Memphis East..

[TonyG]

 

Penny's thoughts: `We're breeding an NBA mindset here'

 

 

John Varlas , USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee2:31 p.m. CT Jan. 30, 2017

During a recent Thursday game at East High's cozy gym, the best show of the night came in garbage time.

That was when junior reserve James DeJesus came off the bench with a flurry of 3-point shoots, connecting six times from beyond the arc to finish with 20 points on only a few minutes of action. DeJesus' efforts drew cheers from the crowd and his more illustrious teammates along with a big smile from Mustangs coach Penny Hardaway.

Like many games of late for the top AAA team in the state and the top team in The Commercial Appeal's Dandy Dozen, this one wasn't close; the Mustangs won the District 16-AAA game 107-46 to improve to 19-3. But if you think Hardaway is going to let his Mustangs cruise into the playoffs, think again.

There's always something to compete for.

"We're breeding an NBA mindset here," said Hardaway. "We instill that in them early ... and these are great kids."

It would be understandable if the Mustangs became complacent, biding time until the third week in March when they're strongly favored to defend their AAA state championship. In its 12 victories against Shelby County competition, East has a winning margin of 38.2 points per game. No local team has even gotten within double-digits; the closest game was a 66-54 victory over White Station on Jan. 5.

To that end, Hardaway put together a daunting national schedule for his team. East advanced to the finals of both the City of Palms Tournament in Fort Myers, Fla. (losing to nationally-ranked prep school Montverde Academy) and the Bass Pro Tournament of Champions in Springfield, Mo. (losing to nationally-ranked Sierra Canyon out of California). Their only other defeat came against another prep school team, Chattanooga Hamilton Heights.

And the Montverde loss? Well, East has made up for that. Twice. The Mustangs defeated the Eagles 75-73 at the ARS/Conway Services Penny Hardaway National Hoopfest on Jan. 7 before Alex Lomax's 3-pointer at the buzzer gave them a 59-56 victory six days later in the Bass Pro semifinals.

"We knew locally that our league was down this year," Hardaway said. "So that's the advantage to playing a national schedule. We wanted to see where we stood."

Added standout junior guard T.J. Moss, "We want to be competitive with the rest of the country. That's one of things that motivates us."

Beating Montverde is all well and good. But Lomax â€” the reigning AAA Mr. Basketball and Gatorade state player of the year â€” says winning another state championship is the primary goal. The Mustangs defeated Cordova 64-60 in an all-Memphis final last year and are looking to be the first repeat winners in the state's largest classification since White Station in 2003-2004.

"That's our main goal," said the junior, who recorded his first career triple-double (20 points, 10 assists, 10 steals) against Overton.

"It wouldn't be right to be nationally-ranked and not be the best team in your state. That's why we're trying to be our best every night."

And even though they won last year, Murfreesboro still holds some bad memories. Lomax and Moss were freshmen on the 2014 team that lost to Brentwood in the semifinals.

"That year, we were crushed," he said. "We always want to make sure we never let that happen again ... Coach does a great job of keeping us in the right mindset and staying motivated."

Improbably as it seems for a team that's ranked No. 4 in the nation according to unapproved website, Lomax said his team is still contending with doubters. "It's been like that since middle school," he said.

But their talent isn't in doubt.

Lomax and Moss are the gold standard when it comes to local backcourts, with Moss providing the knock-down 3-point shooting and Lomax providing an uncanny knack for doing whatever is needed to help make the team successful. And the emergence of Jayden Hardaway - the coach's son - adds an extra dimension.

The Mustangs can also go big; Chandler Lawson â€” the 20th-ranked player in his class â€” goes 6-8 as does the rapidly-improving Malcolm Dandridge and Olive Branch transfer Antavion "Dude" Collum.

Watching those three run the court while passing the ball back and forth and not letting it hit the floor is scary. Looking at the roster and seeing that all three are just sophomores is scarier.

As coach Hardaway said, "We're playing for next season too."

There's still a lot left in this season though starting with Tuesday's district game against visiting Whitehaven. The regular season concludes with games at Melrose (Friday) and at White Station (Feb. 7) before the district tournament begins. That's followed by the region and if everything stays status quo, another trip to state.

But there's one tantalizing prize beyond that, a possible spot in the prestigious Dick's Sporting Goods High School National Tournament, an eight-team invitational in New York designed to crown a high school basketball national champion. No Tennessee team has ever participated in the event, which was won last year by Oak Hill Academy.

"It would be big for us," said Lomax. "Big for Memphis and big for the state of Tennessee."

Reach Varlas at john.varlas@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @johnvarlas

 

Edited January 30, 2017 by TonyG

[TonyG]

http://www.majorprepsports.com/tigersportsreport-com-chandler-and-johnathan-lawson-making-a-move-for-2017/

 

Someone on here mentioned Keelon not being on Memphis's staff next year and possibly going back to coach at Hamilton which could be true. But honestly we treat these kids like they are multi million dollar superstars. Sometimes we just need to play ball and thats all. 

Edited February 9, 2017 by TonyG

[kwc]

http://www.majorprepsports.com/tigersportsreport-com-chandler-and-johnathan-lawson-making-a-move-for-2017/

 

Someone on here mentioned Keelon not being on Memphis's staff next year and possibly going back to coach at Hamilton which could be true. But honestly we treat these kids like they are multi million dollar superstars. Sometimes we just need to play ball and thats all. 

 

Well. It is what it is. Those three academies are all fine places to play as well. Time will tell.

[warmachine7954]

Penny's thoughts: `We're breeding an NBA mindset here'  

John Varlas , USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee2:31 p.m. CT Jan. 30, 2017

During a recent Thursday game at East High's cozy gym, the best show of the night came in garbage time.

That was when junior reserve James DeJesus came off the bench with a flurry of 3-point shoots, connecting six times from beyond the arc to finish with 20 points on only a few minutes of action. DeJesus' efforts drew cheers from the crowd and his more illustrious teammates along with a big smile from Mustangs coach Penny Hardaway.

Like many games of late for the top AAA team in the state and the top team in The Commercial Appeal's Dandy Dozen, this one wasn't close; the Mustangs won the District 16-AAA game 107-46 to improve to 19-3. But if you think Hardaway is going to let his Mustangs cruise into the playoffs, think again.

There's always something to compete for.

"We're breeding an NBA mindset here," said Hardaway. "We instill that in them early ... and these are great kids."

It would be understandable if the Mustangs became complacent, biding time until the third week in March when they're strongly favored to defend their AAA state championship. In its 12 victories against Shelby County competition, East has a winning margin of 38.2 points per game. No local team has even gotten within double-digits; the closest game was a 66-54 victory over White Station on Jan. 5.

To that end, Hardaway put together a daunting national schedule for his team. East advanced to the finals of both the City of Palms Tournament in Fort Myers, Fla. (losing to nationally-ranked prep school Montverde Academy) and the Bass Pro Tournament of Champions in Springfield, Mo. (losing to nationally-ranked Sierra Canyon out of California). Their only other defeat came against another prep school team, Chattanooga Hamilton Heights.

And the Montverde loss? Well, East has made up for that. Twice. The Mustangs defeated the Eagles 75-73 at the ARS/Conway Services Penny Hardaway National Hoopfest on Jan. 7 before Alex Lomax's 3-pointer at the buzzer gave them a 59-56 victory six days later in the Bass Pro semifinals.

"We knew locally that our league was down this year," Hardaway said. "So that's the advantage to playing a national schedule. We wanted to see where we stood."

Added standout junior guard T.J. Moss, "We want to be competitive with the rest of the country. That's one of things that motivates us."

Beating Montverde is all well and good. But Lomax â€” the reigning AAA Mr. Basketball and Gatorade state player of the year â€” says winning another state championship is the primary goal. The Mustangs defeated Cordova 64-60 in an all-Memphis final last year and are looking to be the first repeat winners in the state's largest classification since White Station in 2003-2004.

"That's our main goal," said the junior, who recorded his first career triple-double (20 points, 10 assists, 10 steals) against Overton.

"It wouldn't be right to be nationally-ranked and not be the best team in your state. That's why we're trying to be our best every night."

And even though they won last year, Murfreesboro still holds some bad memories. Lomax and Moss were freshmen on the 2014 team that lost to Brentwood in the semifinals.

"That year, we were crushed," he said. "We always want to make sure we never let that happen again ... Coach does a great job of keeping us in the right mindset and staying motivated."

Improbably as it seems for a team that's ranked No. 4 in the nation according to unapproved website, Lomax said his team is still contending with doubters. "It's been like that since middle school," he said.

But their talent isn't in doubt.

Lomax and Moss are the gold standard when it comes to local backcourts, with Moss providing the knock-down 3-point shooting and Lomax providing an uncanny knack for doing whatever is needed to help make the team successful. And the emergence of Jayden Hardaway - the coach's son - adds an extra dimension.

The Mustangs can also go big; Chandler Lawson â€” the 20th-ranked player in his class â€” goes 6-8 as does the rapidly-improving Malcolm Dandridge and Olive Branch transfer Antavion "Dude" Collum.

Watching those three run the court while passing the ball back and forth and not letting it hit the floor is scary. Looking at the roster and seeing that all three are just sophomores is scarier.

As coach Hardaway said, "We're playing for next season too."

There's still a lot left in this season though starting with Tuesday's district game against visiting Whitehaven. The regular season concludes with games at Melrose (Friday) and at White Station (Feb. 7) before the district tournament begins. That's followed by the region and if everything stays status quo, another trip to state.

But there's one tantalizing prize beyond that, a possible spot in the prestigious Dick's Sporting Goods High School National Tournament, an eight-team invitational in New York designed to crown a high school basketball national champion. No Tennessee team has ever participated in the event, which was won last year by Oak Hill Academy.

"It would be big for us," said Lomax. "Big for Memphis and big for the state of Tennessee."

Reach Varlas at john.varlas@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @johnvarlas

 

DeJesus played us in a JV game at Bartlett. He can light it up.

[TonyG]

DeJesus played us in a JV game at Bartlett. He can light it up.

Sure can. 

Edited February 9, 2017 by TonyG

[TonyG]

East is currently down 41-31 at half to Ridgeway. Ridgeway isn't scared at East at all, they have made at least 10 threes and Jalen Crutcher has 5-6 himself. UTC is getting a special kid. A lost tonight means no state if I'm not mistaken

[TonyG]

East has walked them down now leads 46-45 with 2:39 left in the 3rd.

[TonyG]

East 55-50 after 3. Lomax Moss and Lawson has fueled the run, Crutcher didn't score a point

[TonyG]

East winning with 2:55 left in the 4th 65-58

[TonyG]

East wins 75-64

[kwc]

East wins 75-64

So much for the blow-out.

[kwc]

According to this article, East won't be eligible to play in the Dick's National Tourney. Why is that? 

Edited March 3, 2017 by kwc