Piss-
You destroyed them.
We have Michael Beasley and Bill Walker. ROFL @ their white players!
'Stunner, do you really believe that all white players are bad at basketball? Hmm... how about JJ Redick, Adam Morrison, Lee Humphrey, Steve Nash, Kirk Hinrich, etc, etc.?
Here's a little info on Rotnei Clarke:
Las Vegas, NV - Even with the changes to their roster, the SoCal All-Stars are one of the most feared teams in the country. They are led by 6’1 Brandon Jennings (USC), who currently claims the #1 ranking in the class of 2008 nationally. Jennings is joined by top prospects Malik Story, Dememtrius Walker and Troy Gillenwater.
As good as the SoCal All-Stars are, they ran into an even better Team Texas squad on this day. Team Texas is led by standout juniors Willie Warren (6’4 GF) and Rotnei Clarke (6’0 CG- Pictured). Willie Warren led the way in the first half with 15 points as Team Texas dominated the SoCal All-Stars early on their way to a 20 point lead at halftime.
Warren was unstoppable both from outside and attacking the hoop while Rotnei Clarke did his part by contributing 9 early points and a handful of assists. Brandon Jennings had an unproductive first half that included no dribble-drives. Troy Gillenwater was the only bright spot early for the SoCal All-Stars as he scored 9 of their 29 first half points.
Team Texas started the second half the same as they ended the first as Rotnei Clarke hit a 3-pointer that extended his team’s lead to 23 at 52-29. That’s when Brandon Jennings came alive and started attacking the rim on offense and using his quick hands to force turnovers on defense. He continuously drove to the hoop and drew fouls and his points from free throws began to chip away at Team Texas’ lead. Midway through the second half he hit a 3-pointer that cut Team Texas’ lead to 7 points at 67-58.
As good as Jennings was in the 2nd half,
Rotnei Clarke and Willie Warren were just as impressive for Team Texas. Clarke was unstoppable as he hit contested 3-pointers and floaters in traffic and Warren bullied his way to points by driving to the hoop and scoring at will. Even three back-to-back 3-pointers by Jennings wasn’t enough to make his team a real threat to win the game.
Troy Gillenwater began to dominate the offensive boards late in the game and the SoCal All-Stars got to within 3-points, but Team Texas hit their free throws down the stretch to win 85-78.
Willie Warren scored 29 points to lead the winners while Rotnei Clarke chipped in with 24. Brandon Jennings led the SoCal All-Stars with 30 points (23 in the 2nd half) and Troy Gillenwater finished with 24 points.
Player Evaluations:
Willie Warren 6’4 GF Team Texas- We’ve always thought Warren was a big-time talent, but we had yet to see him put it all together. Our major concern with him last summer was that he was inconsistent and turnover prone. Today was the best performance we’ve seen from Warren and it appears that his basketball IQ and competitiveness is finally getting closer to on-par with his talent. He let the game come to him today and took advantage of any mismatches while not trying to make any plays that weren’t there. He is now a very dangerous scorer and can hit deep 3-pointers when he heats up, but he is most effective at driving to the hoop where he scored at will today. Look for Warren to make a climb in our rankings this summer.
Rotnei Clarke 6’0 CG Team Texas- When you talk about the best shooters in the country, this guy has to be in the conversation. He hit 8 3-pointers in a game yesterday and followed that with another good performance today. Clarke is a gunner that will launch deep threes all day long if the defense will allow it. He also showed off his excellent ball handling in the game against the SoCal All-Stars and made some nice passes. What caught our attention most was his ability to score by driving to the basket and hitting floaters in the lane. Now that he can take his man off-the-dribble and score it creates space for him outside and that will help him to get his shots off. At 6-foot-nothing (and that’s probably generous) there are still some questions about what position he projects at on the next level, but he is well on his way to hushing his critics. Clarke is a top-100 player nationally in the class of 2008.
*Willie Warren and Rotnei Clarke = package deal
