All change is not for the best and this one exemplifies that perfectly

By Marcellus C. Miller, Columnist

greatlakeshoops.com

4 March 2008

Before I get to the main focus of this column, I wrap-up another city basketball season. 

Now the 2007-2008 basketball season is drawing to a close and it has been a very interesting one in the city this year.  Overall, it pains me to say that the level of play is way down in Flint as compared to years past.  The separation of the few elite players that this relatively small city has screams for closing two of the four main high schools and combining the talent within.  I can only imagine what Southwestern could have looked like with the addition of some players from Northern.  Hmm…Derrick Smith, Tyrone Ward, Demarkus Bracy, Michael Martin, and Joemar Black would be a formidable opponent for anyone in the state this year.  If you added Deandre Upchurch to Northern’s team along with Chatavius Turner, Chris Campbell, and Walter Trouser from Northwestern, I know the Vikings would still be playing in the playoffs today. 

But, those are only one writer’s pipe dreams and the reality is the SWA is the only city team still lacing up their shoes for another game this year.  Ironically, it was the schools from the Flint suburbs that ended NW’s and Northern’s seasons (Carman-Ainsworth and Powers), showing the flow of talent moving out of the city.  Perhaps one day we will wake up and see the light.  That being said, it is now time to move on to my annual city end of the year awards (appropriately called the “Millers”). 

The Miller for city MVP:  Deandre Upchurch, NW

The Miller for city coach of the year:  Thomas Tucker, Northern

The Miller for city newcomer of the year: Joemar Black, Northern

The Miller for city most improved player of the year: Michael Martin, Northern

The Miller for city stopper of the year: Tyrone Ward, SWA

The Miller for city best finisher in traffic: Demetrius Miller, Central

The Miller for city best rebounder: Demarkus Bracy, SWA

The Miller for city best shot blocker: Darrell Williams, Northern

The Miller for city best shooter: Harold Peterson, Central

The Miller for city best dunker: Joemar Black, Northern

The Miller all-city first team (not by position):

Tyrone Ward, SWA

Demetrius Miller, Central

Joemar Black, Northern

Deandre Upchurch, NW

Michael Martin, Northern

The Miller all-city second team:

Keenan Coleman, Central

Demarkus Bracy, SWA

Walter Trouser, NW

Derrick Smith, SWA

Chatavius Turner, NW

The Miller all-city third team:

Sam Morgan, Northern

Harold Peterson, Central

Chris Campbell, Northwestern

Aaron McReynolds, Central

Demetrius Peterson, Northern

Miller all-city Honorable mention to:

Northern- Kelvin Kornegay, Carlos Benton  Central- Aundre Gibson  SWA- Brandon Thompson, Martell Northern, Erik Fields  NW- Chris Tiggs, Eric Lundy

_________________________________________________

Now let me get to my main point of the column for this week.  The theme of this year has been change and now is no time to deviate from that.  As one can see from the title of this piece, my firm belief is that all change is not good change.  I want to talk to you about one change that has been going on for a number of years that is particularly distressing to me. 

I remember when my brother and I were participating in sports while growing up in this very same school system.  Much like any other youths, we had our share of ups and downs athletically (I had many more downs than he did though).  There is one thing that I remember distinctly about that time: my parents would never try to step in and berate the coach, the other players, use derogatory language regarding any of them, nor try to “coach” from the sidelines.

I remember vividly when I was cut from a particular team, my dad was really upset because just like everyone else, he knew that there was something more to the story.  In fact, he apologized to me because he thought that the coach may have been upset by something he had heard him say in previous years when my brother was coming up in the program.  I happened to be close to one of the assistants, who was just as surprised as I was to get the news and he told me that he would ask some questions.  He came back to me, barely able to look at me in the eye, and told me that the coach harbored some personal reasons for letting me go.  He just apologized and that was it.  The conversation ended there and I never found out what the coach didn’t like about me personally.

My parents were of course very upset by the news, but didn’t pursue it any further.  They explained to me an important life lesson and moved on.  There were no calls to the coach, athletic director, school board member, other parents, or anybody for that matter.  They simply let the coach be a coach and make his decisions, right or wrong.  Ultimately, there are things in life that they realized they had no control over.  In other words, they let the coach be the coach and the parents remained parents.

A large portion of the parents today are largely different in that regard.  Although I personally coached my first game some 15 years ago, this year I have seen some of the most egregious examples of this type of behavior.  I have heard parents at various contests literally call the coach everything but a child of God during a particular game.  At times it was so bad I believe the often-berated officials probably felt sorry for them.  Parents have even gone over to the bench to give “advice” to the coach DURING THE GAME!  How ridiculous is that?  Things got so bad in one instance, that the coach couldn’t take it anymore and turned to tell the parents to just shut up.  That may have not been the right reaction, but humans can only take so much.

In other instances I have heard parents of players talk about the other players like they were nothing, not knowing that those other players had family there at the game.  Some young man’s poor mother had to listen to another father talk down about her son.  The father was lucky that there was no father there for the other boy or things could have gotten really ugly.  By the way, upon finding out that he was talking about a kid whose mom was sitting within earshot, he quickly changed his nasty tune.  Why would he change it then?  Did he realize he was wrong?  Or was he just embarrassed?  Whatever the case may be, you should not be yelling anything during the game that would be inappropriate for others to hear.

Unfortunately, the effect of this is running downstream to the kids in waves.  Kids are talking back to their coaches and officials more than ever before.  As soon as the coach is honest with them about their ability, they become defensive because their own family and friends have been feeding them false hope of them being more than they really are.  Instead of using the coach’s guidance as motivation, they think they know more than the coach.  That is the example they are being shown by their parents’ and other family members.  Whatever they see from them, they replicate.  Where is the order in that? 

Little Texas Western beats “Rupp’s Runts” and opened the eyes of a nation

By Marcellus C. Miller

13 February 2008

greatlakeshoops.com

Well, I’m back again but the message of change is still the same as it has been all year long.  Locally, the boys’ basketball schedule has been changing drastically.  Put into perspective this scenario: one team plays a rivalry game on January 29 and gets an emotional win.  Their next two games, scheduled for February 1st and February 7th, were both postponed due to weather issues.  One was rescheduled for February 9 and one for February 13.  So, there is no game from January 29 to February 9.  Then, they played 4 games in six days, including three on the road!  Is this the NBA or high school? 

Well, that scenario is the case for Flint Northern this week.  Oh yeah, I should mention that the last game of that stretch is against probably the best team in the state, Saginaw High.  If they have any legs left, it will be a miracle.  If they don’t, they may get beat by 60. 

You may be wondering what that has to do with change.  Well, it is with respect to the change in the seasons for the girls and the scheduling conflicts it has caused.  The weather can’t be predicted, but it was a whole lot easier to make up games when only the boys’ schedule had to be considered.  Add the girls into the mix and you get an NBA-sized road trip.  All change isn’t good.

On the city front, Southwestern has seemed to find its edge back at the right time.  They are still far from the team they were last year, but are getting better seemingly every game and proved it against Northern on Tuesday.  They are getting contributions from other players like Brandon Thompson to compliment their focal point, Tyrone Ward.  It is still bewilderig to try to understand why Erik Fields is not playing more.  Perhaps it is something internal and I guess I will trust the coach on that one. 

Northwestern is sitting atop the city standings right now and Deandre Upchurch is the reason why.  He is averaging nearly 19 points a game and causing everyone fits.  They are also getting key contributions from Walter Trouser amongst others.  Northern can clinch a share with a win against Northwestern next week, but they must have a full compliment of players to do it.  Discipline issues have caused two starters to miss games in the past week.  Joemar Black and Mike Martin can lead this team into the district tourney and present all kind of match up problems for their opposition.  Central is just a mess right now.  Keenan Coleman has seemed to fall out of favor with the coach, while their lack of overall size and ball handling leaves them open for many turnovers.  Demetrius Miller seems to be a constant force and will only get better.  Aaron McReynolds and Harold Peterson must be scorers for them to have a chance to win.  For some reason, I am predicting a 3-way tie for the city crown this year with Northern, Northwestern, and Southwestern sharing the title.  I guess we will see next week…

Moving on, I have been pondering what change on a more global scale has meant for us as a society.  Moreover, how significant change can be made without that change even being the ultimate goal.  Also, factoring in the point that this is considered to be black history month, naturally my attention turned to the memory of the 1966 Texas Western (now UTEP) basketball team led by Coach Don Haskins.  This team changed the course of sports history without that being their objective.  Against an all-white, number one ranked, and widely considered racist Kentucky program, Coach Haskins started five black kids that never had a chance to be Wildcats.

One of the stranger things about it is that Coach Haskins said once that sometimes he wishes that the team had come in second because he has grown tired of talking about that team and none of the rest of the teams he has coached.  It’s ironic because that team largely defines who he is to the American public.  He did something that had never been done before and he can be the only one to ever say that about that thing.  I can understand his battle with not wanting only to be known for one group, but change like this should be talked about, breathed, and lived throughout time.  This happened during a time in which it was widely considered that there had to be several white players on the court to maintain discipline and blacks were almost strictly regarded as athletes as opposed to players.  Surely starting five blacks would spell certain doom against the well-structured Kentucky offense.  They built the idea that coaches should simply play the five “best” players, regardless of race.  Even today there are still some arguments that go on about labels.  For example, what do you think of when you think of the term “gym rat?”  How about “athlete” even?  What do you think of when you say “shooter” or someone of high “basketball I.Q.?”  These are all examples of things that the Texas Western unit helped show could be answered with representatives of any race. 

Not only did they help redefine thought of what basketball players were, they also opened up avenues in the ACC, SEC, et cetera, for more people of color to receive higher education and gain more opportunities leading to a professional career in basketball.  Another unexpected result may be the other sports seeing the example and also applying it to their own, thus opening up more opportunities for minorities.  In this month designated for a celebration of black history, all sports fans should remember this team and thank them for Shaquille O’Neal, Dwyane Wade, Ladanian Tomlinson, Randy Moss, Dontrelle Willis, etc.  They paved the way for the sports and players that we enjoy today.  Without them, who knows when that would have happened?

Other Thoughts

- Pat Riley was a member of that team in 1966 and scored a game-high 29 points.

- I wonder how today’s Wildcats feel about playing in an arena named after perhaps the school’s most racist coach?

- It is worth mentioning that the top seven players on that Texas Western team were black, but they did also have significant white contributors.

One word for the 2007-2008 season: “Change”

By Marcellus C. Miller

6 February 2008

greatlakeshoops.com

I know, I know, you have been wondering why it has been so long between column postings.  To be honest, I have just been running around like the proverbial chicken with its head cut off as of late.  Everything seems to be converging at once like never before in my life.  But, I guess I should not be surprised by my change judging by all of the changes going on in the basketball world as well.

My last two columns have been about coaching changes, but this one is about much more.

Speaking of change, let me add as a side note that I have seen something that I have never seen before or even thought was possible.  Aaron Mangham transferred from Bentley to Southwestern to begin the year, started the season with the Knights, then transferred back to Bentley and played tonight for them.  What?  I am going to need some help understanding this one…

One of the major changes in the city has been the changing of the guard of city dominance.  At this point, if Northern or Northwestern wins their remaining two city games, they will own the outright city crown.  That definitely was not supposed to happen this year with NW losing Damon Franklin, Marcus Green, and others, while Northern lost Alan Sharp, Dachawn Glover, Cymiahn Williams, etc.  It goes to show that the loss of Noopy Crater by Southwestern may have been a bigger blow than anybody ever thought.  Northern is probably doing the most with the least, while Central seems to not be getting the most out of its players.  After most, even writers on this site, thought the Phoenix were hitting their stride, they have taken several giant steps backward.  I have a tendency to look more at the coaches than the kids, but in this case I am not sure either way.

A significant change this year has been the adjustment to the new placement of the girls’ basketball season.  Logistical issues, limited officials with experience, seemingly random scheduling, etc. have plagued teams this year.  How do you find time to have JV/Varsity girls and boys, freshman boys, and the middle school kids in one school to all have gym time with limited resources?  The fact of the matter is you can’t because if you put them all in only one gym for practice, one team would still be there at midnight.  Speaking of the middle school schedule, why is it so long this year, but starting so late?  The first middle school game is February 19, and their schedule extends into the end of March after all of the high school seasons are done.  Does that make any sense? 

The most significant problem I can see is that with the scheduling.  In prior years, everybody knew the boys’ played on Tuesday and Friday nights.  Now, it will be that one week then Monday and Wednesday the next.  This makes for difficulty in practice scheduling, and doesn’t allow for a rhythm to be developed.  Furthermore, it just complicates things for the second biggest issue, the placement of officials.  My fellow esteemed writer caught major flack for some real and perceived criticism of the officiating in one particular game this year.  I have said several times myself that the quality is down in comparison to other years.  That change is definitely not good for basketball or the kids involved.  The officials have to be spread over such a wide array of games in so many places four days a week, so it only goes to reason that there will be many less experienced refs used in big games.  While we can’t determine how much effect that has on the games directly, it goes to reason that things will be less efficient.

Now, I know I may take a hit from some of the striped shirts out there, but frankly that’s reality.  All of them have a difficult job to do every night, but the schedule is not making it any easier.  My deepest concern with this is for the MHSAA playoffs.  How will the officiating be dispersed then?  If everything holds true, then the better team should win on any given night.  But we have seen several times this year where games have been lost by pivotal calls late in the games.  That would be a great travesty to the game of basketball if a playoff game was decided by some of those calls.  Right now, it is very easy for me to fathom.

The verdict is in at SWA

by Marcellus C. Miller
7 December 2008
greatlakeshoops.com

What an interesting year so far in basketball in mid-Michigan.  Without a doubt, it has extended into the basketball city of Flint.  As it stands right now, Southwestern is leading the pack, followed closely by Northern.  In fact, if Northern can beat Deandre Upchurch, Chris Campbell and Northwestern tonight, they will tie Southwestern for the city lead.  Central started very slow, but has begun to show flashes of their potential, with their star Keenan Coleman leading the way.  As he goes, so goes that team. 

The biggest surprise so far has to be the combination of Joemar Black and Michael Martin at Northern.  Nobody even had these two on their radar, let alone expecting them to average 18 and 15, respectively, in leading their team.  They both also average around 8.5 rebounds and three blocks a game as well.  Black, a sophomore, is only starting to realize what he can do.  Unfortunately for Martin, he is coming off a major, life-threatening abdomen injury this summer and is just rounding into shape.  How is that for being tough? 

Martin spent three days in the hospital, came right back to practice (with his doctor's clearance) for two days, and then scored a career-best 28 points on 12-14 shooting the next day against the second-best team in the conference (Saginaw Arthur Hill).  Did I mention he had six rebounds and three steals?  This guy exudes toughness from his skin and I have so much respect for him.

Speaking of the Northern-Saginaw Arthur Hill game, legendary Mott coach Steve Schmidt was in attendance.  He had some words of wisdom for high school coaches in today’s game; hang in there!  He said that he is going through the same issues with his college kids that high school coaches are with theirs.  Perhaps one of the gentlemen in that game will be the next Mott All-American.  Also in that game was perhaps the interesting rendition of this country’s great national anthem I have heard in a long time sung by a Northern cheerleader.  That was definitely not what the home team needed, that is, to get the Saginaw crowd riled up even before the starting lineups were announced.  In short, “PLAY THE TAPE!”  Even still in that game, Arthur Hill put great pressure on the ball.  However, I have never seen a team rewarded for reaching in so much as I did that game.  Since when is reaching not a foul sometimes?

Anyway, the city leaders had to go under a serious change this year.  After a fall of controversy, followed by subsequent suspensions of players, forfeitures, and ultimately the suspension and firing of a coach, a change was needed.  Southwestern needed to have a winter clear of negative attention and a coach with no question marks.  So, here comes the judge!  That’s right, Judge Nathaniel Perry accepted the position of leading this talented group back to off the court respectability.  Judge Perry has been a basketball player in his own right for many years.  His son was also a standout football player at Powers in the early 90’s.  This was no easy task and one where the coach could not be questioned off the court.  Who better than a judge?  Did I mention that their best player and the best player in the area transferred to Brewster Academy?  So far, it has been and up and down ride.

by Marcellus C. Miller

I know what you must be saying, “a City Beat in the summer?”  That lets you know exactly how important I feel this topic is.  Before I get into the meat of this discussion though, let me say that I have been thoroughly impressed this summer with the level of talent that there is in the mid-Michigan AAU basketball scene.  In Three Rivers, I saw standouts like Flint’s own Jon Lee, Keion Arkwright, and Reggie Stallings show what they were made of against stiff competition.  Others like Sean Romsek, Max Gover, Tyler Moreland, Darryl Stinson and others shined amongst the rest.  At Aim High, I saw the most explosive athlete in the gym, Doug Anderson, do his thing time and time again.  I saw a U-14 championship game that was just as good as any other, going into overtime with up-and-coming players like Pierre Brackett, Antoine Silver, and the emergence of Dar Tucker’s cousin DeAnthony Arnette, who is supposedly going to start as a frosh for Saginaw Arthur Hill next year.  There was Taron Boose, Drew Valentine, Demarkus Bracy, Chris Hutton, Maurice Jones-Cooper, Patrick Lucas-Perry, Carlos Benton, Cortland Patterson, Demetrius Miller, and many others.  A truly remarkable mix of talented young kids was on display in these events, but I wonder how many more I missed…

Let me be perfectly clear, I wouldn’t have missed them because I wasn’t watching, but more so because they did not get a chance to shine.  Some kids were left hanging out in obscurity because their chance was given to another who, in my opinion, didn’t deserve it.  They didn’t serve it because they had not earned it as a part of that team and/or program.  For example, in the R & G tourney in Detroit, Team Detroit tried to use a player in the championship game that had played with another team in the same age group earlier in the tournament.  Tournament officials did not allow it after being notified, but the mere fact that they would try it is ridiculous at best.  Why in the world would adults feel it is okay to sit a kid that has been on the team practicing and playing hard to replace him with a rental?  Well, maybe it is not always about the kids…

In Three Rivers, a team (Kalamazoo Courthouse) “borrowed” a player from the Hurricanes because they just happened to be off that weekend.  This guy played almost every minute of the games that I saw and took more than his fair share of the shot attempts.  I guess that was fair to those kids who practice and pay to be a part of that team.

Still again in Lansing, I saw a young man play in a U-17 game, than immediately in a U-16 game.  I thought he had a younger brother or something, but was informed that it was indeed the same guy.  I started paying more attention and noticed that at least four kids from the U-16 Mustangs played for the U-17 team at some point.  As I watched, I started to feel sorry for the young man (I believe #20) that was on the U-17 team that never stepped foot on the court in the games I watched.  His time was loaned to others who may be more talented than he, or may be more hyped.  But tell me, how would we know?  We never had a chance to see him play.  In that same tournament, a normal Mustang found his way onto a Flint Affiliation team with his Mustang jersey on in fact!  Anyone could see the looks on the kids’ faces that playing time was cut short told the entire story.  The question that remains is why would these coaches do it, and why do the tournament directors allow it?

In my opinion, the first and probably the biggest reason why coaches and programs do it is the almighty dollar.  In my first year officially involved in an AAU program, this is more evident now than ever.  What I always thought was true, turns out to be just that.  The programs know that winning brings sponsors, sponsors bring money, money brings more players, which brings more wins and the cycle starts all over.  Who wouldn’t want a winning program sponsored by Nike or Addidas?  Well, I for one wouldn’t want to do it at the expense of the kids involved.  I thought that coaching was about teaching young people how to become adults while also instructing them on the finer points of the sport.  What happened to the time where kids played in the local AAU program?  I think kids should be able to play for whoever they want, but doesn’t seem weird for Team Detroit to have a kid from Mt. Pleasant? 

In that same Lansing tournament, my team was missing seven players in the single-elimination quarterfinal game, including the leading scorer and tallest big man.  It would have been easy for me to grab a couple of the U-16 kids for that game.  However, the thought never crossed my mind, nor would I have done it if even if it did.  I would not have the heart to do that in lieu of the players already on that roster.  How can those kids have confidence in themselves if they are going to be replaced by others when it is their time to step up?  Isn’t that equivalent to stunting a kid’s growth, which is the complete antithesis of what coaching is about?  It is even worse when you use a different team’s player for that same cause.  It would have been great to have had Common Bond’s own Lee, Arkwright, and Stallings, but again that would push the limits of ethics.  I chose to play with the kids that went through the tryouts, practices, wins, and losses together.  We lost that game by 10, but it was definitely our best effort of the tournament coming against the eventual tourney champs with 6 potential D-1 collegiate players.  Players stepped up and showed what they could do when given a chance to play more minutes.  It was a game that brought the team closer together as a family.  I have rarely been more proud of those guys than I was that day.  I look back and wonder what would have happened if I had “borrowed” some players.  We may have won that game and maybe even the whole thing.  We would have been in the papers and on the basketball websites.  Some college scouts may have even asked me about some of those borrowed guys.  Everything would have been good, right?

Flint City hoops review/preview…and of course my random thoughts!

by Marcellus C. Miller

First, let me say congratulations to the men’s and women’s Mott Bears squads!  They gave this city something to cheer about in a year where basketball was definitely down in Flint high schools overall.  Kevin Tiggs paced the men’s team with huge performances in the tournament en route to a MVP designation and a national championship.  This is no small feat considering that Tiggs was an afterthought by most in his high school days and not expected to reach this level.  He deserves a lot of credit for just working and not caring about getting the most attention.  He gave us all something to smile about in the end.

Nicole Holmes (profiled in the last CityBeat) led her Lady bears to a third place finish in the national tourney.  This came from another kid who was primarily an afterthought to most, but had the dogged determination to succeed despite the doubt.  Like Tiggs, she has a great attitude and continued to get better with each contest which propelled her to star status.  I for one hope she parlays this season into a scholarship at a division one university of her choice.

As for high school hoops in the city, Southwestern Academy gave us our biggest hope for a title.  Unfortunately, like last year, they came up short on the big stage in the semifinals.  If you read the story on the home page about that game, you saw my thoughts on their performance and those thoughts still hold true today.  I just don’t understand not having your best ball-handler and passer running the point.  Okay, if he is not going to be playing the point, why not use him as the high post guy against the zone?  The opposition would have to react to him if he got the ball at the free throw line and from there he could still create for his teammates or shoot the 15-footer.  Furthermore, how can the best player on the floor in the first half (Leviante Davis) only play 19 minutes?  He was giving EGR all sorts of fits.  However, he was not the option that was chosen.  Instead, SWA was handed a fourth quarter whooping by an EGR team who was not better than them.  No team should be able to score 19 points straight, only using primarily three players to do it.  The good news for SWA is that class B player of the year, Noopy Crater, will be back for another run next year.  If he continues to work hard in the off-season, his numbers could and should be phenomenal next year and may propel him to Mr. Basketball status.  Returning with him will be forward Ty Ward, who with this first full year of experience under his belt, should make leaps and bounds in 2007-8.  Erik Fields, Demarkus Bracy, and new transfer Mark Ingram (if he plays) should form a solid nucleus headed for the Breslin again.  The biggest difference?  They’ll be in class A with the likes of Saginaw and Saginaw Arthur Hill.  Losing Davis’s size and quickness also hurts them on the inside.

Northwestern had a decent year as well with their leader Damon Franklin stepping his game up.  He showed a little bit of why he has division one talent in him when he comes to play every night.  There are some that think it may have been a bit too late for the D-1 scouts to come calling, but I am not one of them.  I believe that any MAC school that has a scholarship should be banging his door down provided he has passed the proper academic requirements.  Unfortunately for the Wildcats, they had to play their season without the services of vastly improved big man, Lemarcus Lowe.  He apparently had too many credits to participate due to some night classes he had taken.  This was a travesty in my mind and if the rumor is true that another local coach told on him, then it really stinks.  They could have definitely used his services.  Deandre Upchurch had a breakout year and is poised to return as the team’s leader next year.  This young man has the tools to be a star for the next two years to come.  The team’s outlook for next year is a little shaky without Franklin, Lowe and Marcus Green.  They are going to really need some players to step up that didn’t play much this year or from the JV squad.  I look for them to finish in the middle of the city race next year again.

Northern finished a poor season with a whimper in the playoffs.  They played without their leader, Dachawn Glover, for stretches during the year for various reasons.  That said, Cymiahn Williams had a nice impact this year and looks to have a bright future.  The Vikings will be an interesting team to watch, simply because they were and are so young.  They will have multiple guys returning, but the lack of size will hurt them again next year. Alan Sharp was an all-conference performer, but his offensive game is going to have to go up several levels for this team to compete seriously next year.  I look for Northern to be fighting hard not to finish at the bottom of the city next year.  However, if all of the youngsters improve, they could make a move to number two in the city before it's said and done.

Central had its most disappointing season in a long time, maybe even ever.  However, there was one huge bright spot in Keenan Coleman.  This young sophomore apparently entertained thoughts of transferring, but has remained put.  Coleman is a dynamic scorer that possesses some ability to also set up his teammates.  Unfortunately for him, he faced double and triple teams every night because of the teams’ overall lack of depth.  Losing Stephan Dotson to injury and a couple other players to academic issues depleted the Phoenix bench dramatically.  Dominique Price showed some flashes this year and provided Coleman with his only consistent help.  Gene Hodge was strong inside, but never found the offensive touch or the defensive prowess to remain out of foul trouble.  Demetrius Miller, a mid-season call up from JV, sparked the team at times but he still as a lot of learning to do to really make an impact.  This team will be under new leadership next year, one that hopefully instills more of a serious work ethic in them.  At this point, though, they will be bringing up the city’s rear in 2007-8. 

Now let’s see how I did with my preseason prediction versus my postseason awards:

Preseason projected order of finish:        Actual:

SWA                                                              SWA

NW                                                                NW

Northern                                                         Northern

Central                                                            Central

Preseason MVP:                                         Postseason MVP:

Anthony Crater-SWA                                  Anthony Crater-SWA

Preseason All-City 1^st team:                    Postseason All-City 1^st team:

Anthony Crater-SWA                                 Anthony Crater-SWA

Damon Franklin-NW                                  Damon Franklin-NW

Lemarcus Lowe-NW                                   Leviante Davis-SWA

Ty Ward-SWA                                            Ty Ward-SWA

Keenan Coleman-Central                            Keenan Coleman-Central

Preseason All-City 2^nd team:                   Postseason All-City 2^nd team:

Alan Sharp- Northern                                   Alan Sharp- Northern

Leviante Davis- SWA                                   Dominique Price- Central

Erving McFadden-SWA                               Erving McFadden-SWA

Deandre Upchurch-NW                               Deandre Upchurch-NW

Marcus Green-NW                                      Cymiahn Williams- Northern

-I don’t think I did too bad, right?  I have to get some sort of pass on Lowe because he wasn’t able to play.  Other than that, I would have to say that there were some pretty accurate picks.  What do you think?

Holmes proving doubters wrong everyday

By Marcellus C. Miller

A ten-year-old girl, barely over four feet tall and looking like she weighed next to nothing, approached me at the free throw line in a basketball practice for the CANUSA games.

“I can’t do it,” she said, “I just can’t do it.”

It wasn’t the first time she had said that do someone and it would certainly not be the last.  However, after leading Mott Community College to their first ever state title and the regional crown, I don’t think anyone is saying that about her right now.

She is Nicole Lenee’ Holmes, do-all freshman guard for the Mott Bears.  Don’t get me wrong, she is still slight in stature, but her heart is the biggest I have ever seen.  Still barely weighing 110 pounds, she plays every position but center for the Bears.  She leads the team in scoring, assists, steals, free throws made and percentage, field goal percentage, and is second in rebounding. 

To say that she is a jack-of-all-trades would be an understatement.  She is also ranked 15^th in the nation for division II schools in scoring, 12^th in field goal percentage, 25^th in assists, and 30^th in steals!  For a person who has been doubted all of her life, she is doing a good job of proving everyone wrong.

“I started playing basketball in the second grade because of my friends, Mary (Hughley) and Brittany (Brown), and my cousin Dariel (Anderson)," Holmes said.  "Basketball was fun and just something to do.”

Well, she has definitely developed far beyond that now through a great deal of old-fashioned hard work.  When you watch her, you will see no flash and dash, but at the end of the game she will have filled that stat book.

In the state finals, she scored what GLH editor Jared Field described as a “quiet 33.”  I have never seen a quiet 33 points, but that is how Nicole is.  She doesn’t want to draw attention to herself.  But like a crocodile, she surprises her opponents with blinding quickness.

Growing up, she always played with her best friend, Brittany, and often deferred the scoring load to her.  This made Nicole work a lot harder on the other parts of her game that now make her a complete player.  She believes that knowing Brittany had her back on the court allowed her to focus her attention on defending her opposing player.

“Defense is my strongest asset,” said Nicole. “I have a lot of weaknesses; that’s why I work hard everyday to improve my game.  I am shy, but I just enjoy being out there playing in front of everybody.  I love the feeling I get on the court.  But now I have to shoot or my coach said she would sit me on the bench.”

At Mott, Nicole is now leading a group of ladies that she has played against for most of her life in the Flint schools. 

“At first it was kind of weird because I really didn’t think I was going to fit in on this team, but I was completely wrong. We all get along great and we all work hard. We all want the same thing (a national championship) and we all know how much work it’s going to take to get one.”

It is definitely going to take a lot of work, but who can now doubt this young lady?  There were a number of bigger schools that backed off of her after high school because of her size, but I am sure they will be lining up for her services now.  Mott coach Letitia Hughley looks like a genius for seeing what the others couldn’t.  I asked Nicole how it felt to be proving the doubters wrong.

“It is a great feeling to be where I am today. There were a lot of people who said I couldn’t do it and I wouldn’t be able to play at the next level. Even when I was younger people said I was too little or I wasn’t good enough. I kind of want to thank them because that just made me want to work that much harder to prove them wrong.”

When asked what others she wanted to thank for her success so far, Nicole had this to say.

“I want to thank my family (Michael Sr. and Valerie Holmes-parents, Cherese and Michael Jr.-siblings) and friends and any one else who supported me. I have to give a shout out to all my coaches that I have had throughout the years because they all helped me out in some kind of way.  I have to thank the lady bugs of course BrittanyBrown, Jillian Bush, Tiauna Dorsey, Sade Butler, and Marissa Golson.”

With the work ethic she has and her skill level already, the sky is truly the limit for Nicole--as long as she still has her big heart in it.  She played through a good portion of her high school career at Flint Central wearing a mask to protect her broken nose.  She hits the ground more times during a game than anyone you ever want to see.  You cringe thinking that she must be hurt, yet she bounces up every time.  The fact that she has made almost 140 more free throws than the next closest teammate speaks volumes for her toughness and courage.  To anyone that thought she couldn’t do it, she is proving that she can and will.

Nicole is set to lead Mott to the national tournament March 14-18 in Phoenix, Arizona.

Editor's Note

Holmes was named MCCAA eastern conference player of the year as well as regional player of the year. Consequently, her status as top freshman is a no-brainer.

What can I say about the state of basketball in Flint?  Hmmm, well the Mott Bears are the premiere attraction at this time with Kevin Tiggs leading the way.  I was at the gym recently playing in one of my recreational leagues when all of the guys started talking about how fast this kid has made such a huge conversion.  He IS the best player playing in the area right now and he doesn’t even seem to know it yet.  Every time I see him he still has that boyish grin that he is known for stretched across his face and his rise to popularity has not seemed to change him at all.  Big things may be coming from this guy, so watch out!  I want to go on record and say that I hope he stays as far away from Michigan State as he can.  He has an SEC/ACC style of game and that is not what coach Izzo is known for.  So, if you’re reading, I don’t care how many Flintstones we have had at MSU, don’t be the next one (just ask Kelvin Torbert)! 

As far as the high school scene, it is business as usual for the SWA Knights.  Leviante Davis seems to have finally figured out his role with this team and they are prospering because of it.  They are ranked #1 in the state of Michigan, regardless if class, well at least until their recent loss to Saginaw High.  Although this is not nearly the most talented team I have seen before, their talent is not what will hold them back in their quest for the elusive state crown.  They need a great combination of good coaching, leadership, and execution to pull it off and they have as good of a shot as anyone else right now.  Unfortunately, they can’t shoot free throws to save their lives.  If a playoff game comes down to that, they can forget it.  They should spend a whole practice just on developing proper free throw shooting techniques; it would be well worth it.

Speaking of the Knights, we all know who their leader is by now, Anthony Crater.  What some of us may not know is that he has a very talented younger brother by the name of Treyvon who plays for a very good Flint Affiliation AAU team that I saw play last week.  That team also features a kid, Donald O’Brien (the son of the late Donald Fisher) who is already at least 6’4”!  Oh yeah, these kids are only 13-14 years old!  While he is less than paper thin, no one can coach height.  Then there is a kid by the name of Manny that was the total opposite end of the spectrum standing maybe two feet shorter.  However, this kid has a lot of talent as well.  Denzel Watts runs a pretty good point guard for this team and they have a good chance to win some serious tournaments.

But what got me thinking was watching the way the coaching staff handled Crater and O’Brien.  There has to be a huge amount of pressure on these kids due to the fact that their athletic family members have left huge shoes for them to fill.  While this is difficult enough, it is made even more difficult by people trying to turn them into something they are not.  For example, Treyvon is a lot bigger than Noopy was when he was at the same age, yet they are trying to make him a point guard because his brother is.  Noopy’s size restricted him to the guard position as a child, but Treyvon has options right now.  During the two games that I watched, he was far more effective off of the ball slashing and scoring than he was when he was handling the point guard duties.  I asked on of the coaches why he was at the point and he responded by saying that it was because he could not shoot the jump shot well.  When did that become a reason to run the team?  Why not just work on his shot?  That is one of the main problems with the AAU program in this area.  They want everything to just fall into place without the hassle of really teaching the game fully.  The fact of the matter is that they are trying to make him into his brother and I hope that it doesn’t hurt his development.

O’Brien is a project with great height, but not a whole lot of weight to support it.  He often looks out of place primarily due to the fact that he stretches above most of his competition.  His dad was a great player for Flint Northern in his own right.  I believe it is safe to say that he is expected to follow in his footsteps.  However, because of his rapid growth, his movements seem robotic and forced.  As tall as he is, he did not block many shots and did not rebound well at all.  Is that something that we don’t teach anymore?  Hmm…

I believe that we have to be extremely careful when comparing kids to their elder siblings and/or parents.  I played with a friend by the name of Jason Turner, brother of the legend Eric Turner, and the pressure of everyone trying to make him into his brother was almost unbearable.  In fact, after high school, he decided not to play basketball anymore because of it.  Just like Jason was not Eric, Treyvon is not Noopy and Donald is not his dad.  As much as we hope that they develop similar skill sets, there is nothing wrong with letting them grow into their own skin.  I have a brother that was and is a better basketball player than I will ever be and it was difficult sometimes living in his shadow.  He never made me feel inferior, but others around us looked at me as if to wonder why I wasn’t as good.  One reason is I wasn’t blessed with the 6’7” height that he has.  Even our high school coach treated me like I was supposed to be him, killing my confidence.  It took me until I got into college to regain it after all of that. 

27 January 2007

by Marcellus C. Miller

Well, guess who’s back in the city?  Me!  I never left, but I know I haven’t written in a while.  Anyway, city basketball is going just as I predicted.  Southwestern used a 22-point second half performance by Noopy to dispatch of Northwestern handily the other night. Oh yeah, that included six triples.  Leviante Davis poured in 17 as well.  If they can get 15-18 points from him a night, they will have a great shot at the class B crown. 

Northwestern looks decent, but doesn’t have enough punch to surpass SWA. Damon Franklin and Marcus Green can carry the scoring load, but can they stop anybody?  Northern looks lost again with DaChawn Glover being injured, while Central has been lost all season with only one lonely victory and a beating at the hands of former Indian Adrian Hunter and the Grand Blanc Bobcats.  Speaking of Hunter, it is a shame that he is not still at Central.  He and Keenan Coleman would have been a great tag team and they would have also had a current SWA player alongside...anyway, on to the good stuff…

The truth really does hurt, doesn’t it?

I have been in some serious thought about The Truth vs. Lies in the sports world today.  There are so many examples in the national media that point to the truth having more impact than any amount of false rumors ever could.  The question that remains is, why that is the case?  One would think that being lied to is the worst thing that could happen to them.  To have others believe something that is false about you would indeed be a travesty.  However, I contend that knowing the real truth about someone could and probably would hurt them even more.  Think about it…how many of us have revealing truths about us that we are glad are hidden?  I know I do…

Look at our national sports media in the past few years.  It has been inundated with a slew of stories, both real and false.  Take the steroid issue that has plagued Major League Baseball in recent history.  Do you even remember most of the names that were implicated in the BALCO scandal?  Probably not.  This is in part due to a witch hunt to get a particular player (Barry Bonds), but also because the ones who spoke up the loudest were the guiltiest.  Rafael Palmiero, former Baltimore Orioles first baseman, stood up in front of anybody who would listen and vehemently denied any accusations. He swore that he was in no way a part of the steroid era and was distraught and amazed that his name even came up. 

But, you know what happened?  He tested positive midway through the baseball season.  Even Bonds, who claim has always said that despite rumors he has never tested positive for anything.  Well, I guess that positive test for an amphetamine doesn’t count in his eyes.  You can even go back to Pete Rose.  After many years if saying he didn’t bet on baseball, denying it, and getting many others to feel sorry for him not being in the Hall of Fame, he came out with a book detailing that he did indeed bet on the game.  In the NBA, Kobe Bryant denied the allegations of him being with another woman, until the DNA proved otherwise and he had to come clean.  The examples from the national sports world go on and on, but are not restricted to sports.  Remember the “No new taxes” statement from the office of the president?  What about Clinton’s famous denial of any improper relationship with Monica Lewinsky, that is, until she revealed she kept the dress.  Hollywood provides so many more examples that I won’t get into, but isn’t it amazing that the loudest talking is done by the ones whose allegations against turn out to be true?

Going back to baseball, Ivan Rodriguez of the Detroit Tigers was also implicated.  He made one statement and the story hasn’t been brought up since its initial introduction.  There are always numerous reasons about what coach is going where and what player is being traded to whom.  Ironically, the ones that receive the least attention are the ones that turn out to be false.  The rumors that get the biggest denials in the media are usually the ones that aren’t really rumors, but truths.  The tabloids are always printing some rumor to grab our attention in the lines at the grocery store, yet nearly all of them are falsehoods and you never hear about them unless you read them yourself.  So think about things as a whole, when someone battles against the truth, they are in effect promoting and pushing lies.  They want people to be deceived and not realize the real deal. 

The thing is that as a writer for a media outlet such as GLH, I and my fellow associates are subject to many different responses all of the time with what we write.  Since my column is mostly opinion-based, I may get it a little more than the others, but it is spread out with all of us.  The funny thing to me is when the truest things are written, we get the harshest reaction against it.  Our message board is chock full of guesses, thoughts, conjectures, opinions, and rumors that are debated heavily and that is great; however, I have realized that about 70-75% of the things that are posted on these boards have some truth to them.  I write a column at least 3 times a month and it seems that the ones that people e-mail me responses to saying that they were the most stimulating, are also the ones that others will respond negatively to most emphatically. 

Personally, I have no problem dealing with both responses to my work, but I often wonder why people argue so hard against the truth.  The fact remains that the truth can still be painful, but can also set you free.  When the truth is revealed about something or someone, it can open the eyes of so many to things that subject may not want people to know.  Then again, the sooner that people know, the sooner they forgive and the sooner everyone can move forward.

I was reading a story about a young black man named Genarlow Wilson, a former high school track, football, and academic star, who is now a convicted sex offender.  The truth is that he had consensual sex with 15-year-old girl when he was 17-years-old.  In addition, the truth is that the state of Georgia has an archaic law that makes the sexual acts that they did a felony, despite it being consensual. 

The truth is also that the girl was not chastised for lying initially that she was raped.  It is a fact that if he is labeled as a sex offender, he could not live with his own little sister.  The truth is that they repealed the law, but wouldn’t make it retroactive so he could be released from his mandatory 10 year term.  The truth is that a promising young man’s life is being stripped away piece by piece and the people that could stop it won’t.  They want us to believe statements that are false.  It is false that Genarlow should have pled guilty.  It is false that taking a plea bargain is “taking his medicine”, as the DA implied.  Yet, that is the story that is being pushed to the public.  They want a young man that did not molest a kid, to admit that he did.  You know, it is also true that in the same area a white female teacher was convicted of sleeping with a student, true child molestation, and only served 90 days in jail.  90 days?  Why is the DA not talking about the truth when the truth would definitely set this young man free?

Hopefully the truth of his story will be revealed to all and he will be vindicated soon.  It is a shame that we often fight the truth to promote lies for our own personal gain or to hide our transgressions.  It is easy for us to say that those with the national spotlight need to tell and promote truth, but it is a bit harder for us to see it on a local level.  We need to stop fighting so hard against the truth and let it do what it was designed to.  Trust me, most everything that writers in media outlets write they believe to be true.  Sure, there are times when they are wrong and if they have any integrity they can admit it and amend their story.  Nonetheless, there is a way to address that without promoting a false story…just fill them in on the truth if you can, that’s all.  Can you handle that?

8 January 2007

by Marcellus C. Miller