Going Back to School

Tuesday night, I finally did something I have wanted to do for a long time, but could never seem to make the time to do: I went to a high school basketball game.

I play in a pickup basketball league that plays up to four times a week at Gonzaga Prep in D.C., and the guy who runs it stays pretty connected to the program. A couple weeks back, he sent out an email alerting us to a couple of upcoming big games, against DeMatha and Bishop O'Connell. I couldn't make the DeMatha game, but went with a buddy last night to see Gonzaga, the top-ranked team in the Metro area, handily beat O'Connell, who I think were ranked fifth coming in.

The Washington Catholic Athletic Conference, to which both of these schools belong, is a high level league. Quite a difference, on the court at least, from the high school ball I played, back in Vermont some ten years ago. It's remarkable how fast and athletic these kids are.

Despite the big discrepancy in terms of the quality of the game, I got that warm feeling when I realized that high school basketball is still high school basketball. There was a concession stand selling hot dogs and chicken fingers and soda for reasonable prices. Parents sat behind their son's benches and cheered at the top of their lungs; ex-players stood in the corners and quiety drank in the action. Student managers dressed in Catholic school uniforms diligently took stats, collected warm ups, and distributed water in squirt bottles -- the same kind of bottles, I might add, that I used when I played. Students from each school gathered together to cheer on their players, taunt the opposition, and trade playful chants back and forth -- one of the few ways, it seems, that young men and women can have innocent fun these days. After the game, parents and friends of players hung around the court to congratulate and console the young men in the locker rooms.

Five dollars and three hours well spent.

Fun anecdote: I was sitting behind the O'Connell bench, because a former co-worker of my companion to the game has a kid who plays for them. We sat on the top row, in the middle. Because the Gonzaga gym isn't planned particularly well, the seats directly to my left had a partially obstructed few, and I patiently waited as a tall man who I recognized as someone I should know walked past me to sit down, only to turn around and come back when he recognized the situation. He gave me a friendly smile and a pat on the shoulder in recognition of the fact that he was in my way.

After he left, my friend nudged me. "You know who that was?" he asked. I told him that I recognized the man, but couldn't figure out who it was. "Tommy Amaker." Of course! It had occurred to me that college coaches would be at the game, but I guess I hadn't properly prepared myself to see one.

Amaker, formerly an assistant at Duke and head man at Seton Hall and then Michigan, is a D.C.-area native. Now the head coach at Harvard, he was at the game to take a look at two of his recruits; Bishop O'Connell's Frank Ben-Eze and Gonzaga's Max Kenyi.

My understanding is that Ben-Eze, the big Nigerian, doesn't have a lot of basketball experience and is something of a project. I couldn't tell you, because he spent most of the game on the bench in foul trouble. But man, was I impressed with Kenyi! He apparently has a reputation as a defensive stopper, and he lived up to the hype on that end, holding Georgetown-bound Jason Clark to 11 points, half his average. But he was equally spectacular on offensive, netting 22 points on an array of three-point jumpers and drives to the basket. Despite having the skinniest legs I've ever seen on a basketball player -- he has no visible calf muscles to speak of -- he's quick and athletic, with an excellent vertical leap.

Despite the presence of Clark and Bishop O'Connell sophomore Kendall Marshall (an early North Carolina commit whose speed with the ball will help him fit right in in Chapel Hill), Kenyi was the best player on the court all night.

It was a terrific night, even though the game wasn't close (83-62 was the final). The only sour note was the Bishop O'Connell coach losing his composure in the third quarter, spending most of it barking at and patronizing the officials. Most of the quarter was gone before he ever said anything instructional to his team. By and large they looked like a well-coached squad and I hope that Tuesday was an anomaly borne out of frustration, but he let his team down by allowing himself to be distracted like that.

Still, it's something I'd like to do again very soon.

And1 Want to give a quick shout out to Kentucky point guard Ramel Bradley, because I don't think he's getting enough credit for what he's accomplished in the last five games. Bradley played 39 minutes in a fast, uptempo game against Tennessee's tenacious defense last night. The inside duo of freshman Patrick Patterson and Perry Stevenson keyed the victory, but Bradley never wore down despite the fact that he had AVERAGED 44 minutes per game while playing every second of the previous four contests (a stretch which included three overtime periods). By any measure, it's been a rough year so far in Lexington, but the Wildcats have started to look better, with consecutive home wins over top 15 clubs (Vanderbilt and Tennessee) and gutsy losses against good teams in tough environments (Mississippi State and Florida). Make no mistake, Bradley's the biggest reason why the season isn't completely lost.

North Carolina, Frank Martin, Vanderbilt, Shan Foster

1. That was a different Maryland team on Saturday than we've seen at any other time this year. In their 82-80 upset of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, the Terps had everything going: James Gist hitting turnaround jumpers; Bambale Osby finishing around the goal with both hands; Landon Milbourne and Cliff Tucker nearly doubling their season scoring averages; everyone with the exception of Greivis Vasquez limiting their turnovers, etc.

As hard as I've come down on North Carolina because of their defense, it'd be easy for me to credit Maryland's offensive performance Saturday on poor Tar Heel D. However, with the notable exception of some lapses in the transition game, I though UNC atually defended well on Saturday; Maryland just made plays. Rather, it was on the offensive end where they came up short. They just couldn't get a big hoop when they needed one. I thought Wayne Ellington may have forced the action a little bit.

2. Haven't been too impressed with Kansas State coach Frank Martin this year, but kudos to him for the way he used Michael Beasley in the first half of Saturday's 75-54 win over Texas A&M. The freshman picked up a couple of quick fouls, and after letting him sit for a bit, Martin began shuttling Beasley in and out -- the kind of offense/defense substitution most coaches reserve for late in games. I'd never seen it done that early, but it worked very well. On K-State's first two possessions after Beasley returned, they got four points: two on a bucket by Beasley himself, and another two when the A&M defense reacted to Beasley and left another Wildcat open.

3. Finally saw one of Vanderbilt's good performances Saturday, a 92-76 thumping of LSU. Impressive outside shooting from the Commodores; they were 8-for-15 from deep at one point, before some garbage-time threes put their final mark at 9-for-20. What I didn't like, however, was how often Vanderbilt's players -- in particular point guard Jermaine Beal -- eschewed open lanes to the basket in favor of kicking it out for a three.

There's nothing wrong with penetrate-and-pitch, but it should only be employed when the defense collapses on the guy driving the ball. If the penetrator passes it out before the defense reacts, then a)he's likely giving up a very high percentage shot of his own; and b)the man he's kicking the ball out to won't be open, resulting in a difficult look. The 'dores knocked those tough shots down on Saturday, but the three-ball is a dangerous weapon to rely on.

And1 I'm not sure Vandy's Shan Foster is quick enough to play in the NBA. One thing he does have going for him is the high release on his jumper; he lets it go from up above his head. At 6-6, he should be able to get that shot off against most two-guards in the Association, but the defensive end is a completely different story.

Roy Hibbert, Luke Harangody, Florida

Been really busy applying to law school. Probably won't be updating regularly for a couple more weeks. But here are three quick thoughts.

1. His game-winning three-pointer notwithstanding, Georgetown's 7-foot-2 center Roy Hibbert was 6-for-13 for 17 points on Saturday afternoon. Much of that came against 7-foot-3 sophomore Hasheem Thabeet, one of the nation's best shotblockers.

It's been my contention since last year that Georgetown misuses Hibbert. I maintain that he's what makes the Hoyas a top ten team and legitimate title contender; their guards are relatively ordinary for an elite team. And yet Hibbert often seems to be the afterthought on offense.

It struck me as funny, then, that Georgetown went to him on the team's first possession Saturday and never really stopped. On the day, Hibbert took 14 shots, tied for a season-high. Obviously, there's a motivation for attacking Thabeet to get him in foul trouble, and it worked, as Thabeet had to sit for stretches in the second half. But if Hibbert can be that effective against perhaps the nation's premier post defender, just think of the damage he could do against the less competition he's faced this year. We'll see what he does Monday night against Pittsburgh.

2. There aren't too many differences between North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough and Notre Dame's Luke Harangody. In fact, the biggest one is probably that Hansbrough plays for the number-one team in the land and Harangody does not. There are some slight differences in their games -- Psycho T's a little more athletic; Harangody has better footwork and a softer touch -- but they are really similar players. Given the press that Hansbrough gets, that means Harangody's underrated. And he's a year younger.

3. Florida has impressed me with their play down the stretch this past week. I caught two of their games and was struck by how well they played in crunch time. At Alabama on Tuesday, the Gators battled to find themselves tied at 71 with about seven minutes remaining. It was one of those moments where you expect the more experienced team to pull out the victory, particularly at home. Instead, Florida -- who as you know, lost four players to the NBA Draft this summer and don't have a single senior on the roster -- went on an 11-0 run in the next three minutes to put the game away.

Then, Saturday, against an undermanned Auburn squad, they let the visitors hang around a little too long. The Tigers trailed by just five with 4:29 on the clock. Again, it was one of those situations where you learn a lot about a team. The young Gators' response? Another 11-0 run to close out the game, as they held Auburn scoreless the rest of the way.

These are the marks of a veteran team, not one as young as Florida is. After back-to-back national championships, we expected this to be a rebuilding year for coach Billy Donovan, and he certainly brought in some great players with which to build. But look out for them this year -- they may be ready to contend in a relatively weak SEC sooner than any of us thought possible.