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LAS VEGAS – Dennis Smith and his Team Loaded/North Carolina teammates had a busy – and quite productive – Wednesday evening on the opening of the NCAA’s third July evaluation period.
Smith (16 points – missing just one shot from the field – to go with four assists, three steals and just one turnover, according to my stat keeping) and his buddies burst out to a 13-2 advantage and then coasted to a 101-83 victory over the Big Ballers (based in Chino Hills, CA) in a first-round game of the adidas Uprising Summer Championships’ “Creators’ Cup” tournament in the Cashman Center in the northern part of town.

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LAS VEGAS – So, what would be the best way to navigate the three national “travel (or club) ball” tournaments going on during a 96-hour, Wednesday-Sunday stretch across town?

Uh, Kobe, is there any way you can let me borrow – on your figurative “dime”, of course – that helicopter you often use for transportation from John Wayne Airport (near your palatial Newport Coast digs) to the Staples Center or the Lakers’ training center in El Segundo?

That would be one heck of a nifty way to get from the Cashman Center (headquarters for the adidas Uprising/850 North Las Vegas Blvd.)

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LAGUNA NIGUEL, Ca. – NCAA Summer Evaluation Week II, Southern California-style, did a nice job of showcasing what kind of point guard prospects exist in the California Class of 2018.

The Asics Double Pump Best of the Summer Tournament (Anaheim’s American Sports Centers), The Big One Tournament (Irvine’s Misty May Treanor Sports Center) and the Fullcourt Press Cream of the Crop Challenge (Garden Grove’s MAP) were the major events that ran over the NCAA’s five-day period – Wednesday 5 p.m. to Sunday at the same time – in which coaches from NCAA-affiliated Division I programs were allowed to attend and evaluate participating players.

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THE OC, Ca. – The NCAA’s second July “evaluation period” gets underway across the U.S. of A., at 5 o’clock area time on Wednesday and – also like the first and third periods – concludes at 5 p.m. on Sunday.

Southern California has three NCAA-certified events, two (“The Big One Tournament” and the Double Pump Best of Summer) of which tip off Wednesday evening.

The Full-Court Press Cream of the Top Challenge doesn’t get underway until Friday (at 8:30 a.m.) at the eight-court MPA Complex in Garden Grove (12552 Western Avenue).

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LAGUNA NIGUEL, Ca. – Each of the three major “evaluation events” held in Southern California offered college coaches and hoopaholics-alike plenty to admire during the NCAA’s first July “evaluation” period that began last Wednesday at 5 p.m. and wrapped up at the same time four days later.

Here are some highlights on each:

*West Coast Elite 100 All-Star Camp (at Pomona-Pitzer College in Claremont): There were 300-plus players in attendance, from coast to coast, with action climaxing with five all-star games on Sunday, for the players from the classes of 2018, ’17 and ’16, as well as Top 40 and Top 20 contests (for those chosen best in class, regardless of classification).

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