slam final game

SoCalHoops Tournament Update

Slam-N-Jam NIT Finals
NYC Church Blows Away Bay Area Ballers--(July 26, 1998)

Following the finals at the Double Pump Best of Summer Tournament at Cal State Dominguez Hills, which was won by the New Orleans Jazz, we hopped into the car, headed down the 405, shot off the Bellflower off ramp, and sped over to Cal State Long Beach. We stepped into the Goldmine (the old gym. . . if we'd gone to the Pyramid, the new arena, we could have seen the FILA Summer Pro League playoffs in action) just in time for the tip off between NYC Riverside Church and the Bay Area Ballers I. And looking around the gym, it was amazing how many other folks had taken the same trip from Dominguez to Long Beach. . . a lot of the same faces, and a crowd which was about the same size as the one which saw the Double Pump final. But this one was in a much smaller gym (seats maybe 1500 people on a good day), and it was also stiflingly hot and uncomfortable.

And that's also the way Bay Area Ballers must have felt too, as they got destroyed by NYC Riverside Church 77-47. This game was a complete mismatch, and Riverside dominated in every category, scoring, rebounding, steals, assists, you name it.

Coming from Dominguez where we'd just witnessed a fast-paced running game, this was a big change. Riverside is a very methodical, well-disciplined team (which is not to say the Jazz aren't) and they like to run a lot of half-court set type plays. A lot of motion offense, setting screens and picks, moving the ball pretty well, and great spacing on the floor. And their style is typified by the play of Willie Poole (5'-10" Jr. PG) and Omar Cook (6'-0" So. PG) who both run patient offenses, often moving the ball up smoothly and calmly, rather than the somewhat frenetic pace which typified Chris Duhon and the Jazz. Cook is very musucular, athletic, and sort of looks like a short version of David "Admiral" Robinson; he makes great entry passes, but is a bit slow on the first step to the hole, but that didn't seem to bother him as the Ballers were even slower. Poole is not as smooth, but fundamentally, he has great court vision, and gets everyone involved. Cook had only 3 points in the first half, one rebound and two assists, but then really took off in the second half, hitting for 10 points, getting two steals, and 5 more assistsl. Poole had 4 points in the first half, two in the second and only one turnover the whole game.

Who Poole and Cook got involved was everyone. In the first half it was Zachary Williams (6'-7" So. F) and Michah Brand (6'-10" Jr. C) who were on fire: Williams hit for 8 points and grabbed 3 boards; in the second half he got 6 points and another 3 rebounds. Williams is strong, quick, and plays defense about as well as anyone we saw this weekend. We thought of saying that he's "athletic" but then that really doesn't say much when you're talking about the NYC Riverside Church, because they are all very gifted athletically. Brand is already a top D-1 prospect, and it's scary to think that he's got another two years to work on his skills before college. Lorenzo Romar was in the stands watching, as was Ray Lopes, the coaches from Sacramento and a few others, and we assume that there weren't more coaches present for the same reason they weren't at Dominguez either, i.e., because everyone already knows about these guys, especially Brand. He's got a great vertical leap, and between he and Frank Phifer (6'-9" Jr. F) and Kyle Coffe (6'-8" So. F), they just shut down the Ballers only real inside threats, Patrick Dennehy (6'-9" Jr. F/C), Christian Wiedemann (6'-9" Sr. C/F) and Tony Champion (6'-8" Sr. F/C), none of whom did very much: In the first half, Wiedemann only had three points, all on free throws and in the second half it didn't get much better, as he only had 2 points, finishing with 5. Dennehy was no much better, being limited to 2 points in the first half, and only 4 in the second. He was the better rebounder of the two, getting three boards in the entire game while Weidemann only had one. Tony Champion was the bright spot for BAB getting 6 points in the first half (four free throws) and another 2 points in the second half. Champion could be a great player if he lost about 20 pounds, and he seemed to have difficulty with a running game, which developed later in the contest as Riverside loosened up a bit out of it's set offense and started to free-lance a bit more in the second half. But in the half-court game, he blocked a couple of shots, and the points he got were hard fought immediately under the basket. Tony has a great ability to put the ball in the hole even when he's surrounded by three or four defenders, and if he lost that weight, he'd be even better.

Weiedemann was pretty much limited to a perimeter game, and he stayed far away from the basket, but the few times he did go try to penetrate, he was effective at drawing fouls; Dennehy on the other hand, who looks sort of like Apolinar Fernandez of Artesia, seemed dazed and confused most of the time, and got very frustrated with his and his teammates play. He had major difficulties with the trapping and swarming defense of NYC, committing at least 4 turnovers, which we attribute partly exhaustion and partly to the superiority of the NYC team. Dennehy is also a major talent, having had some big scoring games in this tournament, but he just never got a chance to show it in this game.

For NYC, Kyle Coffe also had a big game, scoring only 6 points but grabbing 6 boards that we counted. Courtney Fields (6'-6" Jr. F) managed 7 points and he has one of the nicest J's around, with a high, quick release and nice elevation. He's got great touch and showed it, with two field goals and one three. Defensively he got one blocked shot and altered quite a few. Another D-I major in our view. Abdul Mills (6'-3" Jr. SG) got 6 points, one steal and a couple of rebounds, but played perhaps the best defense on NYC. He has quick hands and feet and was a prime reason that BAB was limited to only 20 points in the first half.

20 points in the first half. In fact, it was much worse than that for a long time. When the score was 29 to 6, one of the coaches who arrived a bit late asked "Is the scoreboard broken?" No, but BAB's offense was. Bay Area Ballers were playing without Andrew Gooden (6'-9" Sr. F/C) from El Cerrito, who decided to play instead for EBO at the Double Pump Best of Summer. Likewise, Justin Davis (6'-8" Sr. F) from St. Joseph-Notre Dame in Alameda stayed home to play in a local tournament in the Bay Area. And normally effective Justin Logan (5'-8" Sr. PG) from Bishop O'Dowd only managed 5 points, all in the second half, and committed two turnovers which led to NYC baskets each time. Joe Skiffer (6'-2" Sr. G) from St. Ignatius who normally has a nice handle and a pretty good shot, only managed 4 points, all on free throws, and he was completely unable to penetrate. Robert Sayle (6'-6" Sr. F) from St. Ignatius is usually a good rebounder but yesterday he had only two boards, and 3 points. Brad Lechtenberg (6'-0" Sr. G) from Northgate, a decent athlete who runs well and can occasionally hit the long three, managed one three in the first half, another field goal, and just one more freethrow in the second half, to finish with 6 points.

And that was about the way it went for BAB; 20 points in the first half, only 27 in the second. The leading scorer for BAB was James Irvine (6'-5" Prep SG) with 13 points, 5 in the first half and 8 in the second. Riverside scored 41 points in the first half, 31 in the second. The biggest pleasant surprise for us with NYC was the play of Nick Delfico (6'-4" Jr. G) who didn't see much time and didn't score in the first half; in the second half he made some spectacular no-look passes, about three in a row off the transition, picking up the assist each time, and he also proved he's got great range, hitting two threes from way outside.

So that's the way the Slam-N-Jam NIT ended, with the NYC Riverside Church hammering the Bay Area Ballers. We'd like to see the winners of the Slam-N-Jam and the Best of Summer face off next time. Hey, it's just one more game. Sort of like a world series. . . adidas meets Nike. We'll have to talk to Issy and the Pumps, sounds like a great idea.

Now, if we can only find some neutral turf to stage the game. . . .