Peach Jam: Mac Irvin is Ready For A Championship

Over the past years, big men Jahlil Okafor and Cliff Alexander have dominated the Chicago basketball scene. Now, as they are ranked first and second in their class by ESPN they look to extend their domination down to the famed Peach Jam in their final month of their AAU basketball careers. Last year the Oakland Soldiers captured the EYBL championship despite an injury plagued regular season and now that the Chicago based Mac Irvin Fire AAU team is finally at full strength they are looking to accomplish this same feat.

Injuries:

Okafor and Cliff battle in Chicago

During the EYBL regular season, Mac Irvin went 11-7 in April and May to finish third in their pool. The season got off to a promising start as the team defeated their Chicago rivals in the Illinois Wolves and Meanstreets to win the Milwaukee based Swish N’ Dish tournament. Okafor dominated down low and newcomer Jalen Brunson provided a steady point guard presence with a deadly three point stroke. Things got better after their championship win as Cliff Alexander decided to join forces with Mac Irvin and test himself in the EYBL. After spending his previous summer on the D. Rose All-Stars, Alexander made the leap giving the Fire the top two big men in the country. Before the two high school rivals became familiar with each other as teammates, Okafor went down with a foot injury that sidelined him for all but five EYBL games in May.

With Okafor out of pocket, big Cliff began his domination routinely putting up double-doubles and averaging 17 points and 16 rebounds in Hampton. Despite his strong play, Mac Irvin went 5-4 during April. Okafor made the trip to Dallas in mid-May to take part in the third EYBL session and big things were expected from the duo. In their first game together things were going as planned as Alexander sprinted the floor and finished with rim rattling dunks while Okafor used his power and quickness in the post to score at will. The honeymoon was short lived as their opponent (ICP Elite) made a massive second half comeback and Okafor was forced out of the game early to ice his previous injury and limited to 17 minutes. The Fire dropped one more game in Dallas before rebounding to win three in a row with both big men turning in double-double performances throughout. In the last EYBL session in Minneapolis, Okafor lasted 10 minutes in the first game before exiting but the Fire still went 4-1. 

After a healthy three year high school career, Okafor is certainly not used to missing time due to injuries. While missing games is new to Okafor, it certainly wasn’t new issue for the Fire. Last year the team had high hopes for Peach Jam with Jabari Parker and Okafor on the same team. Unfortunately, Parker got hurt in June and was shut down for the remainder of the AAU circuit as well as a much anticipated match-up with Andrew Wiggins. 

Wing Play:

Alexander and Okafor are the stars of the team, while junior point guard Jalen Brunson has received his fair share of attention as he made his ascension up the recruiting rankings. Oftentimes the wings on Mac Irvin in Josh Cunningham and Miles Reynolds get overlooked; however this group will play a key part in deciding how far Mac Irvin advances in Peach Jam. Cunningham recently won a 3A state title for the Chicago based Morgan Park high school team and continued to his strong play during the AAU season. He is currently averaging 12.1 points and 4.9 rebounds per game and received invites to attend the Kevin Durant and Lebron James Skills Academies. Reynolds made his mark during the City of Palms tournament back in December. He is currently averaging 9.7 points per game and hit a team high 24 three pointers. In Pool Play, Mac Irvin will have an offensive advantage in every game down low. It will be up to the wings to hit open shots in order to give their talented big men space to operate. The five teams that will match-up with the Fire are led by their wings on offense. Cunningham and Reynolds will have the task of slowing down players such as Justin Jackson and Kelly Oubre for Houston, Malik Newman for Jackson, and Terry Larrier for Team Scan. If the Mac Irvin wings can make their mark on both sides of the ball the team will be dangerous.

Dead Legs:

With a healthy Okafor, the biggest concern for the Fire is jet lag. Okafor just finished putting together an All-Tournament performance for the USA 19U team in Prague as he went 3-3 in the championship game this past Sunday. After winning the championship, Okafor went through a 12 hour flight with several time zone changes to get home before flying right back out to the east coast.

Three players in Alexander, Brunson, and Cunningham recently competed in the Lebron James Skills Academy in Las Vegas. While these players got to compete against the best of the best, the camp did not finish up until Monday evening meaning that these players flew back to Chicago on Tuesday and had one day of rest before packing up once more for the southeast. After strong performances in Prague and Las Vegas, the road weary group will have to overcome their travel schedule to start strong on Thursday.

The Big Men:

As noted above, Okafor is returning from a trip overseas with the US team and Alexander is returning from the Lebron James camp. By all accounts both big men dominated and showed off why they are ranked so highly. Despite coming off the bench and playing against guys one to two years older, Okafor finished second on the US team with 10.8 points per game while shooting 77% from the field. Meanwhile, by all accounts “Big Cliff” came out to play in Las Vegas reminiscent to his 2012 Pangos camp performance and was one of the top players in camp.

Okafor relies on power and quickness in the post. With his large hands he can palm the ball away from the defender before making his move. He loves to make a left to right hand spin move for an easy lay-up. 

As for Alexander he loves to run the floor and dunk in transition. He developed a solid right hand hook and can also operate out of the high post in order to give Okafor room down low. Big Cliff averaged 16 points and 11.4 rebounds per game during the EYBL regular season and will look to extend his double-double streak into Peach Jam.

Overall:

With these two dominant big men finally healthy and on the same team, Mac Irvin can compete against anyone. As long as they overcome their jetlag and get consistent and solid play from their wings, the Mac Irvin Fire have a good chance on bringing their first EYBL championship back to Chicago.

Chicago Public League Championship

Whitney Young started the season off making a national name and ended their regular season by affirming their local name becoming Chicago Public League champs by knocking off rival Morgan Park in overtime, 60-55. Despite falling to Simeon and Orr in the regular season, Whitney Young regained their swagger during the public league tournament and rode the top junior in the country, Jahlil Okafor to Tyrone Slaughter’s first title. 

L.J. Peak against Morgan Park

Morgan Park entered the championship fresh off an upset win over rival Simeon while snapping their 2 year win streak over Illinois teams in the process. Senior guard Billy Garrett, Jr. hit the game winning lay-up over Simeon and continued his solid play against Whitney Young. Morgan Park jumped out to an early 6-0 lead as Whitney Young uncharacteristically turned the ball over 4 times in its first 5 possessions. Okafor and junior Miles Reynolds began to pick up the slack and cut into Morgan Park’s lead and finished the first quarter trailing 15-9. 

Okafor and Young quickly tied the game up early in the 2^nd quarter and then battled Morgan Park shot for shot over the next two quarters as juniors L.J. Peak and Paul White joined in on the action. As the game heated up, no lead was safe. White hit a floater to increase Whitney Young’s lead to 44-37 to start the 4^th quarter, but Morgan Park quickly rallied back to tie and then take a 51-48 lead as the 4^th quarter clock ticked down. With Whitney Young needing three points to tie, it was their silent assassin, Miles Reynolds who knocked down the all important game tying three from the wing that touched nothing but net. Morgan Park held for the last shot and put the ball in Garrett’s hands. After having his jersey retired earlier in the week, Garrett was looking to add to his legacy however as he drove left for the game winning shot, he was quickly greeted  by Okafor’s out-stretched hand and both teams left regulation tied at 51 points apiece.

Unlike a few days earlier in overtime for Morgan Park, this overtime session was dominated from the opening tap by the opposition. On the first possession L.J. Peak swooped in for an offensive rebound and scored on a 5 foot put back. Okafor quickly scored on the next possession giving Whitney Young a lead they wouldn’t relinquish as they held on to their early lead for a 60-55 lead.

Okafor continued his dominant junior season with 19 points, 14 rebounds, and 7 blocks. Despite facing constant double teams, Okfor utilized quick post moves to get his baskets and his first city title. While a city title is nice, Okafor and Whitney Young know that a chance for a state title still is the end goal. Unfortunately for them, they will have to make it through the tough Illinois Argo sectional which also features junior big man Cliff Alexander of Curie and of course the three time defending state champs in Simeon. Not only is Simeon going for the fourth straight Illinois title, they have also held Okafor to single digits the past two times the teams have faced off. Okafor’s only single digit game all-season came against Simeon earlier in the year. Whitney Young will look to end their season by making its name in the state of Illinois.

The Battle of Chicago: Whitney Young vs. Simeon

On Saturday night, ESPN will showcase the Battle of Chicago featuring the most anticipated regular season match-up in recent memory. Simeon and Whitney Young will face off at Chicago State University for city and state bragging rights (at least until playoffs). Fresh off a pair of impressive wins in the Hoop Hall Classic, Whitney Young enters the contest ranked #1 in the state of Illinois and #4 in the country while Simeon is #2 in the state of Illinois and #11 in the country. Both teams are led by their superstars. Duke bound Jabari Parker is aiming for his 4^th consecutive Illinois state title for Simeon (#2 – 2013), while Whitney Young’s junior big man Jahlil Okafor (#2-2013) looks to add some hardware to his collection. Both teams are surrounded by a plethora of high major D-1 talent that should light up the frigid Chicago night.

Past Match-Ups:

Last year Simeon went 2-0 against Whitney Young. The first victory came in December 2011 when Simeon won 62-55 before an estimated crowd of 6,000 at UIC Pavilion. Kendrick Nunn led the way with 19 points while Parker contributed 15 points and 9 rebounds. Okafor led the way in a losing effort with 20 points and nine rebounds as Whitney Young cut the lead to three points in the final minute. 

The re-match came during March 2012 in a class 4A semi-final. Simeon dispatched Young with a 12-0 third quarter run which turned into a 52-42 win under the watchful eye of Mike Kryzewski and Tom Izzo. Parker led the way for Simeon with 18 points and six rebounds while Okafor was held to nine points and seven rebounds while not scoring in the second half.

Current Season Comparison:

WHITNEY YOUNG:

Jahlil Okafor looks to end Simeon's reign

Whitney Young finished 16-10 last year, but so far the team has made remarkable strides despite facing an extremely tough national schedule. Three months into the season, Young is 8-0 against Chicago teams with an average winning margin of 40 points per game. They are also 9-1 against teams outside the state of Illinois with their lone loss coming to one of the top teams in the country, Montverde in overtime. Here is a look at the who’s who of Young opponents:

12/1 – Dematha (W 72-58)

12/20 – Montverde (L 63-68 OT)

12/21 – Omaha Central (W 60-57)

12/22 – Chester (W 67-56)

12/31 – Bishop O’Connell (W 58-37)

1/19 – Long Beach Poly (W 85-52)

Junior Jahlil Okafor has been a monster this year routinely putting up 30 point performances and monster double doubles while staking his claim as the top prospect in the class of 2014. Alongside Okafor, is junior Paul White (#55 – 2014). Similar to Okafor, White started as a freshman and is now currently a 6’8” small-forward drawing strong looks from the majority of Big 10 schools. Last year White was forced to act as a primary ball-handler due to Young’s lack of guards, but this year has been freed up to play more naturally on the wing or in the post when guarded by a smaller defender. While Young returned their top two players from last year, they also gained another top junior over the summer with the transfer of 6’5” junior guard L.J. Peak (#53 – 2014) from South Carolina. Peak brought with him a package of shooting, ball-handling, and athleticism that Young desperately needed and has made an immediate impact. While the big three of Okafor, Young, and Peak receive the majority of attention from scouts and coaches, it is the arrival of senior point guard Ausar Madison and the emergence of junior guard Miles Reynolds that’s propelled Young into title contention. Madison arrived via Worcester Academy and while he is the most over looked starter on the team, he is also one of the most important. Throughout the year, Madison has broken through pressure without turning the ball over and provided the ball to his teammates in positions for them to score. When defenders back off him, as they often do, Madison can hit the open jump shot as he showed during the City of Palm Classic and recently against Long Beach Poly when he sparked a 12-0 first quarter run. Also key, has been the improved play of Reynolds. While he averaged almost 10 points per game last year, Reynolds came into his own during the City of Palms classic and increased the attention being paid to him by college coaches. During this tournament Reynolds averaged almost 17 points while shooting 79% from the field and 72% from deep. With the emergence of Reynolds and the additions of Peak and Madison, Whitney Young now has one of the strongest starting line-ups in the country.

SIMEON

Parker tries to stay "top dog" in Chicago

Despite coming off three consecutive state championships and fielding a starting line-up that includes five future D-1 players, Simeon’s aura of invincibility took a hit in the early part of the season. Simeon currently stands 16-2, but it was their two losses on national TV that became a cause for concern. Simeon’s star player Jabari Parker missed action from July – November with a hurt foot and rushed back to play in the season opener against Milton (GA). In this game Parker showed up rusty and out-of-shape. At the same time Simeon welcomed Parker back they were also trying to smoothly incorporate big man transfer Russell Woods as their replacement for Marquette freshman Steve Taylor. While Parker tried to get healthy and shed his excess weight, Simeon struggled in a televised 10 point loss to DeSoto (TX) and then a 29 point loss to Montverde three weeks later. Despite these early season losses, Simeon regained some of their swagger by defeating Oak Hill Academy 81-68 in the Hoop Hall Classic. Analysts and writers noted that this win, to go along with their recent 19 point win over a Chicago public league rival displayed the fact that Simeon is back to where they belong. This might be true; however Simeon is still only one week removed from a two point sluggish victory over Morgan Park, a game in which Parker’s only baskets in the last 24 minutes came on two break-away dunks. 

Parker, the #2 ranked prospect in the country is without a question the star of Simeon and has started to recover from a sluggish start to the season. He scored 28 points against Oak Hill and 21 against Bogan this past week. To go along with Parker is senior shooting guard Kendrick Nunn (#59 – 2013) and point guard Jaylon Tate, both Illinois commits. Nunn hit the most important shot of the game against Morgan Park last week, while Tate can knock down deep three’s and run the team efficiently. Alongside these three is unsung 6’7” senior small forward Kendall Pollard, a Dayton commit and 6’8” big man Russell Woods. Woods transferred to Simeon from Leo, another city public school over the summer. To go along with this starting five, Simeon also features super sophomore DJ Williams who will be next Simeon superstar. Despite early season struggles, Simeon still owns the state having won 43 straight games against Illinois schools. Their last loss you might wonder….Whitney Young on February 16, 2011. 

Keys to the Game:

1)      Can Simeon slow down Jahlil Okafor?

Okafor is one of the most dominant players in high school this year, regardless of class. The season started with a 34 point, nine rebound performance and most recently he put up a 26 point and seven rebound performance. Guarding Okafor straight up does not work, and for the most part either does double teams. He is extremely quick once he catches the ball preferring to dribble left and spin right. He will also catch anything in his vicinity (a la Sean May). Simeon will not be able to stop Okafor by letting Woods go one-one one; however they are the last high school team to have success against him. In their last match-up it was noted above that Okafor did not score in the second half. Last year Simeon’s coach said: “We just kept the ball out of his hands. You can’t stop him, you just have to try and keep him from getting it.” Will Simeon slow down Okafor or will he have his way and record another monstrous double-double?

2)      Mental make-up

Whitney Young has been looking forward to this game all year and they believe it is time for a new champion. On the other side, Parker noted that “they (Whitney Young) are the little brother and we will always be the top dog in Chicago.” Simeon tries to regain their lost swagger while Whitney Young believes it’s time to change roles. Will Whitney Young be able to handle the hype of this game or will Simeon keep their stranglehold on the state of Illinois.

3)      Coaching

Simeon’s coach, Robert Smith was suspended for four games recently and will not coach against Whitney Young. If this game is close at the end look for the edge to go to Tyrone Slaughter and Whitney Young.

4)      The Other Stars

Whose starters will step-up when it counts? Last year it was Kendrick Nunn who stepped up to defeat Whitney Young in their first match-up. Will Nunn do the same this year, or will it be one of the new members of Whitney Young who hit the big shots?

Prediction:

Whitney Young by 5. 

Young’s only loss came against Montverde in overtime. This overtime loss also happened after a hellacious day of travel (Chicago to Tampa flight and then an hour and a half drive to Fort Myers) and an 11pm tip-time. Besides for this game, Young has been a well-oiled machine firing on all cylinders. The four junior starters for Young will look to jump out on Simeon and claim Chicago city bragging rights….at least until these teams match-up again in the Playoffs. Then, it might be a different story.

City of Palms: Championship

The 40^th annual City of Palms championship featured two of the top teams in the country Saturday night at Bishop Verot High School. Lone Peak came into the championship game 3-0 in the tournament having defeated their opponents by an average of 19 points per game. Despite this margin of victory and their three future D-1 players, the championship game more closely resembled the battle of David and Goliath, with Montverde playing the role of Goliath. Montverde had the edge in athleticism with their four high major Division 1 starters, but this advantage had not stopped Lone Peak before. The close to capacity crowd backed Lone Peak in its previous games and was ready to see the public school from Utah take on the private academy from Florida.

Game of the Night:

#4 Montverde 66 #7 Lone Peak 45

As mentioned in the Day 4 recap, the keys to this game were going to be how Lone Peak dealt with the size of Montverde and how they handled their pressure. While Lone Peak previously carved up any type of trapping press that other teams had thrown at them, Montverde went for the full-court man-to-man pressure as their guards had the length and quickness to frustrate the star duo of Nick Emery and TJ Haws. In addition, Montverde featured PF Devin Williams (6’8” 230) as Lone Peak’s PF; Talon Shumway stood 6’4” 200. 

Montverde came out of the gates firing on all cylinders with senior guard Miguel Cartegena and junior guard D ‘Angelo Russell knocking down three’s and Williams dominating down low. On the defensive side it was almost impossible for Lone Peak to get a clean shot in the lane with Dakari Johnson and Williams patrolling the paint and the long arms of Russell made it hard for sharp shooter TJ Haws to get an open look. Lone Peak miss-fired on countless three point attempts and fell behind 22-12 after the first quarter and 39-22 at the half. Russell led the way with 13 points and the big 3 BYU trio of Haws, Emery, and big man Eric Mika only scored 13 points combined.

Despite their struggles in the first half, Lone Peak came out aggressive and angry in the 2^nd half. Coach Quincy Lewis ran a set play for Haws which resulted in a picture perfect three point swish. Lone Peak turned the pressure up on defense and swarmed Johnson and Williams any time they touched the ball resulting in numerous turnovers. Lone Peak held Montverde to only four points in the 3^rd quarter, but could only muster 10 themselves trimming a 17 point lead to an 11 point lead entering the 4^th. Once the final quarter began, the Montverde sized played a deciding factor. Both Williams and Johnson finished with double doubles and Lone Peak struggled to get open looks. Star guard Kasey Hill was quite on the offensive end for Montverde but finished off Lone Peak with a steal and two hand reverse jam that got the Florida faithful out of its seat.

Williams finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds on 6-8 shooting while Dakari Johnson had 10 points and 11 rebounds. TJ Haws was the high scorer with 21 points, but needed 19 shots to do it. Emery was held to 8 points and Mika was held to 5 points on six shots. Montverde utilized its size and athletic advantages to ensure that David did not pull the upset of Goliath in the 40^th City of Palms championship game.

Top Performer:

D ‘Angelo Russell: 15 points, 3 steals

Russell had a quiet semi-final game with 4 points, but made his mark early in the championship game. Russell went 3-3 from the three point line in the first half knocking down corner threes from both sides of the court. He also added two impressive drives to the basket. As mentioned earlier, Russell also drew the defensive assignment of TJ Haws, who scored the second most points in the tournament. With his long arms and quick feet, Russell contested every jump shot Haws took. Russell dominated both the offensive and defensive sides of the court in the first half and was a key reason Montverde jumped out to a 17 point lead. 

Breakout Performer:

Miles Reynolds, Whitney Young (6’3” Junior Guard)

With the transfer of guard L.J. Peak to the Whitney Young Dolphins this year, most people have referred to Whitney Young as having a junior led trio of Jahlil Okafor, Paul Young, and L.J. Peak. Now, it will have to be called the Big Four. Junior guard Miles Reynolds made a name for himself in a 3-day stretch. He started off the tournament scoring a team high 18 points against Montverde including three free throws to send the game into overtime. In his second game against a tough and athletic Omaha squad, Reynolds went for 15 points on 5-6 shooting and was a perfect 3-3 from the three point line. In his final game of the tournament against Chester, Reynolds scored 17 points in the first half going 3-4 from the 3-point line.

Overall, Reynolds finished the tournament shooting 79% from the field and 72% from the three point line. This hot shooting came against teams that are all ranked in the top 15 nationally as well. Not only can Reynolds shoot the ball, but he also can slash to the basket with his speed and quickness. Reynolds caught the eye of LSU on Thursday and picked up an offer from them. Expect more offers to be coming soon.

Other Notes:

Long Beach Poly defeated Southwind (TN) to take home 3^rd place. Senior forward Jordan Bell led the way for Poly as he had 20 points, 14 rebounds and 7 blocks. Jajuan Johnson led the way for Southwind with 23 points but needed 24 shots.

Huntington Prep easily took home the Signature Series championship over Arlington County Day with a 74-57 victory. Andrew Wiggins, the #1 player in the country went for a cool 20 points, but this was not one of his finer games. Instead it was big man Moses Kingsley who did the most damage to Arlington County Day on 11-14 shooting for 26 points.

Junior, Guard / Forward Justin Jackson scored over half his team’s points (28) in a loss to Kiski. Jackson has his floater game down pat and scored many of his points with shots in the paint.

Whitney Young dominated Chester in the 5^th place game to hand Chester its 2^nd loss of the tournament.

Paul VI dominated Callaway 50-34 in the 9am game and frustrated star sophomore guard Malik Newman all day long. Newman went 1-8 from the three point line as Paul VI hounded him all day long. Big man Quadree Smith scored 16 points to lead the way for Paul VI.