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Highly touted big man 6’9 center Tony Parker came up all the way from Georgia to join the lineup for the Kyle Anderson led New Jersey based Playaz this Saturday. Earlier Mount Vernon showed he was here to compete and possibly etch out a win against the touted Playazz. With excellent teamwork, crisp passing and quick sliding drives to the hoop, they were running right with the Plazazz while also playing ball hawking defense on the perimeter. Parker seemed to start someone slowly in terms of putting up points on the board. He first few shots were hotly contested and resulted in misses in the lanes. But right away you could see that he has particularly quick feet, just about cat quick and smooth movies in the lane with as he showed later on a shooters finishing touch and he fit into the description of the announcer of the game who referred to him as “ Skills”. He warmed up nicely later in the game to finish with 14 points and 14 rebounds in the 73-66 victory. The other All American player on his team, U.C.L.A. bound Kyle Anderson, also at 6.9, was the primary ball handler on offense and generally looked to make a lot of longer passes as well as dishes for short cuts to the basket. From the point of view of his teammates, they could expect a pass from any distance away on the court from any angle. He has the nickname Slow Mo, not exactly complimentary but it more lends to that he keeps good control while either handling under tight defensive pressure or driving through heavy traffic in the lane for running one hander. He displays excellent quickness side to side on the court and because of his height he doesn’t really need to always rush things and is really steering the ship on offense at a pace that can give he teammates a chance to make their cuts or run ahead of the field and he never seems to be behind on the timing of his passes in particular. While he finished this game with only 12 points, he is a capable and often big scorer but in crunch time this game his 4 blocked shots and additional steals were crucial as just in the last 3 minutes of the game was the Playaz able to create some margin in terms of score and actually win the game to make it to the finals of the IS5 fall classic. Darrick Wood of the Playaz was being referred to by announcer and tournament director Pete Edwards as Hang Time, He has two rather surreal dunks, including one off a rebound where he skied into the lane from about 7 feet out in a flash, caught the long rebound on a missed shot and slammed in home in a rim rattling jam. His other jam was a twisting acrobatic type where he still seemed to be rising after the fact. He also displayed good potential as a long distance jump shooter when he was able to create space. An area for improvement would be the jumper in heavy traffic although he may not have been warmed up going into the game as the Playaz warmed up briefly compared to Mount Vernon who was there and warming up for 45 minutes. The second game had Our Savior New American against the New York Panthers. The Panthers had a 8 point lead early, particularly impressive was point guard Tyler Ennis in hitting some deep jumpers off the dribble with a hand in his face and he appears to have an excellent outside shot that he make while well defended. He also showed great speed and nice canny passing off quick drives. Melvin Johnson, who scored 25 points, a Miami University commit, good place to go for some heat and sun on the side, went off early with long distance floaters in the lane that he just kept hitting and when the defense backed off he would pop a quick jumper. Our Savior adjusted a bit, got right back in the game although their shooting was at times good it was also inconsistent but their relentless play got them lots of steals and offensive rebounds in what was overall a fast paced game. Pete Edwards while announcing the game spoke of 6'9 Chris Obekpa as "game changer." On the defensive side of the game, he appears to be so contentious and skilled that he would bring some hesitation to even NBA players going to the basket right now. He is still developing offensively, but he hit a highly skilled key jump hoot in the last minute of the game and had resounding dunks in the paint. While he seems right now to be rated about around 100 nationally on recruiting lists, he would have to be in the top 5 no matter who else is out there as far as a low blocks defender and intimidating presence in the paint and out into the lanes to the hoop. While there are big men out there with a variety of skills, not too many bring precisely that and he seems to bring that presence right through the game from beginning to end. For the New York Players, 6’6 Amir Garrett was getting to the foul line and knocking those shots down with a lefty touch. As time ran out, Our Savior was on the foul line with two shots and 1 point behind. Neither foul shot dropped as the score stayed at 77-76 and they go on to the finals against the touted Playaz hoping to contend well and go for the upset bid.
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