EBA Summer League Semifinals And Championship: What/Who To Watch

Colby Giacubeno August 6, 2019 @ 04:05 PM

Tomorrow night at Parkville High School, the EBA Summer League will wrap up its first season with the semifinals and the championship game. The schedule is as follows: 5pm: (1) EBA vs (5) Wolfpack 6pm: (2) MD Spartans vs (3) Pointers 7pm: Championship Here are some things to watch with each of the four remaining squads: EBA After asserting their dominance through the six regular season games, EBA (Parkville) had quite the scare in the quarterfinal game against the Falcons (Overlea). They trailed for much of the game and even saw themselves fall behind by double digits at one point. Led by their 2020 duo of Jordan Strickland and John Godinez, EBA mounted a comeback late to escape with a four-point victory. Their formula for success is quite simple. As long as Godinez and Strickland have the ball in their hands for the majority of their possessions, they'll advance to the championship. When the role players try and do more than what's asked of them, they usually look up at the scoreboard and are trailing. Wolfpack There's been a common theme with the Wolfpack this summer, and that has been how they're play changes completely when their head coach is in attendance. They seem to play much better as a team when instructed by Coach Slep, the Wolfpack execute very well offensively. '20 forward Rob Johnson acts as the enforcer in the paint and helps limit the opposing team to one-shot possessions. 2021 guard Charles Neverdon has been a consistent scoring presence for the Wolfpack throughout, so it'll be imperative that he gets going from the outside so the floor can open up for others to make plays. The odds were already stacked against the Wolfpack at full strength. Without the presence of their coach, I don't give them any shot of winning their game against EBA. Spartans 2021 guard Marlon Lewis has been the spark plug for this team. Whether it's finishing a dunk from the middle of the paint, getting hot and burying consecutive three's or protecting the basket with a backboard-pinning block, the 6-foot-3 freakish athlete can sway the momentum of a game very quickly. 2021 guard Alan Brown has quietly been another key cog alongside Lewis. Brown brings the outside shooting presence with a smooth left-handed release. There have been plenty of game where Brown led the team in scoring while Lewis has productive outings in multiple categories. Other players such as 2021 Darius Webb and 2021 Nigel Pearson will be important against the Pointers by overwhelming their guards with defensive ball pressure and speed in transition. Pointers The Pointers fate will rest on the health of 2021 wing Ramon Villanueva. They were able to escape the quarterfinal match up against the Bayhawks without him, but they'll need him at full strength if they plan on taking down the Spartans. 2020 wing Timmy Adedire and 2020 guard Peyton Conn carried the scoring duties last week and looked impressive in the win. When all three of these players are at full force, the Pointers can be hard to beat. They play with cohesion and make good decision with the ball both as scorers or distributors.   Prediction: EBA will meet the Spartans in the championship game. In their last meeting, EBA edged the Spartans by one point despite Strickland getting himself in early foul trouble. EBA was also missing a couple of role players as well, so having those guys on the floor will help their chances even more. The battle between Lewis and Brown for the Spartans going against Godinez and Strickland for EBA should make for a very entertaining finale.