Basketball Analysis & Commentary... By Drew Wolin

Monday, August 28, 2006

3 Day Hiatus

I will not have computer access until Friday, as I will be on the last vacation I will take for a while.

When I come back I will have plenty of juicy info.

Don't forget, World Champs are taking place. USA plays Germany Wednesday morning @ 6:30 AM (EST) on ESPN2.

Final Mayo Update - Huntington it is

The Facts: “Arguably we have the best (high school) team in the nation,” is what O.J. has to say about his new school's squad. The move from North College Hill to Huntington High is all but definite. Though Mayo was in class at North College Hill this morning, it was seemingly just to say goodbye. “It’s exciting to go home, but it’s sad leaving North College Hill,” explained Mayo. “I consider Cincinnati a second home.” Just as Mayo said - watch out for Huntington this upcoming season.

There were no hard feelings at North College Hill. Athletic Directed Joe Nickel states, "...We had a great few years with him that can never be replaced. He and Bill have done so much for us, you can’t even begin to explain it. A lot of people will benefit from what they did."

My Take: I smell a Huntington - Oak Hill match up in the near future. On top of the fact that they will be top 25 teams, they both have 5 star power forwards (Huntington - Patterson, Oak Hill - Mike Beasley) and guards (Huntington - Mayo, Oak Hill - Nolan Smith & Brandon Jennings). According to mapquest, Huntington, WV and Mouth of Wilson, VA are roughly a 4 hour drive apart.

Bill Walker was ruled ineligible for this upcoming season by the Ohio State Athletic Association. Does that mean if he chose to follow O.J. to Huntington, West Virginia he may be clear to play? I don't know the answer to that, but it will be interesting to see what Bill decides to do.

Huntington is where O.J. Mayo, Bill Walker, and Patrick Patterson were all born. That is three 5 star recruits in the class of '07. In other words, this town is responsible for 3/25 of the elite high school players in the country. New York only has one, and he (Johnny Flynn - Syracuse) is from Niagara Falls, not NYC. Just something to think about.

Now I can finally put this story to rest.

Update on Mayo to Huntington

Update of Report: O.J. Mayo to Attend Huntington High School
The Facts: The school day is now over, and O.J. Mayo was nowhere to be found on the campus of Huntington High in West Virginia. In fact, Ovington J'Anthony Mayo could be found sitting in class at North College Hill today. North College Hill athletic director Joe Nickel told the Cincinnati Enquirer, "I have no idea where these reports come from, but I talked to O.J. just this morning in my office. He has always been enrolled here, and I can confirm he is in class today."

My Take: This story is still far from dead. Huntington High officials told the Huntington Herald-Dispatch that Mayo could still enroll at the school later in the day. Being that nobody has stated plainly, "O.J. is spending the year at North College Hill" and Huntington officials told reporters that there is a possibility he will enroll later in the day, either this story holds weight or these are some starry-eyed school officials. Then again, wouldn't you be if someone was dangling a $1 million bill in front of your face?

Report: O.J. Mayo to Attend Huntington High School

The Facts: A report from WSAZ-3 TV in Huntington, WV says that the #1 ranked senior in the country according to scout.com will enroll at Huntington High School in West Virginia today. Huntington High is a public school with roughly 1,700 students. It is no stranger to success, as it will be attempting to defend its West Virginia class AAA state title for the second consecutive year. Mayo had previously played at North College Hill, a public school in Cincinnati, where he helped lead his team to the past two Ohio Division III state titles.

According to scout.com, Mayo made the move in part to be closer to his mother, who resides in South Point, Ohio. His flee from North College Hill is also likely a consequence of lifelong teammate Bill Walker being ruled ineligible to play by the Ohio High School Athletic Association for the upcoming season (HLBT, 7/11).

Mayo's new partner in crime is no slouch, however. Huntington High School senior Patrick Patterson, a powerful 6'8" forward, is a 5 star recruit whose services are coveted by schools such as Duke and Florida (both have offered).

This situation is a bit suspicious however (not a surprise considering who the focus of the article is), as Huntington head coach Lloyd McGuffin says, ""I've pretty much heard the same thing everybody else has heard, but until he's registered I can't say anything at all. Neither he nor anyone from his family has contacted me."

According to USAToday, Huntington High guidance counselor Melanie Beckett has been told of Mayo's pending transfer, however would not confirm the reports "because of confidentiality reasons."

My take: If Mayo does indeed play basketball for the Huntington Highlanders this winter, it should set the school financially for the next couple of years and bring in another state title, though it will not be all fun in the sun at Huntington. Mayo is no saint. He lives his life more like Carlton rather than the "couple of guys who were up to no good." Controversy just seems to like the guy. He has been in the news before for allegedly beating up classmates. He was supposedly left back a year in middle school for no reason other than that he wanted a one year "advantage" on his classmates, his competition. He has since transferred schools at least twice. He had been living with his AAU coach near North College Hill rather than with his mother. He has supposedly "been committing" to USC for the past few months now, though still not even so much as a verbal on record. His press conferences to announce his decisions have all been canceled at the last minute. And why USC? Not because they have a good team or he likes the academic atmosphere. It is because they are in a big market and it will give him maximum exposure. Not exactly a traditional upbringing, even for an elite level basketball player, and that's saying something.

O.J. leaving North College Hill makes it seem as if all is not well with Bill Walker in terms of regaining eligibility. There was and still is speculation that he'd like to try to be in the upcoming NBA draft, though Walker has maintained that his main priority is to regain eligibility and play this upcoming high school season. If O.J. felt that he would be playing alongside Bill this season, I doubt he would not have left school. Either that or they feel like they need to accelerate their divorce, as it does not look like they will be attending the same college (Walker is very interested in Kansas State).

I wonder where WSAZ-3 TV got its information from. Not too long ago, a Cincinnati news station was reporting that O.J. was suspended from school for 180 days. Stunningly, this was a bit exaggerated, as he was suspended for less than a week. Hopefully this report is at least somewhat more accurate. We will know soon enough, as school officials mentioned that they expect to know by today (Monday).

Friday, August 25, 2006

Daily Thoughts

For some reason, a few days ago a reporter decided to ask Shaq about Stephon Marbury's relationship with Larry Brown. Not directly answering the question at first, Shaq goes on tell the SportsNet New York reporter, "If you say you're the best point guard in the world, now you have to come out and show that every night. The only time when I really say that is when I have a real big game. You never really heard me say I'm the best center to ever play the game. When you say that, you have to come out and show that every night, especially here in New York."

When asked before a game against the Nets during the 2004-05 season how he would match up with Jason Kidd, Marbury replied, "I'm the best point guard in the NBA."

A few years late here... the reporter apparently asked the question just to stir up some controversy, an all too common occurrence in the sports world. Shaq is certainly not the first, 10th, 100th person I'd ask about the relationship between Steph and Larry. He had nothing to do with the two. He took Larry's side, as expected, because Larry has the better resume. A very Shaq thing to do. The reporter already knew all of this. He just made Shaq's animosity towards Marbury, which most likely is a product of Marbury's reputation as a loser, public.

In more positive news, Dajuan Wagner's body seems to be handling the vigorous workouts he has been putting himself through in his attempt to return to the NBA well. Wagner was diagnosed with colitis during his last NBA stint (2004-05 season with the Cavs), and apparently had been coping with the disease since his one year at the University of Memphis (2001-02 season). It was questionable whether Dajuan would be able to play ball again, but he has been playing in a competitive league in the Philly area. Dajuan's squad lost its last game to a team consisting of Hakim Warrick, Cuttino Mobley, Rick Brunson, Alvin Williams, and others. Reportedly doubled the whole night, Dajuan still managed to drop 43. Dajuan boasts multiple 50+ point games including an 80 point effort in the league, though it sounds like there is not much D played. However, this still is the same guy who scored 100 in a high school game and averaged over 42 ppg for the season. It doesn't matter who he is matched up against, he must be feeling well if 50 points has turned into the norm for him this summer.

Dajuan has recently worked out for the 76ers. 76er GM Billy King wrote in an e-mail, simply, "He looked good."

Wagner has certainly set the bar high. "I don't want to just get back; I want to get back and do good," he said. "I'm not going to be satisfied with just getting back. I want to have a good season. But it's going to feel good just to be playing."

People have questioned Dajuan's character in the past, but I would love to see him get back on the court and succeed. I will be rooting for him this season.

Thanks to Wang Shipeng's buzzer beating trey vs. Slovenia, which gave China the 78-77 win, the team will be moving on to the elimination round. The "Eight-Finals" match ups look like this:

on 8/26:
Argentina vs. New Zealand
Italy vs. Lithuania
Turkey vs. Slovenia
Spain vs. Serbia & Montenegro

on 8/27:
Germany vs. Nigeria
USA vs. Australia
France vs. Angola
Greece vs. China

I will continue to cover the World Championship.

My last thought is that I am surprised that this picture, part of the official World Championship logo, has yet to offend anyone. It just seems that it screams "I offend you!" I had a feeling that someone would get mad. That is, unless FIBA has indeed been receiving hate mail that I am unaware of...

Thursday, August 24, 2006

World Championship Update

Team USA looked pretty solid in its 94-85 win over Italy on Wednesday. The Italian team is probably top five in the tourny, and the players had their game faces* on for the all-important match up. To make sure that all viewers understood just how much the game meant to them, they played especially dirty (see: ducking between an airborne Dwight Howard's legs, turning his body horizontal, and causing him to land flat on his back. He took his time getting up but did eventually sub back in). This seems to be the way many foreign teams show their love for their sport (see: World Cup). However, the Americans did not get distracted and after being down nine at the half, pulled away for a nine point victory.

Carmelo is still playing exquisite basketball. After a quiet first half, he dropped 19 in the 3rd quarter to help the Red, White, and Blue pull away. He finished the game with an American record 35 points (you will never guess who previously held the record... but if you would like to try, the answer is at the bottom of the page).** Also, he gave a very nice effort on the defensive end. Though his D was a bit rusty, as he has not played much since... you get the point... the keyword is effort. I give a lot of credit to coach K, his staff, and the players for finally playing some inspired D.

Dwyane Wade scored 26 as he looked impressive in the game. He almost finished what would have been the nicest dunk in basketball history. He caught the ball on the left wing, got within 10 feet of the hoop, planted both feet, and lift off. He flew sideways to the rim, ball at his hip ready to windmill over some sorry Italian, but was hit on the forearm and front rimmed the attempt. I would have definitely bought the poster. Something tells me that Dwyane's energy boost was germane to the aforementioned Dwight Howard incident, which took place only a few plays earlier. Unfortunately, he seemed to have injured his wrist on the play - more on that later.

This (Thursday) morning, USA "routed" Senegal. It seems that every news source used routed as their verb, so figured I'd join the party. The score was 103-58. Chris Bosh, who had been playing terribly, had 20 points and 10 boards. Hopefully that is all he needs to play better against tougher competition. There was bad news hidden within the 103-58 victory, however. Dwyane Wade did not play, most likely because his wrist was hurting, though I have not yet read or heard anything official.

Other World Championship News & Notes:

-Fran Fraschilla's ranking of the top 4 teams in the tourny, in order, looks like this:
1) USA
2) Spain
3) Greece
4) Argentina
I have yet to see Greece play, but it would still seem as if Fran has some animosity towards Argentina. They are the last team to win a world championship (Olympics) and have the widest average margin of victory in the tourny this year. Greece does not have one player in the NBA, with the possible exception of Sofoklis "Baby Shaq" Schortsianitis, the Clippers' 2003 second round pick. Surprisingly, Sofoklis barely gets any burn, however; only a total of 19 minutes in five games, though he has 19 points in those 19 minutes (only 1 rebound). Greece does have a lot of size. That is all I can say for now, before I see them play.

-After a tough 74-73 loss to Lebanon on Wednesday in which Boris Diaw missed a foul shot with roughly 3 seconds remaining in the game, France beat a weak Venezuelan team, 81-61. France really misses Tony Parker, who is out of the tournament due to a broken right index finger. He will miss 4-6 weeks, though as of now the injury does not look like it will require surgery.

-It took 3 overtimes, but Germany eventually defeated Angola 108-103. Dirk had 47 and 16.

-Pau Gasol has a 6'11" brother, Marc Gasol, who scored 12 points in Spain's 104-55 massacre of Japan.

-Brazil lost another close one, this time to Lithuania. Brazil is now just 1-4, with other losses to Australia, Turkey, and Greece. The team is in one of the tougher groups of the tournament.

* Term used in honor of Bob Knight... I was going to edit the video so it only showed the game face clip I am referring to, but I thought to myself "when I read this, would I rather see 1 Bob Knight video clip or 10 Bob Knight video clips?" Easy Decision. Just make sure to pay close attention to #2 on the list.


**Answer to trivia: Kenny Anderson, who scored 34 points in a 1990 World Championship game on a team also coached by Mike Krzyzewski.

Sunday, August 20, 2006

Follow up to Previous Post

1) The US did walk all over China after all- 121-90.
2) The Puerto Rican backcourt dominated the Senegalese National Team. Carlos Arroyo netted 29 points on only 15 shots while Elias Ayuso caught fire from 3, converting on 6/8 shots from the land of plenty.*
3) Dwyane Wade had 26 points against China. You can only beat who you play, but again... it was China. In other words, he simply avoided having a poor performance. To put it in perspective, Dwyane Wade to the Chinese guards is like a 25 year old Shaq with guard skills in the NBA.
4) Serbia & Montenegro lost a tough one to France. S&M is now 0-2, however it was nice to see that Darko's disaster against Nigeria could just be blamed on some first game jitters. Darko had 14 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks though his team went down 65-61.
5) Spain dominated (101-57 over Panama). Pau dominated (26 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks).*

fiba.com is back up and running, full power!
*Stats according to HoopsHype.com

No updates until the 22nd, but check back then!

Quick Thoughts on World Basketball Championship

1) I am not a believer that Team USA should win all of its games easily. That being said, in a few hours China's National Team will do its best doormat impersonation. Wipe your feet at the door, USA. Party's in Japan.
2) I was really looking forward to watching the Puerto Rican backcourt of Carlos Arroyo and Elias Ayuso before their and Team USA's first game. They certainly did not dissapoint, as both players exceeded my expectations. They were even better than I had remembered from the Olympics.
3) The only American that has exceeded my expectations thus far has been Carmelo Anthony. He is playing fantastic basketball. Others that are playing well are Elton Brand, Chris Paul, and Kirk Hinrich. My take on the Golden Children: Lebron needs to get rid of his jitters and Wade not playing even close to the level that he had been in the NBA and not quite at the level that he will be in the World Championship. Both will be alright... no worries.
4) The best match-up of day 1 was Argentina vs. France, though it would have been even better had Tony Parker not been forced to sit out the entire tournament due to a broken right index finger. Nonetheless, the two teams should both be considered elite for this year's tournament and it was nice to see the two go at it. Manu was incredible in the first half, scoring on a wide array of moves ranging from a step back 3 to a drive to hoop where he executed seemingly hundreds of herky jerky yet controlled moves at once; he finished the play with a simple wide open layup and the game with 22 points. Both teams, especially Argentina, ran their offenses as smooth and cohesive as a well oiled machines (Team USA needs some lube, ASAP).
5) I can't wait to see Spain's team play. It should be very, very good. The squad is led by Pau Gasol, however it is loaded with talent such as crafty guards Jose Calderon, Juan-Carlos Navarro, and young but super nifty Sergio Rodriguez.
6) I was surprised when I saw that Nigeria beat Serbia & Montenegro 82-75, though when I consider the fact that I had yet to see either team play I'm not quite sure that I should be. New York Knickerbocker Ime Udoka lead Nigeria with 18 points. Darko, S&M's leader in the exhibition games, had 5 points. I expect Darko to score more in future games. For those of you who do not yet know this, Darko Milicic is a good basketball player and will have a decent-at-worst NBA season as he continues to improve until he becomes a "force in the league" as they say, in the next few years.

Last but not least, when I last visited www.fiba.com, currently the official website for the World Championship, it read, "Dear fiba.com viewers:
Thank you for your tremendous interest in the FIBA World Championship. The traffic on the website has exceeded by hundred times the interest of comparable events such as the Olympic Basketball Tournaments in Athens."
I'm glad the tourny is getting so much attention. It makes me happy to see that more of my fellow human beings are taking a liking to basketball. More people to read H.L.B.T.!

 
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