We head into another session of Metro Summer League hoops. The halfway point of pool play hits this week and there are some teams that are looking to separate themselves from the rest of the pack.
Last week there were some absences which always occurs during this part of the summer. With the Fourth of July looming for a long weekend, there may be some players out of town this week. However, we have been told that the newest Bluejay, Malik Albert, is expected to make his debut this week. Again another Bluejay to add to the growing number of newcomers this season.
Assuming everyone is here this week, here are the matchups you will want to watch.
Game of the Night
8:45 p.m. Court 3: Narmi Group @ Baird (0-2) vs. BD (2-0)
Bluejays to Watch: Malik Albert, Alex O’Neill
With a week full of what appears to be some lopsided matchups, this one sticks out mainly because of the debut of the newest Creighton Bluejay, JUCO transfer Malik Albert. After being out of the spotlight for a year to get some things taken care of on the academic side, he is in Omaha already to get things going with the Bluejays during the offseason. His scoring ability may be the thing that the Narmi Group needs to get out of the 0-2 start. The rest of the team, full of Bellevue University graduates along with UNO’s Devin Patterson and Mitchell Hahn has been pretty close the first two weeks to pull out a win, but maybe Albert will be the guy to get them over the hump to their first win.
However, on the other side, they run into a tough BD team that has created a lot of dramatics the first two weeks of play. After getting a last second win the first week against Winning Mentality, BD just absolutely destroyed Shanks Law Firm last week putting the game away within the first 10 minutes of the game. A lot of the players on this team have played together quite a bit over their careers and it is showing through. Jelani Johnson and crew will want to keep their undefeated summer going, currently one of only four teams in the league that are 2-0.
Creighton Heavy Games
7:45 p.m. Court 1: Judd Knispel Agency (1-1) vs. Capehart Sales (1-1)
Bluejays to Watch: Cole Huff, Marcus Foster, Nick Bahe, Jahenns Manigat, Matt Dorwart
If you have been to summer league the first to weeks, then you have probably watched the Judd Knispel team in action to see the newcomers Cole Huff and Marcus Foster display what they can bring to Creighton over the next few years. But you may also be watching to see if old man Bahe can make it up and down the court too. Foster started the summer with a 55 point outing and even after showing up late last week, dropped 33 points, while Huff dropped a cool 25. Whatever your reason, sit down and watch this one. They will be taking on Capehart Sales which is a preview of this year’s Midlands University team.
7:45 p.m. Court 3: Paragas Law (1-1) vs. Winning Mentality (1-1)
Bluejays to Watch: Zach Hanson, Ronnie Harrell, Antoine Young, Devin Brooks
Zach Hanson has been looking good through the first two sessions of summer league. He actually looks like he has slimmed down a bit, but that slimming has turned into muscle. Growing out his hair has made him look like a whole new player as well. Antoine Young and Ricky Kreklow joined the crew last week, and although they had a fast start, they were not able to keep up the pace in their loss to the Rooferees.
Winning Mentality bounced back last week after an opening loss in the final seconds. They have their “Winning Mentality” going now and will be a challenge for Paragas behind the play of Matt Culliver, Steffon Bradford and Bruce Chubick.
Update: Devin Brooks will play on the Paragas Law team Thursday night.
8:45 p.m. Court 2: OFWF (0-2) vs. NE HS Hoops (2-0)
Bluejays to Watch: Justin Patton, Marlon Stewart, Khyri Thomas, Drew Cayce
Here is your chance to see the youngsters in action with all four incoming freshman for Creighton looking to get used to the competition in summer league. NE HS Hoops has actually looked pretty good and have won a couple close games giving them a lot of confidence. Iowa Western’s Thik Bol was a huge factor last week in their victory over Capehart Sales.
Patton and Stewart, along with UNO’s Tre’Shawn Thurman look like they are ready to break out and get a win. Both of these teams have a lot of young players and it should be a back and forth game.
8:45 p.m. Court 4: Rooferees (1-1) vs. UNO Alumni (1-1)
Bluejays to Watch: Martin Krampelj, Tyler Clement, Austin Chatman, Justin Carter
The Rooferees have been interesting to watch. Krampelj has had several dunks, but has shied away from playing a lot in the second half of the first two sessions of games. Chatman, Carter and James Parrott look pretty formidable by themselves when their defense is going. Things seemed to click last week with their 99-78 victory.
UNO Alumni on the other hand looked like they were back to their normal selves during the first week of play and for 38 minutes of last week’s game. However, they gave up a big lead and lost the game in the end last week against Winning Mentality. Both of these teams will be fired up to get over the hump and leave with a 2-1 record.
The Rest
6:45 p.m. Court 4: ABIDE Network (0-2) vs. Totensen (1-1)
Totensen was led last week by former Husker Ryan Anderson in their victory. If he shows up this week, it could be an advantage over the ABIDE Network. If you get there early, this is the game you will be watching before the 7:45 games.
7:45 p.m. Court 2: Bank of Nebraska (2-0) vs. Crusaders (0-2)
Bluejays to Watch: Toby Hegner
Bank of Nebraska had a short outing last week after one of the rims was broken early in the second half and the game was called a final. They escaped with a victory and put themselves into a good situation this week against the Crusaders.
Creighton’s James Milliken, who stole the show for BofN the first week of the season will be out of summer league for the rest of the summer. He had surgery this past week to repair a torn meniscus. His recovery time will be 3-5 weeks and will be getting ready to participate when Creighton goes over to Italy in August. In the meantime, Bank of Nebraska continues to roll with its veteran group and could out man the Crusaders who are looking for their first win of the summer.
7:45 p.m. Court 4: Andy’s Lawncare (2-0) vs. Shanks Law Firm (0-2)
Andy’s is the defending MBL champs. Shanks Law lost by over 30 last week. You can draw your own conclusions on how this one is going to go. If you want to see some great team basketball, you definitely want to watch Andy’s Lawncare. They will drive and kick and drive and kick until they get the basket they want.
8:45 p.m. Court 1: EQ School of Hair (1-1) vs. Apex Foster Care (2-0)
Bluejays to Watch: Mo Watson, Geoffrey Groselle
Mo Watson has been great to watch this summer so far and will get fans watching a lot of excitement for the upcoming Creighton season. Fortunately, Watson’s vision has allowed him to score when needed, but also find teammates on a regular basis. They were on the short end of the Bank of Nebraska rim incident last week and they will be hungry to play again. Apex (Peru State) is sitting at 2-0 so far and they may turn out to be the surprise of summer league.
With a lot of options during the 8:45 p.m. games, this one may get lost in the shuffle, but may end up being the best game of the night.
Update: Mo Watson will not be playing tonight, but Devin Brooks will be taking his place.