Jeff Borzello, Louisville Recruiting, Pittsburgh Recruiting, Rutgers Recruiting, St. John's Recruiting, Syracuse Recruiting

RUMBLE IN THE BRONX: OPENING NIGHT

BY JEFF BORZELLO

There were three themes that continued to come up again and again during the first day of the 2008 Rumble in the Bronx. One was disappointment – for the favorites. Another was surprise and overachievement – for the underdogs. And the third was down-to-the-wire excitement – for, well, everyone. I caught the marquee games of each time slot, including contests featuring the always-talented New York Gauchos, the Lance Stephenson-led Raising Champions and a Team Final group featuring multiple major-conference recruits. They all faced relatively unknown and underrated teams with no hype – yet only one the aforementioned teams actually won. And the other needed a buzzer-beater to pull out a victory. Here’s a more in-depth look at the Friday match-ups.

New York Gauchos 62, New Jersey Panthers 60

A game that was expected to be a blowout – a college coach told me before the game that there was “not a chance” the Panthers would win – turned out to be an exceptional way to open the tournament. The Panthers got off to an early lead and looked like they might break the game open – until strong>Durand Scott finally arrived (he came late because he had to take care of academics) and began to slowly make his impact on the game. The Gauchos had trouble early scoring against the Panthers’ zone, but eventually began to get fast-break points and points in the paint. The Panthers stayed in the lead due to their shooting ability, but the Gauchos kept coming back. It came down to the last possession, when the Gauchos’ Tyreak Johnson hit a leaning jump-shot from just inside the arc as time expired to give New York the win. Russell Smith had 18 points for the Gauchos, while Travis Warech had 17 for the Panthers.

Scouting Report: Russell Smith, Gauchos

Smith is a very quick combo guard who can get into the lane with ease and has the athletic ability to finish in traffic. He is a skilled penetrator who is shifty with the ball and loves to utilize his jump-stop once he gets inside the arc. Smith is also extremely athletic and showed his leaping ability when he dunked the ball fairly easily on a fast break. Defensively, he has quick hands and racks up steals. He also constantly back-taps and reaches for the ball from behind when he gets beaten; he did that a number of a times, but it seemed to work. Smith is outstanding with the ball and can distribute fairly well. On the other hand, though, he is still very skinny and needs to put on muscle in a major way. His biggest problem is that he tries to do too much; he tries to finish every time he gets into the lane, and his acrobatic attempts usually don’t work. He loves to shoot the ball whenever he gets it, and despite his good range, is an inconsistent shooter from behind the arc. He also needs to improve his decision-making; he called a timeout in the final minutes when they had none left.

School List: Arkansas, Louisville, George Mason, Rutgers, St. John’s, South Carolina, Virginia, Minnesota, Hofstra, Iona, Jacksonville

Quotable: “I need to get stronger, and I need to change into a point guard. I need to figure out when to shoot, when to slow the all up. I have to get my teammates involved, but it makes it easier because I have a great supporting cast.”

Central Jersey Hawks 66, Raising Champions 64

If one was to compare Thursday night’s NBA Finals battle between the Lakers and Celtics to one of Friday’s AAU contests, it would certainly be this one. Raising Champions, with stud ,a href=”http://w3.nbebasketball.com/index.php/2009-big-east-recruit-database/lance-stephenson/”>Lance Stephenson, was bigger, stronger, more athletic and simply more talented than the CJ Hawks. They toyed with the Hawks in the first half, but showed the ability to take control of the game whenever they wanted. The beginning of the second half turned into something out of an all-star game, as the Champions blocked seemingly every shot the Hawks took and finished dunks and alley-oops at will. The lead ballooned to the point where there was no shot the Hawks could come back. But they did – although no one really recognized what was going on. In fact, until the Hawks hit a three-pointer and their bench erupted, I’m not sure anyone knew it was a single-digit game. The Hawks eventually tied the game up at 64 with just 25 seconds left. Raising Champions set up an isolation for Stephenson, who drove to the basket and was fouled. Shockingly, he missed both and then the Hawks’ [#13] grabbed the rebound and was fouled with four seconds left. He hit both free-throws, and a desperation three-pointer by Latrell McCoy was off-mark. Matt Devine led the Hawks with 25 points, while Stephenson had 12 for the Champions.

Massachusetts Raiders 70, Team Final 67

Yet another match-up between a hyped-up, extremely talented team with multiple high-major recruits and a squad not getting much national attention – and yet another match-up that was not decided until the final seconds (and, in this case, not even then). Team Final, led by Lamar Patterson (Pittsburgh) and Dion Waiters (Syracuse), even got an extra boost Friday night from Paterson Catholic’s Jayon James, who joined the squad. The Raiders, with just eight players and not many college prospects, hung tough from the tip-off and were down just 37-35 at the half. The second half was more of the same, a back-and-forth battle where no team seemed to get a clear advantage. Team Final had the better individual talent, but did not get a lot of offense out of their system, while the Raiders struggled to defend one-on-one. The Raiders held the ball for more than a minute at the end of the second half, but could not get a good shot off as the buzzer sounded. In overtime, it was all Raiders – more specifically, all [#6]. He scored all six points in the extra period for the Raiders, while all Team Final could manage was a deep three from James. Daniel O’Keefe had 14 points for the Raiders, while Andre Gillette led Team Final with 13.

Scouting Report: Scott Tavares, Raiders

Tavares, while undersized at 5-8 and not much of an individual scorer, seems exactly like the type of player who will fly under-the-radar, get picked up by a mid-major school, and eventually make an impact in the NCAA Tournament when his team pulls an upset of one of the big boys. He has unbelievable handle and dribbling ability, and rarely makes a mistake. He is not flashy and will not wow anyone with a no-look pass, but he is very solid and does everything well. Tavares has quick hands defensively, and reads passing lanes well at that end of the floor. He is always looking up when he has the ball, and has tremendous vision. He is a very good passer and does not turn the ball over. Furthermore, he can drive the lane and finish in traffic – he does not let his size deter him.

School List: Headed to Tilton Prep (N.H.) for another season.

Quotable: “I want to be able to see the court more, so I can get more assists. I really just want to work as hard as I can and work everyday. My overall goal is to just improve.”

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