LONG BEACH, Ca. – There was so much drama in the LBC(C) gymnasium Monday night until the Don MacLean-coached Team USA 2014 Blue squad made just enough plays down the stretch to come away with the adidas Nations championship.
The 81-77 victory over Team USA 2014 Red that was likewise unbeaten over the weekend of action that was held at the Next Level Complex in Garden Grove was played in a Long Beach City College gym that has played host to some of the top high school and community college players in Southern California – and beyond – for more than 50 years.
Point guard Romelo Trimble (Arlington, VA, O’Connell) hit a short floater with 33 seconds remaining to give the Blue a four-point advantage.
Then, after forward Kevon Looney (Milwaukee Hamilton) scored on a follow of a Stanley Johnson (Santa Ana, CA, Mater Dei) miss, Theo Pinson (Greensboro, NC, Wesleyan) was fouled and hit two free throws with 13 seconds remaining for the final points and the four-point margin of victory.
Johnson (a game-high 17 points), center Jahlil Okafor (Chicago Whitney Young/14 points), Looney (13) and wing Trevon Bluiett (Indianapolis Park Tudor/11 points) scored in double figures for the Red.
The Blue also had four scorers in double figures: Pinson (15 points), forward Reid Travis (Minneapolis DeLaSalle/14 points), guard D’Angelo Russell (Montverde, FL, Academy/11) and forward Trey Lyles (Indianapolis Tech/10 points) were double-figure scorers for the Blue.
Earlier, in the third-place game that was also televised by ESPNU, Team Africa dominated a listless USA 2015/16 Red squad over the final three quarters for a 69-56 victory.
Sidy Ndir (Senegal), Nehdi Ngouma (Algeria) and Cheikna Tchiengang Tanko (Mali) combined for 57 points for Team Africa, which also beat Team USA 2015/16 Blue in pool play Friday night in Garden Grove.
Congratulations are due for Jeff Robbins and the rest of his adidas crew, including media specialist-extraordinaire Ben Mann, for another job well done.
My choices for the Most Outstanding Player (aka “MVP”) and all-adidas Nations (based upon how they played over the four days, not on “college and NBA potential”):
*MOP: D’Angelo Russell (6-3/Montverde, FL, Academy/Team USA 2014 Blue): Any of three 2014 Blue players could have received this honor. But Russell, a Louisville resident who is committed to Ohio State, got it based upon his overall performance as a leader, playmaker, scorer and defender.
The latter was never more evident than in the second half Monday night when, after Stanley Johnson had scored 15 points to give Team USA Red a 38-32 lead at intermission, he was assigned to California’s best player and helped hold him to 0-for-7 from the field the rest of the way.
He should be in the conversation whenever the topic turns to “the best all-around guards in the Class of 2014”.
And the other all-tourney choices:
*Stanley Johnson (6-5/Santa Ana, CA, Mater Dei/Team USA 2014 Red): I’m not convinced he’s absolutely the best scorer in this class. But he might be.
And he’s also a terrific rebounder, an underrated passer and an improved man-to-man defender – all of which he ably demonstrated for four days before being slowed down in the final half Monday, perhaps because of spring- and summer-induced fatigue as well as the “D” of D’Angelo.
*Reid Travis (6-6/Minneapolis DeLaSalle/Team USA 2014 Blue): This cat is a quarterback?
Ouch! He must get a special kick out of dealing with those 165-pound cornerbacks who try to come up and tag him on Friday nights . . .
That witticism out of the way, he demonstrated, time and again, over the spring and summer that he’s one of the best power forwards in the Class of 2014 and no worse than one of the 20-best prospects in the class, period.
And that was especially the case over the past four days, when he brutalized taller defenders and opposing rebounders in the post, or nailed 3s from the corner (he hit two of them Monday night).
Beast.
*Trey Lyles (6-8/Indianapolis Tech/Team USA 2014 Blue): As was the case with Travis, I gave him strong consideration for MOP because of his consistently solid performances, at both ends of the floor, for Don MacLean over the long weekend.
Please don’t take this is damning him with faint praise (in a manner of speaking): I don’t think there is a better “rim-level” or “below-the-rim” post prospect in the class.
He’ll never wow you with his vertical explosiveness. He will, though, continually impress you with his savvy and production.
*Jahlil Okafor (6-10/Chicago Whitney Young/Team USA 2014 Red): He’ll probably continue to leave nit-pickers wanting “more” – as in production and perceived consistency of effort.
That conceded, he once more demonstrated – to anyone watching with an unbiased perspective, at least – that he is clearly the No. 1 center prospect in the Class of 2014, toying with, at times, the two best defenders at the position in the class in Myles Turner (Euless, TX, Trinity) and Chinanu Onuaku (Upper Marlboro, MD, Riverdale Baptist).
*Michael Nzei (6-7/Nigeria/Centerreach, NY, Our Savior/Team Africa): He’s one of elite power forward-prospects in the Class of 2014 and was the best rebounder in this event.
His catch of a length-of-the-floor pass and ensuing dunk over the top of the 6-11 Myles Turner Sunday night was the most stunning sequence I witnessed over the four days.
*Sidy Ndir (6-2/Senegal/Team Africa): The left hander is supposedly 18 and I’m not sure if he attends a high school in the U.S. or plans to, or if he aspires to attend a U.S. college and play for that school.
That being said, the skill as a ball-handler, passer and – especially – jump shooter over the event lead me to surmise that, two or three years from now, he might be good enough to be on an NBA roster.
Along with D’Angelo Russell, he was one of the two-best guard prospects on display Monday night.
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