PONTIAC IMPRESSES WITH SPEED, TRANSITION GAME IN WAKE OF MOODY TRANSFER

I'll be honest, when I heard over the summer that all-conference shooting guard Juwaan Moody and his 20 points per night were leaving Pontiac and Moody was heading to a high school in Arizona to finish out his prep playing career, I was nervous for the wellbeing of the Phoenix boys hoops squad in 2011.

After watching Pontiac put a supreme hurting on a very good Detroit Henry Ford squad Monday afternoon at the Motor City Roundball Classic – a resounding 78-58 smack down delivered by the Phoenix –, I have re-evaluated my opinion. Pontiac is good. REAL GOOD!!!!

Head coach Robert Rogers might not have Moody anymore, nor any semblance of size in the post, but Pontiac's ultra-quick and ultra-aggressive five-guard starting lineup WILL WITHOUT A DOUBT be serious contenders for the OAA Red league crown and the program's umpteenth^th consecutive Class A district title.

With the defeat of Henry Ford, the Phoenix raise their season record to 2-1.

Picking up the slack with Moody out of the lineup has been a senior-laden group of little big men. At the head of the pack is Anthony "The Ant" Adams, the Phoenix's two-time all-conference point guard. Adams, a pesky and lightning-fast playmaker, is averaging 25.5 point per game. On Monday, he torched the Henry Ford 'D' for 32 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Flanking Adams is crafty swingman Jamal Barr, who does not blow you away with his moves, however is as efficient as they come scoring the basketball. In Moody's absence, he's been and WILL CONTINUE to be the key. Against Henry Ford he demonstrated his economic style of play by going 8 of 14 from the field for 19-points and six rebounds, four of them being of the offensive variety. Barr, who transfered into the district last season after playing his sophomore and freshman seasons down in Georgia, reminds me of a prep Mark Auguire.....not flashy, just painfully effective. He was the Phoenix's third-leading scorer last year in his first season at THE HIGH, averaging 12 points per night. So far this season, he has upped that output to 16 points per game and is getting better each outing.

De Brian Lewis, Mario Burkett, Rasheem Ford and Jordan Chambers all have multiple varsity letters and make up a solid core of lead role players. Newcomers Royaire Churchill, Mark Hoover and Michael Williams, have each been pleasant surprises. Lewis (7 points, 7 boards) knocked down consecutive 5-foot leaners in the paint to jumpstart a 32-point fourth quarter on Monday against Henry Ford, which had just made what had been an 18-point deficit a 46-42 game heading down the stretch.

Like all the great teams in the history of Pontiac prep hoops, this bunch of 'Yaktown ballers can run the fastbreak like the old school Showtime L.A. Lakers. The Phoenix absolutely ran Henry Ford out of the gym Monday. And Henry Ford is as good, not to mention considerably more athletically-gifted than most of the teams they will face in the OAA this season. That is not a good sign for the Phoenix's opponents in the upcoming league-portion of the schedule.  

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