2008 Boost Mobile Elite 24: RecapBy: Albert Chen

The stars aligned Friday at the 3rd Annual Elite 24, which
featured a bevy of top high school hoopsters at the famed Holcomb Rucker Park
in Harlem, NY.

The event kicked off with a Slam Dunk contest in front of a boisterous, packed
crowd. St. Patrick’s (New Jersey) 6-3 wing Dexter
Strickland outshined Dominguez (Compton) Jordan
Hamilton with a crowd pleasing double windmill over a randomly chosen
child from the crowd. Strickland showed tremendous explosiveness and had the charisma
and creativity to take home the title.

Hamilton displayed a knack for theatrics, despite a stoic demeanor, with various
assaults of the hoop. He seems to be molded perfect for a small forward position
with a lucid game although he showed nothing overly inventive in the contest.
He had a solid performance with 13 points displaying a "mature" game.

As is typical in All-Star games, the guards controlled the flow and tempo of the
game acting as distributors and pace setters. The two teams were named after Earl
"the Goat" Manigault aka the Godfather of street basketball culture
and his modern day predecessor Team Rafer "Skip to my Lou" Alston.

Coaching Skip to my Lou was Chauncey Billups with Dwayne "Tiny" Morton
and the GOAT team had Kenny "Chibs"Anderson and Queens coaching great
Ron Naclerio. The final score in a rather competitive game had Team Skip to my
Lou victorious with a 135-121 ending.

John
Wall and Dominic
Cheek were awarded Co-MVPs for the Skip to My Lou Team in a high octane
135 to 121 victory.

Wall was clearly the best athlete of the entire Elite 24 with long arms and tremendous
acceleration as well as strong explosion at the rim. Despite finishing with just
10 points, he had the two plays of the game with a left handed windmill in traffic,
as well as a 2 handed throw down. Wall also displayed a strong handle and great
floor vision, setting up teammates for a number of baskets.

He hammed it up for the Rucker crowd with a Matrix-style air windmill fake pass
while bringing the ball up at one point. Wall faced off against a physically stronger
Stephenson as the marquee match up.

Wall’s teammate and co-MVP (St Anthony’s) Cheek showed good range and an offensive
arsenal that catered to his outside shooting skills filling it up for 23 points.

	Lance "Born Ready" Stephenson had a game high 29 points

Local hero Lance
"Born Ready" Stephenson scored a game high 29 points utilizing
a variety of fakes, stutter steps, and cross-overs to get to the cup and score.
Physically, Stephenson was by far the most chiseled, and his game is tailor made
for the all star setting as he has all the playground moves and thrives in isolating
and using his one-on-one ability to score.

He opened the game with a long range bomb but the majority of his game is slashing
to the hoop, using his advanced strength to overpower and quickness to beat opponents.
As he progresses, his physical advantage will not be as pronounced and he will
need to improve his range and skill level. But at the high school level, he is
a physical specimen and has the strength/speed combination to "outclass"
the competition.

It should be noted that, sitting courtside, Lance displayed clear cut leadership
as an added bonus and was vocal throughout the game, all positive qualities.

The long limbed Strickland was one of the more gifted athletes in the game dropping
17. He pushed the tempo leaving little doubt that North Carolina has found another
gem as a future combo guard.

The team also included Lil Wayne look-a-like Brandon
Knight who exhibited a ghost-like first step, full court speed as well
as the finishing touch on lay ups to boot. Knight had quality control of the ball
and a strong basketball IQ finishing with 12 points.

Separated from his AAU backcourt-mate Knight, Kenny
Boynton helped the blue squad get the victory with his great quickness
and aggresiveness getting to the basket. Boynton finished with 16 in impressive
fashion.

Villanova bound PG Maalik
Wayns stood out, getting by opponents for some buckets (10 pts). No
stranger to the streetball setting, he was a handful with good ball control and
a knack for finding teammates with thread-the-needle dishes.

San Diego big man Jeremy
Tyler did his best to clean up misses and patrol the paint showing
his vast talent effortlessly hammering home a few dunks off the break. Although
he had one brain-fart blowing back to back bunnies at one point, but finished
with 8 points.

Highly ranked big man Derrick
Favors set the tone with put backs and was on the receiving end of
some nice assists. Favors has a solid feel around the hoop and a strong and a
chiseled body to throw around, finishing with 16 angry points. Favors was hungry
for boards and let the ball know it. He also took some aggression out on the rim,
apparently trying to rip it off the backboard and take one home as a souvenir.

Fellow big man Joshua
Smith (11 pts) also showed good post presence and a propensity for
making the rim pay for looking at him that way.

Rising junior Doron
Lamb was fast and sly while dropping a bushel of points, 25 to be exact.
His game appears to be silent but deadly as he showed control and poise to go
with a well polished mid-range stroke. Though still in need of physical development,
his wily game appears advanced as he utilizes a strong "feel" with understanding
of spacing and change of pace moves.

Other player point totals included: Abdul Gaddy 0, Dion Waiters 8, Durand Scott
15, Erik Murphy 9, Jared Sullinger 6, Karron Johnson 4, LaQuinton Ross 9, Nolan
Dennis 4, Ryan Kelly 2, Tony Wroten Jr. 4, Trae Golden 5, Tristan Thompson 4

Court side highlights included Bobbito the Barger from the Lower East Side providing
comedic commentary, of note the mentioning of a referee as a Cuba Gooding Jr.
look-a-like that drew laughs from the crowd as well as puns of Lance Stephenson’s
name which ranged from "Born Ready" to "Born Again" to "Sir
Lancelot".

Bobbito noted that when Lance was born, his sonogram was in the mold of a jump
shot and when players undershot or overshot he would quote that "he shot
that 10 footer like a 25 footer" or reversed. Nate Robinson was also in attendance
as was Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys who at the original Elite 24 made a documentary
"Gunning for that Number One Spot", centered around the game and players
such as Mike Beasley, Kevin Love, Jerryd Bayless, Donte Green, etc.

In conclusion, the Elite 24 is a celebration of street basketball, a coach’s nighmare
but a crowd pleasing event with a number of the country’s top high school talents
strutting their stuff. Fancy dribbling, dunking and showmanship are at a premium
as the athletic gifts of the hoopsters were on display. Conversely, fundamental
basketball, boxing out, setting screens and getting into a defensive position
are a bit of an afterthought. The mid-range jumpshot, in particular, continues
to decline in popularity although it remains essential in an organzied setting,
and highly effective for those that were able to use it such as Cheek and Lamb.

Rosters:

White Squad – The Goat