Elite 75 – Morning Recap

New England Recruiting Report | Wednesday, July 8th, 2009

BABC got their first tune-up on their way to the Nike Peach Jam Tournament later this week as they squared off against a team from the Netherlands called the Dukes. 

BABC jumped on the Dukes early as they overwhelmed them with their full court pressure and got an early boost from Mike Carter-Williams who put on a show in the game’s opening minutes with his tremendous skill set and great feel for the game.  He scored in every which way – getting to the rim and finishing with extension, creating space in the mid-range area, and stroking the three ball. 

Ultimately, the verdict was never in doubt as BABC dominated at the onset and never let their lead get under 20, wrapping up the contest by an 80-53 margin.  It was truly an impressive performance from BABC as the Dukes were a talented and deceptively athletic team.  But BABC got contributions from everyone and played at an extremely high level for all 40 minutes. 

Just about everyone from the BABC roster thrived in one way or another as they truly look poised to make a run at the Peach Jam title. 

Kamali Bey played a very impressive floor game scoring the ball within the flow of the offense and making a couple of beautiful passes.  The first came on the offensive glass when Bey followed his own miss and in a single mid-air motion pulled down the rebound and fired a pass to his teammate for an early lay-up.  The second was a bit of a Mark Jackson flashback as Bey backed his man down with his dribble and then whipped a behind the back bounce pass off the dribble that hit his cutter in mid stride. 

Egi Gjikondi and Nerlens Noel continue to make a lethal interior tandem.  Gjikondi was especially effective scoring around the rim as he follows his own misses, never brings the ball down, and finishes everything with a soft touch.  Noel continued to be a major factor on the defensive end and it was evident that many of the kids from the Netherlands had never played against a shot blocker of his stature. 

Domonique Bull and Jared Johnson controlled the wings for BABC.  Bull was a great slashing weapon on the offensive end as he either scored himself or forced the defense to collapse as no single defender could contain him.  Johnson is just the ideal fit for this team at the 2-spot because he’s a strong and athletic perimeter player who is a great fit in their pressure defense. 

Two unsung heroes for this team are Georges Niang and Bryan Hurley.  Niang showed tremendous footwork and a super soft touch around the rim making a valuable contribution off the bench.  Hurley is the consummate floor general who runs the show and gets the ball where it needs to go. 

In the end BABC left the Elite 75 and headed south after having passed their first test of the summer with flying colors.