Flowers Exhibits Ball Hawk Ability in 63-40 Defeat of Suitland

Ron Bailey, Publisher

February 8, 2006 – The Jaguars of Flowers High School used impressive on-ball defense, unselfish play, and a lethargic start by Suitland to earn what was basically a start to finish win over the Rams last night, at Suitland. The win allows Coach George McClure and his team to remain perched atop the Prince George’s County 4A standings at 18-1 overall, 16-1 in the league. Coach Tyrone Massenburg and Suitland are presently ranked third in the league, with a total record of 15-4, and a 4A mark of 13-2.

Justin Robertson led the Jaguars in scoring with 17 points, while backcourt mate Jordan Brooks had 11. Cliff Dixon paced the Rams by dropping 13. His teammate Mike Lewis put up 9 points in their effort.

The most glaring aspect of Flowers’ performance was probably their on-ball defense, of which McClure was pleased. A member of his staff indicated their total steals tally to be 12 – and that doesn’t capture the havoc wreaked by the constant attack on the ball the Jaguars displayed on guards and forwards alike.

Both Robertson and Brooks led their team’s ball hawk patrol, constantly pressuring Suitland’s guards, typically without the help of a double team. Robertson’s open court steal and converted lay up around midway through the 2nd quarter, and Brook’s creation of a Suitland turnover and subsequent foul line pull-up jumper with around 4:43 to play in the 3rd exemplify their impact defensively.

McClure revealed his team’s defensive success was created while not double teaming the primary ball handler much, “out of respect for Lewis (Suitland’s dribbling wizard)…If you come at him wrong, he’s going to slice you, and if he’s open, he’s going to nail it”. As such, they used the double team more sparingly than usual.

Jordan responded, “I have to put pressure on the ball, all the time because of my size…I have to pressure my man, full court” when asked if he always went out to defend, in this aggressive manner.

Such play defensive effort was “to be expected” by Flowers, since “That’s how they have been winning. They are real good defenders”, said Massenburg. The Ram’s leading scorer for the game, Dixon, instantly responding “Yes” when asked if the pressure had an effect on the Ram’s offense execution; in the front and backcourts.

The Ram’s head coach also felt that his team came out flat, and “couldn’t recover” from that start. To combat Suitland's lethargy, around midway in the second quarter, Massenburg made wholesale substitutions. He would respond, “They practiced hard…they deserved the playing time”, when asked if he worried about having only one starter was on the floor, at that particular time. Suitland's head coach went on to posit it is “a trademark of me and my program…of having people on the bench; to come in and supply that effort”. Resultantly, he does not hesitate to insert reserves and expect them to perform.

Per Massenburg, the Rams also tried to jump start their attack by passing the ball down low, and pushing it in the open floor. Illustrating the former strategy was forward Chris Mast (7 points) being fouled on a post move, which was sandwiched between a reverse lay up and a nice spinning drive by Dixon.

The Jaguars avoided such a start, and that led in part to their 34-20, halftime lead. Justin Ikhide (10 points) relayed as much after the game stating “I thought we were going to come out (to start the contest) and match their intensity, from the jump”.

The fact that four players scored in double figures for Flowers – Charles Thompson (11 points) joined Robertson, Brooks, and Ikhide – illustrates their propensity to share the rock. Flowers’ McClure stated such an unselfish mentality has existed since the year started. “At the beginning of the season, we really thought we were going to be a balanced team” he said. “We really thought we were going to score 12 (a game) here, 12 there, because all of the kids can score”.

Their coach revealed that his team exemplifies selflessness “and some of them have kind of sacrificed their games (for the betterment of the team)”. According to him three examples of this are Ikhide and Brooks being capable of leading a “team in scoring”, and Thompson de-emphasizing his shooting “to rebound and block shots”.

McClure's efforts regarding getting his players to buy into his system was not hard, as indicated when he proudly said “The big thing is, we have great kids. One through 12, we have great kids” including “some on the bench that would start at other schools”. While departing the gym, Thompson echoed his team’s philosophy, sharing “I do whatever is needed”.

Before the game, McClure told his charges, “If we play defense and rebound, we will win”. He also opined that given Suitland status as well coached, the Jaguars “had to be on their P’s and Q’s” and his guy’s execution would be key. Add the fact that “in this league, the reality is that if you have guards, you can play. And we have two pretty good guards”, to what the Jaguars bring to the table, he like many observers like their chances going forward. Sorry future opponents, they will not take anybody lightly, so don’t expect it.

At the same time, don’t overlook the Rams of Suitland. Massenburg felt “We didn’t play well tonight, but we are still not out of it”. Dixon appropriately stated “We could have won, but we didn’t play up to our potential”. Suitland’s coach acknowledged “we didn’t execute” against Flowers, but opponents would be foolish to expect that type of performance again.

The plot thickens in the PG 4A race. Check back with i95Ballerz.com for more updates on this soon to be sizzling race.

Dixon After the Contest

Chuck Thompson Departing the Gym