Recap of the City-Suburban Showdown

Too sum up the two marquee match-ups from Saturday night's City-Suburban Showdown featuring Rock Island High School vs. Morgan Park and Simeon Career Academy vs. Benet Academy: ridiculous. Some of the play from a couple players left fans talking about their performance well after the final buzzer. The electricity in the stadium was that of an NCAA tournament game. Fans were jumping out of there seats at every dunk, flashy pass, and blocked shot. As highlighted in the last post, there were some players worth watching, and all of them came to play. The four players highlighted in the game previews were Sr. combo guard Chasson Randle (6-2, 170 lbs, committed to Stanford) of Rock Island, Sr. SG Wayne Blackshear (6-5, 215 lbs, committed to Louisville) of Morgan Park, So. SF Jabari Parker (6-7, 225 lbs, considering Duke, Illinois, Michigan State, Georgetown, Washington, and Marquette amongst other many, many others) of Simeon, and Sr. C Frank Kaminsky (7-0, 230 lbs, committed to Wisconsin). Let's get started...


Game 1- Rock Island Rocks vs Morgan Park Mustangs.

Player I watched- Wayne Blackshear (Morgan Park)- His performance was nothing that jumped out like I thought it would. When the final stats were released, I was like, wow, that was a good game. Aside from scoring 18 points, Blackshear added 13 rebounds and 5 blocks. If you read my last post, you'll see my prediction was not far off (19 pts, 11 rbs, 4 blocks). It's almost as if I semi-know what I am talking about. I can pat my back on this one because I'll be eating crow for a prediction I had in the next game. Anyways, despite very good numbers, Blackshear did not stand out as an elite performer in this contest. He had several possession where the ball was not even thrown his way and on some possessions, had trouble getting through double teams. Though thicker than the other players on the court, Blackshear did not stand out, so much so, I had to go back to the media guide to check what jersey number he was wearing. At the end of the day, though, the numbers he put against the competition Morgan Park faced is very impressive. I can definitely see why Rick Pitino coveted this shooting guard and made Blackshear one of his top priorities of Louisville's 2011 recruiting class. Look for Blackshear to showcase his tallent in the United Center this March at the McDonald's All-American Game along with fellow Chicago Star from Chicago Prospectous School, Sr. PF Anthony Davis (6-9, 210 lbs, committed to Kentucky).
Player I should have been watching- So. PG Billy Garrett, Jr. (6-3, 165 lbs, offers from UNLV, DePaul, Bradley). For any DePaul basketball fan out there (yea, there are still some out there), this name sounds familiar because his dad, Billy Garrett, Sr. is one of the assistant coaches on Oliver Purnell's coaching staff. For a point guard, Garrett, Jr. has very good size. What stood out from his play was his overall ball handling skills. He was a very good floor general and ran the plays very efficiently. He guarded Rock Island's best player and the favor was returned on him by Chasson Randle. This is usually a good sign. The future looks awfully bright for this point guard and expect to see many more offers to roll in. It should not matter, DePaul seems to be the most likely destination due to his father's current occupation.

Player I watched- Chasson Randle (Rock Island)- He is referred to as a combo guard and at Stanford will most likely play the point guard postition, but last night, Randle was the shooting guard. Randle finished with 13 points and 4 assists. Like Blackshear, Randle did not stick out as much as I anticipated. I expected to see more of a passing display but was immensely disappointed to see him more as a shooter. I did like his acceleration to the hoop and his quickness in and out of the lane. His speed will be an asset for Stanford and definitely fits the mold of these new big, fast, and strong point guards we see in the NBA today. Not being the primary ball handler shows that his point guard IQ is not as high as it should for someone that will have the ball most of the game. It was obvious that Morgan Park focused on Randle as the key to shutting down Rock Island and that played a big part of the lack of gaudy offensive stats.
Player I should have watched- Sr. G Romal Davis (6-3, 180, no major offers)- There was several points in the game where I thought to myself, 'man, that Chasson Randle is going to be sick'. Then I looked in my program and saw the player I was gawking at was #4 on Rock Island. The problem is Chasson Randle wears #5 for Rock Island. Some high school basketball blogger I am. At least I was able to tell the two teams apart from each other. Anyways, Davis had Randle-like explosion to the hoop and a decent shot. Trying to find information on this guy on the internet is harder to find than  Mel Gibson at a synagogue. Don't expect his name to pop up on any college rosters any time soon, but maybe a year or two at Junior College might get him a couple season on a Division 1 team down the road. His game was not too far off from Randle's, the main difference separating the two was the consistent jump shot and scoring ability, though he was a better passer than Randle on this night. I am going to Google this name a couple years from now expecting to see some college info about him.

Final Ponderings: As expected, Morgan Park walked away as the victor but not without a challenge from the Rocks. For a good portion of the second half, Rock Island was actually leading, but the great play from Blackshear and Garrett, Jr was too much at the end for Rock Island. A last second half court heave from Randle was the final hope of Rock Island stealing this game from Morgan Park. The MVP of this game was Blackshear despite a pedestrian night for his standards. It makes me think how good can he will look against any competition when his shot is going in more often. Don't be surprised to see Blackshear in the NBA in 2013.

Game 2- Simeon Wolverines vs. Benet Red Wings

Player I watched- Jabari Parker (Simeon) WOW, I mean WOW! Is he really a sophomore? Is he really this good now? David Stern better start practicing how to say his name because he will be coming to an NBA stadium near you in about 4 years from now. WOW! This was the most dominating performance of the night out of any game and out of any team. He got to the basket with ease and his jump shot was automatic. His play had the crowd oooooing and awwwwing all night. As fans left the UIC Pavilion, I heard several times, "Who was #11 for Simeon?". His name is Jabari Parker and he's the next big basketball star to come from the streets of Chicago. Parker had a game high 21 points in the Simeon loss, but his play was electric. Unfortunately for Simeon, his effort was not enough to pull out the game for a victory. The highlight of the night was when Parker went baseline and two-hand dunked over two Benet Players. Even the Benet fan-base filled stadium stood up after the dunk. For Simeon fans, and there were a couple in the stadium last night, this is nothing new. Watching his performance in person made it very clear why he is one of the top recruits in the whole nation not only for the class of 2013 but in high school right now. His game and basketball IQ are well beyond his years. What impressed me most was ability to consistently hit his jump shot. He took what the defense gave him and did not force much during the game. Sr. F Pat Boyle of Benet had the dubious honor of guarding Parker for most of the game. At least he can say Parker didn't score 22 points on him. I predicted a dominating performance from Parker before, but even that prediction was way off. I can't think of a superlative good enough for his performance, so I will just end by saying, if you get the chance, go see this kid play before the NCAA and NBA charge you an arm and leg to go see him live.
Player I should have watched- I should have just had my eyes glued on Parker the whole night and not wasted my time looking at anybody else. Despite the loss, Parker was my MVP of the game because without him, Benet could have won the game by the end of the 3rd quarter. I was disappointed in So G Kendrick Nunn as I predicted a good performance following a lackluster performance the game before in the loss to Whitney Young. I doubt DePaul, Memphis, and Xavier are going to pull their scholorship offer from him, but two sub-par games in a row shows that Nunn still has a long way to go in order to be a productive college player in the future.

Player I watched- Frank Kaminsky (Benet)- After a slow 1st quarter, I thought, 'isn't this guy suppose to be good?' Just because he's 7 ft doesn't make him good. Kaminsky had 4 rebounds an a couple blocks in the first quarter and had a tough time finishing around the basket. He had a couple offensive rebounds but could not figure out how to get the ball into the basket. The ball was jumping on and off the rim like a fish out of water. But as the game wore on, Kaminsky started to dominate and at the end of the night, finished with a team high 19 points, 10 rebounds, 5 blocks and 4 assists. If not for Parker, Kaminsky would have stole the show. His game is not flashy but he is a terrific all-around front court player. The future Badger was a bigger force on the defensive end than the offensive end. Kaminsky is the ideal Bo Ryan player: great low post moves, good rebounder, good size, and a good midrange game. He hit two 3 pointers and a couple other jump shots throughout the game. He reminds me of Mike Tisdale of the Illinois Fight Illini just without the gross facial hair. I can easily see him putting on about 15-20 lbs over the next 4 years to become a major part of the Badger's future success. He is extremely lanky and has a wingspan like a pterodactyl. His deceptive athleticism was a burden for Simeon on the low block and was a major reason why Simeon became a jump shooting team rather than a team that consistently attacked the rim.
Player I should have watched- Sr. PG David Sobolewski (6-0, 180 lbs, committed to Northwestern)- With all due respect to Frank Kaminsky, Sobolewski was the most electric player for Benet last night. The future Wildcat finished with 15 points and 5 assists and was even more effective on the defensive end. Watching him coming onto the court during warm-ups, it was tough to tell Sobolewski from a young bench player. But once he started shooting, you could tell why he is a Division 1 player: he can hit the long rang and mid range shot consistently. What jumped out even more was his quickness to the rim and his agility around defenders to get to the hoop for a layup or a kick-out pass. He was one of the more athletic players on the court. He is the anchor of what now will be the #1 team in Illinois and will be a great fit for Northwestern's Princeton-style offense.

Final Ponderings: This essentially was a home game for Benet as about 75% of the crowd that was rooting for a team were Benet fans. They brought about 1000 students to cheer on their team and had many more followers carrying the team throughout the game. I completely underestimated how good Benet was. As a possession team that focuses more on creating the best shot available and not making poor decisions, Benet showed an ability to run with Simeon as well. Simeon might have the best player but the better all around team was Benet. Their ability to hit free throws down the stretch was the difference in the game as Benet prevailed by 4. Benet may have caught Simeon in a funk after a tough loss from Whitney Young, but they deserved to be called the winner last night. Parker was unbelievable and almost singlehandedly won the game for Simeon, but the all-around team play and efficiency (how many times has this word been used, but this word describes them perfectly) was too much as Benet continued their undefeated season.

Next Post- TBA- next sunday-ish.