Jacob Alley
SWFLHoops.com Scouting
May 31, 2008
Game 1- Gulf Coast Elite U16: 58, Got Game: 43
Teams MVP for Game 1: Joel Hill- Showed his tenacity as well as his range in a great effort for the 2010 Cape Coral High stud.
The first game of the day for Gulf Coast Elite 16-Under took place at 9:00 am against Got Game. The team struggled to find their touch in the opening period but by halftime they had woken up and let their game live up to its potential. One of the criticisms I have about this team is that they are streaky, and this first quarter of play was definitely a cold streak. The first thing I noticed was the obvious mismatch down low. Got Game had two players over 6'8” inside, and they proved to be too much in the first quarter as Gulf Coast Elite failed to score anything inside the three point line, let alone inside the paint. However it was the Elite’s two biggest down low threats that proved that they have the range to match, as Joel Hill, 6’3”, sophomore, Cape Coral and Nick Goshay, 6’ 3’’, sophomore, Charlotte scored two of the teams first three shots from behind the arc. The speed and ball handling skills of Got Game's point guard exploited GC Elite’s lack of speed defensively, as he diced through all early attempts at a press. However, the 2nd quarter was probably their second best quarter, defensively, of the entire tournament. The team locked down and banded together, and was able to hold Got Game to only 8 points in the period. Goshay showed his willingness to get dirty as he hit a tough basket down low, the team first semblance of any low post success. Defensively he was also key; getting a block, three defensive rebounds, and taking a charge all in the second quarter, despite defending against two players with almost five inches on him. The second quarter also saw our team's shots begin to drop. Joel Hill hit two more threes and was the recipient of an amazing look from Troy Simmons, 6’0”, Sophomore, Riverdale for another easy bucket, giving him 8 on the quarter and 11 on the half. Simmons had a great tournament and he opened it up in style, hitting a three, a mid-range jumper off of an incredible spin move and notching a handful of dimes all before the break. Evin Graham, 6’1”, Freshman, Fort Myers and one of the team's brightest stars, had no trouble getting to the hoop on the back of his amazing ball handling skills, however his finishing was not there for the opening sixteen minutes and he botched a handful of lay ups. Despite a fantastic quarter there were still leaks to our team's game as free throw shooting proved to be a burden. Gulf Coast Elite were good to get the opposing team's big men into early foul trouble, and had they taken advantages of free throws then this game would have been out of hand much sooner than it actually was. The team came out of the gates with a bang to start the second half. Evin Graham's lay-ups began to fall, and everything else clicked for a team that had struggled to find themselves early in the game. Even Denzel Hagan, 5’9”, Sophomore, Riverdale was able to slow down his game and let it come to him after a very rough first half. Hagan showed a mastery of the pump fake, hitting a three off of one, and slashing to the hoop for the easy bucket after a defender bit on another. Denzel had been forcing his game early, and took a few ill advised shots, however once he settled down his offense really started to flow. Tyler Manning, 6’3”, Sophomore, Fort Myers proved to be the brightest spot on the other end. He was the only player on the team consistently using his hands to disrupt the opposition's offensive game. He could prove to be a real stud in the future if he just get's some confidence in his shot. I have seen him shoot in practice and he is quite good, but during games he passes up open opportunities, if he would just shoot more and get a little more physical down low offensively, then Tyler Manning will be one heck of a player. Colin Henry, 6’4”, Sophomore, Fort Myers, proved he had the grit needed to rumble down low with anyone. He hit a number of tough baskets in the paint, and thrived at drawing the foul down low. If not for his unrelenting attack underneath, then Got Game never would have gotten in foul trouble and we would have a very different game. Goshay kept his offense going throughout the second half, scoring in a variety of ways. He demonstrated his soft hands, catching a tough pass from Simmons down low; he showed his superior ball control for a player of his size, driving from the free throw line through the heart of Got Game's defense for a tough lay up; and he showcased his touch from the charity stripe. Terran McClendon, 6’0”, sophomore, Fort Myers, was a spark plug. He is by far the most energetic, quickest, and flashiest player on the team. He showed his slashing ability as well as his knack for elevation when he leaped over the entire team for a huge put back early in the fourth quarter. Bensly Melindor, 6'5", sophomore, North Port, has a great future ahead of him as well. Though his contributions were limited in the first game, he has the energy and length to become a major mismatch if he gets any bigger. He never takes a play off and is always the first player up and down the floor. His great work ethic makes him a player any coach would love to have. All in all the team played spectacularly well, as they ran away with the victory and sealed the deal with 58-43 final score. The only criticisms of the team I have for this game is that they take plays, and even quarters, off of defense. They all need to work on boxing out, it is harder to box out in a zone defense compared to man, but that is no excuse. Also nobody other than Manning uses their hands defensively, and the guards need to work on their lateral speed, Denzel and Evin were consistently getting burned by players driving past them. Still the game was a fantastic showing for our local boys, congratulations on the win.
Game 2- Gulf Coast Elite U16: 47, Broward Bobcats: 54
Teams MVP for game 2: Nick Goshay- the brightest gem on the team offensively in a sub-par team performance overall
Game two turned out to be a lot more of a challenge against a team that we matched up with a lot better physically. Our team took control of the game in the opening period, but they were unable to answer the play of the Bobcat’s number 33. 33 was a big player that, despite only having an inch or two on Goshay, was able to have his way with Nick offensively for the entire game, especially late in the fourth quarter when he scored three buckets in five possessions. However, Goshay did a good job of exhibiting his range offensively as he hit two threes in the opening half of play. Goshay proved again that he has the toughness to rumble down low as he hit a few tough baskets down low and one or two of them were off the dribble, and two of the bucket’s were “and 1’s”. However, defensively all he does is make himself tall. It’s good that he does not get into foul trouble, but I would like to see some more intensity and effort when guarding a player in the post. Simmons was busy early, hitting a deep three from about 22 feet out and providing a few nice feeds to his teammates, including Joel Hill who looked a lot more comfortable down low that he did in the previous game. Hill hit a few nice baskets in the paint, and had a few key defensive steals that helped keep the team in the game. The entire team slacked on the boards for the whole game. They refused to box out and grab a defensive board, even allowing the Bobcats to get a few offensive rebounds off of free throws, the cardinal sin. Terran McClendon had another solid performance. He was all over the court, creating steals, dishing out dimes (including an amazing no-look pass to Goshay down low), and let his jumping ability get him to both the rim and the charity stripe. Evin Graham had his worst game of the tournament. I do not think he hit a shot the entire game. However that does not mean he was not trying on offense. There was a possession late in the game where he got three offensive rebounds all of his own missed shots, though he was never able to convert. Defensively he was a liability, as he was always the last down the court, it is as if he has accepted that he lacks speed and in turn does not even try to compensate for it with hustle. I think his off game is probably one of the biggest reasons for the loss. His usual contribution on the scoreboard was definitely missed as the team came up short with a 7 point loss. Nobody was feeling it offensively as the team managed to score only 16 points in the entire second half, one point per minute. Manning and Melindor were two bright spots again. Melindor’s tank was still on full and he showed an ability to finish around the basket, taking advantage of his length and tenacity. Manning, who was hampered by an ankle injury for the entire tournament, proved his commitment to the team as he followed up misses and snatched rebounds from the hands of opposing players, showing the strength to win possession of the ball. Denzel Hagan hit a runner with under two minutes to go to bring the game to a 4 point game, however he was still struggling offensively. Thankfully, he was not forcing it like at the beginning of last game and he decided to focus his talents elsewhere, creating a few clutch assists, and a few hustle plays on defense. Overall defensively Hagan needs to work on his lateral speed, and gets caught out of position frequently in the 3-2 Zone that the team ran. A late technical and a poor foul call on Simmons all in the last two minutes of the game proved to be vital for the bobcats as they were able to stave off the Gulf Coast Elite in a close game. Because the Elite beat Got Game by 15 and lost by 7 here, they had a differential of +8, Got Game beat the bobcats by 15 and lost to us by 15 so their differential was 0, and the Bobcats lost by 15, and won by 7, making their differential -8. This ensured that our team finished first in the toughest pool of the tournament.
Game 3- Gulf Coast Elite 16u- 58, Palm Beach Suns: 30
Team Co-MVP for game 3: Evin Graham - I previously had only seen flashes of brilliance in his play, but he definitely had a breakout game against the Suns.
Team Co-MVP for Game 3: Terran McClendon- I know you usually cannot have two MVP’s but he played so well that he deserves to be mentioned. He definitely had his best performance of the weekend during this game.
The team showed that they had the composure to bounce back from losing a tough game only a few hours before. Despite having played two games already (the suns had played on Friday, so they had only played one game today), the team came out energized. The Elite outscored the Suns 18-8 in the quarter, despite scoring only 16 points in the previous sixteen minutes of play. Terran McClendon, Colin Henry, and Evin Graham all came out with a bang. On the first two possessions McClendon had a steal, a basket, and a beautiful feed to Henry for the basket. The team opened with an 8-0 run and they never looked back. A big difference defensively was that the team came out in man to man, they matched up a lot better with this team height wise. The man to man was key because it made sure every player was accountable for himself, and they stepped up to the challenge. Evin Graham had a breakout quarter and played the best basketball he had played all tournament, he hit a nice three, and got a layup to drop for five in the first period, he also pulled down an offensive board and distributed two assists, including a no look pass that was jaw dropping. In the second quarter the frontcourt continued to step up its play. Graham, Simmons, and McClendon all hit threes as the Elite were able to stretch their lead to 41-17 by half time. Nick Goshay proved once again that he does not need to score in order to help his team win. He had his best game defensively, blocking three shots in the half alone. Goshay also had his best game on the boards, both offensively and defensively. In the second quarter had a well placed baseball pass to find Tyler Manning who caught it over his shoulder and finished in traffic. Manning also put all concerns about his ankle to rest, he showed he was comfortable on his foot, running well and hitting a nice reverse layup right before the break. Colin Henry finished the half with 7 points and hit a trifecta showing his game has some range. The second half was not much prettier as the team ran away with the game, leading to a final score of 58-30. Terran Mclendon has the speed to get anywhere he wants on the basketball court no matter who he has to blow past. Bensly Melindor played well and contributed on both ends. He took advantage of his length to get a nice block on the ball, and has the high release down low that you look for in a bigger guy. Goshay finished the game with over ten rebounds; he was a monster on the boards. The entire team played much better than the last game, and the most notable turnaround was on the defensive end. Even when the team went back to zone, they showed much greater responsibility of their assignment and did not get caught out of position anywhere near as much compared to the previous game. When this team plays against a team that it matches up with well physically, they are unstoppable, it is only when they are dwarfed that they get into trouble.
Game 4- Gulf Coast Elite U16: 43, Got Game: 52
Team MVP for Game 4: Evin Graham- Kid’s a stud. Hit some threes and showed the
control to get his lay-ups to drop.
In a rematch of a game played Saturday morning, the Gulf Coast Elite team failed to bring their A-game and came out flat. Showing fatigue from a long day of basketball the day before, the Elite failed to find any semblance of rhythm and fell one game short of the finals. The top 3 Teams in the tournament qualify for D1 nationals, however there is no consolation game between 3 and 4, so the AAU committee decides who is the more worthy team. The team that lost the other semi final match was the Brower Bobcats (a team that we had already lost to), but we came first in our pool and the Bobcats finished last so maybe we will get some sympathy there. Early in the game our team kept it close, even leading for most of the first quarter. Evin played well, he had a great feed inside, and a monstrous block on the defensive end. Graham showcased his ball handling skills by slashing through a double team and spinning to the hole. However he still is too slow defensively. He needs to start caring about defense if he is going to put his natural gifts to good use. The first time Gulf Coast Elite played against Got Game, Nick Goshay floated around outside the paint, this game he was much more involved down low early, and finally decided to start boxing out guys that are bigger than him. Joel Hill hit a three on a fast break; he is very exciting to watch. He is an absolute stud; he plays with a lot of energy, and has a lot of strength. If he could use his hands more defensively and drop his hips more while boxing out, then he would be one of the best prospects in the area. In the second quarter the team fell behind because they kept forcing threes. On the game Troy Simmons was 0 for 7 from down town. He had shown a lot of patience shooting all tournament and that was something I loved about his game, but he just seemed to be forcing it in the Semi-finals. Denzel Hagan had a few nice assists, and no matter how down the team was he would not give up. He is not as bad as Evin defensively, but often gets caught out of position, and he lacks the lateral speed to stop a good guard. Despite being down by twenty at one point in the third quarter the team went into the fourth quarter down 32-46. Tyler Manning hit back to back buckets to spark the team’s come back run; however he took a fall and hurt his other ankle and was out for the remainder of the game. Best wishes to him, hope he gets better soon. Colin Henry hit a clutch reverse to help the cause in the third, and he also showed a knack for getting to the line, doing so on back to back possessions. Bensly Melindor was running the floor like a mad man and hit a huge bucket with three minutes in the fourth to cut the lead to twelve. Shortly after, Terran McClendon hit a huge three to put the team within nine points of the lead. Got game then missed the ensuing free throws, and we missed two threes and the game was essentially over. The tournament was a good showing for our guys, but in the end Got Game’s two players over 6’8’’ proved to be too much for us to handle. Good luck in Nationals whether it is DI or DII.
Tournament MVP: Evin Graham- He is the youngest player on the team and he has such a bright future ahead of him. He has the range, vision, and the ball handling skills to do whatever he wants with the basketball.
Honorable Mention: Troy Simmons- I hadn’t mentioned him as any of the Game’s MVP’s and he probably deserved at least one. He had a myriad of memorable assists, and showed the poise to hit a three whenever he had to. He ran the floor well on fast breaks and was not afraid to take a tough lay up. He has the agility to spin through defenses and the composure to finish the shot.
SWFL HOOPS
Gulf Coast Elite 16-Under Super Regional Recap
