Some things stand out when you watch teams. You see the individual aspect of the ballers, you see which teams may be stronger, you see team’s weaknesses, you see player’s weaknesses and from all of this info you begin to form an opinion. You hear a lot about players, some more than others… so I wanted to get out and provide insight based on what I saw. It’s still very early in the season, but I did see a lot of positives, some surprises and some teams you will want to pay attention to.
Elmore Park won 2 state titles in a row, losing only 1-2 games in that time frame I believe. Now the question for this year is “Are they the same Elmore Park as last year?” Quick answer, No and that’s not a bad thing. The make-up of this team is entirely different. They lost the 2 best players in middle school to graduation, and they don’t have any returning starters from last year’s team. The expectations remain the same. Their starting 5 may be the best in the region; which says a lot because this is Memphis. Grant Griffin and Jordan Crawford are their primary ball handlers who create offense and score for them.
Crawford had a huge game scoring 24 points on Saturday, but he doesn’t necessarily have to do that for them to win. Both guards can score from distance and Crawford can get hot and run off 8-10 points of his own during any given stretch of the game. Griffin gives them another on and off ball option but mostly on ball (push/score threat). He can run offense for them, score on jumpers and be a paint toucher to collapse defenses for dump offs to his bigs or kick outs for shooters.
They have other scorers as well. Chase Kee who was injured in their first game but hopefully they can get him back very soon has the potential to grow into a special player. Against Millington, he flashed passing ability and hit an early 3, but again he was limited later in the game due to an injury. You can see the talent though. Ryan Turner is a 6’2 forward at this level who projects well into the future. He rebounds it well, gets into his offensive from the free throw line down and he does a great of being active inside. He keeps the offense alive with rebounds. Big Eli Turner provides a lift by carving out space for layups off feeds from guards.
Elmore does a great job of using their length, making it hard for teams to score over the top of a front line that’s 6’4 and 6’2 and they can bring in another 6’1 in Malik Williamson. He adds versatility as a defender being able to guard some smalls and forwards but also being able to score as a transitional finisher or inside.
Game Notes
They were in a fight with a better than people think Millington team on Friday night before pulling away in the second half. It was Elmore Park’s first game of the season, so the jitters were there early. At the half it was a 2-point game, 28-26. They did a great job of limiting Millington at the rim making them take some tougher 2s than they did in the first half and outscored Millington 15-5 in the 3rd and jumped up 10. They jumped up 17 and ended up winning it, 52-37.
Saturday, they were against Fayette West, a team a little similar in style of play to Millington. It was a close game until Malik Williamson scored 6 of their 8 points during an 11-0 run by Elmore Park as they increased their lead to 27-11. West did make a run of their own to end the half being only down 10, 33-23. Elmore Park’s duo of guards got to be too much in the 2nd half. Griffin 2, Turner 2, Crawford 2 and just like that, it was 39-23. It didn’t get any better for West but there were positives for them as well. Elmore Park was just too talented and too deep which leads me to this, Elmore Park is for real. They check all the boxes, talent, size, length, depth, multiple ball handlers, creative guard play and shooting. That will make them tough to beat. Now, will they go undefeated? I don’t know but they have as good a chance as any to do so and repeat.
