA, Pump N Run
Fury Blue - King James Summer Showcase, Pump N Run
Fury Gold - King James Summer Showcase, Pump N Run
Glory - Indiana Shootout, Kentucky Hoopfest
Heat Elite - King James Summer Showcase, Pump N Run
Magic Elite Garvis - NY2LA, King James Summer Showcase
Magic Elite Culp - King James Summer Showcase (Chicago), NY2LA
Pulley Blue - Peach Jam
Pulley White - NY2LA, Great Plains Alliance
Pump N Run - King James Summer Showcase, Pump N Run
Select James - Indiana Shootout, Kentucky Hoopfest, Pump N Run
Select Hemmingsen - - Indiana Shootout, Kentucky Hoopfest, Pump N Run
Team GetShook - Hoosier Shootout, Pump N Run
Wear Out The Net - NY2LA, King James Summer Showcase, Pump N Run
Coleman drops in Rivals latest top 150
Labels:
Joe Coleman,
Rivals Recruiting
Rivals just released their pre summer 2010 top 100 for the class of 2011. Joe Coleman remains the only Minnesotan in the list as he drops from #104 to #111.
Here are others who have appeared locally.
#6 Brad Beal (down from #5, Florida)
#11 Myck Kabongo (up from #14, Texas)
#23 Quinn Cook (down from #20)
#25 Branden Dawson (up from #30)
#140 Paul Jesperson (drops from #132)
Read the entire rankings here.
Here are others who have appeared locally.
#6 Brad Beal (down from #5, Florida)
#11 Myck Kabongo (up from #14, Texas)
#23 Quinn Cook (down from #20)
#25 Branden Dawson (up from #30)
#140 Paul Jesperson (drops from #132)
Read the entire rankings here.
Catching up on News and Notes
Labels:
Kevin Noreen,
Scout Recruiting
Its July and that means the big recruiting period is here. I'll take a look at who's where on Monday. But here are some old news and notes worth catching up on.
1st is the Kevin Noreen signing with West Virginia. Great story from the Charleston, WV Gazette on how it all went down (Read it here). Congrats to him on a great high school career and he's a better person. For all the criticism he took during his high school career, it shows hard work pays off. Hope he does well at WVU.
Second, a really nice story out of Red Wing where 7'1" Isaac Oeltjen signed with Boise State this week. Boise State previously had signed 7'1" Ben Mills out of Wisconsin to fill that spot before they changed coaches. Mills then left for Colorado (where they also had interest in Winona's Alec Brown at that time). Oeltjen averaged 7.4 PPG for the 9-19 Wingers in an abbreviated senior season in 08-09 but he had numerous leg issues and worked his way back. Very smart use of technology as part of that. Nice article from the Idaho Statesman on how he put himself on the map. (read it here)
Third, Minnesota gets shutout of the new 2012 Scout.com top 75. JP Tokoto from Menomonee Falls, WI drops to #26. The Martin Brothers trio out of Iowa all makes it includes #18 Marcus Paige. I've seen both play in person and Paige is very good (a notch above Siyani Chambers if you want a comparison), but no way should he be ahead of Tokoto.
Finally, Wisconsin voted this week to go to a 5 division playoff format (yuck). It was 20 years ago that Wisconsin switched from 3 divisions (A, B, C) to 4 (1-4). Some of the section travel is an absolute nightmare (particularly for my alma mater). The smallest schools have very minor changes. What it addresses are the smallest D1 schools with enrollments around 1000 playing against 2500 kids. What's ridiculous about that argument is that D1 got 8 schools to state and everybody else got 4. That's no longer true. Doesn't really address the problem of urban private D3s (Racine St Cats, La Crosse Aquinas, Whitefish Bay Dominican and Manitowoc Roncalli are the culprits) dominating the state tournament and keeping out rural small public schools. That was one of the driving forces behind all of the discussion in the first place.
What's interesting is that the enrollment breakdowns (1200+ D1, 600+ D2, 201-600 D3 and 4, 200 and down D5) are very similar to what we have in Minnesota for our 4 divisions. 1161+ is 4A, 565+ is 3A, 220+ is 2A and single A is the rest. Read all about the plan and see maps and enrollments here.
1st is the Kevin Noreen signing with West Virginia. Great story from the Charleston, WV Gazette on how it all went down (Read it here). Congrats to him on a great high school career and he's a better person. For all the criticism he took during his high school career, it shows hard work pays off. Hope he does well at WVU.
Second, a really nice story out of Red Wing where 7'1" Isaac Oeltjen signed with Boise State this week. Boise State previously had signed 7'1" Ben Mills out of Wisconsin to fill that spot before they changed coaches. Mills then left for Colorado (where they also had interest in Winona's Alec Brown at that time). Oeltjen averaged 7.4 PPG for the 9-19 Wingers in an abbreviated senior season in 08-09 but he had numerous leg issues and worked his way back. Very smart use of technology as part of that. Nice article from the Idaho Statesman on how he put himself on the map. (read it here)
Third, Minnesota gets shutout of the new 2012 Scout.com top 75. JP Tokoto from Menomonee Falls, WI drops to #26. The Martin Brothers trio out of Iowa all makes it includes #18 Marcus Paige. I've seen both play in person and Paige is very good (a notch above Siyani Chambers if you want a comparison), but no way should he be ahead of Tokoto.
Finally, Wisconsin voted this week to go to a 5 division playoff format (yuck). It was 20 years ago that Wisconsin switched from 3 divisions (A, B, C) to 4 (1-4). Some of the section travel is an absolute nightmare (particularly for my alma mater). The smallest schools have very minor changes. What it addresses are the smallest D1 schools with enrollments around 1000 playing against 2500 kids. What's ridiculous about that argument is that D1 got 8 schools to state and everybody else got 4. That's no longer true. Doesn't really address the problem of urban private D3s (Racine St Cats, La Crosse Aquinas, Whitefish Bay Dominican and Manitowoc Roncalli are the culprits) dominating the state tournament and keeping out rural small public schools. That was one of the driving forces behind all of the discussion in the first place.
What's interesting is that the enrollment breakdowns (1200+ D1, 600+ D2, 201-600 D3 and 4, 200 and down D5) are very similar to what we have in Minnesota for our 4 divisions. 1161+ is 4A, 565+ is 3A, 220+ is 2A and single A is the rest. Read all about the plan and see maps and enrollments here.
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