Memphis Roar

At the end of a tumultuous week for the University of Memphis basketball program and its fans, future Memphis star Will Barton and other potential keys to Memphis’ 2010 recruiting class in Joe Jackson and Roscoe Smith kept Memphis on the tips of the crowd’s tongues. This time, people were talking about Memphis in a positive way.

This past Wednesday afternoon, twenty-four of America’s brightest prep talents arrived in New York City for the third annual Boost Mobile Elite 24 game at Rucker Park (Bronx, NY). The week’s festivities were set to culminate Friday night on the famous outdoor playground, but mother-nature had other plans.

As my crew and I headed toward the Bronx in a Yellow Cab, it was painfully obvious that Hurricane Bill was planning on attending the Elite 24 game. Still three hours before the expected tip-off, brief but heavy showers dumped water on the outdoor court but leaving enough time to potentially stick to the original plan. Event organizers said that there was a pre-arranged backup plan at a local gym, but the decision to move the game was delayed for over three hours while volunteers tried drying off the court with leaf blowers and one rolling heater.

For the first time in my life, I got to witness players warm up with towels coating the entire area inside the three-point line. With the crowd, players and organizers getting antsy, the game was minutes from starting when drops of rain began trickling from the sky. Despite their efforts to cover the court with a plastic tarp, the decision was finally made to move the game to the New York Gauchos gym. Running through the city streets and across traffic to track down a city bus, we made our way over to the new location. After fight thru crowds and a near riot, we made our way into the gym.

Of the twenty-four players in the showcase game, there were a handful of prospects that are very Memphis related. Included in that group are already committed Will Barton and Memphis native Joe Jackson.  Both Barton and Jackson were scheduled to take part in the Elite 24 Dunk Contest Friday afternoon, but it was cancelled due to the weather delay.

Barton, who committed to Memphis in June, was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. Exhibiting life lessons learned every time he is on the court, Barton’s reputation is best described as a non-stop, hard-working, hustling player who never gives up, giving everything he’s got to coming out on top. You tell Barton he’s too skinny and he’ll tell you he’s “wiry strong”. You tell him there are other guys who are better? He’ll go out and prove you wrong. Barton exudes a never give up attitude. In the night’s scariest moment, Barton was taken down hard by CJ Leslie on the way to the bucket. After a few minutes of gathering himself, Barton spent the rest of the half on the bench. Displaying his never quit attitude, Barton came back in to start the second half on a mission. Scoring 15 of his 18 points from that point forward, Barton took any and every willing defender off the dribble for a wide array of buckets.

After the game, Barton said, “I thought I was really hurt. I landed on my face and my elbow. My lip was bleeding and everything, but I am good now.”

Jackson, who grew up on the tough streets of Memphis, has fought his way thru adversity time and time again. Dubbed by some as a player who will “struggle at the next level because of his size”, Jackson showed Wednesday‘s and Thursday’s onlookers that it’s not all about size. It’s about heart; a heart that has been shaped by facing and overcoming constant hurdles; a heart that was shaped in the inner-city of Memphis. After having a very strong showing in the scrimmages in the first two days, Jackson struggled after a slow start. Failing to capitalize on a few early layups, Jackson appeared to be forcing the action. Despite his struggles, Jackson stepped up with 7 points in the second half for a total of 10 points and some very nice assists.

With a stormy summer, bumps, bruises and stripped banners behind, Memphis fans now have one more reason to look to the horizon, knowing that bright days are ahead for their program. Though not officially on the roster for the Tigers, Memphis fans can learn some invaluable lessons from players like Will Barton and Joe Jackson. Keep your head up. No matter how tough your situation may look or how many people may tell you, “You’re not good enough”, never give up. Always fight.  Do your part to prove the doubters wrong. These things are the core of the heart of a Memphian. Don’t believe me? Ask any person who was in attendance on that muggy Friday night in Bronx, NY; Memphis has heart.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE GAME

Josh Selby brought down the house early in the second quarter with an electrifying dunk on UNC commit Kendall Marshall. Pushing the ball in the open court on a break, Selby came down the court step for step with Marshall. As he entered the lane, Selby faked the ball in two different directions and rose for a tomahawk slam over the top of Marshall’s outstretched arms. The crowd went nuts and the announcers actually stopped the game for a few minutes.

Doron Lamb, who was playing on his home AAU court (Gauchos), was the unanimous crowd favorite. Anytime he touched the ball, the hometown fans called for Lamb to take his defender off the dribble. Displaying a sweet shooting stroke from deep, Lamb was name one of the games four MVPs.

CJ Leslie looks very good in transition and word at the game is that Kentucky is in very good shape to land Leslie. With his ability to get into the open court and effectively put the ball on the floor, Leslie would be a nice piece to John Calipari’s Dribble Drive Motion Offense.

As expected, the game’s big men had little to no impact on the game. In spite of this, 2012 big man Perry Ellis slowly but surely worked his way into a very solid and comfortable second half. Tallying double digit rebounds, Ellis showed why he is so highly thought of. Hustling for loose balls and taking the limited touches he got right at his defender, Ellis was the most effective big in the game.

Harrison Barnes is really good. The crazy thing about Barnes is he does things so quietly. After thinking that he had done very little, the box score proved otherwise. Barnes made his mark on almost every column of the stat sheet. Also of note, he gets to the free-throw line at an extremely high rate.

Kendall Marshall is ridiculous at the point. He was by far the best pure point guard in this game. Marshall is deceptively quick in the open court, is willing to push the ball in traffic and can see passing options one, two and three before they even become available. One area that Marshall can improve upon is his ability to change speeds. For most of the game, Marshall was set on cruise control in fifth gear at 130 miles-per-hour. Adding a change of pace with gears one through four would make Marshall the complete point guard for this class.