Kenner League July 7 2012 RECAP

The Fixx: Red Skies


DCX 73 A.Wash Madness 72

I had two D'OH! moments on my Twitter account this afternoon. The first was while DCX led A.Wash by 20+ points in the 2nd half of their game. I tweeted that to this point, the crowd at McDonough had been mostly dead, and the games hardly exciting. Sure enough, the game in short order became the most dramatic of the first weekend. As it was unfolding, a friend confided that this wasn't the kind of game you'd remember, or even have much reason to watch, except that one team was about to come back from a 20 point deficit in less than a half.

In addition to Jabril Trawick and Greg Whittington, DCX featured among others AU's Tony Wroblicky, UCF's Tristan Spurlock and Virginia Union's Damion Harris (speaking of VUU: www.vuusports.com/news/2012/3/26/FB_0326123624.aspx )

I wish I could tell you much about this near-amazing comeback...but it just kind of...happened.

A.Wash looked completely outclassed in the first half--halfway through, DCX was already up 22-6. Even the introduction of Chris Wright into the A.Wash lineup did little to turn the tide, and DCX led comfortably 43-22 at the break.

There wasn't a significant scoring run to speak of: in fact, A.Wash only cut the deficit to single digits for the first time somewhere around 10 minutes to go in the game. Some early recaps claimed that DCX lost their lead mostly with Jabril and Greg on the bench, and that's true of the spurt that cut the lead from 9 to a single possession, but the move from 21 to 9 up happened with both on the court for the most part.

And indeed, the DCX lead was down to 69-66 with 2:14 remaining. The teams traded baskets and it was 71-69 with 1:47 to go. After Jabril Trawick missed inside, A.Wash took their first lead with a deep three in transition, 72-71. DCX couldn't respond, but A.Wash missed a chance to extend their lead. Finally, DCX converted in the lane to reclaim a 73-72 advantage with 28.4 seconds left.

There was little doubt Chris Wright would handle the ball on A.Wash's final possession, though it was never a guarantee
they'd choose the strategy they did: holding for the final shot. Chris Wright's initial foray into the paint was rebuffed by good help defense, and he ran into a wall and had to give up the ball. Two rapid passes later, the ball found its way back to Wright, who fumbled it away as he tried to force a shot at the buzzer, thereby preserving a surprisingly hard-fought win for DCX.


Jabril Trawick: 7 points, 3-13 2FG, 0-2 3FG, 1-2 FT, 4RBs, 1A, 3TO, 1STL, 1F

Jabril called his game "nasty" and admittedly the stat line isn't pretty. He struggle with his finishing today--by my count, the vast majority of his 2FG misses were hard, contested shots in traffic in the paint, including a run of 3-4misses on offensive putbacks in a short span of the second half. Jabril's jump shooting was off as well today. None of this is necessarily out of character: he had a few games like this last summer.

What is always consistent is Jabril's level of effort. He plays with a focused intensity bordering on ferocity, and even when shots aren't falling, on assertiveness alone he's creating shots and opportunities that otherwise wouldn't be there in the first place. Even if you're having an off day, you can always contribute in other ways, and Jabril's effort is always a net plus for his teammates.

And here's where I can't entirely write off this game as a negative, though it was "nasty" on paper. What I think many fans are looking for from Jabril this year is whether he steps into a leadership role on the team. More specifically, we want to see if Jabril can grow into a legitimate point guard option. On this front, I think there are positive signs from his first summer game.

DCX is a good situation from Jabril because the team has a balanced, fairly deep roster that, unlike most Kenner rosters, is probably more flush with frontcourt players than guards. This allows Jabril to play point guard basically every minute on the floor. What I saw today was a player embracing the idea of being a leader on the court and accepting the responsibility of setting an offense and controlling tempo. Did it always work? Not really--never does in Kenner.

What you'd see though, is Jabril constantly a presence in the backcourt bringing the ball up or offering an outlet, and making himself available on the perimeter in halfcourt sets to slow down the offense and orchestrate traffic. Where last summer he frequently migrated to the post to take advantage of smaller guards, Jabril took more of a traditional facilitator role today. Again, not perfect: he only had one assist. But an interesting role for him to play.

His aggressiveness adapts to the point guard position. He's assertive with teammates and willing to direct plays, call for screens, etc. He CAN attack the rim--less quick than unholy aggressive--but just needs to finish more.

Interesting setup for him, and a good thing that two summers now he's been placed in a PG-first role.

Greg Whittington: 15 points, 6-6 2FG, 0-3 3FG, 3-4 FT, 6RB, 1A, 1STL, 1TO, 1BLK

Greg scored the opening basket of each half: in the first on a silky drive from the perimeter and in the second on a hook shot from the baseline post. What makes him such an intriguing talent is that you could imagine him taking over a game by doing either, depending on the mismatch--and he's a potential nightmare mismatch if used properly. His length is complemented by a burst of speed that impressed and, I must say, surprised me. He's just a heck of a lot faster off the dribble, in the open court, recovering on D, that I remember even having watched him evolve into a tremendous freshman player last year.

At his best, he's active and an annoying pest on defense, and a nightmare matchup on offense when he can go inside or outside. But here's the caveat: I wasn't as high as initial comments were on Whittington's game today, despite the good stat line. I felt during stretches he relied too much on the athleticism--in particular, on several occasions he got beat on defense (esp. off the dribble) when he probably shouldn't have been b/c he wasn't in good enough position.

It's also hard to maintain that consistent level of activity and energy over a full game, even with regular substitutions and timeouts.

Will be interested to see how his jump shooting has come along--I thought his bump in perimeter shooting late last season took him to another level.

Curren$y: Breakfast


Clyde's 81 Beyond Belief 76

My second D'OH! moment happened during the first half of the final game between Clyde's and Beyond Belief. I tweeted that we had a potential epic shootout on our hands: Isaiah Swann had already scored 16 points, most of which would have been 10 point baskets if this were the MTV Rock and Jock Pro City Summer League, after only 8 mins. Not a few minutes later, Swann crumpled to the court with what at first appeared to be a serious ankle injury. He hobbled to the locker room, but fortunately returned several minutes later none the worse for wear.

Good thing too: despite the near-comeback in the DCX-A.Wash game, the best contest of the day was probably the personal
can-you-top-this scoring battle between Swann and Austin Freeman, who battled back and forth for the high scorer title.
It was a vintage Kenner League shootout: fast breaks galore, 25-foot three pointers as the norm, tired legs and sketchy defense, the scoreboard straining under the weight of all the buckets.

Freeman was joined on Clyde's by Markel Starks, Jonathan Wallace, Sead Dizdarevic, GW's Dwayne Smith, Gus Gilchrist, and L'il Stevie Weingarten, former Tombs super-sub. Isaiah Swann was joined on Beyond Belief's deep roster by James Gist, who spent most of the second half working out his anger issues on the rim with a series of ferocious dunks.

The game itself evolved gradually: Clyde's led almost all if not all of the way, slowly building to a 7 point halftime lead, which they extended at one point to 16 midway through the second half.

With the Clyde's-BB storyline lacking drama, attention turned to Freeman vs. Swann. Austin went into the break ahead 21-19,
and extended his lead to 26-21 before Swann roared back, highlighted by a 4-point play with several minutes to go. With
about two minutes left, Swann hit another 25-footer to break the tie, and finished with 32 to Freeman's 27.


Markel Starks: 14 points, 3-6 2FG, 2-4 3FG, 2-3 FT, 1A, 1TO, 1STL

In contrast to Trawick, who is on an ideal roster to develop as a point guard, Markel Starks as PG was mere window dressing for the Freeman & Swann gun(ner) show. It was shoot on sight, and I'm guessing you could've counted the total halfcourt assists on one hand.

What was left for Markel was to display his skill attacking off the dribble. He mixed things up nicely. Through most of the first and early second half, Markel favored a quick move, couple of dribbles, and a pull up jumper, a move he's shown comfort with already in regular season action. He hit 50% of his shots from both 2 and 3 today, an okay start.

One obvious question going into 2012-13 is who will provide outside shooting for the Hoyas. Starks didn't need to take as big a role last season behind Clark and Thompson, but in select games he excelled from outside, though he lacked game to game consistency. There isn't an obvious answer to "who takes that three" for the 2013 Hoyas--Starks is as good as any right now.

What I liked today is Starks did well coming off dribble handoff action*. His first move to the basket and general quickness appears improved, even adjusting for the Kenner League. He got into the lane with speed moves and dribbling, including at least once a hard crossover that froze his defender.

(*Like Hopkins and the high-post center offense, it's good to see Hoya players getting into offensive sets in Kenner they'll likely see in the regular season. Kenner League is better at doing this than people give it credit for.)

So interesting dynamic for the two likely Hoya PGs: Trawick on a team that promotes his development as a floor general, and Starks on a team that encourages him to create his own shot from the PG spot.


TOMORROW: Four games involving Hoyas, including two featuring Hoya vs. Hoya matchups (Hoop Magic vs. Emery, Clyde's vs. DCX) and the debut of the Tombs.

Wouldn't want to hear it from anyone else. Thanks FL!

I know I speak for many when I say that these recaps are a treat I look forward to every summer. Thanks again FLHoya!

Added something wrong. Should be six points.