So with that in mind, I'm going to not pay attention to the fact that the Mets just took a 2-1 lead, even though the TV at the office is right in my natural line of sight, and write about the Portsmouth Invitational instead.
The tournament, which is comprised of the top senior players from across the country, featured a number of players either from Philadelphia-area schools or with Philadelphia area-roots.
Among the 64 players invited were:
-- Dustin Salisbery, Temple / Cherry, Bekaert & Holland (who played on what I think was the best roster in the tournament)
-- Ibrahim Jaaber, Penn / Tidewater Sealants
-- Christian Burns, Philadelphia U. / Portsmouth Sports Club
-- Jahsha Bluntt, Delaware State / Portsmouth Sports Club
-- Jason Cain, Virginia / Bartram High (Philadelphia) / Norfolk Sports Club
-- Russell Carter, Notre Dame / Paulsboro High (N.J.) / Holiday Inn-Portsmouth
-- Gary Neal, Towson / ex-La Salle / Beach Barton Ford
After the jump, the players' lines from the tournament.
Another warning: this post gets pretty long, so bear with me.
The first game of the tournament featured Russell Carter's Holiday Inn-Portsmouth against Ibrahim Jaaber's Tidewater Sealants, with Carter's team rolling to a 110-71 win. Here are the two players' lines:
Name |
Min |
FG |
3pt |
FT |
OR |
TR |
A |
TO |
S |
Blk |
PF |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
R. Carter |
18 |
6-12 |
1-2 |
1-1 |
1 |
4 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
14 |
Name |
Min |
FG |
3pt |
FT |
OR |
TR |
A |
TO |
S |
Blk |
PF |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
I. Jaaber |
18 |
2-7 |
0-1 |
1-2 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
In the second game of the tournament, Christian Burns and Jahsha Bluntt were on the right side of a 74-70 win for Portsmouth Sports Club over Beach Barton Ford:
Name |
Min |
FG |
3pt |
FT |
OR |
TR |
A |
TO |
S |
Blk |
PF |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
C. Burns |
18 |
1-10 |
0-0 |
1-2 |
6 |
10 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Name |
Min |
FG |
3pt |
FT |
OR |
TR |
A |
TO |
S |
Blk |
PF |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
J. Bluntt |
31 |
3-9 |
2-4 |
0-1 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
Gary Neal, however, was on the wrong side:
Name |
Min |
FG |
3pt |
FT |
OR |
TR |
A |
TO |
S |
Blk |
PF |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G. Neal |
31 |
3-13 |
0-0 |
2-5 |
4 |
10 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
8 |
Game three was a 90-83 win for Beach Barton Ford over Tidewater Sealants. Gary Neal had a big game for the victors:
Name |
Min |
FG |
3pt |
FT |
OR |
TR |
A |
TO |
S |
Blk |
PF |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G. Neal |
24 |
9-18 |
1-5 |
0-1 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
19 |
But on the other side, Jaaber was quiet:
Name |
Min |
FG |
3pt |
FT |
OR |
TR |
A |
TO |
S |
Blk |
PF |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
I. Jaaber |
23 |
1-8 |
1-2 |
0-0 |
0 |
2 |
5 |
5 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
In game four, Dustin Salisbery had a solid effort in Cherry (naturally), Bekeart and Holland's 82-77 win over Sales Systems, Ltd.:
Name |
Min |
FG |
3pt |
FT |
OR |
TR |
A |
TO |
S |
Blk |
PF |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
D. Salisbery |
24 |
4-8 |
1-3 |
1-2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
10 |
In game five, Jason Cain made his debut in a 81-61 win for Norfolk Sports Club over Norfolk Naval Shipyard:
Name |
Min |
FG |
3pt |
FT |
OR |
TR |
A |
TO |
S |
Blk |
PF |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
J. Cain |
17 |
2-5 |
0-0 |
0-1 |
1 |
6 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
6 |
Game six had no Philly connections, so we skip to game seven, in which Holiday Inn-Portsmouth beat Portsmouth Sports Club, 93-85. Russell Carter was on the winning side again:
Name |
Min |
FG |
3pt |
FT |
OR |
TR |
A |
TO |
S |
Blk |
PF |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
R. Carter |
25 |
6-11 |
1-2 |
4-6 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
17 |
Jahsha Bluntt and Christian Burns were on the losing side:
Name |
Min |
FG |
3pt |
FT |
OR |
TR |
A |
TO |
S |
Blk |
PF |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
J. Bluntt |
25 |
6-13 |
3-7 |
2-2 |
2 |
5 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
17 |
Name |
Min |
FG |
3pt |
FT |
OR |
TR |
A |
TO |
S |
Blk |
PF |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
C. Burns |
19 |
2-4 |
0-0 |
2-3 |
2 |
4 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
6 |
Game eight closed out the first round, as Cherry, Bekaert & Holland beat Norfolk Sports Club, 96-86. Dustin Salisbery had a big game for the winners:
Name |
Min |
FG |
3pt |
FT |
OR |
TR |
A |
TO |
S |
Blk |
PF |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
D. Salisbery |
32 |
7-11 |
2-2 |
2-4 |
3 |
11 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
18 |
Jason Cain had a decent game for the losers:
Name |
Min |
FG |
3pt |
FT |
OR |
TR |
A |
TO |
S |
Blk |
PF |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
J. Cain |
23 |
4-7 |
0-0 |
3-6 |
4 |
6 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
11 |
The final round was played out as a quadruple-header on April 7. It started with two of what the organizers called "Consolation Championship Games." In other words, the teams outside the top four. The first game pitted two 0-2 teams against each other, Norfolk Naval Shipyards and Ibrahim Jaaber's Tidewater Sealants. Jaaber found himself on the wrong end of a rout yet again, but put up pretty good numbers:
Name |
Min |
FG |
3pt |
FT |
OR |
TR |
A |
TO |
S |
Blk |
PF |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
I. Jaaber |
32 |
3-9 |
0-0 |
4-5 |
2 |
6 |
8 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
10 |
Gary Neal played the second consolation championship game, as his 1-1 Beach Barton Ford fell to 0-2 Sales System Ltd., 81-60:
Name |
Min |
FG |
3pt |
FT |
OR |
TR |
A |
TO |
S |
Blk |
PF |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G. Neal |
30 |
5-16 |
2-8 |
0-2 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
12 |
The third-place game was a battle of Sports Clubs, as Portsmouth edged Norfolk, 89-88. Christian Burns and Jasha Bluntt were on the winning side:
Name |
Min |
FG |
3pt |
FT |
OR |
TR |
A |
TO |
S |
Blk |
PF |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
C. Burns |
23 |
1-2 |
0-0 |
3-3 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
Name |
Min |
FG |
3pt |
FT |
OR |
TR |
A |
TO |
S |
Blk |
PF |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
J. Bluntt |
25 |
4-11 |
1-2 |
1-2 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
10 |
Jason Cain was pretty ineffective for Norfolk:
Name |
Min |
FG |
3pt |
FT |
OR |
TR |
A |
TO |
S |
Blk |
PF |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
J. Cain |
10 |
1-2 |
0-0 |
1-2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
The final game pitted Cherry, Bekaert & Holland against Holiday Inn-Portsmouth. Russell Carter had another big game as his team came out on top, 113-103.
Name |
Min |
FG |
3pt |
FT |
OR |
TR |
A |
TO |
S |
Blk |
PF |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
R. Carter |
31 |
12-17 |
2-4 |
2-5 |
4 |
9 |
7 |
5 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
28 |
Carter was the game's top scorer. Across the floor, Dustin Salisbery was the top scorer for his team in defeat:
Name |
Min |
FG |
3pt |
FT |
OR |
TR |
A |
TO |
S |
Blk |
PF |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
D. Salisbery |
24 |
8-12 |
4-5 |
2-2 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
22 |
Now, I'm not an NBA scout, nor will I pretend to be one here. But if I had to guess, I'd say Carter and Salisbery improved their stocks quite a bit, especially Carter. Cain's numbers don't look good at all.
Jaaber didn't shoot well (which tends to stand out the most), but I like the assists and rebounds. Neal didn't make many shots either, but he took at least 13 shots in all three games, which says something. Finally, Burns and Bluntt didn't seem to contribute much, save for Bluntt's big second game.
Somehow, the Phillies game isn't over yet. Which isn't good, because they're winning at the moment. I need to find something else to write about, quick... and yep... that was predictable.
