bos rams v. canyon

SoCalHoops Tournament News

adidas Best of Summer Tournament
Newark Rams v. Canyon--(July 23, 1998)

Geez, it's really a shame that nobody sticks around to watch the last game of the day at these things. There we were, me, Jerry Frietas, about one or two coaches, (not including Mike Miller of LACC who was off in the corner in some kind of altercation with some other guy who apparently said the wrong thing which created a fracas), two other spectators, one team mom, and a photographer from the Newark team. Oh, and Phil Bryant and the Double Pump staff. And some assorted hangers-on. Basketball junkies all.

The shame of it is that everyone who left after the Rockfish v. Tustin game (in which the Rockfish beat up on what is basically the Tustin High team), didn't get to see one of the best games of the tournament, between Newark Rams and "Canyon" which was supposed to be Rob Alexander's Canyon Anaheim team, but we're not sure exactly what this team is all about. Let us explain:

For months now we've been hearing that Mike Strawberry (6'-3" Fr. G) will be at Mater Dei next year. And apparently at the beginning of the summer, he was there, playing in their summer league games. But last night, there was Mikey, running, slashing, exhibiting all of the brilliant passing and shooting that we've heard about through the early summer. And he was doing it for "Canyon." And Rob Alexander was not coaching this team, but instead was coaching the Pump & Run I team yesterday morning. We were intrigued.

And then we looked around at some more of the guys. And realized that what we were actually looking at was a combination of the Southern California All-Stars and some guys from Canyon.

There was Roger Hogan (6'-0" Jr. PG) who used to play for So.Cal All-Stars with Darius Sanders and Strawberry. Hmmm. And there was Darius Sanders (6'-4" Fr. G/F) also of Southern California All-Stars. Pretty nice group in the backcourt. The team also had Neil Hammad (6'-3" Sr. SG), who exihibited great 3 point shooting last night against a very good Rams team. Neil is quick, smooth, and pretty deadly from the corners.

Canyon also had Jamal Walls (6'-7" Fr. F) who looks a bit like a small, baby Shaq; pretty strong, couldn't hit free throws either, but he knows how to throw his weight around in the paint. There were two other big guys for Canyon who showed up midway through the first half: Ryan Romberg (6'-8" Sr. C) who lumbers a bit, and wanted to shoot threes instead of posting up, which had the Canyon coach saying "that's not what we need, Ryan" over and over; and Deangelo Collins (6'-9" Fr. C) who can play pretty well and moves good with and without the ball. We also saw Jamal Taylor, (6'-1" Jr. G) who has a pretty good handle, nice shot, and is very athletic.

So is Mikey going to Mater Dei, Canyon or somwhere else? Or was he just playing with this team for one or two games? Only time will tell.

Darius, we hear, will not be going to Dominguez, but instead will enroll at Compton High. Er, um, ok. Actually, we have it on pretty good authority that this will happen. At least that's what Darius and one of the Compton coaches said yesterday.

Canyon, however, was not the big story. While they managed to stay close for the first half, they really were physically no match for the Rams, and ultimately they got hammered 81-69.

Newark is a really, really tall team. Here's who they had:

Louvon Sneed (6'-8" Sr. F) from St. Anthony: very good around the paint. Athletic, can run, and even handle the ball pretty well. Dominant on the boards. A very good D-I prospect.

Brian Sigafoos (6'-10" Sr. C) Seton Hall: Brian is very big, very strong, and a great defender. He has pretty nice touch, and was just hammering Deangelo all over the place, and at one point the refs had to separate them it got so physical. A nice player, and we think he's a great D-I player.

Ronage Bethea (6'-2" Jr. G) St. Benedict's-- nice player, athletic, runs very well, a shooter too.

Jamal Tate (6'-6" Jr. F) Linden-- good inside/outside guy, plays tenacious defense.

Shane West (5'-9" Sr. PG) St. Benedicts-- very good handle, quick, good hops, drives, dishes, does everything pretty well.

Josh Hobbs (6'-4" Sr. G) Somerset-- very nice jump shooter, athletic and strong

Ernest Turner (6'-2" So. G) Sterling--actually, to be honest we didn't see him play. Hope to get a look at him today.

and. . . drumroll please. . .

Josh Moore (7'-0" Sr. C) ---we had been waiting to seem him, and candidly, we were a bit disappointed. Josh is truly a big guy, and actually has a decent handle, at least he didn't drop the ball a lot. But as far as big men go, he's pretty raw, or at least he was yesterday. He can really drop his shoulder and barrell into people in the paint (amazing that the refs never called a charge or player control foul), but he absolutely, positively couldn't rebound. His feet, other than lifting them up and down to walk or run, never left the ground. Not that he needed to jump really high, because with his arms vertical, he can reach more than 10 feet anyway. But watching him, you get this sense of. . . all that height going to waste. Maybe it was just this one game, maybe not. We hope to get to see him again either today at 5:10 p.m or later during the single elimination.

The Rams are a good team, but they could have played a lot better. Still, we were impressed.