Pros at Pro City, Pt. 3

Ron Bailey, Publisher

The players who get paid are still at Pro City in force.

July 26, 2011 – Professionals continue to show up at Nike D.C. Pro City. Several are chronicled below:

Glenn Stokes – A diminutive 5’7”, Stokes doesn’t look the part of impact baller, but looks can be deceiving – Glenn is one of the quickest players in Pro City, an advantage he uses in harassing opponents and pushing the ball. He did both playing against National Basketball Association guard, Greivis Vasquez, a 76-64 setback for Stokes’ Town Tavern to Team Turner.

That's Glenn Stokes in red, giving Greivis Vasquez the business. Stokes' Town Tavern squad was up when he went down with injury.

In terms of strapping up, Stokes harassed Vasquez into a 15 point performance. Offensively, Glenn notched 12 points himself, plus tallied a number of assists based on his quickness, which allows him to get into the lane and find teammates. Stokes was impressive, as Town Tavern was actually up, until he twisted an ankle and was forced to leave the game, never to return.

Did he get hyped to go against Vasquez, who showed promise as a Memphis Grizzly rookie?

“I try to play hard against anybody” responded Stokes, a graduate of both Einstein High School (MD) and American University. “But it’s easier to get your game up against those guys”.

Stokes’ path to AU, which ended up with him graduating in 2003 with a business degree, was circuitous; he actually worked for four years (’94-’98) out of Einstein, before attending college. After attending Tallahassee Community College, Glen was then able to matriculate to American.
Presently he’s a European pro, playing in Holland. Expect him to return to BS Weert, his club in that country.

James Gist – A former University of Maryland standout, Gist has the reputation as being a finisher, one that will pound the rim at various angles. At 6’8” and around 230 pounds, he’s a top level player in that regard.

Where he has evolved is in shooting; Gist has developed a pretty solid mid-range shot, which he delivers in spot up and one-two dribble situations. His game has definitely evolved.

Though James Gist has diversified his game, still excels at pounding rims.

Gist, who starred at Good Counsel (MD) before attending Maryland, attended the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs training camp last year, but has made a career in Europe: In 2008-2009 Italy’s Angelico Biella was his team, while in 2009-2010 James played for Russia’s Lokomotiv Kuban. The following year, Gist played for KK Partizan of Serbia and in 2010-2011 he balled Turkey’s Fenerbach Ulker. All indications are that he will return there.

Mike Anderson – Having graduated from VUC in 2008, Anderson, a 6’8”, 200 pound forward last played for the Dakota Wizards of the National Basketball Association D-League; last year he dropped 12.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists each game. Will he return there, if possible (due to the NBA’s lockout that’s questionable)?

Mike Anderson scoring in the paint.

“It’s a toss up, still undecided” said Anderson of his plans, after dropping 16 key points in his Startin’ 5 team’s impressive 75-71 win over a talented Beyond Belief crew. It was clear (and subsequently confirmed by him) that Anderson was previously more of an around-the-cup performer, and is now developing his perimeter skills. Against Beyond Belief Mike hit midrange jumpers, drove, rebounded and defended.