Written by Matt Grasso
Last night at Fairleigh Dickinson University was the conclusion of this
year's ABCD All-American Basketball Camp. It ended with the playing of the
camp's respective All-Star Games. Starting with the Underclassmen
game, it featured many of the young basketball stars in this country. In
particular, the two players that stood out were #1 rising sophomore
Sebastian Telfair out of Lincoln High School in Brooklyn, New York and # 1
rising junior Lebron James out of St. Vincent's in Akron, Ohio. Sebastian
led the white team while Lebron led the red team. People knew who Telfair
was before this game, but I don't think anyone realized how good he was
until this games. He put on a show during the second quarter putting up 20
of his game high 29 points and recording 3 of his seven assists during the
frame. His incredible passing and his ability to make difficult shots left
the whole crowd including all of the big time coaches in attendance in awe
of him. Midway through the second quarter, the announcer even started
yelling out show time every time he had the ball. However, the game
stayed close throughout the first half due to the steady play of the
other player people were there to watch, Lebron James. He combined
athleticism, passing, and his ability to put the ball in the basket making
the crowd look twice whenever he touched the ball. Earlier in the camp, he
had everyone talking about him when he won his matchup against top rising
senior Lenny Cooke. This all-star game just solidified his reputation as
one of the best players regardless of class.
However,
this game had more than just these two standouts. Lebron's teammate Leon
Powe out of Oakland, California did some excellent things when he touched
the basketball. He was a very strong rebounder on both sides of the ball
and he was able to finish some monster dunks, a few which were thrown via
alley-oop from James. He ended the game with 21 points Charlie Villanueva
out of New York City also shined during this contest playing on the same
squad as Sebastian. He was very smooth on the court, and he showed the
great ability of being able to finish in the lane. He was very strong on
the boards, as well as showing good touch from outside. He also finished
with 21 points This game stayed close throughout, but the white team led
by Sebastian came through at the end with the slim victory
119-118 over Lebron's red team. The two players were the co-mvp's of the
underclassmen all-star and they showed why they are the #1 players in
their respective high school class. This game gave many of us a lot to
look forward to for next year's camp when these two will face off again.
Although
someone may have a higher rating then a player ranked ahead of him, that
is because their rating was based on a complicated format that doesn't
provide an accurate depiction of what players actually did. This is solely
based on what I saw and heard, unfortunately I did not see Jason Fraser
and Tim Doyle play, but from what I heard and what I saw in the stats I
feel their ranking is accurate. |