Post by hoopsreport on Dec 2, 2006 12:05:28 GMT -6
Thought you all might enjoy this article about Chicago Simeon's game last night from the HoopsReport.com website:
You’d almost have to get lost to find it: Marshall County… Deep in the country of Western Kentucky this “Mom and Pop” town is home to the annual Marshall County HoopFest, where some of the best high school stars in the nation come to show off their talent. And trust us, half the town was in the house tonight to see Chicago Simeon and Derrick Rose take on Illinois foe Champaign Central.
Simeon is the 3rd ranked team in the country and led by top 5 senior Derrick Rose and his teammates Kevin Johnson and Tim Flowers. Champaign Central sports a strong cast of underclassmen including 6-4 Verdell Jones, 6-4 Jerry Exum, and 6-5 Derrick Womack.
The game started with Derrick Rose committing three straight turnovers and a pair of fouls to earn himself a breather . With Rose on the bench, teammate Kevin Johnson took over and scored a quick 12 points on everything from dunks to outside shots and Simeon carried that momentum to a 31-19 halftime advantage.
Rose started the second half opposite of the first with a trio of quick assists and a couple points of his own to extend Simeon’s lead to 40-19. By the end of the 3rd quarter Simeon was up 26 points and their stars checked out of the game for the final time. The final score was 79-49. Rose finished with 9 points, 5 rebounds and a tournament record 12 assists. Kevin Johnson scored a game-high 24 points and Tim Flowers chipped in with 13 for the winners. Champaign Central was paced by point guard Verdell Jones’s 9 points.
Despite Rose’s record breaking performance, the most impressive player in the game tonight was 6-6 forward Kevin Johnson. We were high on Johnson over the summer while he was running with Mean Streets Express. Tonight he showed he is a legit high-major talent. Johnson is built to score with a strong frame, good touch, and a number of ways to finish close to the rim. He also pulled down 6 rebounds to go with his 24 points. Johnson is Wisconsin-Milwaukee bound along with Tim Flowers. You can mark that duo down as one of the steals of this year’s recruiting class.
Others to play well for Simeon were 5-11 Daniel Green, 6-0 junior Kenyon Smith and 6-4 Tim Flowers. Green was near automatic tonight from outside and made good decisions all night. Smith was a lockdown defender and looks like the player that is going to take over at point guard after Rose leaves for Memphis. Big-body Flowers is the Ray Lewis of high school hoops in the sense he has absolute knock around strength and played his signature game tonight finishing put-backs in traffic and snatching tough boards.
Champaign’s underclassmen showed promise. Verdell Jones ran the point and showed flashes of the talent that has earned him a fairly big reputation in his area. Jerry Exum and Donald Stewart were both solid forwards, but were physically overmatched by Simeon' big guys. All three are good enough to keep mid-majors interested.
If there were any doubts about how good this Simeon team is this season, tonight they proved themselves worthy of their no.3 ranking. As for Derrick Rose, we couldn't wait to get back to the hotel to check out our film from the game. And for the next hour our second floor hotel room was filled with "oohs" and "ahhhs" and less-tasteful reactions to his Joranesque hang time on his dunks, D-Wade like acrobatic finishes and Jason Kidd worthy passes.
All this in just our first game at the event. Just wait until tomorrow.
You’d almost have to get lost to find it: Marshall County… Deep in the country of Western Kentucky this “Mom and Pop” town is home to the annual Marshall County HoopFest, where some of the best high school stars in the nation come to show off their talent. And trust us, half the town was in the house tonight to see Chicago Simeon and Derrick Rose take on Illinois foe Champaign Central.
Simeon is the 3rd ranked team in the country and led by top 5 senior Derrick Rose and his teammates Kevin Johnson and Tim Flowers. Champaign Central sports a strong cast of underclassmen including 6-4 Verdell Jones, 6-4 Jerry Exum, and 6-5 Derrick Womack.
The game started with Derrick Rose committing three straight turnovers and a pair of fouls to earn himself a breather . With Rose on the bench, teammate Kevin Johnson took over and scored a quick 12 points on everything from dunks to outside shots and Simeon carried that momentum to a 31-19 halftime advantage.
Rose started the second half opposite of the first with a trio of quick assists and a couple points of his own to extend Simeon’s lead to 40-19. By the end of the 3rd quarter Simeon was up 26 points and their stars checked out of the game for the final time. The final score was 79-49. Rose finished with 9 points, 5 rebounds and a tournament record 12 assists. Kevin Johnson scored a game-high 24 points and Tim Flowers chipped in with 13 for the winners. Champaign Central was paced by point guard Verdell Jones’s 9 points.
Despite Rose’s record breaking performance, the most impressive player in the game tonight was 6-6 forward Kevin Johnson. We were high on Johnson over the summer while he was running with Mean Streets Express. Tonight he showed he is a legit high-major talent. Johnson is built to score with a strong frame, good touch, and a number of ways to finish close to the rim. He also pulled down 6 rebounds to go with his 24 points. Johnson is Wisconsin-Milwaukee bound along with Tim Flowers. You can mark that duo down as one of the steals of this year’s recruiting class.
Others to play well for Simeon were 5-11 Daniel Green, 6-0 junior Kenyon Smith and 6-4 Tim Flowers. Green was near automatic tonight from outside and made good decisions all night. Smith was a lockdown defender and looks like the player that is going to take over at point guard after Rose leaves for Memphis. Big-body Flowers is the Ray Lewis of high school hoops in the sense he has absolute knock around strength and played his signature game tonight finishing put-backs in traffic and snatching tough boards.
Champaign’s underclassmen showed promise. Verdell Jones ran the point and showed flashes of the talent that has earned him a fairly big reputation in his area. Jerry Exum and Donald Stewart were both solid forwards, but were physically overmatched by Simeon' big guys. All three are good enough to keep mid-majors interested.
If there were any doubts about how good this Simeon team is this season, tonight they proved themselves worthy of their no.3 ranking. As for Derrick Rose, we couldn't wait to get back to the hotel to check out our film from the game. And for the next hour our second floor hotel room was filled with "oohs" and "ahhhs" and less-tasteful reactions to his Joranesque hang time on his dunks, D-Wade like acrobatic finishes and Jason Kidd worthy passes.
All this in just our first game at the event. Just wait until tomorrow.