August 5th, 2005

By Mike Melton at www.metrohoops.com

14U AAU National Championships Report
Tri State Teams Making Noise In Orlando

NJ State Champions Team New Jersey Elite off to 3-0 start

Team Reports

Team NJ Elite- The Garden State Gang is 3-0 with victories over Cleveland’s Friends 4 Life (92-59), Louisiana Panthers (74-62) and Houston Superstars 64-48.

Top Players Breakdown

Dexter Strickland- Strickland was smooth once again; he was hitting the pull up and slicing to the cup. He is playing like one of the top players in the nation right now.

Paris Bennett- Bennett is killing everyone on the blocks. He has a feathery left hand touch and ran the floor very effectively. He had a huge outing against Houston Superstars.

Anthony Baskerville- Baskerville is shooting the rock was much confidence nailing a total of 12 treys in the first three contest. He has been playing excellent defense and dropping some nice dimes.

Lloyd Daniels Running Rebels- The Rebels squeaked through the pool with narrow wins over Cleveland Basketball Club (47-42) and Atlanta Celtics (41-39) before breezing past New Orleans Jaguars (60-47) finishing 3-0.

Top Players Breakdown

Jabari Joyner- The floor general has the drive and kick technique well in his arsenal. It’s extremely difficult to keep this sparkplug out of the lane.

Ibn Moye- Moye is the main man of this live bunch. When his jumper is on he can score in bunches. I like his court presence and willingness to take the big shot.

New York Gauchos- The Choz sweet through their pool by blowing out Team Birmingham Raptors (56-40) and Carolina Foxes (59-39) before nipping Arkansas Wings (65-63) in overtime.

Top Players Breakdown

Chris Fouch- Fouch hit some big shots down the stretch in the victory over the Wings. He has a hard nose style of play but real asset is knocking down the trey ball.

Kevin Parrom- Parrom skills are very apparent. He is a tough match up for many of the post players on this level because they are not accustomed to guarding a big man with his type of perimeter skills.

Durant Scott- Scott cruised the first game but earned his stripes in the overtime thriller. He took over the game in the second half and looked virtually unstoppable at times. He is really taking advantage of the national stage.

Team Roc Scan- Team Roc stumbled out the gate by dropping their opening game to the Central Florida Yellow Jackets (80-72), but bounced back to win the pool by knocking off heavy favorite Team Melo (51-38) and crushing Team Philadelphia (89-73).

Top Players Breakdown

Omari Lawrence- Lawrence was big time vs. Team Melo, he put the Big Apple squad on his back and carried them to the win. The southpaw quick moves off the dribble had the Maryland players baffled.

Bryan Jones- The pesky guard drove the ball up the chest of the Team Melo defenders. He hit the gaps well and finished in the lane. Jones also caught a little dunk in the final moments of the contest.

Philadelphia Patriots- The Patriots won their pool by going 3-0 with big wins over Memphis War Eagles White (46-39), Michigan’s Kazoo/Allstars (79-51) and Newark Rams (80-59).

Top Players Breakdown

Dalton Peppers- The entire has caught wind of Peppers talent. He played above the rim catching a hand full of dunks and dazzled the spectators with his range on his jumper. This kid can flat out go.

Shahid Paulhill- Paulhill is a bruiser with better than average touch around the basket. He hits the boards hard and is very active on the low post.

Corey Irving Allstars- C.I. caught a setback vs. North Carolina Gators (67-55) but rebounded by defeating Arkansas Hawks (60-55) and Tennessee’s Franklin Fury (80-61) to place second in the pool.

Top Players Breakdown

Lenny Hayes- Hayes showed flashes of his athleticism but attacking the basket on occasion. He is definitely the main catalyst of this crew and should turn into one heck of a player.

Filly Sol- The Sol finished 3-0 by beating Baron Davis Rising Stars (48-41), Orlando Huskies (62-35) and Tallahassee Eagles (56-35).

Top Players Breakdown

Greg Robbins- Robbins has used the stage to burst onto the scene. He has nice bounce with his dribble and knocks down the mid range jumper on a consistent basis. Greg also displayed some springs by finishing above the rim.