Featured Game: McEachern vs. North Cobb (12/09/2008)

The Atlanta Roundball Report was at North Cobb High School Tuesday this evening to watch the Warriors take on visiting McEachern High. What looked on paper to be a good Region 5-AAAAA matchup turned sour as North Cobb was forced to sit three starters who were serving suspensions from an incident in previous game. One of the players suspended was standout senior and Murray State signee Colin Slotter (6' 5, Wing, 2009).

With North Cobb's suspended players out of action; McEachern cruised right from the tip-off. The Indians used excellent defensive ball pressure to key a 18-2 run to start the game. This run included 4 dunks. As a result of the suspensions, North Cobb was forced to play a number of underclassman heavy minutes. The bigger, stronger, and faster Indians pretty much had their way with the younger North Cobb crew throughout the evening. McEachern demonstrated good patience on the offense end and was pretty much able to get a high percentage shot on almost every possession. They also did a fine job of attacking the offensive glass for easy second putbacks and forcing turnovers which led to easy transition buckets. North Cobb put together a modest 6-0 run in the 2nd quarter to cut the lead to eleven points with 6 minutes to go before the half. However, that was short lived as Trae Golden (6' 2, PG, 2010) knocked down several tough 3-pointers and Kadeem Batts (6' 9, Forward, 2009) converted three buckets inside to put the game permanently out of reach.

Our observations from the game:

• 6' 9 Kadeem Batts has improved quite a bit from last season. While his size and athleticism allowed him to be very effective last season; he seems to have been working on both his inside post moves and his stroke from mid-range jumper. The Providence signee has excellent potential and should only get better as he adds to his game.
• Trae Golden can score just as well as any player in the state of Georgia. He has established that during his strong freshman and sophomore campaigns. However, the one knock some people had on Golden was that his defensive game was significantly below his offensive prowess. Well that certainly was not true this evening as Golden's defensive play was fantastic. He put excellent pressure on the ball against North Cobb's quick backcourt players and at times dominated defensively with his quickness and upper body strength. His defensive effort certainly fed down to his teammates.
• McEachern's Alioune Diouf (6' 6, Wing, 2009) is a first-class athlete. He has the kind of elite athleticism craved by coaches in today's college game. However, he needs to continue to develop his offensive skills and overall understanding of the game. The extent in which he improves in those areas will dictate the amount of success he has at the college level.
• McEachern overall talent level is impressive. They have athleticism, size, skilled players, and seem to play with better chemistry than last year's squad. McEachern has a very legitimate shot to challenge for the State Title.
• North Cobb does have a very solid collection of younger 2011 players in the rotation for them. While they started off with the "deer in the headlights" look to start the game, they did eventually calm down and played hard throughout the game. North Cobb Head Coach Terry Gorsuch is one of the best coaches in the state and this group should develop nicely under his tutelage.
• McEachern (6-0) will take on Marietta this Friday at home while North Cobb (4-2) will face South Cobb.