long beach pool G preview

We finally got the rosters for the teams to go along with the schedules Dinos Trigonis sent us the other day, so now we can at least evaluate, on paper, the relative strengths and weaknesses of the various teams in each pool. Some teams look really, really strong on paper, while others look pretty weak. Of course there's no substitute for actually seeing the games, and we're sure that notwithstanding how good some teams look on paper, a lot of people will be surprised that some seemingly lowly looking rosters will be one or more high-powered and well-regarded team.

We're going to list the rosters pool-by-pool, which will be a little more helpful and give you a way to actually plan out what teams you'll watch tomorrow, since the games on Friday (yesterday) and Saturday will all be pool play games. Here's what we now know about the teams and the schedule for Pool "G" (note: We'll include the roster numbers where they are available):

Bay Area Ballers

Coach: Nelson Washington

4. David Chiotti (6'-7" So. F) St. Francis, Mt. View
6. Gary Smith (6'-3" Jr. G) Tennyson HS, Hayward
8. Kyle Bailey (6'-2" Sr. PG) Lathrop, Alaska
9. Patrick Gralos (6'-6" Jr. F) Wilcox, Santa Clara
10. Charles Brown (6'-1" Sr. G) De La Salle
11. Brandon Worthy (6'-1" So. G) Mitty
20. Janou Rubin (6'-4" Sr. F) Logan HS
24. Matt Short (6'-10" Jr. F/C) Yreka
30. Josh Keough (6'-1" Sr. G) San Mateo
Patrick Dennehy (6'-10" Sr. F/C) * injured

BWBA II

Coach: Craig Falconer / Bob Gottlieb

5. David Gale (6'-0" So. PG) Buckley
10. Matthew Nurse (5'-11" Sr. PG) AV Christian
12. Robert Abreau (6'-5" Jr. SG/SF) Sonora
15. Jeremiah Bell (6'-4" Sr. SF) Ocean View
20. Oliver Haworth (6'-2" Sr. SG) Palmdale
25. Danny Genung (6'-6" Sr. F) Redlands
33. Marques Crane (6'-3" Jr. SG) Ocean View
34. Sean Phaler (6'-7" Fr. SF) Villa Park
44. Phil Yarborough (6'-5" Sr. F) San Ramon Valley
45. Ryan Evans (6'-5" Sr. F) Foothill
52. Heath Bailey (6'-11" Sr. F/C) Beaverton, Ore.

H Squad

Coach: Richard Isaacs

1. Deric Isaacs (6'-2" Sr. SG) Bolsa Grande
4. Willie Montgomery (6'-2" Sr. SG) Bolsa Grande
5. J.J. James (6'-4" Sr. SF) Bolsa Grande
6. Lyman Edwards (6'-0" Sr. PG) Venice
9. Michah Johnson (6'-3" Sr. SG) St. Charles, MI
10. Rodney Clarke (6'-4" Sr. F) St. Charles, MI
11. Matt Horvath (6'-0" Sr. G) St. Charles, MI
13. Jason Zippel (6'-9" Sr. F) St. Charles
14. Chris Chatman (6'-5" Sr. F) Tustin

On2Hoops San Diego Future Stars

Coach: Fentriss Winn

3. Jaris Cole (6'-2" Jr. G) Bishop's
4. Ryan Read (6'-1" Fr. G) Bishop's
5. Kevin Prins (5'-10" Jr. G) Calvin Christian
10. Brian Gillis (5'-10" Jr. G) Poway
11. John Schwartz (5'-10" Jr. G) Bishop's
22. Tim Brown (6'-5" Sr. F) El Cajon Christian
23. D.J. Hicks (5'-11" Jr. G) El Camino
24. Nick Booker (6'-5" Sr. SF/SG) Bishop's
52. Chris Prins (6'-4" Sr. SF) Calvin Christian
53. Greg White (6'-3" So.SG) Bishop's
Nik Traner (6'-4" Jr. SG/SF) Fallbrook

Teams--Friday, September 10	Time	Location
Bay Area Ballers v. H Squad	9:00 p.m.	Long Beach Millikan

Teams--Saturday, September 11	Time	Location
On2Hoops v. BWBA II	9:00 a.m.	Long Beach Millikan
Bay Area Ballers v. On2Hoops	3:15 p.m.	LBCC Main Gym
H Squad v. BWBA II	3:15 p.m.	LBCC Aux Gym
H Squad v. On2Hoops	7:00 p.m.	Long Beach Millikan
Bay Area Ballers v. BWBA II	7:00 p.m.	Long Beach Jordan

Bay Area Ballers are probably the top seeds in this pool, although with Patrick Dennehy, this would seem to be a three horse race, including also BWBA II and On2Hoops. All three teams have solid D-I caliber players. BAB has Kyle Bailey, one of the most exciting point guard discoveries of the summer from Alaska; BWBA II has big man Heath Bailey, shooters in Marques Crane and solid point guards in David Gale (also playing with the BWBA I team) and Matthew Nurse, who took his team to the D-VA finals against Price last season. On2Hoops has Nick Booker, a high-D-I recruit, and other solid players. The only wild card in this pool is H Squad, about whom we know very little except the California players on the roster. Deric Isaacs has transferred to Bolsa Grande from Venice (where he did not play last year due to an illness); he's much improved from last spring; Lyman Edwards from Venice is a solid point, who transferred out of Compton Dominguez last spring.