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Final rankings

March
29

It seems like forever since I last posted a rankings, which is odd since I’m such a glutton for punishment.

Well, here it is, the final rankings of the 2008-09 season. I think things fell into place in the final two weeks, so I don’t know how much you can object to. But I’m sure you’ll try.

Let me know your thoughts.

Final rankings
1. Mount Vernon (20-4):
The most miraculous shot I’ve ever witnessed deprived the Knights a state title, and maybe even a Federation championship, too. But honestly, I think they can live with that. Had they not shown up to play on March 13 and were beaten by 10, they’d regret it forever. At some point, though, they’ll understand that every once in a while, that one-in-a-million actually happens.
2. Peekskill (26-2):
Like Mount Vernon, the Red Devils can walk away from the season without any regrets. It put up an incredible effort against Iona Prep, beating the Gaels in the best game of the season. And then they played even better against Jamesville-DeWitt in the state championship, yet it wasn’t enough. They can live with that. The season had some real ups and downs. This season ends on the up side.
3. Iona Prep (26-2):
The “Team of the Year” in the Lower Hudson Valley. The Gaels played as good a brand of basketball as Mount Vernon and Peekskill, and perhaps did it more consistently. But I think this team had some flaws that its talent was able to cover up. While they jostled with Mount Vernon and Peekskill for the top spot all season, it can take solace in this: It’s a clear No. 1 to start 2009-10.
4. Poughkeepsie (20-3):
The Pioneers arrived a year earlier than some might have expected as lineup with a star junior and two sophomores guided them to the Class AA sectional final. Losing Brandon James, who has committed to Colgate, will hurt. But Dayvone Whitaker really came on strong in the second half, and there’s so much young talent that got gained valuable experience.
5. New Rochelle (16-6):
The season didn’t end where it probably should have for the Huguenots, who belonged at the County Center. But they posted one of the biggest wins of the season, knocking off rival Mount Vernon. Replacing first-team tri-county pick John Calarco won’t be easy. But the foundation of Antoine Mason and P.J. Torres makes New Rochelle legitimate title contenders next season.
6. Stepinac (14-10):
The surprise team of the CHSAA. The Crusaders were a perfect blend of steady veterans and rising-star underclassmen, and at times played as good a brand of team basketball as anyone. Conroy Baltimore is on the verge of stardom and, with guards Thomas Decker and Kadeem Francis coming back, this could be one of the area’s top teams in a year.
7. Mount St. Michael (20-7):
Take away a few off nights and the Mounties could compete with any team ahead of them on this list. With a veteran group, losing to Stepinac twice had to sting a bit. But they got a third crack at Iona Prep in the CHSAA semifinals and put up a strong effort. No shame in losing to the champs.
8. North Rockland (20-3):
Nobody could have envisioned a team with five underclassmen starters being within a possession of reaching the sectional championship. But the Red Raiders pulled it off thanks to a cohesive, defensive-minded approach. Expectations will be far different next season. But this group will be ready for it.
9. Yorktown (19-4):
It seemed like forever ago, but the Cornhuskers went into the offseason with their heads high. They were beaten by Mount Vernon in the semifinals at the County Center, a game they were winning in the fourth quarter. Keith Thomas and Jordan Moody give Yorktown promise for next season. All it will take to contend again will be filling a few holes in the backcourt.
10. Lakeland (17-5):
When everything was on the line, this team responded. Lakeland had Peekskill on its heels in the Section 1 final, going shot for shot until the Red Devils pulled away in the final minutes. Lakeland had exceptional talent in Lavor Morris, Chris Fazio, Gary Austin and the rest. On a given day, the Hornets can play with anyone.

Conference rankings
Class AA
1. Mount Vernon
2. Poughkeepsie
3. New Rochelle
4. North Rockland
5. Yorktown

Class A
1. Peekskill
2. Lakeland
3. Pearl River
4. Spring Valley
5. Rye

Class B
1. Lincoln Hall
2. Pleasantville
3. Albertus Magnus
4. Croton-Harmon
5. Nanuet

Class C
1. Valhalla
2. North Salem
3. Blind Brook
4. Hamilton
5. Tuckahoe

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 29th, 2009 at 11:38 pm by Kevin Devaney Jr..
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103 Responses to “Final rankings”

  1. C'mon Now

    MV at 1? Making up for that “overrated” comment?

    1. Peeksill
    2. Iona
    3. MV
    4. Stepinac
    5. Poughkeepsie

  2. Jayden

    Kevin,

    That is a bold ranking. You will get alot of grief for it. However, you really thought it out. Here is why.

    Newburgh peaked late in the season, and started beating up on everyone. From what I was told, they were the best team on the court yesterday against Rice, who was very lucky to beat them. Newburgh was even luckier to beat Mt Vernon, who most people felt was the best team on the court at Pace that night.

    As I said before, I believe in teams that are hot, and I believe Newburgh would beat Rice in a rematch. They look like a better team then them right now. I think Newburgh would beat Jamesville Dewitt, who struggled late in the season. On the other hand, Newburgh needed a perfect last minute, a bad call, an implosion by Mt Vernon at the foul line, and an off balance fling from Siberia to beat Mt Vernon. I would take Mt Vernon in a rematch. Just my opinion.

    As for Long Island Lutheran. They are the best team in the State. They are playing the best basketball, and yes, they would beat Rice.

  3. spacecadet

    well well,

    if there is any consolation in watching that one in a million shot on Friday the 13th, it will be watching all Iona/Peek bloggers freak out about MV being on top. This should be a beauty, I think you got it right Kevin.

    MV was done in by their inconsistant effort’s this year, but if any of those top 3 teams played each other and put forward there best efforts, MV comes out on top.

  4. joe b

    NFA beat Mt V and are ranked #2 in AA. Peekskill beat NFA. Do the math.

  5. HRs

    Jayden very solid post. But I have seen LIL play several times this year(with and without Tobias) Yes they are hot, but you are jumping the gun. Was Lincoln not hot, when Rice beat them? Was NFA not hot when Rice beat them? Rice is the best team in the state hands down. Not even sure it is a real debate. In addition, they already played and killed them. Yes Harris wasn’t there, but Johnson was. So I assume you think Harris would have made up for the 26+ point deficit. Don’t think so. I also kind of think that if MV won the state and feds as well as LIL.. you wouldn’t say LIL is the best..cause you are a homer :)

    I also disagree with the term “lucky” That takes away from what the kids actually do on the court. It also is untrue. Yes NFA’s last second shot may have been luck, but they were in the game the whole time….not because of luck. Rice didn’t win games based on luck.

    MV, Peekskill and Iona had tremendous years. I wish all the departing seniors the best.

    By the way I just read Sherrod visited George Mason on the 19th of March. If you scroll down a little he is on the hompage. http://www.gmuhoops.com/ Yes Big East schools are recruiting him, but this wouldn’t be a bad choice.

  6. Dr E

    No all section players, no all conference players, no love for the coach, yet #2 in Class B.

    Panthers must have done something right.

  7. Jayden

    joe b,

    I am talking about what is happening now, not months ago. Newburgh is not the same team they were earlier in the season. That happens in sports, a team peaks, gets hot, and starts beating everyone. The teams with the best records don’t often win championships.

    HRs, do you think Newburgh would beat Long Island Lutheran? I don’t. Well, I think Newburgh is better than Rice right now. They outplayed Rice, but took a bad loss. At the very least, they were even at the end of 32 minutes. By the way, Lutheran destroyed Jamesville Dewitt, who I also think would give Rice a run for their money. I think Rice had a better season than Lutheran, but “Right Now” Lutheran is a better team.

    After saying all that, I would have loved to see Brickhouse at 100%. If he was at 80% against Jamesville Dewitt, he just needed to be at 81% for Peekskill to beat JD, and at 100%, they would have given Lutheran 32 minutes of some serious heat.

  8. HRs

    Jayden that’s not the point. You made the statement LIL would beat Rice. You seem to forget that Rice had to play Lincoln the day before. Much tougher match up than what NFA played. If you switched these play in games, the match up would have been Rice vs Lincoln for the final game. Not NFA vs Lincoln.

    You seem to also forget that Dewitt had to play Iona the day before. Much tougher match up than the weak PSAL team LIL played. This is a HUGE factor in the next days outcomes. If you switched these play in games, I think the final game would have been Dewitt vs Iona.

    Its not about getting hot when it comes down to the final games. Even in college, Memphis was pretty hot right? They go smacked. Louisville was pretty hot right? They got waxed. Match ups, coaching, stamina, talent is what wins.

    Rice is the best team in the state. Enough said. The schedule, conference, quality wins is validation. Even after beating Lance, they still came out and won. That shows character.

    LIL is an outstanding team, but they had an easy road. Yes they are champs, but in the A I still think people aren’t sold on them. With Brickhouse banged up, Iona playing Dewitt in Semi’s,etc.. That is why you are even still questioning it!

  9. Hoops fan

    Jayden,
    I think part of your prognosticating is doing some of what both you and I criticized some Iona fans for after they lost to Peekskill. Newburgh just lost to Rice less han 48 hours ago. Its a huge step to say one team is better than another less than two days after a loss. We all can agree Newburgh is better now than earlier in the year when they lost to Iona and when they lost to Peekskill. Rice is undoubtedly the top team in NYS this year – both for how they’re currently playing and for their year long work.

    Kevin’s ranking MV #1 is certainly a bit odd considering he had them #3 before the playoffs. Did MV prove themselves to be better than Peekskill and Iona during their respective playoff runs? I don’t think so. I think the bottom line on MV this year was they were a very talented team but played some very inconsistent basketball during the year. Losing to New Ro and Newburgh and being in some close games against local teams that are usually 40 point blowouts. The half court shot at the buzzer gets all the talk on the blogs, but from everything I’ve heard MV didn’t play well all game and had plenty of chances. In the final seconds, had it not been for an awful missed call, MV would’ve turned it over on Lessane’s travel before Dinham could hit the go ahead shot. Miracle shots don’t tell the whole story of the game.

    I think Stepinac, Poughkeepsie and New Rochelle are all very close this year. I would put Stepinac first among them for the obvious reason of how well they finished up. Kevin wasn’t in the house for any of the CHSAA playoff action so he couldn’t see how well Stepinac was playing, so its hard to blame him for his ranking. Poughkeepsie lost by 30 in the Section 1 final, not exactly a great finish to the season. New Ro lost in the QF to Poughkeepsie. Stepinac went down to the wire in the CHSAA A semis with the defending champs. I definitely think Stepinac finished the season playing better than either Pok or New Ro.

  10. Jan Peek

    Let’s see here. Mount Vernon losses to Newburgh and New Rochelle. Peekskill beats Newburgh and Iona. Iona destroys New Rochelle and Newburgh…...

    The real final rankings are as follows:

    1- Peekskill
    2- Iona
    3- Mount Vernon
    4- Poughkeepsie
    5- Stepinac

    Now wasn’t that simple…..But what would you expect from the crack Journal News sports staff. I’m sure they used the same due diligence and research and analysis to come up with these rankings as they did in deciding which games to send the cameras to this season….lol

  11. joe b

    Jayden..After watching Mt.V play several games this year I wasn’t impressed. And against Yorktown I felt they were lucky to get the win. Friday the 13th was the end of thier season while Peekskill was still playing. Peekskill made it to Glens Falls and Mt.V didn’t. Mt.V has always been a favorite to watch for me. But I thought this years team was down. And Peekskill beat a AA NYS Champ and AA federation finalist and a CHSAA champ and A federation semi finalist. They also took JD into overtime before losing by 2 points. Just my opinion.

  12. qasmack

    Jan Peek, Peekskill split with Poughkeepsie and Mt Vernon blew them out. Peekskill barely beat Lakeland as Mt Vernon barely beat Yorktown. It really is not that simple….

  13. joe b

    gasmack..Poughkeepsie beat NR and NR beat MtV. However, it is ironic that PHS beat NFA 71-70 and NFA beat MtV 71-70. How close is that?

  14. Jayden

    joe b,

    I think I was trying to make it clear that a healthy Peekskill may have beaten Lutheran, who I feel is the best team in the state. Can I get more on Peekskill’s bandwagen than that.

    Hoops Fan, Mt Vernon was very inconsistant this year, but also had very good wins. Would other Westchester teams played as well in Oregon, and beaten Jefferson, and St Raymonds? We will never know. Also no one beat New Rochelle in their building. Going to New Rochelle and winning is no guarantee for any team. That is a really tough place for visiting teams.

    The fact that Newburgh won the NYSPHSAA Championship, and played Rice even up in regulation, has to make people relook Mt Vernon. If Newburgh lost the game after playing Mt Vernon by 30 in Glens Falls, how bad would Mt Vernon have looked, and rightfully so. However, the fact that Newburgh ran through the NYSPHSAA, and played even up with Rice has to make MT Vernon look good, especially because of how they lost to Newburgh.

    As for the Federation Bye, it is not as big an advantage as you may think. Lincoln beat Bishop Maginn last year and Holy Cross had the Bye. Lincoln destroyed Holy Cross. Rice gets no excuses. They got outplayed by Newburgh, and needed a 3 to tie the game in regulation time with seconds to go. Newburgh got off a shot with time running out which could have won it. The bottom line is, Rice almost got taken out by a team that outplayed them. Rice is one of my favorite teams, so I am just calling it like I see it. Long Island Lutheran is better than Rice “today” Tobias Harris went out with and injury, and Lutheran had to play learn to play without him. They got tough, and when he returned, Lutheran became the best team in the State.

  15. NYChooper

    Here is the nyc.hoops final ranking. They are always in love with Mount Vernon , but at least were able to overcome their bias in the face of all the evidence to rank Peekskill and Iona ahead of Mount Vernon.

    1. Rice (New York) 26 – 2
    2. Jamesville-Dewitt (Dewitt) 24 – 2
    3. Newburgh Free Academy (Newburgh) 21 – 5
    4. Abraham Lincoln (Brooklyn) 22 – 11
    5. John F. Kennedy (Bronx) 27 – 3
    6. Christ The King (Middle Village) 25 – 4
    7. Iona Prep (New Rochelle) 27 – 2
    8. Peekskill (Peekskill) 24 – 2
    9. Mount Vernon (Mount Vernon) 19 – 4
    10. Albany Academy For Boys (Albany)

  16. Hoops fan

    Jayden,
    Maybe.
    You seem to be judging Rice by their game against Newburgh, but ignoring the schooling they put on Lincoln. As much as Rice might’ve played uninspired against Newburgh or was underestimating them, I think you have to consider the almost perfect game Rice played against Lincoln. Did any of us picture Rice beating Lincoln by 25? Would the Rice team that played Lincoln beat Lutheran? I definitely think so. Generally, I just think you can’t judge a team by one game – you have to consider at least a group of games. Many teams can put it together for one game or one weekend, but then they falter the next. Teams that advance to the state finals are either A) able to put it together for weeks at a time or B) far and away more talented than their competition. Rice does not fall into category B.

    NYChooper,
    any poll putting Iona ahead of Peekskill has not been paying attention to the entire season.

  17. Hoops fan

    Jayden,
    I think you’re right that MV seemed to play very well in Oregon and played well in the SNY invitational. Unfortunately for MV, Oregon was 3 months ago and the SNY was two months ago. At those times I agreed with you that MV was the best team in Westchester, but since then they’ve played many inconsistent games and lost to a few teams they should not have. I’m sure you’re right that New Ro didn’t lose in their building this year, but who did they play there? Any excellent teams? I don’t think so.

  18. Hoops fan

    *any excellent teams besides MV of course

  19. boss

    Rice was also up 21-5 and then had a let down. They are by far the best team in NY this year and anyone who doubts that now after they won the CHSAA title, beat the PSAL champion, and then beat the public school state champion is crazy.

  20. crusader

    How about these rankings:

    #1a iona / #1b peekskill / #1c mvernon all tied for first – to hard to determine #1 b/c the common opponent theory was just to wacky & inconsistent this season!
    even though i think iona is overall – top to bottom – the best team.

    #2 pok – 20-3 good young nucleus that made it to the championship and split with peekskill

    #3 stepinac – young team that made it to semis – beat mount twice and bishop ford late in the season

    #4 new rochelle – returns some key players

    #5 north rockland – 20-3 is not to bad for a team that returns all of its players!

  21. common opponent analyst

    so where does that leave gorton….after all they beat lilutheran and lutheran are the class “a” federation champs – so i guess that if gorton was in the “a” they would have beaten iona and jamesville dewitt and been the “a” federation champs – so stupid making those comparisons!!!!

  22. Jayden

    Hoops Fan,

    The funny thing is, all year Kevin ranked teams based on how they played against common opponents, and the margin of victories against teams they should beat. Mt Vernon was called overrated based on that. Therefore, how can Kevin overlook what Newburgh did after their last second win against Mt Vernon? Look back, I neither agreed or disagreed with the rankings, I just think Kevin is consistant as to how he determined them.

    Trust me, if Newburgh had gotten blown out by 40 against Uniondale, Mt Vernon would have taken a big hit on how good or bad they were, and rightfully so. Furthermore, if Jamesville Dewitt beat Lutheran by 30, both Peekskill, and Iona would be looking better today. Again, rightfully so. I do not usally agree with the common opponent. However, it is the tool that rankers use. You may not agree with Kevin, but he has been consistant on how he arrived at his Rankings.

  23. rocket

    Thoughts

    A) Kevin’s Rankings: I guess I could agree but no one can really say who was the best team. It was all relative. Losses early in the year don’t mean too much. Everyone is arguing. People that say Peekskill is the best have to deal that they did go 1-1 with Poughkeepsie while Mount Vernon smacked them. Then some people say Mount Vernon is the best, but they lost to Newburgh whom Peekskill beat (barely) and lost to New Ro who Poughkeepsie beat.. Some say Iona is the best who beat Newburgh. But Iona loss to Peekskill who lost to Poughkeepsie who lost to Mount Vernon. Give it a break. Everyone loss to someone they shouldn’t have some time in the season. Mount Vernon and Peekskill both loss to the eventual state champs…there is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.

    B) For future rankings next year I think things will be a lot different. I don’t think Peekskill will be as good without Ralph Watts, although Brickhouse comes back. But I don’t know if he can do it all on his own. Mount Vernon will be good, but will struggle without Sherrod Wright. Poughkeepsie brings back 3 of their top scores with Whitake, Gause and McLaurin..they’ll be the most dangerous team by far.

    C) Newburgh will give the Section 1 champ more work next year. Why? Because they bring back their whole entire starting line up and their confidence will be sky high. I think they may be the most dangerous team in the state next year.

  24. objective observer

    Local Rankings:

    1- Peekskill
    2- Iona
    3- Mount Vernon

    Only a shameless homer, or a reporter trying to suck-up for offending MV by rightfully stating that they were overrated this season could possibly come to any other conclusion.

  25. Hoops fan

    Jayden,
    Its tough to rank MV in relation to Peekskill almost any year since they don’t play eachother. I will say that since MV refuses to play Peekskill, if it is ever close in my mind I’d tend to give the edge to Peekskill since MV refuses to play them. I couldn’t reward MV with a #1 ranking in a close year when Cimmino is on record saying he won’t play Peekskill or other local teams in his backyard. I have a sneaking suspicion that MV won’t play Iona next year, assuming that Iona tries to schedule the game (which apparently didn’t happen this year). This year it was certainly close between MV, Peekskill and Iona, but since MV won’t play the others and both Peekskill and Iona were much more consistent than MV, I’d rank MV #3 and Peekskill obviously #1.

  26. HRs

    Jayden.. you are insane to not think that the bye or match ups dont play a role in the outcome. And your example of last year is comical. Lincoln was a far superior team and would have beaten Holy Cross no matter what. Last year Lincoln had the best team they had during Lance’s run.

    And the BOTTOM LINE is Rice won and is the best team in the state. Not that they “almost lost” Boss is on point about this. In a way it sounds like you are just trying to give NFA more props than they deserve..simply because they beat your MV team.

    One hand you think Peekskill would beat them, then you say they are the best team period. So in reality you also think Peeksill would have beaten Rice as well.

  27. Po Man

    Peek beats JD with a healthy Brickhouse. Iona layed an egg against JD. MV would not have embarrased themselves like that.

  28. Hoops fan

    Let me get one thing straight – Brickhouse went down three weeks before their loss to J-D with a rolled ankle in Lakeland game. x-rays were negative, it was a minor sprain at most so he was able to be back in the game 5 minutes later running around at close to full-speed. Brickhouse’s coach said the next day he was fine and this had happened to him before and he would be back playing 10 minutes later. He played in all subsequent games and Peekskill fans are now saying he was only 80% 3 weeks after the minor sprain? As someone who has had many ankle sprains (as anyone who has played a lot of basketball has) in a week you are back playing. A minor sprain is not going to keep you at 80% three weeks later. Let’s just admit with some sportsmanship that J-D won a great game against Peekskill and not start this Brickhouse was only 80% nonsense.

    HRS,
    “almost lost” must be new basketball terminology that I’m too old school to understand. I guess Pitt deserves to be in this week’s Final Four because Villanova almost lost to them Saturday. Maybe NC State’s 1983 championship team didn’t deserve the title at all because they almost lost to Houston if not for the Lorenzo Charles play. Imagine how much of basketball would be changed if we considered the “almost lost” theory. Jayden I love your insights, but I don’t see where you’re coming from on this one at all. A win is a win is a win. Newburgh returning all 5 starters next year will be a force. The CHSAA AA will be wide open next year. Rice, St Rays, CtK and Loughlin should all be very good. I would love to see a Newburgh/Iona rematch next year, that would be a great one.

  29. The Crazy Dragon From Switzerland

    Okely Dokely now let this Crazy Dragon examine rearange these beautifully foolish rankings. I completley disagree with Edgemont Potato/Rat Trap Stealers being the #1 team in class Tripple C. It makes me breath popcorn out of my toe nails with a side of guacamole for good measures. All of my homies from Wyoming would scream, “Rub a dub dub I want some scotch tape to give to my friendly friend Jason.” And why aint Tuchahoe Purple Penguins not in the top rankings of section 14 class G. It is staight up whack and absurd for the Purple Penguins not to crack this dubious list. Gary “the holy watermellon” OOberflemptentic was the 187th greatest player this year and deserves some respect as he averaged 1 assist 78 points .1628 rebounds 19 steals 7.23 turnovers and 63 foul shots a game. Make room for the Holy Watermellon next year or I will never distribute my Galaxy favorite mushroom dough dough yams. It provides all my dopes with 13 vitamins and minerals to cure your nosehole after i stuff it with my verses that can make Tino Martinez infurated enough to get a tatoo of Bob Saget on his right hamstring. And also please give some love to the Dover Wild Toads next semester. They truly would enjoy watching the film Rocky as Lisa Leslie and Matt Damon hitch hike to the Arcitc Ocean only to find not one hotel for their glorious honey moon so they proceed to eat each other..Very Funny Movie..A classic that won 17 Academic Awards..0 out of 5 Stars!!!

  30. Jayden

    HRs,

    If you look at the past Federation results, the bye had no baring on the winner. If Lincoln beat up on Holy Cross who had the bye, then Rice should have done the same against Newburgh, especially if they are the much better team. Before the Rice, Newburgh game, I read on the blog about the smack down Newburgh was going to get. Everyone knew about the bye, but it wasn’t an excuse then.

    It seems to me that you have your opinions about teams, and at times are not happy with mine. You went ballistic when I picked JFK to come out of the PSAL. I was wrong, but you took it personal. I believe Lutheran is better than Rice. Just my opinion, but again you take it personal. Were is the Mt Vernon angle there? If I wanted to prop up Mt Vernon, I would say that the team (Rice) that beat the team (Newburgh) that beat Mt Vernon, is the best. You obviously have a problem with Tobias Harris, because this is not the first time it came up this year. You, Hoops Fan, Iona Power, and others are very knowledgable fans with great insight. We all have opinions which others may not agree. It’s only basketball. Lets agree to disagree, and value the fact that we have the right to our oppinions.

    After saying that, Po Man, that was not very smart. This is a one and done playoff. Iona had a layoff, which can be a death sentence to a basketball team.

  31. joe b

    Kev,,,you can please some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time. But you can’t please all of the people all of the time. Section I fans should sit back and be happy for what we had this season. Some great games. Peek/Iona, MtV/NFA, Peek/NFA, MtV/NR (2X), York/Mt V, LHall/Magnus, Pville/LHall, NR/Pok, Pville/Dobbs and Valhallas miracle comeback against Millbrook

  32. HRs

    Jayden… I don’t take it personal whatsoever. I am just passionate about hoops like you all. I lvoe going back and fourth and learning from you all..

    You want to tell me the bye/match ups has nothing to do with the outcome, thats your choice. But that isn’t accurate at all. You can go back in history and teams that “should” have one didn’t due to the route in which they had to take. Same goes in college. Tougher seedings result in different outcomes. You are also attempting to use one example..which isn’t accurate. Bottom line is Rice had to play Lincoln then NFA to win. NFA played a weak opponent then Rice to win.. With the A.. LIL played a team in Curtis that wouldn’t win the Section 1 B league , then played a tired Dewitt team that had to play Peekskill and Iona.. You don’t see a difference here?

    Opinions are what makes the blogs great, but I am one who feels there should be some fact around it. with JFK, they had no shot. Give that coach this Rice team and they don’t get out of the city. With LIL, can’t really see how you can say they are the best. Your reasoning of them being hot and NFA “almost” beating Rice is hard for me to buy They played and Rice mocked them. If you really think Tobias Harris can make up a 26 point differential against a team that is deeper and more athletic thats “your opinion” but having an actual head to head match up here says a lot.

    The MV thing.. NFA eliminated MV. By saying NFA is great helps make the case for a MV loss. I was somewhat joking about this anyway..

  33. peekfatdaddy

    Hoops Fan, if you would have been at all of Peekskill’s games in the Regionals and States, as I was, you would have seen Daquan roll his ankle a few times, including against Cornwall, right before the lights went out in the gym. He definitely was not 100%, and his ankle was weak, so you don’t know what you’re talking about. That being said, Peekskill was the better team against JD, but the shots didn’t fall in the end. There is nothing that they could have done differently to beat JD, except maybe Ralph Watts shooting a little more from the outside. Peekskill had JD beat with their two best players (Watts – shoulder, scratched eye), and Brickhouse (ankle) not close to 100%. Ralph could not lift his arm until Thursday before the State semis. For this reason, I think Peekskill would have definitely given Long Island Lutheran a game and should be ranked higher than Mount Vernon. Mount Vernon was overrated this year. Yes, they beat several good teams, but they were very inconsistent.

  34. PeekskillBasketball alum

    Who Cares, season is over. I really don’t care about what happens now, they all had a great season. Lets move on. until next year when this season long debate goes on and on for months!!!

  35. Jayden

    HRs,

    Sorry, but here are the facts. In the final game of the Federation tournament (AA)in this decade, the team with the bye won in 2007, 2006, 2002, and 2000. The team that played the extra game, won in 2009, 2008, 2005, 2004, 2003, and 2001. It actually shows that the team with the extra game wins more. No one, including you, complained that Rice was going into the game with Newburgh with a disadvatage. It was a foregone conclusion that Rice was going to beat the snot out of Newburgh, so to use the bye as an excuse now is ridiculous. Futhermore, history shows that the team with the bye, loses more than wins. I thought JFK would win. I did not bribe any of the other PSAL teams, I just had a gut feeling. Nothing more. Futhermore, and I repeat, if I was trying to bolster Mt Vernon, I would not say that Lutheran was better than Rice. That makes no sense at all. If I was trying to bolster Mt Vernon, I would want the team (Rice), that beat the team (Newburgh), that beat Mt Vernon to be the best team in the State. You are too smart to try to make that connection.

    Kevin called Mt Vernon overrated. Some people got mad, and some people were pretty fine with it. I heard the chants at the County Center. Kevin now uses the same method to rank Mt Vernon #1. For those who were fine with Mt Vernon being called overrated before, what’s the problem now. Also, those of you who thought Kevin was out of his mind for calling Mt Vernon overrated, should not be waving Mt Vernon #1 flags up and down Westchester County while blowing your car horns.

    I neither critisized Kevin before, or praise him now. I just think that he is being consistant. Good for him.

  36. HRs

    Jayden.. good info

    Things are getitng lost in translation. My point was not necessarily about a bye, it is about the match ups. There are easier roads to get to the final game. That is the point. Use Peek as an example. They had to beat Dewitt, then Iona just to get to the game against LIL. Swap those two, and what happens? I think youll say Peek is the champ. LIL had the easiet road to the final game. Yes they won, but all of their opponents beat each other up.

    Not sure what you mean about Rice and the bye. I said they had to play Lincoln then NFA. That is a tougher road than what NFA had to take.. See that is my point. Not about a bye.

    The match ups impact the outcome not the bye.

    The MV thing was more a joke..

  37. Jayden

    HRs,

    The bottom line, is that Rice went into the game against Newburgh as a heavy favorite, and with no disadvantages. They almost got beat, plain and simple. I am on record prior to that game, while everyone was predicting a Rice massacre, that Newburgh was hot, and was peaking better than any team other than Long Island Lutheran.

    Sorry, but you did make the bye an issue, but you were just wrong about it. At the IS8, some teams play multiple games a day against teams that play only one game. No excuses, because the better team usally wins, even if they played earlier that day.

    Rice is a great school, and has the best basketball program in the state. However, in “my oppinion” if a game was played today, Long Island Lutheran would beat them. Also, Newburgh is as good as them.

  38. Jayden

    Hoops Fan,

    If Brickhouse was 100% they would beat JD. If Iona was not on such a long layoff, they would have played much better against JD, and may have won. If the desperation shot against Mt Vernon did not go in, Mt Vernon would be State Champions, and possibly Federation Champions. I know it did not happen, but what is your objection to me saying that. We had three great teams this year, who all had bad things happen to them. They played great, and we are all proud of them. However, in a basically even match up, a healthy Brickhouse could have, and I felt would have tipped the favor over to Peekskill. I do not think this season could not be told without mentioning the bad break our teams had. It’s over, and now we move on.

  39. HAYWOOD

    If my aunt had you know what she would be my uncle

  40. Jayden

    Haywood,

    I know, if I was Mark Cuban, I would be worrying about the Dallas Mavericks instead. We are just recaping the playoffs, that’s all. This is the first day after the end of the basketball season. The ifs go out the window after this.

  41. IonaPower

    HRS

    I believe after seeing Rice in person at the Gaucho Gym against Jefferson, CTK, St. Raymonds and Loughlin that they are the best team in the state. Winning the Federation provides validity to this statement. I addition Rice playing in the CHSAA AA division combined with a difficult non league schedule makes them the clear choice.

    As far as the area rankings you could make an argument for any of the top 3 teams. Peekskill, Iona and MV all had great seasons. Even as a die hard Iona fan I would have to say that you would have to rank Peekskill as the top team as they did beat Iona in a great game. Mount Vernon is also a very worthy choice with a great wins over Jefferson and St. Raymonds.

    I also believe Iona had a seaon to be proud of with winning their third CHSAA A Championship in the last 10 years.

    When you see 3 area teams in the MSG Tri-State rankings I think that says it all about the quality of teams we have in Westchester.

  42. Hoops fan

    Jayden,
    I have no problem with any of your opinions, I just think a few of us are overdoing the “what ifs.” Stepinac lost a heart-breaker to Bishop Ford in the CHSAA A semis after Stepinac beat Ford during the regular season – you don’t hear any Stepinac fans saying Stepinac is a better team than Ford despite the close loss in the playoffs. In the playoffs (when things matter most), Ford got the W. IonaPower just said that he thought Peekskill deserved to be ranked ahead of Iona because of their head-to-head matchup. I just think at the end of the day the team that ends up with the W deserves to be considered better. Maybe I’m just too old school, but that is how it has always been since I first started following basketball. If a player is less than 100% that is part of the game. Do we think Michael Jordan was 100% for all of his wins? clearly not.

    Jayden and IonaPower are correct that we were lucky to have three outstanding local teams this year.

    I also don’t buy the long layoff excuse for Iona. If a long layoff hurts a team, which it can sometimes, you usually see it at the start of the game. Iona started both halves on strong runs. Had Iona been flat after the long layoff we probably would’ve seen J-D start the halves on a run.

  43. HRs

    Jayden I think you missed my point, which is fine. It is all about match ups the bye itself has no impact on the result. You actually brought up the bye not me. I made several attempts to show you the roads in which each team took. That is where the issue is. Some have easier roads which can and will impact the results. LIL had an easier road and so did NFA. That is a fact.

    Iona Power, I am glad you chimed in. I was hoping you would. I feel you have seen the most basketball when it comes to the teams being discussed. Your observation holds a lot of weight.

    You have an actual head to head match up and Rice blew them out. Tobias changes the score, but I don think he changes the outcome. In the end this doesn’t matter. Its our opinions..

    What matters is what Iona Power said about our local teams. It was a great season!

  44. Devilsblivet

    One more time for old times sake but first, congratulations is in order for ALL the these fine young athletes and their coaches for another thrilling and exciting season here in Section 1 basketball. They’re way to many successful orginazations to even begin the arguement on who’s number 1 this year and the who’s beating who formulas, I don’t even care anymore. Down the road when fans look back over this and other seasons they will only see champions and title holders and when you roll all this up into a big ball of whatever it rolls up into, you have one measuring element that has been overlooked, winning percentages. This year you have several teams with the same winning percentage but if you want to measure the success of a great orginazation look back over the last two seasons, this is where you start to see differences in great teams, 3 years certain teams start pulling away from the front of pack, 4 years, 5 years and so on. I can hear some of the nay slayers starting to scream at me but before you jump all over me and call me all kind of names and yelling about how many players are in D1 or D2 colleges from indivisual orginazations did you ever stop and think that maybe just maybe those athletes done want to go on with their education and are content with what they have. Maybe just maybe they are happy with just playing orginized ball in high school and want to get on with their lives. I did. Join the Military and had a successful 5 years in the service then came out and now I’m on my second career adventure sense my days in the service. I see others that graduated with me as Police Officers, Professional Firefighters, Corrections Officers, Retail Management all one time or another high school athletes that never went on to play in college or even attend college. So spare me and the others that enjoy using and reading these Blogs and if your not happy with one man’s opinion, MINE, put a sock in it. The Team with the best two year winning percentage is Peekskill, but only by hundreds of a percentage point, barely by a hundreds of a percentage point. So was that so hard to accept, go ahead, you do the math, the numbers speak for themselves.

  45. hoops22

    Does anyone know what is going on at Kennedy?? Thought they had a pretty good year..

  46. parent

    Kevin you left out Hackley. Hackley ended up ranked #9 in NY state in Class B. Hackley had a great season, ending up in the finals of the Class B NYSAIS tourney where they lost to Collegiate (ranked #1 in Class B and Fed champs) aftering beating Lawrence Woodmere in the semis.

  47. Coach D

    I understand all of the contentions made here. But really, the season’s over and its time to move on to prognosticating next season. So with that, I agree that Iona Prep is the clear number one next year, with New Rochelle and Poughkeepsie following right behind them, VERY closely. So my top five for next season:

    Iona Prep
    New Rochelle
    Poughkeepsie
    Peekskill
    Stepinac

    No Yorktown because Keith Thomas’ eligibility apparently is in question for next year. No Keith, no way for Yorktown. Loses too many players. No White Plains, but not for long. They have horses in their stable. Its just a matter of time before they’re back. And no Mt. Vernon for selfish reasons. I want us in the role of the underdog next year. It will make us work harder. I’m predicting a seeding next year for us anywhere from 5 to 9. No Mt. St Michael’s, but they could be in the top five easily.

    But, keep in mind that if these teams schedules aren’t challenging enough, then the rankings should reflect that. Playing pansies to remain undefeated or the like doesn’t cut it, and it shouldn’t. So don’t come with the argument that your team is undefeated if they’re playing lousy teams on their schedule. I’ll take the team that loses but played well against the tougher teams, than the team that wins against lousy ones anyday. Your thoughts?

  48. Hoops fan

    Coach D,
    I think that top 5 looks accurate. If you include Mount, I’d put them at #6 and a Yorktown with Keith Thomas at #7. The big question is where MV will rank among these teams. I’ve heard you guys have a very good JV team coming up and I’m sure some of the juniors who didn’t play much this year on the varsity will step up. I can’t imagine any team with Jabarie Hinds at pg not being one of the top teams in Westchester.

  49. ?

    jayden:
    if’s are just silly. j.d and lutheran were the 2 best teams in a – that’s it. rice the best team in the “aa”

    devilsblivet: peekskill does have a great winning percentage – but a very important percentage you left out – the percentage of joke teams on their schedule.

    ionapower – good points.

    hoops22 / parent – are you serious?

    coach d:
    good points and i could not agree with you more about playing higher competition!
    just not sure what horses wplains has in its stable – their lower level teams were pretty bad!

  50. Coach D

    ?

    As for White Plains, they had a very good 8th grade team in TCBL last year, with a couple of bigs and a nice pg. Unless, of course, they let them go somewhere else, like Stepinac. In that case, we may have to move them up. LOL.

  51. peekfatdaddy

    ?, besides the league that they have to play, what joke teams are on Peekskill’s schedule? Obviously they didn’t travel much, but this year (not including the playoffs) they beat Newburgh (AA Champion), won a tournament in Massachussetts (Beat Stepinac in Final), beat Wadleigh, beat Iona Prep and won the Slam Dunk (which included LI Lutheran, and yes I know that they were injured). Last year they won the Slam Dunk (including beating JD), beat Spring Valley, beat White Plains (in the Slam Dunk), smacked Port Chester twice (including at Port Chester). What more would you like them to do without travelling?

  52. parent

    ?, yes I’m serious. If the NY sportswriters association thinks enough of Hackley to rank them #9 in the state for Class B, I think they should appear on the rankings for Class B in Section 1. Kevin’s rankings above were for all the Classes, not just the big boys.

  53. Hoops fan

    parent,
    You probably didn’t notice, but all those rankings by class above were only for Section 1 teams. Iona Prep, Stepinac and Mount weren’t included either. Its great to hear Hackley had an excellent season.

  54. parent

    Hoops fan, thank you for pointing out that out. Still think if a team ends up in the state rankings, it should be acknowledged somehow. At least Iona Prep, Stepinac and Mount were otherwise mentioned above.

  55. boss

    Hackley?!?!?!?

    LMAOOOOOOOO

  56. The Crazy Dragon From Switzerland

    The Hackley Cheese Doodle Poops had an outlandish semester. The 4 ducklings which consisted of Jorge Telephone, Bobo “Salami Boy” Wilkerbean, Matthew the insane kitten Rekliner, and Sabertooth Bill all played stupendous basketman game. Zero flaws, Zero Calories, Always went down smooth, Fulfilling eye droppers, Zero trans fat, Never ate a tuna slammer, Gave 18 percent whenever on basketman carpet, Beat up a tiger when the tiger ate too many gummy worms and had to use a toilet, Shook Barack Tolama’s pinky toe, and how could we forget: they won the Universe Championships for 98 semesters in a row flava cakes! So never let Michael Strahan say the Hackley Eskimo Vigalantes are just a negative nancy team because let me tell you Marv Albert, they can even beat your beloved San Diego Colts in basketman game any day any time any millenium on any galaxy..weirdo. So let me go watch the film Rudy where Will Smith eats cocoa puffs and turns into a giant Supermarket. Yes Big Willy Style looks splendidly glad on the outside but Chevy Chase is really upsetting his cerebellum on the inside. Wild Film..13 stars!!

  57. Hoops fan

    parent,
    I hear where you’re coming from. Hackley had a nice season and you’d like for the players to be recognized. I’m not sure anyone would say Hackley should be ranked in the top 10 of local teams though. I do remember a time when Hackley had Danya Abrams and another guard, Wakeme Walton(?), and Hackley was certainly among the top 10 local teams then.

  58. parent

    Hoops fan, agreed – not saying that Hackley is one of the top 10 local teams. But not many other Section 1 teams ended up ranked in the top 10 for New York state (I think all of the others who are ranked are otherwise recognized up above). Anyways, said my piece, and I appreciate your responses.

  59. iona

    parent,

    hackley was a very good “B” team this season and as a westchester (tarrytown) school deserved more local press than they received.

    congratulations on making it to the “privates” championship game vs collegiate, the eventual federation “B” champion. hackley would have fared very well against any of the “B” schools who are ranked above i can assure you.

    in my opinion the final local rankings should begin with
    peekskill, iona and mount vernon…....in that order only.

    it is clear that the journal news is primarily interested in section 1 teams. iona, stepinac and the other local private schools were afterthoughts during their respective playoff games.

  60. Devilsblivet

    ?

    The Crazy Dragon from Switzerland makes more sense than you do. No Offense intended Crazy Dragon I love your movie reviews, kinda like having Warner Wolf, Dick Vitale, Joel Siegal, Siskel & Ebert and Pauly Shore meet Cheechs and Chog for two thumbs up and a finger or two in my morning coffee before I wake-up and smell the bosses after shave lotion and bad breath, the dude needs a tic tac bad.
    Thank you PeekFatDaddy for answering ”?’s” for me. ”?” Unfortunately every single one of these teams have “joke” teams on their schedules and there’s nothing you can do about it. By the way ”?”, who do you cheer for?

  61. Tyrone Shoelaces

    I love my basketball.

  62. COACH DARLOS

    My Rankings

    1) Peekskill
    2) Iona
    3) Mount Vernon
    4) Mount St. Michael
    5) Yorktown
    6) New Rochelle
    7) Stepinac
    8) Gorton

  63. Jayden

    The entire post about the rankings were based on an “if.

    For those who dismiss “ifs”, then basketball blogs would not exist. Furthermore, how can you rank next year’s teams then. Those rankings are based on, if players continue to get better at their projected pace, if other teams don’t surprise anyone again like Newburgh did, If transfers don’t happen, (the Tobias brothers are transfering back to Half Hollows “if” you have bot heard), if key players don’t get hurt, etc.

    HRs, look back, you brought up the bye as the reason Rice struggled with Newburgh, and I responded to it. Lets just drop it.

  64. Hoops fan

    Coach Darlos,
    Stepinac swept Mount this season, maybe you didn’t hear that. There is no way to rank one team below another that swept it and both reached the same level of the playoffs.

    Jayden.
    Of course there are a certain amount of “ifs” involved in any ranking. HRS and I both thought you were wrong to say that a team (Newburgh) that just lost to Rice, was in fact better than Rice. As far as I’m concerned, the team that won the game deserves to be considered better. Thats all. Of course, this is just your opinion and you’re obviously entitled to think whatever you like.

    Next year should be very interesting if Antoine Mason can keep playing so well. He could give Jabarie Hinds a run for his money as the best player in Westchester.

  65. ?

    DEVILSBLIVET:
    I CHEER FOR YOU AND SOMETIMES PEEKFATDADDY!

  66. Jayden

    Hoops Fan,

    I do not know why you, and everyone else get so caught up in rankings. I commented on the fact that Kevin used the same method to determine the final rankings, as he did by calling Mt Vernon “overrated” I called him consistant for doing that. I neither agreed, or disagreed with the rankings. I have never on this blog or any other blog, ranked teams. I never said Newburgh was better than Rice. I said that people at the game felt told me that Newburgh was the best team on the court that day, and that Rice was lucky to to win with a late 3 pointer to send it to overtime. I think that Newburgh may be as good, but that’s my oppinion. I think that Lutheran would beat Rice if they played last weekend, and that’s also my oppinion.

    If you remember. I picked Christ the King to come out of the CHSAA AA. I think they were the most consistant team this year. I wasn’t impressed with Rice, or Lincoln this year, so I am not just down on Rice after the Newburgh game. HRs got mad because I thought Lutheran would win a game against Rice, and that I said Rice struggled to beat Newburgh. He could have disagreed with me without calling me insane. He thought I nuts for not agreeing that Rice struggled because they had to play the day before. If he did his homework before calling me out of my name, he would have realized that the exact opposite is the case. In the AA Federation, teams play better in the final game if they did not have the bye. Playing in the semi final game is a hugh advantage to the winner against the the bye team who had not played competively in a week.

    Hoops fan, you know I respect your oppinions, because you are a smart basketball fan. I also respect HRs, who is also full of basketball knowledge. However, I can pick Lutheran over Rice, JFK to come out of the PSAL, and feel that Brickhouse’s injury was a factor. Why is that taken personal by you guys?

  67. HRs

    Jayden…

    Nothing is taken personally at all. In reality none of what we say matters its all banter. Once again it is NOT about the bye. It is about the MATCHUPS. Plain and simple. The roads to which each team takes plays a huge factor int he outcome. That is the point. If you want to validate yourself with some “bye” facts so be it. But that is not my point.

    I am sorry but I agree with Hoops on the issue. You can’t downgrade a team beacuse of the way they won when it comes to a Fed championship. You are right lets drop it , but there is no reason for you to take it personally when you are called out on an opinion. It garners a discussion, need to get offended. Lets move on and talk about where players are going. That is more intersting!

  68. Hoops fan

    Jayden,
    I didn’t take your comments personally and I didn’t mean to offend you with my disagreement. You are of course able to believe any team would beat another. I thought I’d read you say that you thought Newburgh was the better team over Rice and I disagreed with that thought process, thats it.

  69. Jayden

    HRs and Hoops Fan,

    Thanks for clarifying. I have much respect for both of you guys.

  70. HRs

    Jayden… same here. Any word on where the MV seniors are going to end up?

  71. Peekskillnative

    What happen to Lincoln vs Rice? Devil would these kids be better off in some foxhole in some far away land? Rice kids go on to college and so does Mt. Vernon kids. The two programs I mention not all the kids go D1 but they futher their education. Times are tuff out here and you proposing all these kids would be better off with a GED in this enconomy? Wow! Lets rate the programs we mention with wins and kids furthering their education and we have Rice and Mt. Vernon and JD at the top of the class. All the kids in these programs don’t get a chance to play because its only five on the court at a time but the programs are solid so the kids get a chance to play at another level. Have you walked down Main Street lately and see the kids that use to play at the high school and ask the hundred dollar question, would they have continued their education if given a chance too!Taxes are going up, people are being layed-off and losing their homes and you really believe these kids are better off with a GED? Devil, you’re one of the lucky ones of the Bush war but have gone to the VA and check some of the unlucky ones? War is no game!

  72. Ron Jeremy

    All good stuff: Just a note to Hackley Fan…Stick with the
    MATHLETICS DEPT.

  73. Peekgonewrong

    I’m tired of hearing you Mr.Peekskillnative because you’re talking the truth about Peekskill. We’re being tax out of our homes. The governor is asking for more cuts but we just don’t get it here. Our high school team is winning but after senior’s play their last game they’re left to fend fore themselves after high school. The people in Peekskill have no problem with a coach getting tons of money to run a program that helps no one but? I would respect a person more if they just take the money and r!!!! So please stop commenting on it because we JUST DON’T GET IT”. Peekskill rated from one to ten don’t mean a thing if the kids find Main Street in their future after its all done!

  74. Devilsblivet

    Peekskillnative,
    1) I’m not proposing nothing, you can lead a horse to water but you can make it drink. I solomnly agree with you that every high school kid should go to college but that’s not what’s happening. The state education system fails to reqiure 16years of schooling in order for anyone to get an diploma so a 12year high school diploma is the standard for all USA schools, we should be lucky that we have that.
    2) On Rice vs. Lincoln. In baseball they say that great pitching can beat great hitting on any given day but then on the contrary great hitting can beat great pitching on any given day. Rice didn’t have it so easy vs. a public school namely Newburgh, do you remember them, the team that beat MV. Yeh I thought so… ” And I don’t want to hear about some lucky shot, they let them hang around and in the end MV got burned. A lost is a lost whether it’s by a blow out or by some transfer from Cornwall throwing it down from half court. It’s not the end of the world, just the season.” “Like I’ve said before, even the Yankees have lost some World Series.”
    3) A funny thing happened in your last blog, you mention I’m one of the lucky ones of the Bush wars. Sorry, started under Carter ended under Reagan and in basic training I was bunkered up with a Rice basketball graduate. While overseas the base I was on had a basketball league and there was 2 ball players from MV and one from Peekskill in it.
    After the sevice I had a 23 year career at the Bronx VA Medical Center so yes I’ve seen the “unlucky ones” and I’ved also served as Pallbearer and Honor Gaurd for countless Brave Service Personal over the years. Live foxholes are seen by very few service personal these days, we’re all taught the therology behind this marvel in basic training and have the know how incase we ever needed to servive in gorilla warfare.
    4) On walking down “main street”. I’ve walked down MLK Blvd in Harlem “1 block from Rice” and seen the best of mankind and the worst of mankind, pretty and ugly in the same blink of an eye. Horrendous I tell you. It’s a crying shame. I’ve also heard that MV has some “Golden area’s”. I’ll remember next time to ask that question to total strangers and hopefully they will have an answer for me to give to you. Recently, as in a few month’s ago, an ex-Poughkeepsie basketball player was arrested in MV for a major felony, I don’t remember the details.
    Student athletes know they have the chance to advance their academics but if they choose not too who’s the blame, the coaching staff, the AD, the school’s guidance counselors, teachers, parents, friends, siblings, community orginazational leaders, Ministers, Mayors, Governor’s, The President, Common Council’s, Me, YOU.
    Children are raised to think for themselves and if they choose not to go on with their education it’s their choice. If you where to ask me if I would have wanted to advance my education back then I probably would have said no. Today I would say I wish I did BUT what’s done is done and I’m very happy with the life I’ve lived and chould only hope it gets better so to ask that question I’m sure you’ll find the answer falling both ways.
    I know that you’re referring to Peekskill basketball players but like I’ve said It’s their choice.
    So Peekskillnative, I’m still in the Medical field, paying taxes and have a mortgage to worry about. Saw one of my neighbors lose their home to foreclosure, not a pretty site. LIFE IS NO GAME.

  75. Peekskillnative

    Good reply Devil but you’re a old cat not a young one like I thought! I’m rushing out of the house now and can’t give you my full reply but lets not treat coaches like hero’s if they’re putting out bad product! I wonder if Pj Tinsely was the head coach of Peekskill High and he took on the role of the head coach now, i.e money from Elton, poor record on getting kids to college and camp piggy bank would you still feel the same?????? We’re stuck in the mud up here with our kids and all we’re are concern with is WINS!!!!! The is SAD!

  76. Peekskillhomeowner

    PeekskillNative!

    Did you see 60mins on Sunday with Lebron? He took his whole five with him to St. Mary’s prep. After he went pro he fired his agent and put his three friends down and the rest pure magic! Elton better get his game together in Philly because its not the West with no DEFENSE! Elton hasn’t done anything in Philly and the move to Philly cost Mo Cheeks his job because as you see they’re better off without him. They will boo Santa Claus in Philly so next year he better bring it! PeekskillNative stop replying to these guys because these cats up here are stuck on STUPID!!!! That dude who you mention can do no wrong while his kids work at Shoprite after playing for him.

  77. Common Sense

    I’ve seen enough of this that I finally have to say something. I’ve been reading these responses to the blogs for some time now and I’ve came up with a conclusion and theory that I think is the bottom line to all of this rediculous bickering. I believe that there’s a jealous responder that can’t face the facts that other men are right and he is wrong. One man even explained his mind, answers the jealous one’s attacks and defends himself and his beliefs with smart and intelligent responses, even has gone as far as exposing parts of his life to shame the jealous ones attacks. I also believe that there was another blog responder that claimed to be a coach of high school level athletes for many years, this I found hard to believe. No coach that I’ve ever dealt with would EVER attack another ones team or indivisual players the way this one did, I mean come on now what program would want to or keep a coach that rants and raves about another program the way this coach did. Unless he has an ulterior motive to do so, saying I believe that the one claiming to be a coach either has been beaten by this other team OR he wasn’t hired in favor of the coach whom was hired to do so. I’ve also read that one credits another with telling the truth, what is the truth, I think that’s funny because no one really knows the truth about other men’s sons and daughters so how does this one know the truth.

    I’m Common Sense and that’s the bottom line…

  78. Peekskillgronewrong

    Mr. Sense

    I guess you make all the sense and everyone else makes none. You took the comment by others and ran with the ball the other way because you and other small minded people didn’t agree with others comment on your belove coach. If you’re in it for the money so be it but don’t sell the kid stuff with the tax breaks to boot and expect some people to buy it. The last time I checked the people of Westchester pays the highest taxes in the country so if you and the other people that support this dude don’t care if the funds are helping the kids of Peekskill in this so call program maybe you guys don’t mind paying a little more in taxes because I personally need a tax break.

  79. Common Sense

    Case noted master gronewrong, cigarette and malt liquor taxes don’t count. My property and school taxes jumped up over $1000.00 more this pass year and thanks to puny minded people like you I’ll bet the taxes will go up like that again soon. If an orginazation is given grant money to help children out I’m sure that’s what that orginazation is using that money for not to pocket the money and be at risked for embezzlement or fraud. Oh! Now I sense what your motive is; your child or children don’t qualify for help from this orginazation and you are jealous of those that do. AGAIN

    I’m Common Sense and that’s the bottom line…

  80. Peekskillgronewrong

    Common Sense!

    Taxes are going through the roof and no one pays more than I so I guess your comment has no merit. If that place is helping anyone it should start first with his player’s because none of the senior is going anywhere! Is it a secret on who’s being helped? It takes time for people in high places to take notice, are you his lawyer? Small minded people like yourself should not receive anymore comments from this writer because you would’nt smell po-po if you had your nose in it!!!

  81. ClownOne

    For all you guys out there that want to know how a good program is ran you should’ve caught the MSG documentary on Boy’s and Girl’s High School in Bk. The school is located in East New York and its not Bel Air. The boys varsity is coached by a young lady name Ruth Lovelace, Peal Washington, and Connie Hawkins went there. I was amaze how this young lady molded these kids in to men and got them ready for basketball and push them to excel in the classroom. She made a comment that showed this writer what a true coach is all about” she stated her job would’nt be complete if you didn’t get these kids to college”. Boy’s and Girl’s high havn’t won a championship since the Peal days but her kids finish strong every year and the kids from the projects get their chance of getting out the hood! Are we just men looking at kids play basketball or do we care what happens after their is no more ball playing after high school! What is a good coach, WINS or getting your kids to college so they can have a chance in this enconomy!

  82. Hoops fan

    ClownOne,
    Have you seen Boys & Girls play anytime recently? They have a ton of talent every year, but seem almost uncoached. The assistant coach, Elmer Anderson, does most of the actual coaching – which doesn’t seem like a heckuva lot. Coaching in Bed Stuy (I always thought Boys was in Bed Stuy, not East New York) isn’t an easy proposition, but if you compare Boys & Girls to other similar programs in the PSAL – Lincoln, Jefferson, Campus Magnet, Cardozo – Boys & Girls seems less well coached/prepared. Boys & Girls also seems to have a relatively high number of non-qualifiers compared to Lincoln.

    Boys & Girls is a great program with a great tradition, but I don’t know if I’d go around lauding Lovelace’s coaching skills or ability to help kids qualify academically.

  83. ClownOne

    Hoop Fan!

    You’re way off base! I have checked out B&G play a number of times and it didn’t appeared to this writer that the young lady was stuck in the corner while Mr. Anderson was coaching. I do agree that Mr. Anderson does a active job in being a buffer between college coaches and his players. Its amazing hoop fan that you knock Ms. Lovelace but you have nothing to say about the clowns or cheerleaders that masquerade as assistant coaches for Peekskill. I would like to know what are their function? I would put here academic record on getting here kids to college over your hero coach at the school any day. Mr.Fan, she hasn’t won any state titles compared to your hero and the conditions are much worst so put up or!!!! How many senior on this years team has a free ride mr. fan? Its so easy to knock someone else but look in your backyard if you live in Peekskill, we have a ton of wins but only two or three kids had a free ride to college in the past three state titles. Mr. Fan who fault is that?

  84. Hoops fan

    ClownOne,
    Who said I live in Peekskill and who said Coach Panzanaro is my “hero”? I think you’ve jumped the gun a lot. I’m not knocking Elmer Anderson, I give him credit for doing as much work as probably any other assistant. The media likes Coach Lovelace because she’s a great story and certainly the only woman coach of a top program. It’s also hard for a media outlet to be critical of a woman coach without being criticized.

    Two of Boys & Girls’ games were televised on SNY for the tournament that MV played in. Several times the cameras got in the huddles at crucial times in the game – each time there was almost nothing being said. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The kids will just milling around waiting for play to resume. I’ve never seen anything like it before. Even bad coaches try to talk stretegy, design a play or motivate the kids.

    To your point about scholarships. Peekskill is a tiny school with 650 kids. B&G has 3000+. Naturally, B&G should have many more scholarship type talents. I don’t know was much about what was going on in the 80’s, when I’ve heard there were some good players who never made it out of Peekskill. But if you think of Peekskill’s teams in the past 10-15 years, I can’t think of any players who stood out as college level-player who didn’t play college basketball. All the DI talents from Peekskill played DI basketball (Elton, Mookie, Hilton, Cori Spencer, Rashard Tuner, Watts, and likely Brickhouse). Panzanaro has also had plenty of DII and DIII players (Randy Wilson, Telford, Robillard, Elliot Watson, etc.) A couple kids have gone the prep school route and ended up in college, but not a huge number of them. The last Peekskill kid I can remember who I thought was a definite college talent who I don’t think played anywhere in college was LaRon Bailey – he was about 6’6” and was an excellent athlete.

    The bottom line is that just because Peekskill wins state titles in A it doesn’t mean they should have as much college schoarship-level talent as a Mt Vernon, Boys & Girls or Rice. Compared to any of the top A level PHSAA programs in the state, I’m sure Peekskill does relatively well getting kids into college. Keep in mind in your Peekskill/B&G comparison, that despite Peskskill being about 1/4 of the size, most people would agree that Peekskill could give them an excellent game this past year. The reason why isn’t the talent level, but the excellent coaching at Peekskill. I kind of think of Peekskill’s playing style as ‘controlled chaos’, Boys & Girls’ is similar, yet uncontrolled.

  85. fyi

    hoops fan 1
    clownone 0

    game over for clownone – hoops fan just schooled you!

  86. peekfatdaddy

    Thank you Hoops Fan, finally someone that makes sense. All this talk of kids not getting scholarships is ridiculous and comparing Peekskill to any NYC school is just as ridiculous as Peekskill only gets kids from Peekskill, where NYC schools have kids come from everywhere in the city, they are not neighborhood schools. The only reason LaRon Bailey didn’t play college ball is because he got thrown out of Buffalo for having a fight with his roomate over a girl back when he went there. Although I love LB to death, he always had his issues. He is doing good now, though.

  87. Devilsblivet

    Hear, hear, Hoops fan, thank you, thank you very very much. My argument all along has been that Peekskill “A small public school” shouldn’t be compared to the much larger public schools of Southern Westchester, Long Island, NYC, or whether they’re Prep schools, Catholic schools or Private schools. They all have a much larger pool of athletes that they turn away then Peekskill even has trying out for.
    As in for it’s graduates, for the second consecutive year Peekskill High School is listed on Newsweek’s 2008 Washington Post Challenge Index of top high schools in the nation. This year, the school ranked in the top 5% of all high schools nationally based on the ratio of graduating seniors and students taking Advance Placement Tests.
    We are flattered and humbled that so much attention is given to our beloved Peekskill Red Devils Basketball program and are graceful for our coaching staff for all the hard work and time that they all have given these young athletes.
    If you start looking around you will see other coaches popping up on other schools coaching staffs that have the Peekskill experience with them, Asst. Coach Strang Lakeland Boys, Head Coach Haskins Haldane Girls.

  88. ClownOne

    Fan and all his subjects!

    Its amazing to me that we take credit for prep players too! For a cat that don’t live here you know a lot about the program but you know nothing about the most storied program in the city. First, you go prep for two reason after leaving a high school basketball program in your senior year, you need to horn your skills at a major prep program for D1 or poor grades and the latter was the case for the only two kids that went prep for Peekskill in the last five years, no names needed. Talent isn’t the size of the school but the talent within. You mention jv program in one of your comments concerning MV, we have none. We don’t develop here we just win and that’s at all cost. Our jv get’s smacked every year and guess who coaches them? Oh, all our sport program sucks but varsity b-ball. One of your subjects drop a few coaches names so I wish the school well who picked them. Are you really an outer towner or the special ed teacher that did the last year star player homework his entirer career or was you the lone teacher in the room when he took his SAT? Let me give you a stat fan, do you know the percentile of ballers getting their degree from Syracuse? Its 46% percent so if my math is right its less than 50%. So I guess if you don’t go pro where do this kid go. Coach informed one of the team parents he was going to get him into the pro’s and Mr. Hilton wasn’t pro material when he was at UCONN. Hilton had one offer on the table and it wasn’t UCONN. He was notice playing AAU ball for the Hawks and he didn’t have a clue about the school but one thing he had was a father that controled his movement and now his money so it won’t fall into someone elses pocket. Elton, I have nothing to say about that cat but one thing Philly is a tuff place to play when your game aint east coast ready. Mr. Turner should’ve stayed at Kent State but he left after having a cup of coffee. Mr. LakeLand had his free ride in his back pocket before coming to Peekskill, for that cat who’s cheering for Peekskill academics well, the kid from Lakeland dad is no dummy he put his kid in that district for the books and the last two years he came here to fill out his resume. Mr. Fan if you want to see the kids that played on the high school team during the past five years come to the canteen on Thursday they’re there playing rec ball. Mr. Watson I wish him well because he never learned the game at the school because all the attention was given to someone else so last time I looked at his college team he was glued to the bench so study hard and get that degree because that’s what its all about. Finally, one person made a comment about special -ed students after last year can’t go D1 because the lack of three years of a language course so I guess that’s a good reason the kid you stated should leave now and go prep because size and his academics isn’t going to get him there. When you start believing all this crap people tell you about how good you’re then reality sets in and you stuck on a bench at SU with guys that are much better than you and no pro scouts around!!! The little kid got a big heart but go to espn.com and check his ratings and get back to me before you put him in D1 class. Oh, fan for all your subject lets put a top on the roomer that the kid grandfather played for the Laker’s now! I lived in LA for 25 years an a life long Laker fan, tell me who this cat played with because he did’t play for MY LAKER’S! Stop knocking my girl at B&G unless you can top her, what happen when we got rocked last year by 25? Did you look into coach p eyes? Tell your cheerleaders on this blog get a life!!!

  89. Hoops fan

    ClownOne,
    I hear all you’re saying, I’m just not exactly sure what your points are. My point is that all the major talents to play for Peekskill HS in years ended up playing DI basketball. Do you disagree? We’ll have to wait and see what happens to Brickhouse. If he doesn’t make it to that level, it will be because of his size, not his game. You mention a bunch of former Peekskill players who are playing rec ball in Peekskill instead of in college. Are any of those kids real college-level talents? I’ve seen Peekskill play about twice every year for probably the last 10 years or more. The real standout players are the ones we mentioned who are/did play in college. Beyond those bunch we mentioned, most of the rest of the players for Peekskill have been athletic, aggressive guards who probably haven’t been great shooters and most haven’t had particularly great height. If you look at an athletic 6-0 2guard who doesn’t shoot that well from long range, he would be a neglible college prospect unless he is a phenomenal ball-handler. If his grades aren’t stellar that hurts even more. If he is unable to afford any college tuition that hurts even more. If he doesn’t have a great desire for an education beyond HS that puts the nails in the coffin so to speak. You seem to hold Coach Panzanaro responsible for all the socio-economic problems of the city/HS. I’ve heard Coach P does a lot for the kids in Peekskill and he has, in my opinion, a very solid track record, particularly when you match him up against any A school of similar size.

    If your point is that Peekskill doesn’t do as well with getting kids into college as a Rice or a MV, thats an unfair comparison altogether. Any of these schools have kids who are not success stories and a school can’t be responsible for every decision a kid makes. When Peekskill starts having kids of Elliot Watson’s talent level end up on the streets instead of in college, then I’ll start agreeing with you. Until then, I do not.

    For what its worth, in Panzanaro’s early tenure (the early-mid 80’s) and for much of John Moro’s coaching career, I remember far more talented Peekskill players who never got the opportunity to play ball after high school than I have recently. Frankly, the immergence of the Westchester Hawks has probably helped many recent Peekskill kids giving them exposure in the AAU circuit that might have not been awailable before

    Also, I wasn’t giving coach Panzanaro credit for the two prep school kids who ended up at LIU and St Francis because I don’t think either of those kids left Peekskill as DI caliber players. Playing an extra year or two in prep school gives kids a HUGE advantage. My point was that there have only been two kids that went that route, so its not enough of a pattern to criticize coach Panzanaro for not developing these kids enough while at Peekskill.

  90. Hoops fan

    ClownOne,
    A couple more things:
    Google “Bill Brickhouse” – he did play in college somewhere in Montana or Wyoming and I’m pretty sure was drafted in the NBA. I never heard he actually played in the NBA, but was drafted.

    You seem to be making excuses against the kids who did get college opportunities from Peekskill. You say Hilton wasn’t that great at Peekskill. Watts already had a scholarship wrapped up as a sophomore at Lakeland. Elton isn’t doing well in the Eastern Conference. Turner should’ve stayed at Kent State. I’m not sure what all that adds up to for you. Watson didn’t play much as a freshman. Bailey you say actually did get a college opportunity, but ruined it by getting into a fight (not Peekskill’s fault, glad to hear he’s doing well now though)

    If you can name me a few players who you thought were surefire college players from Peekskill who did not get an opportunity in college, then I’d take your criticism of Coach P more seriously. Just saying “there should’ve been more” doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.

    Keep in mind one last thing. Peekskill through no fault of their own, plays in a relatively weak league compared to other top area teams. Therefore, getting a college coach to a Peekskill game isn’t as easy as other schools and it doesn’t happen as often. If you look at Stepinac, Iona, MV – there are probably DI or DII college coaches at half of their games or more. Either looking at players on those three schools or many times looking at the opposiing team’s players. The more coaches are at games, the more opportunities kids have to be seen by the right people. These days if a kid from Iona or Stepinac or MV doesn’t get a DI or DII opportunity you can’t really blame the coach because there will have been dozens of college coaches in to see the kids during the season.

  91. Antonio Villaraigosa

    There you are ClownOne, I missed my Jester. Your Daddies, Homie and Bozo, told your Momma that you where causing trouble and she said “Not my little clownie one, he’s a good fool.” I can wait to tell the rest that I found the Village Idiot and he’s coming home soon.

    Your Loving Mayor,
    Tonio

  92. Common Sense

    I’m smelling a rat here…

    Why is it that Peekskill comes under attack from one and then another “I’m thinking they’re all the same”, gets defended successfully, then someone else comes in and takes a pot shot at this successful program.

    O.K.

    Clownone, why don’t you name name’s that went on to DI and DII schools from your program that won state championships.
    I didn’t think so…

    Peekskillnative, Peekgonewrong or Peekskillgronewrong you used both names, Peekskillhomeowner, PeekskillParent, PeekskillStudent, Coach Larry, Clownone or whatever your name is right now. I’ve never seen such jealousy in my life. OR are you seeking revenge of some kind. Thought so.

    I’m Common Sense and that’s the bottom line…

  93. ClownOne

    Good comments Fan!

    Before I reply on your latter comments you made lets set the record straight on the two kids that played in the NEC. It appears that you give credit to a coach when the kids go somewhere but when the kids get kicked to Main Street its not his fault! The kid at LIU left after his junior year after being kickout of Rice. After leaving Peekskill he played high school b-ball in Oakland CA, two years in juco in CA and then he was recruited by LIU. Mr Fan you’re telling me coach at the high school should take credit for LIU? The kid at St. Francis left after playing his last game as a senior at the school, he was also a city baller from St. Raymonds in the Bronx. He spent his junior year renting a room from an assistant coach on the coach bench, no names needed!
    After he left school with no hook-up with coach his AAU team and father got him into prep in NC where he stayed for two years and last year he was recruited by St. Francis, so I guess coach is taking the credit for that too! Both of these kids were living in Peekskill on the OKIE-DOK and was smart enough to bolt before they ended up like the rest of those cats on Main Street. I guess its alright to use kids for your own Greed/WINS with your ethical and principles intact! Fan, you’re familar with the movie Mission Impossible when the agent takes the job and it states ” If you’re caught we will disavow any knowlege of your mission”. Fan I guess that’s what good coaching is all about! I guess as long as you cheat and don’t get caught you’re still a hero too many! When you help pass a kid that don’t need to be pass and you know the kid on your team don’t live in your town but you still play him what does that make you and your program mr fan? Hilton I always saw something in him when he played for UCONN and when he left Peekskill he was pencil thin, have you checked out the high school weight room? The kids that played for the school can play the game but somewhere a long the line their game got stuck on natural with no development. The Hawks used the canteen to get started but left Peekskill kids high and dry, do you know of any kids that come out of the projects of Peekskill that can afford 600 dollars to play AAU ball for the Hawks? Do you also know that the Hawks set-up a satellite program in MV an I doubt any of the MV kids are paying. Fan guess who coached at Rice before Moe took over? Lou DeMello of the hawks! It was a guy on the blog that wondered why elton didn’t start a AAU program in Peekskill. Oh, fan you’re right we do play a soft schedule and we don’t travel out of state to put our kids out there to be scouted and truthfully they don’t repect our program. Scouts don’t come to see our kids play Hen Hud so lose a few games and put your kids out there and play up or your record wins will be in trouble! The kid from MV that went to play for Huggins played very well this season but did you see our kid when SU coach gave him a min, he was a dear stuck in a head lights. You can have the tallest kid on the team just jacking up 3’s, playing no D an expect him to play big east ball,I guess that’s good coaching and getting your kid ready for prime time!!!!!!

  94. fyi

    UPDATE:

    Hoops fan 3
    Peekfatdaddy 1
    Devilsblivet 1
    Common Sense 1/2
    Clownone O

    Hoops fan and the party of three schooling Cloneone big time.

  95. ClownOne

    Fan, good debating you but the rest of these guys get no air play from me!!! Enjoy!

  96. Hoops fan

    ClownOne,
    Twice I’ve said I don’t give credit to Coach P for Cadell and Manigault getting DI scholarships because when they left Peekskill, neither was at that level. They each took a few years and ended up improving to that point. But I did mention Turner, Elton, Hilton, Turner, Mookie, Cori Spencer, Watts. All of which qualified academically their freshman year. The same cannot be said of your favorite team, Boys & Girls. Half of B&G’s DI caliber players have to do at least 1 year of prep school because they don’t quality – thats terrible.

    You criticize Mookie for not being an impact player at a Top 15 program…ok. Remember Otis Hill? he redshirted at Syracuse and went on to have an excellent career and started a couple years. With Devendorf and Harris leaving, Mookie may be able to earn some minutes next year.

    I’ve asked a few times, but are there any players you’ve seen at Peekskill in the last 15 years who you thought were DI caliber players who didn’t get the opportunity to play college basketball? The only kid I could think of, which was years ago, was Laron Bailey – and you informed me that he went to Buffalo but was kicked out for fighting – clearly he got a chance and didn’t handle it well. So are there any players you can name or do you just like criticizing Coach P in general for these very random, unspecific things?

  97. ClownOne

    I have a few kids that would fit D1 that played for the high school but I will hold on to their names because the timing isn’t right. Fan I ask you a few questions but you failed to give me an answer too! Fan, D1 come from devolopment within a program, i.e scheduling, conditioning and a good support system, jv which there is none. Its good to recruit out of town kids to win but we don’t devolop within. We had a kid name Mike on the 2007 team who could only dribble with his left hand and could pass and go left, this kid went through his entirer career at the school never getting the fundamentals down, E.Watson went through his entirer career not understanding the game, both of these students were good kids but was never tutored to play the game at the high school level. A good program isn’t only wins its devolopment at that level, i.e MV. Stars and good players are taugth to play the game. Mookie, is a good kid but he had no father around and he listen and believed what these cats was telling him, i.e one and out, Camelo and he’s going pro! Fan you could hit lotto first before going pro,Fan have you checked out the mini camp pro roster at the Port? Its only a few spots open each year and you have to be exceptionally good, fundamentally sound with a good upside, its not just a game its real! College is big money and waiting on a kid that’s just 6’6 to come around in the big east is very questionable, have you gone to espn.com and looked at the kids that are coming to SU next year? I did and it don’t look good for him so I wish him real luck and a good trainer this summer and recovery from his hip surgery,these cats in this town no nothing about the game, Mookie should’ve played jv but coach brought him up in the 8th grade I believe, he never learned the game and was always circled with upper classmates that was solid players but at the end of the day win or lose he was anointed the star at the end of the game. In his senior year all the upper classmate had move on and it was his show but his shooting was way off and Brickhouse and the kid from LakeLand had to hold him down, if you shoot 25 times a game playing a soft schedule you will get your numbers. Fan, you had nothing to say about the Hawks AAU program, elton comment and outside intervention to win games. We investigate UCONN for recruiting volition and if they’re found to be true they will face punishment by the NCAA, so my question to you is if a high school coach uses outer towners to win games and championships should the championships be taken away. Fan, you seem to know a lot about Rick at St. Francis and Donte at LIU so you should know where they were living when they played for us? Is cheating good for high school sports? These clowns who comment against me think so and they live in Peekskill! I waiting to hear from you and what should you do to a coach that condone cheating?

  98. ClownOne

    Oh, Fan let me tell you a little about myself, I always played by the rules in life, never cheated on my taxes and always told my kids to play by the same rules and they would be a better person. I have two girls and one son, he played at the canteen and was a very good baller. He played jv ball at the school but the team was plucked of its good players or soon to be good and he was left at the jv level. The start of the 2004 season he tried out for the varsity, he made the last cut but was eventually cut. I understand competitive sports and if he got beat out that year by a kid from Peekskill I would’nt have a problem with that, but the kid from St. Francis came up that year. I didn’t pay it no mind but word got out that he wasn’t a Peekskill resident and was living and paying rent to the head coach 2nd in command mr. headly, I was totally taken back by this and pulled my kid out of Peekskill because I had it with the coach, AD and the school that would allow this to happen. My kid went on to play private school ball in CONN and is now playing low D1 ball and will be getting his degree in May. All these cats that are on the bandwagon of coach have no idea what we’re teaching our kids, its alright to cheat on your test at school, its alright to cheat in life and basically its alright to cheat as long as you don’t get caught! If we have kids commenting against me and a few others that might agree with me but we have adults that are turning the blind eye I pray for your kids. I care a rat butt about coach because his ethical/moral values I have questions about when it comes to the game of basketball. Camp inc. is a joke too, if elton wants to give him his money so be it but the camp is what? He is drawing on his pension and not paying any school tax is Peekskill because he don’t live here I do. We cry about Latin families moving in and using the park to play football but its cool to pay taxes for kids that don’t live here. School tax just went up and my mortage just went up 103.00 this month so is these championships supplying any kind of revenue for the city of Peekskill because I know UCONN generate 12million for the State of CONN or is it just win baby win here! I have no respect for that cat an you guys can keep dancing in the street after every game while your kids walk the streets after their senior year. It not all about D1 we have D2 and D3 colleges too!!!! Cheating according to Webster’s D:the act or an instance of fraudulently deceiving: So bangwagon guys keep those jobs at Shoprite/Modell’s because my family an I are doing great and all of them are out of Peekskill school system and doing well in life with one rule, DON”T CHEAT! Cheating will get you Bernie Madoff an you see how much hurt he cause so I guess he was cool too!!!!!!!!

  99. peekfatdaddy

    Clownone, just move the hell out, we don’t want you here anyway. Move to Connecticut so you can be too good for Peekskill, just like the rest of Connecticut. If your son was so good, he would have made the team. Stop bitching and crying because your kid didn’t make it. And for once, I wish that you would stop saying that Hilton was discovered by UCONN in AAU, because it is a fact that Coach Calhoun personally offered Hilton a scholarship after watching Peekskill beat Simon Gratz from Philadephia in a tournament in Springfield, Massachusetts. So although you think you know, you really don’t know sh*t.

  100. Common Sense

    I knew it…I knew it… I knew Clownone had an ulterior motive. Someone with this much hatred had to have a vendetta.

    I’m Common Sense and that’s the bottom line.

  101. Devilsblivet

    Clownone,
    Now you’re comparing Peekskill to a College?! A DI College?!Stop sniffing your sox’s. I was cut from Moro’s team and played under Panzanaro back in the day as a junior. I took my medicine and accepted the fact that I was not a good enough baller to play with the best of them but then again none of them ever tried out for the sport that I prospered in, Baseball. After a five year stint in the service I went to a community college for two years then transfered to a four year school all paid for by my G.I. plan and was a walk on at both schools. I was the “OLD MAN” on a young man’s team both times but I played for the love of the game, not to make a career out of it, Baseball that is. The expreience I got playing basketball in Peekskill was a great learning experience and made me humble. I didn’t run to daddy crying for him to find me a team that sucked enough for me to play on and I wouldn’t do it for my kids. That sends a wrong message. Your son should have worked harder to prove the coaching staff wrong or take that experience and grow on it not run and find a playground where he can become the “better player”.
    As in for small public schools to get their kids into DI, II, III, IV or V division schools on a scholarship is getting harder and harder. First of all they are less and less scouts from these schools now. Second, everyone and everybody sends in video’s of their kids asking for the coaches to “Come and check out their kid” in action. The coaching staffs then picks and chooses which ones to watch and which tournament to view and ussually Sectionals and States draw talent recruiters because they want WINNERS ! ! ! Don’t get me wromg they also love show case tournaments too BUT they are by invatations only and are not necessarily the best teams or players around.
    Bill Brickhouse was drafted by the L.A. Lakers in 1971, 6th round. Unfortunately the NBA didn’t start keep archieve records of average players until the 80’s OR have poor data on anyone who didn’t make it to the “Hall”. I’ve e-mailed the Lakers asking for information on Brickhouse or any website that might help me acquire any information on him or past players so far nothing. I’ve even E-mailed the NBA and Pro Basketball Players HOF for the same info and still have not heard from either orginazation. Old record keeping in the NBA is like having an actual picture of the dinosars in action… they don’t exist.
    I believe Common Sense hit the nail on the head with saying your jealous.

  102. Hoops fan

    ClownOne,
    At least you’re honest enough to say why you have such an ax to grind against Panzanaro. If your son was cut from Peekskill’s team as a junior and ended up playing DI basketball as you say then it’s obvious everything worked out for him in the long run. Maybe getting cut helped motivating him. It seems there would be nothing to complain about here. Your main point seems to be the Panzanaro condones cheating by having those two kids you say moved into Peekskill. I don’t know the particular situations that well, but its not uncommon for kids to move to play for a better school. Neither Cadell or Manigault were superstar-type players and neither were big names in NYC before they moved to Peekskill. Maybe they chose a better situation for themselves to get out of a bad situation where they lived previously. I don’t think either of us know the full story on those situations.

    Devilsblivet,
    There are tons of NBA records online going back to the 40’s and those stats are incredibly accurate. Brickhouse must’ve been drafted, but never played in an NBA game. Maybe just pre-season games which they don’t count in records. Had he played in an NBA game, the NBA would have a record of it. http://www.databasebasketball.com has every stat you could ever want.

  103. Devilsblivet

    Thanks Hoops Fan… Great web site… I’m glad somebody Knows Basketball.

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Kevin Devaney Jr.Kevin Devaney Jr. came to The Journal News in 1998 and worked on the sports staff through college. A Fordham University graduate, Kevin primarily reports on high school football and basketball. READ MORE
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