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New and Old Faces Step Up for Tigers in Season Opener
December 4, 2008
By Aaron Seybert
SWFLHoops.com
Riverdale @ #1 Fort Myers Dunbar
Fort Myers, FL--Fort Myers Dunbar began the season with new uniforms and a new look team. With only two players on the roster Thursday night that saw significant minutes last season for the defending Class 3A Region 4 Champions, they showed the rust that was to be expected in a 48-30 win over the visiting Riverdale Raiders. They were rusty at times shooting the ball which was in part due to the fact that the only two returning key players, juniors David Paulk and Joel German, had only had three days of practice after returning from the football team that reached the 3A regional semifinals last week. Add that to the fact that one of their other key returners, senior Melvin German, was out due to a broken leg he suffered during football season, although they expect the doctors to clear him to play by this coming Monday.
Then there was the fact that the biggest by far of the three key incoming transfers, 6'10" senior John Florveus, left the game after just under two minutes of action when he got hit in the mouth on a rebound attempt, got a tooth knocked out, and had to be rushed to the hospital for emergency oral surgery.
That left the game in the hands of the two returners and the two other incoming trasnfer, highly touted sophomore guard Darius Perkins and junior guard Troy Simmons. But for Dunbar, that seemed to be just fine. Perkins proceeded to score 8 of the team's 11 first quarter points including two 3's. Paulk entered the game roughly three quarters of the way through the first frame and showed some of that rust that most call "getting his basketball legs back" after a long football season. He struggled mainly from beyond the arc, where he known for making a living, going only 1 for 6 from long range on the evening but finished with a respectable 13 points and led the Tigers with 9 rebounds. However, Riverdale senior forward Chamon Thomas battled in the paint allowing his team to only trail 11-9 at the end of the first eight minutes.
Even though the Raiders tried their best to hang tough, with just under two two minutes and the scored sitting at 20-19 in Dunbar's favor, the Tigers went on a 8-0 run to end the half behind a three and two free throws by Simmons and a layup by Paulk. The score at the half, 28-19 Dunbar in the lead.
Maybe the underlying story of the night was the play of Simmons. In his first season with Dunbar and playing against his former team Troy played an excellent floor game while running the point for most of the evening. He picked his spots well when looking to score and made a few very nice passes, and finished with a modest 9 points and 5 assists. However, his numbers do not do him justice. Deferring for the most part to the more offensive minded Perkins, who finished with 16 points and 4 rebounds, Simmons looked like the piece at point guard that the Tigers were missing on their trip to the class 3A final four a season ago. He has a quick first step allowing him to beat his man but stays under control, almost always looking to pass first once he has the advantage. His one weakness coming in will be his inconsistent ability to knock down the outside shot, but to his credit he made 1 for 3 from behind the arc on the evening.
In the second half, the Tigers pressure and active hands on defense continued to wear on Riverdale with the leading increasing to 39-25 at the end of the third quarter. Simmons, Perkins and Joel German did a good job of pressuring the Riverdale guards in the half court creating numerous turnovers which led to some easy transition baskets. Raider point guard and leading scorer Denzel Hagan struggled to get anything going consistantly from the perimeter without running mate Mike Johnston, who sat out due to an incident from the team's previous game versus La Belle when he was ejected. Part of his struggles can also be attributed to the solid on ball defense of a very long Perkins. Hagan managed just 9 points on the evening with three of them coming on a 25 foot bomb that he drilled in the fourth quarter, in what seemed to be frustration for a lack of ability to get by Perkins off the dribble. Chamon Thomas had a second straight game where he was outstanding on the glass, grabbing a game high 13 rebounds to go along with team high 10 points. Thomas went for 21 point and 21 rebounds this past Tuesday in their game against La Belle. Helping out on the glass for the Raiders was Dustin Greenwell, who grabbed 9.
Dunbar head coach Andre McGill spoke to us after the game about what their focused on early in a season with such high expectations, "We're trying to get the guys to play together, some of them have never played together before. We're playing without Melvin (German) too, but we still have a lot more talent than most people do. We just have to get them playing together." When asked what in particular he pulls away from this game McGill said, "Defense. I think they only had 10 points the second half. So the defense looked real good. Rebounding has to get a little bit better and we got to get our offensive scheme down. Hopefully we'll look real good by the end of Christmas." For the record, Riverdale scored 11 second half points, but the defense was outstanding throughout the game.
For Riverdale (2-2; 1-0 in district), they should not hang their heads after this loss. They are still getting guys back into basketball mode after football season as well, and their is no doubt that not having a scorer like Johnston hurt them on the offensive end. If they can continue to get such strong play in the paint from Thomas throughout the season, they will be very solid in district play. On this night though they just ran into a team with a lot of talent and a lot of size, and I can promise you that they will not see a team in district play better than or even as good as Dunbar, so this game can only make them better in the long run. They return to action Friday night on the road versus district foe South Fort Myers at 7:30 pm.
For Dunbar, the key word is chemistry. If they find it, they have all the talent to make a serious run at returning to the state final four and potentially a state title. If Florveus's injury does not end up being a long healing process, and if Melvin German is able to return to form sooner than later when he gets back, they should be at full strength come January. Mind you they will be taking part in the City of Palms Classic in just a couple weeks, but their focus there just needs to be playing tough and competing well against teams even they will most likely be outmaned by. The long-term focus is on February, not on December, as it should be for all teams. But the short-term focus will be on getting everybody healthy and working together within their system as soon as possible. They will be back in action tonight on the road against Lehigh at 7:30 pm.
