Handsworth Royals
Handsworth Royals Preview
As one of the top ranked High School Basketball teams in all of Canada, the Royals have all the pressure on them to win the prestigous BC High School Provincial Tournament this year. They have one of the top Div1 prospects in the country and quite possibly the continent. And yet, best on best so far this season, the Royals have found more ways to lose the big games than win them. How they are ranked #1 by Basketball BC is completely mind boggling (yes, that was a stab at the "All Mighty" Basketball BC). They lost to Kitsilano at the NSIT earlier in the season, yet were ranked higher right after. They lost to St. George's at the HSBC, yet were ranked higher right after. Then there the near misses, first to Gleneagle, then later vs Oak Bay (by 1 point). Conspiracy theory?? Possibly, look at the facts and judge for yourself. (And for the record, I'm not a Handsworth or Sacre hater. Hell, I did a glowing 1-on-1 interview with Rob before the season started. I'm just stating the facts, they speak for themselves).
As for the Royals themselves, yes they are a formidable team (complete with sponsors like Nike). Gr 11 Superstar in the making Rob Sacre is the most dominating player in Canadian High School Basketball. Scout.com rates Sacre as the #10 prospect for all Centers in the Nation (USA they mean) for the class of 2007. A man playing amongst boys, Sacre is to BC High School Basketball like Shaq is to the NBA, an unstoppable force. I've mentioned before how Sacre has added some much needed muscle last summer to his upper body allowing him to overpower those big clunky football turned basketball centers that many teams throw at him. The guy is a guaranteed 25 and 15 player throughout this Tournament. Enough about Sacre, the Royals have a few other starters that will have a significant impact on the Royals success. Scott Leigh will have to be big. As teams resort to doubling and tripling Sacre, Leigh needs to find his shot (which has eluded him at times) and push the tempo. Quinn Keast will have a similar role with expanded responsibilities on defense. Keast's defensive performance on St. George's Bol Kong at the HSBC final was phenomenal. Cole Allinger is another solid contributor. A fundamentally sound forward who has a soft touch around the rim. A tendency that I've seen from the Royals this season and will need to avoid is standing around "watching" Sacre, as opposed to moving and cutting. With a big dominant post, the guards tend to sit back and watch the action instead of cutting and setting screens to get open.
Everyone is already talking about it, the semifinal match vs St. George's. A rematch of the OT Finals at the HSBC which the Saints took. St. George's was the clear winner that night, as Murphy owned Leigh, posterizing him on several cross-overs and fast-breaks. Another huge rematch would be vs Kitsilano or Oak Bay in the Finals should either team get that far. I would be very afraid of Pinetree though, they are an extremely dangerous team.
No question, the expectations are to win the Tournament, anything less would be a big disappointment. And there are many who are favoring a Handsworth win. Basketball in BC stands to gain a lot with the exposure that Sacre will garner should he be crowned the MVP. Check out the zillion Gonzaga fan sites and bulletin boards, they are already filled with posts discussing, hyping, touting Sacre. Many link directly to this blog (as information about Basketball in this province is basically zero).
Players to Watch for: Rob Sacre, Scott Leigh, Quinn Keast, Don Lee, Cole Allinger
Outlook: Can't look past Pinetree, otherwise gigantic matchups vs St. George's and possibly Kitsilano or Oak Bay await.
posted by BCSportsFanatic @ 8:48 PM
7 comments
7 Comments:
Oak Bay will be waiting.
True I could see them in a dog fight vs oak bay if both teams made it that far. jeff cumming/eliot rushton vs scott leigh/quinn keast... id take cumming and rushton any day.
good point about basketball bc having a lot to gain from sacre being named mvp, which also means there is pressure for handsworth to be in finals, and win. SO keep a close eye on the reffing in all handsworth games, im sure the calls will be completely condusive to handsworth making it to the finals. look for star opposing players to be unjustly put in foul trouble against hansdworth, and look for robbie getting away with murder. Its bullsh*t, but thats whats going to happen.
good point about basketball bc having a lot to gain from sacre being named mvp, which also means there is pressure for handsworth to be in finals, and win. SO keep a close eye on the reffing in all handsworth games, im sure the calls will be completely condusive to handsworth making it to the finals. look for star opposing players to be unjustly put in foul trouble against hansdworth, and look for robbie getting away with murder. Its bullsh*t, but thats whats going to happen.
jeff cumming/eliot rushton vs scott leigh/quinn keast... id take cumming and rushton any day...........although I agree with you 100 percent, I would take Jeff/Elliot...the fact is that Oak Bay is missing a little thing called rob sacre. I also agree that bball bc would love a Handsworth BC title and Rob Sacre MVP presentation. Prediction: Saints beat Handsworth in semis by 10+
Ya Cummings and Rushton are easily the best 1-2 punch on the island, one of the best in the province too.
For all you conspiracy theorists, don't forget that Sacre has another year to be MVP at the provincials and with Handsworth bringing back 2 Gr 11 starters and the first three players off their bench being Gr 11 (and their JR team just finishing 2nd at provincials), they will undoubtedly be a favourite next year (plus WV, Argyle and CG have no hope of getting off the North Shore next year).
The only problem for Handsworth is that they haven't played a meaningful game since their trip to Oak Bay / Claremont about eight weeks ago - lack of any decent competition on the North Shore will hurt Handsworth this week.
Post a Comment
<< Home