Waynes Word on Hoop Feb 14 2007

Waynesword Hoopblog Feb. 14th, 2007

In response to a provocative blog by Kevin Whitaker on the excellent Times Union High School Basketball website, I had, on a blissfully slow snowday, composed a way-too-long response which was posted as Comment #9 under the article “My All-Section Team” which shows up under the heading “Fan in Motion.” Below is a modified, elaborated version of that posting.

Whitaker had chosen the following as his “All-Section (2) Team”:

1) Point guard—Garrett Bishop, Saratoga Springs

2) Shooting guard—Talor Battle, Bishop Maginn

3) Big Guard—Jimmer Fredette, Glens Falls

4) Forward—Luke Weaver, CBA

5) Center—Greg Holle, CBA

6) Center/Forward—Denny Wilhelm, Glens Falls

7) Forward—Pat Barnes, Mohonasen

8) Forward/Guard—Jordan Stevens, Saratoga Springs

9) Point Guard—Tashaun Newsome, Colonie

10) Shooting Guard—John Cahill, CBA

11) Forward—Adam Haines, Averill Park

12) Center/Forward—Devin Grimes, Catholic Central

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Players He Had Mentioned But Left Off The List:

Chris Carson, Schuylerville, 6’6” Forward/Center

Bret Marfurt, Guilderland, 6’4” Combo Guard

Devyn Erwin, Albany High (not playing this year), 6’7” Center

Brian Hooks, Shaker, 6’1” Shooting Guard

Mike Hammond, Shenendehowa, 6’3” Guard/Forward

James Kehoe, Scotia, 6’5” Center/Forward

DeAndre Kennedy, CBA, 6’3” Forward

Terron Victoria, Bishop Maginn, 6’3” Guard/Forward

Shimeek Johnson, Bishop Maginn, 6’7” Center

Zach O’Brien, Bishop Gibbons, 6’4” Forward

Steve Freese, Johnstown, 6’10” Center

Travis Jones, Columbia, 6’3” Shooting Guard

Cameron Couball, Mohonasen, 6’3” Guard/Forward

Kevin Stempsey, Bethlehem, 6’0” Guard

My perspective on the local scene is of course dependent on what my own eyes have seen this year-- which is every Big 10 team at least twice— plus Saratoga Springs two or three times—Glens Falls once, and most other teams not at all during the regular season, other than a few stray tournament games, or unofficial scrimmages early in the year. I also saw some of the best local teams (other than CBA) play in the Shen Summer League in 2006, which gave me some clues about what was to come. Young Mr. Whitaker admits that his preference is to Suburban Council teams, which is fine in that he’s from Niskayuna.

(I wish I had seen Mohonasen, Guilderland, Shaker, Columbia and even Schuylerville and Scotia/Glenville play at some point this year, all of whom have representative players on this list. I hope to catch some of them in the Sectionals, starting next week.)

So since we have that kind of Big 10/Suburban dialectic going, there were some differences of opinion, which spawned following submission, editing and expanded here:

Hoop/Blog Comments--

While I agree with most if not quite all picks on your 1st Team List, I think there is good reason to argue in favor of any of the dozen or so named players left off the original list– especially Bret Marfurt (Guilderland),
DeAndre Kennedy (CBA), Zach O’Brien (Bishop Gibbons), Terron Victoria and Shimeek Johnson (Bishop Maginn), plus Mike Hammond (Shen)– and yet it would be hard to push off anyone already on the list.

Marfurt is definitely Top 12– a big agile guard with D-1 prospects has to be. DeAndre is the Charles Barkley of the Big 10 right now and can cover guys 3-4 inches taller if he has to–he has another year to go, and without Holle there he will likely dominate most games as a senior. Zach O’Brien has been great in helping transform Bishop Gibbons by his presence…in the mix for 3rd best record in the Big 10 as an A team–9-4 in the toughest league since he’s been playing. And forsection2 is correct in saying that Bishop Maginn– the 2nd best team in AA ball, and the only one with any likelihood of knocking off CBA– deserves 2 more players on this list:

Terron Victoria is a quiet assassin of the sort MacKrieth and Freeman had alongside back in 2001 when they made their run, while Shimeek J. would be an asset at a strong 6′7″ to any team in this area, good year or not. He had 20 and 16 last night to help them beat back a nasty challenge from CCHS. Those two are perhaps the best of the supporting cast for Maginn this year (though Taron Buie, now a freshman, may assume star-status next year) but Maginn is loaded with depth and talent, with guys that would be starting for most any other team. No one has talked or written about why Jamel Lyde wasn’t playing– is he still injured?–the true point guard that team had last year to run things so Talor didn’t have to and could play off the ball more.)

If We Had Taped It, It Was an ESPN Instant Classic…

Speaking of last night’s classic Big 10 battle –the most glaring omission from anyone’s list is Jordan Gettings of CCHS. He just fought the great Talor B. to a standstill –31-30 in scoring last night–in one of the guttier performances I’ve ever seen from an area guard in recent years. You have to understand that CCHS was ahead 98% of that game on Maginn’s own floor on senior night when Battle was being honored as a McDonald’s All-American– none of the televised accounts I saw of that game told the real story, other than mentioning that it went into overtime– it was an amazing game Catholic High gave them. Maginn had to scramble like mad to beat them and won it with defense, and a very raucous home crowd behind them. Even after they had gone ahead 73-71, CCHS tied it with under five seconds to go on an intensely-defended drive into the lane by Gettings, who scored the clutch hoop. Then when Maginn jumped out to a 4 pt. overtime lead, Chris Bouchard hit a three to slice the deficit, and Catholic High took a short-lived lead on the next possession on a Denzel Paschal scoop shot drive off a loose ball recovery. Gettings hit one of two from the line for a two point lead before Battle scored off a tough rebound in tight traffic to tie it, and then when Maginn got the ball back with 3.5 seconds left, Battle was a decoy as one of Maginn’s guards (either Victoria or Bennie Kargbo?) fired a pass down the lane to an opportunistic T. Buie who hit the winning lay-up, after missing a couple of audacious shots earlier in O/T. Gettings seemed to get clobbered on the final inbounds attempt but nothing was called that would have led to a second O/T or any controversial drama, and that was the game.
(Battle had a mostly quiet 31 points except for one backwards spinner that gave them their first lead of the game, plus three tremendous dunks--and with him you tend to take those for granted–but has there ever been another 5′11″ pt guard doing that around here on a regular basis? I was impressed to hear that he had become the all-time Big 10 leading scorer, and the only player over 2000 pts in the history of the league– how far back does that go? Not to Ticky Burden or Dave Modest or Sidney Edwards or Skeeter Horne, does it?)

SOME PROPS TO THE YOUNG CCHS TEAM…

Gettings has matured this year into perhaps the 3rd best guard in the area and no one anywhere mentioned his name yet. He finished third in the league season in the Big 10 in scoring average, and Devin Grimes (16.35) is fourth, last I checked…both are juniors, and they may end up 1-2 in the conference next year once Battle and Holle are gone. Devin Grimes at a slender 6′5″ has been battling centers in the Big 10 all year (since John Barna transferred to Troy) and does the bulk of the rebounding and shot-blocking for an undersized team. Anyone who left him off the list hasn’t seen CCHS play (and to his credit Kevin Whitaker admitted this)…he’s relentless, a great scorer, athletic and a manic competitor. Because of the fierce nature of the Big 10, I believe he’s got to be ranked higher than Pat Barnes or Adam Haynes of the Suburban, though they are both strong players.
If Grimes hadn’t fouled out early in the fourth for CCHS vs. Maginn that outcome might have been different– 2 of his fouls came on what looked to me like clean blocks, and on things like that the game turns…Grimes and Denzel Paschal (soph) both had 17 in that Maginn game, and both helped greatly in making that a toughly-fought contest, as did Chris Bouchard, Ny’Quan McGirt, Zay’quan Dupree, and Gerard Jacques. What most observers of the Big 10 Hoop scene don’t realize is that ALL of these guys will be back next year—Catholic Central High School will be stronger than ever as a result—and they came very close to a marquee victory in the final league game of the year, at Maginn. Congratulations to the Head Coach Blain Goverski, who kept his cool throughout the evening’s excitement, and exhorted his tough bunch of sophs and juniors to a near-victory without histrionics or screaming at the refs…though I’m sure he could taste the win, and what it would’ve meant to his team and their school.

Back to the Suburban….briefly seen

Tashaun Newsome outplayed Garrett Bishop in a January match-up in which Colonie gave Saratoga only its second home loss of the season. Other than Fredette no one else has gotten the best of Bishop this year. This is not to diminish Bishop’s stock becuz he’s had a great senior season leading the area’s third ranked AA team at Saratoga. He drives to the hoop ferociously, and won a few games down the stretch that way, but like Battle and Gettings both, looks to score first and dish second. But watching the passing of Tashaun, combined with his ball-handling and scoring (along with a wicked defensive block he banged off the boards in the Saratoga game), should RAISE Newsome’s stock–especially considering he’ll be back next year– in which he might be the only 5′9″ pt guard dunking.
This is not to say that Newsome was the only reason Colonie won that night—their 2-3 zone seemed impenetrable, a lot of guys contributed points and good minutes for them, and their rugged defense on Jordan forced him into maybe his only poor shooting game of the season. I’m not sure all that would happen again, and would have to predict that Saratoga would be favored on a neutral court in the Sectionals. If Saratoga and Colonie meet for a rubber match, I would not want to miss that one– and Bishop vs. Newsome would be a fascinating rematch.

OTHER Section 2 Best of… Notes & Comments

If Chris Carson was at a bigger school, he’d be on Top 12 radar, and he makes Schuylerville a sleeper pick for the B title again, over the top seed, Watervliet, and anyone else in that category;

It’s hard to believe Denny Wilhelm (Glens Falls) & Luke Weaver (CBA) are going to UAlbany for football instead of hoop—both have extensive experience with the Albany City Rocks AAU program, playing national level competition, and both have been at least the second best players on their respective league championship teams for most of their three years on varsity. I wish them well if they try to jump into Coach Will Brown’s team as walk-ons—it could be a boon for him;

Anyone who has seen him play in person would have to agree that soph sensation Jordan Stevens (Saratoga Springs) would have to be STARTING no matter WHAT team of all-stars you were putting together in Section 2, and that’s as of RIGHT NOW. One blogger recently questioned whether Jordan would ever be capable of scoring over 20 a game in the tough Suburban, but the answer is that he might easily be scoring 25-30 next year, after the graduation of fellow all-star Garrett Bishop and a handful of other capable seniors on that Saratoga team (Vonzell Legall, Danny Harkins, Patrick O’Connor, and Dan McLaughlin among them);

Mike Hammond (Shen) is indeed a 110% wired ball of fire every time I’ve seen him play, whether regular season games or pre-season scrimmages or summer ball—because of his offensive aggressiveness and several other good players at Shen (Todd Degnan, Bob Tudor, David Burke, Caelin Loose, Cole Osgood, and the 6’6” Michael Schauffert—who seems to have mysteriously disappeared at the end of the year when he looked amazing in the pre-season), they must be considered a scary team to meet in the AA Sectionals. If Schauffert returns to the dominant form he showed late last fall…he’d be a belated addition to the Top 12 discussion as well;

Brian Hooks (Shaker) could be the best shooter in the area, although John Cahill is deadly for CBA as well, and Travis Jones from Columbia might get a vote or two also;

CBA has so many great and functional components that all of their stats could be better–Weaver and Cahill and soph backup center Andrew Stire and even Joe Zappone could score a lot more anywhere else, as could Malcolm Austin who is well-respected in AAU ball and not even starting for this year’s Brothers. And while the area might not have a Georgia Tech-bound Sheehan anywhere in Section 2 this year, Holle is the next best thing if you were picking any Top 5 team right now. Only Battle’s brilliance has kept him from being Big 10 Player of the Year. I look forward to their ultimate Final Battle!

Who Else Was Overlooked on the “All-Section Team”?

Obviously I am biased to Big 10 players being on the list, as these are the teams I’ve seen the most of this year, other than Glens Falls or Saratoga. I have to slightly question the Suburban bias of the blog-writer on the following:

No LaSalle players (Khaliq Gross?) or Troy guys (Donovan Johnson?
Jameson Keefe? Raheem Pringle?)– No Dino Johnson or Vinnie Nicosia of Amsterdam? Enith Perry of Albany (started well but fading lately?) How about Brian Hamor of Gibbons, surely to crack the Top 12 next year, and the second best soph in the area (to Jordan Stevens). How about 6’8” Matt Shepler of Schenectady, for some strength and size if you need it? All of these guys should merit honorable mentions at least.

Sad that Devyn Erwin isn’t back for this season–terrible for Albany, along with Shimeek Johnson’s transfer to Maginn. I’d like to hear more about what happened there. He played varsity for Bishop Maginn as a frosh and soph, I think, before they had turned their program around. And if LaSalle had had Alex Fields eligible this year (a mobile 6′6″ center–dominated the Shen Summer League) they might have contended for the title, would at least have been a strong 3rd place team, & his name would be on the list. Is/was he older than some of the other guys already named? I never understood why he wasn’t playing, but someone said he had used up his eligibility.

That’s it for now– I’ll be reporting on Sectional games as I see them, and I’m sorry if most of those will only be AA games, other than whenever I can catch one of Jimmer’s games. Like Kevin Whitaker, I am skewed in favor of the large schools, or at least those schools that play in the large school conferences. I don’t know how any true hoop connoisseur could think otherwise—and there is no way to see every game you’d like to during this time of year.

*****

P.S… Glens Falls is Ticked Off?!
By the way, maybe it was a coincidence, but just after I posted my first Hoop Page of 2007, (detailing why Bishop Gibbons is the biggest threat to Glens Falls’ advancement to the State Finals in Class A this year). the Indians took out their vengeance (if they’d seen my piece) on their Foothills Council foes from Gloversville, scoring an NBA-like 105 points, and winning by 56 points!! (Jimmer had a career-high 46, to get ready for the Sectionals, and many of the supporting role players scored well too, which is the only way a team hits that kind of triple-digit total!)
Maybe the sleeping giant up north will be primed and ferocious against their Big 10 opponents, should the #1 and #2 seeds advance to the A Sectional Finals. That game will be tough to pass up, even if equally good AA games are scheduled at the same time.

*****