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| West Coast All-Stars |
One of the sure signs the AAU basketball season has begun
is the tip off of the Gym Rats
Presidents' Day Tournament held every year in Portland, Oregon. As is the
case every year, this field features a number of very talented west coast teams
in the middle school divisions. Some of the top teams this year include the
Oakland Soldiers (7th & 8th), West Coast All-Stars (6th),
and the San Diego Rebels (6th). In terms of numbers, the eighth
grade division is the largest with 40 teams entered, followed by the seventh
grade division with 42 teams and the sixth grade division with an additional 29
teams. Since were covering the event as
part of the NYBL, our coverage this weekend will focus on the 6th
& 7th grade divisions primarily.
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| Daeshawn Wayne |
Day one of the tournament started off like most of
events, double-digit blowouts in pool play by more highly seeded teams. In
fact, right out of the gate, I watched Seattle Rotary destroy a San Diego-based
Triple Threat by a final score of 25- 60. Other than the fact that Seattle
Rotary was a much more talented team and totally dominated, there was nothing
else really left to say about this game. Both teams started slow, but
eventually, Seattle shook off the rust and got busy. As the game progressed, the
bigger, more athletic Rotary began to overpower the much smaller Triple Threat
players. The only real bright spot for Triple Threat was the play of
Solomon Davis (6’3 C Marietta, CA).
Davis has good length, is skilled and appears to have a lot of upside
potential. According to the score sheet, Davis scored almost half of the Triple
Threat points. For Seattle, the point guard play from
Daeshawn Wayne (5'7 PG Seattle, WA) was spectacular. Wayne is
crafty, plays with a lot of poise, and does a great job of running his team and
getting other players the ball. I was also impressed with Wayne’s midrange
game, a lost art these days, and his ability to drive and dish the ball. I also
really liked
Noah Williams (6’1 C Seattle,
WA), who's got good size, is very athletic and handles the rock well for his position.
Williams has good long-term potential as well.
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| Obinna Anyanwu & Chibuzo Agbo |
The second game of the day featured another blowout, this
time the San Diego Rebels totally outclassed HD Rock 62-19. The Rebels are a well-built
team that uses precision and execution to excel. Although the Rebels’ strength lies
with their frontcourt, they are an all-around very talented squad. As if the Rebels
were not already talented enough, this weekend,
Jack Pugh (5’9 PF Hilliard, OH) is running with the team. Pugh is
an excellent complement to an already talented frontcourt. As is his trade
mark, Pugh is attacking the basket and finishing everything. The frontcourt
includes
Obinna Anyanwu (6’0 C San Diego,
CA) and
Chibuzo Agbo (6’0 PF San
Diego, CA), both of whom are blessed with good size and athleticism and can
finish at a high rate around the cup. It’s not just their bigs, the Rebels’
guard play is also solid with
Kobe
Sanders and
Alex Wade. As a
team, the Rebels are patient on offense and they pass the basketball extremely
well while seeming to work as a cohesive unit. Team oriented play and talent
will win you a lot of games.
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| Tyrone Washington |
Blowout number three of the day featured a lopsided game
between the West Coast All-Stars and Team Black out. Even without their best
player,
Jason Harris, who was apparently
involved in an accident, the All-Stars had little trouble getting by and undermanned
Team Blackout. In this game, it was all about run outs transition buckets for
the All-Stars. The All-Stars effectively employed a 2-2-1 full-court zone trap
to force turnovers and feast off of easy transition buckets. The top performers
for the All-Stars were
Tyrone Washington
(5’5 SG Phoenix AZ),
Nick Valencia
(6’0 C Phoenix, AZ) and
Paris Dawson
(5’7 WF LA CC). Washington showed a nice little mid-range game in addition to
the ability to push the rock in transition and find open teammates for easy
buckets. Valencia is a big space eater who is not that athletic and is not a
high flyer, but is very effective in using his size to protect the rim and
gobble up rebounds. Bottom line, you simply can't turn the ball over on this
team and expect to beat them. By the time the buzzer sounded, the final score
was 58-16. Finally, look for the West Coast All-Stars in the NYBL this season.
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| Dexter Shouse |
Later in the day, I had the opportunity to catch some of
the I10 Celtics versus Prep Elite game. By the time I walked in the gym, the
score was already 8-2. As was the case all day long, this game quickly turned
into a blowout, and by halftime, it was already 39- 9 in favor of the Celtics.
Although there was no drama associated with the game, of note, is the fact that
the Celtics have added some firepower to their team in the form of
Dexter Shouse (6’1 PF Indianapolis, IN)
and
Keion Brooks (5’11 WF Indianapolis,
IN). Both guys are Indiana natives and are highly ranked nationally. With
Brooks and Shouse holding it down in the post, an undermanned Prep Elite squad
had little chance of scoring and/or rebounding around the bucket. With the
addition of the Indiana guys, this Celtics team is extremely deep and extremely
talented. In fact, they come off of the bench with guys who can score and
defend. Not only does this team have an elite frontcourt, they enjoy great guard
play. Specifically,
Jovon Blacksheer (
5’7 PG LA, CA) and
Dominic Winbush (5’5 PG Oakland, CA) are 2 quality guards who can
both score and defend. Add
Makani Whiteside
(5’11 G LA, CA)
to the mix and
his team is going to be very difficult to beat this weekend. Whiteside has good
size for his position and showed the ability to get to the rack and finish. We
(NYBL) rank him as a WF, but he may possess PG skills. I plan to watch him more
this weekend. Hopefully, day 2 will offer in more competitive games and more
compelling storylines.
Tomorrow, I'm looking forward to watching the Oakland Soldiers
(6th grade) lace it up. From what I understand, they've added some
significant talent for this weekend's tournament. I’m also hoping to see more
competitive games on day 2. Some other results: I10 Celtics (8th)
defeated Washington Elite 59-57; Oakland Soldiers (7th) defeated
Rainer 60-19; and Team Balance (6th) defeated Yellow Jackets 45-37.
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