Kingwood Classic

[chickendog!]

Has anyone looked into the brackets and identified any good games of interest?

Later this week I'll probably try to bounce back and forth between rivalshoops.com and the brackets to see when the top 09 guys are playing, but if anyone has a 'can't miss' game(s), please post, and spare me some research...

I guess there's always the option of sitting in the main gym and just watching whatever games are sched'ed....

But if you have any games you want to see, or method for deciphering the bracket/teams/players, please post.

 

[rtw21]

I'm heading down there with my 16U team on Friday. As for the 17U bracket, there aren't as many high-profile names/teams this year because the Real Deal on the Hill is being played on the same weekend in Arkansas, so the talent has been divided. From what I'm hearing, many colleges will be sending their head coach to one event, and their assistants to the other, depending on their recruiting targets.

 

[ptrain37]

I'll be there on Saturday sporting my burnt orange.

 

[rtw21]

It looks like there will be several good games on Saturday afternoon at the Legends Sports Complex (tournament HQ this year). At 1:50, Houston Hoops (Tiny Gallon, Tommy Mason-Griffin, etc.) plays Alabama Challenge in Gym 1, while Portland Legends plays Compton Magic Elite in Gym 2. At 3:00, Howard Pulley Panthers Black plays Miami Tropics, followed by Team Georgia Elite Outlaw against Team Odom (2009 top-10 recruit Jordan Hamilton) at 4:10.

 

[rtw21]

I saw a lot of great players this weekend, but no one impressed me more than Zach Peters, a 6'7" kid out of the Dallas area who just turned 15 a month ago (according to his dad, who was really nice). His team, Pro Skills Select, was playing up in the 16U division, and he still looked like a man among boys. They only had 6 players, so he basically played every minute of every one of their games, and led them to the semifinals of the Gold division. Coach Springmann was at several of his games, as was Bruce Weber (Illinois head coach). I don't know how much more this kid is projected to grow, but even if he doesn't grow another inch, he has enough game to play D-1 ball IMO. Very fundamentally sound, nice post moves, decent ballhandling, and a decent shot.

 

[SL Xpress]

I saw three games with Peters.

He's the most impressive 8th grader I think I'll probably ever see. He does things college seniors don't do, in terms of a back to the basket game, and his overall basketball IQ.

I'd love to see him on a team with a couple of bigs, so he could play the wing, but at 6'7 in the 16U age group, that's a little much to expect. There's no doubt in my mind he has the ballhandling and shooting skills to successfully pull it off.

That was a great game against the Brooklyn Patriots in the semifinals. Both teams were very well coached. The Patriots had the better overall athleticism and depth, whereas Pro Skills Select had the better inside game (another 6'7 kid plays alongside Peters), and the best overall player, but was diminuitive at their other positions.

The Patriots played a disciplined 1-2-2 3/4 court press which gave PSS fits. When Pro Skills Select was able to force the Brooklyn kids into a halfcourt game, their 2-3 zone was effective.

Brooklyn possessed a 7 point lead with a little over a minute remaining --- which with PSS's slow down game meant it was virtually over. However, a couple of 3 point shots and other timely plays allowed them to tie up the game and force overtime.

The overtime periods are only 2 minutes, which meant at the pace this game was played, each team was only going to get a couple of possessions at most. PSS scored the first basket, and held that lead until the closing moments. Unfortunately they missed 3 consecutive front ends of one and ones. After the first miss they grabbed the offensive board. After the second miss Brooklyn rebounded the ball, but was called for travelling after hitting the deck. After the third miss the Brooklyn team rushed the ball down the court with 10 seconds remaining in the game, and hit a 3 point shot with a second left for the win.

At 15 Peters still has a chance to grow some. As rtw21 says, he doesn't need to in order to be a big time prospect. He's a take right now. But if he manages to grow a couple more inches, we're talking about a potential Larry Bird type (de rigeur comparison because Peters is white) with more athleticism.

As an aside, that whole team is well schooled in fundamentals, and the parent support for those kids was pretty unbelievable.

 

[rtw21]

I didn't see the semifinal game, but I saw PSS play 2 pool games and 1 bracket game. My team lost a 1-point OT heartbreaker to a good Dallas team, or we may have played PSS in the first round of bracket play. I also saw the Brooklyn team's first bracket game, and I'm surprised PSS had the legs to hang with them in what was PSS's 3rd game on Sunday, and their 6th game in a 27-hour period. I honestly don't know how they did it with a 6-man roster.

I agree with SLX that they were very well coached, and Peters is one of the best 8th/9th graders I've ever seen (I'd probably give a slight edge to OJ Mayo, but they're different players).

 

[SL Xpress]

They slowed the game to a crawl. On defense they utilized a good 2-3 zone, with really good spacing. On offense, they really took their time. PSS would just hold the ball for a good 45-60 seconds per possession, trying to take a bit of a breather each time down the floor.

Still, it was impressive. They didn't have any games scheduled on Friday, so they had to play all their pool games on Saturday. They made two extraordinary comebacks in 2 of the 3 elimination games, coming back from 8 down in the last two minutes and then pulling out the victory on a halfcourt buzzer beater at the end of the first overtime, then the 7 point comeback with a little over a minute left in the game I saw. Those kids had no quit in them.

There's no doubt in my mind it had an impact on them missing those 3 one and ones, but even so, it was an impressive run.

 

[KMed]

I remember the DMN having a story on this kid a few months ago. I found the link, but have no idea how to post it. Here's the URL.
The Link

 

[KMed]

I guess I'm smarter than I thought. I must intuitively know how to post a link.