Dapper Dan Roundball Classic
Barton Lipman
Well, this year's Dapper Dan Roundball Classic (high school all star
game) was a much more exciting game than last year -- perhaps because
I had better seats! First, a little info on the game itself. The
final score was West 104, East 103. The West led the entire game,
building up the lead to 18 or so in the third quarter. Then the East
made a big run, scoring 14 straight, including 8 straight by Chris
Webber (more below on him). The East had a chance to tie when they
were down 2 with 8 seconds to go and got the ball. Burroughs was
fouled and missed the front-end of the one-and-one. Webber got the
rebound and missed a jumper from the corner. The West came up with
the rebound. A quick foul led to Robinson (I believe) hitting two
free throws to make the lead 4. Then Burroughs was fouled as he shot
a three-pointer. He missed the three and all 3 free throws. Webber
pulled down the rebound and kicked it out to Corey Alexander, who
drilled a three on the buzzer for the final margin.
I figure what people would most like to know is who looked good and
who didn't. The players I'll focus on are:
Danny Hurley (Seton Hall)
Cory Alexander (undecided)
Yuri Barnes (Virginia)
Orlando Antigua (Pitt)
Thomas Burrough (Virginia)
Ben Davis (Kansas)
Will Macon (DePaul)
Chris Webber (Michigan)
Calvin Rayford (Kansas)
Voshon Lenard (Minnesota)
Jimmy King (Michigan)
Tom Kleinschmidt (DePaul)
James Forrest (Georgia Tech)
Jalen Rose (Michigan)
Juwan Howard (Michigan)
Glenn Robinson (Purdue)
Sharone Wright (Clemson)
First, a few quick comments on the guys not on this list. Kareem
Townes (undecided) had an appalling game. The first guy to average
more than 40 points in a season in Philadelphia since Wilt
Chamberlain and he couldn't buy a basket. Rose must have blocked
three of his shots. Sad to see. Malik Hightower (undecided) won the
dunk contest and looked pretty decent. Bernard Jones (St. Joseph's)
had a few nice plays and scored 11 points, but I don't remember much
about him. Ray Owes (Arizona) had 7 rebounds but only one basket and
didn't seem to do much -- sorry, GaRy. Owes also had five fouls.
Clarence Ceasar (LSU) looked terrific dunking the ball in warmups,
but didn't do much in the game, hitting 1 of 4 from the field and
pulling down 3 rebounds.
Danny Hurley: I'm pleased to say that he doesn't have that whiny
expression brother Bobby always wears. On the other hand, he isn't
as good as his brother. He was only 1 of 4 from the field (1 of 3
from 3-point range) and 5 of 6 from the free throw line for 8 points.
He played surprisingly good defense on people who looked a lot
quicker than him, but not good enough.
Cory Alexander: Terrific player. He shot 7 of 10 from the field,
including 3 of 4 from 3-point range. He also had 7 assists and
played terrific defense. He and Webber were the keys in that 14
point run the East made late in the game. Webber was the MVP for the
East but, as he himself pointed out, Alexander would have been an
equally good choice. He told reporters that he has narrowed his
choices to Virginia, Michigan, and Arizona. I'm hoping he had enough
fun playing with Chris Webber to decide in favor of Michigan.
Webber's eight straight points were all on terrific passes inside by
Alexander.
Yuri Barnes: Only four rebounds and 3 points, but looked impressive
inside. The paper didn't report blocked shots, but I'm sure he had a
few. He probably won't be up for starting right away, but looked
like someone who will provide good minutes as a freshman.
Orlando Antigua: Had some terrific stretches. Had six points and
six rebounds, but also made some nice defensive plays. I think he'll
do well at Pitt.
Thomas Burrough: Needs to learn to shoot free throws. His four
straight misses in the last few seconds cost the game for the East.
Ironically, he hit 3 of his first 4 free throws. He had 9 points and
was the game's leading rebounder with 8. He should do well in
college.
Ben Davis: Eight points, 7 rebounds. He, Barnes, and Burroughs sort
of run together in my mind -- all were strong inside players who
pulled down a lot of rebounds and played some good D.
Will Macon: 11 points, 4 rebounds. A local player, so the crowd
wanted to see him perform. He didn't look as good as some guys who
had fewer points, but was steady.
Chris Webber: Incredible. MVP for the East, he led all scorers with
22 points, shooting 8 of 11 from the field and 6 of 11 from the free
throw line. He only had 4 rebounds, but all were at crucial times.
He must have also had 3 blocks. I would swear that all 8 of the
shots he made were dunks or layups -- including 3
behind-the-back-of-the-head dunks. If he got the ball inside, he was
either going to the free throw line or was going to dunk it -- and
often did both. He didn't have a great first half, scoring only six
points. But the second half was terrific. He was a little lazy on
defense some of the time and his free throw shooting form was
atrocious. He will be a superstar though.
Calvin Rayford: A crowd favorite, partly because he is only 5'7".
As you might expect, he was incredibly fast and must have had six
steals. At one point, he stole the ball on three successive plays.
(He got called for a foul on the third, though.) He only scored six
points, but played very well. He did have perhaps the most
boneheaded play of the game. With 10 seconds left and the West up
four points, the East was doing an excellent job of running out the
clock. The West still had to commit two more fouls before the East
would be shooting 1-and-1, so they were having a hard time stopping
the clock. Then Rayford suddenly drives in for a layup and gets it
blocked. The West got the rebound, setting up the final seconds I
described above. Danny Hurley went over and tried to cheer Rayford
up after this -- he knew he'd blown it.
Voshon Lenard: Only 8 points and 4 rebounds, but he looked good.
Very smooth player, nice offensive moves, good shooter. He didn't
get as many minutes as some of the other guys, but played well.
Jimmy King: Wow. As with Cory Alexander for the East, he wasn't MVP
for his team, but a case could easily have been made for him. He
played terrific defense, ran the offense well, shot well. He scored
12 points, shooting 6 of 10 from the field, and had 5 assists and 4
rebounds. He is a terrific jumper, with some tremendous dunks in
warmups.
Tom Kleinschmidt: Overrated. He was one of six from the field, with
two rebounds, and always looked out of sync. At the end of the first
half (I believe), he had a man under the basket with 2 seconds to go.
Instead of making the quick pass, he threw up a shot from 30 feet out
which almost destroyed the 45 second clock. Brick city.
James Forrest: Very impressive. He had 17 points, shooting 6 of 14
from the field, and had four rebounds. In short stretches, he
dominated the game. Smooth and powerful.
Jalen Rose: Had a shaky first half, but calmed down and was terrific
in the second half. Defensively, he gave the East guards a very hard
time. On offensive, he led the West with 20, shooting 8 of 14 from
the field and 4 of 4 from the free throw line. He also had four
rebounds. He had several incredible drives down the lane for dunks.
Juwan Howard: The least effective of the four Michigan players in
the game. His moves looked great, but he just couldn't seem to hit
the shots. He ended up shooting 3 of 10 from the field and 0 of 2
from the free throw line. However, he had six rebounds and played
some good D.
Glenn Robinson: The MVP for the West. He was awesome in the first
half, but less effective in the second. He hit well from the outside
and had a couple of incredible dunks. He also shot well from the
free throw line (5 of 7 with nice form), not common in these games.
Overall, he was 7 of 12 from the field with 19 points. Also had 5
rebounds. A fine player -- also a superstar in the making.
Sharone Wright: Very smooth on offense. Shot 5 of 10 from the field
for 10 points. Also had 4 rebounds. They were shuffling him in and
out of the game a bit more than some of the other guys, making me
wonder if he was getting winded. He also played poor defense,
picking up a lot of dumb fouls. If he can learn to play D, he'll be
a terrific player.
The game will be broadcast on ESPN on April 27 and again on April 28.
Watch for Dick Vitale showing off his basketball skills playing
against a kid of about nine.
Bart