The Omaha Metro Basketball League has been a great source of hoops on Thursday nights. This week the teams will finish up pool play before the tournament starts next week.
Players keep making their debuts, too. Last week Creighton’s Jahenns Manigat saw his first action of the summer. This week, incoming freshman Austin Chatman will play for the first time. Arriving at summer league this week are Omaha natives and current Colorado State Rams, Greg and Dwight Smith. Next week, Anthony Tolliver of the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves will be in town and will stop over to play some Summer League ball. You never know who might show up.
Are all the Creighton players playing Thursday night?
Most players are done with classes for the summer and should be able to attend games. Will Artino has been assigned to the Narmi Group with Josh Jones for the rest of summer league. Manigat played in his first game of the summer last week as a part of Thompson Basketball Camp. He may be assigned a different team this week if he plays. Chatman is now in Omaha and should be there to play.
Doug McDermott is back in the states, after leading Team USA U19 to a fifth place finish. But it would be surprising if he played. I’m sure he would like a little break before the training for the Bahamas trip starts. Gregory Echenique is now in Venezuela with the National Team spending July and August preparing for the September Olympic Qualifier in Argentina. We are still waiting to see if Ethan Wragge will play at all in summer league.
There are a few great matchups this week to determine some seedings for the tournament. Here is a preview of what to expect.
Game of the Night
6:00 p.m. (Court 1) Bellevue University (3-1) vs. Narmi Group (2-2)
Bluejays to watch: Austin Chatman, Will Artino, Josh Jones
Bellevue University has struggled at times this summer, but still walked away with wins the first three weeks. Last week, mistakes caught up to them and they lost on a last second shot in front of a couple of guys that will have an impact once practice starts up again this winter. They will want to make up for it this week.
Creighton fans have been waiting all summer to see Austin Chatman play. They will get their first opportunity Thursday night. Jones and Artino looked like they were having a lot of fun last week as they took it to the Chris Carder Agency. This game should be entertaining for fans of both sides watching Chatman vs. Jelani Johnson, Jones vs. James Parrott and Artino vs. Ousseynou Diop.
Games of Interest
7:00 p.m. (Court 3) Paragas Law (3-1) vs. Barley’s (3-1)
Bluejays to watch: Darryl Ashford, Wayne Runnels, Justin Carter, Kaleb Korver, Rodney Buford
Paragas Law had a dramatic win last week when Wayne Runnels drove the court with five seconds left to put in a winning layup. Darryl Ashford expressed on Twitter how upset he was with the loss the week before and led an explosion in the last 20 seconds of the game to get them in position for the winning layup. This week, they will try to create more magic against Barley’s who toyed with Shanks Law last week before securing the win. Both teams look to be tough outs in the tournament next week and one is looking for the better seed.
7:00 p.m. (Court 2) Zurlo’s Pizza (3-1) vs. Walentine, O’Toole, McQuillan & Gordon (3-1)
Bluejays to watch: Ross Ferarrini
It was mentioned last week based on some comments on the recap to watch out for Zurlo’s as they could end up winning the whole thing. They may be on to something. After the scare in the first week where they almost blew a 20 point halftime lead, Zurlo’s has been pretty consistent only losing against Barley’s a couple of weeks ago but coming back to blow out Thompson Basketball Camp by 26 last week.
WOMG has been a bit of a surprise. After a first week loss to UNO Alumni, WOMG has reeled off three straight wins averaging over 101 points in those three wins. That was after former Huskers Andrew Drevo joined them after missing week one. The speed up and down the court has been the strength of this team.
Other Games
6:00 p.m. (Court 2) Shanks Law (0-4) vs. Bellevue Alumni (1-3)
Bluejays to watch: Geoffrey Groselle, Nevin Johnson
This summer has been a great learning opportunity for the young players of Groselle, Johnson, Ben Imig of Midland and others on the Shanks Law team. They still have a tough task ahead of them to try and get their first win against a Bellevue Alumni team who lost last week on a last second shot against Paragas Law. The veteran Bellevue team will likely get the win in this one.
6:00 p.m. (Court 3) Judd Knispel Agency (0-4) vs.Thompson Basketball Camp (1-3)
Bluejays to watch: Antoine Young, Alex Olson, Nick Bahe, Livan Pyfrom
Both of these teams have struggled this summer. Thompson Basketball Camp has gone from one spectrum to another scoring 108 points two weeks ago, but only mustering up 67 points a week ago. Young and Donald Jones of Midland have done their best to keep Judd Knispel Agency in games, but the slow starts have kept them from garnering some wins. Doug McDermott was originally scheduled to join Young this summer on the Knispel Agency team, but a little thing called Team USA has kept him kind of busy.
6:00 p.m. (Court 4) EQ School of Hair (3-1) vs. Omaha Mavs (1-3)
Bluejays to watch: Grant Gibbs, Avery Dingman
A lot of eyes have been on Grant Gibbs and the EQ School of Hair team. Deverell Biggs has been another reason to watch them. He has had some spectacular games lately. On the other side, Tyler Bullock has been fun to watch this summer for the Omaha Mavs. A Biggs vs. Bullock matchup could be fun if they shore up the defense.
7:00 p.m. (Court 1) Leach Camper Sales (1-3) vs. UNO Alumni (4-0)
Bluejays to watch: Taylor Stormberg, Matt Dorwart, Brody Deren
UNO Alumni tries to continue their tear through the Metro Basketball League and stay perfect heading into next week. They have a good opportunity to do that. UNK sophomore Mike Dentlinger has been pretty solid this summer making plays for Leach Camper Sales.
7:00 p.m. (Court 4) Chris Carder Agency (0-4) vs. John Higgins Weatherguard (4-0)
John Higgins Weatherguard has played consistently all summer, but the games have been close. Other than a drubbing of the Omaha Mavs in week two, Higgins won the other three games by a total of 9 points including hitting a last second three pointer against Bellevue University last week by UNO sophomore John Karhoff. Jason Dourisseau, Ben Holling and Cody Levinson are hoping to turn things around and gain some momentum for the Chris Carder Agency heading into next week.