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Pat McKeever, a 2001 St. Joseph's Prep graduate (and player), is our newest correspondent. He has a passion for the game along with strong opinions. He promises to pay attention to spelling, freeing up at least an hour of Ted's time (smile). You may e-mail Pat at PatTGM15@cs.com.
FEB. 26
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
I thought the all catholic selections were on Thursday so I am
a little late on my predictions, but now I will comment on the selections. First of
all I thought it was great that Sullivan got 1st team even though he was injured. In
the south I, along with countless others, agree with the first team. Every person on
2nd and 3rd team can make an argument for themselves and this was a tough selection.
Rich and Grandieri are definite 2nd teamers. I think Del Brocco should have
been on second team over Griff or McCleary. Sloan-El, Bennett and Clark are
all suspect all catholics. Some names I think could have been in there are Todd
Johnson (his injury hurt him), Harry Dougherty (O'Hara's record hurt him), and Marshall
Taylor (his age and West record hurt him). I was surprised that no one from West
recieved honor regardless of their poor year. Every team usually gets an all
catholic. I am not trying to take anything away from those who were selected.
They are all good players worthy of the honor, I am simply critiquing the
selections. I bet someone writes how stupid I am for writing this and disagreing
with me, and posing the question, "Who is Pat McKeever to say who should be all
catholic?" I am just giving my opinion. I can totally agree with this
year's selection, all I am pointing out is that their are other players out there who do
deserve some recognition and they could have been all catholics.
Honorable Mention: Dougherty (O'Hara), Johnson (Neumann), Taylor (West),
Matos (KK), Wynn (Neumann)
Unsung heroes: Good (Prep), Wallace (Roman),
Cleary (O'Hara), Nunan (Bonner), Dittler (Carroll)
Predictions of playoffs: God only knows
FEB. 22
CATHOLIC SOUTH
SJ Prep 44, Bonner 31
Bonner suffered on the scoreboard due to the fact that Badir
McCleary, one
of the team's best scorers, had to sit because of double
technicals last Sunday
vs Roman. Bonner missed his threat of making the three.
Matt Kearney led
the Friars with 13, but didn't really dominate the game.
Like I have
mentioned before he needs to shoot more. Aside from
Kearney's double digits,
no one else on bonner scored above 5 points. I guess you
could call this a
defensive minded game. Early on, Bonner was absolutely
tattooing Prep on the
glass. They were getting second and third tries on every
shot. Neither team
could put the ball in the basket. The Prep seemed to be
stuck on six points
for half an eternity. Bonner would have gone into half
with a comfortable
lead until Chris Clark hit two threes in the last minute
including a buzzer
beater. At half the score was 19-18 in favor of Bonner.
The second half
started out much like the first, with Bonner jumping out to a
23-18 lead.
With 6 minutes left the Prep made a huge run. They had
scored 11 unanswered
points when Bonner went to half to call timeout.
Thornton picked up his
dribble to signal the ref, but before the ref got there Clark
snuck his
hands in there for a big steal. He gave it upcourt to
John Griffin (8) to
cap off a 13-0 run. In the second half Mark Zoller (10),
Jim Good (7), and
Ryan Lynch (3) buckled down on the glass and didn't allow as
many rebounds.
With time winding down in the fourth Bonner went to the press
which possed
some trouble for the Hawks. There were two turnovers
which made it close
until the end. With Bonner's depth they can bring it at
you from all angles.
They have a solid 9 man rotation, with each man bringing
something different
to the table. Randy Reid is a big man who can give
Taraborrelli a break.
You don't lose that much when Reid enters the game. Kevin
LeSage, the
football co-mvp, is a great athlete who can be a shot in the
arm on defense,
he had several steals against Prep. Mike Shalon, is a
solid backup PG. He
has good handle and he plays smart. Mike Thornton is a tough
player who can
rotate at guard or forward. He lacks a little height, but
he has muscle and
was pulling down a few boards yesterday.
Speaking of reserves I really like what Kyle
Eisenmann brings to the Prep.
He typically starts out at the small forward at the beginning
of the second
half. He is tall for a small forward and can get some
boards. He is
athletic and can hit the three. He is an unsung hero of
speedy's 7 man
rotation.
Game notes:
--Carroll beat Roman, which means these two teams will face
each other once
again. While the Prep has had success vs Bonner, it is
tough to beat a good
team three times.
-- Mike "The People's Champ" Haubrich made an
amazingly beautiful layup with
time running off the clock to seal the victory giving the Prep
their 44th
point.
--Thanks to Koz and Brownie for explaining the McCleary
situation to me
after the game. There were several Bonner supporters in
attendance.
FEB. 15
CATHOLIC SOUTH
Carroll 64, SJ Prep 60
It was a hard fought battle between two evenly matched teams.
It was
close throughout the game. This was my first time seeing
Carroll and they
strike me as a team that could beat any team out there, but
lose to almost
every team out there. Carroll matches up very well
vs. Prep and possesses a
threat to Prep come playoff time. This team will go as
far as Kashif Payne
(22) takes them. Everyone who follows basketball in the
city knows he is a
great player and the leader of his team so I won't spend that
much time on
him. Evan Dittler (10) and Mike
Springman (17) are two players that any
coach would love to have on their team. They are both
tall, strong,
aggressive kids who can play d and put the ball in the hoop.
They do look to
score, but they are not selfish players. They come at you
hard, and they
don't quit until the game is over. Jordan Ingram
(10) didn't seem to be that
much of a factor even though he had double digits. He is
not a big part of
the offense and he rarely makes moves to the basket. Most
of the points he
get s are off rebounds. Carroll really doesn't have much
else to threaten
you scoring wise. From what I hear Ned Dougherty is a
good shooter but he
didn't look to score, neither did Matt Chambers, the other
strating guard.
Chambers seem to be a good defensive role players.
Speedy is gonna have his team shooting foul shots till they
can't hold their
arms up at practice. The Prep had to have missed at least
10 shots from the
charity stripe. They kept it close thanks to the heroic
performance by John
Griffin (31). Carroll couldn't stop him.
He did get a good number of his
shots on open looks, but he did a great job creating hisown
shot all game.
The Prep had no other players in double digits. Mark
Zoller, the team's
leader in points, was humbled to just 9. He had a tough
time getting good
shots off with Carroll's big frontcourt. It was close
until midway through
the fourth quarter, Carroll put Payne on Griffin. They
jumped to a 10-point
lead after a few big shots. This lead proved to be too
much for the Hawks.
It is hard to make a come back against a team who has a point
guard that
fast. The Prep only forced one turnover in the final
minutes and Carroll
made their foul shots. If Prep can win out they will
probably play Carroll
again in the first round of the playoffs, making this already
great rivalry
even better.
Games notes:
-- Prep finally had a big student section. They were very
loud and were
getting on the carroll players. Whenever Payne touched
the ball they would
scream, and whenever anyone else touched it they yelled
"shoot it".
--Mike Haubrich made the ugliest three point bank shot ever. (sorry
mike had
to mention it)
--There should be a special section for girls to sit in during the game.
I
hate when these little freshmen girls who don't even know who
is playing the
game stand right in front of me and talk. They aren't
even facing the court.
This also goes for little kids who run up and down the
sideline. There
should be a classroom that they could all go to and be locked
in until after
the game.
--I got in a accident on the Blue Route and almost died after
the game.
amazingly neither my car or his car has any real damage, talk
about clean
livin.
JAN. 26
CATHOLIC SOUTH
SJ Prep 53, Bonner 44
This was a great basketball atmosphere. Bonner fans were
in full force,
and Prep also had an okay crowd in attendance. You could
hear the cheers
from the parking lot. I arrived 3 minutes late so I
didn't take stats
(although I swear I was in that gym before 8). When I
arrived it seemed I
hadn't missed much because the score was only 6-4 in favor of
Bonner. Then,
led by stellar shooting and smart passing, the Prep went on a
8-0 run before
Bonner called a TO. This really set the tempo for the
game. Both teams
would make great runs only to see the other team make a run of
their own. It
appeared the Prep wanted it more in the first half, they out
hearted the
Friars to the loose balls and rebounds. Mark
Zoller, who finished with 20,
led the Hawks once again with his sweet stroke. Don't
give the kid an open
look from within 15 feet because he will drain it. With
his contant strong
performances he is making himself a front runner for 1st team
all catholic.
It seemed that Bonner was content with hanging around until Matt
Kearney
stepped it up finishing with 14. This kid is dangerous.
He can drain the
three in your face or he can drive and pick up two. I
think he should look
to shoot more often. Bonner also had double digit
performances by Anthony
Bennett and Badir McCleary.
From what I remebered from last year McCleary was
a slicer and loved to take it to the hoop. This year he
seems content
bombing the 3 ball (and he's not afraid to pull up from
distance). He has
got a smooth stroke and needs to have a hand in his face from
at least 5 feet
behind the 3 point line. Bennett isn't a flashy player,
he just knows how to
get the ball in the basket. He is shifty around the net
and can easily pick
up the deuce. This is a great three man scoring threat,
each man bringing
something a little different at you. I was surprised to
hear that Randy Reid
and Mike Thornton, two players who had
significant minutes in this matchup,
didn't get in against Roman. Aside from Zoller the Prep
had a fairly
balanced scoring attack, with Chris Clark (10)
being the only other player
to finish in double digits. The Prep is very unselfish
and can come at you
from every which way. The Prep was lined up in a 1-3-1
which seemed to
trouble Bonner's offense. For the majority of the game
the Prep held a
comfortable 7 point lead, but late in the game Bonner made a
run. They
pressed the Hawks and forced them to take bad shots.
After several big
scores Bonner was only down 1, but Zoller silenced the crowd
with a beautiful
twelve footer. After this it was till close with under a
minute but with the
Prep being a great foul shooting team, it was hard for Bonner
to come back.
A heroic effort by Kyle Eisenmann to dive on a
loose ball and call timeout
sealed the game, and the Prep scored a big win on the road.
Sunday is the
bye day, and teams start the schedule over again in a week.
Game notes:
-- Vince Taraborrelli two
year starting senior center and team leader, didn't see any
time for the last
3 quarters. Not only did he sit, but he sat past the kids
who didn't take
off their warmups. He looked understandably hissed, and
the crowd was left
confused. I think it could have been a whole different
game if Vince had
been in there. I am not sure why he didn't play and hope
that it isn't an
injury or a fight with the coach. If it is a fight with
the coach, my advice
to you Vince is to suck it up and just do what you have to do
to play. I
went down that road last year and it isn't fun, believe me.
--In the battle of the fans Bonner clearly dominated.
They were much loader,
and into the game. They did also have many more students
in attendance
helping their volume. I saw two large kids, one of whom
was doing flips, leading
the cheers but there were no three-point shots without shirts
on. Could a
Bonner kid please tell me which of the two was Koz and I guess
the other was
Brownie. (Ted's note: Brownie usually wears a track shirt. Koz
is much chubbier.)
--The last two games I have been to people were turned away
from the door. I
do like the fact that people are getting more into bball, but I
dodn't want
to have to show up a half hour before the game just to get a
decent seat.
JAN. 25
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
So the first half of the season will be over
tonight. It has been very
exciting. Here are some things I would like to point out
that I have noticed
along the way.
12 points on the first half of the season: (12 is
also the total amount of
points I scored in my illustrious career)
1) I have disappointed myself and haven't seen as many games as
I would like
to. I have yet to see Bonner, West or KK from the south.
Also I have only
seen LaSalle from north. I will try to see more games and
write more
reports.
2) Even though I have yet to see them, Bonner is still my pick
to go all the
way. I was one of the first to pick them, so no one can
say I'm hopping on
the bandwagon. I am going to see them tonight vs Prep.
3) Many have said that the catholic league is down this year.
I think that
is partly true and partly false. There is no truly
dominant team this year,
which calls more a more interesting playoff and championship
run. There is
also no amazing players (there are younger kids who will one
day be great),
but the are no eddie griffins, chaz baileys, donnie carrs,
martin ingelsby,
etc. The rivalries haven't really been as hyped up
either. But on a
positive note there are new rivalries being born. Tonight
at Bonner is one
new rivalry which is being carried over from fball season.
All in all I
think it has been a great half year of basketball so far, and I
can't wait
until the second half.
4) Roman might not make the playoffs/ Prep might make the
playoffs/ West
might finish in last/ what in gods name is going on.
5) Random thoughts is certainly heating up. I have come
to realize that even
though you may think you are joking around, others may think
you are serious.
So I would like to apologize to the person I offended
(you know who you
are). I choose Fat Ringo in the debate against Brownie
(Mayfair Pride). The
wizard is always entertaining to read. We are all waiting
to see who hooks
up with Ted's daughter (after Koz's pic he is definitly the
front runner).
6) I will see Bonner fans tonight, I also need to see the
looney bin, krazy
korner, and abyss, but I must say that Roman's fans have done
great this
year, and Rosanova should teach a dance class. Hey guys,
you need to make a
nickname for yourselves.
7) I can't say what the all catholic voting should be at end of
season, but I
do think Grandieri should be under consideration for MVP.
8) I hate Roman games because I got a parking ticket on the
street then got
stuck in traffic on the way home the O'Hara game. And the
Prep game I didn't
get in.
9) Amar has been taking some heat over his player rankings.
Guess what
people; it is extremely hard to get a good feel on every kid in
the area. He
puts a lot of effort into doing that and should get a lot more
credit for his
work. If you disagree with who he picks, then you can go
out and see
hundreds of games, take notes on kids, take stats on players,
take stats out
of the paper, and choose between a giant list of talent,
knowing you are
going to upset some people and get criticized then you can just
write your
own player rankings. Amar does a ton of work to help get
these kids names
out there, and should be commended.
10) The refs have also been taking heat, some of it is probably
warranted,
but I think when a ref makes a good call he should be
congratulated. I also
think that will never happen.
11) After watching these games I would do anything to be back
out there. I
miss it so much and my advise to the guys still playing is:
LIVE IT UP. Play
every game like it is your last.
12 ) The whole thing is still up for grabs, so nobody give up.
JAN. 13
CATHOLIC SOUTH
Neumann 49, SJ Prep 48
The Hawks suffered a heart breaking one point loss today at
Neumann. It
was a great game, and I am a little mad that I only got to see
the second
half. I was given the worst set of directions ever.
It is not easy to find
Neumann when you think it is on 6th and Moore (for those
of you who don't
know, Neumann is all the way on the other side of Broad on
26th). I guess it is
my fault for not remembering where the school is even though I
have played
there several times. Anyway at least I got in for
free. Duck was in
attendance as was Puck. I am assuming
Duck will have the stats and post
them, I will just do a brief report. The reffing was
atrocious. There were
blatant fouls being committed by both teams that weren't
called. This is the
second game I saw this weekend where there was controversy
surrounding the
end. It was tied and Adon El was at the
line shooting two. After hitting
his first he missed the second and the ball went directly to Jim
Good who
immediately called a timeout. There was about 4.6 seconds
on the clock prior
to the foul shots and when the clock finally stopped the was
only about 2.3.
This hurt the Prep's chances of getting a good shot off.
Duck will say the
rest but I do wanna point out that Adon El and Todd
Johnson are rebounding
and blocking machines. The jump well and have long
arms. They will both be
key players in support of Tabby Cunningham.
Pat's patter notes:
In my previous patter I made note
of Roman's much improved student section,
but I only knew the name of the Lawndale legend Byrd. I
recently received an
email giving me the names of the other superfans. They
were Matt Kelly and
Mike Rosanova (who had a great little dance to
get Grandieri to miss his foul
shot). Tom Sugden also joined in on the
heckling of Grandieri and Doc. (Ted
has posted a photo of these guys in More Special Photos.)
JAN. 11
CATHOLIC SOUTH
Roman 72, O'Hara 70
This was the PCL South at its best. Two
playoff potential teams came
into the game with 1-1 records, both looking for a big win.
Roman walked
away with a last second buzzer beating win, but the spectators
were the real
winners here. It was a great game, which unfortunately
was tainted by a no
call at the end. (I will get back to it later) Both teams
played hard
defense, Roman in a 2-2-1 half court press and O'Hara switched
it up between
a box and 1, some man, and a 3-2. Ryan Cleary
kept his team in it by scoring
9 of his 12 in the 1st quarter. He was taking advantage
of open shots from
the corner. Cleary was also responsible for covering Charron
Fisher in the
box and 1. Fisher is a ferocious beast on the floor.
His size is deceiving
but he has a nice stroke, explodes off of the floor and he is
crafty around
the basket. When a rebound is up for grabs he is there to
rip it from the
air. He led his team at the half with 12 points and 11
boards. (He also had
a monstrous block in the second quarter, he sent it into the
second row) Due
to foul trouble he was quiet in the second half and only
finished with 18
points and 15 boards. Six man Jon Duperon
was the key player for Roman
today. He lit up the third with 10 points 3 boards and 2
steals. He
finished up with 23 points. Roman also had big games from
Andre Sloan-El (9
points 3 assist) Tyree Wallace (5 points 7
assists) and Bobby Jordan (9
points 4 assists). Wallace is the leader of the team at
the point, he has
good handle and he plays tough. Jordan (Frosh) plays with
the fearlessness
and confidence of a junior. This is a good Roman team.
They have talent,
but more importantly they play hard defense and can push the
ball up the
court. With the Cahilites having the game that they did
you would think it
was a blowout, but O'Hara refused to give in and played their
hearts out. It
also helped that they didn't really miss too many shots. Chris
Grandieri,
who was held scoreless in the 1st quarter, exploded for 24
points. This kid
is legit. He made spectators drop their jaws with some of
his fade away
shots. He dropped 11 in the 2nd quarter even though he
sat the last 3:40
with foul trouble. Craig Haywood and Harry
Dougherty were both much improved
from last game. They matched each other with 12 points
and 5 assists each.
"Doc" also chipped in with 3 steals as did Grandieri.
Pat Baylor (8) and
Mark Barrar (2) wrapped up the scoring for
O'Hara.
Now back to the controversial ending.
With 1 minute left in the game, it
was tied up and Roman held the ball. O'Hara had two fouls
to give. After
they took both fouls there was just 6 seconds left in the game.
Roman
inbound to Wallace in the backcourt. Wallace immediately
drives down the
middle of the lane where he runs into traffic. There was
minor contact and
Wallace took almost four steps without dribbling and threw up a
desperation
shot. There was no whistle blown and Charron Fisher got
the easy rebound and
put back to win it. If the refs weren't gonna call a foul
they clearly
should have called a walk. It was possibly the worst no
call ever.
Personally I didn't see just how much contact there was, so I
don't know if
it was a foul or not. As Jon "Duck"
Gray said,"They hadn't called that foul
all game." (Duck and Ted were both in attendance but
let me do the report
because they were going to Inter-ac games later that night).
It is a shame
that such a great game had to end in such controversy.
Game notes:
Roman had it's best regular season
student section ever led by John "Byrd"
Pendergast and his two buddies (sorry about
the names fellas). They heckled
O'Hara and at half they got Haywood to fire a shot from half up
with 3
seconds by doing a fake count down.
p=points/r=rebounds/a=assists/s=steals/b=blocks
Roman: Charron Fisher 18p/15r/3b Andre
Sloan-El 9p/2r/3a/2s Tyree
Wallace5p/7a/2s/1r Jon Duperon 23p/3r/2s Calvin Jones
4p/4a/3r/2s Bobby
Jordan 9p/4a/1r/1s Scott Mascio 4p/1a
foul shots 15 for 18 Roman bench was given 1 technical foul
O'Hara Chris Grandieri 24p/4r/3a/3s
Pat Baylor 8p/2r Harry Dougherty
12p/5a/1r/3s Craig Haywood 12p/5a Ryan Cleary
12p/5a/1s Mark Barrar 2p
JAN. 6
CATHOLIC SOUTH
SJ Prep 54, O'Hara 38
When this one first started out I wasn't sure if I was
watching a
Northern or Southern division game. Both teams were
holding the ball from
the get-go and they both were playing tough defense.
O'Hara was playing
tight man and the Prep mostly stayed in a 3-2 zone. After
a lackluster
first quarter Prep was ahead 8-7. While the second
quarter was much more
exciting the score did not prove it, it was a 20-19 O'Hara
lead. Possibly
one of the more boring 1 point first halves that I have ever
seen. A strange
stat was that a total of only five players scored in the entire
half between
both teams. Chris Grandieri had 11 of his 15 points in
the first half. He
has got a great shot and can create open looks. He is
also not afraid to
attack the glass, but he did get himself in minor foul trouble
with a couple
over the back calls. You can't leave him open for a three
because it is
going to drop. Seeing as that he is a senior I think he
is a definite 1st
teamer, and as long as he keeps playing the way he is he has a
chance at MVP.
Mark Zoller (9) and John Griffin (10) accounted for all the
Prep's first half points.
These two have emerged as scoring leaders in the last two
games. Griffin
finished with 15 points 4 rebs, 4 assists and 2 steals and his
teammate
Zoller (who sat a long time with foul trouble) still managed 15
points and 4
boards. In the third the action picked up and the Prep
won the third 16-6
with a balanced scoring attack. All five starters got on
the board, but most
importantly the Prep was able to hold Grandieri scoreless.
O'Hara hung
around for a while in the fourth, but the Prep unleashed 4
threes in the span
of 2 minutes to pull away. Ryan Lynch, a deadly threat
from beyond the line,
hit three of the four threes from the same spot in the corner.
By the third
shot there was no doubt that it was going in. TJ Valerio
hit the other three
pointer. Valerio finished with 6 and Lynch finished with
11. O'Hara tried
to rally behind three-poi nters by Harry Dougherty (7) and Ryan
Cleary (6), the
Prep wouldn't give in hitting 7 of 8 from the free throw line.
I was a
little unimpressed with the play of both Harry Dougherty and
Craig Haywood,
who both are both talented players who had strong years last
year. I think
the zone defense held both of their driving abilities in check,
also they are
both football players and are perhaps a little rusty.
Prep moves to 2-0 and
O'Hara fresh of a big win against Carroll drops to 1-1.
Prep hosts KK on
Friday while O'Hara travels to Broad and Vine's third floor gym
to meet
Roman.
DEC. 14
ANSWERS TO 20 QUESTIONS
Yes, I realize it took forever, but I am finally posting the answers to the
20 questions. I only had about six people respond (thanks to those who did).
Anyway without further procrastination.
Answers to Pat's 20 questions:
1) Who will win the PCL, PUB, and Interac championship. PCL: Carroll 4 votes
Bonner 1 vote Dougherty 1 vote; Pub Gratz 2 votes, Overbrook 1 vote,
Northeast 2 votes, Bartrum 1 vote; Interac: GA 6 votes
2) Who will be the Southern division MVP. Richard "Tabby" Cunningham 1 vote,
Kashif Payne 4 votes, Charron Fisher 1 vote
3) Is Spadafora a lock for the Northern Division MVP (assuming he doesn't get
injured)? Spadafora is in no way a lock, he has not done anything special
so far, and there are a lot of good players in the North. Smink and DeSean
White have both had solid years so far, and I don't think anyone in the North
can guard Desean. Also Andrew Holland is averaging 26 ppg in 5 games so far,
he will also be a candidate. Rob Sullivan is also in the running I
believe---anonymous
4) Who will win the battle of the little men in the South: Kashif
Payne (Carroll), Richard "Tabby" Cunningham(Neumann), or Chris Clark (Prep)?
Tabby 1 vote, Payne 5 votes "Cunningham wins MVP; Payne wins the real
title"--Sparky
5) What is the toughest gym to play in (not because of fans or opponents,
just the actual gym? "In the Pub Franklin, Dobbins Tech, Gratz, ect In the
CL Roman and Judge"---Amar
6) What team has the best/most loyal fans? "Best= Prep or Judge; Most
Loyal=KK these kids come to every game and cheer their butts off no matter
what their teams record is.
7) When will the Northern division win another championship? "2002-2003
Cardinal Dougherty"--anonymous, "This year or within the next two
years."--anonymous, "Better be this year.... otherwise never"--sparky (I
second sparky's answer)
8) Who is the best coach in the catholic league? Bill Fox 4 votes, Buddy
Gardler 1 vote, Dennis Seddon 1 vote, ? Heimerdinger 1 vote, "Speedy" Morris
2 votes "Bill Fox- He knows how to get wins"--anonymous
9) Who is the toughest, most hard nosed defender in the North/South? Mike
McDonald 1 vote, Issac Greer 1 vote, Shawn Bolling 1 vote; Craig Haywood 1
vote
(this was a tough question considering the lack of games thus far, but
dougherty must be ready for a good season if 3 men from their team were voted)
10) If the city championship was still around, who would win, Public or PCL?
"This year the catholic, most years pub"--anonymous, "Could go either
way"--Amar
11) Should/ Will they change the current playoff alignment? "I don't think
they should have changed it but they already have changed it for next
year."--anonymous (where did you get your info?)
12) Will Speedy be able to change the Prep into a championship caliber team
(If so, how long will it take)? "What's his salary cap number? Give him
three years."--sparky, "No, because it's harder to recruit kid's to the
prep because of money and academic issues"--anonymous
Yes 5 votes, No 1 vote
13) Who is the most hated team in the PCL? (Why?) "Judge - because there so
boring, and Roman cause they always win"--anonymous (I agree 100%, but I
think you can throw Carroll in there too, I mean who likes Carroll) Roman
4 votes, Judge 2 votes, Carroll 1 vote
14) Will GA lose to any local opponents this year? Can any local school
beat them? (After witnessing the Prep vs Ga game I am throwing this question
out, of course they will lose)
15) What is the greatest basketball movie ever? "That's easy... Hoosiers.
(That scene with Dennis Hopper calling the picket fence still has me
weep)."--sparky
Hoosiers 3 votes, He got Game 1 vote, Rebound "the Earl Manigualt story" 1
vote, Hoop Dreams 1 vote, The Fish that Saved Pittsburgh 1 vote
16) How many championships has Roman won over the years? "842....
Seriously, I think its 29."--sparky, "Too many"--anonymous
17) What's the best PCL rivalry? Roman vs West 1 vote, Judge vs CD 2
votes, Roman vs Neumann 2 votes (tough to say, there are so many great
rivalries)
18) Who is the best team to ever play in the PCL? Roman '91 2 votes,
Carroll '95 1 vote, Roman '95 1 vote (It's an extremely tough question,
especially for me because I never saw some of the older teams, but I must say
that the championship game between Carroll and Roman in '95 had to be one of
the best PCL games ever with two of the best teams ever)
19) What will be the best non-playoff PCL game to watch this year? (North
and
South) North: Dougherty vs wood 1 vote, Dougherty vs Judge 2 votes, Judge
vs Lasalle 1 vote South: Neumann vs Carroll 2 votes, Carroll @ Prep 1
vote, Roman vs Neumann 1 vote, Carroll vs Bonner 2 votes
20) What will be the biggest upset of the year? (playoff and non-playoff)
"Prep will get a victim in their gym".--Amar, "Playoffs- Bonner over
Carroll........Non playoffs- West over DOugherty w/o Shane clark"--anonymous
DEC. 11
NON-LEAGUE
Gtn. Academy 61, SJ Prep 56
What an exciting game. That all you can say about Prep's
close loss to
GA on Tues. I was very impressed with the Prep and I feel
that the younger
guys on the team have improved drastically. I was
particularly impressed
with the improvement of juniors Mark Zoller (center) and TJ
Valerio
(forward). They both played tough confident games along
with the rest of the
team. I would venture as far as to change my previous
predictions and say
that the Prep is a playoff team. Even though Zoller only
contributed 6
points, he had foul trouble and didn't play much of the second
half. He
didn't back down from the intimidating front court of GA.
He is a hard
worker with good hands. Valerio had a stellar shooting
day and he dropped
14. The backcourt of GA couldn't contain Chris Clark in
the second half as
he picked up 8 of his nine in the second. Jimmy Good also
played tough and
along with his team high 14 points he also grabbed several big
rebounds.
After a 16 point third quarter the prep took a 7 point lead
into the 4th. It
simply wasn't meant to be for Speedy's ball club. Matt
Walsh, who already
signed with Florida, had 21 out of 28 in the second half.
He matched the
Prep in scoring in the fourth quarter with 13. He drains
shots from all over
the court. He was effective in going baseline and
finishing, or making a
nice pass. Lee Melchionni, who will attend Duke next
year, also contributed
with 14. He has a pure stoke and with his high advantage
can pull up and
drain it in your face. Ted Skuchas only had nine points
but had several
blocks which kept the Hawks from driving to the basket.
Jeff Curtin, who was
harassed by the crowd early for an airball, proved to be clutch
from the line
in the fourth. He added five in the fourth. While
this GA team is clearly
extremely talented, I think that their lackluster effort will
give them some
trouble against the better teams. They came out slow, and
you could tell
that they knew they had to turn in up a notch in the fourth.
Aside from the
three stars they don't have much depth. The Prep runs a
nine man rotation
with Mike Haubrich, Ryan Lynch (who just got back from a hand
injury), Evan
Pierce, and Kyle Eisenmann aside from those I already
mentioned. Lynch, when
fully recovered, should provide another good scorer. The
Prep has the
ability to run subs in and out without losing productivity
which should prove
important in the South. I anticipate a good season at
17th and Girard led by
Coach Morris.
DEC. 7
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
I know it has been a while since my last update, and my sincere
apologies
go out to all you readers. I still have only recieved
about five responses
from my 20 questions (below). Thank you to those who did
send in your
answers. I have finals this week coming up, and after
that I will be free.
I might try to catch a game over the weekend.
This is a tricky subject, and one that at
schools with a good football
program must be brought up every year. We all know that
the football
playoffs are still going on when basketball season
starts. For a team whose
program is going to the championship game, the two-way players
may not return
until you have already played a game or two. So how many
spots should the
coach keep open for returning football players?
It is a very tight situation. On the
one hand there could be a surprise
talent on the football team that the coach doesn't want to give
up on. It is
clear that any football player has an obvious advantage of
strength. You may
want to keep extra uniforms available for these players, by
cutting someone
who was on the bubble.
At the same point how has this player proven
himself. He did not have to
try out, how does the coach know if he is not just a slacker or
a kid who
will talk back. Obviously the coach knows that some kids
on the football
team are talented enough to start, but it may not be uncommon
for that player
to dedicate all his offseason to lifting. If either of
these two things
happen your are either left with a player you don't want, or a
player you
don't have.
This position is even harder for a new
coach, who doesn't know any of the
kids on the football team. He has to base his desion on
the feedback from
his captains. But if the captain has a personal issue
with a football player
who should be on the team, then he might lie and say that the
kid isn't
talented.
I think that this can be the most damaging
on the JV squad. There is a
ton of potential in almost every kid who is good eough to make
a JV team.
This is the level where a player can grow, and begin his
journey to varsity.
It is nearly impossible to tell which kid is going to work more
and become
the better player. You don't want too many players on JV,
because you can't
get everyone significant minutes with 7 minute quarters.
You also don't want
to cut a future fanchise player based on the fact that there
are not enough
uniforms.
I wouldn't want to be in the shoes of the
coach come time to cut. You
could destroy a potential all catholic's hopes by keeping a
spot open for
returning football players. You could also turn away a
future captain by
saying that there aren't enough spots for the football
players.
I have personally seen mulitple football
players get cut who should have
made the team. I have also seen kids quit because there
were just too many
on the sidelines, and they weren't getting time.
It's a very tough decision, but I guess that
is what being a coach is all
about.
NOV. 14
MY 20 BASKETBALL QUESTIONS
Yes, I do realize that this is totally unoriginal, but I was
very
interested and intrigued by Kevin's 20 questions in his football corner, so I
have decided to steal it. I apologize to Kevin if he feels robbed, but
remember "impersonation is the highest form of flattery." So here it goes
Most of these questions have to deal with
the catholic league, but there
is a little something for everyone. Everyone is welcome
to send me your
answers, and if I like them enough I will post your answers along with your
name. I will post my answers to these questions later.
1) Who will win the PCL, the Public, and Inter-Ac championships?
2) Which players will be the Southern division MVP?
3) Is Spadafora a lock for the Northern Division MVP (assuming
he doesn't get
injured)?
4) Who will win the battle of the little men in the south:
Kashif
Payne(Carroll), Richard "Tabby" Cunningham(Neumann), or Chris Clark (Prep)?
5) What is the toughest gym to play in (not because of fans or
opponents,
just the actual gym)?
6) What team has the best/most loyal fans?
7) When will the Northern division win another championship?
8) Who is the best coach in the catholic league?
9) Who is the toughest, most hard nosed defender in the
North/South?
10) If the city championship was still around, who would win,
Public or PCL?
11) Should/ Will they change the current playoff alignment?
12) Will Speedy be able to change the Prep into a championship
caliber team
(If so, how long will it take)?
13) Who is the most hated team in the PCL? (Why?)
14) Will GA lose to any local opponents this year? Can
any local school
beat them?
15) What is the greatest basketball movie ever?
16) How many championships has Roman won over the years?
17) What's the best PCL rivalry?
18) Who is the best team to ever play in the PCL?
19) What will be the best non-playoff PCL game to watch this
year? (North and
South)
20) What will be the biggest upset of the year? (playoff and
non-playoff)
NOV. 6
FOOD FOR THOUGHT . . .
My playoff predictions are as follows.
North:
1st Cardinal Dougherty: I like there chances to go undefeated in the North
but I don't think it will happen, the competition is to harsh and most
northern division teams have too much heart to let them go undefeated. They
will definitely be a force to reckon with. They are deep and talented and I
would be surprised if they didn't win the North.
2nd LaSalle: Rob Sullivan will need to carry the team and I think with some
help he is capable of doing so.
3rd Judge: What would the North playoffs be without Judge passing it 30
times before each shot. Balanced scoring and of course three pointers will
carry them all year.
4th Wood: Spadafora ( northern MVP) will edge his team into the last playoff
spot.
South:
1st Carroll: Payne and Ingram are too much for any team to cover. I don't
think they will loose more than three games. Dougherty is a good perimeter
shooter and Meixsell is a tough kid who could replace Piotrowicz. Payne will
more than likely be MVP and Carroll should win the regular season.
2nd Bonner: Kearney, McCleary (if he is playing there), and Taraborrelli are
a
dangerous trio. If Taraborrelli can be a major force in the middle than Bonner
has a great chance of going the distance. I also think the play (mostly on
the defensive end) of Frank Nunan will help the Friars.
3rd Neumann: The pirates were hurt bad by the loss of Mike Haddix. Tabby
Cunningham showed as a freshman that he is ready to take over the catholic
league. I can't wait to see the match up of him and Payne. Lauer will
provide the rebounds and Del Broco can fire from the perimeter, But I feel
that they are missing a second big threat on offense.
4th O'Hara Possible the best backcourt in the South. All three players
(Dougherty, Grandieri, and Haywood) can score with relative ease. Teams will
have a tough time defending all three. But with the loss of Lomas and
Willard they don't have any size. They are a great threat to upset teams in
the playoffs.
Playoff games:
North:
Dougherty vs Wood: Dougherty easy
Judge vs LaSalle: this rivalry will be a great game as usual and Judge will
prevail.
South:
Carroll vs O'Hara It will be a much closer game than everyone expects but
Carroll will edge it out
Neumann vs Bonner Bonner will pull away but it will be a close game
Cross over:
Carroll vs Judge Judge will be outmatched but will stay close in the
first
half.
Bonner vs Dougherty it will be a great game with two very talented teams but
Bonner will win possibly in overtime.
Championship: Bonner will prevail in the third meeting between these two
teams. It will be a well fought game, and I think Kearney will be able to
carry his team to the end.
NOV. 1
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Re: The CL Realignment Thing . . .
DON'T DO IT.
I feel that it would be a huge mistake for several reasons.
Reason number 1: I'm big on tradition. I cried the day the playoffs
were moved
from the Palestra.
Reason number 2: why does a team that has little to no wins deserve to go to
the
playoffs? This same team is just going to get beat bad by
the best team
three times instead of just the regular-season two.
Reason 3: It would totally take away from the great regular season matchups.
I used to love playing Carroll, Bonner, O'Hara and West because those were
the games that
would decide who got the third and fourth playoff spot.
Those were the best
games, in front of packed crowds. They meant something to
everyone, not just
the teams in the game, but to the teams with evenly matched
records who were
watching the game. These games are basically playoff
games in themselves. I
remmeber my junior year carroll played O'Hara and if Carroll
won it would be a
three-way tie for fourth. That, although I didn't see it,
had to be
exhilirating.
I feel that if there were any changes this
should be it: six teams make it
to the playoffs from both divisions with the first two seeded
teams getting a
bye. Three would play six and four would play five like
in football. The winners of
those games would play at the first and second seeds' home
courts then the
crossover would be held at Temple. I think that would be
the best but like I
said above I think it should stay the same.
On a final note I would kind of like to see
the crossover happen
immediately to see how many Southern Division teams could beat
the Northern
Division teams. I think that if last year every team made
the playoffs and if
K-K (eighth in South) played Judge (first in North) and so on
that there would have
been at least six South teams in the second round. I don't want that to
happen but I think it would be interesting.
(I'm sure the Northern guys will be all over me for that last one. Meanwhile,
what
do people think about switching back to 1st round home court advantage? I like it.)