Boston Shootout - Results
Paul Barroqueiro
Friday, June 23
Game 1: Atlanta 100 New York 99
Game 2: California 116 Detroit 98
Game 3: New Orleans 107 Chicago 93
Game 4: Boston 101 New Jersey 86
Saturday, June 24
Game 5: Detroit 80 Chicago 78 (OT)
Game 6: New York 83 New Jersey 74
Game 7: Boston 118 Atlanta 94
Game 8: New Orleans 108 California 106
Sunday, June 25
5th Place Game: New York 73 Detroit 66
3rd Place Game: California 78 Atlanta 76
Championship Game: Boston 111 New Orleans 98
3 Point Champion: Jason Garcia - Chicago
Slam Dunk Champions:
6'4" and under: Cory Powell - New Orleans
6'5" and over: Lester Earl - New Orleans
All Tournament Team:
Juan Gaston - Atlanta
Stephon Marbury - New York
Charlton Clarke - New York
Paul Pierce - California
Jelani McCoy - California
Cory Powell - New Orleans
Lester Earl - New Orleans
Anthony Taylor - Boston
Wayne Turner - Boston
James "Scoonie" Penn - Boston (MVP)
My impressions of the Shootout:
(by team; next year's college in parenthesis)
ATLANTA - played well as a team. 6'6" Juan Gaston(Georgia Tech) was
strong and steady; should be a solid SF in college. 6'6" Antonio
Reynolds(URI) will be a nice A10 player - very athletic and a good scorer.
Raymond Harrison (Georgia) was OK, and look out for junior PG Shernard
Long.
BOSTON - was clearly the best "Team", and among the most talented. Wayne
Turner was robbed; he should have been MVP. He put on a dribbling
display in the championship game that would have made the Globetrotters
blush! Kentucky's got themselves a winner, although he's not a classic
point or a classic 3-Point bomber. Randell Jackson(FSU) is still
somewhat raw, but what a talent! Scoonie Penn (BC) did everything that
was asked; he's ultra-quick, has a good handle, can knock down the trey,
and looks to be a floor leader.
CALIFORNIA - a scary collection of talent, although not always put to
good use. Paul Pierce (Kansas) is clearly major league, although he
generally shot first and asked questions later. I've read that he's
pretty unselfish; not this weekend, he wasn't, although he admittedly did
knock down many of his shots. Jelani is the real McCoy in terms of
talent, probably the best pure talent at the tourney. He did disappear
at times, but could be awesome. He'll be at UCLA next year with fellow
teammates Brandon Lloyd and Tommy Prince, both of whom were solid in the
backcourt. I was disappointed in Kenyon Jones(Cal), with his talent he
should have had more of an impact. Ryan Bailey (prep school) could make
an impact somewhere.
CHICAGO - I was most impressed with Nick Irvin, a 6'1" sophomore point
guard who showed composure and a solid shot and handle. Junior forwards
Jamal Davis and Melvin Ely also seem to have a future. BC bound Nate Fox
can knock down the 3 and dribble and pass well. He's definitely an
outside player despite his 6'9" size.
DETROIT - guards Todd Beeter and Charlie Eibeler (both E. Michigan) were
the heart and soul of this team, which played tough despite being
generally overmatched. Junior forwards Mike Cappell and Walton Winfield
will be good ones. It's easy to see why Boeheim signed 6'6" LaSean
Howard; he's the prototypical Syracuse player. A ton of athletic ability,
but for every great play he made three fundamental or careless errors,
and did nothing in between. Wayne Johnson (Ball State) is a widebody
who'll be OK at his level. Brian Ponder (BC) did nothing.
NEW JERSEY - Brian Earl (Princeton) just blew me away. Pete Carill has
himself a player. Earl singlehandedly kept NJ in the game vs. eventual
champion Boston with his floor leadership and toughness. Look for
Princeton to return to the NCAAs in the future. Justin Bailey(Hartford)
has a nice shot and handle and will be a solid player. Geoff
Billet(Rutgers) played in only one game and was OK. Look out for
sophomore guard Anthony Perry; if he returns and the NJ team has T.
Thomas and S. Holloway(both not on the team this year) they could be the
team to beat next year.
NEW ORLEANS - Arguably the most talented team in the tourney, they always
put on a show during warmups with their thunderous, crowd-pleasing slams.
Lester Earl was a master showman and one hell of a player, I'm sure
he'll be one of the most sought after prospects of the class of '96.
UConn bound Sam Funchess was solid and showed flashes. 6'4" Maurice
Carter(LSU) looks to be a pretty good player.
NEW YORK - What can you say that hasn't already been said about Stephon
Marbury? Although he didn't have a great tournament, he made enough
phenomenal passes and incredible moves to show why he's so highly touted.
John Calipari and the UMass faithful will love Charlton Clarke; he's
strong, fundamentally sound, and a very good 3-point shooter. Todd Myles
(W. Virginia) was a little too "style over substance" for my taste, but
will be a fine Big East player. Jamel Watkins (Georgetown) blocked three
shots in the first five minutes of game 1 and then disappeared for the
rest of the tourney. He seemed to play hard only when he deemed it
convenient. John Thompson had better light a fire under his butt or else
he won't do much of anything. Levar Folk (BU) was decent.
Overall, the tournament was very enjoyable, although 20+ hours of
basketball will try the patience of even the most hardened hoops junkie.
It's not often that you can see tons of future high-level college and NBA
players perform for $6 a day, so I'd highly recommend that anyone in the
Boston area attend at least one Shootout day next year. The proceeds go
to a great cause (Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston - Roxbury Clubhouse), and
it sure beats paying $50 to see Dino Radja not play defense or Dominique
go 11 for 29 from the floor!
-Paul Barroqueiro (just a fan)