fullcourt tournament report

Fullcourt Press Summer Shootout: Sports Express
Beats BWBA Orange For Title--(July 19, 2002)

	What:	2002 Fullcourt Press Summer Shootout Presented by Pangos
	When:	July 15-17, 2002
	Where:	Whittier High School
		Whittier, CA
	Who:	36 Top travel teams
	More What:	NCAA-Certified Event

Well, it's been a few days now, and we're finally shaking off the jet-lag, gearing up for the next round of competition in the second installment this summer of NCAA-certified "evaluation" events which will start Monday with the adidas Las Vegas Big Time Tournament. Now that there are no games going on, we've had a chance to get some sleep and gather our thoughts about what we've seen for the past 10 days, so we thought it would be appropriate to post some reflections and notes from the tournament which just transpired, and work our way backwards toward the second session of Pump Camp and Fullcourt Press camp (in later reports), to be finished off with a final recap and some additional photos from ABCD. In the meantime though, let's start with the Fullcourt Press Shootout and what we saw there.

It's funny how these tournaments usually work out. They start out very crowded, with lots of spectators and college coaches packing the gyms, and teams with long rosters, but by the time the championship game rolls around, there are usually just a handful of players, coaches and spectators on hand to play in and watch the two best teams compete for the championship....And this tournament was no different. By the time of the Championship game on Wednesday night, Sports Express was down to just 7 players and the same was true for BWBA Orange, Branch West's No. 1 team. Those who didn't stick around, missed a great game, and those who saw it...well, they saw it.

Sports Express was a team "essentially" composed of the following guys: Ray Reed (6'-1" Sr. G) from Inglewood, Travonte Nelson (5'-11" Sr. G) from Mater Dei, Fred Washington (6'-5" Sr. G/F) from Bishop Montgomery, Robert "LB" Brown (5'-11" Sr. G) from Westchester, Scott Cutley (6'-6" Sr. F) from Westchester, Chris Hemphill (6'-6" Sr. F) from Serra, Mork Lovein (6'-8" Sr. F) from Esperanza, Mario Avery (6'-9" Sr. F) who lists Stoneridge Prep as his school, Marcus Williams (6'-3" Sr. G) who will attend Oak Hill Academy in Virginia, and Jason McKinney (5'-11" G), a post-grad player from Inglewood. By the way, Nick Stiggers was also listed on the Sports Express roster, and while we saw him at the tournament for one game, we don't think he played with this team, but played with the other Sports Express (Gold) team instead.

We say Sports Express "essentially" consisted of the following players because by the time the championship game rolled around, Ray Reed was out with an injury--one that we won't describe here, but if he's up and walking now as we hear he is, it's a miracle-- Jason McKinney, Mario Avery and Travonte Nelson were gone, and the team was down to 7 players.

Branch West's Orange Team "essentially" (i.e, the listed roster) consisted of the following players: David Gale (6'-1" G) a post-grad who will attend Brewster Academy in New Hampshire this fall, Avi Fogel (6'-2" Sr. G) from Torrey Pines, Barry Barnes (5'-9" Sr. G) from Long Beach Poly, Kevin Delafu (6'-1" Sr. G) from Troy, Marcus Lewis (6'-6" Jr. F) from Long Beach Poly, Frank Robinson (6'-5" G/F), a post-grad player who is either bound for Winchendon or LA City College--more about him below--, Brent "Whitey" Smith (6'-8" Sr. F) from Brea-Olinda, Tony Gonzalez (6'-5" Sr. F) from Sunny Hills and his brother Mickey Gonzalez (6'-7" Jr. F) also from Sunny Hills, Josh Kramer (6'-7" Sr. F) from Torrey Pines, and a late addition, Derek Rasp (6'-7" Sr. F) from Moorpark.

Again, we say "essentially" for BWBA because by the time it came down to the final game, the only players on the bench for BWBA were Gale, Fogel, Delafu, Kramer, Lewis, Robinson and Rasp.

We're not going to recount here minute by minute what happened in the final game, but suffice it to say that depending upon your perspective, Sports Express either won it or BWBA gave it away. Any way you cut it, Sports Express' performance in the final two minutes of a close game which BWBA led up until the final four minute mark, was the key factor in securing the victory. Sports Express threw on an inbounds press late in the game, and BWBA made a couple of critical turnovers which ultimately proved to be the final margin of victory (4 points) for Sports Express. Specifically, with under a minute to play, Sports Express doubled Frank Robinson on the inbounds, forcing an errant pass which was picked off and converted. On the next possession, BWBA managed to break the double in the backcourt, but Robinson again forced a drive to the basket, was doubled down low and lost the dribble, again resulting in a score. While BWBA battled back in the final seconds, they were unable to overcome the deficit. The key play in the game though was a huge three-pointer by Scott Cutley with about 4 minutes to play which tied the game, pulling Sports Express even after trailing by as many as 15 points midway through the second half.

So who stepped up and played well at this tournament and in the championship? Just about everyone who played in this final game had some spectacular plays, and of course, being dead tired, just about everyone also had some really awful bonehead turnovers. But we're not going to focus on that, and instead, we'll give you a snapshot of the play of some of these players throughout the tournament, but with a focus on the championship, with some notes on their recruiting where we've gotten some information from the players or their parents and coaches:

Marcus Williams (6'-3" Sr. G) from Oak Hill (VA)--Marcus did some things we haven't seen him do in quite a while, and perhaps the most noticeable thing was that he looked to pass the ball a lot more than in prior summer and spring tournaments, and he avoided taking a shot every time he touched the ball. The point is that he's now looking to get his teammates involved in ways that we hadn't seen before, and this certainly bodes well for him to be finally considered a "true" point guard, albeit one who is clearly more than just a passer and a play-maker, but also a scoring threat. We didn't count his points in the final, but he hit just about everything we saw him attempt, including some of his trademark long three's and some drives to the basket. His father tells us that he's still not decided on his recruiting, and among the favorites are UCLA and UConn (at the moment). Surprisingly, USC also was mentioned in the conversation, but we do not have any indication that USC is recruiting Marcus at all right now.

Scott Cutley (6'-6" Sr. F) from Westchester--We don't have a clue right now about Scott's recruiting, so we'll leave that for later, but on the final day of play, Cutley really hit his stride, playing in three games, and hitting the big shot in the championship which ultimately gave Sports Express the momentum to pull ahead for good. He's a solid rebounder who prior to this tournament seemed to be having an inconsistent set of games both at ABCD and at the Pump's second session as well as at the Fullcourt Press Camp, but here he was very effective, rebounding, scoring off the dribble and defending. Again, we don't know where he's going to wind up, but we've heard a lot of talk about some Big West and WCC schools being very, very interested.

Avi Fogel (6'-2" Sr. G) from Torrey Pines-- Avi played solidly at the point and off-guard position throughout the tournament, getting some really inconsistent runs as the BWBA team seemed to be using this tournament as a tune-up for the Big Time and the Best of Summer, while Sports Express, which will not play (last we heard) as a team in the Big Time, seemed really to be just moving guys in and out without a view toward building for the next tournament. Fogel demonstrated his shooting ability from three point range early in the tournament, and then as things got deeper and deeper into bracket play he seemed to stick more to passing, play-making and drives to the basket. We don't know a lot about his recruiting either, but an assistant coach from SUNY Binghampton was following his every move, and we also hear that at least two of the San Diego schools (e.g., San Diego State and USD) were also watching him and Torrey Pines teammate Josh Kramer very closely. We've also heard Princeton and UCSB mentioned prominently for Fogel.

Frank Robinson (6' 5" PG G/F) from Sylmar, CA-- For us, Frank was the highlight of the tournament, and he was creating perhaps the most buzz of any player here among the coaches (who were not permitted to speak with anyone due to NCAA regulations, but sometimes you couldn't help but overhear them talking to each other). It seems that many coaches believed Frank would not be a qualifier, and as a result, he didn't get any offers this past season, at least none he considered seriously, but according to Frank he is indeed a full-qualifier. While we haven't seen his transcripts, coaches who have access to the NCAA Clearninghouse information will reportedly find that Frank is indeed a full-qualifier. He was finally showing a consistent shot from the perimeter, as well as the ability to get into the lane and score in traffic, and his defense also showed a marked improvement. There was talk from some in the gym that Frank's stock was rising about as quick as the Dow Industrial Average was dropping, and he's getting solid and serious interest from Fresno State, Washington, and a handful of other west coast schools. We're not certain whether he will attend prep school, but right now it looks like Winchendon if he does, and if he doesn't (and doesn't get a scholarship offer for the fall) will attend either LACC or Moorpark College. Had a huge tournament.

Josh Kramer (6'-7" Sr. F) from Torrey Pines--This was the first time we've really seen Kramer in more than a year, and all we can say is this boy is a stud on the floor, with a surprisingly deft shot all the way out to three point range, a ball-hound around the glass, and if he isn't being recruited at the mid to high major level, then someone is just missing the boat on him. Kramer played virtually every minute in the final game, and other than being hampered for a short time with what looked like a minor spring to his right ankle, he played some of the best basketball we've seen in quite a while. Runs the floor very well, jumps, rebounds, defends, and can shoot from inside or outside, there's not much he can't or won't do on the floor.

Kevin Delafu (6'-1" Sr. G) from Troy--Kevin is a solid player who can distribute the ball and when called on can hit the open shot. In the early pool games, particularly on the first day, he was dead-on from three point range, but at the team got deeper into pool and single elimination, he seemed not to shoot it as much either, and instead fed Josh Kramer and Frank Robinson who were hitting. He had a solid tournament, doing double duty on the last day of the tournament, playing for the BWBA Orange team where he is listed on the roster, and filling in for some no-shows on the BWBA Red team in a consolation bracket game. We hear that Cal State Fullerton is interested, but by the time summer is finished we wouldn't be surprised if more Big West and WCC schools don't get involved with him.

David Gale (6'-1" PG G) from Brewster Academy (NH)-- After a terrific showing at ABCD Camp (where he finished tied for fourth overall in assists and third in steals out of 225 players), and then playing at the Pumps' second session, David played sparingly in the first three pool games but played nearly all of the championship game, hitting two big first half three pointers, a couple of drives and setting up teammates with some very nice passes, as well as getting back to form on defense after being exhausted with the cross-country travel of the prior week that seemed to sap a lot of the guys who made the trip east. He's hearing from several Ivies, including Dartmouth, Brown, and Columbia, as well as Boston University, William & Mary, and others in the midwest and east who will have plenty of opportunity to see him at Brewster Academy in New Hampshire (NEPSAC "A" league) this fall. Brewster also will have Joel Smith from Lompoc who played with Rockfish at the adidas Three Stripes where he made the all-tournament team and merited special mention by Andy Katz in his ESPN column for his play at the Three Stripes (along with fellow Fishies Jimmy Goffredo and Justin Hawkins who was offered by Utah this week).

Barry Barnes-- (5'-9" Sr. G) from Long Beach Poly--Barry didn't play in the final Championship game, and he missed the first day of pool play, so we didn't get to see him much, but when he was in the games, he was very effective both offensively in terms of driving and dishing, as well as hitting the open pull-up jumper in the lane, and defensively, if you tell him to follow a guy to the bathroom, that's what he's going to do. Very quick, he missed the final game because of a summer league game with Long Beach Poly, but in the semifinal against Ollie Goulston's San Diego team, he had some great plays with limited time on the floor.

Marcus "Sleepy" Lewis--(6'-6" Jr. F) from Long Beach Poly-- Really, that's his nickname, so don't blame us for making it up, Marcus had a terrific tournament, very productive around the glass, and for someone so young, he's developing some very nice post moves, including a very effective drop-step to the basket and spin move in traffic. His ability to focus and locate the basket in traffic and playing with his back to the basket will serve him very well, and indicate better and better things to come. He also had some of the funniest commentary during the championship game as he drove and shot the ball, which had those of us along the baseline cracking up. He's young, but if he keeps developing, he's going to be huge.

Rayshawn "Ray Ray" Reed (6'-2" Sr. G) from Inglewood--Ray didn't play in the finals, nor in the semifinals, and was apparently seriously injured in the first single-elimination playoff game on Wednesday. Going up for one of his trademark slam-dunks, he was lowbridged (accidentally) by one of the Paladin players, came down hard, square on the center of his back, and then whiplashed his head on the floor. Dazed, he got up, took a few steps, started spitting blood and collapsed on the floor. Paramedics responded, and after about 30 minutes as he was stabilized, Ray was taken to a local hospital. He was conscious as he left, but clearly not able to move. We do not have an update on his condition, but we've been told that he's fine now, but we don't expect to see him playing in Las Vegas this next week, although we've seen quicker recoveries from some very serious injuries, so don't take our word for it. Ray was having a good tournament, and a very good summer (ABCD, Fullcourt Press Camp) prior to the injury, so it's a real shame if it keeps him out of action.

Fred Washington (6'-5" Sr. F/G) from Bishop Montgomery-- We're not going to start talking about how many points he scored, because we didn't keep count, and we know that the person who posts on our board as "Real" will take us to task for not tooting Fred's horn loudly enough, but really, Fred was about as solid at this tournament as we've ever seen him. Hitting threes, slamming down dunks with authority, shooting the open medium range jumper, putting it on the floor, Fred has got to be one of the best players we've seen anywhere this summer. A terrific athlete, we hear that he will be playing with the Double Pump All Stars in Las Vegas (that's the team that will be coached by Rob Alexander), and with him on the roster, we expect that team to do some real damage in the open bracket in Vegas once single-elimination play starts. We don't know who is recruiting him right now, but we clearly see him as higher than a mid-major player: Pac-10, Big 10, Big 12, and if anyone on the east coast is recruiting him, ACC. Do not sleep on this guy, because you'll regret it one day if you do.

Travonte Nelson (5'-11" Sr. G) from Mater Dei--We don't know why he wasn't in attendance at the championship game, but from the other games he played in, we were pleasantly surprised at how well he was playing, especially since on the Mater Dei team last season, he seemed to be utilized mostly as a spot player. He hasn't grown much and may be done, but height is only one part of the equation, and there were not many other guards playing in this tournament who performed so consistently well. He makes the right pass to the right player at the right moment, and also has the quickness generally to go past most of the guys he was matched up against. He will be playing with Mater Dei in Las Vegas (which has entered as a team), along with teammates Harrison Schaen, DJ Strawberry, and Wesley Washington (which in part is one of the reasons that Belmont Shore, which usually has both Schaen and Washington, has merged with H-Squad for the Big Time). Don't know where he's being recruited, but he should have some offers by the end of the summer from Big West and WCC schools if he stays on the West Coast.

Robert LB Brown (5'-11" Sr. G) from Westchester-- This is really the first truly uninterrupted opportunity we had to watch Brown play, and he displayed some excellent skills. A lot of people, including coaches, didn't know who he was, and many assumed that he was either a soph or a junior, but nevertheless, this senior-to-be surprised a lot of people with his athleticism and passing. Not a big time shooter or scorer, he distributed the ball, moved well off ball screens, and played good, solid help defense. We're looking forward to seeing Robert this summer and later this fall with the newly reconstituted Westchester team, and it will be interesting to see whether the rumors about Gabe Pruitt transferring to Westchester prove to be true or false, since this would obviously affect his time on the floor.

Mark Lovein (6'-7" Sr. F) from Esperanza--One of our favorite names (yes, children of the '60's just have to love this name), he was one of the true standouts of the tournament. A very effective rebounder, this guy has a nose for the ball and a way of finding it in heavy traffic. He also can step out to the short corner and hit the medium to long jumper along the baseline. We've seen Mark play for a couple of years now, both in Rockfish and at Dinos' events, but he really looked good here, and was the one real consistent inside presence for the Sports Express team. Solid.

Other players from Sports Express, e.g., Mario Avery, Jason McKinney, Chris Hemphill, we really didn't get a chance to see too much of during the tournament. We only got to watch Chris in one game, ditto for Avery, and we only were able to sneak glimpses of McKinney across the gym, so we can't add very much about them from this tournament. Jason McKinney told us that he still has one offer back east but he would prefer to attend prep school this year, although he has not yet made any plans about which school he will attend.

The BWBA Orange and Sports Express Elite were not the only teams in this event, not by a longshot, and while we don't have the time to mention every single player, mostly because we didn't see everyone, there were some players who stood out from some of the games we watched during the week:

Jake Wohfeil (6'-3" Sr. G/F) from La Jolla--Jake played for High Five America in this tournament. We only saw one of their games, but he looked to be more athletic and stronger than we remembered him. Had some nice plays defensively, didn't put the ball into the hoop a lot when we were watching, but he seems to have developed a nice touch around the rim off the dribble. Complemented very well with Kris Petrovic on this team.

Brian McTear (5'-11" So. PG) from Crenshaw --Brian played for H-Squad in this tournament, and they made it to the semifinals, losing to Sports Express. Bryan was the guy who delivered the mail, hitting teammates Jon Sharper, Mark Bradford, Thomas Woods and Curtis Allen when it counted. H-Squad also had Vincent Oliver from Loyola listed on the roster, but we didn't see him in any games. McTear will take over the reins at Crenshaw this next season now that Marcus Williams has left for Oak Hill, and if his development holds steady, he will be a top prospect in his class. Smart, understands the game, knows how to pass and when to take it to the basket, his only real limitation right now is size, and although the roster listed him at 5'-11" that's probably a bit generous. The roster for H-Squad also listed Marcus Dove (6'-7" Sr. F) from LB Millikan, who had an excellent ABCD Camp, but candidly, we must have been snoozing, because we just didn't see him in any of the H-Squad games we saw. To Rick Issacs' credit, in the semifinal game, H-Squad was losing by close to 30 points and everyone watching thought it was going to be a blowout, but some quick regrouping in the second half got H-Squad back to within 7 points by the time the game ended, which by anyone's standards has to be considered a minor miracle (or an almost total collapse by Sports Express).

Harvey Perry (6'-3" Jr. G) from Las Vegas Foothill-- Harvey is once again rumored to be transferring to Montclair Prep in Van Nuys, but some of the folks from Vegas we spoke with at the tournament denied this. Harvey appears to be longer than 6'-3" but he's very quick and agile, and along with teammate Lorenzo Wade, was one of the better combo guards on the floor for his Las Vegas Select team. Should be interesting to see where he winds up this fall, since we understand that Foothill is his second or third school in Las Vegas.

Leon Jacobs (6'-3" Sr. G) from Manual Arts--Leon played for ICAN All-Stars in this tournament, and he was one of their consistently better scoring threats. We watched him drive the middle repeatedly against BWBA Orange in pool play, a game that ICAN lost by about 10 points, but which was a lot closer due to Leon than the score would indicate. Also joining Leon on the ICAN roster were Jason Goodman, who has grown to 6'-7" and who is reportedly going to transfer to Mt. Zion Christian Academy in Durham, North Carolina, which would be his fourth high school in as many years. Ryan Hynes also played well for ICAN, banging around the middle and being the consistently tough player that he has shown he can be.

Baron Abdul-Mansour (6'-4" Jr. G/F) from Buckley HS, Sherman Oaks--Baron is a very live-legged athlete, son of former UCLA basketball player under John Wooden and track runner Malik Mansour, and he showed excellent athleticism all without playing a lick of defense. He can run, dribble, shoot and score, but needs to badly work on his defense. Fortunately, Baron was surrounded by several other excellent athletes who did play good defense on the ARC team coached by Robert Icart. Others who played well on that team included Adrian Aye-Darko (6'-2" Jr. G) from Chaminade, Travis Washington (6'-6" Jr. F) from Rancho Cucamonga, Zach Woolridge (6'-7" Jr. F) from Harvard-Westlake, and Sean Green (6'-4" Jr. G/F) from Fontana.

Drew Housman (5'-8" So. G) from Calabasas-- Drew played with ARC and with Belmont Shore in this tournament, and he is probably very generously listed at 5'-8", but don't let his looks fool you, this is a young man who knows how to play and how to pass the ball to those who can put it into the basket. His shot is probably too low and too slow at this point in his development for him to be considered much of a scoring threat, but he knows how to move the ball, and was not afraid to set screens against the tall trees to get his teammates an open look. Plays hard, he's entertaining and fun to watch because he's obviously playing for the love of the game against some big-time competition.

Andre McGee (5'-10" So. G) from Canyon Springs-- Andre started out slow at ABCD, picked up some steam later in the week playing for a combined Inland-IEBP team at the adidas Three Stripes Tournament, and then didn't miss a beat at this tournament, running the show for Inland I. Inland didn't have the kind of results that we usually see from them, and they seemed to be a bit tired, but Andre is just a warrior, and he and Tron Smith, who seems to finally be regaining his shooting touch after not seeing the ball very much at ABCD, were clearly the standouts on this team, along with Randy Adams, a 6'-8" lithe and long post player who will attend Hargrave Military or Winchendon (depending upon whether you believe the Pump All Star rosters, or the Fullcourt Press coaches' packet rosters).

Robert Rothbart (7'-1" Jr. C) from Monte Vista, in Cupertino, CA--Robert played with the under-achieving Bay Area Ballers, and we don't say that to be unkind, but this team was loaded with talent but just got caught off-guard in the single-elimination portion of the tournament. Rothbart is lanky, tall, runs like a deer, and is one of the top big men in his class. Very interesting to watch, it's also interesting to think this guy might actually get taller. Sheesh.

There were a lot of teams and players we didn't get to see, or that we don't have the time to write about just yet, including the rest of the other Sports Express "Gold" team, Villa Park which lost in a quarterfinal contest, Mike Lewis' ABC Hoops team, Sam Minor's Inner-City-BBall team, Inland II, or the other BWBA teams featuring the Alaska players. One interesting side note about the BWBA Alaska team: Ryan Shafer (7'-0" Sr. C) from Wasilla is out with a partial tear of his meniscus and may be sidelined for the rest of the summer. His brother Luke, a soph who is listed at 6'-6", but who looks considerably taller, played well, and Chris Devine (6'-8" Sr. F/C) from Chugiak played very well also.

Hopefully we'll find some additional time over the weekend to write about more players and to share the rosters for the teams that played in this event.

Finally, we want to congratulate Dinos Trigonis, and the staff of Whittier HS (who came through in a crisis when Dinos lost the permit for the Warrior Center at the last moment) for running a first rate tournament. The event was run almost flawlessly, without any real hitches and for the most part the games were on time and the officiating was about what you'd expect (i.e., not horrendous, but not great either...just kidding). A lot of people said that Dinos wouldn't be able to pull off a quality tournament during the final days of the first NCAA "open-evaluation" period, but surprisingly, his was the only tournament in all of Southern California which was certified during the last three days of the period.