Chambers drops in new Rivals 150

Rivals just released their post summer 2010 top 100 for the class of 2012.   Hopkins point guard Siyani Chambers drops to #96 from #81.

Here are others who have appeared locally.
#17 Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell 
#20 William "Shaq" Goodwin (up from #60)
#21 Rasheed Sulaimon
#26 Torian Graham (up from #83)
#28 L.J. Rose (down from #23)
#37 Marcus Paige (down from #29)
#42 J-Mychal Reese (up from #43)
#49 Damien Wilson (up from #68)
#55 Jordan Adams
#73 Cameron Biedscheid (down from #59)
#89 Phillip Nolan (up from #92)
#108 Wesley Staten (down from #90)
#109 Cinmeon Bowers (down from #91)
#112 Arroyo Edwards (down from #97)
#145 Demarquise Johnson

Read the entire rankings here.

More money coming to the summer scene

A couple of good reads from CBSSports.com writer Gary Parrish on the return of Sonny Vaccaro to summer basketball.  Vaccaro used to be a bigtime player on the summer scene as part of his work for Nike.  One of his latest adventures was advising high school star Jeremy Tyler to leave high school and play overseas.  That concept worked for Milwaukee Bucks star Brandon Jennings (who skipped a year at Arizona) but has turned into disaster for Tyler.

The articles below talk about what shoe company might entice Vaccaro to come back to the summer scene and his potential influence.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/13809652/nearly-armed-and-ready-vaccaro-tries-to-regain-summer-throne

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/13830931/five-for-friday-qa-about-summer-camp-guru-vaccaro

End of summer rankings out for class of 2011

Rivals.com and Scout.com released their end of summer rankings for the class of 2011 today.  Joe Coleman once again left out of the Scout rankings with Paul Jesperson in.   How Jesperson can be ranked far higher when Coleman consistently dominates far better competition in the summer and winter is totally beyond me.

In the Rivals rankings, Joe Coleman drops from #111 to #116 in this round of the rankings.  Here are others who have appeared locally.

#7 Brad Beal - Florida (down from #6)
#13 Branden Dawson - Michigan State (up from #25)
#15 Adonis Thomas
#18 BJ Young
#20 Cody Zeller
#24 Myck Kabongo - Texas (down from #11)
#27 Ky Madden
#28 Quinn Cook (down from #23)
#74 Cedric McAfee
#82 Marshall Plumlee - Duke
#96 Julien Lewis - Texas
#98 Hunter Mickelson - Arkansas
#99 Jerome Seagears
#118 Josh Oglesby
#123 Jeremiah Davis
#126 Andre Hollins
#129 Paul Jesperson (up from #140)
#147 Aaron Ross - Arkansas
#150 Jarrod Uthoff - Wisconsin

Read the entire Rivals.com rankings here.

Read the entire Scout.com rankings here.

Open Gyms and random news

I was out at Minnetonka open gym last week.  Unfortunately it was a night too late as Joe Coleman was destroying people and Mike Bruesewitz was in attendance.  Did get to see Mike Rostampour and Tor Anderson show up though.  Anderson is a good get for Montana St if he likes it there.  Like what Nick Latzke did on the night.  Showing he's more than a shooter.  He has an offer from Air Force on the table.  And who can forget the 2 point, 8 rebound and 1 steal from Pump N Run 16s coach Clarence Bethea.

A couple of nice concepts from the night.  No 3 point line.  Amen to that.  I said all summer I would abolish the 3 point in AAU ball because every non-shooter on the floor thinks they can make that and when they get lucky and make one, that's license to shoot 10 more.  Really hard to watch that.  Winner's and loser's courts with the loser's courts playing to 9 and winner's court play to 11 to keep things moving along.  Nice to have an extra competitive element to it.

Speaking of open gym, how about the run of both Noreen brothers, Rodney Williams, Jacob Thomas, Kevin Thompson et al at MN Transitions.  They go early but clearly some game there.  Kevin Noreen has put on 15 pounds of muscle already at West Virginia and they look to double that before the season.

News from the Osseo Basketball twitter site that Terez Van Pelt is transferring there from Park Center.  Memories of Zach Peterson doing the same thing a few years back dance in my head.  Sophomore Mike Fernando is now at Minnetonka after spending last year at Eden Prairie.  He spent time with the Pump N Run 15s this summer.

Shelby Moats comes in at #100 and the top ranked Minnesota player in the MaxPreps 2011 top 100.  Shelby comes in at #3 on my Minnesota list as he's in the top tier of guys with Joe Coleman and Ross Travis.  Jonah Travis is the best of the rest coming in at #4

Getting all the charters back together

Now that conference realignment is done, there isn't much in the way of conference proposals.  But the charter schools (i.e the old Metro Lakes) needs to be fixed.  I know there's the Eastern Minnesota Conference but that's not quite the match.  Here's my proposal.

Metro Lakes Conference (western group)
International School
MN Internship Center
Ascension
Four Directions
Prairie Seeds
Spectrum
PACT
FAIR Downtown
Dunwoody Academy
Calvin Christian

Eastern Minnesota Athletic Conference (eastern group)
AFSA
Great River
Community of Peace
Hmong Academy
Math and Science
MN North Star Academy
St. Paul Prep
North Lakes
Liberty Classical Academy
St. Croix Prep
Vessey Leadership Academy

These groupings would save travel which is huge these days.  Not to mention, it would build rivalries and give these schools something to play for besides who pounds them in the 1st round of section play.  I would joke that all the EMAC games could be played at St. Bernard's to put that gym to good use (similar to using Arlington for St. Paul City games, St. Paul coaches, make that happen!).  You could even build some rivalries like St. Croix Prep vs Math and Science.  MN North Star and Hmong Academy are right next to each other.  Community of Peace and Great River are close in St. Paul and St. Paul Prep is right between them in the heart of downtown.  Ascension and Four Directions are right next door in the west half.  Depending on who fields teams in a given year due to the small size of these schools, there are still enough schools to rearrange a league schedule.

Note I didn't include MN Transitions as they've earned their way out of these leagues.  CHOF and probably PACT I could let play independent schedules due to past performance.  Or better yet, put CHOF in the MCAA and split that league into 2 divisions.

Minnesota Players in new Hardwood Elite rankings

Hardwood Elite just released their post-July 2010 rankings for the 2011-2013 classes.  Here's how the Minnesota kids came out and then my commentary.  The full rankings can be found here.

2011
Joe Coleman #76
Ross Travis #87

Others that have appeared locally include
Brad Beal #3
Adonis Thomas #10
Myck Kabongo #14
Cody Zeller #17
Branden Dawson #19
Ky Madden #23
Quinn Cook #24
BJ Young #51
Todd Mayo #56
Paul Jesperson #66
Jarrod Uthoff #79
Cedric McAfee #80
Hunter Mickelson #81
Josh Oglesby #91


2012
Isaiah Zierden #94

Others that have appeared locally.
Marcus Paige #22
Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell #25
Rasheed Sulaimon #27
Jordan Adams #28
J-Mychal Reese #29
LJ Rose #30
Cameron Biedscheid #33
DeMarquise Johnson #35
Jordan Price #37
Shaquille Goodwin #38
Torian Graham #49
Junior Lomomba #73
Cinmeon Bowers #74
Philip Nolan #80

2013
No Minnesota Players.  #7 Peter Jok and #9 Deonte Burton have both appeared locally.

The Czar's Commentary
Another analyst picks Paul Jesperson above Joe Coleman.  I think Coleman has consistently done more and been flat out dominant against better competition both in the summer and during the high school season.  Its a fun problem of rankings.  You have Coleman (the athlete), Jesperson (the shooter) and Josh Oglesby (the most well-rounded of the 3).  Oglesby is the most ready of the group and he finishes lowest in the rankings out of the 3.

Very interesting to see Zierden coming in before Howard Pulley teammate Siyani Chambers (Chambers is #81 in the Rivals 2012 rankings as I write this).  I think Chambers performance at the Pacesetter Sweet 16 definitely elevated him.

As to Deonte Burton, I saw him twice at the East Metro Showcase in January.  Didn't average double figures against the top 2 St. Paul teams (and Central may have been the most overrated team in the state last year).  Nice player with some upside, but I saw Peter Jok in 2 events this summer and Jok was a man amongst small children.  Definitely didn't see that from Burton.

Let's give Hardwood Elite credit for showing up for the Best Buy Summer Classic unlike the rest of the national media.  Shame on the national services for sending your entire staffs (basically) to the Peach Jam when they already attended Nike event after Nike event after Nike event after Nike Event after Nike Event.  Its a flat out crime that the Best Buy Summer Classic had 25 top national players and couldn't get any kind of real national publicity.  Yet, the same folks could attend all 4 of the Nike EYBL events.

Pacesetter Sweet 16 Thoughts

Here are my observations from the 2010 Pacesetter Sweet 16

Love the setup at St Ben's.  The 4 court activity center gives plenty of room to move around and watch games.  Not the cramped atmosphere we see on the AAU circuit.  Have to like the pizza too.  Lots of players coming down with ankle injuries this weekend though.  Not good.  Its hard to beat a quality look and one of the players from Waterville-Elysian-Morristown was sporting the blonde hair and a yellow headband.  Hard not to mistake him for evil Johnny from The Karate Kid.  With the black uniforms, WEM = Cobra Kai? 

As to my predictions.  6-2 in the openers.  2-2 for winner's semis and I get the 1st and 3rd place finishers right.  10-4.  1-7 in the consolation bracket puts me at 11-11 for the weekend.

Saturday didn't feature much in the way of competitive games.  However, it did have the story of the weekend, huge individual performances.  I took in all of Ellsworth vs Orono.  Jordan Smith goes off for 8 triples and 32 points in Orono's easy win.  Casey Schilling with 31 points doing what he wanted for Ellsworth.  Best game of Saturday that I saw was Lakeville South vs St. Cloud Apollo.  Apollo comes from 10 down in the 4th quarter to take a 51-49 lead but Lakeville South moves on with a 62-54 win.  Best story of the weekend is Alex Richter returning from Pump N Run's tournament in Los Angeles at 1:30 Saturday morning and thinking he wasn't going to play.  But then he read my preview where I picked Apollo and decided to play.  Coaches, if you need bulletin board material, please contact me.  Braham took on Ellsworth in the opening round of the consolation bracket and what a shootout.  Tyler Vaughan with 48 for Braham.  Casey Schilling ices the game late at the foul line and finishes with 46.  When talking about the state's top shooters, Vaughan needs to be in that discussion.

To Sunday and what a way to start my day with Hopkins vs Apple Valley.  No Marvin Singleton as he suffered a high ankle sprain yesterday and may be down for 2 months.  Apple Valley with 3 quick 3s thanks to a pair of Tyus assists and they lead 11-6 at 6:15 of the first quarter.  Hopkins dominates the rest of the quarter for a 28-17 at the end of the first quarter.  Jones with a pullup at the 4 minute mark that cuts the Hopkins lead to 36-33.  46-42 Hopkins as we go to the break.  Apple Valley already down 1 big guy and Dustin Fronk's 14 points (4 3s) won't play the rest of the way as he came down really hard on his back just before halftime.

Joe Coleman goes for 14 points in the 3rd quarter.  Jones struggles with a handful of forced shots in the quarter thanks to Thomas Schalk being in foul trouble all game.  Hopkins goes to the 4th with a 70-54 lead.  Then the Tyus Jones show starts.  He scores 19 of the 1st 21 Apple Valley points in the quarter.  That cuts the Hopkins lead to 81-75 with 4 minutes left.  Jones with another 3 with 45 seconds left to cut the lead to 2 but Apple Valley gets no closer.  Hopkins moves on to the title game with a 96-89 win.  Jones goes for 24 of his 40 points in the 4th quarter.  12-29 from the floor, 14-16 from the line with a pair of 3s.  6 of his 7 turnovers were in the 1st half.  Coleman finishes with 32 points but very little from outside.  He had 1 triple and maybe 1 other jumper.  Everything else at the rim.  Siyani Chambers with 27 points and 5 assists.

MTS took on Ellsworth in the consolation bracket final.  MTS gets off to a quick start to lead 20-9 after quarter 1 as Ellsworth can't buy a bucket.  But they comeback to close the margin to 40-38 at halftime.  56-50 MTS after the 3rd quarter and they pull away in the 4th for a 82-63 win.  Casey Schilling with 17 points in the 1st half but a very quiet 2nd half with only a pair of triples.  Rodney Owens 20 points and Kyle Noreen with 23 points.  Noreen a glue guy for this MTS roster with Owens creating the offense off the bounce.

Hopkins took on Eastview in the championship bracket final.  This one all Hopkins and once again Joe Coleman getting to the rim at will.  He finishes with 28 points and 8 rebounds.  Siyani Chambers only 10 points, but he was outstanding distributing the ball for 7 assists.  Joey King with a double double of 12 points and 12 boards.  His shooting was off this weekend but he was wearing different contacts due to an eye infection.  Shane McSparron is your classic slasher and he topped Eastview with 15 points.  Nice work by a couple of unheralded bigs inside in Jacob Peterson of Hopkins and soph Ben Oberfeld of Eastview. 

Other finishes in the championship bracket.  Apple Valley def Lakeville South 84-77 for 3rd.  Benilde-St. Margaret's 84-77 over Orono for 5th.  Windom 64-53 over Plainview-Elgin-Millville for 7th.

Consolation bracket finishes include St. Cloud Apollo def Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa for 3rd.  Waterville-Elysian-Morristown over Braham 74-56 for 5th, Waconia 91-83 over Sebeka for 7th in the consolation bracket.

My All-Tournament Team

• Joe Coleman - Hopkins (MVP).  Most dominant player of the weekend
• Siyani Chambers - Hopkins.  Coached his group along with leading the way from the point and adding scoring from his point guard spot.
• Tyus Jones - Apple Valley.  He may have pressed when Schalk was out of the game but 24 points vs Chambers with Schalk in the game and almost single handedly bringing his team back by scoring instead of passing is a huge step for him.
• Rodney Owens - MTS.  Only loss was to runner-up Eastview.  His play was the major reason MTS won the consolation championship
• Casey Schilling - Ellsworth.  Had very little help all weekend but was a huge force in at least 3 of their 4 games.  Great work at the end of the Braham game making sure he had the ball in his hands to make 9-10 FTs late to seal that victory.

Also have to mention the Eastview defense as they allowed only 44, 44 and 53 points in their 3 wins.

More Orlando Results

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

• 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

• 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.

15U
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

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.

2010 Best Buy Summer Classic All-Tourney Team

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.

2010 Best Buy Summer Classic Champions

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.

Day 2 of the 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.

Day 1 of the 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.