subject: Kyle Anderson motions grace at the IS8 playoffs [print this page] Kyle Anderson motions grace at the IS8 playoffs
In game 7, the last game of the day at the IS playoffs this past Sunday October 24, featured a match up between the Playaz Seniors basically an all star team from New Jersey and Boys and Girls High school.
The high played well early and took the lead and seemed to be edging out the big time Playaz.
On hand was 6'8 or taller Kyle Anderson, who is touted as the number 1 point guard for the upcoming class of 2012 nationally.
It was interesting to see that Anderson not only a player that can bring victories, but also seems like a player than can put lots of fans in the seats at a big time arena.
Thinking say big time college football, there can be as many as 100 thousand people in the stands. The primary draw is the great winning teams but also a factor is the very exciting player who stands out as a fan favorite and also becomes a draw as an individual player. Some college basketball programs have big arenas and Kyle Anderson seems like the type player that could bring fans in the stadium.
Announcer Pete Edwards was calling him "slow motion" but this was more of a reference to poetry in motion than being slow as he is rather quick to the basket.
However is able to motion into the through the defense effectively in driving from the top of the key.
A reference to his offensive style might be Walt " Clyde the glide" Frazier who could really face up to the defense and still put up the jumper right in the face of the defender effectively and play that style of holding right into the defense.
Anderson likes to lead with his left hand, passes lefty and sometime shoots lefty on his drives despite being right handed.
He easily passes with pinpoint accuracy to anywhere on the court, but more so it was his obvious vision on the court that stood out in not only could he make the pass but he also saw the pass.
But he also has an incredible ability to change speeds, direction and tempo in a moments notice.
With him on the Playaz was Rutgers recruit guard Myles Mack who showed great footwork on stepping in to long range jump shots which he often swished with a feathery touch and he also looked very strong.
The Playaz surged in the second half to a double digit lead and coasted to the victory to reach the Final Four in the IS8 tournament.
Team Connecticut launched for two victories to also reach the final 4 including a tough fought matchup with the defending champs the Panthers that was very physical.
The Panthers came out strong with hitting just about every shot early and passing so quickly all over the court the defense didn't get a chance to get set.
Nemaja Djurisic at 6'9 was referred to as " Big Fundamental" by Pete as he was announcing the game and he has the fundamental style with an excellent outside touch to mid range and sometimes beyond.
He had an early personal run of 12 points and later in the half Sterling Gibbs was impressive with his own personal run of 12 straight points where he didn't miss a shot.
It looked like a probable Panthers win but on the other end of the court was big 7'1 Andre Drummond who in additional to the usual offense was starting to patrol the paint making it difficult to drive to the hoop for the Pathers and he had a number of swats.
It still didn't look like enough for a comeback until " ambidextrous Tavon Allen hit a barrage of 3's with the lefty shot and he ultimately finished the game with 32 points.
The explanation as to why Pete Edwards was referring to him as ambidextrous while announcing the game was revealed when he pulled up for a corner jumper righty and swished it through.
The outcome was still in doubt and either was in the final seconds as the lead flip flopped and Team Connecticut got to a tie. The point guard for them hit a runner in the lane with 2 seconds to go leaving little time for a good shot attempt by the Panther's who were not able to get a shot off on the inbound pass in time.
A great line in the always fun announcing from Pete Edwards in the last minute was, the champs are on the ropes and taking punches," Bringing back shades of the hey day of boxing with Ali and Frazier.
And when Thady back dribbled for the Panthers, He said, " Thaddy with a new move".
Earlier on the Connecticut team just made it past the Juice, who gave the look of a tough inside presence with the hard changing Kamari Murphy at only 6'9 and Lincoln High 7 foot center Jordan Dickerson who played some nice D on Drummond but didn't really get involved offensively in this particular game.
Also, Team Hersh just nipped Our Savior New American at the end of a hard fought game in which as a team Our Savior had several sequences where they had three players, not two but three blocking interior shots simultaneously.
This was pretty incredible display of defensive prowess by this team despite the loss.
Javon Thomas, a guard for Our Savior ranking in the top 20 nationally by Hoop Scoop in the 2012 class, showed a great jump shot and hops to the hoop. He is said to be the top point guard from NYC. Yet, at the same time, he did not look like Mr. Point guard on the court and seemed to bring much more of shooting guard style in this game, but perhaps he plays a different style on the AAU circuit.
