preview time

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SoCalHoops High School News

It's Preview Time.....And
We Need Your Help Again--(Oct. 1, 2001)

No we haven't disappeared....work (real work) has just overtaken our ability to catch up with things in the hoops world. Yes, we've been derelict in our duties, but we're back. And we need your help. So here's the deal:

October marks the beginning of what we like to call "Preview Month." It's the time when we begin to get our basketball preview info for high school teams in Southern California rolling. And as in past years, we will once again call on high school coaches, players, and others with the info to help us prepare these reports. We can't do it alone. There are 513 schools in the Southern Section alone, 63 in the LA City, and about the same number in San Diego and Central Section. We can't possibly hope to preview them all, even by the end of the season, and even if we started months ago. It's a big task, but our hope is to try to bring some perspective to the upcoming season, and to profile and preview those teams (and in the process the players) who we'll all be watching this season.

We're not sure how many such previews we'll do, but we want to post as many as possible, including league prognostications, playoff hopefuls, and our SoCalHoops "Top 20" polls by division. So your help is appreciated.

Here's what we need, in the following order:

1. Roster
2. 2001-2002 Schedule & Tournaments/Events this winter
3. League Records last season & playoff record
4. Anything else you want to add (really, just about anything).

Send us a roster, or at least a roster which is as complete as you can predict it at this time of year (recognizing that most teams have not yet held tryouts and won't for about another month....heck, practice can't even start until November 10.....but that's a different story). Here's what we need in the way of roster info:

1. Names of players
2. Heights
3. Class (e.g., Sr. Jr. So. Fr.)
4. Position (or at least best/anticipated position).

We also, as noted, need scheduling info. The CIF won't be publishing the master schedules for about another three weeks, so we of course want to get the jump on them. Send us what you know, including any tournaments that a team will be appearing in this winter, and any "extravaganza" events scheduled as well. The more definite the info, the better and more helpful it will be.

Finally, if you want to add commentary about players, coaches, how the team has performed historically, and how you think they'll do this season, that's great. It's all welcome.

Just remember, there are only so many hours in the day, so if we don't get to a team, that's because we haven't had time. Events will quickly overtake our ability to give you the big picture, so time really is ticking here...Southern California is a big place when it comes to basketball. Let's all help to make bring everyone a little bit closer, which is precisely what these previews are intended to do by giving us a better understanding of what hoops is all about in Southern California. Thanks for you assistance.