HT Group and Toyota Knoxville warmup for their game, the second of the night. This is how far away you sit if you’re 15 minutes late

First things first, if you’re going to go to the Rocky Top League you better get there early. I got there 15 minutes after the first game tipped off and had to sit far away, thus negatively effecting my pictures/videos from the games. So for that I’ll go ahead and apologize for the poor quality. That said, there certainly wasn’t as much drama, but there was a bit of a surprise followed by the showdown of the two unbeaten teams, and I saw two close games.

First game was First Tennessee and Rays. Brian Williams played tonight, and he certainly looks much more fit. He’s lost weight and has toned up a bit. He’s going to be a huge part for Tennessee inside, and I think if he continues developing he’ll be a good one. I would say his strength of course is rebounding (easy for an almost seven-footer). He was a little rusty on finishing shots inside, and he needs to work on his touch. But his moves were good, and he finished with 16. He gets a dunk off an offensive rebound in this clip…

Maze was impressive again tonight. He continually shows his array of skills – he can drive, he can pull up, score in the lane, score from outside, and handle well. He even plays solid defense. The more I watch him, the more confident I feel, but then again it’s summer league. Hopson struggled. He couldn’t a 3 until late in the game, but like Maze he has little problem in getting to the basket. A quick first step, and the guy is just smooth. I know that’s sort of been heard from scouts and “experts,” but that’s true. He hasn’t shown it in the games I saw, but you just know he could go off. Same for B-Maze, though they each had 20 tonight.

Speaking off going off, hello Cam Tatum. I’m skeptical of him starting at the 3 over JP Prince, but he’s proving himself. The thing most impressive to me tonight was his finishing ability in the lane and at the rim. He took on some contact and finished strong a number of times. He ended up with 43 of his team’s 95, and has scored over 40 points in the three games (he’s the leading scorer of course). Bottom line, Tatum is a scorer.

Tatum (baseball hat) talks with fans after his 43-point performance, keeping his RTL average over 40 points per game

First Tennessee led throughout, but Rays came back to tie the game at 80, 84, and 86 with about two minutes left. Then former Vol walk-on Ben Bosse, who had 21 out of nowhere, drove in and converted a three-point play drawing a block (it was a charge, though, awful call) on Williams. That play got First Tennessee the separation they needed to hold on for their first W, 95-93 (Steven Pearl hit a shot from just over halfcourt at the buzzer for the final margin).

The second game featured the two unbeateans, HT Group and Toyota of Knoxville. Toyota led most of the game as HT struggled to score consistently. But once they got it going offensively, it was just a matter of time. With Tyler Smith, Daniel West, Pigram, and a couple other guys (Michael Jenkins from Walters State and Greg Hamlin from ETSU), they are to me the best team out there. They struggled for most of the night, but were not gonna be denied.

Wayne Chism played the full game tonight, and led Toyota with 27. He hit some threes of course, and scored in the post, in transition, and of course did most of this with a smile on his face. He makes basketball look so fun, and it’s fun to watch him play.

Dane Bradshaw, showing his excellent form at the line, scored 14 points in the loss

Tyler Smith was of course big down the stretch. Tied at 96 (I think…), he scored to give his team the lead. Then Dane Bradshaw found a wide-open Tony White Jr. in the corner for a 3, after White had been short on his long-range shots throughout the game. Of course, Pigram answers with an NBA-range 3 of his own. White answered with a tough, circus shot in the lane that he somehow got to fall. Keep in mind this guy is like 6-1 150 and he looks like he’s a freshman in high school. But his father played at Tennessee, and he can ball pretty well for his size thanks to his handle and quicks.

There’s Tony White Jr from C of C. If he looks rather small, that’s because he is. But he can play

In addition to being the best player in the SEC, Tyler Smith always makes time for the fans, autographing shirts during warmups

But surprise, surprise, Tyler Smith scores a basket inside and that turns out to be the winner. Here’s the last 15 seconds or so. HT is up 101-99, and it’s really anti-climactic (compared to last Wednesday at least).

done

As the second game ended, the gym began to empty. Half the people left, and that should tell you about the excitement factor for the final game between Richardson and News-Sentinel. Ron Slay wasn’t playing, so that didn’t help. KNS built a big lead (15 points) midway through the first half before Richardson cut into it thanks to Josh Tabb. With about 5 minutes left in the first, I hit the road and it was a 7-point game.

They went on to win 106-96, thanks to 34 from Damon Johnson, who was raining it down from outside early on. Raul Placeres from Maryville College scored 20, and Carson-Newman’s Cameron Sharp had 21. Fulton High’s Jalen Steele continues to impress with 19. Tabb and Clemson’s Terrance Oglesby each scored 25.

Clemson Tiger Terrance Oglesby got off to a slow start from outside, but did get to the line. He had 25 points in Richardson’s L tonight

Another Vol signee, Philip Jurick I got to see for the first time. He’s definitely got the height to be a good post-player, but needs to add some bulk and he wasn’t very aggressive. He did get to go against John Mueller, the 7ish-footer formally from Marquette, so that will help him. Again, I only saw him play for not even half a game, so I’ll withhold full evaluation til I see him play some more.

Apparently the league isn’t as tiered as I thought it was. One team is unbeaten, one has one loss, and the rest are 1-2.