Mass Rivals earns adidas 17-U Open top seed

July 22, 2016 By Frank Burlison Leave a Comment

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LAS VEGAS – The Massachusetts Rivals squad made quick and efficient work of two opponents Thursday to capture the adidas Summer Championships’ “Creator Cup” and earn the top seed in the 17-Under Champion playoffs’ bracket at the Cashman Center.

Coach Vincent Pastore’s team opened the Creator Cup competition Wednesday night by pounding Compton Magic, 83-55, and followed it with 71-36 win over Game Elite (Georgia and South Carolina players) in the semifinal Thursday afternoon.

Mass Rivals ground out a 67-61 decision over D-I Minnesota in the final later that night.

Pastore’s squad opens playoff competition Friday afternoon on center court (5) in the Cashman Center at 4 o’clock.

Guards Wabissa Bede and Makai Ashton Langford averaged 17.0 and 13.0 points, respectively, over the three games for Mass Rivals.

Most of the adidas individual standouts were on display Thursday including Zion Williamson (Game Elite), Jaylen Hands (Compton Magic), Romeo Langford (Eric Gordon All-Stars) and Nick Weatherspoon (Mississippi Basketball Academy).

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Frank Burlison is a well-regarded basketball writer who was inducted into the U.S. Basketball Writers Association Hall of Fame in 2005. His opinions on the potential of high school and college players are widely respected and sought by college coaches and NBA scouts, personnel directors and general managers from coast to coast. Oh, yes – he can offer plenty of thoughts on movies, television and pop music. Yes, he can rank those, too. Hint: He’s a big The Godfather, Larry Sanders, The Wire and The Beatles loyalist.

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George Raveling

George Raveling

I’ve known Frank for at least 35 years and have the utmost respect for his writing as well as his understanding of, and insight into, basketball. His ability to evaluate basketball prospects is almost impeccable. Most coaches and scouts watch a player and can tell you how good he is NOW. What separates Frank from the others is that he can watch the same player and tell you how good he can be two or three years down the line.

George Raveling

3x Pac-10 Coach of the Year, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer

Director of International Basketball, Nike

Marques Johnson

Marques Johnson

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1977 National Player of the Year, 5x NBA All-Star

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Winningest coach (892-81) in California boys’ basketball history during his 29 seasons at Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei