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Amauro's Corner Amauro "Amar" Austin is
a headliner among our trusty observers. He is not to be confused with Ruben Amaro,
the Phillies' general manager. Like "Huck" Palmer,
Amauro is a West Catholic graduate. He will make reports on games he sees. |
JAN. 17
IMHOTEP
MLK SHOWCASE
PET
Charter 72, Constitution 71
MC&S
Charter 59, Gratz 57
The original plan was to watch game 2 of the
event and then join Ted at La Salle for the
Roman game, but things got tight down the stretch in the PET-Con
High game and the game ended at roughly 4:37 and with La
Salle-Roman being a 5 start, I didn't want to chance it so I
stayed put and was pretty glad I did because I saw two highly
competitive games with some of the League's better players that
went to the wire and you can NEVER ask for more than that. Both
of these games were essentially Pub Ratings games for who fits
in where behind Imhotep. PET made a strong statement with a win
as gutsy as a win can be. The Chargers had to have a sigh of
relief because the game's final shot was a clean left wing trey
look taken by by jr. G Daiquan Walker, a k a
"Mr. Philadelphia," who's becoming in my opinion the League's
BEST player. Walker was having an off night, but I still liked
the call by Coach Rob Moore as every one of his shots
looks good coming out of his hands so this game could have
easily gone the other way. He did finish with 14 points, but
only shot 2-for-8 on treys. Sr. PF Xaxier Harris
was the man through 3 quarters at least, scoring 22 points,
grabbing 9 rebounds & blocking 3 shots, but he scored no points
in the 4th. Sr. C/OT (smile) Mamadou Diakite
battled inside for 8P & 8R before fouling out. Jr. PG
Tamir Bolger dished 9 assists before doing the same.
Sr. WG Marvin Champ sniped 3-for-5 on treys en
route to 14 points off the bench. The Chargers are an
interesting bunch in the Pub and 3A landscape. They have a nice
mix of guards and inside guys, veterans & youngsters. The Vets
are sr. guards PG Devante Chance & WG
Carrington Ward. They combined for 50 points here. I
could see both garnering lower level D-I interest as the year
rolls along. Ward (23P, 4A, 4S) is already getting sniffs and
was most impressive here with his 11-for-11 showing at the line.
Chance (27P, 6R 3S) has everything a small guard needs to be
successful at the D-I level. He can score in the lane, he can
shoot the long ball, he has savvy & he plays great defense. I'm
pretty much sold on him so we'll see where it goes. I also LOVE
soph. CG Hakeem Baxter, who in time will be one
of the League's better players. As will 6-8 soph. C Jai
Williams. 6-3 jr. SF Emmanuel Brown
(11P, 7R) has serious leaping ability. These two could meet
again in time when both are at full strength. Both squads
were missing key pieces here with Con High still missing 6-8 sr.
C Erik Raleigh and PET missing 6-7 jr. F
David George. Things should be interesting
going forward.
The 3rd and Final game was as tough and
physical a game that you'll see in these parts. The Bulldogs
often trot out 5 guards and all of them play with attitude while
sometimes MC&S' front line is 6-6 all the way across (though
they do have 5 competent guards as well). The Mighty Elephants
controlled this one throughout, but a late Bulldog run made
things interesting. Even more interesting was the fact that sr.
co-stars PG Aquil Younger (Drexel) & WG-SF
Andrew Moye weren't truly a part of the run. In
fact, both sat for the first 4:26 of the 4th. Neither was in
serious foul trouble, either. Younger only lasted 34 more ticks
as he was hit with a double T after first getting tangled up
with sr. CG Warren Dogan (also T'ed up) and
then continuing a dialogue with the striped ones. Admittedly, it
was a bit of a quick toss and Younger, who'd scored 21 points in
the first 3 quarters while also drawing plenty of oohs and aahs
with his electric package of quickness, athleticism & ball
handling, was definitely not the instigator here. He was
guilty, though, of letting some small change get under his skin,
and he's simply TOO GOOD to let something like that happen,
especially in such a tight game. It may well have cost his team
the game here. Moye scrapped for 10P & 8R, but was never the
same after picking up foul #2 early in the 2nd quarter from an
aggressiveness standpoint after having 6 & 6 in the first
quarter. MC&S has an interesting collection of talent. IMO they
may have a player or two TOO many and it shows in their rotation
as their star 6-6 soph. SF, Jeremiah Worthem
(9P, 5R), sat for LONG (TOO LONG) stretches. Really, 7 or 8 (Speedy
Morris normally plays 6 -- smile) is ENOUGH at the high
school level, but this looks to be one of those situations where
having TOO many guys means trying to keep TOO many people happy.
Coach Danny Jackson seems to be a perceptive guy
so I'm sure he's got a plan. Maybe things will shorten down the
stretch. MC&S has 4 rotating guards -- all srs, all college
worthy prospects at different levels & all bring different
attributes at this level. Dogan (5A) looks to best of the group
as he's quick, athletic & as competitive as they come. Plus he's
one of those guys that LIVES to defend. Dogan started his career
at Overbrook and returned this year from a stint out of the
area. PG Tommy Moore (10P, 4A) is ultra quick
with the ball and possesses a feathery touch from deep. Sr. WG
Tyreek Riddick is the 6th man, but was the
leading scorer here with 15 points (4 treys) including a huge
one in the last minute. He also looks to be the team leader. WG
Chris Stokes provides many of the same
attributes (defense & deep shooting) off the bench as well. Sr.
C Muhammad Amin (12 pulls) led the game in
rebounding. The wildcard of this bunch is 6-6 jr. C
Quentin Davis (8P, 11R, 2B off the bench). You could
argue that this long, jumping jack was the game's best player
throughout. He's one of those guys that has his best days in
front of him too so it'll be fun to watch his development. The
Bulldogs also got a decent effort from sr. CG Bruce
Hanner (15 points, 9-for-10 at the line). He almost
single-handedly kept them in it down the stretch.
AA's NOTES:
In game one Del Val outlasted Sankofa Charter 52-50... Kudos to
Imhotep and Coach Andre Noble for hosting a
great event like this. This could get much bigger in time...
These games set up the Pub Game of the week with A powers MC&S
and Con High meeting Friday night at 7 at Franklin. Should be
interesting... PET has got to be the favorite in Pub AAA. Ward
and Chance are for real and make up the League's best backcourt
tandem... Chance is said to be full qualifier for D-I & II and
also seems to be adored by all. He's one of the city's bigger
sleepers... The Bulldogs left me scratching my head once again,
don't get me started (Not smiling)... And like I said earlier,
MC&S has some serious talent, but I feel in order to reach
ultimate success, they must either shorten their 10-man rotation
to 8 (maybe even 7) or play a different way (press and run while
subbing a lot comes to mind with all of those lives bodies. They
could really wear teams down, even decent teams like Gratz...
Another fun outing as the trail continues...
JAN. 4
PUBLIC LEAGUE A (4A)
Gratz 55, Bartram 45
The Bulldogs got a nice home win over a quality
team behind solid defense and good guard play (All they have is
guards -- smile). However, they were lucky because their 8-for-22
showing from the line may well be the worse I've EVER seen from a
Gratz team and with a bounce here or there things could have been
tighter down the stretch. Anyway, the game's star was 5-11 sr. PG-WG
Bruce Hanner, now a 3-year starter whose gotten
better every year in my opinion to the point where he may garner
D-II state school interest by year's end. As a soph. you could see
he was talented (quick, athletic, solid defender, etc.), but he was
VERY raw and may well have been in his first organized ball
situation. Last year as a junior, he made strides as a leader and a
point guard, which of course go hand in hand, and now as a senior he
has added sniper tendencies while being allowed to play a lot more
off the ball due to the arrival of West Catholic transfer and Drexel
signee 5-11 sr. PG Aquil Younger, who's the primary
ball handler. Hanner went for 16 points here (4-for-8 on treys, but
only 2-of-5 from the line). The 40% from the foul line is
unacceptable for a guy that shoots this well and I'm sure will be
corrected. Younger (13P, 4A, 3S) had an up and down game. He missed
two wide open layups, but still managed solid numbers and pretty
much controlled the game with his supreme ball handling. Sr. WG-SF-PF-C
Andrew Moye (Boy does he play a lot of
positions -- smile) was once again a bear with 16 points & 12 boards
while also blocking 3 shots and plucking 4 steals. He's been either
a WG or SF throughout his career, but this year he's been asked to
be the PF-C for this team because of his grit and his powerfully
built 6-3 225-lb frame. It's working out well, too, as he plays for
a D-I look. Bartram's bet were srs. CG Darrell "Pooh"
Robinson (13 points) & 6-4 SF Barry Brockington (12P, 9R).
Thin 6-6 sr. C Jimmy Burrus (9 rebounds) played
tough inside and could be a fixture in the line-up going forward.
AAs NOTES:
The Braves are again without sr. PG Jarmal Brown as
he's reinjured his foot. Brown missed all of his last season with a
broken foot. Hopefully he recovers... I can't believe how poor a
foul shooting team the Bulldogs are especially because of the fact
that they have 3 or 4 decent outside shooters on the team,
amazing... Finally this game started at approximately 4:45 with the
JV game played first, a new wrinkle that rookie commissioner
Ben Dubin has put in this season. For me, it's great being
that sometimes I have to double as Superman to catch a 3:15 game
anymore, something I do well I must say -- smile. In a League with
issues/problems as tall as a mile high, playing games late
afternoon/night could help to resolve some of them because it helps
bring back the adult crowd/parents which is always good for the kids
especially from the overall behavior standpoint. So far, so good,
we'll keep you posted though... A great friendly exchange was had
between Bartram coach James Brown and veteran ref
Russell McCullough when Russ called one of Brown's
player for a block and he wanted a charge. Brown's best comment
(yell) was, "Come on Russ! I teach my boys to take the charge!"
Brown got his wish later as the same kid who had gotten run over
earlier, earned a charge call later and Brown jumped for joy --
smile. See what a little working the refs can do for you -- smile
again...
DEC. 22
PUBLIC LEAGUE E (A)
Constitution 75, World Communication 58
This was the game of the day (maybe week) on the Pub
trail and not only because both teams boast some of the League's better
players, but also because of last year's fiasco when these schools met
-- bench-clearing brawls, shouting matches between coaches, mass
suspensions. This game was played cleanly and with a rather high skill
level for the most part and for 3 and a half quarters was in the
balance. The Generals at Con High flexed their muscles late en route to
a win going away, but it was far from easy. The Generals may have the
League's best overall group outside of 21st & Godfrey and they've
already played there on Day 1, losing by 20 (DAMN!). I do feel a later
meeting would be a lot closer, especially one on a neutral court.
Anyway, CH placed all 5 starters into double figure scoring and got a
strong bench contribution from its 6th man STRONG sr. PF-C
Mamadou Diakite (4P, 4R, tough interior D). The best General
was 6-8 sr. PF-C Erik Raleigh (19P, 7R, 3B also 2
steals and assists), a long, lean lefty. Add to the 3 Ls skilled as he's
found his niche as a high post jump shooter, who can also handle and
pass. LOW 1 ALERT! What I liked most
about Raleigh's performance was another adjective -- efficient -- as he
shot 7-for-11 (just under 70% from the field) & 5-for-6 at the line. The
most talented General is. jr. G Daiquan Walker, a
transfer from Roman Catholic. Walker is being recruited by D-Is from all
the major conferences in America and is ranked very highly by some of
the National pundits. Here I really liked the way he played. His sweet
stroke was off early on (missed his first 8 shots), but no worries
because this guy oozes pace/poise. Walker simply slowed his role, stayed
under control and made his final 4-of-6 shots while sinking 9-of-12 from
the line en route to 18 points. He also hustled for 6 boards, 4 dishes &
3 thefts. 6-5 sr. strongman Xavier Harris muscled his
way to 10P, 13R & 3B while sr. wing strongman Abdul King
fought his way to 13P, 3A & 3S. Steady jr. PG Tamir Bolger
(10P) had a fun battle with fellow water bug from WC, 5-5 soph.
Fateem Glenn (8P and 5 boards; yes 5 boards) .WC's headliner is
6-4 sr. SF Markeith Mont (18P, 7R, 2A). He always
acquits himself well because he NEVER short changes you in the hard play
department. Sr. PG Shon Phillips (14P, 4S) also
displays get-after-it-ness. 6-7 sr. C Anthony Guess
(6P, 5R, while battling foul woes throughout) is a prospect to watch for
D-IIs as he's coming into his own as a player while also being a decent
student.
AAs NOTES:
I LOVE teams that play hard and WC definitely does just that as all 5
starters finished with at least 4 fouls, 3 fouled out and that to me
shows that the team left it all out there and battled to the end...
Coach Rob Moore's Generals again may be the League's
best hope to challenge the mighty Panthers at Imhotep. Raleigh is
improving by the second. Harris may be the League's best
student/athlete. King doesn't understand any other way except full
blast. While Walker is balancing piece while also being the League's
BEST junior. One other note: All 4 are CL cast-offs, Raleigh (Bonner),
Harris (North - RIP), King & Walker (both Roman)... Many in our area
question Walker's rep as one of the best in his class Nationally and
even I've been guilty to an extent, but I'm starting to see the light.
This guy blends unbelievable pace & poise with that old time Pub
Gun-Slinger mentality. Its a dangerous blend! Plus everything with him
is almost effortless. Let's start supporting the kid, folks . . . Boston
U assistant and former Bonner star, then coach, Brian Daly
was in the house checking out Harris I believe. He dropped the line of
the night saying, "I still can't believe that I had both Erik Raleigh &
6-9 PF Markus Kennedy (Villanova next year and also in
attendance) in my gym at Bonner as freshmen." Also in attendance: Eagles
SUPERSTAR running back, LeSean "Shady" McCoy! But what
was "Shady" doing taking in a high school game? Hmmm . . .
DEC. 21
PUBLIC LEAGUE A (4A)
Fels 69, Olney 65 (OT)
I was pretty happy I came to this one as Fels-Olney
is becoming quite the rivalry because of its districts being on each
other's border. It's so much of a rivalry that only parents,
cheerleaders (There are more than 20 of them), JV players and girls
players were allowed to attend and somehow you didn't even notice by
how loud the gym got when the Panthers did something good. Anyway
the Panthers controlled tempo and scored almost from wire to wire
and it appeared that they'd earn a comfortable 6-8 point win, but to
no avail as the Trojans kept battling and on an all in one motion
long miss rebound and deep trey at the buzzer by VERY impressive
soph. G Malik "Magic" Starkes (12P, 6R, 6A) the
game was all tied up at 58 and OT was needed. Fels again imposed its
will in Ot and this time there wasn't much resistance as Starkes and
Olney's other big star sr. WG Ray Jaggon (24
points, 4 treys, 12 rebounds & 4 steals) both fouled out early in
the OT session. Fels coach Mark Heimerdinger
exclusively plays 10-11 guys often subbing out 5 at a time in an
attempt to wear his opponent down and it seems to be working out. CG
Rahamon Scott led the way with 14 points (6-for-6
on FTs), 5 boards, 2 apiece of assists, steals & blocks while 3
others got into double figures with 6-4 sr. SF Kevin Steed
(13 points), 6-3 jr. SF Nijay Kelly (12P, 7R,
4-for-4 at the line ) & 6-3 sr. PF Terree Johnson
(10P, 4R, 2A). A 5th guy was important as well in 6-2 jr. WG
Cristian Rojas (8P, 3R & loads of intangibles). Kelly did
his damage in roughly half the game off the bench as he works his
way back into Basketball shape. His progress will be a key to the
team's success. Rojas is one of the league's better athletes and may
well be the most talented player on the team. Neither he or Kelly
started. For Olney, this was Jaggon's first appearance after
academic woes cost him the fist 2 weeks. He started out missing his
first 5 shots then got rolling draining 4-for-8 from three, but he
never got to the line which is a head scratcher as he's one of the
league's better scorers and overall players for that matter.
Speaking of League's best, you'll be hard-pressed to find many sophs
better than Starkes in Philly. IMO there are only 2 in the Pub that
I've seen ahead of him and not by much and they are Imhotep's 6-6
wing Brandon Austin and Vaux 6-3 G Rysheed
Jordan. Starkes is that good folks. He got great size for a
young forward (6-4 190), but his best position appears to be point
guard and he plays it with both attitude and flair while also
possessing above the rim athleticism. The Trojans also got solid
effort from srs. 6-4 F Jaree Cooper (12P, 9R, 3S) &
PG Chris Wormley (6P, 8R, 3A).
AA's NOTES:
After Week 1, I was a little worried about the state of the Public
League but seeing kids like Starkes will make you recalibrate. This
kid's got the goods and will cause havoc in this League for the next
few years... I like what Fels is doing giving all 12 a shot in the
early going before settling on a solid 8 or 9. It'll pay dividends
later as everyone will be ready when their number is called...
Helping Fels this year is former Lamberton boss and good guy
Mitchell Kurtz. Its good to see Mitch as he's been around
the Pub for almost 30 years now...
DEC. 16
PUBLIC LEAGUE A (4A)
Washington 76, Bartram 73
This was as exciting as an early season Pub game can get.
Sure it was sloppy but both teams (and coaches -- smile) competed like crazy
and the game came down to the final possession and you truly can't ask for
more than that. Had GW lost this one, the ride all the way back to the DEEP
Northeast from the DEEP Southwest would have been longer than I'm sure it
already was after a late afternoon light snow made for frozen road
conditions during the evening rush hour. That almost did and probably should
have happened as the Braves led by 16 with just over 7:00 remaining. The
main Eagle was sr. WG Keith Richardson, whom coach
Calvin Jones adamantly calls one of the top 5 players in the
League. I don't know about that, but the kid is pretty darn good as he's a
natural scorer (slashes and shoots it from deep while also living on the
line) at 6-2 210-lbs with a killer instinct. Here he shot 9-for-19 (4
treys), 12-of-17 at the line en route to 34 points (12 in the 4th), 7 boards
& 3 steals before fouling out late. The next best Eagles were spunky reserve
sr. guards Wing Robert Wilkerson (11P, 8 in 4th) & point
Darnell Green (8P, 2R, A & Ss). Starting guards and
transfers jr. PG Courtland "Redz" Gilliam (Dobbins) & sr.
WG Kawuan Chavis (Roman) both went hard though their shots
didn't fall evenly splitting 16 points & 10 boards. Gilliam had 4A & 2S and
Chavis 3A & 7S. The Braves have a decent backcourt of their own in
strong-willed srs PG Jarmal Brown (7P, 7R & 5A) & CG
Darrell "Pooh" Robinson (30 points, 10 boards, 4 assists &
3 steals). Brown is a dishmeister who plays with serious poise while
Robinson is a warrior who excels at all facets of the game and NEVER takes a
second off. They are both my kind of guys and very fun to watch. The Brave
guards looked kinda worn down down the stretch and that was much of the
reason for the collapse. Robinson missed 5 4th quarter free throws and fell
short on a trey at the buzzer on a really good look that would have tied it.
6-4 sr. SF Barry Brockington (5P, 7R, took 2 charges) has
stabilizer potential. He's a master at little things duty and will prove key
once he gets used to his new environs after transferring in from Bodine. The
X-factor for the Braves though is 6-3 jr. WG-SF Jared Bryant
(22 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists & 2 steals). Coach James "J.B."
Brown says he was one of the best JV players in the city last year.
Now he's probably his Varsity's top talent. Bryant's got some developing
yet to do, but he can really go right now.
AAs NOTES:
This was as spirited as it gets for December. That's twice in one week for
me! (BIG SMILE ;-)) Both coaches -- Bartram's Brown and GWs Jones -- were as
into, it if not even more so, as much as the kids. It was great!...
Bartram's gym is now somewhat refurbished with new glass backboards.
Coach Brown pushed hard for this and things look great. New Pub Chairman Ben
Dubin got this one right as he put two of the better officials on
the case in vets Ron Arthur and Randy Pritzler
held things down. Finally the Eagle coaches are still holding out hope that
star Football QB Tony Smith (6-4 220 and a very good SF/PF)
comes out for basketball. They even joked that they have his size 13 team
sneakers waiting for him. I'd like to see him come out as well because he
would complete this team with his intangibles and make them a serious force
this year in the Pub. Stay tuned...
DEC. 14