DEC. 29
ROXBOROUGH TOURNAMENT
Chestnut Hill 58, Haverford School 52
    No studs here, but all kinds of scrappiness. For my money, CH's John McArdle always does a spectacular job with one or two true players and hustlers that could have been dragged out of gym class. Yes, he's loud. Even abrasive. But his players respond because they know deep down that he loves them. This year's one player is jr. WG Nick Levine. He cannot be left open. He hit three threes. Soph WG Pat Whitworth will be a player. He shows the shooting touch of his brothers, CH all-timers Tom and Tim. 6-4 sr. F Erik White had 14 points and eight boards on desire alone. For HS, 6-2 jr. WG Cameron Youngblood had a decent game despite heavy defensive attention. He was getting the ball in uncomfortable spots, and defenders were immediately flying toward him. He still shot respectably (8-for-15) en route to 20 points. 6-3 sr. C Harold "Tug" Maude banged hard all game. So did 6-1 sr. G-F Pat Cannon, who has a shade more ability. With 0:28 showing and his team down by 10, coach Brian Shane tried desperately to get a tech. The refs wouldn't give him the satisfaction. I was sitting across the court. Shane yelled, "Put that in your column, Ted!" Hey, I've been promoted to columnist? I knew I'd get Bill Conlin's job eventually. When I'm King of the World, frustrated coaches who yell across the court at me for no good reason will be forced to take in Tom "Hockey Puck" McKenna as a boarder.

DEC. 29
OLNEY TOURNAMENT
Neumann 72, Strawberry Mansion 57
In a freezing gym, Neumann had an on-fire first quarter (27-10) and then mostly maintained from there. Sr. PG Cantrell "Man-Man" Fletcher (Siena) and 6-8 sr. C Brandon Brigman (South Florida) are already claimed, so recruiters are now focusing on 6-2 sr. CG Robert "Beattie" Taylor. For good reason. He shoots it, defends like crazy and can play the point, when necessary, with skill and sense. He recently became academically qualified and La Salle is trying to sign him before others become aware. Too late, probably. Taylor had high-quality performances in Neumann's Florida visit. "Lots of people are starting to love him," said Neumann coach Carl Arrigale. In this one, Taylor had 18 points (four treys) and three assists and he muffled Mansion supersoph Maureece Rice (5-for-17, 12 points). Brigman mostly stood tall, getting 18 points and 13 boards. Fletcher was his waterbug self with 13 points, six assists. 6-6 jr. Michael Haddix was workmanlike. He has a bad habit of taking bunny hops just before layups. He twice was called for walking. Catholic League refs will make that call like crazy, so he'd better find a way to rid himself of the habit. Jr. WG Chris Del Brocco came off the bench to shoot 4-for-6 on treys. Mansion has added some transfers: sr. PG Salahudin Muhammad from Wm. Penn, 6-5 junior PF-C Leon Fulton from Gratz and 6-5 freshman DeSean White from Neumann (though he was there for only a pit stop). Muhammad was solid. Fulton, who bears a strong physical resemblance to ex-Celtic Robert Parish, had a few good catch-and-shoots in the lane. He also showed quick ups on two blocked shots. White could be a stud down the line, if he works. Shortly after he entered the game, he took an entry pass and converted a jump hook. Wow!

DEC. 28
ARDMORE ROTARY TOURNAMENT
Bartram 62, Malvern 59
    Overall, Bartram did not deserve this win, but at least the Braves hustled like crazy in the last 3:08 to erase an eight-point deficit. This could stand up as the play of the season: With 28.5 seconds left, sr. CG Bobby Leach missed two free throws, then scrambled to the right corner for the rebound and promptly drained a trey. Out-STAND-ing! Sr. CG Shawn Roberts had 13 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists. Sr. F Anthony "Smoke" Boyer scored 11 of his 18 points in the first quarter. Bartram played very little interior defense as Malvern collected numerous easy baskets. This team has no one who wants to be (or can be) an inside force, at either end. Do little things, yes. Do authoritative things, no. That could be a killer in the Pub wars to come. 6-5 sr. F Dave Glaser was again impressive. I love his quirkiness. He doesn't appear to be fast or particularly skilled. But he fundamentals you to death and has a great knowledge of where he is on the floor and how, eventually, to embarrass you. The instant a defender relaxes, Dave does a hesitation move of some variety and, pfft, is at the glass for a layup. Sr. G Matt Gosselin showed quick hands and shooting ability. He went 3-for-5 on treys. Sr. F-C Brian Popper kept flashing to open spots and poppin' in short jumpers. I heard a good one on the radio en route to Lower Merion. A DJ was talking about how the forecast for snow was going to create the usual run at the supermarkets. "What do people always get?" he said. "Milk. Eggs. Bread. Here's what I want to know -- where's the French toast party?"          

DEC. 28
MASTBAUM TOURNAMENT
Mastbaum 62, Engineering and Science 48
    Very few fans were on hand, and only six of them, seemingly, felt like making any noise. Thus, they could have played this game in a church. After a lackluster first half, Mastbaum began playing with some energy and ultimately pulled away with the last 10 points of the game. 5-7 sr. G Michael Ezell showed quick moves and deep shooting ability, along with court sense. He's similar to Mastbaum grad Chaz Williamson, now starring at Widener. 6-7 sr. Robert Taylor, playing on a tender ankle, did inside dirty work and stepped out for some successful 12-to-15-foot jumpers. Sr. G James Avant is also very quick (and small). 6-2 Sr. F Dante Johnson had a fundamentally sound performance. He was successful at getting his mitts on entry passes and disrupting E&S' offense. He also kept finding open spaces and making easy layups on passes from Ezell and Avant. 6-2 jr. Keith Peel was a lesser light this time; at least he didn't hurt the cause. For E&S, 6-6 sr. G Hal "Bone" Housley is one of the league's most improved players. He was extremely timid last year. Not now. He must have worked VERY hard. He has a big first step and a decent shooting touch. Two juniors also had quality performances: 6-foot G Justin Scott was active and feisty; 6-5 F-C Matthew Jefferson displayed a good nose for the ball right around the hoop (but limited skills away from it). For now, he scores mostly on follows and in-tight feeds. He had 14 rebounds. 5-3 Fr. Mike Ganier received some playing time. He didn't look scared at all. He did have the face of a fourth-grader.  

DEC. 28
OLNEY TOURNAMENT
    Don't get me started . . . No heat in the gym. No games in the gym. No smiles in the gym. They promised to try it again Friday morning. Wear at least three layers. Bring a blanket. Bring attitude, too, in case the tournament is canceled. We'll curse out people together and chant in unison, "Only in The Pub! . . . Only in The Pub!"

DEC. 27
EASTON ROTARY TOURNAMENT
Roman 82, East Stroudsburg 30
    The less said about this one the better. Almost everybody for Roman played well. Almost nobody for ES did. Sidekick Tom "Hockey Puck" McKenna, on hand to keep stats and scout Roman for Carroll, at one point muttered, "I can't write down nothin' about this game. It don't mean nothin'." Amen. We'll do Roman reports as the season progresses.

DEC. 26
TRIANGLE CLUB TOURNEY (Norristown)
Kennedy-Kenrick 63, King 60 (OT)
    I wanted to get a somewhat early look at K-K's Ali "Badou" Gaye, a 6-7, 200-pound senior from Senegal, West Africa. He's old for a high school kid (turned 19 last September), but this is his first season of organized b-ball. There is much to like. Not LOVE. But like. He had 15 points, 13 rebounds, six blocks. His best skill was getting on the offensive glass. He also showed good timing on blocks and hit a 16-foot turnaround jumper. His native language is French. His English is pretty good. Coach Marc Turner said the school is investigating ways to help Gaye prepare for the SAT or ACT. He's built like a tall track athlete. I could picture some lower D-I schools taking a shot, especially since there appears to be such a large upside. The rest of the Wolverines are scrappers, though sr. F 6-4 Brad Kielinski twice uncorked dunks. Jr. Mike Rafferty is a skinned-knees PG. Sr. WG Dan Neeld has a scoring knack. Turner is still trying to gain control of his team. He's using eight men and substituting a lot and some guys are showing very long faces whenever they're removed. The situation will bear watching. King's leader was 6-2 jr. G Raheem Scott. The lefty was mostly on the wing, but he showed some headiness in minutes at the point. Scott is not especially fast, but he has an excellent feel on what's supposed to happen along with A-plus body control. He should use that control to get to the line a dozen times a game. Sr. G Kelvin Smith displayed very quick moves getting to the hole late in the game when King was desperate. 6-4 jr. F Darron Bradley displayed good jumping ability and strong hands while claiming nine rebounds. Twice, he went hard to the hole while covering close to 20 feet. 6-8 soph C Wayne Marshall was not aggressive and had some possible rebounds snatched out of his hands. Not much more to say about him, yet. His first cousin, soph PG Quincy Marshall, saw some late-game duty. Considering the situation he was thrown into, he didn't perform badly.         

DEC. 21
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Gratz 48, Franklin LC 36
    Oh, boy. Was this one ever frustrating. There were 39 personals and many more whistles for things as stupid as three lane violations on free throws. Let's go back and start over. With two different refs. At one point, FLC coach Cedric Powell yelled at ref James Smith, "We'll just go home and let you play!" Jr. 6-6 F Michael Blackshear got a chance to show his extended range on shooting and he grabbed some Big Boy rebounds. Sr. 6-4 Michael Cuffee was in too much foul trouble to thrive. Sr. 6-4 C Brandon Millwood caught a pass underneath and, like nothing, soared and wolfed down a dunk. Though sr. Gs Anthony Abrams and Messiah Reames played OK, I was surprised that they left their feet on almost every pass. Coach Bill Ellerbee will keep trying to break them of that habit. Jr. G Augie Woodlin did some sniping off the bench (10 points in limited action). FLC is very young. Only two seniors are on the roster. The leading scorer, jr. G John Owens, had a rough day. His knee was bothering him and he looked extremely uncomfortable at the point. He looked better later on the wing. His jump-shot delivery is woefully slow, though. He needs to speed things up badly. Jr. 6-5 F-C London Houston is very thin, but he showed some shot-blocking skills. The Bobcats fared best when brassy soph Michael Green played the point. He didn't hesitate to boss around his teammates. As always at FLC's home court, there was a Kid Delay. Say what? The Cunningham Community House has an after-school program for little kids. When they (about 20 of them) walk in the front door and head single-file towards the rear portion of the building, the game always momentarily halts. I like looking at their expressions. T.T. Stokes, a star last season for Gratz, kept the Bulldogs' scorebook. Every time Blackshear did something nice, Stokes noted, "Man, he's good. Best player in The Pub."

DEC. 19
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Bartram 86, Bok 54
    I wanted to see the Braves in part because they'd lost two recent close games to suburban teams (Penn Wood, Academy Park). My questions were: Is something wrong? Is there bad chemistry? Is somebody putting individual goals ahead of team goals and messing things up? No, no and no! These guys were totally unselfish. It was a beautiful sight to see. Sr. Gs Bobby Leach and Shawn Roberts kept passing and passing and making each other and their teammates look good. Both can play D-I somewhere. Roberts looked the slightest bit chunky, but was quick nevertheless. Leach had an excellent overall feel. The other veteran G, sr. Robert Bouknight, arrived late due to a class trip and never completely got into the flow. But he had one down-the-lane, big-step, get-to-the-rim drive that was highly impressive. The inside players -- srs. Anthony Boyer and Daniel Joyner; 6-3 jr. Richard Francis and 6-4 soph Khalil Abdus-Salaam -- were similar. Pretty good leapers, soft shooting touch (especially Francis), good awareness, etc. Bartram wound up rolling because it was sensational in transition. If this had been hockey, almost every score would have two assists. For Bok, two players had excellent games. Sr. PG Ed Brumskill is as brassy on a court as he was on a FB field. More than once, he challenged Bartram's defense and got to the basket for layups. Sr. WG James Frager, a lefty, showed an excellent mix of jumpers and drives. This kid has very quick hands, which he uses to free himself. He has nice shooting form, but had a strange run of in-and-outs on his jumpers. He'd be even more effective on a big floor. I can imagine he'd be nearly impossible to cover one-on-one. I arrived at maybe 2:15 for the 3 p.m. game. A gym class was going on, so I stood off to the side and watched. When the bell rang, the gym started to empty. I saw a chair and asked John Sink, Bok's AD, if I could use it for the game. No problem. I set up shop near the scorers' table. Bok's players came into the gym and went right out the side door. I figured they were going to a nearby classroom for last-minute instruction. Then Bartram's players came upstairs from the locker room. They, too, walked out the side door. What the hell's going on? I walked over. Sink said the game would be in the girls' gym because the lights were messed up in the boys' gym. What did he think, that I was going to sit in an empty gym for 90 minutes while the game was going on somewhere else? The Pub. Gotta love it.       

DEC. 17
NON-LEAGUE
O'Hara 79, Dougherty 64
    Call off the Gene Willard pursuit. The 6-5 sr. is already bound for University of the Sciences (nee Pharmacy). As one of the few talented, halfway-tall guys in the Catholic League, he would have been swamped with D-III offers, and probably some D-II nibbles. But he's committed and the school is great, so let's all be thrilled for him. Willard, a true worker with strong fundamentals, had his down-low way in this one, collecting 31 points. Jr. WG Chris Grandieri had numerous open looks, sometimes because he was fed nice passes and other times because he used a quick, short move to free himself. He finished 9-for-21 (four treys) for 22 points. Soph. CG Craig Haywood still shows flashes, but is guilty of far too many sloppy turnovers. The first half ended 35-35, then O'Hara ran off the first 10 points of the third quarter. During this span, 6-7 sr. G-F Bryan Green incurred his third and fourth personals and briefly sat down. When Dougherty coach Mark Heimerdinger saw that his team was fading fast, he re-inserted Green and decided to take his chances. Green never did foul out, but he was understandably tentative, at times, and Willard took advantage. Green is incredibly thin, but he leaps and has enough of a shooting touch that he hesitates not at all to launch treys. Jr. WG Tim Smink (23 points, three treys) has worked hard on improving his ball skills. He caused enough problems that O'Hara coach Bud Gardler had to dust off some junk defenses. I liked 5-11 soph WG Isaac Greer. He went to the hole impressively at least three times. His body has some definition, too. In the fourth quarter, Willard and teammate sr. F Mike Lomas smacked into each other very hard while pursuing a rebound. With both on the floor, dazed, Heimerdinger yelled, "They're killing each other for the ball! While we watch!" One of the refs was Dougherty grad Mike Neher. When Neher was playing, WIP funnyman Joe Conklin was Dougherty's PA announcer. When Neher (rhymes with pair) would score, Conklin, in his Dave Zinkoff voice, would blurt out, "Neher! .... In your hair!"

DEC. 15
NORTH CATHOLIC MIXER
West Catholic 47, North Catholic 37
   Coach Bill Ludlow muttered afterward, "We set the game back 10 years." And his team WON. There were 47 people in the stands when the game started. Among them were three members of your beloved tedsilary.com team -- Huck, Puck and Outta Luck (me). I picked this game, in part, because I expected a shootout between West's Nate Lewis, a sr. WG prospect, and North counterpart Mike Cram. Were these guys wearing blindfolds? Nate went 3-for-19 total and 0-for-7 on threes. Mike went 2-for-17 total and 1-for-8 on threes. Oh, brother! Huck told me Lewis scraped the ceiling with a shot Thursday night and must have had that in his mind. He hit the ceiling in this one, too. To his credit, he hustled all night (16 rebounds; they were sorely needed with Michael Bazemore on a FB visit to Purdue) and had four assists, including a great feed on a fastbreak. Sr. WG Mike D'Elia, just coming back, had nine first-half points, but then had to ice his shoulder. Quick question: Are sr. Gs Amos Joway, Shawn Butler and Terrell Jackson triplets? They're roughly the same height and they do the same thing: waterbug all over the court. West did a nice job of spreading the floor and milking its lead down the stretch. For North, sr. WG Rob Rossiter went 3-for-9 on threes. Puck was scouting for Carroll. At halftime, I was speaking with Larry Conti, who recently left his coaching post at Philadelphia Community and is about to be inducted into the local small college hall of fame. Puck walked over and kept interrupting. I kept saying to him, "Excuse you." He kept blabbing. Larry was crackin' up.

DEC. 15
NON-LEAGUE
Neumann 69, Penn Charter 38
    Neumann is one of the best teams in the area. PC is young, small and inexperienced. Not a recipe for a great game. Neumann coach Carl Arrigale is a PC grad, so the game was important to him. Gametime wound up being 3:45. I got there at 2:30. No one was in the gym. Literally. At maybe 2:35, someone else walked in. It was sidekick Huck Palmer. If something legendary had happened in that gym more than an hour before tipoff, we would have had it double-covered. We'll do more reports on Neumann as the season progresses, of course. Truthfully, anything said about this one would be almost meaningless seeing as how PC, though extra spunky, was unable to offer much competition. But I will say this: I like 6-6 jr. F Michael Haddix, the son of the ex-Eagle. The lefty has a good feel and could form a very nice high-low combination as time goes on with 6-8 sr. C Brandon Brigman (South Florida signee). Haddix reminds me of John Rankin, another lefty F who starred at West Catholic (class of 1985) and Drexel. La Salle assistant John Gallagher was in attendance, looking at sr. CG Robert "Beattie" Taylor. Taylor has a lot to offer. He plays very hard, yet with a certain fluidity. For PC, jr. WG Mike McGarvey went 2-for-12 on threes and 2-for-14 total. He's a good shooter. Just not today. Sr. F Billy McKinney made some feathery jump shots along the baseline. He also hit two treys.

DEC. 10
NON-LEAGUE
O'Hara 55, Judge 44
    The Lions, in time, won rather easily while missing just 10 shots from the floor. 6-4 sr. F-C Gene Willard was in control throughout. He showed perfect form on medium-range jumpers and was able to jump over any and all defenders; it'll be interesting to see how he fares against taller/quicker foes. Somehow I think he'll still be decent. Because there are so few frontcourt seniors with ability in the Catholic League this year, Willard will generate heavy D-III and even D-II recruiting attention. Jr. Harry Dougherty and soph Craig Haywood shared PG duties. Haywood committed some silly turnovers that had coach Bud Gardler making great faces. Dougherty was more comfortable and was a force on defense with chest-to-chest stickiness. Jr. WG Chris Grandieri was hampered by foul trouble. Sr. F-C Mike Lomas, the star QB, lined up in the high post early, but was nailing a right-corner three within minutes. Judge had trouble getting open looks because of O'Hara's quickness. Sr. WG Brian Mooney is one of the city's top snipers; he went 3-for-7 on treys. Sr. PF-C Rich Schmidt doesn't have the look of someone who's even remotely mobile, but, hey, he is! At least to some degree. Sr. PF-C Mark Dickson lent a certain ruggedness and his brother yelled out some vintage abuse to the refs. The backup PG was soph Bill Geiger. He caused some oohs and aahs with a nifty move. He must be good because coach Bill Fox is always very partial to seniors and juniors.

DEC. 8
CARROLL CLASSIC SEMIFINAL
Malvern 60, Overbrook 45
    I'd been told about Brian Grandieri last year and I'm glad I've gotten to see him early in his high school career. The 6-1 Grandieri, a freshman, is already a heady PG with that rare ability to somehow play hard, yet remain under control. The lefty kept making good decisions, kept getting into the lane, and even showed a good touch on medium-range jumpers en route to 20 points. (He's the brother of O'Hara junior Chris and '00 O'Hara star Fran, now at Widener). The other star was 6-5 sr. Dave Glaser. He also played under control, using short, calculated dribble drives to free himself or draw fouls. He shot 9-for-15 and 11-for-11 for 29 points. Jr. WG Chris Blatt got some open looks, but went 0-for-5 on treys; he had way too much rotation on his shot. Jr. F Kevin Barr, a star receiver, added hustle off the bench. Overbrook, which trailed after three, 43-24, played helter-skelter ball throughout. The Panthers rarely took an under-control shot and must have launched 10 airballs. One player went 0-for-10 before finally connecting. Sr. WG Sean King showed quickness and athleticism on drives and sub sr. combo G Bernard Tyler was very energetic. I mean, VERY. 'Brook had no inside presence.

DEC. 8
CARROLL CLASSIC SEMIFINAL
Carroll 52, La Salle 24
    What every coach wants to see from one year to the next is improvement in his stars. John "J.R." Roe is getting it. 6-6 soph C Jordan Ingram is now much more authoritative around the basket, he has much better timing on block and he is getting the ball slapped out of his hands much less often. He had 18 points, 14 rebounds, 8 blocks. One caution: La Salle had nothing close to an inside presence, so Ingram had a too-easy time of it. 5-8 soph PG Kashif Payne made some spectacular passes and looked for his own shot in sensible fashion, even though he didn't hit many (3-for-12). Wing sniper Dave Hoopes, a 6-2 sr., is definitely quicker. 5-10 sr. Ted Piotrowicz hustles as much as ever. Assistant Tom "Hockey Puck" McKenna kept stats on a piece of plywood, balanced on his right leg, that was as big as a kitchen table. When the Patriots were on defense, he also yelled incessantly, "Keep talking! Keep talking!" I sat right behind Puck and felt good for him. He really enjoys what he's doing and it gives him an improved sense of self-worth. He's the best! La Salle is a little scrambled right now due to injuries, etc. Jr. Rob Sullivan mostly played the point. Sr. Gabe Marabella, a star QB, mostly played on the wing. They had a few good moments. Emphasis on FEW. Overall, the Explorers struggled mightily, but I'm sure the Explorers will do just fine in Catholic North play. One of Puck's all-time favorites, ex-La Salle and Drexel star Chris O'Brien, was in attendance. Another legendary PG, Joe Rogers (Carroll, Villanova), told me that O'Brien told him, "Thanks to Tommy, I was the assist leader in leagues I didn't even play in."

DEC. 8
NON-LEAGUE
Frankford 69, North Catholic 47
    This was my second look at the Pioneers. I like 'em. These guys play hard and together and now that sr. PG Kevin Green, a very quick and aggressive lefty, is finished with football (d-back), the chemistry should get even better. The top player, sr. WG-SF Nicholas King, went 3-for-6 on threes en route to 16 points. If this kid were selfish, he could likely average 30. North is undermanned due to sickness and injuries. Sr. WG Mike Cram, who showed a quick release on way-out jumpers even last year, has gotten stronger. He hit four treys in the first half, but was limited to 0-for-2 by King in the third quarter before sitting down for the duration. (His availability had been questionable beforehand). Jr. PG Don Welte was mildly successful, but like the rest of the Falcons, he was bitten hard by the turnover bug. Late, I liked what I saw of soph G Dean Niedosik, a lefty. He hit two shots and stripped Kevin Green in the open court. Brother Jim Williams, North's coach, had sent me an e-mail to let me know that the game had been switched from 7 p.m. to 3 p.m. Afterward, he muttered with a smile, "I shouldn't have told you. Or you should've stayed home." Home? What's that? I'll find out again come springtime.