NIKE Peach Jam

[tpk3]

TonyDeals (COO of the Gtown Recruiting Kabal) is covering the Nike Peach Jam for us.

But first:
ENTOURAGE IS BACK! Will Turtle and Meadow Saprano find true love? Will Vince find true happiness? Will Eric stop being so annoying? Will Ari hug Loyd?

JT3 and Brennan spent most of the day watching Terrence Jones and the Team Take Over kids play. He also watched some of Tobias Harris.

1st game:
Terrence Jones' I-5 Elite Team lost 66-62 in the first game today. Terrence played well, and spent most of his time in the post. I-5 guards just could not keep up with the Albany guards this game, and Tobias Harris was hot. Terrence Jones put up 19 pts, 8 reb in his (though Tobias Harris got 28/10 against him). This was a rematch from their battle in the ATL last month in which TJ got the better of the match-up and I-5 got the win. TJ is just the perfect fit for the Gtown system both offensively and defensively, because he can play and guard multiple positions. Tobias Harris is a heck of an offensive player, but I just do not see where he could play defensively at Gtown. Right now Harris is too slow of foot to defend the perimeter and he is not strong/athletic enough to defend the post. Both are talented though. But TJ is perfect for Gtown.

2nd game:
I-5 beat Boo Williams 65-63. Jones was very impressive. TJ played a lot on the block and facilitated the offense. His performance speaks to his versatility: he scored in many ways - from deep, off the dribble and on the break - he rebounded, he blocked shots, he even did some extra ball handling. Stat line for him was 24 pts, 10 reb, 3 blk. Nobody on Boo could guard TJ as he displayed his full skill set. His shooting numbers were 8-14 FG (including 2 threes) and 6-10 FT. TJ had a strong game with JT3 watching. I think coach was impressed. TJ stole the ball from K Marshall with 2 sec in open court to seal it. Terrences defense might have been the most impressive thing this evening.



1st game:
Team Takover DESTROYED Spiece Indy Heat 102-58. Spiece was a team some were mentioning that could win the title at the Peach, as they have Deshaun Thomas, Russell Byrd and Marquis Teague. Keith Stevens had the crew pllaying lock-down old school Gtown defense. Teague finished with only 4 pts. Meanwhile, Mike Gbinije had a game-high 24 points. Gbinije put on a huge performance. He had a fantastic 3 pt stroke going this morning.


2nd game:
Takeover beats Houston Hoops 59-54 with about 8 players. Mikael Hopkins is not in the gym. Not sure if he even made the trip. Mike G was solid and he had 11 pts and 4 reb. Missed a lot of shots, so that was the negative with this performance. The positive was that his dribble-drives seem stronger and more explosive than back in April. The kids played great defense once again. They guarded the heck out of the Houston team. TTO had no depth, but a lot of heart out there.

BTW. Harrison Barnes is NOT the best player in the country. He is top 10 but he is not top 3.

BTW#2. Gtown really did get the wrong Rivers.

Overall it was a great and enteraining first day. More to come Monday.

[HoyasAreHungry]

thanks for the updates...seems like JTIII will be turning up the heat on TJ

[tlphoya]

G- thanks for the informative updates on all the summer activity. It's much appreciated.

[tpk3]

TonyDeals recap of Peach Jam day #2:

The morning started off with JT3 walking in with Roy Williams. They were laughing and joking about something as they were watching. It reminded me of that old Nike commercial with Pops and Dean Smith. Good stuff. Anyway, the hoops:

It is clear who JT3 was focused on this morning, Terrence Jones.

TJ game #1
Jones team won 65-62 over the Arkansa team. It was a very interesting game for Terrence. Once again he primarily played the high post(hub position), and facilitated the offense through him. However, to start the game TJ really struggled. I know he had been a bit banged up going into this morning, but I do not know if that was the cause of his problems. He really did not do anything positive for his team to begin the game and was poor on defense. I looked over at JT3's reaction. JT3 looked like a concerned parent/coach that wanted to coach his kid up and get him to turn it around. Terrence's AAU coach sat him on the bench for a good while at the end of the first half. Terrence came out in the second half and played great. He was rebounding, defending, passing, and making his teamates better. It was really impressive turn around and I saw JT3 smiling. Terrence blocked the game tieing shot to preserve the win. 8 pts, 9 reb, 7 blk, 2 ast

TJ game #2
TJ's team got blown out by Mike Gilchrest team(Team Final) 72-41. TJ battled and did his best. But he was a one man team against Gilchrest and Christmas on the inside, with no help from the guards. TJ competed the entire game, and did not give up. 10 pts, 11 reb, 3 TO & 2 stls.

Team Take Over game #1
More domination.
Team Takeover Destroyed the Jackson Tigers (Johnny O'Bryant team). It was like 38-8 in the first half. So most of us stopped paying attention. These kids play DEFENSE. Gbinije didn't not need to do much as this game was over before it began (4 points), though it wasn't needed in such a blowout.

TTO game # 2
Team Takeover crushed E1T1(Rivers team) by 20. No Brandon Knight -( injured). Keith has these kids playing amazing defense for AAU. It is like the old Boo Williams AAU teams. TTO went zone in the second half and took Florida out of the game. Gbinije had 16 points (14 in the first half) and 6 rebounds. He hit two threes, attacked the basket and rebounded well.

Lets make this clear. Mike Gilchrest is the best player in the country regardless of class. He is a waste of time to recruit to hard, because he is signed and sealed to uk. The only reason nova has a chance is because it is close and his high school coach is pushing nova.

Knight(#1) and Sullinger (#2) are the two best players in the 2010 class.

The games on the first day were much more competitive than the games today. There is a lot of talent here, so Tuesday I expect the action to pick back up.

[DanMcQ]

www.aikenstandard.com/LocalSports/0714peach-jam

[Oh My!]

No WONDER Carolina wins so many games! Check out this gem from Roy Williams yesterday:

"I love coming down here; I love the area and the tournament offers a great competitive atmosphere," Williams said Monday. "We lost four of our six starters, and six of our top nine players, so we have to replace a lot. An event such as the Peach Jam is a good time to see some of the top players."

[DanMcQ]

sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiting/basketball/mens/news/story?id=4326159

[tpk3]

Deals final Peach Jam report:

Let me first say that I readily admit my Terrence Jones bias, as he is Lil Deals fav player. Having said that, this kids game was meant to be played at Gtown. He is a left handed Jeff, a true point forward. Those guys are unique and hard to find, which makes it imperative that JT3 tries to get him. With the exception of the first half in yesterday morning's game(unfortunatly JT3 was watching), Terrence played great all week. He finished this week like 2nd in rebounding and 2nd in block shots. Now on to this morning.

JT3 was not at the Peach this morning. So he must have headed to watch Kendrick in Wisconsin or Nate/Odom/Tyrone in West Virginia. But some of the assitants were there.

I-5 lost 73-66.
TJ was dominating this game. He was boarding, passing, defending, scoring, leading. He did everything. On one play TJ finishes break with a flush and then hustles back on d and gets the block on a big dude. I-5 up 12 at half.

TJ got hurt in 2nd half. Caught a chop in the throat. He came out for a few minutes but asked to go back in even though he looked out of it. He was in for about a minute before he got pushed....his legs gave out and he went down in a heap and hit his head on the floor. Beno(AAU coach) screamed for medical help. This was scary.

Some lady came out and attended to him. We were all silent. I snuck in a quick prayer for the young fella. He was down for about 5 min before he got up and walked to the bench on his own. They had to break out the smelling salts bc he was so out of it. It was scary but the kid is a fighter. He sat for most of the half but demanded to come back in with about 5 min left. I felt like Micky in Rocky, as I wanted to throw in the towel and tell him to stay on the bench. At this point TJ had nothing to prove to anybody. This kid is a hoops warrior, all heart. He came back in even though his legs were a lil wobbly and was still the best player on the floor. I spoke to his coach after the game and he said TJ was ok. This kid is just a balla.

Team Take Over:

Game #1.

TTO kicked the living mess out of Harrison Barnes' and his team. Keith Stevens has these kids eating raw meat. They play true team ball, and it does not matter who scores as they play to win. It is really a treat watching them play, because you rarely see teams this well coached in AAU ball. TTO finished the as the only undefeated team in pool play.

Unfortunatly, they lost in the play-offs 60-59 in a heartbreaker. But this was a great week for the team. They really showed well after struggling in the ATL last time I watched them. This week was certainly something for them to keep building upon. Brandon Young, Michael Gbinije, Ben Hazel, Jerian Grant, Victor Oladipo, Matt Giorski, and Darion Atkins all balled well this week.

A great few days of hoops.

Since our guys (TJ and TTO) were eliminated, I am heading back to the ATL.

Later.

[Hordac]

Great Job Graeagle !!! I'm pushing for an increase in your salary. LOL

[tpk3]

Jul 15, 2009 5:37:27 GMT -5 Hordac said:

Great Job Graeagle !!! I'm pushing for an increase in your salary. LOL

Thanks, but it is Deals that did all the leg work this tourny. Instead of a raise I'll just trade, and balla can come back from vacation and do this stuff.

[hoyarooter]

Sounds as though TJ may have had a concussion from hitting his head on the floor. Putting him back in that game was probably bad judgment. Hope he's ok.