Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Boys High School Hoops Preview, part 1: Which players and teams will fill the void left by last year's best graduates?

Several NBA and college hoops previews have been posted here already, and now I begin this season's high school basketball previews. I'll get warmed up by sharing a recent Twitter discussion, including a lot of opinions and highlights from me, between a few of this area's most dedicated high school hoops watchers about which players will fill the shoes of last season's most accomplished seniors, namely Laney's Christian Keeling and Zep Jasper, Richmond's Madison Williams, and Thomson's San Antonio Brinson, who all have proceeded on paths to play Division I college basketball.


Featured above: Zep Jasper (College of Charleston); Christian Keeling (Charleston Southern); Madison Williams (Illinois State); and San Antonio Brinson (NJIT).

The discussion begins...

Currently I think Richmond Academy will be our area's best team. So the Musketeers' returning trio of 6'5" senior forward Moses Williams, fellow senior guard Jason Weaver, and junior guard DT Stephens is my first prediction for which core group can replicate the success Laney and Richmond's leaders were able to accomplish last season.



The response from @AugHoops calls out three promising pairs, who all play for teams widely expected to make a significant step forward this season: Josey, Aquinas, and Lakeside:
The Josey call is a good one. The Eagles are the only team that made it through the Butler summer league schedule unbeaten, and this will be the third season the four returning Eagles starters will be key contributors for a state tournament caliber team:



Aquinas is a popular pick to be a serious contender for being the area's best team. It's a choice I can get behind because of what I'll call the Fighting Irish's "formidable five" juniors (Tre Gomillion, Dajuan Hill, Trent Bowdre, Gerald Merriweather, and Cameron Gardner), whom I show in this video:



And Lakeside's mix of shooting and playmaking on the perimeter - think sophomore Kalen Williams and junior Brad Hilley - and scoring and rebounding in the paint from seniors Deon Berrien, Kresean Hall, and Tucker Gilbert make it easy to see why so many of us are anticipating a great season from the Panthers.



There is a hotbed of talent at the private/independent schools


Daron Lewis, who played at Augusta Prep, coaches youth basketball, and watches his share of high school hoops, rightly called out the play of Westminster’s Jelani Watson-Gayle (senior) and Michael Dukes (junior). The pair can lead the Wildcats, who play Richmond Academy November 29 for the first time ever, to a GISA state title after last season’s trip to the quarterfinals.



Westminster’s pair aren’t the only gifted players competing on teams in the independent leagues. The GHSA allowing Westminster, Augusta Prep, Alleluia, Augusta Christian, and Curtis Baptist to compete against its teams is a change perfectly timed for a hot streak in area private school talent.

Alleluia’s Ben Dresser is the team's leading returning scorer during the past two seasons of the Angels reaching the GICAA state championship game. Alleluia won the title Dresser’s sophomore season. The town does not have a better scorer than Ben. He showed me that again last Saturday when he scored 40 points (33 in the first half on 9 threes!) in a 91-81 PQ Sports Fall League win over Queens Grant of Charlotte. Watson-Gayle, who plays with Alleluia in the Fall League, added 37 in a two player scoring exhibition.



Augusta Prep’s Ryan Jolly probably has gotten more attention from college coaches and recruiting sites than anybody current playing in the area. It’s easy to see why because his combination of shooting, passing, dribbling and thinking skills are truly impressive. The Cavaliers play in Westminster’s region, so the rivals usually battle several times. Last season’s matchup at Westminster had a unique a unique and fun atmosphere. Westminster’s student section may be the best in town. When they meet this season 3 of the top 5-10 players in the area may be on the floor.



Add Augusta Christian’s 6’5” pure shooting sophomore guard Nate Dunlop, and the independent leagues easily have 5 great candidates to be chosen for the coming AugBball Preseason All Area teams.

Back to the public schools: Butler and Glenn Hills

Replying to Daron's and my tweets about the independent schoolers, @AugHoops reminds us of Glenn Hills's potential.


After last season's struggles, 6'7" junior Timmy Sellers, a pair of newcomers in 6'4" freshman John Whitehead and 6'3" senior transfer Tony Sheppard, and returning guards Robert Drew (senior) and Eric Farmer (junior), led a much improved team to an impressive run through this summer's league at Butler.



And I couldn't agree more with @AugHoops for identifying Butler's Deandre Barton and Will Lambert as forces in the area hoops scene.


 Butler will likely be many people's pick as the area's best team. These two, who I call the most athletic and physically tough players around, are big reasons for the optimism around Butler's chances this season. Here you'll see them take it right at last season's top duo in a close region tournament loss to Laney.



This boys high school hoops preview is only my first. Send me messages and feedback about the players and teams you think I should have included in this first post. I may already be planning to include them in parts 2 or 3. Or you may alert me to something I've missed. Thanks for reading and I'll see you in the gym!
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Monday, October 17, 2016

AugBball NBA Preview Part 3: Why the "experts" are dumb for thinkingthe Hawks are worse for subbing Dwight Howard for Al Horford

Link: AugBball NBA Preview, part 1
Link: AugBball NBA Preview, part 2

Because of the addition of Dwight Howard, the 8 time All NBA performer and 3 time Defensive Player of the Year, to Atlanta's roster, I think the Hawks may become the first Eastern Conference team since the 2013 Indiana Pacers to challenge a Lebron James led team. But according to the apparently consensus NBA expert opinion, such optimism is not warranted:


Link to full episode

Zach Lowe and Kevin Arnovitz said as much in a recent "Lowe Post" podcast episode, labelling Atlanta one of the NBA's "most confusing teams." Lowe fretted that Howard has talked about scoring with his back to the basket and (gasp!) even making mid range jump shots rather than allowing the "advanced stats" to call the shots. The numbers that guys like Lowe and Arnovitz swear by would instruct Howard to screen the ball and "dive" exclusively like Deandre Jordan of the LA Clippers does so contentedly, for example.

Source
The pair even suggests that by the time the All Star break arrives, Atlanta may be smart to trade Paul Millsap, Atlanta's three time all star power forward, in a sign of surrender. Apparently the logic behind Lowe and Arnovitz's worry that the Hawks could quickly plummet from a top 2-4 Eastern Conference team is that they will be worse for substituting Howard for long time Hawks center Al Horford, who fled to Boston upon the news of Dwight's coming home.

I am puzzled by such logic. 


Apparently the "ball movement/outside shooting/advanced stats" happy media members have concluded Horford is better than Howard, despite such "old fashioned" evidence like that to the right.

Source
Howard is superior to Horford in every meaningful way. A clear headed "eye test" should reinforced by the two players' regular season and post season statistics, and by the regular season and post season records in the win column. (Those figures are in the right column.) Plus, Howard made his winning reputation in Orlando despite playing with inferior teammates.

Lowe labels Boston as a top 3 Eastern Conference team. So according to him the Hawks may plunge to the lottery after adding Howard and the Celtics will solidify their position near the top of the conference because of Horford's addition. Months after Atlanta bounced Boston from the first round of the 2016 playoffs in 6 games, mind you.

That podcast is not the only show to espouse such nonsense. Trey Kirby of "The Starters," a daily show about the league on NBA TV that I love, said last week in a matter of fact way that behind Kevin Durant, Horford was the off season's second best free agent to change teams. (When challenged about whether Howard is a "superstar," Kirby's partner Leigh Ellis mustered the weakest of responses: "He's better than Jared Sullinger." So I guess there's that.


Link to full episode

I believe so strongly that the "experts" have this wrong that I've watched closely as much of Howard as I can during the preseason to see if there are any early signs I have this all wrong. There aren't.



So I'm calling on a real expert, an AugBball's NBA expert, that is.

"Dr. Kirk" Munsayac is back for another NBA discussion (see our last discussion here) to inject some much needed common sense into the consensus expectations regarding our home team Hawks...

Source
Chad: Kirk, The Cavs sat all their guys in their preseason game against the Cavs. And on a few possessions, skinny James Jones checked him. But that said, Howard was a dominant force in his first game in Atlanta (see video above). I'm hoping he can do his part to bring back post play to the NBA a little bit, but more importantly to make the Hawks a legit contender in the East

Kirk: Hard to say. We are still in that "NFL preseason games" kinda mode. So the jury is still out.

But lemme shed some light on why the Dwight Howard move was key for ATL's hope to contend: Reviewing the playoff matchups with the Cavs, it would be incorrect to pick the low hanging fruit and say "Lebron beat the Hawks." Yes, and no. The Hawks weren't surprised with the numbers LBJ put up. No one in the country should ever be. Its not like the Hawks walked away from it saying "dang, no one told us about this Lebron guy!" No, ATL knew what he was gonna do. And like most teams, they schemed to make LBJ shoot as many jumpers as you can.

The brilliance of the Cavs make up now is simple - Tristan Thompson. Yeah. He's the key. He's more "valuable" than anyone else (aside - DONT get me started on the topic of MVP and how that award has turned into "best player on the best team" and NOT a true measure of "value" ---- which bleeds into my tangent on how the Heisman has turned into "the QB/RB on the #1 team award" but I digress...). Why do you think Lebron fought for Tristan to get paid the ridiculous amount he got? It's genius. If Lebron's weakness is jumpshooting, then not only does he work tirelessly on improving that, but the simple fix is to get a guy who, every time LBJ misses a jumper, gets the offensive rebound and gives him the ball back! Boom. Ring.

That's exactly what they did to the Hawks and their undersized bigs. (Splitter was to be a somewhat answer, but was injured and lets face it, soft as a kitten wrapped in snuggle dryer sheets). So, when the disenfranchised Dwight spoke of "coming home.," ready to be loved again by his high school crowd, the Hawks weren't looking so much to get a bunch of buckets from the guy. They saw a guy who could and would put his butt in Tristan Thompson's stomach early and often.

Chad: I understand. One response I have is that Kyrie Irving really is (or was in the Playoffs at least) other-worldly good. Tristan Thompson is fantastic. And he did (wonderfully) all that you said during the first Finals too. That enabled the Cavs to almost have logged two heroic feats in Lebron's two years. Beating the Warriors without Irving and Love, and with Lebron and Thompson being for real the only two players doing ANYTHING, would have been just as magical as coming back from 3-1 last year.

But Kyrie was the difference in losing valiantly one season, and winning the next. I put Irving in the "fits perfectly alongside Lebron, more valuable than Thompson, maybe one of the league's 5 best players" category. Lebron kind of broke the system last season by going back to pickup game "iso-ball" when all the NBA watchers were in love with the "Spurs/Warriors way." He reminded us nobody will be able to guard him until he quits. And having Kyrie there to take the possessions when Lebron couldn't or didn't want to is the perfect fit. Not to mention Irving, to Glen's point in the last preview, found Curry and exploited him. I guess I'd say Kyrie has to be the world's second best "clear it out and let me take him" player. Behind Lebron. The handful of guys I can think of who are closest are Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, and Steph Curry, I suppose.

Anyway, I totally agree that a need for rebounding was the logic for signing Dwight Howard. But I do hope to see an extension of what Lebron has done in Cleveland to what Dwight can do in Atlanta. Throw the ball in to the big guy and let him destroy all these three point shooting big men around the league.

But more than anything I'm just being an optimistic home town team Hawks fan. If the Hawks catch lightning in a bottle, we are suddenly 2 1/2 hours away from the best basketball in the world. Eastern conference and (a guy can dream) NBA Finals time for us!

Kirk: Tristan Thompson needs to be a fine example of the "extinction of the big man" topic. I believe he did more for big men the last two seasons than the superstars. With schemes shifting to the Euro-ball style of court spreading bigs shooting corner threes, and bigs wanting to have cross overs, it is fantastic to see a guy like Tristan show young players that "hey, I can get down low, scrap and clean the boards and not even score but one or two buckets and STILL have the ultimate impact on a game and STILL get paid."

Chad: But don't you want Howard to be the model instead of Thompson? I do because Howard, though awkwardly, still gives hope that the Ewing/Mchale/Dream/Shaq of old type player will yet exist. Thompson is a great player and a great winner. But aren't Andre Drummond, Deandre Jordan, and Hasaan Whiteside the same kinds of players when it comes to being told "hey big man, just set this ball screen for the 6'1" guy and dive to the rim. Don't shoot unless it's a dunk and we don't really care too much if you can make a free throw?" I think that is undervaluing what a good post player can do for a team.

As a low post scorer, Dwight is a very poor man's Ewing/Mchale/Dream/Shaq. And maybe there's a better example of a current player who can carry their torch. But those guys could play, including making free throws. And they were always so much more valuable than the little guards. I want there to continue to be those kinds of players. Not exclusively. But I liken it to what you said in a recent Facebook post about diversity of thought and tolerance. Different styles and ways of playing is fun. Everybody copying the Warriors and deciding their way is the only way is boring and shortsighted. So I guess I'm rooting for Dwight, or somebody, to preserve the low post model in some way.

Kirk: I'm with you. Im a fan of dwight now - as my Hawks devotion wills me to be

Actually, the big man's role is more safe now than it has been in past ten years, honestly. With Dwight, Jahlil Okafor, Whiteside, Rudy Gobert, Karl Anthony Towns, Drummond, and Boogie Cousins, we have some traditional bigs that are still a problem from most defenses. Heck, an effectively performed pick-and-roll with a good big is just about all you need to torch any team. My example of Tristan is simply a nod of approval for a role model for that a high school center who is asking himself "man, do I need to hire a shooting coach to work on my 3s?" and being able to see, no brother, do what you do big man! It still works.

Hawks picked LAST in division
by the Sporting News
Chad: Last question Kirk. You listed several big men who give you hope that the position still exists.
You didn't mention Horford. Should I gather that you agree that the Celtics optimism and Hawks pessimism in the media is silly if the logic is that Horford makes the Celtics, who were beaten by the Hawks in six in last season's playoffs, better than the Hawks, who just gained Howard?

Kirk: Geez, dont get me started on Horford. All the NBA media guys said for years "Al Horford is not elite" and "a jump shooting 5 won't win rings," etc. He signs a max deal with the Celtics and it's "All Star Al Horford completes this dynamic squad ready to revive the Celtics to days of old!"

SMH. Get outta here with that crap.

Chad: Excellent I love it.

I don't know if this gives you the same reassurance it does me, but Jeff Van Gundy, the man whose basketball opinion I've never disagreed with, seems to think like us when it comes to how wrong the NBA talking heads have it when they say the Hawks will likely stink for signing Howard. Needless to say, I still haven't disagreed with the Notorious JVG:

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Sunday, October 16, 2016

Elizabeth Metress's Winning Ways

At Augusta University’s first Men’s and Women’s hoops practices I hung out with Grovetown High multi-sport star Elizabeth Metress, a senior Warriors shortstop on the softball field and sharp shooting guard on the basketball court. Coach Dip Metress’s daughter is an even bigger Jags fan than I:

“I couldn’t sleep last night because I knew practice was starting at 8:00 AM,” Elizabeth told me as she worked the scoreboard during practice, the first of two Saturday for the Jaguars. Elizabeth has seen more Augusta University basketball than anybody besides her father, and she has seen a remarkable amount of winning basketball. During her 17 years, her dad’s teams have won 338 games and lost 124, a 73% winning percentage that almost every coach in the game would envy.

Coach Metress says Elizabeth has brought him good luck. “We have quite a unique bond that carries over from family to my profession,” he said in a message after the Jags' second practice Saturday.

A winner in the classroom


As a student, she has carried over the family’s winning habits to log a 3.95 GPA and a 1270 on her SAT (620 verbal, 650 math) while at the same time excelling in three sports. Those academic stats line up with the requirements to earn a Zell Miller Scholarship, the most ambitious, and lucrative, merit based academic award available to Georgia’s students that I’ve seen. Elizabeth already takes college courses at Augusta University under the dual enrollment program, and she is the vice president of the student council at Grovetown.

A winner on the court


Her athletic achievements are as impressive as any I’ve mentioned thus far. Metress was a key member of the Grovetown Lady Warriors’ hoops squad that won 28 of 30 games last season and earned a region tournament title in our area’s most competitive league. She was instrumental in what were by far her team’s two most impressive, and at the time most uncertain, victories of the season.

Her most impactful performance last season came at Grovetown’s most crucial moment. Last February, she blew open the region championship game against rival Cross Creek with a barrage of threes that sent the home crowd into a frenzy as the Lady Warriors avenged, for the second time, their only loss of the season and earned a number one seed in the state tournament.





About 60 days earlier, she delivered her teammates and herself a Christmas present when she scored 11 fourth quarter points, including 3 three pointers, to help Grovetown stay undefeated with a 51-48 win over North Augusta in the Yellow Jackets' Christmas tournament. That game was especially fun because the high fiving and celebrating that grew more intense after every Metress bomb gave a glimpse into the bond that she and fellow senior Destiny Marshall have formed, which developed over many years of competing first against, and now alongside, each other.




A winner on the field


In recent weeks Elizabeth and her teammates on the softball diamond became the first softball team to reach the state tournament in school history. The Warriors also topped Coffee High School 2 games to 1 last week to advance to the sweet sixteen round of the state playoffs.

The coming state tournament games at Cambridge High have momentarily taken Elizabeth’s mind off her final basketball season. “We have a basketball team meeting Monday, but coach Echols said I didn’t have to go so I can concentrate on softball right now,” Metress said when talking about balancing her busy schedule.



As you can see from the picture above, Elizabeth is approaching all of her activities, especially Saturday’s early morning, season opening Jags practice, with a smile and her special kind of enthusiasm. I think Jags fans and Elizabeth Metress fans can remain confident she will keep her winning touch for a long time.
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Thursday, October 13, 2016

AugBball College Hoops Preview Part 2

Players with area ties dot the college basketball map at all levels of play. In anticipation of November's 2016-17 tip-off, here are six preview stories involving players familiar to many of us who are competing on the men's side, including Ahmed Hill (Aquinas --> Virginia Tech); Christian Keeling (Laney --> Charleston Southern); Frank Booker (Westside --> Florida Atlantic); Tookie Brown (Morgan County --> Georgia Southern); Tamyrik Fields (Aquinas --> Augusta University); Jashawn Brooks (Laney --> Augusta University); and Matt Miller (GAIS --> USMMA)

***And click this link to see my first college hoops preview, which features Ricky Moore and Alterique Gilbert (UConn); Don Coleman (Butler --> California); and Keshun Sherrill (Augusta University)***

Hill is back to play on the nation's biggest stage


Ahmed Hill (Aquinas, class of 2014) followed a spectacular high school stint - he scored the third most points in Georgia hoops history (3,024) and averaged 30 points and 12 rebounds as a senior - with a solid freshman season for the rapidly rebuilding Virginia Tech Hokies. During the 2014-15 season, Hill logged 9 points and 4 rebounds per game, and he started 30 of 33 contests. After arriving in Blacksburg, Hill quickly gained the reputation as an exceptionally hard worker on the court and in the classroom, earning 33 minutes per game of playing time in the team's 18 ACC games and making the honor roll in a semester during his first year on campus.


Sidelined last season with an injury, the explosive athlete with a sweet stroke who teammate Seth Allen calls "Money-Med," according to Hill in the video above, watched coach Buzz Williams orchestrate a massive 12 month turn around as the Hokies (20-15, 10-8) won 9 more games overall, and 8 more in ACC play, than the previous season.

Cleared to play in June, Ahmed hit the ground running leading into his sophomore season:
And after four days of coach Williams's "boot camp," which tipped off this season's official practices, Hill had won team "MVP" honors twice:
Hill's reintroduction to Virginia Tech's rotation, to which 7 of last year's top players return, should help speed up even more the team's improvement process. Athlon Sports tabbed the Hokies as the nation's #22 preseason team, citing wins last season over Virginia (last season's #4) and Miami (last season's #7). Hill was the team's fourth leading scorer two seasons ago, including a career high 19 in a loss at Florida State.



Of course, Virginia Tech's conference schedule, which includes a New Year's Eve home game against preseason #1 ranked Duke and a January 26th visit to #6 ranked North Carolina, as well as games versus #9 Virginia, #16 Louisville, and #21 Syracuse, gives Ahmed a special opportunity to play against college basketball's very best programs.

But before league play tips off, a game of special interest to you and me will be against Charleston Southern, the new home of Christian Keeling of Laney, on December 20th in Blacksburg. 




Keeling arrived in Charleston and quickly generated, along with a pair of fellow freshmen, a significant amount of buzz about the Buccaneers' latest recruiting class:
With Christian and Ahmed, who both earned Augusta Chronicle Player of the Year honors during their respective senior seasons, squaring off before Christmas, I am reminded of a pair of Martin Luther King Day games in 2013 and 2014 that were as highly anticipated, and entertaining, as any high school games our area has recently seen.



Those games were played during Hill's junior and senior seasons when he was the area's undisputed king of the hill, and Keeling, then two years behind Ahmed, was just beginning to earn his reputation. It would have been difficult then to imagine Christian making an impact similar to Ahmed's. But Keeling's play as a senior, when he averaged 23 points per game, leading Laney to a 14-0 start, a 26-3 overall record, and an Elite 8 state playoff finish, sparked the imagination and adoration of local fans every bit as much as Hill did two years before.

No fewer than seven current and soon to be Division I and II players shared the floor during those memorable MLK Day thrillers at Evans High. It will be fun to see two of this decade's best battle again at the next level in December.

Booker is back after transferring from Oklahoma to Mike Curry's Florida Atlantic University

Like Hill, Augusta's sharpest shooter Frank Booker (Westside, class of 2013) must be itching to take the floor after a year away from live action. The former Patriot last played for the Oklahoma Sooners during their 2015 march to the Sweet Sixteen round of the NCAA tournament. Booker made 4 of 6 threes in the team's second round win over Dayton that year.

Soon after, Frank transferred to Florida Atlantic, where he soon will begin his junior season after sitting out last year per the NCAA's transfer rules. His new coach Mike Curry is Augusta's most accomplished player after starring at Glenn Hills High School, Georgia Southern, and several NBA teams during a decade plus stint at the game's highest level. After retiring as a player, he spent a season as the Detroit Pistons head coach and worked as an assistant in Detroit and Philadelphia before moving into his current position.

Booker is not the only familiar face joining Curry this season. Freshmen Jailyn Ingram and Devorious Brown, fresh off winning two 3A Georgia high school state titles and a runner up finish in the last three seasons, are also new to the roster. Their road the last two seasons went through Augusta's Laney High. Their Bulldogs handed our Wildcats three of Laney's five  combined losses during the past two years, both times spoiling potential state title runs by what has been our area's best team during that time.



Booker and Ingram were among Florida Atlantic's leading scorers during the team's summer trip, a three game series in the Bahamas. Curry's new additions bring the habit of winning, Booker at Oklahoma, and Ingram and Brown at Morgan County. That habit will come in handy as Curry tries to build it into the culture at Florida Atlantic, which has compiled a 17-45 record these last two seasons.

Tookie Brown is still filling up the scoreboard. Now in Statesboro


Another product of that Morgan County dynasty, Georgia Southern sophomore Tookie Brown (class of 2015), burst onto the college hoops scene last season, leading the Eagles in scoring (18 ppg); earning All Sun Belt first team and conference Freshman of the Year honors, and grabbing the attention of several national media outlets. That campaign followed a storybook high school career in which Brown scored more than 3,000 points and claimed a state title and a state playoff runner up finish.

But as impressive as Brown has been these past five years, I haven't seen anything that could impress me more than his play during a series of three games against Laney his senior year. During a late November matchup at Laney, I watched him almost singlehandedly knock off the Wildcats, losing two defenders on an isolation play out by half court and finishing on a tough drive to the basket to force overtime before the Bulldogs eventually came up short.



Determined to even the score in the January return game in Madison, Brown literally played until he dropped. He was sent to the bench for good during the game's second half. The word from SUVtv broadcaster Marques Burnett was that Tookie had expended so much energy keeping his Bulldogs close to Augusta's juggernaut (Morgan County trailed Laney by three when Brown was sidelined) that he was dehydrated and unable to continue.



In the third meeting between the teams, the class 3A state playoff semifinals at Columbus State Unviversity, Laney again appeared to have Morgan County's number as the Wildcats, aiming to win their 30th straight game, led by 8 at halftime. But Brown scored 32 second half points, most against multiple defenders, to carry the Bulldogs to another state championship game.



Many players score a lot of points. Some win while doing it. Tookie is special because he does both things during the biggest moments against the longest odds. Such effort will be needed to help Georgia Southern (14-17, 10-10 last season) finish this season at the top of the Sun Belt Conference this year.

Fields and Brooks will try to take another step forward for hometown Jags


In an earlier college hoops preview post I vowed not to miss a game of Keshun Sherrill's final season with Augusta University. His leadership last season carried the Jaguars through rocky times early, which was enough for coach Dip Metress's young core (6 freshmen in the rotation) to be able to find a rhythm in time for a season ending six game winning streak that only ended when Lander's JR Washington tipped in a game winner in double overtime of the Peach Belt Conference tournament, leaving Augusta just outside the NCAA tournament picture.

Sophomore Tamyrik Fields (Aquinas, class of 2014) needed no such warm up period. His improvement over his freshman campaign was evident from the beginning of last season. His points per game shot up from 2.5 to 11, and he scored in double figures 20 times. He added the ability to score in the post with left handed AND right handed jump hooks; he could suddenly make turn around jumpers turning both ways; and he became reliable catching and shooting mid range jump shots.



If another local product, sophomore Jashawn Brooks (Laney, class of 2015), can make a similar leap this season, the Jaguars will be difficult to stop. Brooks certainly had his moments as a freshman. He scorched the nets in his first home game, an overtime win against cross town rival Paine. And he was the hero in another home game, this time against conference foe UNC Pembroke.



The Jags are loaded with young talent. In addition to Fields and Brooks, Augusta has several sophomores who are proven contributors, including Tyvez Monroe, Aaron Byrd, Ben Ursich, Deane Williams, Andrew Parker, and Vlad Cobzaru, a starter as a freshman two seasons ago who has returned to the roster after last season's medical redshirt.

Miller closes in on a decade of getting buckets


Ready for his senior season is Matt Miller of the United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA). The will be the first time in three years when the former Augusta high school dynamo hasn't been at sea for months just prior to his team's October 15 season opening practice. This will be the eighth year I've tracked Miller's progress, the first four as the coach of his high school team, the GAIS Eagles. During those years he scored over 3,000 career points, earned to two National Christian Homeschool Basketball Championship top ten finishes, and twice earned NCHBC All American honors.

At USMMA, he has continued to pour in the points. After averaging 16 points as a sophomore and 13 as a junior, Miller needs only 47 more to tally 1,000 college points, which will cap nearly a decade of getting buckets for the lefty with the smooth stroke and crafty off-the-dribble game.



College basketball teams of all levels will have begun practice by this Saturday. Stay tuned for coverage of our area players making an impact in the college game, wherever they play.

Click here for part 1 of my AugBball College Hoops Preview











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Tuesday, October 11, 2016

AugBball NBA Preview Part 2 with special guest contributors

I described what I believe is the NBA’s most important “story line” in my first AugBball NBA preview. Now I call on two old friends and dedicated NBA fans, “Dr. Kirk” Munsayac and Glen Miller, to make sure we cover more of the most interesting topics before the official games tip off October 25.

NBA opener.png
*No prizes for seeing the scorching hot matchup set for two weeks from today.


Here is our discussion, which covers the NBA topics that are top of our minds leading into the 2016-17 season:


 Chad: Guys, I addressed this in my first NBA preview post, but I didn’t share the full extent of how wrong I think the NBA media guys have it by heaping all the attention on Golden State right after Lebron James and the Cavs accomplished something more impressive than just about anything we’ve seen (overcoming a 3-1 deficit to beat the Warriors in the Finals last summer).

I probably pay too much attention to ESPN. But because everybody else puts them first in line, I first want your opinion about the Warriors. Maybe I’m turning into a “hater,” but this kind of talk makes me cringe:



Glen: Yeah I agree with you. Golden State will NOT just walk their way into the Finals, nor will they sweep the Cavs. People just will not recognize how GREAT Lebron James is to the extent that he deserves!! He is the greatest, most dominant, well rounded player I have truly seen, Chad!! Jordan is the best maybe with the 6 rings argument... I'll give him that for now. But I don’t care how good the Warriors are or how many superstars they have... Lebron is the King and will not give up the throne to any army!!!

And Kyrie Irving is better than Steph Curry... he abused Curry in the finals... ABUSED!!! How can people forget that?

Pressure bust pipes... and the Warriors and Kevin Durant will be under tremendous pressure come playoff time! The Cavs have the advantage of being the underdogs.

Kirk: Like any super team, the fact remains, there's only ONE basketball out there at a time.
Kirk: Something I wonder is what a ring will do for Durant's legacy (if they win one, of course). Many, including myself, discredited LeBron for the Miami rings but gave him props for going home and winning one. Will KDs legacy require an OKC return and ring there?

Chad: Good question. I think in most people’s minds he’ll be a permanent “villain” in Golden State. I enjoy watching him maybe more than any other player, but I don’t like his move of going from an elite OKC team that was second to none to the 73-9 Warriors. It’s just no fun for me as a fan. And I have a right not to look at it like that, while still loving his game.

But back to the “permanent villain” thing. Being the world’s second best player and joining a 73-9 team means if he wins 1-2 titles in 4-5 years people will call that a failure. Heck, if he doesn’t win a title this year people will call that a failure. And as crazy as it sounds, if he wins 4-5 in 5 years, it will have been done in such a dominant way (in what other way can a team win ALL the titles) that it will look easy. And people will say that’s what he and the Warriors “were supposed to do.”

Glen: KD will never return to OKC... now maybe he will go to Washington (hometown), but I agree that if he wins one or two in golden state it's still not a legacy changer for me. Now if he goes to Washington and wins that would be similar to Lebron. But he isn't a franchise changer like Lebron.

Point is, he can't take the worst team in the NBA to the finals... he isn't at that level, and the only guy who is... is Lebron.

If he went to Washington with a team like they currently have there and they won a championship... I would be mind blown. I don't see it happening.

Chad: Glen, you put the NBA title contenders at three teams: The Cavs and Warriors, who we’ve talked about a little already, and the Spurs. (Full disclosure, Glen is a die-hard Spurs fan.) Why do you put them in that top category?

Glen: It’s the only team in the West that will challenge the Warriors in a 7 game series. They have one of the best coaches in NBA history and Kawhi Leonard will be my NBA MVP….he simply does it all. He will have a monster season and is arguably the 2nd best player in the NBA…yes, better than Curry!



They added David Lee, Dewayne Dedmon, rookie (future superstar) Dejounte Murray, and a few others. They will be the DEEPEST team in the NBA. They have strong Finals potential and if they develop like I think they will, my pick about the Warriors (representing the West in the Finals) might change!

Chad: Very interesting that you put “the claw” as the second best player in the world. We may need to have a “top 5 or top 10 players discussion” soon.

But first this. Are you sure the Spurs are particularly deep? If you look at who they were two years ago and compare it to now, they have lost three proven difference makers (Tim Duncan, Boris Diaw, and Tiago Splitter) and gained only one by my count in Pau Gasol. I love Gasol and I think the Spurs are a top tier team like you. But on the depth thing, do you think the new guys you listed will be Diaw/Splitter type contributors?

Glen: Yea I do. I expect a surprise year from those guys.

Chad: I may be hoping for a more wide open and deeper race because that will be more fun to follow when I say this. But I think in addition to the Cavs and Warriors - who I do believe will start at a level above all the other teams because of their talent and experience winning it all - the following teams can all challenge for a title under the right circumstances: The Spurs, Clippers, Thunder, Grizzlies, and Hawks. I admit those last three are stretches. But here is a quick telling of why I think if things break in their favor, all those teams can win it all.

The Spurs won every home game last season except the final one against Golden State. Had they won that game, they would have been the only team in history to be undefeated through the regular season. We found out in San Antonio’s second round loss to OKC that Duncan had officially gotten old and become ineffective. Well, from what I saw in the Olympics this summer, Pau Gasol is still an all star level player.


The Duncan for Gasol swap will help the Spurs take a significant leap forward from last season, when they were already a championship caliber team. And see the 2014 NBA Finals for an answer to any “but can they beat a ‘super team?’” type questions.

I put the Clippers in the mix because I can’t imagine being a coach and having their best five (Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Deandre Jordan, Jamal Crawford, and JJ Redick) and NOT believing we could beat any unit on earth. Also, the team has averaged 56 wins during the regular season the past 4 years. I think their lack of playoff advancement has been due more to injuries not giving them enough chances to figure it out as the teams that have done well have had.

Ditto about injuries in the postseason for the Thunder, which I believe was last year’s best team. (I regard Golden State’s 3-1 comeback as somewhat of a fluke because I have never seen, and I don’t think I will see again, something like Klay Thompson did in making 11 threes in an elimination game on the road). And I haven’t given up hope that the Thunder can be great even without Durant. I’m not alone, as you can see:

I really don’t understand why Durant left that team. Much of me really believes Russell Westbrook is as good as any player except Lebron James. And I can’t think of a big man any great player would do better playing alongside of for the next decade or so than 23 year old Steven Adams.

My belief in the Grizzlies and the Hawks should be qualified in that the only way I see them making a run is if injuries or things like that break against the top teams. I also have tremendous respect for what Marc Gasol can do, and for what Dwight Howard may still be able to do. Howard was the last player to eliminate Lebron James before the Finals. Think about who his teammates were at that time.

Oh yeah that’s right, we can’t because they were (by NBA standards) nobody’s.

Howard was the most dominant player in basketball when his Orlando Magic topped Lebron’s Cavs in 2009. That was the last season he played for a great coach (Stan Van Gundy). He now plays for a great coach again. (As you know, Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer won NBA Coach of the Year honors two seasons ago.) So I won’t count out Superman from the possibility that he has rid himself of the kryptonite I believe James Harden strapped around his neck in Houston.

Chad: Kirk, you are as big a Hawks fan as Glen is of the Spurs. What’s your take on Howard’s coming home?

Kirk: Dwight’s welcome mat was not ordered at my house. But I’m warming up to him because of his work ethic. He's been at it. And on Twitter promoting, promoting, promoting; so HE's fired up. I suppose I should be.

Kirk: I can't tell if his previous injuries were actually injuries, or was it him being unmotivated in his previous awful surroundings? (I say awful, but essentially you can’t play with Kobe or James Harden and expect the ball much). BUT, if it was just his non-motivation because he hated his team, that actually adds to my original take on this guy being a petulant child. We are a totally different team though. Anyone with eyes can see that Al Horford at the five and Dwight at the five is like looking at two TOTALLY different players in every way!

Chad: OK, well I’ll count you as “cautiously optimistic” about our home team’s chances.

Glen and Kirk, as you know, we have much more to discuss. And hopefully more “NBA experts” will come forward to help us get it all covered. Here are two things I know I want to get into on another NBA preview before the season tips off:

  1. Which teams do we each pick to play in the Finals and which team will be the NBA champion?
  2. Who are the league’s top 5 or top 10 players?

Thanks to you two for participating. And thanks to the readers for checking our preview out.

I’ll see you in the gym!


In case you missed it:

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Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Augusta University, Butler's Don Coleman, Ricky Moore and Georgia's 2016 boys POY Gilbert all factor into CBS's College Preseason Top 25

The first college hoops preseason news is coming out, and of course the first few slots of the CBS preseason top 25 looks familiar:

Source 

As is usual now, during the preseason the one-and-done's are expected to lead the blue bloods to Phoenix, the site of the 2017 Final Four. There will be constant attention paid to college basketball's constant contenders. But the ranked teams of the most interest to me are #19 UConn, #22 California, and CBS's "And one" team, Wichita State.

Augusta U's trip to a bastion of college hoops history

Wichita State has been riding higher than it ever has in its over 110 years of college hoops history. Gregg Marshall is the winningest coach since the early 1930's for a program that has played in 13 NCAA tournaments, made the Final Four twice, the Elite 8 four times, and the Sweet Sixteen six times. Two years removed from a trip to the Final Four, and one season removed from a 35-1 record (including a 35-0 start), the Shockers' head coach is aiming for his eighth straight 20 plus win season.

The Shockers' November 4 exhibition game opener pits Marshall against friend (and former player at Belmont Abbey when Marshall was an assistant there) Dip Metress, who has been busy building his own juggernaut at Augusta University. In his twelve seasons, Metress has amassed over 400 wins, a 73% winning percentage that almost identically matches Marshall's at Wichita State, and three consecutive NCAA Division II tournament Elite 8 finishes, including a national runner up in 2008.

But as impressive as the coaches' records of success are, the main attraction, as always, will be the players. And there is no more exciting and effective college player within driving distance of here than Augusta's senior Keshun Sherrill. I'm determined not to miss a second of the final season of Augusta's "all-everything" dynamo. (During his first three seasons the 5'9" point guard from Cleveland, North Carolina, has been named All-Conference by the Peach Belt Conference and All-Region, All-District, and All-American by the NABC).


Meanwhile, the lingering question for Wichita State is how fast the team will recover from the loss of Fred VanVleet and Ron Baker. The Shockers won 83% of their games during that dynamic duo's four years of action. But the home team is unlikely to be without the 10,000 plus loyal fans at Charles Koch Arena. Wichita State's home games recorded an average paid attendance of 10,805 last season, the 37th highest figure in the country.

Besides the three trips to DII NCAA tournament Elite 8 round in Massachusetts last decade, the trip to Wichita will be the most unique and exciting event in the past 25 years for our Jaguars. I will be there so AugBball can bring Jags fans all the news and highlights from a home of college basketball.

Will UConn's Georgia Connection bring success once again?

The last time UConn picked up a highly regarded point guard from the Peach State things began, and ended, very well. Westside High School graduate Ricky Moore, who is now an assistant on coach Kevin Ollie's staff, burst on the scene in Storrs as a freshman in 1995, shocking Georgetown's Allen Iverson by scoring 14 points on 6 of 12 shooting while holding "The Answer" to 13 points on 4 of 15 shooting in Connecticut's Big East championship game win at Madison Square Garden.



Moore was a three time co-captain at UConn, winning 83% of his games. During his four seasons, the Huskies won 3 Big East regular season titles, 3 conference tournament championships, and a national championship in his final game as a senior. Ricky's "shining moment" in the NCAA championship win over Duke (whose starting point guard was Moore's Westside teammate Will Avery) included a 13 point first half and a complete locking down of Blue Devil sharp shooter Trajan Langdon during the second half.

This season's squad, ranked 19th in the CBS poll, will aim for the school's fifth national title in the past two decades. The Huskies will gain the services of a point guard from the Peach State whose resume and reputation reminds me of Ricky's. Alterique Gilbert of Miller Grove High School in Atlanta, who ESPN ranked the class of 2016's 30th best player, is an explosive scorer who combines exceptional athleticism with a smooth stroke and a tight handle. And like Moore, he only knows winning.



With Gilbert leading the charge, Miller Grove won 3 state titles and nearly earned a national championship last season, losing 47-46 to Oak Hill in the semifinals of the Dick's Sporting Goods High School Nationals, an astonishing feat considering such tournaments are usually populated with "national" programs. Unlike the Oak Hills and Findley Preps (which Miller Grove eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Dick's tournament) that are regulars at the top of the national rankings, Miller Grove is an old fashioned public school, much like Westside High School of Augusta, which Ricky led to a 33-1 record, a state title, and a #9 final national ranking by USA Today in 1995.

I'll be watching to see if UConn's latest Georgia wonder can help the Huskies win their latest national championship during the next few years.

Cal's Coleman continues to prove me wrong 

This report from the first practices of #22 California University mentions three Bear point guards, two seniors and a freshman who was named Mr. Basketball in Illinois last season. So I'm tempted to conclude that our area's representative on the Bears' roster, sophomore scoring sensation Don Coleman, may spend a considerable portion of his first season watching from the bench. But as soon as that thought surfaces, I remember that Butler High School's all time leading scorer has the trait that certain highly successful people possess, the one that turns criticism into fuel for achieving something so impressive he can throw it back into the face of the guy who dared doubt him. So I'll tell of the three times I doubted Don, and how he has proven me wrong each time.

Don Coleman, Butler's all-time scoring
leader, is a sophomore at Cal.
But first here is some background information about what Coleman has been up to since graduating from Butler in the spring of 2015. After being released from commitment to Florida Atlantic University weeks before his high school graduation, Don "started over" and headed instead to Lawson State, a junior college in Alabama. There he earned All-League honors, averaging 20 points, 6 assists, and 4 rebounds while shooting 48% from the field and 43% from the three line. Less than 12 months after changing his initial college plans, he signed with California and reported to Berkeley in June.

The first time Don Coleman proved me wrong

During the early part of his senior season at Butler, I shared in Coleman's "AugBball Timeline," which tracked my perspective of his growth as a player during his high school years, that after first watching him as an eighth grader alongside eventual fellow college ballers Reggie Reid (Harlem-Florida Gulf Coast); Jashawn Brooks (Laney-Augusta University); and AJ Gray (Washington County-Georgia Tech football), I wouldn't have expected Coleman to eventually become the top player in their graduating class of 2015. That was a fun post to write because in the winter of 2015, Don was riding high. He was about to set a school scoring record. His region battles with Laney, Josey, Washington County, and Glenn Hills were fast becoming must see events.



And as a senior he had proven me wrong by becoming our area's best player. I gladly said so because I love to be wrong when it is because somebody is doing better than I had envisioned. Don had signed a national letter of intent to play ball at Florida Atlantic for coach Mike Curry, Augusta's most accomplished basketball figure. It seemed to me he was in a remarkably comfortable position.

The second time Don Coleman proved me wrong

Sure, he wasn't headed to the ACC like Ahmed Hill (class of 2014) of Aquinas, who was playing his freshman season at Virginia Tech. And he wasn't going to a Big 12 school like Oklahoma, the team for which Frank Booker (class of 2013) of Westside was soon to nail 4 threes to help the Sooners top Dayton to advance to the sweet 16 round of the NCAA tournament. But I thought Don was a slight step behind Hill and Booker, guys I'd watched pour in similar loads of points as their younger counterpart from Butler, but who also stand 6'4" compared to Coleman's 6'1" or so at the time. But the objective evidence, including his stellar freshman campaign and his earning a spot on a preseason top 25 team from the Pac 10, proves that mentally placing Don behind the two other area players who have recently gone on to play on major college teams was another mistake on my part.

The third time Don Coleman proved me wrong

In that 2014 "timeline" post, I promised not to doubt Coleman again. But after he decommitted from Florida Atlantic I was worried about him. I believed he wasn't going to be able to get another opportunity as good as the one he'd just missed. Now he is beginning the first of three seasons at Cal, the nation's preseason #22 team, marking the third time he has proven me wrong. And for the third time, I'm happy about that.

Stay tuned for more previews of the coming college, NBA, and high school seasons. And follow AugBball on social media:

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Monday, October 3, 2016

TJ Massenburg commits to Middle Tennessee State

Augusta native TJ Massenburg, the 6'9" senior center who averaged a double-double last season at Shiloh High School, committed to Middle Tennessee State this morning. Finally cleared to play after transferring from the Augusta based GAIS Eagles homeschool program (which I coached) following his freshman year, TJ burst onto the GHSA scene in January, averaging 11 points and 12 rebounds down the stretch for the Generals, who won their region tournament and finished 24-6 after being eliminated in the 6A state quarterfinals by eventual state champ West Lake.

I am thrilled for TJ. Middle Tennessee State is the defending Conference USA champion, and the Blue Raiders knocked off Michigan State in the first round of last season's NCAA tournament before falling to Syracuse to cap a 25-10 campaign.

Looking ahead

With his future plans set, Massenburg is now free to focus on his current short term goal, which he shared with GHSA expert Kyle Sandy of Sandysspiel.com: winning a state title this season at Shiloh. I look forward to following that journey, beginning with Shiloh's November 12 showdown with Greenforest in the third Southwest Dekalb Shootout. The matchup includes some of the state's top inside players.

Sandy spoke with me about TJ, his impact on the GHSA, and his standing relative to the state's best centers, including those at Greenforest, in a recent AugBball feature. I embedded that audio file below, along with the other three recent AugBball features that shared information about TJ, including highlights and interviews:



Sept 13, 2016:

AugBball on the Recruiting Trail: TJ Massenburg - 6'9" C, Shiloh HS

Sept 29, 2016:

The AugBball Recruiting Show: Episode 2

Sept 15, 2016:

New from AugBball: The Recruiting Show

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