I-5 Elite looks at positives in 62-58 loss
Mack turns in ‘breakout’ game, while Moser, Gray also provide points for Udoka’s team
By Tony Schick
The Portland Tribune, Jun 14, 2008, Updated 1 minute ago
Team Reebok USA’s athleticism was too much for Portland I-5 Elite on Friday, and the local team lost its first-round match 62-58 in the Rose City Showcase at Grant High.
The I-5 Elite, sponsored by San Antonio Spurs guard Ime Udoka, trailed by as many as 14 points in the second half but made a run in the closing minutes.
Team Reebok, however, hit back-to-back 3-pointers to extend its lead.
I-5 Elite, getting a 3-pointer from Donta Harris and a tip-in by Mike Moser, came within 60-56 and had the ball with a chance to tie, but turned it over with 15 seconds left and were forced to foul. A pair of free throws by Team Reebok put the game out of reach as the clock ran out.
Despite the loss, Elite coach Kumbeno Memory says he saw many positive.
“It would have been one thing if they came in and totally dominated us, because they’ve got talent,” he says. “But we shot ourselves in the foot on this one.”
Memory says an abundance of turnovers and a lack of offensive rebounds where the things that hurt I-5 lost the most.
“If it wouldn’t have been for those two things, then we win the game,” he says.
Memory’s players were surrounded by bigger, thicker players and dominant posts, such as Team Reebok’s Joe Burton, listed at 6-8, 285 pounds. But the Elite coach doesn’t see that as an excuse.
“We needed to box out. I don’t care if you’re 7-foot-5 if I box you out, you’re not getting to that ball,” he says.
Another key, according to Memory, would have been taking advantage of the several uncontested turnovers from Team Reebok, which his team didn’t do.
“When you’ve got guys coming in from all over, and they haven’t played together much, then the chemistry is going to be off,” Memory says of Team Reebok. “And if we would have taken advantage of those plays when they threw the ball away, we would have been right there.”
Another positive for I-5 Elite was the development of certain players against Team Reebok.
Memory believes the game was a big step for his youngest player, seventh-grade point guard Nigel Williams-Goss, who started and defended some of the best high school guards in the country.
“He showed he wasn’t scared, and he made some plays,” Memory says.
Cleveland senior guard Johnel Gray scored 11 points and kept the I-5 Elite alive during the first half. Terrell Mack, a 6-4 guard from Fort Vancouver High, also had a breakout game, Memory says, scoring 16 points and delivering several key plays down the stretch.
“T-Mack played his butt off tonight, which is what we’ve been asking him to do,” says Memory, who believes Mack is one of the more talented players in the Showcase. “If we get that out of him, then we’re right there with anybody.”
Grant’s Moser scored 17 points and collected four blocked shots.
http://www.portlandtribune.com/sports/story.php?story_id=121345280708725200