Dante Williams 6' 6" 180 SG committed to Oakland

toledo has a history of late pg signees (JT West, Terry Reynolds, Kashif Payne... were all spring signees) also bastfield was an early commit (just played like a last minute one). thomas has been tough to figure. played well in off season conditioning/scrimmages-got hurt-struggled after injury- started to look pretty good-got in trouble and played lousy past 2 games. it think his career could go in any direction. certainly, the team has been much more competitive when he has played well. from video clips i'd say juice brown is a lot quicker w the ball in his hands and creates and sees more passing lanes, but juice is not playing against d1 comp, so who knows. mathew can handle but was brought in as a sg who can help out at pg or w ballhandling when needed.

(01-10-2011 01:28 PM)H2Oville Rocket Wrote:  Don't know if anyone noticed but A J Mathews and his entire HS team was at the Eastern game Saturday. Looks like he has decent size - a couple other guys on the team were pretty big for high schoolers. I think there's another D1 type player on the team?

Matthews probably got a pretty good ribbing from his teammates.

I'm puzzled by those who find fault with Thomas's outside shooting. Are you basing your criticism on his form, or on his shooting during high school, or on his shooting at practice? I know one thing, you're not basing it on his results this year, given that he leads the team in three-point shooting.

(01-10-2011 07:41 PM)Dwight Wrote:  I'm puzzled by those who find fault with Thomas's outside shooting. Are you basing your criticism on his form, or on his shooting during high school, or on his shooting at practice? I know one thing, you're not basing it on his results this year, given that he leads the team in three-point shooting.

My problem with his shooting is that he doesn't seem to look for ENOUGH opportunities to score- 8 of 22 is decent shooting but 22 triples from your main PG doesn't force defenses to address the threat of him scoring. I'd just like to see him be more aggressive on offense, penetrating more and shooting the ball on kickouts rather than swinging it to another player. sometimes a little selfishness can be a good thing.

Like others, I have been disappointed by Thomas this season, but as I give it some thought it seems that Thomas's main problem is that our expectations were too high, at least in part due to the coach's positive pre-season reviews. K hyped the kid a little too much. We thought he was going to come back from surgery and be our saviour. He seems like a hard worker and a team player. I think his main liability is not his shooting, but rather his ball-handling. He is just not sure enough with the ball to be a solid DI point guard.

Dwight: good comments!

Perhaps I too was expecting too much based on the frustration of losing so much.

It used to be that freshman were ineligible and that significant contributions were not expected until the Junior year. Well that's certainly changed. I know he was injured and it is sometimes apparent that he favors one leg/foot.

The fact is that we have had a major hole at PG since K. Paynes departure.

Go Rockets!

The point of this season is for Coach K to evaluate his personnel. We should have plenty of guards--point and shooting next year. The staff will determine who plays where and for how many minutes. I doubt if JT will be more than a role player after this year. He may even decide to transfer if he want major minutes, since he will not get them at UT.

latest game of juice brown per chicago sun times

Hillcrest 66, Richards 58: Julius Brown powered No. 9 Hillcrest (12-4, 6-0) with 29 points. Kadeem Thornton added 14 points.

I expect Juice to be a starter and a leader next year.

lil more...

But the Hawks (12-4, 6-0 SSC Blue) were able to withstand the scrappy play of the Bulldogs in picked up a 66-58 victory behind the 29-point performance from Julius Brown.

"That's how Richards plays," Brown said. "We knew it was going to be a scrappy game and it was."

Brown scored 16 points in the second half, 12 in the final quarter, to help Hillcrest overcome a 28-27 halftime deficit.

"We came out and played hard and with more intensity in the second half," Brown said. "In the first half, we forced a lot of turnovers but we weren't able to take advantage. We did a better job in the second half."

and from the sun times midseason update on the state's top 30 sr recruits in the 2011 class which illinois recruiting guru types call one of the state's best in a generation.

21. Julius Brown, 5-8, PG, Country Club Hills (Hillcrest) ... Hoops Report believes "Juice" will prove to be one of the best recruits for the level he signed when the dust settles on the Class of 2011.The scoring point guard who has a will to win -- and a state title to show for it -- is just what Toledo needs. Has a knack for just making plays.

21. Julius Brown, 5-8, PG, Country Club Hills (Hillcrest) ... Hoops Report believes "Juice" will prove to be one of the best recruits for the level he signed when the dust settles on the Class of 2011.The scoring point guard who has a will to win -- and a state title to show for it -- is just what Toledo needs. Has a knack for just making plays.

Damn, I love to read this.

(01-12-2011 01:55 PM)Rocket Pride Wrote:  21. Julius Brown, 5-8, PG, Country Club Hills (Hillcrest) ... Hoops Report believes "Juice" will prove to be one of the best recruits for the level he signed when the dust settles on the Class of 2011.The scoring point guard who has a will to win -- and a state title to show for it -- is just what Toledo needs. Has a knack for just making plays.

Damn, I love to read this.

+1

AJ Mathew: Playing for one of the top teams in state...

The Dexter High School boys basketball team gave Ann Arbor Huron all it could handle Tuesday night at the Riverdome, but came up just short of pulling off a dramatic upset.

Dexter ran step-for-step with the 2010 state finalist River Rats for three quarters, then shot the lights out in a fourth-quarter comeback, before falling 61-58 in overtime.

"I think that's one thing we've had to get used to this year," said Huron senior A.J. Mathew, who scored a team-high 16 points. "Every team that comes in, we have to take their best shot sooner or later." The River Rats now look ahead to Saturday's rematch of last season's Class A state championship game against Kalamazoo Centeral, played at Lansing Eastern High School.

"I speak for all of us when I say it is a marquee game on our schedule," Mathew said. "But we are going to treat it like any other game and prepare the way we do and go in with the right mind set—not hype it up too much. But we know what is on the line."

Ryan Marjerle: Team is 5-4

ROCKFORD – The Rockford boys basketball squad likes to play that run-and-shoot style of play: travel the court fluidly from coast to coast, then dribble, pass and fire the ball.

The Rams’ offense did that consistently during the first half of play last Friday against Grand Haven, and they were able to jump into a sizable 22-9 halftime lead behind senior forward Ryan Majerle’s eight points. Later, Rockford staved off a dogged second-half Bucs rally to pull out the 41-35 win.
Majerle said his team had to maneuver differently late and showed resilience with the game in jeopardy.

"We just had to be more patient; Ryan (Majerle) didn’t touch the ball, and we did not resort to a press defensively."
Ryan Majerle sparkled for Rockford, finishing with 21 points, including 9-of-10 from the free-throw line while gathering four defensive rebounds.

Didn't find anything on big justin moss other than his team being ranked 5th in state big school division...

Whoa! A recruit who can shoot free throws. Nice!

(01-12-2011 02:49 PM)H2Oville Rocket Wrote:  Whoa! A recruit who can shoot free throws. Nice!

We'll fix that!

Saw Toledo recruit, PG Julius Brown, captain of defending State of Illinois Champion Hillcrest play the other night. He is the real deal & could be a four year starter for the Rockets. Just need to get this awful men's season behind us. The coming influx of new players will make the future brighter for our new coach when he starts his second season. A .500 season would be a good start for a second year coach.

(01-12-2011 01:55 PM)Rocket Pride Wrote:  21. Julius Brown, 5-8, PG, Country Club Hills (Hillcrest) ... Hoops Report believes "Juice" will prove to be one of the best recruits for the level he signed when the dust settles on the Class of 2011.The scoring point guard who has a will to win -- and a state title to show for it -- is just what Toledo needs. Has a knack for just making plays.

Damn, I love to read this.

all the recruits having strong senior yrs so far.

aj mathew had a big game over the weekend as ann arbor huron upended the #1 mich team that beat them last yr in the state championship.

marjerle continues to play well and moss had a big numbers over the weekend although his team doesn't get as much press.

looking more and more like these 4 will mix w the 3 rs transfers (buckley, smith and pierson) and grif, holliday and dear to be the core of the program for upcoming yrs. i suppose humes and thomas and maybe even wonnell or leahy might develop into a reliable role player but all those guys seem to have hit the wall a bit this season.

on the coaches show, Coach K said we have another transfer enrolling today for classes. can't say who it was until he is officially a student. but said is 6-4 and will have 1 1/2 years of eligiblity starting next Christmas break after fall semester. (more to come)

(01-18-2011 01:06 PM)Terry Wrote:  on the coaches show, Coach K said we have another transfer enrolling today for classes. can't say who it was until he is officially a student. but said is 6-4 and will have 1 1/2 years of eligiblity starting next Christmas break after fall semester. (more to come)

He's the surprise I mentioned in the Bjorklund thread. Eastisbest has the beta in his thread. Curtis Dennis from New Mexico (do we know anybody out there?). Per RocketElvis, a very athletic swingman type who should help us.