SoCalHoops Recruiting News

2000 USA Basketball Youth Development Team:
Notes From Afar--(June 20, 2000)

We're not in Colorado Springs, so the only thing we can report on is what we've read and heard from others, but we've got a few comments to make about these games:

Nice idea, but it appears that the invitations to the this event were, at least in some measure largely political.  We're not complaining (even if others are) because when you get right down to it, everything in life is "largely political."   And as we've noted on the Message Forum, we can't think of a single player who was invited and who is attending who doesn't clearly deserve to be there. . . which is not to say the organizers haven't missed the boat with more than a few players who should have been there but aren't.

       Leading scorers:   So who is playing well?  From the West, the best player overall, at least from a scoring and production point of view is Joe See (6'-0" Sr. PG/SG), who has always been in our view more of a two guard than a point, and a better outside shooter than he has been a playmaker.  Joe, from Oakland De La Salle (Oakland Soldiers) is averaging 21.3 ppg which places him third overall in scoring.  Jamaal Williams (6'-6" Sr. SF/PF) from Corona Centennial (who also plays for Pump N Run and EBO) is averaging 20.5 ppg, which puts them third and fourth overall for the four games played through tonight.  Other SoCal players' scorng averages, at least among the leaders look like this: Josh Childress is averaging 15.5 ppg;  Marques Crane is averaging 13.5;  Floyd North is averaging 8.8.   Just so you know, the leading scorer for the entire thing is the South's Ed Nelson who is knocking down 23.5 ppg through four games. 

      Invited but missing:   We can't recall a more prestigious, talent-laden list of no-shows and absentees (both coaches and players) than at this set of games.  The West leads with the most significant no-shows. . . not only did Tyson Chandler (7'-0" Sr. C) from Compton Dominguez/The Hood not make it, neither did his high school/travel team coach (who also was supposed to be the the West Team's head coach), Russell Otis.   We're not sure why neither of them are there, but the fact is, they aren't.   Likewise, the North Team was also missing Anthony Roberson (6'-0" Jr. PG)  one of the top national high-major point guards in the rising junior class from Saginaw, Michigan, who plays with the Michigan Mustangs.   We spoke with Chris Grier, his Mustangs coach who told us that Anthony had other personal business to attend to which prevented his attendance.   The North's Tony Key from Russellville, Kentucky also missed the trip for reasons not known to us.   The South Team is missing Sheldon Bailey from South View HS in Hope Mills, N.C, and while it looks like Larry Turner from Baldwin HS in Milledgeville, Georgia is missing, he's not;  he was listed as an invitee to play for the South Team but was moved to the East Team to fill the gaps created by the absences of Chris Charles from York, Pennsylvania who is MIA, and Mark Konecny from Holy Cross in Southbury, Connecticut, who was missing for the first few games but surfaced and has played in the third and fourth games

    Injured: Apparently Josh Carrier (6'-6" Sr. SG/SF) from Bowling Green, Kentucky tweaked his ankle just before he was set to catch his flight and decided to forego the trip.  He'll be fine for this summer, and he'll be playing for the Double Pump All-Stars (with Jason Carter, Marques Crane, Andrew Moore, David Gale, Bakari Altheimer, Quinn Hawking, Justin Burns, Torin Beeler,  and Dustin Villepigue). 

     Better late than never:   Apparently Jamal Sampson (6'-11" Sr. C) from Mater Dei, missed the first day, but he's been playing the past few days and is currently the 5th leading rebounder at the Games.

    Moved North But Didn't Know It: Marques Crane (6'-5" Sr. SG/SF) from Ocean View, who was supposed to be playing for the West Team, has apparently been moved over to the North Team to fill the gaps created when the aforementioned Roberson, Carrier and Key didn't show.

    Notably Not Invited:   With fewer than 45 players overall invited to this event, it's quite obvious that there are many, many more good players out there who were not either invited or who turned down invitations to the event than the number  who chose to attend.    And notably absent from the West are several players who (especially given the absence of some others who actually went out of their way to confirm that they would attend but then didn't) are guys like Errick Craven (6'-2" Sr. PG/SG) and brother Derrick Craven (6'-2" Sr. SG/PG) from Bishop Montgomery (who have split time between Pump N Run and Belmont Shore); Dijon Thompson (6'-6" Sr. SG/SF) from Redondo Union (a Belmont Shore regular),  Cedric Bozeman (6'-5" Sr. PG/SG) from Mater Dei (a So.Cal.Hoops/SCA teammate of Chandler, Sampson and Childress),  Chad Bell (7'-0" Sr. C) from Westchester (who will be with Sports Express this summer), Isaiah Fox (6'-9" Sr. PF) from Crossroads (who was with Sports Express earlier this spring but who will likely move to another team, at least according to what we read over at Dinos Trigonis' Fullcourt Press;  Doug Thomas  (6'-8" Sr. PF/SF) from Inglewood (who has jumped between Double Pump and Paladins, and who will play out the rest of the summer with the Paladins), Dustin Villepigue (6'-9" Sr. F) from Simi Valley (Double Pump),  and on and on. . .  all guys from SoCal who were, in our view worthy of invitations to this event.  

And don't even get us started with the names of those from the Midwest and East Coast who aren't there. . . guys like Eddy Curry (6'-10" Sr. C) from Thornwood, South Holland, Illinois, Kelvin Torbert (6'-4" Sr. SG/SF) from   Northwestern,  in Flint, Michigan, Dajuan Wagner (6'-3" Sr. PG/SG) from Camden HS, in Camden, NJ. . . and the list can go on and on. . . . Kwame Brown (6-10 Sr C/PF) Brunswick (GA) Glynn Academy Ousmane Cisse (6'-9" Sr. C/PF) St. Jude, Montgomery, Ala., Carlos Hurt (6'-2" Sr. PG) Alief Elsik, Houston,TX,  David Lee (6'-8" Sr. SF/PF) Chaminade, St.Louis, MO,  James White (6'-7" Sr. SF/SG)   Newport HS, Kensington, MD , Jonathan Hargett (6'-1" Sr. PG) Emanual, Raleigh-Durham,  NC, Robert Whaley (6'-10" Sr. PF) from Benton Harbor HS, Benton Harbor, Michigan. . . and on, and on. . . 

    Final Rant of the Day:   How can a team in a five game "tournament" which has a record of 3-1, while two other teams have 2-2 records and a fourth has a record of 1-3 wind up playing for the third place "Bronze Medal Game"  tomorrow when the Games end?   Go figure.  The first three games were apparently pool play only, and the fourth game was the "semifinals".   The South team was the only team to go undefeated in open/pool play, and yet because they lost one game late today (a semifinal game), they wind up playing the East team for third place, while the West Team (2-2) will play the North team (2-2) for the "Gold Medal" championship game.   Which means that if the South team wins tomorrow, they'll have a record of 4-1, better than any other team in the competition. . . .Go figure. . . .

We'd repeat a lot more from the stats and other articles we've been reading about the competition, but why do that when you can read them yourself.   Be sure to check out USA Basketball's own Official Website, where you can get all the stats, game stories, player interviews, pictures, videos and more.

Oh yeah. . . .our money is still on the West to win the Gold, even without Tyson, and with Marques playing for the wrong team. . . .

 
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