John Carroll vs Good Counsel Observations

<p>Last night Good Counsel made the trip up to Bel Air to face the defending BCL champions. The visitors made it clear from the jump that they would set the tone early for a physical, tough matchup and even though John Carroll made a run in the third quarter, Good Counsel got back into rythym in the final eight minutes and marched away with a commanding 78-64 win. No. 9 John Carroll falls to 1-1 with the loss as No. 16 Good Counsel begins their season 1-0 with the win.</p> <p>Here are some observations I picked up on throughout the game.</p> <p><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/12/Reico-Hellams.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1338690" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/12/Reico-Hellams-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a></p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="957045" first="Rieco" last="Hellams"] starts his junior season off strong</strong></p> <p>Hellams had a productive summer for Team Melo 16U as a lead guard, but he made his presence more as a distributor and pesky defender. Last night he displayed an excellent feel of how to get to his spots in the mid-rage, create space from his defender and knock down jumpers with efficiency. The 5-foot-9 lefty recorded 16 points on the night and wasn’t just a factor putting the ball in the hole. He continuously got into the paint, forced the defense to collapse and made sound reads to find open teammates. Hellams is a premier competitor and should carry his success in their season opener to emerge as a true leader for this Good Counsel team.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="837919" first="Tyson" last="Commander"] leads the way</strong></p> <p>Commander was aggressive as a scorer from the opening tip and had to be as others on John Carroll struggled to find their mark. The 6-foot-4 lefty finished with a team-high 20 points and was limited in the fourth quarter due to injury. Commander continues to show the progression in his game off the bounce and as a finisher around the basket. He had a few ill-advised three’s in transition before his teammates were under the rim to attempt for offensive rebounds, but other than those shots, he picked his spot wisely. Multiple low and mid major programs were in attendance, so we’ll see if anything sparks with Commander’s recruitment in the near future.  </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="957037" first="Antonio" last="Avery"] shines</strong></p> <p>Avery is well-known in the DMV for his skills on the gridiron and is being courted heavily by powerhouse high major programs in that regard, but his versatility on the basketball court for his size shouldn’t be overlooked. The 6-foot-5 230-lb forward embraced physicality against John Carroll’s [player_tooltip player_id="1215151" first="Cesar" last="Tchilombo"] (6’8) and had a steady presence on the glass. Nine of his game-high 23 points came from behind the arc and forced John Carroll to go with a smaller lineup for some stints in order to counter Avery’s ability to score from outside.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="904682" first="Kyle" last="Pulliam"] remains underrecruited</strong></p> <p>Ever since the summer, Pulliam has intrigued me with his size, skillset and his smooth approach to the game. The 6-foot-5 lefty finished with 15 points last night in the win and connected on two triples. Where he looked impressive was operating off the dribble where he’d drive hard to the rim and find teammates around the basket for easy looks. He was his best on the defensive end as he held [player_tooltip player_id="957030" first="Jeannot" last="Basima"] to six points on the evening, which isn’t something that happens often. Pulliam did a good job of sitting in a stance, cutting off Basima’s right hand and recovering to chest him when he countered to the left. At this point, Pulliams holds two Division II offers and has slew of Division III schools recruiting him. I don’t think it’s a stretch at all to say he qualifies as a Patriot League prospect and that his best basketball is certainly ahead of him.</p>