Illinois Class 4A Sectional Semi Final Capsules and Predictions

These are my Sectional Semi Final Breakdown and Predictions: BOLINGBROOK: Oswego vs West Aurora(Aurora)- This one I give the advantage to Oswego who is the top seed; their backcourt of Miles Simelton who is a Division 1 prospect, and Elliott McGaughy will control the game and send Blackhawks home. Benet Academy(Lisle) vs Neuqua Valley(Naperville)- Benet big man Sean O'Mara and Pat McInereney will be the difference and take out Neuqua Valley who's weak schedule will finally catch up with them. DEKALB: Larkin(Elgin) vs Jefferson(Rockford)- Larkin is ranked in Top 25 in Chicago area and for good reason, Larkin takes this one. Boylan Catholic(Rockford) vs Central(Crystal Lake)- I am taking Boylan in this one, and it should be a close one. THORNTON(HARVEY): Marian Catholic(Chicago Heights) vs West(Joliet)-I went to see Tyler Ulis on Friday and he has to be the most exciting guard I have seen since Mr Basketball Ryan Boatright at East Aurora who's now at Connecticut, his running mate Terrone Parham will help on the glass. They should take out Joliet West and high flying Morris Dunnigan. Bloom(Chicago Heights) vs Stagg(Palos Hills)- Stagg is a Cinderella but the glass slipper will not fit in this game, I am taking Bloom who is trying to get back to the Final Four for outgoing coach Jasper Williams. Battle of Chicago Heights 2 will happen on Friday Night. GLENBROOK NORTH(NORTHBROOK)- Maine South(Park Ridge) vs Niles North(Skokie)- They played a 2OT Game for the Central Suburban Championship two weeks ago. This one will be close also, I think Maine South will hammer Niles North and 5'7" Malachi Nix once again on the boards and prevail. Notre Dame(Niles) vs New Trier(Winnetka)- Notre Dame to me has been the best team in this Sectional all year, but I have a feeling that New Trier will pull the upset here, Steve Cook will outplay Matt Mooney. Sorry Ninos.  PEKIN: O'Fallon vs Edwardsville- O'Fallon pulled the upset of Belleville East in Regional, but I am taking Edwardsville in this one. Community West(Normal) vs Rock Island- I am taking Normal Community West in this one. SCHAUMBURG: Proviso East(Maywood) vs Glenbard East(Lombard)-Sterling Brown, Paris Lee and Proviso East is looking for return trip back to Final Four and they will steamroll through a good Glenbard East team. York(Elmhurst) vs River Forest(Oak Park)- Individual matchup of David Cohn and Erick Locke is intriguing but i am picking the upset here, Oak Park is too long and athletic for York. SUMMIT(ARGO)- Simeon(Chicago) vs DuSable(Chicago)- We get to the best Sectional in the state but one team DuSable has pulled off two gigantic upsets to get here over Catholic League teams Brother Rice and St Rita at the buzzer. They will not pull off a third gigantic upset as Simeon three time defending 4A State Champs will win in a blowout as Jabari Parker, Kendrick Nunn and company are focused on making history. Whitney Young(Chicago) vs Curie(Chicago)- This will be one of the best big man match ups in the history of Illinois High School Basketball as Young's Jahlil Okafor Area Player of The Year and #1 player in Class of 2014 nationally against Cliff Alexander of Curie #4 ranked player in Class of 2014 nationally. To me forward LJ Peak is a matchup nightmare and will give Whitney Young the edge here. Young moves on to the gigantic matchup #2 with Simeon. WAUKEGAN: Stevenson(Lincolnshire) vs Mundelein: This should be a high scoring game Stevenson led by Jalen Brunson an exciting top notch player(would love to see him go against Tyler Ulis) and Mundelein and Sean O'Brien. This game I think will be decided by the other sophomore Conner Cashaw and Stevenson will prevail by double digits as Robert Knar still not quite healthy coming off knee injury for Mundelein. Zion Benton(Zion) vs St Viator(Arlington Heights)- Milik Yarbrough the best player in Lake County vs Ore Arogundade both are great junior forwards and the matchup should be exciting to watch, I will pick Zion Benton in a close one here. THERE YOU HAVE IT, SHOULD BE AN EXCITING NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS, I WILL COME BACK AND MAKE MY SECTIONAL FINALS PREDICTIONS LATER IN THE WEEK!!!!!! GOD BLESS AND PEACE TO THE CREATURES!!!!!!!!!

Breakdown Chicago Public League Title Game!!!!!!

Here we are the CPS Title Game: This is an unexpected matchup between Whitney Young and Morgan Park. Young is a serious contender for 4A Title while Morgan Park is a serious contender for 3A Title. Should be a great game here's the breakdown: WHITNEY YOUNG(22-3) VS MORGAN PARK(26-2)- Whitney Young has had a dominant run in the CPS Playoffs beating everyone by at least 17 points. They are playing great basketball at the right time of the year. Jahlil Okafor(6'10" center) has been dominant in the paint, Paul White(6'8" forward) has done a great Scottie Pippen imitation and LJ Peak(6'5"forward) has been his slashing self. All are juniors but Whitney Young's backcourt will be key.                       Morgan Park is still high over their upset of Simeon in the semifinals, DePaul signee Billy Garrett Jr(6'4" guard) has played very well, his backcourt mates Dayton signee Kyle Davis(6'0" guard) and Markee Williams(5'9" guard) make up the best backcourt in the state but a small and quick front court will be key. My prediction: While Morgan Park's backcourt is better, Young will dominate on the front line and get Morgan Park into foul trouble. Also Young has been dominant the whole tournament, and even though Morgan Park has had the toughest road to the Finals, I have Whitney Young winning the city title by 8 points. THERE YOU HAVE IT, SHOULD BE A GREAT ATMOSPHERE TONIGHT!!!!!!!! GOD BLESS AND PEACE TO THE CREATURES!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Breakdown Chicago Public League SemiFinals!!!!!!!

This is the best high school post season tournament in the United States, better than the IHSA State Tournament. The semifinals will have two contenders for the 3A Title(Morgan Park,Orr) and 4A Title(Simeon,Whitney Young). This should be a great night at Chicago State on Wednesday night: 5pm  ORR (23-2) VS WHITNEY YOUNG (21-3)---- I was at the game almost 2 weeks ago when Orr won the Red West Title at Young 50-47 on a 3 point buzzer beater by Jamie McDowell. Both teams were missing players who will be playing in this game Marlon Jones(Orr) and Paul White(Whitney Young). Orr is a controversial #1 seed in the tournament. I think the ankle injury to Orr's Tyquan Greer will decide this matchup. Look for Jahlil Okafor to dominate this time: WHITNEY YOUNG BY SIX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!                                                                                               SIMEON (22-2) VS MORGAN PARK(25-2)------ This will be a highly charged matchup because of the post game shoving match the last time they played a couple of weeks ago, which was a Simeon three point victory , then a 17 year old student at Morgan Park was killed outside Chicago State after the game. Also Kyle Davis(Morgan Park) has been talking trash about Jabari Parker(Simeon) in the papers. I think this will not bother Simeon one bit. They have a more disciplined team which will make the difference. I expect Parker to dominate Morgan Park on the interior along with Russell Woods(Simeon). Benches are about even and Morgan Park has the edge in the backcourt. As I said Simeon's discipline and the fact they have won these big games in the city and state over the last two years gives them the edge. Morgan Park will be too jacked up to play with discipline in this game: SIMEON BY EIGHT!!!!!!!!! Well there you have it: I will make my predictions and breakdown of the Final which will be played on Friday. GOD BLESS AND PEACE TO THE CREATURES!!!!!!!!

The movie Django Unchained My Thoughts!!!!

Hello everyone I have just seen the movie "Django Unchained" and I am giving my opinion on it. I will say I enjoyed the movie but I looked at it as just that "a movie". I am more into documentaries since to me there's more fact in them than movies. I see what Tarentino was trying to do, make slavery in the 1800's as real as he could by incessant use of the word"Nigger" in the movie. That's what white people have used among with many other words to degrade us for centuries. Samuel L Jackson's character was real of the "House Nigger" back in those days. I read a piece from the Huffington Post that a former classmate of mine provided. I agree with the article wholeheartedly, the point is the part about white Hollywood trying to tell us what our history is. It's always been that way, whites want to dictate things to us African Americans on their terms only. Hence this is why racism and prejudice will never go away in this country. It was a well written article, but African Americans have to realize we have been brainwashed for centuries by the white man. We have adopted his ways and are a lost tribe, that part of the Nation of Islam I agree with, but I strongly disagree with the other parts of their Cult. The revenge part of this movie I was actually sitting there happy Django was killing those white guys for money. Yes, African Americans do want to kill and have revenge to Caucasians for what their ancestors have done to us. And any White person that says they were not involved with slavery, of course not but you have profited from it. The economic part of slavery the majority of white folks have profited from it over generation after generation, after generation. As African Americans the only revenge we can get on white folks is by educationally(the falls history taught in schools), economically, and educating ourselves as much as possible on OUR HISTORY!!!!!!! I am not saying hate all white folks because that would not be right, but we need to be aware of OUR HISTORY and stop fighting each other. So for me this movie brought out a lot of emotions in me and had some humorous parts believe it or not. To conclude I am glad I went to see it, also Spike Lee may have inadvertently encouraged other folks to go see it. I will take comments for or against what I have typed. This is my rant for today, God Bless everyone and Peace to The Creatures.

Re:Whitney Young Challenging Simeon For State 4A Supremacy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy New Year everyone I start this year by saying Whitney Young(Chicago) is looking like a serious challenger to Simeon(Chicago) for the State 4A Title and Chicago Public League Title. So far this season Whitney Young has played very well and looks like a well oiled machine winning the prestigious Beach Ball Classic in South Carolina. The only loss they have suffered is to #1 ranked Montverde Academy(FL) in Overtime. Simeon meanwhile has sputtered through the season with Jabari Parker trying to play his way into shape. They have lost to DeSoto(TX) and was blown out by Montverde Academy(FL) on Saturday. The matchup on January 26th at Chicago State University which will be the matchup of the year and it is to be broadcast on ESPNU. I will say Jabari Parker looks like he's back to his old self now, but Kendrick Nunn is injured now with a bad hip and ankle. This is a preview of the matchup on the 26th of January: GUARDS-Jaylon Tate and Kendrick Nunn(Simeon) vs Austere Madison and Miles Reynolds of Whitney Young: this is where Simeon could get some traction especially if Nunn is healthy this should be advantage Simeon, Tate is a point guard who's headed to Illinois as is his backcourt mate Nunn who hopefully will have his explosiveness back by the time of the big game. Madison does what he is supposed to do, get the ball to the big boys in the paint for Young, Reynolds is a combo guard that is a very good 3 point shooter, Madison's free throw shooting leaves a lot to be desired: ADVANTAGE-SIMEON. FRONTLINE-Kendall Pollard,Jabari Parker,and Russell Woods(Simeon) vs LJ Peak,Paul White,Jahlil Okafor(Whitney Young): Pollard,Parker,and Woods are one of the best front lines in the country with the #1 or #2 player in the country in Parker, but Whitney Young's is actually better with 3 of the Top 50 juniors in the country in Okafor(#1 player in Class of 2014 nationally) who is the best low post player in the country,White, and LJ Peak with his slashing ability. White I thought would have a tough matchup with Parker but he has been playing great defense this season: ADVANTAGE-WHITNEY YOUNG. BENCH- DJ Williams,Edward Morrow,Ricky Norris,Quan Davis(Simeon) vs Joseph Toye,Rodney Herneton Jr(Whitney Young): This is Simeon by a mile, I am being kind in putting Herenton as a top player off the bench this is where Simeon could really put the game in their corner, Simeon has depth at every position but hasn't gotten it together yet: ADVANTAGE-SIMEON. COACHING-Leonard Thomas(Simeon) vs Tyrone Slaughter(Whitney Young): This  is not the no  brainer that it was before Smtih's suspension and this could make a difference in the game   ADVANTAGE-WASH  Simeon wins 2 of the categories, but Whitney Young probably has the best starting 5 in the country and Simeon had the overwhelming advantage on the bench before the IHSA rendered 3 of their players ineligible for the season and Quan Davis may not be able to play with a bad cut on his lip.  I am hesitant in picking a winner but in conclusion my gut feeling is.................................SIMEON STILL WINS THIS GAME BUT BY A BUCKET, (but I could be wrong lol). This is my rant for today, God Bless everyone and Peace To The Creatures. PS A lot has happened since I wrote this, so there are a lot of changes from my original post hence the RE: . Simeon Coach Robert Smith was suspended 4 games for an incident after the game vs Morgan Park(Chicago),also Donte Ingram,Sean Moore Jr, and Jaycee Hillsman are ineligible for the rest of the season by the IHSA.

Timothy's Rants: Illinois State Title Favorites In Class 2A,3A,and...

Timothy's Rants: Illinois State Title Favorites In Class 2A,3A,and...: These are the favorites in each class, I will admit I do not know much about Class A but will try anyway. CLASS AA -  NORMAL UNIVERSITY HIGH...

Illinois State Title Favorites In Class 2A,3A,and 4A

These are the favorites in each class, I will admit I do not know much about Class A but will try anyway. CLASS AA- NORMAL UNIVERSITY HIGH- This team finished 2nd in Class 2A last year, they are led by Ohio State recruit Keita Bates-Diop 6'7" junior guard-forward  also Brad Dulee 5'10" senior the only senior in rotation. They are also supported by brothers Malik Wildermuth and Kane Wildermuth 6'5" and 6'6" juniors who crash the boards. This is a very disciplined team who run their sets to perfection. SETON ACADEMY(SOUTH HOLLAND)- This is a deep Seton team that finished 4th in Class AA. Senior guards Mark Weems and Kamal Sashi lead an experienced back court.The big addition is 6'8" forward Minnesota signee Alex Foster a transfer from DeLaSalle, this team plays 12 players regularly in their uptempo style. CLASS 3A- MORGAN PARK(CHICAGO)- This is a very talented team that should have a good chance to get to the state finals. Leader is DePaul signee Billy Garrett Jr 6'4" guard, also Dayton signee Kyle Davis 6'0" guard very athletic transfer from Hyde Park(Chicago). Markee Williams 5'10" point guard transferred back from Crane(Chicago), also 6'6" junior wing Josh Cunningham. Inside will be handled by Xzavier Taylor 6'9" senior center who rebounds and block shots. Two freshman will help Charlie Moore 5'9" guard and Alonzo Chatman 6'6" forward-center. NORTH CHICAGO-This team finished 2nd in Class 3A last year and is looking for their 3rd straight trip to Peoria. They are led by Javarious Amos-Mays 6'4" junior guard, along with JayQuan McCloud 6'2" junior guard and Kurt Carr 6'4" junior forward and Javon Coleman 6'3" senior center. This team is helped by 5'10" senior transfer guard Emmanuel January from Waukegan. This team as usual will play a fast paced up temp game to counter act lack of size. CLASS 4A- SIMEON(CHICAGO)- This team will be going for 4th straight state title, they have at least 12 division 1 prospects. Team leader is Jabari Parker 6'9" senior guard/forward/center who's ranked #1 or #2 in the country, also Illinois signee Kendrick Nunn 6'2" guard who is an excellent 3 point shooter and can jump out of the gym. His backcourt mate is an Illinois signee Jaylen Tate 6'2" point guard who runs the show, Dayton signee Kendall Pollard 6'5" forward and defensive stopper, other starter is 6'8" forward Russell Woods. Deep bench led by DJ Williams 6'7" sophomore guard/forward. WHITNEY YOUNG(CHICAGO)-This is a talented team led by #1 junior Jahlil Okafor 6'11" center who's a load inside, also Paul White 6'9" junior guard/forward and LJ Peak 6'5" junior forward who transferred from Gaffney,SC. Other 2 starters are 6'4" junior guard Miles Reynolds and California transfer Ausar Madison 5'10 senior. Bench consist of Joseph Toye 6'5" sophmore and Rodney Herrenton Jr 6'1" freshman point guard. Problem is not a deep bench and free throw shooting to be able to compete with Simeon.