4SHOT Hoops
2008 Boys McDonald’s All-American Game
Evans captures McDonald’s MVP
All-Stars games not for everybody
The Bradley Center – Milwaukee, WI
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| Tyreke Evans drive to the basket as East HCWoodie Jackspn (Francis Marion H.S., AL) looks on. |
Milwaukee, WI - At the end of the day American Christian Academy & Prep School star Tyreke Evans dazzled and entertained the crowd of over 10,000 on hand at the Bradley Center enough to walk away with the 2008 McDonald's All-American Game's Most Valuable Player Trophy.
“Showtime”
While Evans did his thing it was Brandon Jennings (Oak Hill Academy, VA - Arizona) who really added the mustard on top of his performance with some sweet assists to his West teammates. In fact Jennings finished with a game high 9 assists.
Other performers who really showed off their “And 1” skills were 6-0 Larry Drew II (William Howard Taft H.S., CA – North Carolina), 6-4 Jrue Holiday (Campbell Hall School, CA – UCLA) and 6-4 Willie Warren (North Crowley H.S., TX – Oklahoma) from the West while 6-0 Kemba Walker (Rice H.S., Bronx, N.Y. – UCONN) represented from the East. Warren also happened to be the games leading scorer with 23 points.
“That Kid is going to be alright”
Players like 6-4 Luke Babbit (Galena H.H., NV – Nevada), 6-6 DeMar DeRozan (Compton H.S., CA – USC), 6-5 Scotty Hopson (Univ. Heights Academy, KY – Undecided) from the West and 6-7 Ed Davis (Benedictine H.S., VA – North Carolina) and 7-0 Tyler Zeller (Washington H.S., IN – North Carolina) and 6-4 Elliott Williams (St. George’s Independent School, TN – Duke) didn’t have the dazzle like the “Showtimers” but you could tell the way they played that when they get to their respective colleges next season that; that kid is going to be alright.
“The Big Dogs”
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| The West was full of "Showtime" ballers. Brandon Jennings (3), Jrue Holiday (21) and Larry Drew II (22). |
While there were other big men playing in the game that came in with a little more fanfare than 7-1 B.J. Mullens (Canal Winchester H.S., OH – Ohio State) of the West and 6-9 JaMychal Green (St. Jude Educational Institute, AL – Alabama) from the East, these two were the most dominant “Big Dogs” on the floor on this night. Each finished with 12 points and a pair of blocked or altered shots.
”All-Star Games not for everybody” My esteemed colleague “Kut Washington” and I have had this conversation many a times; that All-Star Games are not for everybody. Especially dominant big men and team first oriented players with no real flair or dazzle to their games. These players most definitely are not going to get off in these type all-star games.
Prime examples were 6-10 Greg Monroe (Helen Cox H.S., LA – Georgetown), the National Player of the Year, 6-9 Al-Farouq Aminu (Norcross H.S., GA – Wake Forest), the 4SHOT Hoops Player of the Year in Georgia and 6-9 Samardo Samuels (St. Benedict’s Prep School, N.J. – Louisville) all are arguably among the Top 10 players in the country; well tonight they looked totally lost and uninspired. The trio combined for 9 points 11 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. Samuels scored eight of those points.
The following players all averaged over 18ppg this past season and didn’t score a single point tonight: Aminu, 6-9 Chris Singleton (Dunwoody H.S. – Florida State) and 6-4 Iman Shumpert (Oak Park-River Forest H.S., Il – Georgia Tech). “All-Star games are not for everybody.”
Oh yea, he’s “The One”
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| Michael Rosario was very impressive with the smoothness of his game. |
Evans won the MVP, Jennings, Drew and Walker dazzled the crowd, Warren was the games high scorer and Mullens and Green dominated the paint. “The One” however that everybody slept on was 6-2 Michael Rosario (St. Anthony H.S., NJ – Rutgers). Rosario showed a cool smoothness to his game, knocking down long-range jumpers and taking the ball strong to the basket with a pair of high rising slams. He finished the game with 18 points. He also played excellent defense recording 5 steals. Rutgers count your blessings because you got “The One”.
Oh, by the way the East All-Americans beat the West All-Americans by a score of 107-102
In Conclusion:
While all of the dazzle of McDonald’s All-American Game is great the true meaning and spirit of being named as a McDonald’s All-American participant is the joy and inspiration seen on the faces of the kids and the families that reside in the different Ronald McDonald Houses around the country when the players visit.
Because of the illnesses that so many of the kids have they will probably never come close to reaching the athletic heights of the players. So just to be in their presence, to touch, talk to, laugh with and probably sometimes cry with is so much more powerful then the players will probably ever imagine.
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| Tyreke Evans holds his MVP trpphy with Alonzon Mourning and Ronald McDonald at his side. |
There should be nothing more meaningful during this week of festivities, no game MVP, playing time, nothing other than touching the heart of a child who dares to dream to be in your place.
So weither you scored 1 point or 30 points, played 10 minutes or 25 minutes, who really cares when it’s all said and done, but that child that you made smile or laugh just for a few moments should last a lifetime in your memories......that’s real.
“L.A.” – God Bless
Scoring Recap:
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East All-Americans |
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No. |
Name |
P |
OR |
DR |
TR |
AST |
TO |
BS |
ST |
PTS |
|
1 |
* Tyreke Evans |
G |
2 |
8 |
10 |
4 |
5 |
0 |
1 |
21 |
|
3 |
Michael Rosario |
G |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
5 |
18 |
|
15 |
* Kemba Walker |
G |
3 |
3 |
6 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
13 |
|
24 |
Sylven Landesberg |
G |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
25 |
Elliot Williams |
G |
2 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
|
31 |
Chris Singleton |
F |
1 |
6 |
7 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
32 |
Ed Davis |
F |
3 |
3 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
11 |
|
40 |
* Tyler Zeller |
C |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
|
42 |
* Al-Farouq Aminu |
F |
0 |
4 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
44 |
William Buford |
G |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
6 |
|
50 |
JaMychal Green |
F |
3 |
2 |
5 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
12 |
|
55 |
* Samardo Samuels |
F |
2 |
3 |
5 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
8 |
|
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Team Totals |
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18 |
32 |
50 |
12 |
22 |
0 |
11 |
107 |
|
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West All-Americans |
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|
|
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No. |
Name |
P |
OR |
DR |
TR |
AST |
TO |
BS |
ST |
PTS |
|
1 |
Iman Shumpert |
G |
0 |
5 |
5 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
3 |
* Brandon Jennings |
G |
0 |
5 |
5 |
9 |
6 |
0 |
1 |
10 |
|
5 |
Luke Babbitt |
F |
0 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
|
10 |
* Greg Monroe |
F |
1 |
5 |
6 |
0 |
5 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
|
11 |
Malcolm Lee |
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