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Other Game - Middle School Edition

Hungry Jack

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Nov 17, 2008
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the cotton fields and bus shelters
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Little "Canute" Hungry helped lead his middle school Chicago City Day team to an emphatic 52-38 win over rival Anshe Emet on Tuesday. Canute erupted for 17 points, eclipsing a previous personal high of 5 points.

In leading the game in scoring, Canute deployed a variety of shots unseen in previous games. He scored a triple on a catch-and-shoot from the far corner, and converted several dribble-drive floaters and layups after receiving the ball in the high post. Manning his usual center position, Canute also scored on several putbacks in traffic. On one sequence, Little Hungry grabbed an offensive rebound just outside the block, dribbled two steps toward the wing, and then reversed and circled to the baseline for a reverse layup. It was an unexpected and startling display of offensive prowess.

Little Hungry's coming out on offense was aided by Anshe Emet's reliance on a 3-2 zone, which left the paint vulnerable to penetration. When City Day guards Henry and TJ started hitting their 3s in the second half, the stretched defense left the interior exposed, and Little Hungry took advantage. He regularly drove the lane from the wing and high post.

Little Hungry was his usual presence on the boards and defense, hauling down 8 rebounds and blocking 4 shots, and generally making Anshe Emet work to score inside. Playing all 40 minutes, he was +14 for the game.

As Uber quipped, "Canute Bol."

Little Hungry does not report any offers yet but has mentioned a possible PWO with Dominican College of Blauvelt.
 
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I appreciate the update but I just can't get excited about middle school basketball anymore. Sure, you may love the Henry and TJ combination now, and how they work with Canute in the post, but will they keep the team together? The middle school transfer portal and NIL money from the local laser tag place have just ruined the sport for me.
 
I admit I looked up Dominican College of Blauvelt. Up and coming. I also had to look up Ansche Emet. I thought it might be a prep school in Istanbul. Man was I off.
 
I appreciate the update but I just can't get excited about middle school basketball anymore. Sure, you may love the Henry and TJ combination now, and how they work with Canute in the post, but will they keep the team together? The middle school transfer portal and NIL money from the local laser tag place have just ruined the sport for me.
Not to mention the terrible officiating. Some refs let kids walk every possession. Other refs are tyrannical about it.

And these kids can trash talk like Lizzo! Little H was telling me about the $hit he hears on the floor. He just keeps his mouth shut (as coached by his Old Man), but I can tell when he's heard enough. He goes after loose balls like a wild dog and loves to wrestle opposing players for the pumpkin. He put a couple kids on the floor. And then just walks away.
 
One expects just a quick summary of this most important game and, instead, is treated to a literary masterpiece.

yummy samuel l jackson GIF
 
Little "Canute" Hungry helped lead his middle school Chicago City Day team to an emphatic 52-38 win over rival Anshe Emet on Tuesday. Canute erupted for 17 points, eclipsing a previous personal high of 5 points.

In leading the game in scoring, Canute deployed a variety of shots unseen in previous games. He scored a triple on a catch-and-shoot from the far corner, and converted several dribble-drive floaters and layups after receiving the ball in the high post. Manning his usual center position, Canute also scored on several putbacks in traffic. On one sequence, Little Hungry grabbed an offensive rebound just outside the block, dribbled two steps toward the wing, and then reversed and circled to the baseline for a reverse layup. It was an unexpected and startling display of offensive prowess.

Little Hungry's coming out on offense was aided by Anshe Emet's reliance on a 3-2 zone, which left the paint vulnerable to penetration. When City Day guards Henry and TJ started hitting their 3s in the second half, the stretched defense left the interior exposed, and Little Hungry took advantage. He regularly drove the lane from the wing and high post.

Little Hungry was his usual presence on the boards and defense, hauling down 8 rebounds and blocking 4 shots, and generally making Anshe Emet work to score inside. Playing all 40 minutes, he was +14 for the game.

As Uber quipped, "Canute Bol."

Little Hungry does not report any offers yet but has mentioned a possible PWO with Dominican College of Blauvelt.
Thrilling 🎈🎈🎈❤️❤️❤️🥇🥇🥇
 
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Really? It's been a good many years since I officiated or even saw a middle school game, but 40 minutes as regulation length was not even allowed by rule in those days. Has that changed?
Running clock?

I’m pretty sure middle school was 7 minute quarters with stoppages.
 
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Chicago's other wildcats, the Cougars of Chicago City Day, overcame a slow start this afternoon to beat GEMS Academy 34 - 19. Little Hungry Canute posted a solid stat line with 9 points, several rebounds, and a handful of blocks and steals.

City Day looked very polished in the opening five minutes, moving the ball crisply on offense and creating many open looks. But the shots would just not fall until Canute grabbed a rebound and put back a left hook in the paint. He scored again a few minutes later to give City Day a 4-0 lead at the 5 minute mark.

But the missed chances on offense came back to sting the Cougars as GEMS mounted a 9-0 run to take a 9-4 lead. The game seemed to hang in the balance as the young Cougars started pressing. TJ drove several times into heavy traffic and turned the ball over. For some unknown reason, Henry refused to shoot (middle school drama!). The Cougars seemed to be on the verge of unraveling.

Luckily for the Cougars, GEMS had trouble sinking several layup and putback opportunities. The Cougars then came alive at the 2-minute mark when they pressed on defense. 3 quick turnovers saw City Day regain the lead at 11-10, and they finished the half up 16-11.

The Cougars settled down in the second half as Henry and TJ started hitting from outside. Canute had a few more putbacks, and City Day stretched the lead to double digits.

On a night with erratic offensive flow, the Cougar defense held the game in check. With 4 minutes to go, City Day had a 31-15 lead as GEMS' shots would not fall. Canute had an energizing sequence where he grabbed a defensive rebound, got stripped on his dribble, recovered to block a shot, and then block another, exhibiting cat-like quickness that defied his father's genetic endowment.

The most exciting moment of the night came at 1:30, when Mario, the smurf-like guy at the end of the bench, scored the first basket of his City Day career. The arena and Cougar bench erupted in cheer when Mario sank an 8-footer, at which point he turned to the bench and jumped while pumping his arms wildly. It was reminiscent of Rocky Balboa atop the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

The Cougars are now 10-4 at they get set to finish the regular season next week with two road games.
 
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The most exciting moment of the night came at 1:30, when Mario, the smurf-like guy at the end of the bench, scored the first basket of his City Day career. The arena and Cougar bench erupted in cheer when Mario sank an 8-footer, at which point he turned to the bench and jumped while pumping his arms wildly. It was reminiscent of Rocky Balboa atop the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Good for Mario. Enjoy the moment young fella.

john cho hak GIF
 
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Running clock. No press allowed until final 2 minutes of half. Then it’s “2 minutes of hell”.
When I used to coach middle school basketball, we were mostly a man-to-man team. But I taught them some zone too and we would occasionally switch into it depending on the circumstances. But not very often.

But what I really enjoyed was when other teams would try to go zone on us. We had great action against zones and would eat them up. I was able to convince my kids how effective quick ball movement was against a zone, followed by penetration into the middle of the zone. I loved seeing teams try to zone us!
 
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I can't say I am sorry I missed this game.
"Spectators that cannot behave appropriately can be barred from events and can face criminal charges."

Hard to believe that happened in northern Vermont. Should take all of 2 hours to track down the guy who will eventually be going to prison for manslaughter.

(unless he's related to the sheriff)
 
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Chicago City Day school rallied from a 13-point deficit to beat rival Near North Montessori School 41-40 in the first round of the playoffs. The game featured a tense finish where City Day survived a trapping press over the final 30 seconds to hold on after taking its first lead with about 3 minutes to go.

Little Hungry had a solid game with 7 points, many rebounds and a block. He had a big put back late in the game to put City Day up by 3. But it was City Day's smothering defense that held Near North to 11 points in the second half and enabled them to slowly chip away at the 29-19 deficit at the break.

City Day plays rival Anshe Emet this afternoon for a spot in the final.
 
Chicago City Day school rallied from a 13-point deficit to beat rival Near North Montessori School 41-40 in the first round of the playoffs. The game featured a tense finish where City Day survived a trapping press over the final 30 seconds to hold on after taking its first lead with about 3 minutes to go.

Little Hungry had a solid game with 7 points, many rebounds and a block. He had a big put back late in the game to put City Day up by 3. But it was City Day's smothering defense that held Near North to 11 points in the second half and enabled them to slowly chip away at the 29-19 deficit at the break.

City Day plays rival Anshe Emet this afternoon for a spot in the final.
What was his +/-?
 
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+1. He played all 40 minutes!
Thanks for the updates HJ. Go CCD. And go Little Jack.

Really enjoy thinking back to when my 4 were much younger. Not one of them could walk and chew gum at the same time. But they were all happy 2nd string participants through the 8th grade. We celebrated their modest achievements and It was a fun time for the kids, their friends and our family.

Keep the update coming.

GOUNUII
 
Really? It's been a good many years since I officiated or even saw a middle school game, but 40 minutes as regulation length was not even allowed by rule in those days. Has that changed?

Exactly. Here in New Mexico, all middle school games are still only 6 minute quarters, and so was Illinois when I left there in 2009. I also do private school games that are 40 minutes, but that's with a running clock (YAY!!).

EDIT: Now I see Hungry's comment that this game was with a running clock. But playing the whole game is still pretty cool on Little Hungry's part. Way to go, LH.

And just one little comment/public service announcement about MS referees. No surprise that they suck, and that you get the whole gamut of calls and non-calls regarding traveling. That's the deal with MS officials.

Basketball is by far the hardest of the main sports to get good at as an official. It takes a while. Baseball, football, volleyball, softball and soccer are all a walk in the park compared to basketball. It takes years and years of reps, and continued training (camps, regular mentoring) to understand marginal vs illegal contact, and all the other intricacies of the game. And at the MS level, you're mostly dealing with much newer officials, and/or veterans who don't bother to work at really learning the game. That's why they're working MS games. Once an official gets good, he/she moves on to a predominantly high school schedule.
 
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The dynamic duo of #21 and #10 for Anshe Emet was too much for the Cougars today as they fell 67-48. The pair of 7th graders combined for 50 points and took the air out of any Cougar rallies with their outside shooting and dribble drives. #21, a 6’2” monster with calves like a young Dan Vitale dominated inside. I expect to see him playing D1 ball in about 6 years.

CCDS plays for third place tomorrow at 4pm.
 
The dynamic duo of #21 and #10 for Anshe Emet was too much for the Cougars today as they fell 67-48. The pair of 7th graders combined for 50 points and took the air out of any Cougar rallies with their outside shooting and dribble drives. #21, a 6’2” monster with calves like a young Dan Vitale dominated inside. I expect to see him playing D1 ball in about 6 years.

CCDS plays for third place tomorrow at 4pm.
Hungry, I have enjoyed your updates. Seeing your kids have fun playing games like that is a truly great experience.
 
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The dynamic duo of #21 and #10 for Anshe Emet was too much for the Cougars today as they fell 67-48. The pair of 7th graders combined for 50 points and took the air out of any Cougar rallies with their outside shooting and dribble drives. #21, a 6’2” monster with calves like a young Dan Vitale dominated inside. I expect to see him playing D1 ball in about 6 years.

CCDS plays for third place tomorrow at 4pm.
Don’t you dare skip that recap just because they did not make it to the final. You got fans here
 
Exactly. Here in New Mexico, all middle school games are still only 6 minute quarters, and so was Illinois when I left there in 2009. I also do private school games that are 40 minutes, but that's with a running clock (YAY!!).

EDIT: Now I see Hungry's comment that this game was with a running clock. But playing the whole game is still pretty cool on Little Hungry's part. Way to go, LH.

And just one little comment/public service announcement about MS referees. No surprise that they suck, and that you get the whole gamut of calls and non-calls regarding traveling. That's the deal with MS officials.

Basketball is by far the hardest of the main sports to get good at as an official. It takes a while. Baseball, football, volleyball, softball and soccer are all a walk in the park compared to basketball. It takes years and years of reps, and continued training (camps, regular mentoring) to understand marginal vs illegal contact, and all the other intricacies of the game. And at the MS level, you're mostly dealing with much newer officials, and/or veterans who don't bother to work at really learning the game. That's why they're working MS games. Once an official gets good, he/she moves on to a predominantly high school schedule.
Or beyond. Some move up to D3, D2, and even P5! The B1G however just promotes MS officials to the Conference's top list!!!
 
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The dynamic duo of #21 and #10 for Anshe Emet was too much for the Cougars today as they fell 67-48. The pair of 7th graders combined for 50 points and took the air out of any Cougar rallies with their outside shooting and dribble drives. #21, a 6’2” monster with calves like a young Dan Vitale dominated inside. I expect to see him playing D1 ball in about 6 years.

CCDS plays for third place tomorrow at 4pm.
In the spirit of a true sports message board, I so want to make a post ripping Little Hungry because they lost. But even I realize that is going a little too far just for the joke.

(That said, he better get in the gym this offseason and perfect that baby hook. A lot of fans are now counting on him for next season!!)

(God.... can you imagine being the parent of one of these college athletes? I sure as hell hope they never venture anywhere near message boards like this)
 
In the spirit of a true sports message board, I so want to make a post ripping Little Hungry because they lost. But even I realize that is going a little too far just for the joke.

(That said, he better get in the gym this offseason and perfect that baby hook. A lot of fans are now counting on him for next season!!)

(God.... can you imagine being the parent of one of these college athletes? I sure as hell hope they never venture anywhere near message boards like this)
In my experience that 6'2" monster with a developed physique in middle school usually ends up being a 6'2" player in high school.
 
Or beyond. Some move up to D3, D2, and even P5! The B1G however just promotes MS officials to the Conference's top list!!!
Yes, MS officials usually aren't the best. But if they called everything they saw, you'd have no flow to the game. You have to officiate to the skill level to a certain extent. In some cases--some--they're OK refs but they don't want to work HS games for a few reasons.
 
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In my experience that 6'2" monster with a developed physique in middle school usually ends up being a 6'2" player in high school.
I have heard that kids who grow early tend to stall out. This kid was HUGE. At halftime I asked the ref to check his driver's license, which drew a good number of yuks.

Little Hungry is tall (prolly 95+ percentile) and lean like his dad, but has not hit his growth spurt yet. This kid had 8 inches and 60 pounds on him, my guess.
 
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I have heard that kids who grow early tend to stall out. This kid was HUGE. At halftime I asked the ref to check his driver's license, which drew a good number of yuks.

Little Hungry is tall (prolly 95+ percentile) and lean like his dad, but has not hit his growth spurt yet. This kid had 8 inches and 60 pounds on him, my guess.
My proudest middle school basketball dad memory was when my youngest was a guard in 6th grade. He was an averaged sized 6th grader, so not very big. They were playing a team with a monster kid like you described here. He was pretty much dominating as you'd expect. At one point, he took the ball and drove hard down the lane. My kid, who was about one-third his size, planted himself in the middle of the lane and drew the charge. My kid got knocked into the air and went flying into that protective pad on the wall under the basket in the process, but he had stood his ground and (after a few tears) popped back up and kept playing!
 
I have heard that kids who grow early tend to stall out. This kid was HUGE. At halftime I asked the ref to check his driver's license, which drew a good number of yuks.

Little Hungry is tall (prolly 95+ percentile) and lean like his dad, but has not hit his growth spurt yet. This kid had 8 inches and 60 pounds on him, my guess.
Leg hair and calf development often tell the tale. I've found that basketball coaches are pretty good at projecting height but soccer coaches aren't and will give more opportunities to the bigger players at younger ages (long story there), And the elderly pediatrician who gave my son a physical before first grade did pretty well. He held his wrists, gently bounced them up and down a few times, and said: "He'll be 6'3" and very good at basketball." He's over 6'7" now, but not a bad guess at all.
 
Leg hair and calf development often tell the tale. I've found that basketball coaches are pretty good at projecting height but soccer coaches aren't and will give more opportunities to the bigger players at younger ages (long story there), And the elderly pediatrician who gave my son a physical before first grade did pretty well. He held his wrists, gently bounced them up and down a few times, and said: "He'll be 6'3" and very good at basketball." He's over 6'7" now, but not a bad guess at all.
There is (or was) a statistical increase in an American born boy’s chances of making the big leagues if they were born in July versus any other month. The universal little league cutoff is 6/30, so July kids tend to be the largest. There was a similar relationship between Canadian hockey players and January birthdays. In each case, the bigger kids are probably the better kids, and get better opportunities early in life.

I’m unaware of any research done on soccer.

Presumably, physical attributes matter more in football and hoops and therefore there’s no relationship.

As private clubs and travel ball have accelerated, I do not know if these relationships have held.
 
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There is (or was) a statistical increase in an American born boy’s chances of making the big leagues if they were born in July versus any other month. The universal little league cutoff is 6/30, so July kids tend to be the largest. There was a similar relationship between Canadian hockey players and January birthdays. In each case, the bigger kids are probably the better kids, and get better opportunities early in life.

I’m unaware of any research done on soccer.

Presumably, physical attributes matter more in football and hoops and therefore there’s no relationship.

As private clubs and travel ball has accelerated, I do not know if these relationships have held.
It was enough of an issue in soccer that US Soccer said Development Academy clubs could have smaller players move down a year.
 
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