Black Cager Catching Up…

April 15, 2018 By in Black Basketball Hall of Fame, Black Cager Grassroots Hoops, College Athletics, Newsletter, Uncategorized Leave a comment

 

As we transition into Spring… Let’s take a quick stroll through the Philly Hoops landscape… Mid-April 2018…

Live Period begins in 5 days… There’s been some coaching changes… the 2019 class in Philly is loaded… Who will stay home?

The Sixers

The Sixers are on the verge of GREATNESS… Ben Simmons is the ROY… Joel Embid is a legitimate MVP candidate… The Sixers will, at least, make it to the Eastern Conference Finals… They should win an NBA title in the next 36 months if Brett Brown is truly a good coach. Admittedly, I fuckin’ hated “the process”… the losing intentionally was excruciating. I was NOT an admirer of Sam Hinkie… I did NOT trust that shit…

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Ben Simmons, Rookie of the Year Candidate

I was wrong!

Tanking was clearly in the long-term interest of the Sixers ball club. Still hated it though. Sam Hinkie was correct.

It seems like they haven’t lost a game since the Obama presidency… Had to briefly touch on the Sixers. But, that is the most I have ever written or said about the NBA… Black Cager’s focus is on collegiate, scholastic, AAU/Grassroots and youth basketball.

Amateur basketball in Philadelphia is the subject we have a LOT to cover…

Jay Wright, Best Coach in Big 5 History

For the second time in thirty-six months, Jay Wright has led Villanova to an NCAA National Championship. It should be acknowledged that Wright is among the top 2-3 coaches in college basketball. He is definitely on a par with or ahead of guys like Izzo, Boeheim, Self, Roy, Huggins and Calipari.

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Jay Wright, 2 time NCAA Champion

Jay is the best Big 5 coach ever and pushing up on Coach K nationally…

Conceivably, one could still make a case for John Chaney.  Indeed, many still consider Coach Chaney the finest coach in the history of the Big 5. When pressed, however, with 2 national titles, I would concede that Wright has inched ahead of the legendary Temple coach.

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Temple HCIW Aaron McKie and Hall of Fame Temple Coach John Chaney

While Jay rules the basketball universe Philly’s other D1 programs are undergoing significant changes in leadership.

Dunph to Coach One More Season

It has been announced that Fran Dunphy will coach his final season at Temple this year.

By all reasonable measures, Dunphy has been a very good college basketball coach. In the last 12 seasons, Temple has made nine postseason appearances, including seven NCAA Tournaments.

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Fran Dunphy, Winningest Coach in Big 5 History

Good Stuff…

Dunph is the all-time winningest coach in Big 5 history with 557 victories, Dunphy’s teams went 310-163 in 17 seasons at the University of Pennsylvania. The Quakers played in nine NCAA Tournaments. He is the all-time winningest coach at Penn and ranks third on Temple’s all-time coaching win list with a 247-152 record.

More good stuff…

Ultimately, it came down to the fact that Temple fans/alums expect deep NCAA tournament runs. Dunphy never made a deep run. That matters at Temple.

Make no mistake, Dunphy is a very good basketball coach. More importantly, Dunph is my friend… my Ol’ Head. I am rooting for Dunph to make a deep run as he transitions away from Temple basketball.

Aaron McKie, Head Coach In-Waiting

Every day we inch closer to the moment when the hopes, dreams and expectations of the Temple faithful are placed on Aaron McKie’s broad shoulders.

Sometime in April 2019, Aaron McKie will assume the reigns of the Temple program. How will he do? What type basketball will McKie’s Owls play? We will have to wait a year for answers to those questions. We can observe and assess McKie’e effectiveness on the recruiting trail. Black Cager will closely watch his efforts to assemble the 2019-2020 Temple Owls.

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Temple Head Coach in Waiting, Aaron McKie

Will Temple return to fielding teams composed of top local players such as Donta Scott, Dahmir Bishop, Isaiah Wong, Mikeal Jones and Seth Lundy?

Can Aaron get the top guys to stick around?

Gonna be interesting to watch… I like his chances…

Phil Martelli, The Dean of Local Coaches

Bruiser? Gone… Dr. John Giannini? Gone… Jerome Allen? Gone… Dunphy? Taking a final lap…

Meanwhile, over on City Ave… Phil Martelli prepares for season number 23 running the St. Joseph’s program. Yet again… He’s positioned for a run at an A10 Championship with a talented group of young Philadelphia players…Charlie Brown (George Washington/Philly Pride), Chris Clover (St. Joseph/Philly Pride), Fresh Kimble (Neumann-Goretti/Team Final) and Ryan Daly (Archbishop Carroll/Jersey Shore Warriors) demonstrate that Martelli and his staff recruit Philly very well.

Martelli is a significant figure in Philly Basketball and has been for more than two decades… He rumbled Speedy… He had epic confrontations with Chaney… He played a home and home with Bruiser every year… Now he will be facing Ashley Howard on the court and competing with Aaron McKie in living rooms.

Martelli is an OG…

While things have changed across the city, they’ve stayed the same on Hawk Hill…

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St. Joseph’s 2016 A10 Tournament Champions

Martelli’s Hawks won the Atlantic 10 Tournament and went to the NCAA tournament in both 2014 and 2016. Additionally, Phil has three former players in the NBA. Jameer Nelson ’04 (Pistons), Langston Galloway ’14 (Pistons) and DeAndre Bembry ’16 (Hawks) are established league players. Guard and wing prospects have taken note of Phil’s success placing guards on All-League Teams and in the NBA and top European leagues.

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SJU Head Coach, Phil Martelli

Some believe Phil has another serious NBA prospect on his current roster… 6-7 SF/SG Charlie Brown has caught the attention of NBA scouts.

Freshman forward, Taylor Funk has demonstrated that he is a great shooter. He’s very accurate with exceptional range extending to the NBA 3 pt line. Brown and Junior Point Guard Kimble return to action after medical redshirt seasons.

Most recently, Phil landed Daly who is transferring from the University of Delaware. Daly will sit a year and have two years of eligibility remaining.

La Salle Hires Nova Assistant Ashley Howard

They put my youngin’ on at La Salle. For those steeped in the history of the Big 5, Howard’s hiring has special significance. Howard is the first Black Men’s Basketball Coach in the history of La Salle University.

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La Salle Coach Ashley Howard and his father Mo Hoaward

This was an extremely popular choice among those in the Philadelphia basketball community. Will their elation translate into support for the Explorer program? Will top local prospects want to play for the Explorers? How will Howard do on the recruiting trail?

There’s a lot of BUZZ surrounding La Salle’s recruiting and his staff… Which recruits will he target? Who’s will he be hiring?

Ashley Howard and Donnie Carr are formidable recruiters and the 2019 class in Philadelphia has several HIGH MAJOR prospects. Look for La Salle to go after the best Philly has to offer.

Zack Spiker and The Dragons

Zack Spiker was hired as head coach of Drexel on March 25, 2016. Spiker replaced former head coach Bruiser Flint (Episcopal Academy/St. Joseph’s). He has the Drexel program headed in the right direction. Last season, Spiker led Drexel to four more victories over the total for the previous year. Then on February 22, 2018, Spiker led Drexel to an incredible 34-point comeback win over Delaware, the largest comeback win in Division 1 history.

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Drexel Head Coach, Zack Spiker

On the recruiting trail, Spiker seems to be zeroing in on Lucas Monroe (Abington HS/Team Final).

Black Cager College Coach of the Year, Kevin Baggett

Kevin Bagget’s Rider squad was 22-10 and regular season champions last season. Baggett and his top Assistant, Dino Presley do an OUTSTANDING job recruiting the Philadelphia region.

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Rider Head Coach Kevin Baggett with sophomore SF Dimencio Vaughn

The Rider roster is filled with area players like Ahmad Gilbert (Constitution HS) and Kimar Williams (Constitution HS) join Stevie Jordan (Conwell-Egan/API), Tyere Marshall (Martin L. King, HS), Anthony Durham (Abington, HS), Jordan Allen (Dover HS) and Dimencio Vaughn (Calloway HS).

Baggett will continue to recruit Philadelphia with vigor.

Ivy League Champion Penn Quakers

Steve Donahue has the Quakers back at the top of the Ivy League. The Quakers went 24-9 last season and made the NCAA Tournament.

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Jacob “The Voice” Schwartz and Penn Head Coach Steve Donahue

Jake Silpe (Cherry Hill East HS), Camden’s Darnell Foreman (Pitman), Devon Goodman (Germantown Academy), Ryan Betley (Downingtown West) have helped restored the program.

Lucas Monroe and Chris Arcidiacono project as Ivy League qualifiers. Roy Somerville (Shipley/Philly Pride), Chris Ings (Neumann-Goretti HS/K-Low Elite) and Allen Powell (La Salle University) are also very strong students.

Doug Overton has Lincoln on the Right Track

Doug Overton landed Jordan Camper ’17 (Chester HS) last year. This year he picked up Tamir Green (Constitution HS/Philly Pride).

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Lincoln University Head Coach, Doug Overton

Overton has made inroads in Delaware County and Philadelphia. This helps as he competes in the highly competitive CIAA.

RC Kehoe is Landing D1 prospects at Holy Family

Holy Family’s RC Kehoe (Roman Catholic) is punching above his weight class on the recruiting trail. He got a commitment from Dahmir Montague (Neumann-Goretti HS/Hoopdreamz). Lefty sniper Eric Esposito (Conwell-Egan/Philly Pride) is also on board.

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Holy Family Head Coach, RC Kehoe

West Chester’s Damien Blair is Building a D2 Powerhouse

Damien Blair led West Chester to final record of 22-7. Coach Blair reaches the 20-plus win marker for the forth time in his10 seasons at the helm. Blair’s Golden Rams won their first-ever NCAA Tournament game and managed to tie a program record with 12-straight wins to start the year. West Chester was ranked as high as No.17 in the country throughout the season.

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West Chester Head Coach, Damien Blair

Blair recruits the region very well. Colin Daly (Archbishop Carrol HS), Jawan Collins (Academy Park), Matt Penecale (Abington HS), Steve Smith (Fairfield HS), Tyrell Long (Bishop McDevitt), Terrence Moore (Audenreid) are notable locals on Blair’s roster.

Arcadia’s Justin Scott

Justin Scott has did very well recruiting last season. He brought in Da’kquan Davis (Roman Catholic HS). Davis was MAC Commonwealth Rookie of the Year… He played in 26 games during the season, starting 25… Averaged 14.2 points and 4.3 rebounds per game while shooting 47.6% from field goal range and 75.4% from the free throw line…

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Arcadia Head Coach, Justin Scott

Philadelphia Area College Free Agents (Uncommitted Transfers)

Ryan Daly (Delaware) – Committed to St. Joseph’s
Zane Martin (Towson) –
Anthony Durham (Rider) – Re-committed to Rider
David Beatty (South Carolina) –
Nazeer Bostic (Penn State) –

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Towson All-League Sophomore Zane Martin has asked for a release

Area Shoe Company Circuit Rosters are LOADED with D1 prospects

All of the shoe company circuit teams and the top independent clubs have talented players. You can find D1 talent on many rosters.

Philly Pride 17U

Philly Pride 17U has Donta Scott ’19, 6-7, PG/SF, (Imhotep). Donta holds offers from St. Joseph’s, La Salle, Temple, South Carolina, Georgetown and Penn State. Donta will take unofficial visit to Georgetown in late April. He has visited South Carolina and Maryland. Chris Arcidiacono Post-Grad, 6-4, PG/SG, (Neshaminy) holds offers from Delaware, Quinnipiac, Eastern Kentucky and Mt. St. Mary’s. Ray Somerville ’19 6-9 C/PF (Shipley) has been offered by Stonybrook. Hartford, NJIT, High Point and La Salle. Hakim Hart ’19, 6-6, SG (Roman Catholic) holds offers from Bowling Green, NJIT, Temple and La Salle. Jamil Riggins ’19 6-7 PF/SF (Imhotep) has Coppin State, Central Connecticut State and Rider offering full rides. Jamir Reed ’19 PG/SG (Mastery North HS) holds an offer from Kent State. Reggie James ’19, SG (Trenton Catholic) has an offer from NJIT.

WeRone 17U features Eric Dixon ’19, 6-8 PF (Abington) has narrowed his choices down to Louisville, Virginia, Villanova and Seton Hall. Qudus Wahab ’19, 6-11 PF/C (Flint Hill School) holds offers from Syracuse, Clemson, Virginia Tech, Colgate Rutgers, Umps, Pittsburgh, VCU, Seton Hall, St. John’s, St. Joseph’s and Old Dominion. Isaiah Wong ’19, 6-3 PG/SG (Bonner-Prendie) holds offers from La Salle, Rutgers, Saint Joseph’s, Monmouth, Seton Hall, Pitt, TCU, UConn, Tulane, Temple, Memphis, Miami and Villanova. Alexander Rice ’19, 6-3 PG/SG has Illinois State and Pitt among others. Hofstra and Rider have offered Chereef Knox ’19, 6-6 PF/SF (Imhotep).

Team Final 17U has Jon Bol Ajak ’19 6-10 C (The Church Farm) who holds offers from Georgetown, UConn, Pitt, Rutgers, Saint Louis, Seton Hall, Syracuse, Wake Forest and Villanova. Seth Lundy ’19 6-6, SF (Roman Catholic) has been offered by Bowling Green, Penn State, Temple, UConn, VCU, La Salle Oregon. Mikeal Jones ’20 6-8, PF (Girard College) hold offers from Penn State and Villanova. Khalif Battle ’19 6-4, SG (Trenton Catholic) holds offers from UConn, Iona, Rutgers, St. Joseph’s Syracuse, Washington, Miami and VCU. AJ Hoggard ’20 6-3, PG (Archbishop Carroll) has offers from Seton Hall, Rutgers and UConn. Lynn Greer, III 6-3 PG holds offers from St. Joseph’s, Oregon, Penn State and Temple.

K-Low Elite 17U features Seth Pinkney Post Grad 7-0 C (Archbishop Wood). He holds offers from UMass, Towson and Coppin. Christian Ray ’19 6-5 SF (Haverford School) has offers from Bowling Green, Central Connecticut State, St. Francis, PA, NJIT and Stonybrook. Chris Ings ’19 6-2 PG (Neumann-Goretti) has been offered by Stonybrook, Mt. Saint Mary’s and La Salle. Dahmir Bishop ’19 6-5 SG (Imhotep) Bowling Green, La Salle, NJIT, Penn State, Hofstra, Saint Joseph’s, Rutgers, Seton Hall, VCU, Temple. Karam Cummings ’19, 6-4 SG (Imhotep) has an offer from St. Francis, PA.

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Naheem McLeod (PYO Basketball/Plymouth-Whitemarsh)

PYO Hoops’ Naheem McLeod ’19, 7-2 PF/C (Plymouth-Whitemarsh) has offers from La Salle, Temple and Villanova. He will once again be running with Ahmin Williams ’18 6-1 PG (Plymouth-Whitemarsh) and Ahmad Williams ’18 6-3 SG (Plymouth-Whitemarsh.

Meet you at the gym…

 

 

Mahalich is the Favorite to Replace Dr. G…

April 1, 2018 By in College Athletics, Uncategorized Tags: 2 Comments

La Salle University has been playing Varsity Men’s Basketball since 1931. Over the course of those 87 years, La Salle has had 18 Men’s Basketball Coaches.

100% have been white males!

La Salle University Athletic Director, Bill Bradshaw has had a long career heading up Athletic Departments at La Salle, DePaul, Temple and back to La Salle again. Over the course of his career, Bradshaw has headed numerous search committees. Under his leadership, these institutions have hired Speedy Morris, Pat Kennedy and Fran Dunphy to be Head Basketball Coaches. He has also headed a few football searches that yielded Al Golden, Steve Addazio and Matt Rhule. Bradshaw-led searches results have a common element:

100% have been white males!

Seems like 2 man race heading down the stretch at 20th and Olney…

Hofstra Head Coach, Joe Mahalich and Villanova Assistant Coach Ashley Howard are repeatedly mentioned as the “favorites” to take the helm at La Salle.

Only one is a white male…

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A lot of people… I mean a LOT of folk that I respect keep telling me that race is a non-factor, that it truly doesn’t figure into hiring decisions these days…

I get a familiar feeling when I hear or read such comments… When I was about 7 years old I found a gang of toys in my garage… Everything I asked for on my Christmas list was there… But it was about 2 weeks before Christmas… I mean my minibike was there… So was my Tyco Racetrack… My Rock ’em Sock ’em Robots… My Electric football game… Everything…

Then on Christmas Eve my Mom made me go to bed early so Santa could bring ALL of presents to my house… She was serious…

I really respected my Mom… Of course she wouldn’t lie to me… Would she?

A familiar feeling indeed…

We’ll see what happens… Of course, I’m prepared to hear that “Head Coaching experience” was the deciding factor… That may very well outweigh 2 Final Fours in 36 months and 1, shit maybe 2, National Championships over the same period…

The Black Cager stands ready to appeal the call…

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Never is a LONG fuckin’ time…

 

Shit Black Coaches Deal With!

April 1, 2018 By in Black Basketball Hall of Fame, College Athletics, Uncategorized Tags: Leave a comment

Imagine… You spend your life trying to do things the right way… You come up through the Philadelphia ranks…You have the quintessential Philadelphia basketball career…

You played for Bill Ellerbee in High School…

You trained with John Hardnett in the summer…

You played for John Chaney in college…

You played for Larry Brown in the NBA…

You played with Allen Iverson in the NBA Finals…

You decide to transition into coaching… From September 2008 through 2013, you were a member of the Sixers coaching staff…

You decide to return to your college home and join the Temple coaching staff… Everyone is excited, including Head Coach, Fran Dunphy.

“Aaron McKie is not only Temple Basketball, but he is Philadelphia Basketball,” said Dunphy. “His name still resonates in the city, as he played his high school, college and professional ball in Philly.  He is a tremendous representative of Temple University and possesses an astute basketball mind which will serve to help the program in so many ways.”

So… earlier this week it was announced that you would become Head Coach of the Owls beginning with the 2019-2020 season.

A logical choice…

However, within minutes CBS Sports Basketball commentator, Doug Gottlieb puts out tweet claiming that “[Temple Basketball] has been toxic last two years w/McKie working for this to happen…”

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Huh?

What the FUCK is he talking about?

Why… Why within minutes of being named Head Coach in waiting should McKie have to deal with this? Gottlieb attempts to label McKie as a “Judas” from the very moment his Head coaching career gets underway.

The coaching profession is heavily dependent upon relationships… Coaches are extremely protective of their reputations… They are very reluctant to shit on one another publicly…

Full disclosure: Aaron McKie is a friend of mine. We do communicate on a fairly regular basis about all things related to college basketball.

For some reason, McKie’s ascent to the Head Coaching position at Temple bothers Gottlieb. Unfortunately, CBS Sports provides Gottlieb with a platform from which he can spew all sorts of ill-informed and patently false BULLSHIT.

Unfortunately, This is the type of shit Black Coaches have to deal with!

After careful consideration, here is the official Black Cager response to Gottlieb’s attempt to smear a shining star of Philadelphia’s Basketball community:

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La Salle University Basketball Coaches

March 25, 2018 By in College Athletics, Uncategorized 1 Comment

La Salle University is currently seeking qualified applicants Head Coach of it’s Men’s Men’s Basketball program. I have been very vocal about the need for La Salle to identify and seriously consider highly respected BLACK coaches.

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Jackie Moore (far right) first Black player at La Salle 67 years ago

In response, some white local observers have expressed their belief that I have gone too far…

To those guys, I respectfully ask… Is this too far? If you DO NOT have a problem with this list AND you have a problem with the Black Cager publishing this list…

YOU ARE THE PROBLEM!

Have a nice day…

La Salle University Basketball Coaches

Name
Years
White
Black
James J. Henry
1931
X
Tom Conley
1932-33
X
Leonard Tanseer
1934-41
X
Obie O’Brien
1942-43
X
Joe Meehan
1944-46
X
Charles McGlone
1947-49
X
Ken Loeffler
1950-55
X
Jim Pollard
1956-58
X
Dudey Moore
1959-63
X
Bob Walters
1964-65
X
Joe Heyer
1966-67
X
Jim Harding
1968
X
Tom Gola
1969-70
X
Paul Westhead
1971-79
X
Lefty Ervin
1980-86
X
Speedy Morris
1987-01
X
Billy Hahn
2002-04
X
John Giannini
2005-18
X

FATTS > Trae Young?

March 16, 2018 By in Fatts Russell, Uncategorized Leave a comment

Is FATTS > Trae Young?

Here is the logical response, especially for basketball fans and observers all across the nation… Look at the numbers…

Trae Young                    Fatts
35.4 mpg                        18.2 mpg
27.4 ppg                          7.0 pgg
8.7 apg                             1.5 apg
3.9 rpg                             1.7 rpg

Trae Young played twice as many minutes as Fatts…
Trae Young averaged 27.4 ppg and Fatts averaged 7.0 ppp…
Trae Young averaged 8.7 apg and Fatts averaged 1.5 apg…
Trae Young averaged 3.9 rpg an Fatts averaged 1.7 rpg…

Statistically, it’s not very close. Trae Young is a far more productive college player.

Indeed…Young finished his freshman regular season leading the country in many statistics: assists (271), turnovers (161), points (848), points per game (27.4), assists per game (8.7), and assist percentage (48.6%).

Those outside of 215 may, legitimately, wonder why is this even a question…

Nonetheless, for many Philly HoopHeadz this is a tough call… More than a few give the nod to Fatts…

In their own words…

Stan Williams
“Mike Mack Who won the game between Oklahoma and Rhode Island today?😂😂 Did Fatts and trae guard each other? Did someone turn somebody over multiple times? Was one talking that Philly shit to the other player????? 😂😂😂😂😂”

Dwayne Welch “LaVar Utsey……The difference between the two is that trae young has the ULTRA-GREEN LIGHT TO SHOOT THAT’S HIS ONLY STRENGTH YES HE CAN PLAY BUT HE’S A ONE-SIDED PLAYER…NOW FATTS PLAYS DEFENSE, CAN PASS ,CAN SCORE AND THE BIGGEST PART HE HAS HEART ..TRAE IS GOING TO THE LEAGUE BUT I’LL TAKE THE COMPLETE PLAYER …”

Chuck-Hasan Laws “LaVar Utsey i was gonna say the same thing var. give fats OU & that green light. Is he a top 5 pick n this years draft or top 10. Like trae🤔🤔”

For these guys… FATTS > Trae Young

Others lean heavily on accumulated performance data…

Chaz Franklin “Fats played a very spirited game, but here are the FACTS: he’s an undersized guard, coming off the bench at a mid major. He’s avg 7ppg, 35% fg, 29% 3pt. That DOES NOT compare to a fellow freshman leading AMERICA in both scoring and assist, while averaging 30ppg, in a power conference. Plus, he takes everybody best shot! That’s how it is when you are “the guy””

Chaz Franklin Fats played a solid/spirited game against a star. He repped Philly the right way, and we salute that! But he didn’t KILL Trae Young…
Now what Marvin Oconner did to Casey Jacobson in the tournament…THAT’S killing someone, and proving you are the better player!!!!

Real Shit… Marv did kill Jacobson…

LaVar Utsey It’s a difference between being able to compete with a guy and being better than a guy. Fats is not better than Trey Young

Mike Mack Exactly
Trae 28-5-8
Fatts 15-1-3

Trae Young > FATTS

So… who’s right… My mind says Young by considerable margin…

My eyes say FATTS… Watch the video and tell me you come to a different conclusion…

 

Shit is obvious… FATTS > Trae Young!

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Black Cager, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

 

 

 

Catholic League Champions, Roman Catholic has Big Balls!

February 27, 2018 By in Uncategorized Tags: , Leave a comment

Big Balls!

Matt Griffin has ‘em…
Lynn Greer has ‘em…
Seth Lundy has ‘em…
Hakim Hart has ‘em…
Allen Betrand has ‘em…
Lou Wild has ‘em…
John Kelly has ‘em…

That’s why they are Champions of Philadelphia’s Catholic League!

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Bonner-Prendie has one of the most imposing frontlines on the eastern seaboard. Senior, Ajiri Johnson is a long, lean supremely athletic 6’8’ power forward. Possessing excellent timing and patience on defense, he’s a shot -blocker extraordinaire who attacks the rim with force on offense.

Junior, Tariq Ingraham, also standing 6’8”, comes in at around 250 lbs. A problem around the basket, he possesses very soft hands and a nice touch around the basket.

Both will play Division 1 basketball. Ajiri for Kevin Baggett and newly crowned MAAC regular season champion Rider University Broncs. Ingraham will play for a D1 program to be determined at a later date.

Tonight… these two teamed with, Catholic League MVP, Isaiah Wong to lead Bonner-Prendie into battle against the Cahillites in the historic Palestra on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania.

Yes… District playoff and State playoff games remain for both teams. Indeed, both may be playing for several more weeks…

To those unfamiliar with Philadelphia scholastic basketball the following will not make much sense: The season, for both teams, ended tonight!

Even if Bonner-Prendie wins a State Championship, it will not erase the pain they endured tonight. They know this is true, Roman knows this is true, Philly hoop heads know this is true…

The only thing that can makeup for the loss tonight is a win on the Palestra floor 365 days from now…

During a press conference following a hard fought semi-final victory over Archbishop Carroll, Bonner-Prendie Head Coach Jack Concannon was asked “which means more the Catholic League or the State Championship?”

To which he responded, “If I’m gonna be honest, the Catholic League…”

If you’re from these parts, you knew that’s what he would say… If you’re from somewhere else it just doesn’t make sense…

Why would it mean more the be the best of a group of 14 Catholic schools than to be State Champion?

You really can’t explain it… It just does!

The intensity… The competitiveness… The rivalry… It’s unmatched…

Shit… Truth be told it reminds me of what the Big 5 used to be before Villanova relegated the rest of Philly’s D1 programs to JV status.

It was a beautiful ugly ass game… It was filled with lots of mistakes and extended periods of poorly conceived basketball… Frequent turnovers… Too many quick shots… Too many fouls…

Roman senior, John Kelly a tough, hard-nosed 6’4” right tackle masquerading as a power forward was saddled with 3 fouls before he could break a sweat. Before we reached the midway point of the first quarter, Kelly effectively became another member of Griffins coaching staff as he took a permanent seat on the bench.

Uh Oh!

You could feel the anxiety… How are they gonna box out Ingraham and Johnson? Who’s gonna wrestle Ingraham on the box?

There were other, seemingly serious, issues…

Seth Lundy, a supremely gifted 6’6” small forward with a beautiful shooting stroke did not touch the ball over the first 7 minutes of the game… He literally did NOT touch the ball… No… seriously… Lundy did NOT touch the ball…

Predicatably…

Bonner jumped out to 5-0 lead to start the game… They extended it to 11-3 with 2:30 left in the first quarter…

Roman looked overmatched… Bonner appeared to be too big and too athletic up front…

But…

Roman has BIG BALLS!

By the end of the first quarter, Roman was leading 12-11…

From there… We had a classic Catholic League slug fest, the teams repeatedly traded body blows, upper cuts and left hooks… Both teams have incredibly strong chins… They kept eating those blows and coming forward…

Everyone of the 9,000 or so jammed into the grand old arena knew the game would come down to the last possession…

And so… With the score tied 49-49 with just over a 1:20 to go… Roman Catholic had possession…

Ten times out of ten times, coaches call timeout in this situation and try to micromanage what they perceive as the most important possession.

Matt Griffin, however, has BIG BALLS!

He decided to leave the fate of the game in the hands of his 15 year old point guard. In terms of basketball skills, Lynn Greer is a prodigy. Young Mr. Greer is endowed with exceptional ball-handling and shooting abilities. There can be no denying his physical gifts… He very, very talented…

But… his basketball judgement is still evolving… He exhibits a willingness to take questionable shots at questionable times…

This propensity begged the question: What would he do in crunch time?

All tied up in the biggest game of his nascent coaching career, Matt Griffin left it all up to Greer…

If Roman was to win in regulation, Greer would have to make the play…

Not the gritty, tough, supremely confident Towson commit Allen Betrand… Not the Top 100 high major prospect Seth Lundy… Not the best long range shooter in the area, Hakim Hart…

Matt Griffin left the game in the hands of Lynn Greer, III…

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Lynn Greer III and Lynn Greer, Jr.

Greer dribbled across half court with about 1:20 left in the game… He passed the ball to Lou Wild who cradled the ball while time lapsed 1:10… 1:07… 1:03…

Eventually Tariq Ingraham lumbered out toward Wild… Wild quickly and easily maneuvered around Ingraham and passed to Betrand…

Recognizing the obvious mismatch, Betrand quickly gave the ball back to Wild…

Wild dribbled out a few more seconds… 0:54… 0:51… 0:47…

With 0:47 left on the clock Wild passed to Greer…

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Lynn Greer, III addresses the media following win

In the middle of the floor, 9,000 spectators focused on his every move… The Catholic League MVP staring him down… Greer grabbed the game by the throat…

Greer has BIG BALLS!

Confidently, he had the ball on a string… He danced around the middle of the court… In and out.. crossover… strong move toward the key with a belt high left hand pat…

He probed… He tested… He teased… He wanted to see how the defense would react…

He backed all the way up and began the process over again…

Behind the back… right to left… in and out… strong move down the right side…

He probed… He tested… He teased… He wanted to see how the defense would react…

0:28… 0:23… 0:19…

Now he’s dancing at midcourt… Wong intently staring him down… He dribbles toward the middle of the court and then back over toward the right…

0:13… 0:09… 0:06…

Finally… he attacks… he blows by Wong with a blazing first step… Before you can blink he’s in the lane… defense collapses…

He finds Hakim Hart with a perfect touch pass… The ball gently touches Hart’s hand for a millisecond and he gently lays the ball off the backboard…

Perfect play…

0:01.6 left on the clock…

Bonner makes an unsuccessful attempt to throw a full court pass, catch and shoot…

Game over…

For the 3rd time in 4 years, the Cahillites are Philadelphia Catholic League Champions…

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Catholic League Champions, Roman Catholic Cahillites

The season is over…

Still have a few District and State playoff games to get through, but we all know…

The season is over…

See you in 365 days… I’ll be under the basket…

 

AlwaysLive/Black Cager Youth Hoop Tip Off! March 3-4!!

February 8, 2018 By in Black Cager Grassroots Hoops, Business News, Uncategorized Tags: Leave a comment

We are excited to announce the ALWAYSLIVE/Black Cager partnership. We want to help mid-Atlantic area AAU/Grassroots programs get their season off to a STRONG start. The best way to do that is to provide a platform for STRONG competition. Come play two REALLY good games with us against strong competition.

We will work with you to ensure that you coaches, players and parents have a positive early season experience.

Play two tough games in three hours. No sitting around, no long waits. Play a game, rest a game then play a game. Select games will be live-streamed.

The ALWAYSLIVE/Black Cager Youth Hoop Tipoff 8U-14U (DOUBLE PLAY)  event will showcase the area’s best talent in the 8U – 14U divisions. ALWAYSLIVE maximizes recruiting exposure by gathering complete game video, advanced statistics and, player data for recruitable (14U-17U) prospects. An ALWAYSLIVE event also provides enhanced player profiles for each participant which will be shareable with recruiters, coaches, and fans.

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Register here for ALWAYSLIVE/BlackCager Youth Tipoff

 

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See You There!!

The Rise of $$$ and the Erosion of Boundaries in Youth Basketball

February 2, 2018 By in Business News, Uncategorized, Urban Education Leave a comment

“For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”
Timothy 6:10

Because money has become central to youth sports at an elite level, grown men involved with the game today are unwilling to say “no” to kids… men are unwilling to establish boundaries with kids for fear that they will leave the programs…

Because money has become central to youth sports, men encourage kids to lie, deceive and be disloyal…

The centrality of money negatively impacts the culture of youth sports, especially basketball…

To argue that Philadelphia’s basketball culture has not deteriorated or that the deterioration is not related to the increased presence of money in nonsensical… Indeed, I would argue the respect for boundaries and money are inversely correlated… The more money involved, the less respect for boundaries.

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Moreover, and perhaps more importantly, the erosion of boundaries within Philadelphia’s Black basketball community has emerged as a social problem. Most of us have cringed after reading a kid described as a “bum, trash, hoagie or even a pussy” by grown men on facebook or twitter. It is not uncommon to hear parents, friends or ol’ heads ruthlessly attack referees and coaches during games. Doesn’t matter the venue… Collegiate, scholastic, grassroots or youth levels it happens everywhere the game is played these days.

Adult males text and “slide in the DMs” of 13-14 year old boys on a regular basis… Sometimes they contact these boys multiple times a day, everyday for months at a time…

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Many may think of these blatant boundary crossing incidents as the actions of a few isolated rogue individuals. In this way, these behaviors are attributed to some personal fault or pathology in the adult or the kid and the parents, or all of them. In other words, if the parents “want the attention” then the issue is a personal problem affecting only a few “abnormal” situations.

However, those immersed in Philadelphia’s basketball community know full well that these are not isolated incidents. These behaviors have emerged as the new norm. Boundary crossing behaviors occurs so frequently… SHIT HAPPENS SO MUCH… it is no longer a private matter, but rather a public issue. It has also become much more difficult to attribute its causes to the personal defects of a few bad apples in the basketball community. So why is this happening?

The causes grow out of important shifts in the structure and resulting culture of the basketball community itself. Understanding the proliferation of boundary crossing behaviors, requires an assessment of how personal experiences are shaped by social factors built into the basketball community in which we all operate.

The past 15 years or so have witnessed the ascent of elite travel grassroots basketball clubs with the Philadelphia basketball community. Guys like Lonnie Lowry (K-Low Elite), Kamal Yard (Philly Pride), Terrell Myers (WeRone Hoops), Rob Brown (Team Final) and Paul Gripper (Team Phenom) have at various times assembled groups of highly talented youngsters and barnstormed across the country with varying degrees of success. The opportunity to play in very nice venues against the top players in the country is, understandably, very attractive to youngsters and their parents.

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There are many positive aspects to the travel team experience. More than ever, Philadelphia kids get an opportunity to been seen by coaches from different parts of the country. In one weekend, a young man can play in front of 300-500 Division 1 coaches. In recent, years several Philadelphia area players have completed their senior HS season with no Division 1 and picked up 15 or more offers in April-May based solely on their performance in AAU/Grassroots events. There is undeniably a lot of good!

But what are some of the social costs associated with rise of elite travel ball in our community?

The erosion of boundaries within the Philadelphia basketball community has accompanied the shift away from recreation center-based, neighborhood focused youth basketball programs.

Everyone is scrambling for a spot on a sponsored team…

Elite travel basketball at the highest levels is fully funded by major athletic shoe companies (Nike, Adidas and Under Armour). These public traded multi-billion dollar companies have each established separate summer “circuits” where their teams compete against one another.

The sponsored clubs typically have have 2 or 3 teams that are “fully sponsored.” The shoe companies pay the costs associated with travel, lodging, feeding and clothing these clubs as they traverse from city to city playing in front of college coaches eager to evaluate and gain access to the finest players.

As evidenced by the high profile scandals involving NBA Agents, financial advisors and coaches at Louisville, Arizona, Auburn and South Carolina… Shit gets tricky when thousands of dollars are involved.

The budgets for sponsored teams can range anywhere from $75,000 to $200,000+ for team loaded with potential NBA players.

The insertion of money has resulted in a massive change in the culture. The mere existence of an opportunity to profit has resulted in men violating and regularly trampling boundaries that were once firmly established.

Shit done changed…

At the core of it, one has to question the continued existence of the all important adult/child distinction… Organizations like the Sonny Hill Community Involvement League was run by a core of dedicated volunteers. Men like James Flint, Claude Gross, Tee Shields, Fred Douglas, Tee Parham and Vince Miller were former great high school players committed to developing young men into responsible adults. The teams were neighborhood-based and in most case you had to earn your way onto the team.

There was no money involved for the coaches… There were no flights across country to Los Angeles or Las Vegas… No all expenses paid trips to Chicago, Orlando or Atlanta.

Just a game against Germantown on North Broad Street at McGonigle.

These MEN were not going to compromise their values. For what? They were willing to confront disruptive parents… They were willing to dismiss unruly players…

“Get the fuck out of my gym with that bullshit” was a fairly common refrain amongst these guys…

The Philadelphia basketball community controlled the spaces dedicated to High School and youth basketball… This is no longer the case…

Fast forward to the contemporary era… the motivations are different… Money has negatively impacted the Philadelphia basketball culture…

Clubs, inevitably, feel pressure to attract the best collegiate prospects… Ultimately, the shoe companies want to sell shoes… The primary way they accomplish this is by having superstars wear their shoes… Kevin Durant (Nike), Lebron James (Nike), Steph Curry (Under Armour) and James Harden (Adidas) some of the biggest names.

The pressure to attract and keep talented players has resulted in a widespread compromising of values… Many in the basketball community excuse the inexcusable and forgive the unforgivable…

Times have changed for the worse…

It is impossible to imagine Claude Gross calling a 13-14 year old boy everyday begging him to play for South Philly… It’s also hard to imagine a mother and father in the 70s, 80s or 90s allowing a adult male stranger to call her son every single day for months trying to get him to play with a club…

“Leave my son the FUCK alone”… I can just imagine the responses during that era…

Today, it’s all good… Parents want their kids to play with sponsored teams so badly they allow unfettered access to boys with 8:00 pm bedtimes… WTF?

Parents want to be ranked and receive scholarship offers as early as the 9th and 10th grade… They apply incredible pressure on youth and high school coaches when they feel their child is not receiving the accolades due to him… Imagine a Dad sitting behind the bench cursing at Vince Miller about playing time for his son…

Trying to attract the best clubs and their registration fees, event promoters openly and brazenly seek to destroy business opportunities for other event organizers… Imagine Tee Parham trying to keep Fred Douglas from sponsoring a tournament…

Grassroots coaches encourage deceit, deception and disloyalty…”Fuck them, you should be over here… They ain’t taking care of you… You should leave them… Don’t tell nobody I talked to you…”

Imagine James Flint trying to steal a player from John Hardnett…

Adult fans make deeply hurtful negative public attacks on 15-18 year old boys… When kids play with another school or another grassroots program they become targets for senseless vilification… Imagine someone’s uncle writing that a kid is “bum” or “trash” in a newspaper 20 years ago…

Packs of young men and boys follow and support their friends in a socially unacceptable manner… Competition turns into strife… Crowds resort to violent assaults to resolve verbal disputes… Imagine fans at a Sonny Hill League game stomping the parent of one of the players…

Neighborhood beefs are resolved through murders at games… Imagine a man being shot on North Broad St after leaving a Sonny Hill or Baker League game…

Things have truly changed for the worse…

A few (40-60 kids) are better off… They travel across the country, play in great events against top competition… They are seen up close by college coaches eager to offer scholarships…

The vast majority, and the City as a whole, are much worse off because the recreation-based, neighborhood focused programs have been decimated in the process… The values and important boundaries that were once well established and consistently reinforced in these programs have been obliterated…

As a first step, we should work to strengthen and support organizations like the Ralph Brooks Community League, BAA League, Retroaction Sports and the Chosen League. We need these leagues and organizations to flourish… We need the values promoted within these groups to spread and once again become the norm in Philadelphia.

Many of the younger (30 and under) members of the basketball community grew up in this new era… They have no real frame of reference for an adequate comparison…

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Sonny Hill League

They could not imagine Mr. Hill at 5’7” 150 lbs bringing an entire gym to halt and complete silence because a guys shirt was not tucked in… Everything stopped… No talking, no playing… No nothing until the shirt was tucked back in and Mr. Hill was finished talking…

We are much worse off as a result…

Basketball beefs are corny…

Black Cager Solutions: Recent Work for “Full Court Press on ALS”

January 25, 2018 By in Business News, Uncategorized Tags: Leave a comment

Full Court Press on ALS is an non-profit 501 (c) 3 organization dedicated to increasing awareness about ALS and funding on-going research projects seeking a cure for this horrible disease.

Black Cager Solutions has partnered with Full Court Press of ALS to create digital content and evaluate the full spectrum of platforms (both traditional and emerging) to determine where target audiences may be underpriced to reach.

We have created a Youtube video that vividly captures the experience of a Full Court Press on ALS Game.

 

For another Full Court Press on ALS game we utilized the Vimeo platform.

https://vimeo.com/252649434

 

Leading up to the Full Court Press on ALS games, we created digital “posters” that were distributed on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. These posters were widely viewed and shared by members of the Philadelphia basketball community.

 

During the event, we capture images and video and upload them to Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Snapchat.

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We create and disseminate Press Releases through a wide range of digital channels.

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We look forward to working with you to help your Sports Organization gain attention. Black Cager Solutions is totally transparent throughout the process. We explain the our approach to all marketing tools. We provide clients with exact details of all media purchased. The resulting engagement and viewing data associated with those purchases are fully and openly shared with clients, including all rates paid, detailed performance metrics, and anything else the clients may need.

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Black Cager Solutions                                                                                        blackcager@gmail.com

 

A Great… Sloppy, Mistake-Filled… Catholic League Game

January 13, 2018 By in Neumann-Goretti, Uncategorized Leave a comment

Some prefer to get dressed up and head downtown to one Stephen Starr’s restaurants for what they consider a “great” meal. The white linen tablecloths and the waiters with the European accents add to the ambiance for them. The meticulous presentation of the entree is part of the experience. The carefully cut steak, the perfectly positioned asparagus spears and the pricey bottle of wine… For many, it’s all part and parcel of a “great” meal…

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Me… I’d much rather head throw on some sweats and head over to Mom-Mom’s house… Once there, I grab one to those trays that you use to eat in front of the TV. With my seating squared away, I head for the kitchen… No waiters… No foreign accents… Just a bunch of perfectly prepared soul food… fried chicken, fried fish, ribs, potato salad, potato salad, greens, yams, biscuits… You know the rest… Keep the wine… Welch’s grape juice will do just fine…

Presentation is not a consideration… Just pile it on… Need some of everything… The messier the plate, the better…

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The Neumann-Goretti win of Roman Catholic on Friday night was just like a plate at Mom-Mom’s… It was sloppy, it had a little bit of everything… turnovers, hard fouls, elbows, controversial calls, suffocating defense, poor shot selection, mental mistakes, etc…

It was also good as shit… Just like that plate at Mom-Mom’s…

Let me be clear… Roman Catholic has a very good high school basketball team… Shit… They have four (4) legitimate Division 1 players in the starting 5…

They are also well coached…

The problem is they only use two other players…

If they were playing in Ice Cube’s 3 on 3 format, they would be overwhelming favorites…

However, they are playing 5 on 5 scholastic basketball… And, Neumann-Goretti plays 8 very good players…

Depth was the difference…

At the start of the game and at the start of the second half, Roman was VERY impressive. Seth Lundy, Hakim Hart, Allen Betrand and Lynn Greer jumped out on Neumann-Goretti… In both halves Roman managed to separate themselves a lil’ bit… But inevitably, Neumann-Goretti was able to wear them down…

When Neuman-Goretti goes to the bench, they bring in TaQuan Woodley a 6’6″ freshman phenom… He impacts the game every time he comes on the floor…

Case in point, Neumann-Goretti’s underclassman bench player met Roman Catholic star forward Seth Lundy at the top of white square on a drive… He got his entire palm on the ball and proceeded to throw the ball and Lundy to the ground with force…

Daymmmmnnnn youngfella…

When they go to the bench, Neumann-Goretti becomes a different and in some ways better team…

Roman on the other hand, does not go to the bench… They rely on their four stars to play the entire 32 minutes… On most nights, they will be able to win that way… On this night it was not enough…

Not withstanding the presence of Roman’s four Division 1 prospects, the best player on the floor tonight was Neumann-Goretti’s Chris Ings.

Ings was really messing up everyone’s plate…

The junior point guard harassed Greer all over the court… He forced him rush his shots…

 

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He forced him to turn the ball over and turn the ball over and turn the ball over…

Ings finished with 22 points, Greer finished with 7…

Neumann-Goretti also has a significant s”ize advantage in the low post. When Neumann-Goretti was struggling to create a shot in the second half, they made a determined effort get the ball in the low post to 6’9″ center Marcus Littles… He was able to muscle his way to field goals on consecutive possessions. These buckets helped stem the tide for Neumann-Goretti.

Roman Catholic’s Big 4 scored 51 of the team’s 54 points… But on this night, it just wasn’t enough to overcome Chris Ings and his gang of 8.

Sitting with friends, Temple legend, Howie Evans, Philly Pride Coach Howard Hudson and Ron Byrd from down the “Bottom,” it felt like I was at Mom-Mom’s house… Only better… The game was live and not on TV!

That felt like a playoff game… The kids on BOTH teams wanted to win… The pressure was palpable… Some handled it better than others…

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Chris Ings (right) scored 22 points

Chris Ings handled it best… and his team came away with the win as a result.

See y’all at the next one… Bring the sweet potato pie!