Boardwalk Showcase / New Top 10

Posted by Tim McCollum

Before I get to my new top 10 how about a quick trip through the marathon of bliss that was the HoopGroup boardwalk showcase yesterday at Monmouth University’s MAC arena.

First off, big ups to the hoop group who put on a great day of basketball. Even the blowouts were good games (because the local teams won).  Secondly thanks to all 317 of you who at one point or another attended the live chat yesterday from the arena. I hope ya’ll had as much fun watching the chat roll on as I did hosting it. Pretty good bet another chat will happen in the SCT.

Many of you asked about Desmond Hubert from New Egypt. Well folks the kid is quite the specimen. He’s a legit 6-9 or a wee bit taller albeit rail thin. He has freakeshly long arms. He could grab rebounds off the rim withjout really jumping. But when he did jump you had no choice but to go wow. On the more cerebral side of things he does have an nose for the ball and, while some spit shining is necessary, good to better than good post moves.

In the first half of game 1 New Egypt was able to get the ball over the top to him frequently. This and a myriad of putbacks gave him solid numbers in the first half. In the 2nd Jackson fronted him with Holup with McDonnell giving weakside help to really bottle him up and dare the the snipers to beat them. It worked well because he was mostly contained in the second half and Jackson came back for the win.  One other note Hubert is disciplined on defense because he did not try to overplay to block shots and commit senseless personals. When he had it he blocked them when not he didn’t try anyway and foul. Very smart.

One last note is Saker from Jackson Memorial. He’s not the PG but he is the floor general. He ran the show from the wing on several occasions, positioned people, talked to Holup on the inside, worked the ball around etc. Great floor leadership and the “glue” type of player that a team needs.

Moving on to game #2 the critical point of the game was Lakewoods ball denial on the press. Often a team will press looking to steal in the back court. The adjustment they made was to allow Calhoun to get the ball in the middle and deny passes to each wing. This forced Calhoun to dribble over the timeline where they swapped between a double at the top of the key or overplaying the passing lanes. This caused just enough havoc to get the transition game going a just enough separation on the scoreboard to where North had to play more ragged than they would have liked.

That adjustment won the game. Now for more on Calhoun. The glowing reports on him are true. He’s always been physically imposing but the talent is now 100% put together. He was for the most part unguardable in the paint. Even Daquan Kenney who is a big body in his own right was muscled off the ball. The dunks were ferocious and Calhoun allowed the game to him and for the most part didn’t force the issue which is difficult to learn when you have that much talent.

I want to say Martens is vastly improved from last year but he hasn’t really improved at all. That isn’t a knock on him because he was brilliant last year and brilliant yesterday. Some college will find him and consider themselves forunate they did 4 years from now.

The little guard Eric Youncofski was at times brilliant when not under sufficating pressure from Jones, Beverette, and Tony Walker. He needs to add a jump shot to make the defense honest and learn to be a little calmer when he’s getting trapped.

Tony Walker yesterday was flat out brilliant. He might be the most underrated star in the Shore Conference. Walker dominated the game on both ends of the floor at willed Lakewood to the win. Sure he had plenty of help as Lakewood is a deep and talented club but he would not allow North to break through.

While we are on the extremely talented and improved department you have to mention Jarelle Reischel. His game is much smoother and polished than I’ve ever seen it. He now has plus body control. When he’s knifing into the lane he’s now under complete control and is able to shift his way to an easy layup where he would simply fly in last year. He will need to develop a consistent jumper out to the 3 point line between now and Rice. It’s a pretty shot but not on the mark.

There will be life after Reischel and Rotando for beach as Sophomore PJ Kineavy looks like he wants to play this game at a high level before he’s through. He;s already a fearless jump shooter.

There was a time during the game where Sean Grennan and especially Anthony Duszcak dominated. But it was when Rista and Lorenzo got into the scoring column that the Griffs pulled away (and not the sudden appearance of Mon Don Nation). They need just enough scoring from them and Gomez to be a true SCT threat.

I said in my preview that there is no team more undesirable to play than a ticked off and motivated CBA team. 80% of you disagreed with my upset prediction yesterday on the chat. I learned decades ago to not underestimate a wounded Colt. Lincoln oozes talent and probably is great at beating teams at their game. However CBA didn’t want to play their game and Lincoln could never force them to. Why? Matt McMullen.

It’s really hard to describe the effort this guy made yesterday. It isn’t exactly breaking news that CBA is doing a trial under fire at the PG position. So rather than feed them to Stokes and the Lincoln wolves what is their solution?

Have Matt McMullen bring up the ball. And in doing so he defused the trapping defense and controlled the temp of the offense, found the open cutters and kept control of the game. Typical CBA from that point. Spread the floor, hit curlers running into the lane and abuse their defense for layups. Lincoln was never in the game.

Incidentally Hughes and Shaw for CBA need more pub. Shaw was impressive from the beyond the arc. And remember the “glue” comment? Well that fits Hughes as well. I saw it in the Neptune debacle, I saw it in spades yesterday.

Speaking of the Neptune debacle I think the arena was asleep at halftime of the finale. I saw these big guys from Eastside in the warmup drill and didn’t recognize the names I heard in the starting lineups. I thought maybe I was just a little senile. Then after the stinker of the half we at the table were all perplexed as to how this team had become so highly ranked when they frankly weren’t very good.

Then I saw the big guys in the warmups again and you just knew they were not bench players. Then they ALL started the second half. It was like Neptune , who had played poorly themselves, suddently were playing the Space Jam Stars.

Then something strange and wonderful happened. Neptune for the first time this season played up to and BEYOND the competition. They didn’t overwhelm them but slowly and methodically pulled farther and farther away. And it wasn’t like Calderon blew up (even though he had 15 points and 9 assists) or Kirkwood blew up or any one of them blew up. They all blew up together. That half of basketball was really the first glimpse of what the Fliers can accomplish.

Now I can’t wait to see Fuquan McDonald join the fun and see Rasul Holland get into game shape. With them Neptune is a legit 8 players deep and a real threat so long as they don’t pull a Lincoln if they see CBA or North in the SCT.

Whew. Time to exhale out a quick top 10.

#1 Lakewood – The Piners were impressive without Davis yesterday. It’s their spot to hold onto now.

#2 Middletown North — You could possibly argue CBA staying here after the Lincoln win. With North and CBA both going 1-1 last week (at least in the important games) the tiebreaker goes to Norths W which was over CBA.

#3 CBA – Dropping the Colts lower than this is ill advised, especially considering their win yesterday.

#4 Raritan — I was all set to have my internal argument over St Rose and Asbury for #4 and #5 until I spoke with a reporter at the arena who correctly pointed out that Raritan’s only loss is a 5 point loss at Linden. They deserve their props.

#5 Asbury Park — I know St Rose has a win over them head to head but Asbury has beaten Beach with Reischel where as St Rose beat Beach without Reischel and Mon Don at full strength. I know both were at the Asbury dungeon but neither were victims of the “Bishop Blitz” and both games were winnable for the visitors. I know there are some folks who want to see them win a road game first but results are results and these are impressive. BTW it is required of every hoop junkie to see Thomond Hammary.

#6 Neptune — I was ready to place the Roses here and then the second half of the Eastside game started. I think this is the lowest the Fliers will be from here on out. I really them movbing toward a peak hopefully come tourament time. Don;t forget strong wins @ Monmouth and against nemesis Freehold this week also.

#7 St Rose – I know I’m disrespecting the Roses a little bit. I know I’m probably too much of a homer sometimes. My guy says the Roses are #7 which isn’t exactly chopped liver either. No matter how you slice it Kukoda, Van Schaak and the rest of the Roses are on fire and I hope they stay there.

#8 Mon Don — I don’t recall if this is a drop of a rise in the rankings for the Griffs. I also think they are safe here. They are certainly going to be a tough out no matter where they are ranked, especially if Rista and Lorenzo can produce like they did at the end of the game yesterday.

#9 — Point Beach — I can’t drop them all the way out of the top ten. They looked like a top 10 team yesterday, even in the loss. They need secondary scoring from someone not named Reischel or Rotando.

#10 — Rumson Fair Haven — This club is on fire  with Pookie leading the charge. I want to give these kids some ups and hope they stay here.

That’s it before I go check out Josh Newman’s chat on the Girls Showcase and let him type for awhile.

See ya soon folks.

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