CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Friday proved quite a day for Coach Reggie Evans and his Hawks team that is competing in the 22nd National Basketball Players Association Top 100 Camp in the University of Virginia’s John Paul Jones Arena.
And it was an especially sweet day for the Hawks’ Temple Gibbs.
Like the other current and former NBA players coaching in this event, the 35 year-old Evans – a 13-year power forward who is currently a member of the Sacramento Kings – aspires to coach on the college or NBA level eventually.
He is sharing coaching duties for the Hawks with Steve Turner (Gonzaga Prep in Washington, DC).
And Evans has gotten a first-hand feel for the relative “agony” and “ecstasy” a coach can experience from game to game.
The Hawks picked up wins over the then-unbeaten Clippers (70-68) Friday morning and the Bulls (78-76) Friday night to improve to 3-3 and put them into prime Saturday playoff position leading into the 6:30 championship game in the evening.
The 6-foot-2 Gibbs (West Orange, NJ, Seton Hall Prep), who committed to Notre Dame on May 3, dropped a team-high 19 points (on six of nine from the field, including both shots from behind the arc and all five free throws) to go with four rebounds and three steals in the first game for the Hawks.
And, eight or so hours later, Gibbs against came through to help his team eke out a victory.
Gibbs was both aggressive and effective while dropping10 of 16 shots (including one of four from behind the arc) for 22 points, including a layup in “sudden-victory” overtime.
Four teams finished deadlocked, at 4-2, going into the Saturday playoffs (which begin at 10:45 in the morning).
They include:
*The Warriors, which rolled past the Raptors (1-5), 90-68, Friday night after being tripped up by the Wizards, 80-75, earlier in the day.
Seniors-to-be Sasha Killeya-Jones (Lynchburg, VA, Episcopal) and Mark Vital (Lancaster, TX; he most recently attended Prime Prep of Dallas) were the only Warriors to score in double figures Friday morning.
But four dipped into double-digits Friday night, led by 2017 forward Michael Porter (Columbia, MO, Father Tolton) with 19 points, six rebounds, two assists, two steals and a blocked shot.
A 2016 point guard (Tejon Lucas of Milwaukee Washington), a late addition to the camp because of player defections and injuries, had a strong day for the Warriors while averaging 9.0 points and 3.5 assists.
*Also going 4-2 were the Rockets, who recovered in prime fashion Friday night (90-67 over the Blazers) after playing as if they were stuck in mud during a 62-44 loss to the Bulls earlier in the day.
Point guard Xavier Simpson (Lima, OH, Central Catholic) led the way Friday night with 27 points (10 of 16 from the field), five rebounds, five assists and three steals.
He had quite the final three “regular-season” games, averaging 22.0 points (on 26 of 37 shooting from the field, including six of 10 behind the arc) and 3.3 assists.
*The Grizzlies climbed to 4-2 Friday night by way of their 68-67 edging of the Clippers, who fell to the same record in the process.
Six-nine Edrice Adebayo (Pinetown, NC, Northside) turned in two strong efforts during his first day (Thursday) in camp.
It was much of the same on Friday as he averaged 16.5 points and 9.0 rebounds.
He had 22 points and seven rebounds Friday night after his 12 points and 11 rebounds earlier in the day helped his club trim the Cavaliers, 63-59, earlier in the day.
*The Clippers fell into that four-way tie by way of their narrow (70-68 to the Hawks and 68-67 to the Grizzlies) Friday losses.
Left-handed “combo” guard Shamorie Ponds (Brooklyn Jefferson) continued his solid play, though, while averaging 12.0 points (hitting a combined nine of 17 from the field) and 3.0 assists on the day.
Other individual Friday standouts included:
*Power forward-extraordinaire Omari Spellman (Granby, MA, MacDuffie School), who 22.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.0 blocked shots and 2.0 steals as the Wizards split games with the Warriors (winning 80-75 in the morning) and Cavaliers (falling 81-75 in the evening) to take a 3-3 record into Saturday’s action;
*Senior-to-be shooting guard (or “wing”, if you will) Markelle Fultz (Hyattsville, MD, DeMatha), who averaged 16.0 points for the Cavaliers while hitting 12 of 23 field-goal attempts, including four of nine from behind the arc;
*And 6-9 junior-to-be Billy Preston (originally from Southern California but now living in the Dallas area), who averaged 20.0 points and 11.0 rebounds although his Blazers squad lost both of its games Friday.
Full disclosure: I’m a member of John Lucas’ Player Selection Committee for the NBPA Top 100 Camp.
Action resumes Saturday morning with playoff games beginning at 10:45.
The camp wraps up with its 6:30 championship game Saturday night.
