Friday, November 27, 2009

It's Early Folks

It appears Cy Fair is still the best team in the city, after all they have the Number 1 player in the country, Chiney Ogwumike, who I consider the most complete player to come out of Houston. The good news for many Houston area teams is Cy Fair's in Region 2 and if they do make it to Austin, it will be Chiney's fourth consecutive trip. Okay, now everyone should be in agreement on who the best team in the city is however several have different opinions on who has the best team in Region 3.

Jeff Coward of Texasgirlsbasketball.com wrote an excellent article on North Shore http://www.texasgirlsbasketball.com/info/stampede(NorthShorezMustangs)2009-10.html

Many folks feel Hightower is the best team and although I think Hightower is a very good team, I believe North Shore is better because along with being a very good team, they have a kid who is capable of dropping 30 on any given night, Courtney Williams, something Hightower lacks.




There are many other teams like Elsik, Katy Taylor and Cinco Ranch that have a chance to make a run. I am more surprised with Alief Taylor, Bellaire and Fort Bend Austin, who lost by only two against Hightower in the Fort Bend Tournament and is led by super-soph Nicole Blaskowsky. I knew Bellaire's fate would rest in the hands of freshman point guard AJ Alix, shooting free throw, and she has accepted the challenge


The season is about to start the second quarter and I haven't seen some of the other teams who could make a run in this wide open region. Always remember that once you get in the playoffs, you only need to be the best team in that game.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Houston Chroncile Pre-Season picks

5A Favorites
1. Cy-Fair
2. Hightower
3. North Shore
4. Elkins
5. College Park
6. Cinco Ranch
7. Bellaire
8. Elsik
9. Nimitz
10.Dulles

All-Greater Houston Pre-Season Players


First team
P Chiney Ogwumike Sr. Cy-Fair
P Chrishauna Parker Jr. Nimitz
G Chelsea Bass Sr. St. Agnes
G Cassie Peoples Jr. Cy-Fair
G Courtney Williams So. North Shore
Second team
P Larla Brown Jr. Kingwood Park
P Taylor Frank Sr. Tomball
G Demi Clinch Sr. Cinco Ranch
G Donielle Breaux Sr. Elkins
G Jasmine Brewer Sr. Hightower
Third team
P Kendal Shaw So. Barbers Hill
P Rachel Micthell Sr. Atascocita
G Priyanka Duvvuru Sr. College Park
G Jenzel Nash Jr. Worthing
G Je'Lena Robertson Sr. Cypress Falls

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Dobie Fall League

North Shore's super soph Williams is ready to take charge and try to lead her team to Austin. Let's see, she's 6'2, can play all 5 positions in HS and is probably one of the top 5 players in her class, I'm talking about her class in the NATION folks.
Clear Lake will provide some match-up problems with the addition of 6'3 Garcia, far right, to go along with Tulane commit, 6'3 Westby

Clear Creek's Kaylin Dugie is one of the top PG's in the state for the class of 2010. Up and coming freshmen Branch and Longley willhave the tourch passed to them after this season and will keep Creek respectable for the remainder of their careers. Branch, BTW, is the grandaughter of NFL great, Cliff Branch.



I was pleased to see some of our clubs younger kids, like freshman sharpshooter Ngo, playing on varsity at Clear Brook.
Two of our other freshmen were getting action on their JV squads, James at Clear Brook and
Hurd at Friendswood.

Friday, October 2, 2009

Houston Area District Breakdowns

5A

District 13
Klein
Klein Collins
Klein Forest
Klein Oak
Spring
Spring DeKaney
Spring Westfield
Tomball

District 14
Conroe
Conroe Oak Ridge
Conroe The Woodlands
Conroe Woodlands
College Park
Lufkin
New Caney

District 15
Houston Cyp. Creek
Houston Cyp. Fair
Houston Cyp. Falls
Houston Cyp. Lakes *
Houston Cyp. Ranch *
Houston Cyp. Ridge
Houston Cyp. Springs
Houston Cyp. Woods
Houston Jersey Village
Houston Langham Crk

District 17
Katy
Katy Cinco Ranch
Katy Mayde Creek
Katy Morton Ranch
Katy Seven Lakes
Katy Taylor

District 18
Alief Elsik
Alief Hastings
Alief Taylor
Houston Memorial
Houston Northbrook
Houston Spring Woods
Houston Strake Jesuit
Houston Stratford

District 19
Houston Aldine
Houston Eisenhower
Houston MacArthur
Houston Nimitz
Humble
Humble Atascocita
Humble Kingwood

District 20
Houston Bellaire
Houston Chavez
Houston Lamar
Houston Madison
Houston Math Science &
Tech
Houston Milby
Houston Westside

District 21
Baytown Lee
Baytown Sterling
Beaumont West Brook
Channelview
Galena Park North Shore
Port Arthur Memorial

District 22
Deer Park
La Porte
Pasadena
Pasadena Dobie
Pasadena Memorial
Pasadena Rayburn
Pasadena South Houston
Pearland

District 23
Fort Bend Austin
Fort Bend Bush
Fort Bend Clements
Fort Bend Dulles
Fort Bend Elkins
Fort Bend Hightower
Fort Bend Kempner
Fort Bend Marshall
Fort Bend Travis
Fort Bend Willowridge

District 24
Alvin
Clute Brazoswood
Dickinson
Frndswd Clear Brook
Galveston Ball
Houston Clear Lake
Clear Creek
Clear Springs


4A

District 17
Buda Hays
Del Valle
Elgin
Kyle Lehman
Lockhart
Manor

District 18
Brenham
Conroe Caney Creek
Huntsville
Magnolia
Magnolia West
Montgomery
Waller
Willis

District 19
Baytown Goose Crk Mem
Crosby
Dayton
Galena Park
Houston King
Houston N Forest
Humble Kingwood Park
Mont Belvieu Barbers Hill

District 20
Beaumont Central
Beaumont Ozen
Livingston
Lumberton
Nederland
Orange Little Cypress-
Mauriceville
Port Neches-Groves
Vidor

District 21
Houston Austin
Houston Davis
Houston Lee
Houston Reagan
Houston Sharpstown
Houston Waltrip
Houston Westbury
Houston Yates

District 22
Houston Furr
Houston Jones
Houston Kashmere
Houston Scarborough
Houston Sterling
Houston Washington
Houston Wheatley
Houston Worthing

District 23
Bay City
El Campo
Richmond Foster
Rosenberg Lamar Cons
Rosenberg Terry

District 24
Angleton
Freeport Brazosport
Friendswood
La Marque
Manvel
Pearland Dawson
Santa Fe
Texas City

3A

District 17
Bullard
Gilmer
Gladewater
Longview Spring Hill
Tatum
Tyler Chapel Hill

District 18
Carthage
Center
Diboll
Huntington
Jasper
Lufkin Hudson
Pollok Central
Rusk

District 19
Groesbeck
Lorena
Mexia
Robinson
Waco Connally
Waco La Vega

District 20
Athens
Brownsboro
Crockett
Fairfield
Palestine
Palestine Westwood

District 21
Bridge City
Hamshire-Fannett
Orangefield
Silsbee
Sour Lake Hardin-
Jefferson
West Orange-Stark

District 22
Cleveland
Cleveland Tarkington
Coldspring-Oakhurst
Huffman Hargrave
Liberty
Shepherd
Splendora


District 23
BYE

District 24
Bryan Rudder
Caldwell
Cameron Yoe
Madisonville
Navasota
Rockdale
Taylor

2A

District 17
Daingerfield
Hughes Springs
Jefferson
Linden-Kildare
Mount Pleasant Chapel
Hill
Ore City
Queen City


District 18
Big Sandy Harmony
Diana New Diana
Elysian Fields
Gladewater Sabine
Gladewater Union
Grove
Harleton
White Oak
Winona


District 19
Arp
Elkhart
Frankston
Garrison
Nacogdoches Central
Heights
New London West
Rusk
Troup
Woden

District 20
Franklin
Hearne
Jewett Leon
Marlin
Rosebud-Lott
Teague

District 21
Anderson-Shiro
Buffalo
Centerville
Corrigan-Camden
Groveton
New Waverly
Onalaska
Trinity

District 22
Hemphill
Kirbyville
Newton
San Augustine
Shelbyville
Woodville

District 23
Anahuac
Buna
Deweyville
Hardin
Kountze
Warren
Winnie East Chambers

District 24
Houston Milburn
Houston Yes Prep N
Cntrl
Houston Yes Prep-SE

Conference 1A Division 1


District 17
Blue Ridge
Celeste
Collinsville
Ivanhoe Rayburn
Merit Bland
Trenton
Wolfe City

District 18
Campbell
Cumby
Fruitvale
Martins Mill
Quinlan Boles
Sulphur Springs North
Hopkins
Yantis

District 19
Avery
Detroit
Maud
McLeod
Simms Bowie


District 20
Beckville
Big Sandy
Hawkins
Overton
Price Carlisle
Waskom


District 21
Cayuga
Dawson
Hubbard
La Rue La Poynor
Malakoff Cross Roads
Wortham


District 22
Cushing
Gary
Joaquin
Mount Enterprise
New Summerfield
Tenaha
Timpson


District 23
Alto
Dallardsville Big Sandy
Grapeland
Latexo
Lovelady


District 24
Broaddus
Burkeville
Colmesneil
Martinsville
Pineland West Sabine
Zavalla

Conference 1A-Division 2


District 17
Bellevue
Bowie Gold-Burg
Byers
Forestburg
Henrietta Midway
Nocona Prairie Valley
Saint Jo
Slidell


District 18
Dallas Hampton Prep
Dallas Peak
Irving Univrsl Acad
Red Oak Life

District 19
Abbott
Avalon
Bynum
Coolidge
Frost
Milford
Penelope
Trinidad

District 20
Aquilla
Blum
Covington
Kopperl
Morgan
Oglesby
Waco Rapoport
Walnut Springs

District 21
Dodd City
Ector
Ladonia Fannindel
Roxton
Savoy


District 22
Cumby Miller Grove
Greenville Phoenix
Charter
Saltillo
Sulphur Bluff


District 23
Avinger
Bloomburg
Gilmer Union Hill
Karnack
Laird Hill Leveretts
Chapel


District 24
Douglass
Kennard
Laneville
Neches
Oakwood
Elkhart Slocum
Wells


UIL Basketball link
http://www.uil.utexas.edu/athletics/basketball/


Saturday, September 26, 2009

My views from Alodia

http://www.alodiabasketball.com/


It's always good to take a peek at teams like Cy Fair, who might make a run once everything is said and done, better known as when volleyball season is over.








Concordia Lutheran sent a message out that they could compete with many public schools by defeating Cy Fair and Tomball, however Cy Fair was without not only the number one player in the Nation Chiney Ogwumike, but also one of the top PG's in 2011's class, Cassie Peoples. Concordia is led by junior Taylor Schippers and senior Allie Branderburg , Schippers is one of the top shooters I have seen come through the area and also one of the top 2011 players in the state.




Spring's new coach, Dewanda Richardson, hopes to bring back the glory days of not so long ago when Spring had a succesful run led by the Williams twins, Tweet and Moses, along with Brittany Brooks. That same team was the Region 3 represenative in Austin back in 2006. Folks if anyone can get the most out of her kids, she can.




Even saw a little bit of JV action, Tomball has some promising kids coming up


Thursday, September 24, 2009

Monday and Wednesday Action

On a wet and nasty Monday, I wanted to check out some action because IMHO, I felt like 3 of the top teams in the city would be playing. Dekaney was impressive and might be the early favorite to win their district, but then again, Klein Collins might be thinking otherwise. Dekaney is young and loaded and one of the youngsters, Taylor, has so much raw ability that it's almost scary.



Cy Falls looked pretty good, guard-heavy, and very athletic. Clear Springs didn't show up, really wanted to see them play, however, they may have lost their best player for the first part of the season to an injury. She's not only a solid talent, but a great kid and I hope everything is okay.



Now for the hype. Watched Elsik pop Hightower without the Elonu's, but I have to admit even though Hightower lost, their presence will be felt before it's all said and done. Ocanas put on one of the best individual performances I have seen early in the season. The kid was chillin and killing on the court, put her team on her back, and led them to victory. Very impressive performance! Elsik has some tools and should win their district with ease.



Rodneisha Mylum scored over half of Stratford's points in beating Crosby. In Stratford's defense, Evans wasn't there to run the point, so the dynamic duo of her and Mylum, who is one of the top "BIGS" in Texas, will have to stay healthy for Stratford to think about making the playoffs. I have already concluded Elsik will win D-18 going away, maybe going undefeated in district play. Speaking of Crosby, they have a very athletic and fast freshman, Godfrey, with plenty of upside and once she learns the game, watch out.

Monday, August 31, 2009

More pics from the camp



Coach MJ giving instructions!



















Players and Pics

The camp was loaded with quite a few talented young ladies, some of which I had never seen or heard of before including a couple of 2011's from California, Erimma Amarikwa and AhjaleeHarvey




Since we're out West, there was a kid from Arizona's class of 2010, Kaitlin Meister, that was nailing jumpers everytime I looked up. She is standing to the right of one of Houston's top 2012 guards Nicole Blaskowski. I watched Meister nail jumpers all weekend, open, guarded, off balance, you name it.

Another from the class of 2010 was a product from Georgia, Kris King, who was just a workaholic the whole weekend. Strong and athletic, King stepped up to the challenge everytime she was called on.


Rounding out the 2010 players in attendance was Taryn Gregory. I had a chance to coach her the last couple of years and she had quite a year. She led her high school team within one victory of the Regional Final Four and gained attention from Hoopgurlz this summer, playing with a fractured shooting hand at that.
I won't rank any of the younger kids or give up too much information because I'm not running my blog as a cheat sheet so some "club coaches" can go out and recruit. With that being said, I don't mind talking about Moriah Jefferson and Curtyce Knox being two of the top guards in the class of 2012. That same class has 6'4 Derreyal Youngblood and 6'3 Kendall Shaw, not to mention another fine shooter, Chelsea Jennings. Natalie Vantress is a very gifted player from the class of 2011 who is blessed with size, nice handles and the ability to put it on the floor as well as hitting the jumper. From the class of 2013, I want you to remeber this name, Jessica Jackson. 6'1 and still growing and one of the top players at the camp.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Ganon Baker Camp


I heard all of the stories about Ganon Baker, he trains the best players in the league, Kobe and LeBron, runs the Nike Skills Camp and I even watched the Youtube.com highlights.

Number one, I am not impressed very easily but Ganon does a great job not only instructing but motivating the players. He is so intense that you can't help but want to put out 100% for this guy.

His goal is to try and help the girls work more on their skills. "I am here to train" said Baker. "You guys have great talent but it's undeveloped"

He then added something I have been saying for years as far as kids not working on their weaknesses. "That's what wrong with grassroots, you play 100 games and can't hit a jumper"

I agree with him 100%, most kids just don't put in the extra work because it's hard, trust me I know. Hopefully those who attended this camp were motivated enough to accept what was being said and utilize what he taught them. I really liked this quote " How many tools are in your toolbox"

The camp was coordinated by none other than Kelvin Powell. Kelvin is a major player in high school basketball on both sides and he runs several exposure events including Basketball On The Bayou, which is one of the top July events. He also has a National Scouting Service, Roundball Journal, along with being a member of the McDonald's All American Selection Committee and Gatorade National and State Player of the Year commitees, plus he's a national evaluator for Hoopgurlz.com.

Kelvin introduced me at the end of the camp as " Someone you need to know in Houston" and I guess in a sense he may be correct. I truly appreciate him inviting me to cover this event along with introducing me to Ganon. I saw some very talented young ladies, many I had never seen or heard of before. Thanks guys!

Tomorrow I will break down a few of the players and add some photos.