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Spiece Hoosier Hoops opened the Friday 8:30pm games with a convincing 69-49 win over Kentucky
Hoops Stars. 6'5 freshman Jordan Brewer (Clinton Prairie HS) led the winners with 18 points,
followed by Bloomington 8th grader Jordan Root with 16 points on three three-pointers. Center
Grove 6'3 freshman Jeremy Mack added 15 points for Spiece.
I got to watch most of the second half of the matchup between No Excuses and DTA Wisconsin.
Wisconsin has some solid traveling teams, so I expected this to be a good game. And it did not
disappoint. The game was close for most of the final two eight minute quarters. No Excuses
played some zone, so once DTA would grab the lead they would look to stall and attempt to draw
No Excuses out of their defense. Most of the third quarter ticked by in this manner, with
No Excuses being patient. Late in the third, No Excuses jumped out on top of the zone and
trapped, which sent DTA slashing into the lane with the ball. Adam Liddell, playing low
post for the game, set up and drew a critical charge on DTA. No Excuses responded on offense
to close the gap to one point at 50-49. Liddell handled an inlet pass from the perimeter for
two points. Todd Abernathy executed the game very well, and looked for the ball a majority
of the time in the final quarter. He called his own number and went aggressively to the basket.
He uses his body really well, twisting to get the shots off around much taller post players.
The thing is the kid can finish consistently, with a keen nose for the basket. Purdue fans
who enjoyed the game of Carson Cunningham around the basket would love watching this kid.
Not as much "circus" as Carson but has the same ability to get the shot off. He's
very composed. Abernathy's game was collapsing the defense into the paint, but the perimeter
damage was done by 6'6 Ryan Gentry (Plainfield HS) with two shots from deep and another
added by Liddell. Liddell has perimeter range, and can put the ball on the floor and drive.
With No Excuses, he was a low post player who had to be respected when drifting out on
the perimeter. When that happened, the dirty work down low was done by 6'6 Justin Cage
(Pike HS). Liddell was a more than efficient post defender, and his long arms and fundamental
ability to block his man out left many rebounding opportunities for him and his teammates.
He had a surprisingly easy time blocking out the DTA post players, yet we would like to see
what he can do with stronger post players who are able to fight thorugh those long arms.
Liddell is also a shot blocker, blocking three shots in the final three minutes alone to help
No Excuses keep the game within reach. There are two things that irritate me about shot
blockers. The first is the bad habit of leaving the floor and badly timing the shot. It always
seems to end up as a foul on your post player. Second, I'd rather have a change of possession as
the result of a blocked shot, than just a stoppage of play. Spanking the ball into the crowd
may get the team worked up, but I'd rather have the opportunity to get two points from the
defensive effort. Liddell did not exhibit either annoying trait. The first block came on a
slashing player from the right side of the floor. Liddell smacked the ball to the corner
with a block that should rather be called more of a push than a smack. The ball was picked up
by his teammates. The second block looked clean, but the ref whistled body contact on Liddell.
If there was some contact, it wasn't much. The third block would come later when the team
needed it the most. With No Excuses holding a one point lead at 60-59, Abernathy was fouled
and subsequently converted both freethrows. DTA would answer with a three, followed by two from
No Excuses. With less than a minute and the score at 64-62 in favor of No Excuses, DTA walked
with the ball and turned it over. Darren Yates was sent to the line, where he hit one freethrow
to make it a three point lead for No Excuses. DTA managed to run the length of the floor with
only a few seconds remaining, and under strict orders not to foul by head coach Gary Betts,
No Excuses seemed to let DTA take it to the basket uncontested. Instead, the DTA player took
a hard left under the basket and headed out to the perimeter. The DTA player got set and
let the shot fly, but Liddell followed him out and blocked the attempt at the buzzer. No Excuses
won a close one, 65-62 over a rather undersized but athletic DTA Wisconsin team. Dupree Fletcher
(Milwaukee King HS) was the standout kid on DTA, scoring 20 points with four coming from the
perimeter. At 6'0, Fletcher is a kid to keep an eye on. He was a sophomore on No. 4
Milwaukee Rufus King's team this season, and put up a respectable team high 22 points off the
bench against high major senior Greg Brown. Greg Brown scored 42, but hey, Brown IS a senior.
I've seen a few Wisconsin guards, and Fletcher gets my early bid for top guard in the Wisconsin
class of 2004. Milwaukee Washington's Jason Price also had a decent game, scoring eight points
in sharing guard duty. For No Excuses, Ryan Gentry led the way with 19 points, followed by 17
from Todd Abernathy and 13 from Justin Cage. Adam Liddell finished with six points on one
two-pointer, one three-pointer, and one freethrow.
One more interesting game polished off Friday's action. In what was more of an all-star team
than an AAU team, Ft. Sooy No Limit (IL) had an easy time with Ohio Pride. Ft. Sooy won by
20 behind solid performances by 6'8 junior Brian Randle (Peoria Notre Dame HS) and 6'6
sophomore point guard Shaun Livingston. Livingston came in with a reputation for being good,
but was a surprisingly better passer than what I was expecting from a 6'6 player. Randle
started off cold after arriving just before the game, but had a power post game and nice
touch from mid-range most scouts drooled over.
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