Reebok Holiday Prep Classic (Las Vegas)
Greg R Perry
The big day is here!! The 20th annual Las Vegas Holiday Prep
Classic tips off at 2:00 PM today. Being lauded as perhaps the best
field ever for this tournament and maybe the best ever for a high
school Christmas tournament, it will be a pleasure to watch and review
here for the next several days.
Teams/Players of Interest:
(Rank given is from USA Today, 12-17-96)
National #1/West Region #1:Compton Dominguez:
Tournament favorite. Kenny Brunner is the ringleader.
Three outstanding juniors lend a hand:Tayshaun Prince, Jason Thomas,
and Michael Carson.
Natonal #3/South Region #1:Durham,NC,Mt. Zion:
Co-favorite with Dominguez. Talent on the roster is
frightening. Tracy McGrady may the be the nations' best. Max Owens,
George Mazyck, Brian Williams, Travis Robinson,Gerald Raymond, Donald
Little, Travis Spivey all mid to high division 1 recruits. At least 5
players 6-7 or bigger.
National #5/West Region #2:Mater Dei:
Defending tournament champion, have reached the
championship game two years in a row. Kevin Augustine (Tournament MVP
last year) leads the way. Whole is better than the sum of its' parts,
thanks to brilliant coaching.
National #15/South Region #3:Birmingham West End:
Off to a nice start to their season. Have won 34 in a row.
LeAndrew Bass and Myron Ransom lead the way for Alabama's best.
National #17/East Region #6:Baltimore St. Frances:
Possible McDonald's All-American Mark Karcher leads the
way. Experienced backline and talented young big men could mean
success here. Karcher can carry the team against top comp.
National #18/South Region #5:Memphis East:
Tony Harris will attempt to stake his claim as America's
best lead guard in a field that includes many top-notch points. 6-9 JR
Terry Rogers will have to come up big.
West Region #4:Los Angeles Crenshaw:
California's third-best squad. Kevin Bradley and Alastair
Faux lead the guards, Marvale Washington gets it done inside.
West Region #5:North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake:
Best inside combination in the field. Giant twins Jason
and Jarron Collins . Is the guard play strong enough to last very long
against this kind of competition?
West Region #7:Denver East:
Colorado's best, led by the inside-outside duo of 6-2 C.J.
Chapman and 6-10 Ferron Morgan.
West Region #9:Las Vegas Durango:
Nevada weighs in with the host school, that just happens
to be the state's top-ranked team. Thomas McTyer has quarterbacked the
Trailblazers to consecutive state titles. Tyler Kidd and Deldre Carr
must come up big inside.
West Region #10:San Diego University:
Early favorite to win it next year if they come back.
Four juniors pave the way. David Abramowitz, Blake Jenson, Ronnie
McMillan, and Luke Walton are the precocious quartet.
Other teams of note:
Las Vegas Bishop Gorman:3 starters back from state runner-up.
Nevada's second ranked team.
Santa Monica Crossroads:All-American pointman Baron Davis runs the
show for the Roadrunners.
Washington D.C. Dunbar:Crimson Tide are always tough. 6-8 Ousseynou
Kane is a banger inside.
Anchorage East:Alaska's best...could do well in any of the lower 48 as
well. Darkhorse has a tough opening round game against
Memphis East.
Rayne, LA:Best of the unranked teams, and a sleeper to go deep into the
tournament. Blaine Harmon, Byron Mouton, Josh Augus,
and David Freeman are keys for a small, but talented
squad.
Troy,NY, Redemption:Home of Lamar Odom. Need I say more? Possible
Saturday meeting between Mt. Zion and Redemption offers
an intriguing Odom/McGrady matchup.
The rest of the field includes Las Vegas' best and California's top
teams. Four days of non-stop hops should shake up the USA Today
rankings quite nicely. Tournament updates shall be posted nightly.
Scott Gallimore
Greg R Perry wrote:
>
> <tournamentteams' setup deleted>
>
> The rest of the field includes Las Vegas' best and California's top
> teams. Four days of non-stop hops should shake up the USA Today
> rankings quite nicely. Tournament updates shall be posted nightly.
Greg,
Thanks for the preview. I'm looking forward to the tournament
updates.
Scott
NCSU-91
Go Pack!
David Robinson
Greg, thanks for the great preview. Let's hope the on-line Las Vegas Sun
does a great job with coverage.
Jeffrey Weier
In article <32B9B1...@ix.netcom.com>,
Scott Gallimore <swg...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
>Greg R Perry wrote:
>>
>> <tournamentteams' setup deleted>
>>
>> The rest of the field includes Las Vegas' best and California's top
>> teams. Four days of non-stop hops should shake up the USA Today
>> rankings quite nicely. Tournament updates shall be posted nightly.
>
Can anyone tell me what day of the week USA Today prints the rankings
of high school basketball teams? Does anyone know what Minneapolis
North is ranked after their win over Oak Hill? I saw the game and was
very impressed with the Polars. I'm praying the Gophers end up getting
El Amin. I wasn't that impressed with him the other times I've seen him,
but after seeing him have his way with Avery and Medley, I'm convinced
he's for real.
Thanks,
Jeff
--
jwe...@msn.fullfeed.com
Greg R Perry
In <59ujr2$d...@tricia.msn.fullfeed.com> jwe...@shell1.msn.fullfeed.com
The rankings come out wekly in Tuesday's paper. North is
somewhere between 10 and 15 if memory serves. I haven't got the papaer
in front of me. I was very surprised at the ease with which North
dispatched Oak Hill. I am not a big Avery fan, but I have been
impressed with Medley and thought he could slow down El-Amin. How did
North counteract the inside game of Oak Hill?
David Palmer
g...@ix.netcom.com(Greg R Perry) wrote:
> I was very surprised at the ease with which North
>dispatched Oak Hill. I am not a big Avery fan, but I have been
>impressed with Medley and thought he could slow down El-Amin.
I just watched Oak Hill play Terrance Morris's team from Frederick,
Maryland (Johnson). Johnson's late comeback stalled at the end.
Tonight, I thought Avery was a good deal better than Medley. Medley
was more turnover-prone, and wasn't nearly as good a passer.
Morris was very impressive. He shot the 3 very well, and got the best
of Cosby and the other Oak Hill big guys. He's a good shot-blocker
and rebounder. I think he'll help the Terps a lot as a freshman.
--Dave Palmer
Jeffrey Weier
In article <59vf8p$k...@dfw-ixnews7.ix.netcom.com>,
Greg R Perry <g...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
>In <59ujr2$d...@tricia.msn.fullfeed.com> jwe...@shell1.msn.fullfeed.com
>(Jeffrey Weier) writes:
>>
>>
>>Can anyone tell me what day of the week USA Today prints the rankings
>>of high school basketball teams? Does anyone know what Minneapolis
>>North is ranked after their win over Oak Hill? I saw the game and was
>>very impressed with the Polars. I'm praying the Gophers end up
>getting
>>El Amin. I wasn't that impressed with him the other times I've seen
>him,
>>but after seeing him have his way with Avery and Medley, I'm convinced
>>he's for real.
>>
>>Thanks,
>>Jeff
>>--
>>jwe...@msn.fullfeed.com
>
> The rankings come out wekly in Tuesday's paper. North is
>somewhere between 10 and 15 if memory serves. I haven't got the papaer
>dispatched Oak Hill. I am not a big Avery fan, but I have been
>North counteract the inside game of Oak Hill?
It wasn't so much what North did, but rather what Oak Hill didn't do.
Despite their huge height advantage, Oak Hill didn't try to get the
ball inside that often. When they did get it down low, the big men
(Cosby and Camera) usually travelled or threw up poor shots. Niether
of them seemed to really have any post moves. North did an excellent
job of rebounding (especially at the defensive end).
As I stated earlier, I was very impressed with El Amin. I think one of
the reasons I had doubts about him before is his physical build. He's
listed at 5-11, but looks to be closer to 5-8. He must weigh close
to 200 pounds. Looks much more like a running back than a point guard.
However, he was easily the quickest player on the court that day. He also
is an excellent ball handler and has a very soft touch. He's basically
everything you'd want in a college point guard.
Jeff