#CatchwRECk

A defensive mix of this year’s Defensive Player of the Year, Kawhi Leonard. The future of the Spurs organization. 

It’s EYBL/AAU season. Here’s a mix of some of the highlights from what I believe is the first session of Nike EYB from a few months ago. A lot of bright stars here... 

Another AAU mix from last summer featuring one of my favorite young guards in the city, Quade Green. You can catch him hooping in the Nike EYB league this weekend. Green is currently ranked 41st in the nation, and 10th in his position. I doubt he’ll stay there though. Expect him to be ranked top 5 by the end of his senior year. I’m telling y’all.... DON’T SLEEP. 

Point guards really aren’t what they used to be. The position has definitely evolved. Points are no longer limited to just being playmakers, and often have a game which is usually seen within 2 guards (Russell Westbrook, Damian Lillard, Zach LaVine). Add De’Aaron Fox to that list of explosive next generation point guards and be on the look out for him next fall at Kentucky University. In case you missed him in the Jordan Classic last night, here’s a mix from a game earlier this year where he dropped 42 points with his future coach in attendance. Coach Cal sure knows how to pick em, boy...... 

I’m gonna let up on the Mamba related posts for a minute just to shed some light on the next generation up. Last night was the night of the Jordan Brand “Next Vs Next” All Star Classic. All the top recruits in the nation who are preparing to take that next step into college team up to showcase their talents and give college fans something to look forward to in the fall. Here we have Harry Giles and Jayson Tatum, the no. 1 and no. 2 overall (Giles is No. 1 among PFs, Tatum is No.1 among SFs) ranked players in the nation of the 2016 graduating class, respectively. Expect to see these future Blue Devils next season. Giles said last night during a sideline interview that as far as goals and aspirations for his freshman season, he intends to “come in, work hard, and win a national championship”. Here’s a mix of Giles and Tatum in the Peach Jam last summer. After watching, you’ll see why Duke fans are walking around with their chests out, despite losing in the NCAA Tournament.

Being a fierce competitor comes with a lot of things. It comes with respect. Admiration. It also comes with hate. Slander. People praying for your downfall, your demise. It also comes with confrontation. If it’s one thing Kobe knows about, it’s confrontation. Here’s 10 of the top times that Kobe had to deal with confrontation. Some of these instances result in punches being thrown. 

A personal all time favorite Blazer, and one of my favorite ballers to come from Philly, the reason I’m a Blazers fan unto this very; Rasheed Wallace, everyone. Although I feel like his better years were spent in Portland, Wallace has played for a few teams since being traded from Portland during the halfway point of the 2004 season. He was drafted by the Washington Bullets in ‘95, but after his rookie season was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers. He led the Blazers to two conference finals appearances before being traded to the Pistons, where he would be an instrumental part of their playoff run which ended with them upsetting the Los Angeles Lakers who were looking to win their 4th NBA Title. After spending 6 years with the Pistons, “Sheed” signed a 3 year contract to play with the Celtics, before retiring. He came back and decided to give it another shot, this time with the New York Knicks, but retired again after a left foot injury. I was always a fan of players who I felt embodied the city’s toughness and edge. It’s not all about glitz and glamour, it’s about doing work and getting it done. That’s everything that Sheed was about, there was no questioning that when you watched him play. He might not have hit it off greatly with the Ref’s, considering he’s the all time leader in technical fouls season and career wise, but any coach he’s ever played for and players he’s played will all tell you Sheed was a great teammate.

I’m gonna keep this one brief because it really speaks for itself. Let’s flash back to a few weeks ago, the beginning of March Madness This is a short mix of some of the plays that led Villanova all the way to the National stage. What more can I say? Villanova had an incredible year, and played hard every night; game in, and game out. Congratulations to Coach Wright and the entire Villanova Wildcats 2015-16 basketball team. Special shoutouts to Kris Jenkins for dropping that last second dagger.

A throwback from the 2015 Danny Rumph classic, one of the top basketball tournaments in the city of Philadelphia. Danny Rumph was a local hoops star in Philly who passed away from heart failure after hitting the game winning shot in a pickup game back in 2005. The Rumph classic honors the legacy of the fallen star, and also aides in bringing awareness to Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) which is what lead to Rumph’s heart failing. Athletes from all around the city, from aspiring hoopers, to current as well as past pro stars, come out to honor the memory of Rumph and put on a show that will have even the most causal basketball fan sitting on the edge of their seat. The tournament has been going strong for 10 years and it’s only gotten better since then. Some of the stars who made appearances in last years game include Markieff and Marcus Morris (Who’s team won the tournament), Quinn Cook, Rasual Butler,  Dion Waiters, Cuttino Mobley, and a personal favorite of mine, Flip Murray. Here’s some of the highlights of last year’s action. I had the honor of being in attendance for the second round of action, this year I plan on being in attendance for the entire tourney. To call it a great show would be an understatement.

Decided to stretch #Mambaday out, and merge it with #ThrowbackThursday and let it carry on into Friday since I’ve been away for a while and haven’t been posting much. Kobe’s top 5 revenge plays. Number 4 is one of my favorites; a block on Ray Allen. As far as I know, that was the moment Ray Allen began to play solely from the perimeter.... Number one is treat as well. DON’T HURT EM, KOB’!

Some AAU Tournament action from last summer between Trevon Duval and Josh Jackson. Jackson, a top ten national recruit, recently has committed to Kansas University this past Monday (4/11/2016). Duval will be entering his senior year later in the fall of 2016, as a top recruit in the 2017 recruiting class. 

A regular season meeting from 2010 between the Bulls and Warriors featuring a point guard duel between Derrick Rose and a young (1st year) Steph Curry. The following year, Rose would go on to win league MVP honors for the 2010-11 season. Who would’ve guessed that back then Curry would go on to not only win league MVP for the 2014-15 season, but also would become an NBA champion the very same year? They’ve both come a very long way since then. 

A few weeks ago during an interview with the NBA on TNT crew, Shaq asked Kobe could he drop 50 points in his last game for him. Kobe laughed and said “Absolutely not”. Fast forward to last night, and he scores 50 plus 10.

Most were hideous.

The motto.