2011 Hall of Fame National Invitational – Sunday Player Evaluations

by - Published July 14, 2011 in Columns

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – We take a look at some of the players we saw on the opening day of the Hall of Fame National Invitational.

 

Zach Auguste (6’9″ Sr. SF-PF, Marlborough (MA) New Hampton School) This maturing forward had his moments in two games, but all in all was just all right. He drove and dunked while getting fouled on one play, and didn’t look over-matched against Andre Drummond although that also reflected Drummond’s foul trouble in the game. His ball skills look better and he was active, but he also forced play a little much and didn’t shoot well. High-major minus prospect.

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2011 Reebok Breakout Challenge Evaluations

by - Published July 12, 2011 in Columns

PHILADELPHIA – We take a look at some of the notable prospects we saw over the last couple of days of the Reebok Breakout Challenge.

 

Mike Aaman (6’8″ Sr. PF, Hazlet (NJ) Raritan HS) Lefty post player was solid and unspectacular, although he did bust out on the last day with 23 points on 10-17 shooting to go with seven rebounds, then a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds. He showed that he can finish with the right hand and the effort is always there. Mid-major prospect has committed to Wagner, where he’ll at least be a good piece of the puzzle.

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Breakout Challenge Shows Reebok Made the Most of Year Away

by - Published July 11, 2011 in Columns

PHILADELPHIA – After a year away from the July camp scene, Reebok made a return this week with the Reebok Breakout Challenge. Previously, their big July event was the Reebok All-American Camp, while an underclassmen event in June had the Breakout name. But in their year away, Reebok repositioned the camp, hence the new name and a clear new focus.

 

One thing Reebok wants to make clear is that the Breakout Challenge is not their answer to the Lebron James Skills Academy. They are not positioning this as an All-American camp. Instead, they position it based on the first big success story they had when they relaunched their grassroots camps in 2007 around the Headliner tryouts, Breakout Camp and Rbk U All-American Camp. That would be the story of John Wall, who was an unknown when he went to the Breakout Camp when it was their primary underclassmen camp, then earned an invitation to the All-American Camp with a stellar weekend. The rest, as they say, is history, with Wall becoming the No. 1 pick in the 2010 NBA Draft.

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Notes From Hoop Mountain Super Week II – July 7, 2011

by - Published July 7, 2011 in Columns

EASTON, Mass. – As the busy month of July gets going, our first stop was a quick trip down the road to Hoop Mountain’s Super Week II on Wednesday night. This year’s event was not certified by the NCAA after many years of having the certification, so it didn’t have quite the level of talent that it normally does. It still had some good talent without the depth it usually has, and here we take a look at some of who stood out on Wednesday evening.

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Quick Hitters – July 6, 2011

by - Published July 6, 2011 in Columns, Your Phil of Hoops

As we reach the busy recruiting month of July, it’s time to take a look at some quick hitters. Some of this is playing catch-up, but better late than never.

 

Also, a word on my upcoming schedule. I’ll have something on Wednesday night’s action at Hoop Mountain Super Week II, then I’ll be in Philadelphia for the last two days of the Reebok Breakout Challenge and in Springfield, Mass. for the first day of the Hall of Fame National Invitational. Later next week, I’ll have something from checking out some evening sessions of Hoop Mountain’s Academic All-America Camp.

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Phil Kasiecki on Twitter

  • Final score: Fairleigh Dickinson 66, Bryant 63. The next game will be Dartmouth at Brown tomorrow night, a 7 p.m. tip. about 16 hours ago from web
  • Dobbs misses a contested three-pointer in front of his bench, and Fairleigh Dickinson hangs on to break a 16-game losing streak. about 16 hours ago from web
  • NC State needs a game like tonight's, because quality win chances won't be abundant in this year's ACC. about 16 hours ago from web in reply to GoodmanCBS
  • Robinson makes the second, Bryant calls timeout down 66-63 with 6.5 seconds left. about 16 hours ago from web
  • FDU calls timeout to set the defense after the second free throw. Robinson made the first, so it's 65-63 FDU with 6.5 seconds left. about 16 hours ago from web
  • As long as they don't give up an offensive rebound on a miss, Bryant will have a chance as the best FDU can do is go up by three. about 16 hours ago from web

Michael Protos on Twitter

Your Phil of Hoops

Quick Hitters – January 27, 2012

January 27, 2012 by

author_kasiecki

Some quick hitters about Boston University’s rebounding, a transfer helping Marquette, an improving Husky guard and a couple of key road wins among others as we head into another weekend.

Quinnipiac finally pulls one out to close road swing

January 22, 2012 by

quinnipiac

Quinnipiac can now head home with the hope that their last game in the current road stretch does more for them than add one into the left-hand column. The Bobcats had a few tough games recently, and had another one in which they managed to pull out a 78-71 win in overtime at Bryant on Saturday.

Quick Hitters – January 21, 2012

January 21, 2012 by

author_kasiecki

We have a few quick hitters on a streaking America East team, another whose star had his first rough night, two inconsistent Patriot League teams and a couple of teams who have lost a player for the season but for different reasons.

Ron Hunter is already changing the culture at Georgia State

January 19, 2012 by

georgiastate

Ron Hunter knew he had a culture to change at Georgia State, and he knew he was in a different place. Now he has a different issue on his hands with his team, which stands 5-2 in CAA play after a loss at Northeastern on Wednesday night.

Boston College off to a surprising start in ACC play

January 15, 2012 by

bostoncollege

There’s a big surprise near the top of the ACC standings. With only Duke sporting an undefeated record, one team in the logjam at 2-1 is the very young Boston College Eagles after two straight home wins.

Boston University hopes to regain confidence with losing streak over

January 9, 2012 by

bostonuniversity

Just over a month ago, Boston University looked ready go on a good run. But a six-game losing streak resulted instead, and the Terriers hope to regain confidence after ending it on Sunday.

Harvard continues to live dangerously in Ivy League opener

January 8, 2012 by

harvard

Harvard improved to 13-2 on Saturday by winning the first Ivy League game of the season. While the bottom line is all positive, the Crimson also lived dangerously for a while, more so than the 16-point final margin of victory might lead one to believe.

UMBC’s non-conference struggles don’t matter with conference-opening road win

January 3, 2012 by

umbc

With conference play, a bad non-conference run with one loss after another doesn’t matter on the bottom line. One example of that is UMBC, a team that won one game in non-conference play but is tied atop America East after an 82-76 win at New Hampshire on Monday night.

Boston College gains confidence before the break

December 28, 2011 by

bostoncollege

Boston College has come back from the Christmas break in a better place than they were before it. In fact, it’s better than where they were over a week before their last game, as their 83-73 win over Sacred Heart last Wednesday was their third straight.

Stony Brook hopes more practice time helps

December 27, 2011 by

stonybrook

Stony Brook probably welcomed the relative break in the action they are coming up on the end of. This stretch, with a lot of practice time, followed by three straight at home, gives this team a chance to gain some momentum.

Full Court Sprints

Monson’s 49ers reap the rewards of a tough schedule

If any team could claim to be battle-tested heading into conference play, it had to be Long Beach State. The 49ers loaded up their non-conference slate with the likes of Kansas, North Carolina, San Diego State, Louisville and Xavier.

Conference Coverage

Big Sky Conference update – Jan 26, 2012

January 26, 2012 by

bigsky

JUST IN TIME FOR TONIGHT’S GAMES… All the news you ever wanted to know about the Big Sky, the weekly edition. YOUR WEEKLY DAMIAN LILLARD IS A STUD LINK-FEST: A Salt Lake Tribune story on his success. USA Today also jumped in sometime in the last week to talk about …

Cleveland State Vikings Overwhelm Milwaukee Panthers 83-57

January 22, 2012 by

horizon

In a game with major implications for the regular season Horizon League championship and seeding for the Horizon League Tournament, the Cleveland State Vikings dominated the Milwaukee Panthers by a score of 83-57 in a game in which the Panthers never led. The Vikings and Panthers began the day in …

Big Sky Conference update – January 18, 2012

January 18, 2012 by

bigsky

One team stands alone atop the standings for now, with another a little behind them and a logjam near the middle of the pack.

Cleveland State Use Barrages from Outside to Defeat Loyola

January 7, 2012 by

horizon

The Cleveland State Vikings started 2012 off on a winning note with a 69-48 victory at home on Saturday afternoon over the visiting Loyola Ramblers. In his pregame radio comments, Vikings coach Gary Waters stated that the Ramblers’ 5-10 record heading into Saturday’s matchup was deceiving and that the Ramblers were …

Big Sky roundup, week 1

January 5, 2012 by

bigsky

Opening weekend in the Big Sky Eastern Washington Record: 7-7, 1-1 Weekend: 1-1 Major superlatives: Won by 16, lost by 8; 76.5 ppg for, 72.5 against; plus-4 scoring margin; 52-112 FG; 20-53 3pt; 29-43 FT. Summary: One night, the lead stuck. The other, it didn’t. The Eagles made an early …

Your Big Sky Conference primer

December 28, 2011 by

bigsky

The Big Sky is about to dive in to conference play, and so far, the season has unfolded pretty much as expected, with Sacramento State looking like the one surprise.

Around the Horizon League: Week 7

December 28, 2011 by

horizon

Like the rest of the country, the Horizon League teams have been enjoying the holiday season and taking it easy on the hardwood. Here’s a roundup of the action that did go down during the past week.

Cleveland State messes with Texas, defeats Sam Houston State Bearkats

December 22, 2011 by

clevelandstate

Cleveland State had plenty of Christmas cheer to share in the Vikings’ easy win against Sam Houston State, though they didn’t exactly give the Bearkats a festive feeling.

Around The Horizon League: Week 6

December 22, 2011 by

horizon

Butler Bulldogs (5-7): Butler began the week with a matchup against the Purdue Boilermakers at Conseco Fieldhouse. Having struggled in the early part of the season, the Bulldogs probably weren’t given much of a chance by most observers against the Boilermakers. Summing up some of the magic that has helped …

Around The Horizon League: Weeks 4-5

December 14, 2011 by

horizon

Butler Bulldogs (4-6): Butler has continued to struggle in the early stages of the 2011-12 college basketball season. However, don’t start writing Butler’s obituary just yet. Horizon League fans shouldn’t forget that Butler began last season slowly and bottomed out with a loss to Youngstown State before turning their season …

A busy and exciting week in the Big Sky

December 13, 2011 by

bigsky

We take a quick run through the results from the past week in the Big Sky Conference, giving a little love to each team in the conference.

Oklahoma has the best Big 12 player you don’t know

December 12, 2011 by

oklahoma

Missouri and Baylor are looking great, but we love the improvement of one of Lon Kruger’s guards.

Vikings pull out dramatic victory over Akron

December 10, 2011 by

clevelandstate

Longtime Cleveland sports fans are familiar with the “Kardiac Kids,” which was the nickname bestowed on the 1980 Cleveland Browns team that won multiple games in the waning seconds of the game. Although the 2011-12 college basketball season is still somewhat young, the Cleveland State Vikings have already given that …

Cleveland State Vikings Defeat Detroit Titans 66-61

December 4, 2011 by

clevelandstate

The Vikings keep rolling as they take out Detroit in an early battle for positioning at the top of the Horizon League.

No cause for alarm in the Big East

November 29, 2011 by

bigeast

Yes, a few Big East teams have faltered early in the season. No, that’s not a reason to panic, as it is still November.