best of summer pools

This one gets going tomorrow, and a lot of teams will be at this one and at the Slam N Jam, NIT run by Issy Washington. We'll have the Slam N Jam stuff up in a little while, and you should know that the games over there at Carson and Compton are going as we write this. The Best of Summer runs from Tuesday, July 21 through Saturday, July 25, just long enough for everyone to get back in their cars to head for the airport to make it to Vegas for the Grand Finale which starts next week.

Here are the Pools and the teams competing this year in the 1998 Best of Summer:

Pool A Cleveland BBall Club Stockton Redondo Northern Nevada All Stars	Pool B Team Detroit Minnesota Select White Central Cal Sports Express All Net	Pool C Virginia Select SSA Sacramento Pump & Run III
Pool D Inland Team Texas 17's LA Rockfish Orcas Franklin Covey Express	Pool E LA Rockfish Ft. Worth Lions Tustin Santa Margarita	Pool F Minnesota Select Gold Newark Rams West Valley BBall Club Canyon
Pool G Arizona Heat Derek Smiths All Stars Abby AC Cal/NY Rhinos	Pool H Pump & Run I Hawaii Raiders Brewster Heights Packers	Pool I Long Island Panthers Team Philly Friends of Hoop IV Green Valley
Pool J Valentino's Neb. All Stars CAYA Seattle Marshall Villa Park	Pool K Madison Square Broncos Colorado Jam Friends of Hoop III Pump & Run II	Pool L Hunting Park Warriors Friends of Hoop II Minnesota Select 16's LA Rockfish Dolphins
Pool M Friends of Hoop I IEBP All Stars Galena Five Star Woodbridge	Pool N Team Assault KC Acts Verbum Dei East Anchorage	Pool O New Orleans Jazz IEBP Ballers & Players Salpointe 4 "D" Stars
Pool P EBO Houston AAU Skywalkers Spartans	Pool Q QBL Lakewood Minnesota Select Maroon Texas Blue Chip Win Ling Hong Kong

Most of these teams just spent the week in Vegas for the Big Time, and at least five of the top eight teams there will be competing. The games are played on three courts at Cal State Dominguez, so there's always some action going on. You'll also get a chance to see some local SoCal teams (mostly from LA) who didn't travel to Vegas so they'll be rested and ready for action as the others come limping in off the desert. And because the NIT is played at the same time, a lot of the guys playing for some of the local teams also play for more than one team, and they'll be shuttling back and forth between Carson-Compton and Dominguez throughout the week.

We'll have the schedule for the Best of Summer posted shortly. If you want to get to Cal State Dominguez Hills, it's pretty easy. From the North, take the 405 sougth to the Avalon off ramp, and go left on Avalon to Victoria, then turn right on Victoria to the last campus entrance on the right, and follow the signs to the gym. And be sure to stop at the stop signs completely. Just ask Gilbert Arenas; it can be costly if you don't, and the campus cops apparently have nothing better to do than write tickets.

From the South, take the 405 north to Avalon, and the repeat the directions. And there's a quicker alternate route from the north that we like, especially if you're coming from downtown LA or coming off the 101 or 134: Take the Harbor (110) south, to the 91 east, get off at the second exit, turn right, and go left at Avalon. Turn left again at Victoria, and turn right onto the campus.