TALENT RUNS DEEP FOR ST. BENEDICT'S BASKETBALL TEAM FOR 2009-10 SEASON
Coach Hurley's team faces a severe early season test in Florida
Dec. 3, 2009
St. Benedict's came into last year's basketball season with plenty of question marks.
And, despite losing only three of 27 games, the Gray Bees never truly established an identity for the 2008-09 campaign, which is completely understandable after graduating from the year before the imposing presence of both Samardo Samuels and Greg Echenique.
This year, however, coach Dan Hurley already feels a cohesiveness that seemed nonexistent last winter.
"We have a group of returning players that really understands our system and what it takes to win," said Hurley. "They really seem to like each other more and are willing to put in the effort. We definitely have more continuity and depth of talent than we've had in recent years."
Hurley isn't about to anoint this team as one of his best - it still lacks a proven go-to player like they had two years ago with Samuels, or in past years with players such as Corey Stokes ('07), Lance Thomas ('07), Eugene Harvey ('06) and J.R. Smith ('04).
But Hurley does feel he has a bonafide star in the making with Myck Kabongo.
Kabongo, who committed early to Texas last December, comes in as a veteran of Hurley's system and is still only a junior. The 6-1, 160-pound point guard averaged 11.8 points and 4.8 assists per game as a sophomore and is expected to soar to new heights this season with a seasoned supporting cast.
"Myck Kabongo has a chance to be a really great player," Hurley admitted, "and when your point guard is a great player that's a big help because the ball is always in his hands. He has the competitiveness and playmaking ability to help other people become better players."
Last year, when Kabongo drove to the hole and kicked the ball out, he didn't have any consistent finishers on the perimeter. This year, Hurley is expecting stability on the wings from seniors Aaron Brown (6-4, 180) and Mike Poole (6-6, 185). Brown, who committed to Temple last month, and Poole are two more veterans in Hurley's scheme and really began coming into their own last year.
When Kabongo drops the ball inside this year, he will have a number of capable players handling the post, including seniors Gilvydas Biruta (6-8, 225), the Lithuanian Junior National Team player, and J.P. Kambola (6-10, 220). Biruta, a senior, who is in his second year under Hurley's tutelage, signed last week with Rutgers and will join Echenique in the Scarlet Knights program.
"Last year, we didn't have guys who could step up in big games," Hurley said. "This year, we have the luxury of having a guy like Kabongo who can drive and kick the ball to guys who can make shots and hopefully get the job done in crucial games."
Whereas Hurley may lack a proven 5-star player right now, he does have a bench he can call upon that runs very deep. They include Xavier Munford (6-3, Sr.), Andris Misters (6-4, Jr.), seven-footer Blaise Mbargorba (Jr.), Wil Martinez (Jr.), Grant Ellis (So.) and Sidiki Johnson, a junior transfer, who has already given a verbal commitment to Arizona.
"We've had years where we've had high level talent," explained Hurley. "But this year, we're looking easily at playing nine or 10 guys, which, in high school, is next to impossible."
Biruta has had the upper hand right now as an inside presence, but he, Kambola, Johnson and Mbargorba have been battling it out for the 4- and 5-spot day in and day out.
Hurley believes the stiff competition will allow him to keep everyone fresh throughout games this year. He also feels there won't be any internal strife, like there was a year ago.
"There's not a ton of egos on this team," he said. "They are all very talented kids, but they are also selfless. Last year, we had a lot of internal agendas individually.''
The coach, who is in his ninth season, will find out immediately just how good his team is. After opening with back-to-back home games in Dalton Gym on Monday (Dec. 7) and again on Dec 12, the Gray Bees travel to Fort Myers, Fla. to compete in the City of Palms Classic, a tournament the Grays Bees captured two years ago in their last visit to the Sunshine State.
This year's road to the final in Florida will be much more arduous - the Gray Bees could tangle with last year's national champion, Findlay Prep of Nevada. Findlay is again loaded with top NCAA Division 1 talent, including Tristan Thompson, who found himself on the outskirts of "Sin City" only days after being stripped of his St. Benedict's uniform for insubordination.
"Can I relate to (Findlay) while working at St. Benedict's Prep? Absolutely not," said Hurley. "I would equate what they do more to a club or AAU program as opposed to a high school. Hopefully we will play them. If we do that, it would mean we got to the final and that would be really exciting."
No matter what happens in the City of Palms Dec. 18-23, the Gray Bees seem more prepared for the road ahead than they did at this time last year. But this year, Hurley wasn't left with the unenviable task of replacing players like Samuels and Echenique and has a nice compliment of players back in the fold.
"We might have had more individual talent in the past," said Hurley "but maybe we can become a great team this year because of the overall attitude and having a good enough level of player. I feel a lot better about this team in the fact that they will go out and give a max effort and compete every day."
Notes: There is no official record for the fastest coach to reach 200 victories in New Jersey annals, but its pretty clear Hurley stands at the top. Hurley, in just eight seasons, has posted a staggering 203-20 career ledger, despite the game taking on drastic changes over his short tenure.
"When I first got here, you coached basketball - you assumed that everyone just wanted to be part of a successful team," he explained. "You should never assume that anymore because the landscape of high school basketball - with player rankings, agents and all the things that are swirling around the game - has changed. You have to coach your team on the floor, your bench, egos and chemistry. It has become all encompassing."
--By Ron Jandoli
ROSEN RISES TO THE OCASSION FOR TEAM USA IN ISRAEL
Aug. 1, 2009
Zack Rosen '08 won't soon forget his first trip off U.S. soil.
The 20-year-old Rosen, a sophomore-to-be at the University of Pennsylvania, traveled to Israel as part of Team USA for the 18th Maccabiah Games.
Rosen spent nearly the entire month of July as a member of America's basketball contingent in the quadrangular event.
The Maccabiah Games is an international Jewish athletic competition that ranks as the third largest sporting event in the world. This year, athletes from 51 countries competed in 31 sporting events, including Olympic Gold Medalist swimmer, Jason Lezak, who made headlines by bypassing the World Championships in Rome to take part in the Maccabiah Games.
Rosen averaged 20 minutes a game as the youngest member of the U.S. squad, which beat the host nation in the Gold Medal game.
"It was surreal. It was like time stood still," said Rosen. "Winning the Gold Medal was awesome, but it was more than basketball. Israel is an amazing place."
Rosen, co-valedictorian of St. Benedict's Class of '08, said he and his American teammates practiced early in the morning and toured the Israeli countryside for a week leading up to the tournament. He said it was startling, at first, seeing arm guards with rifles everywhere, but he acclimated quickly.
"It's just a beautiful place," said Rosen, whose father, Les, and brother, Jay, also made the trip overseas. "Everyone there was so nice everywhere we went. And, right now, it's safe and I didn't feel uncomfortable at all."
Rosen, a point guard, made the U.S. team through tryouts last year at the University of Tennessee and was picked for the team by Volunteers head coach, Bruce Pearl, who also was in charge of the Maccabiah team.
"Zack has a terrific basketball IQ and has terrific athleticism," said Pearl. "There's and aura of confidence about him."
That confidence helped Rosen gain plenty of playing time going head-to-head against much older players. His peers in the tournament ranged in age from 24 years to their mid-30s.
"It was very physical and my body took a beating," said Rosen, who averaged 8.1 points, 3.4 rebounds and 5 assists per game as a freshman starter at Penn. "But I held my own and helped my team out every way I could."
Rosen, who was named Philadelphia's Big 5 Rookie of the Year for the Quakers last winter, was instrumental in helping the U.S. beat Israel in the Gold Medal game. He played every minute during crunch time and ran the floor as the U.S. forced overtime by closing regulation on a 10-2 run to forge a 79-79 standoff.
Rosen directed his team to a 10-2 run to start the extra session as the U.S. cruised to Gold from there, eventually posting a 95-85 victory.
"It's affirming and nice to know I can compete on that level," said Rosen, who attends Penn's Wharton School of Business and has a 3.0 GPA. "And its really cool being part of a major competition and coming away with a Gold Medal."
--By Ron Jandoli
And under the pomp and circumstance of Senior Night, it was only fitting that two seniors - Mike Poole and Gilvydas Biruta - wrapped up their careers at home by leading the team in scoring.
"It was bad that the games were snowed out cause we were looking forward to playing," said Kabongo, who began the game on the bench to pay homage for the graduating seniors.
"It's almost like starting over. We can reevaluate ourselves - what worked and didn't work during the year - and take it from there."
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Two of the top guards in the country will be battling for state supremacy Saturday, Duke-bound senior Kyrie Irving of St. Patrick and Texas-bound junior Myck Kabongo of St. Benedict's. Kabongo (18.2 ppg.) scored 20 points Monday when his team defeated Bishop O'Connell of Virginia, 72-52, at the Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Mass., to run St. Benedict's winning streak to eight games. Irving (27.2 ppg.) dropped in 30 points against Findlay in that same tournament, but missed a free throw that would have tied the game with one second remaining.
Among St. Benedict's other committed players are 6-8 senior forward Gilvydas Biruta (Rutgers), 6-5 senior wing Aaron Brown (Temple) and 6-9 junior forward Sidiki Johnson (Arizona). St. Patrick has 6-6 senior forward Chase Plummer (UMBC), 6-7 senior forward Josh Daniell (Wagner) and 6-3 junior guard Derrick Gordon (Western Kentucky), not to mention 6-7 forward Mike Gilchrist, the nation's top-rated junior who has Villanova and Kentucky among his top schools.
The Gray Bees Indoor Track & Field team scored a huge upset by winning the Essex County Relays on Sunday at Seton Hall University.
"We prepare for stuff like this all the time," said senior Aaron Brown of playing St. Frances again after beating them just two weeks ago in the City of Palms Classic in Florida. "We knew we had to be the hungrier team."
Chris Dowdy and Bobby Bah led St. Benedict's effort by picking up first place honors.
"The trip to Florida was a learning experience," said junior point guard Myck Kabongo, whose team lost in the semifinals to Winter Park (Fla.), but rebounded and beat Montverde (Fla.) in third-place consolation game in the City of Palms Classic. "We now know if we don't play defense and do the little things like rebound the ball, we'll have a hard time."
Aaron Brown knows, as a senior, it is his time to step up and take a leadership role for the Gray Bees basketball team.
The Gray Bees, which opened the season as the fourth-ranked team in the country by ESPN and No. 9 by USA Today, forced numerous turnovers and altered Edison into taking a host of off-balanced shots. And when the school from Middlesex County managed to get a shot off, a lot of the time, one Gray Bees player or another was there to swat the ball away.