ebo rosters

We're here in Fresno and since we now have the rosters (at least the printed ones) and we've spent just a little time (way too little) watching some of the teams, we're going to start posting some notes, observations, and team rosters.

First up is EBO (which stands for Elite Basketball Organization), which also happens to be Mats' own teams, and they are the hosts for the event, and thus they deserve the first posting. Not coincidentally, we also caught their game first thing when we arrived here this afternoon against the South Gate Bum Boys, which we suspect is the South Gate high school team, a scrappy bunch of guys with not much height who never really threatened EBO but who nevertheless managed to hang in trailing by about 10 or 11 points for most of the game. The final score of the game was something like 65-45, but that's just a best recollection, and it's probably wildly wrong since we weren't really paying attention to the final score but the way some of the guys were playing.

EBO has two teams in this tournament, the Fresno-based EBO team, and another one called EBO Alaska, which is coached by Carlos Boozer Sr., and which features Charles Boozer, who is just a 7th grader (we haven't seen them yet, but we hope to have a report on them before the weekend is over). We haven't yet seen Carlos Boozer Jr who should be finished up at Duke for the year by now, but we did have a chat with DeShawn Stevenson who was in town, back from his workouts in LA with Todd Person of the Metabolic Project, a private workout facility in Westwood which trains pro, college and high school athletes.

Jamaal Williams	6'-7" Jr. SF	Corona Centennial
Antonio Lawrence	6'-5' So. SF/SG	Jackson HS, Jacksonville, Fl.
Phillip Johnson	6'-11" Jr. C	Arroyo Grande
Brandon Bender	6'-9" Jr. F	Ballard HS, Louisville, KY
Bobby Nash	6'-7" Fr. F	Iolani HS, Honolulu
Jerome Ireland	5'-10" Fr. PG	Fresno Hoover HS
JoVance Coleman	6'-4" So. F	Fresno Hoover HS
Maurice Shaw	6'-9" Fr. F	Washington Union HS
Archie Copeland	5'-10" Jr. PG	Fresno HS
Fabrice m'Balla	6'-7" Jr. F	Washington Union
Herve Jalce	6'-8" Sr. (Prep) F	Washington Union
Duane Williams	5'-7" 7th PG	(somewhere in Fresno?)

Just a few notes. Jamaal Williams was back with EBO after playing with the Pump N Run team this spring (the one which isn't playing this weekend, with Chris Hernandez and Charlie Rodriguez who are playing with their own high school team, Clovis West in this tournament). Jamaal looked as good as he has all spring, like the high-major recruit that he is, shooting well and taking the ball to the rack. Mats also had three little point guards this afternoon, and they all played very well, especially Archie who was pretty amazing with his leaping and rebounding, and we were also really impressed by the fearlessness of Duane Williams, the young 7th grader who has great ball control and penetrates effectively. Phillip Johnson has gotten a lot bigger and bulkier than he was when we last saw him (which seems like last fall???), and he actually resembles a much bigger version of Josh Carrier. If Brandon Bender was there we must have missed him because we just have no recollection. Jerome Ireland is also a smart, excellent passer and a great ball handler. This was the first time we got a chance to see Fabrice m'Balla and he's got great hops, even if he doesn't speak much English. Dunks and rebounds very effectively and runs well.

We were too busy with other stuff, like getting situated at the tournament, to really pay complete attention to the EBO game against the Bum Boys, but we'll be sure to watch them tonight in their second game.

Sterling Hendeson	FR
Jon Chapman	JR
Jarrett Brown	JR
Leon Bus	8th
Robert Carte	FR
Jon Carlo Malacas	JR
James Severin	JR
Mitchell Snyder	JR
JJ Sevier	JR
Curtis Lane	JR
Charles Boozer	7th