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  • TBT: The Weekend Emmitt Williams took over Brooklyn

    TBT: The Weekend Emmitt Williams took over Brooklyn

    This article was written and published on April 15th, 2018

    photo Credit: Nicole Sweet

    Coming into last weekend’s Jordan Brand Classic there wasn’t any player more motivated than LSU-bound Forward Emmitt Williams. The 6-7 Forward from Fort Myers, FL, came to NYC as himself, a highly energetic and passionate player with the motor that goes unmatched. During practice, he was communicating on defense, hitting outside shots, cheering on teammates. He showed that same passion when he reflected on playing with his teammates after winning MVP Honors by breaking LeBron James record with 44 points.

    Williams is part of a top-ranked recruiting class that includes Javonte Smart, and Nazi Reid. When I asked about how excited he was to be teammates with Reid and others he replied “Not just Nazi Reid I’m excited to play with, it’s a lot of other great players in our recruiting class and to see Nazi come out and support me that’s love”.

    Willams was very appreciative of his teammates on the court helping him surpass LeBron James to become the leader in points scored in Jordan Brand Classic history. “I really got love for the guys in my class those boys supported me, they saw that I needed four more points and they helped me reach that goal. I always tell them, don’t let social media break us apart because I got love for those guys and they got love for me.

    This is the 2nd time Williams played in A high school basketball event here in NYC. Back in August 2018, Emmitt teamed up with Duke Bound Forward Cam Reddish and Wings Academy senior Forward Mohammed Fofana as Team USA in the inaugural NYC Jam. Playing in NYC is one thing that brings the best out in Williams. “I love coming out here to the city because I had a lot of fans out there and I love them and I never thought that as a little kid I would have had someone look up to me other than my family members so it’s a blessing at the same time so if I can give back I’m always going to give back.

    With his competitiveness, toughness, and passion for the game. There was no doubt back then that Emmitt would be an impact player. This year at LSU, Emmitt is averaging seven points and five rebounds per game for an LSU team that went 26-6 in the regular season won the SEC regular season title with a conference record of 16-2. The tigers got a three seed in the NCAA tournament and will play 14 seeded Yale in the east region 1st round in Jacksonville,FL on Thursday afternoon.

  • 2019 Big East Tournament: Eric Paschall and Phil Booth’s Impact on The Villanova Wildcats

    2019 Big East Tournament: Eric Paschall and Phil Booth’s Impact on The Villanova Wildcats

    Photo Credit: Noah K. Murray/USA Today Sports

    From February 17th to March 9th, The Villanova Wildcats went 3-3 to finish the regular season. Given how dominant they have been in the conference since the league’s reconfiguration in 2014, most people would have thought that the Wildcats were not capable of repeating as tournament champs. This week they proved other wise. Through four days of this tournament, each opponent pushed them to the brink of defeat but they always answered back. The Wildcats senior duo of Dobbs Ferry, NY native Eric Paschall, and Phil Booth were instrumental in the Wildcats run.

    Seniors Eric Paschall and Phil Booth address the press after yesterday’s championship game.

    Not to long ago both players were under the wings of seniors such as Josh Hart, Jalen Brunson and others this year they have become the leaders that have led a young group. As head coach Jay Wright explained in the press conference, the impact Paschall and Booth had on the team is what made this years run special compared to the past. “There’s more to this one, just watching these two what they did we lost our two top assistants. We had young coaches who did a great job, and these two were like coaches”.

    This tournament run was special for the Wildcats because it came at a time where the conference was wide open and more than one team was the favorite by many to possibly win the whole thing. To Eric Paschall, winning their third Big East championship wasn’t the only goal it was to be the best team they can be. “ I mean it’s pretty cool to know that even though we never really talked about it. We just talked about each year, I mean coming from the first one of this streak , we just talked about being the greatest team we could be, greatest Villanova Basketball team we could be. There’s nothing like in our plan. We just tried to become the best Villanova basketball team and see where that takes us.”

    In a couple of years when we look back at the 2018-19 Villanova team, one thing we know for sure is that they were a young but resilient team led by two dedicated seniors In Booth and Paschall who brought out the best in all of the players. For now the defending national champions will get prepared for another run as they will be the 6th seed in the NCAA tournament and they will play 11th Seeded Saint Mary’s on Thursday night in the First round of the NCAA tournament. Based on what we experienced last week at the Garden Phil Booth and Eric Paschall will have the Wildcats ready.

  • Big East Press: Pirates fall in Championship but Still Has the Juice

    Big East Press: Pirates fall in Championship but Still Has the Juice

    Photo Credit: Associated Press/ Julio Cortez

    The Seton Hall Pirates May have over exceeded many expectations with their performance throughout the regular season and during the Big East Tournament. despite losing in the championship game last night to Villanova, you can’t deny how this impacts the team going into the NCAA tournament and beyond

    The Pirates were down 68-59 with 3:00 to go in the game and rallied all the way to the final possession where the Pirates had the chance to win on a game winning shot. It wasn’t the result that the Pirates wanted, but you gotta respect the way they fought throughout the whole week.

    From Myles Powell’s 78 points in three days to Quincy McKnight’s ability to defend the opposing teams best scorer on a nightly basis, there’s absolutely no way you can deny their ability to make a deep run in the NCAA tournament.

    “ We made it here, everybody didn’t expect us to be here but we believed in ourselves and our coaches believed in us we can play with anyone in the country. We just beat Marquette twice and we beat Nova last week and gave them a hard fight tonight”. So we are playing great Basketball and we are going to be ready for the tournament. Says Myles Powell. The junior from Trenton, NJ never let the loss to the Wildcats get to him it only made him more confident in his team. ” We had a good opportunity to make history. We are definitely hurting from it, but we have a lot to be proud of.” Powell added.

    It’s no question that the loss in the championship game has fueled this team, but Coach Kevin Willard believes they will be ready to bounce back in a big way. “I know they will be back Monday ready to work, and if they do come back ready as they did after the loss to Georgetown earlier in the season. I am confident in this team and I know we’ll bounce back. I’m looking forward to the NCAA tournament and I have more confidence in my team than I ever have” coach Kevin Willard said in the postgame press conference.

    For all we know is that the Pirates have proved a lot during the regular season and the Big East Tournament. Most bracketologists have the Pirates ranging from an 8 to 10 seed the NCAA tournament. One thing we do know for sure is beware of the Pirates.

  • Big East Opening Night Recap: Johnnies Surge into Quarterfinals

    Big East Opening Night Recap: Johnnies Surge into Quarterfinals

    Photo Credit: Brad Penner-USA Today Sports

    The St. John’s Red Storm came into MSG Last night with a sense of urgency after losing their last three games to finish out the regular season. The team’s urgency showed when they used a second-half surge to beat DePaul 82-74 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament tonight. The Johnnies had a balanced scoring attack with Justin Simon, Shamorie Ponds, and Mustapha Heron scoring 18 points apiece while Marvin Clark III added 10 and LJ Figueroa scored 14.

    The three-game skid put them in this position to be the seventh seed and face a team that has beaten them twice. Not the place where the Johnnies wanted to start the tournament but they took it and handled their business anyway. One of the best things about facing a team for the third time is that you find out a way to shut down your opponents’ top scorer. The Red Storm did just that when they limited Max Strus to 14 points on 4/12 shooting. In the previous meeting, the Johnnies struggled to keep Strus in check as he exploded for 43 points. As Chris Mullin stared in the postgame press conference, the key was Big East Defensive player of the year, Justin Simon. “From my standpoint, it was to get Justin in the game” I just told him last game he had seven at halftime. Justin picked up a few fouls. When he came out, the guy got going. He’s that type of player it only takes a little bit for him to catch fire, and that’s what happened”.

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    Simon’s presence in this game made a huge impact for the Johnnies on both ends but as Coach Mullin added it was a team effort.”I just thought again tonight that Justin was instrumental in setting the tone, and then Shamorie and the rest of our team did a good job. When he did catch he was looking at two, three, four bodies”.

    The Johnnies have accomplished beating DePaul but their newest challenge awaits as they will face Big East Player of the Year Markus Howard tonight at 7 pm. The Red Storm was successful against Marquette during the regular season when they swept the Golden Eagles 2-0 in the season series. In both games, they defended Howard very well.

    The Red Storm are well aware that beating Marquette for the third time will be an uphill battle, but at the same time, they remain confident. “It’s definitely an extra challenge, but I feel there is more confidence. I feel that those guys are going to bring their all, so we can’t lay down”. Says Shamorie Ponds the Brooklyn native has had some of his best games against the conference player of the year.

    After avoiding a fourth straight loss, the Johnnies will move forward to face Marquette. It’s safe to say that this team is in the tournament. Now it’s time to make history get their first Big East tournament championship since 2000. “We packed for four days, so I’m looking forward to it,” says Ponds.

  • TBT: Zion Williamson Is Here To Show and Prove

    TBT: Zion Williamson Is Here To Show and Prove

    This Article was originally published on April 27th 2018,

    Photo Credit: USA Today Sports/ Rob Kinnan

    ACC Rookie and Player of the year Zion Williamson has taken the college basketball world by storm. The 6-7 285 pound power forward has dominated in every single game he has played in this season for the Duke Blue Devils prior to his injury on February 20th. His dominance this season may not be a surprise to many, but last year many people had doubts about his game. Here’s a throwback piece from April 2018, when we had the chance to briefly interview Zion Williamson at the 2018 Jordan Brand Classic.

    Everyone in the world knows the name Zion Williamson, the high flying 6-6 Forward from South Carolina who has taken the world by storm this past high school basketball season. At Spartanburg Day school Zion averaged 32 points and 11 rebounds per game leading his team to a 21-8 record and a State championship. Fans in South Carolina have been lucky to see Zion packed every gym he has been in this season and he will continue to do that when he suits up for Duke next season.

    I recently caught up with Zion at the Jordan Brand Classic media day in Brooklyn earlier this month. Zion couldn’t participate in the event due to a thumb injury he suffered during the McDonald’s All American Game, but he was still happy to be around his peers that weekend and was very welcoming towards the media during the interview.

    When Zion arrives at Duke next year one of his goals is to prove to Many that he can do a lot more than just dunk and he made some strong points about it. “I would not be a McDonald’s All American and a Jordan Brand Classic player if all I can do is dunk. I have an extensive skill set and talking with coach K he saw that in me, and he would always tell me you aren’t just a dunker you are an excellent basketball player, and when you come to Duke I want to show the world how great you are”.

    Zion Williamson at 2018 JBC Media Day

    Zion Williamson is also continuing to show many naysayers that he’s working on slimming down. At the McDonald’s All American game, he showed everyone that he was getting in shape Williamson shared some of the things he did to slim down. “After practices, I would do some extra running on the track and get into the weight room and do some extra reps; I also cut down on my meat intake, stopped drinking soda and drink more water.”

    Zion Willaimson has gained a huge fan base here in NYC. So many people across the five boroughs have become so enamored with Zion’s play that there was much speculation that he was planning to make an appearance at Dyckman during the summer of 2017. Unfortunately, Zion wasn’t able to make his appearance, but as he explained to us at that time the rumors of his debut were right, and a future presence remains imminent. “ “Yeah I have been talking to Isaiah Washington, JQ, all the NYC people including the people over at Overtime. Dyckman is the place where the top ballers go and if you are a real dog and you are a real man you can compete out there”. Zion’s high praise of one of NYC’s top summer leagues shows that many people outside of NYC still got respect for NYC Hoop culture.

    We start Interviewing Zion at the 4:17 mark

    With his high school career already past him, his main focus going forward will be preparing for Duke where he will be teaming up with fellow top recruits Cam Reddish, RJ Barrett, and Tre Jones. With his willingness to prove people wrong we can tell that a particular season is ahead in Raleigh-Durham.

  • CHSAA Chronicles: VIDEO- Highlights of the “AA” Intersectional final four

    CHSAA Chronicles: VIDEO- Highlights of the “AA” Intersectional final four

    The stage is set for tomorrow when Archbishop Stepinac will face Christ The King for the “AA” city championship. The game will be a rematch of last year’s championship game where Stepinac won the game.

    Archbishop Stepinac vs Cardinal Hayes

    Adrian Griffin Jr. Went off for 32 points and 11 boards in the 77-65 win over Hayes. RJ Davis scored 25 points dished out five assists and grabbed five rebounds.

    Cardinal Hayes which was down double figures throughout the game went on a huge run in the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to five late in the fourth quarter. Iowa Commit Joe Toussaint led Hayes with 24 points. Jaylen Murray scored 18 and Julian Soumarou scored 15.

    Christ The King vs Bishop Loughlin

    Behind a great performance by Sophmore center Moussa Cisse and a strong showing by the reserves. Christ The King outlasted Bishop Loughlin 72-61. Cisse scored 22 points grabbed 19 rebounds and blocked 13 shots. Ryan Myers added 17 points for Christ The King.

  • Brooklyn Collegiate Lions Roaring through Adversity

    Brooklyn Collegiate Lions Roaring through Adversity

    This team completed a stretch of winning 5 games in six days and they beat some very good teams along the way. The Lions have beaten defending state champions Abraham Lincoln and Lawrence Woodmere along with nationally ranked Lincoln Academy out of Georgia. I caught up with some of the players after their 65-56 win over St. Anthony’s (LI) at the 2nd annual Empire Invitational. In that game Brooklyn Collegiate held St. Anthony’s to seven points in the fourth quarter while scoring 21.

    This winning streak comes at a time where the school is facing challenging times. About two weeks ago the school found out that they were on the list of schools that will be facing closure in June due to poor performance. A final decision is pending from the education panel but students, faculty and parents are currently fighting to keep the school open past June 2018. As for the players they are making sure that they are handling their business in the classroom but they aren’t letting the news about their school affect them. Many of the players including junior guard Charles Brown are learning how to stay focused with everything going on. “When I first heard about it I was really shocked because this is my first year on the team and these are my brothers, but coach told us not to focus on that and focus on the task at hand and that’s taking Brooklyn “AA” basketball.

    The winning streak could be the beginning of something big for the Brooklyn Collegiate Lions this season. The players are finally getting used to each other and that could possibly mean trouble for many teams in the city.

    Check out the video interview with The players in the video below.

    Players (Left-Right)

    No. 11 G Majesty Johnson ‘20
    No. 32 F Erlyn Ramirez’19
    No. 1 G Glen Anderson’19
    No. 10 G Charles Brown

  • Big East Press: New Month, New Opportunities for the Pirates

    Big East Press: New Month, New Opportunities for the Pirates

    Photo Credits: USA Today sports / Seton Hall Athletics

    The Seton Hall Pirates are coming into the last two weeks of conference play on the bubble. The pirates suffered back to back tough losses last week to Xavier and conference rival St. John’s last week.

    Both losses were tough and it may have made their chances of being a lock for the NCAA Tournament harder but not all is lost. Most bracketologists have the Pirates as one of the last four teams in and with new month comes new opportunities for the Pirates to get more signature wins and boost their tournament resume even more.

    It all starts on Saturday when the Pirates travel to play Georgetown in Washington D.C. The Pirates will arrive into D.C. well rested and when the Pirates have a week-long break, they are more than likely to perform at a high level. We have seen this the last time they played Georgetown at the Prudential center on. February 13th. The Pirates dropped 90 points on the Hoyas and had four players score in double figures.

    The Pirates then have 10th ranked Marquette coming into the Prudential center in on Wednesday, March 6th and then defending national champions Villanova to close out conference play on Saturday, March 9th. Can’t forget about the upcoming Big East tournament on the 13th-16th plenty of opportunities to get some signature wins.

    Standing at 7-8 in the conference with three games remaining, there has to be a sense of urgency among the Pirates, at the same time there’s no denying their non-conference resume which could help them a lot especially if they get some big wins in the next few weeks. Winning the next two out of three conference games should make them a lock for the NCAA tournament and it will make the committee forget about the bad losses to DePaul and Xavier.

    At this moment, the Pirates are a team that is looking to steal a bid. Some bracketologists have the Big East sending three teams into the NCAA tournament, but we believe there would be four and the Pirates will be that fourth team.

    One thing that we have learned throughout the season with the Pirates are that slow starts are this team’s kryptonite. The Pirates have been able to bounce back from slow starts and win, but fighting back from double digits to win isn’t going to happen all of the time.

    The Pirates are aware of their bad starts but one way to overcome that is to play like their down ten from the start. In many of the games, we have covered this season when the Pirates are having a strong start in the first half, they are tough to beat. With March approaching, expect to see a more focused and determined Seton Hall team.

  • CHSAA Chronicles: Hayes and Loughlin Claim Archdiocesan titles and top seeds in city playoffs

    CHSAA Chronicles: Hayes and Loughlin Claim Archdiocesan titles and top seeds in city playoffs

    The 2018-19 Archdiocesan playoffs are in the books and Cardinal Hayes and Bishop Loughlin have claimed their respective titles and top seeds In the Intersectional playoffs.

    For Loughlin they had to overcome a furious rally by a tough Xaverian to win 61-49 on Friday night. The Lions led by as much as 22 points in the first half but that lead quickly shrunk to nine points in the third quarter then six points going into the fourth due to an 17-11 scoring run by the Clippers. The Lions were able to hold of Xaverian in the last few minutes of the game to seal the victory. Loughlin earned a bye to the quarterfinal round will play the winner of Iona Prep vs St. Francis Prep on Sunday March 3rd. The last time Loughlin won the Diocesan championship was 2016.

    Bishop Loughlin survived a huge rally by Xaverian to win the Brooklyn/Queens Archdiocesan title on Friday night

    Cardinal Hayes vs Top seeded St. Raymond’s on Saturday was another chapter in the rivalry between both schools. The Cardinals dominated in the second half en route to an 86-65 victory over the Ravens. Iowa Commit Joe Toussaint earned MVP honors with a 25 point/ eight rebound and seven assist performance. The front court duo of Shemani Fuller and Adam Cisse combined for 26 points while Jaylen Murray scored 18. The Cardinals also earned the No. 1 seed in the intersectional playoffs and a bye to the quarterfinals at Fordham University where they will face the winner of Mount St. Michael vs Holy Cross.

    This weekend, we may have gotten a look at three teams that could possibly be in the title game on March 10th. Despite losing big at the Archdiocesan championship, St. Raymond’s is still have what it takes to make it to the title game on March 10th. It depends on how the Ravens respond when they face the winner of CTK vs Scanlan in the quarterfinals.

    Hayes looks like the strongest team heading into the playoffs and their dominance in the championship game proved that. The Cardinals have the size and depth to compete with any team they also have CHSAA player of the year Joe Toussaint who led Hayes to the title game in 2017.

    With a bye into the quarterfinals, Bishop Loughlin is in great shape to return to the city title game since 2016. The front court duo of Julian and Justin Champangie have proven to become a matchup nightmare for most teams this season.

    With the city playoffs beginning on Tuesday, we have came up with our final four predictions for the CHSAA playoffs. HDNYC’s final four teams are

    Cardinal Hayes

    Stepinac

    St. Raymond’s

    and Bishop Loughlin

    Teams that could possibly pull off an upset and sneak into the final four.

    Monsignor Scanlan

    Xaverian

    CTK ( if they beat Scanlan then upset St. Rays)

  • CHSAA Chronicles: Archdiocesan Madness

    CHSAA Chronicles: Archdiocesan Madness

    The Archdiocesan Semifinal matchup between No.1 seeded St. Raymond’s and No.5 seeded Archbishop Stepinac lived up to its expectations. The Ravens were looking to advance to the Archdiocesan title game for the first time since 2016, while Last year’s champion Stepinac were looking to return as well.

    The game started out heavily in the Ravens favor as they took advantage of the Crusaders sloppy Start and raced out to a 14-2 lead. the lead soon grew to 22-8 at the end of the quarter as the Ravens dominated scoring in the paint while the Crusaders struggled to get into a rhythm. In the second quarter, that quickly changed when Stepinac outscored St. Rays 19-13. Stepinac stepped up in the second quarter to make the game more competitive but still faced a 35-27 lead going into half time.

    The fourth quarter would go down as one of the best finishes ever. the Ravens were up 54-44 but Stepinac would go on a 9-3 run to cut St. Rays lead to four with 4:34 left. This is where the game got interesting because In the first quarter it looked like St. Raymond’s was going to run away with it but Stepinac refused to back. Stepinac’s Rally reached a point when they briefly had the lead. With 1:20 remaining in the game, Ed Sanchez scored to give Stepinac a 64-63 lead. Sophomore Malachi Smith would quickly respond with a layup of his own to give the Ravens back the lead. The finish in this game would be a great one down 65-64, RJ Davis would hit a floater to give Stepinac a 66-65 lead. but Jalen Reneau answered with a euro-step for the layup with 15 seconds remaining then forced a charge to regain possession and sealed the victory with free throws.

    The Ravens were able to run away with the 69-66 victory thanks to their execution in yesterday’s game. Now the Ravens will prepare for the Archdiocesan championship game against crosstown rival Cardinal Hayes. The last time these two teams met in the championship game was 2016 when the Cardinals defeated the Ravens.

    What We Learned

    Stepinac’s rally in the fourth quarter proved how they have grown since early in the season. The Crusaders have won five straight games going into last night’s contest. RJ Davis scored 15 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter. Davis’s fourth-quarter performance proved that Stepinac is one team no one wants to face in the city playoffs early in the season not many people would think Stepinac would make it this far. With a healthy Adrian Griffin back in the fold. It makes things more interesting as we approach the city playoffs coming soon.

    During the Ravens 14 game winning streak, this team has found themselves in many close game situations where they could have lost the game, and last night was no different. Their execution proved that they are battle tested and they are aware of the challenges ahead in the city playoffs. For a team that consists of mostly sophomores and juniors, they do play a higher level of basketball.

    Hayes outlasts Iona Prep

    In the first semifinal game, Hayes outlasted Iona Prep 64-53. Joe Toussaint scored 20 points for Hayes while Julian Sourmaro added 19. Cardinals are will face St. Raymond’s in the championship game on Saturday at Mount St. Michael game starts at 1pm.