Kenner League July 14, 2012 RECAP

Unfortunately, there won't be a Tombs-Clyde's game on the schedule this summer unless the teams meet in the playoffs. It isn't always a given that the Kenner League schedule makers will see fit to match up the two primary Georgetown-affiliated squads--I don't recall there being such a game in 2010. Even if they DO play, a good game isn't guaranteed: last season's first Tombs-Clyde's game was an uninteresting blowout with a lot of pro players going half-speed.

Still, Tombs-Clyde's is a summer tradition for Hoya fans, and they regularly pack the stands for the matchup; I know folks who have traveled upwards of three hours specifically for that game.

And when the games ARE good, they're right up there with the best Kenner League classics (again, inasmuch as such a thing exist when games don't count). The two best Kenner League games I've seen in eight summers were Tombs vs. Clyde's: the Summer 2006 clash that featured half a dozen members of the coming season's Final Four team, and 24+ point performances from Green, Hibbert, Sapp, and Wallace in a 102-87 Clyde's win (I believe on the way to a KL title); and last year's Double-OT Final in which the Tombs' incoming freshmen (Trawick, Whittington, Porter, and Hopkins) playing without help from "ringers" or upperclassmen, nearly took the title from a Clyde's team featuring Greg Monroe, Austin Freeman, Jeff Green, and Aaron Bowen. Five years ago today, during the post-Final Four honeymoon, Tombs beat Clyde's 71-67. The stat lines:

Tombs:

Jonathan Wallace: 16 points, 3-5 from two, 3-7 from three, 5RB, 1A, 1ST, 1T
Chris Wright: 17 points, 4-11 from two, 9-11 FT, 7RB, 3A, 4T, 1ST
Nikita Mescheriakov: 8 points, 3-4 from two, 2-2 FT, 4RB, 1A, 1T
Vernon Macklin: 10 points, 5-6 from two, 4RB, 1T

Clyde's:
Jeremiah Rivers: 12 points, 5-7 from two, 0-4 from three, 2-2 FT, 5RB, 2S, 2T
Austin Freeman: 17 points, 4-4 from two, 2-5 from three, 3-4 FT, 1RB
Omar Wattad: 3 points, 0-1 from two, 1-3 from three, 1RB
Patrick Ewing Jr.: 14 points, 3-5 from two, 2-3 from three, 2-2 FT, 5RB, 2A, 4TO

Coming off the bench for Clyde's that day: Deron Washington (!) and Anthony "Biggie" McClain (!!!).

Tombs 72 Hoop Magic 69

Bobby "Blue" Bland, "Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City" (1974):

Jay-Z, "Heart of the City (Ain't No Love)" (2001):


Occasionally, the Kenner League does deliver an entertaining, hard-fought game that holds your interest from start to finish. Unofficially, I didn't notice any lead higher than 5 during the game, and if so it didn't last for long.

Hoop Magic today featured George Mason's Vaughn Gray, Princeton's Ian Hummer, and GW's large contingent of incoming
freshmen and transfers, including Isaiah Armwood. Tombs rolled with a five-Hoya lineup (Porter, Caprio, Smith-Rivera, Bolden, Allen) and a two-person bench. So it set up nicely for a competitive game: Hummer and Armwood in particular caused problems for Tombs throughout.

Hoop Magic held a modest lead for most of the first half. Tombs caught a break when the Hoop Magic bench took a technical on an Otto Porter and-1, and the four point possession tied the game. Tombs could have taken the lead going into halftime, but trailed by one after a 3-second violation on Brandon Bolden erased D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera's three pointer on Tombs' final possession.

The second half was more of the same: competitive play, counterpunching, and modest leads. At one point, the scoreboard
operator (for the second day in a row) didn't credit Tombs with a basket, and they ended up down 50-52. Finally, with just under 10 minutes to go, Otto Porter finished off a dribbling exhibition through four defenders with a layup to give Tombs their first lead since before halftime at 57-55. Tombs held a 2-4 point lead until the final moments, which featured several near-momentum shifts and a close finish.

With 1:55 left, Ian Hummer's layup pulled Hoop Magic within a basket (64-62). Otto Porter was denied attacking the basket, and then fouled Hummer on his way to an uncontested layup; the three-point play gave Hoop Magic a 65-64 lead. DSR hit two free throws off to re-claim the advantage for Tombs with 1:13 remaining.

Otto Porter came up huge on the next two defensive possessions, his block and steal both leading to fast break buckets and a 70-65 Tombs lead with 42 seconds left. Hoop Magic closed to 70-67 shortly thereafter. On two straight possessions, Tombs had one-and-one chances to close out the game, but DSR and Porter each missed front ends. The first time, Hoop Magic committed a lane violation on their first free throw; on the second, Porter again fouled on a layup attempt, but Hoop Magic missed the tying free throw. Otto rebounded the missed and made no mistake from the line with under 10 seconds left.

Hoop Magic had a decent look at three points but it drew rim, and Tombs escaped with a win.

Otto Porter: 26 points, 11-17 2FG, 0-1 3FG, 4-9 FT, 17RB, 1AST, 1TO, 3 BLKS, 2STL, 4F

I commented last week that the Tombs' roster construction--mostly freshmen and walk-ons and a short bench without any true "ringers"--would likely lead to ample shots and scoring opportunities for D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera. The same is true for Otto Porter. Yesterday, Otto and DSR took 20 and 21 shots respectively; today it was 18 and 19.

From Otto's perspective: the good news of course is that he's a supremely talented and versatile player. I said yesterday that he played all three positions that exist in Kenner League for the Tombs, and that was true again today, but with a notable shift toward handling the ball.

Otto was in attack mode for much of the game. This had some negative results: the tendency when you're the alpha dog on a
team is to bite off more than you can chew. At times, Otto was over-aggressive and settled for off-balance shots in traffic. When he settles, it tends to be a fall-away shot off one leg after taking contact--that happened a few times.

More often though, Otto showed the versatile game that will make him a menace to Big East opponents this season. On one play, he brought the ball up court, dribbled a full circle through four defenders, and attacked down the lane for an open layup.

In the second half, Otto sought to exploit his matchup advantage, and he frequently backed down his defender on the baseline, either getting to the rim for short hook shots or bank shots, or turning baseline and going at the glass. Caution though: towards the end of the game, he was blocked twice trying too hard to back down his man and force the issue.

He was clearly the best player on the court; a double-double is a pedestrian thing at this point for Otto in Kenner League (he had it by halftime). Still, he made things interesting in the final minutes, missing a one-and-one up three and twice fouling defenders who were already past him, leading to and-one opportunities.

D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera: 26 points, 8-15 2FG, 1-4 3FG, 6-8 FT, 2RB, 6ASTS, 2TO, 4STLS, 3F

DSR had a streaky game today, the first time when I thought his shot wasn't a consistent threat.

It seems like we're getting a good sense for his game off the dribble. He again used change of speeds as a primary means of getting into the lane--he may over-dribble a bit in certain situations and he's not especially quick, so getting space on the initial move is critical. He can definitely use his strength as leverage in traffic, but could be prone to getting blocked due to his height.

Like Porter, DSR shows a willingness to take over the game, and he's given ample opportunities to do so on Tombs. The second half was DSR's domain: he scored seven straight points for Tombs at one point, lighting things up with a range of deep jump shots. When he IS hitting the shot, it's deadly, and in my opinion on shooting alone he'll be a valuable rotation player more than likely.

Today was his best game as a distributor, and he worked especially hard to get Bolden involved, even if it was just a hand-off for a fast break dunk. Nice touch.

He's a little loose on defense and seems to float around too much at times. That bears watching. He didn't have the greatest defensive matchup today--hard to ask him to consistently cover someone of Isaiah Armwood's size, especially when Armwood knew to get him to the low block. Of course...there are Big East 2s out there who could try that. Fortunately, one of them (Whittington) is his teammate.

Brandon Bolden: 12 points, 6-9 2FG, 6RB, 1AST, 2BLKs, 1STL, 2F

Some more modest improvements from Bolden in key areas. For the first time, I thought he did well to create his own shot from the post, and scored on his first post move (a lefty hook). He continues to score in athletic situations--on fast breaks, put backs, etc.--and he had an impressive coast-to-coast conversion off a steal that he finished with a gliding layup through traffic. Lots to build on--impressive athlete and hard worker, if lacking in strength right now.

Still needs to clean up his defense. The illegal defense rule regularly vexes Kenner League teams (*)--it's practically tradition at this point to have the first possession of a game whistled dead for a violation--but Bolden had to have been called for at least 3-4 ID violations today. He also struggled to stop dribble penetration and stay in front of his man consistently. His timing was again better today on shot block attempts.

Kind of a passionate player--yesterday he smacked the basket support, and today he took a technical foul going into halftime.

John Caprio (3 points, 5 rebounds) and David Allen (2 points, 1 rebound) were again in the starting lineup for Tombs, but played fewer minutes after halftime and were largely on the bench during the final sequence.


TOMORROW: Four games featuring all six Georgetown-affiliated teams

I heard people saying today that Bolden didn't play in high school, as in he's just picking basketball up.

Now I know that he didn't play that much in HS but they were making it sound like he was a true underdog story. Hilarious.

I think because its not true, but im not an expert on Bolden's life

Thx for 7-13 an 7-14 recaps FL. Well done.... as always.

The point is he didn't play much in high school. But he was on a team. They were making it seem like he just picked up the game last year. He's been "playing" basketball for a while. He just was not getting much playing time for whatever reason.

All Hoyas played well and are very hungry you can see this in the eyes...

I think that he had to endure real hardship to be where he is now and I think it's true that the underdog tag may actually apply to him. Who knows what his daily life is like.

I completely acknowledged that fact, I mean, it's pretty obvious and I figured it goes without saying.

All I am saying is its may not be funny to joke around with if you're unsure about whether it's true or not.

For some unknown reason he was not able to get off the bench for unknown reasons. From different stories I've heard I got a sense of a lot of his shortcomings, as far as playing time and experience), came from things out of his control. I, personally, felt a sense of the underdog tag and the original post merely added to my assumptions and I just feel as if he should be commended for his efforts if true, and I've had several different indications that lead me to believe he did succeed against the odds. That's all

cool I appreciate how you feel about the subject and how you went about getting that across. It's fine to disagree but have some respect. You don't know his story.