Bringing Structure to AAU Basketball

by Jerry Ulmer, The Oregonian June 12, 2008

Team Jones isn't a typical AAU boys basketball team.

Many teams rely primarily on talent by freelancing on the court. But Portland-based Team Jones subscribes to a more disciplined approach, running offensive sets and clamping down on defense.

"It gives college coaches and scouts a different perspective on AAU basketball, because a lot of guys just roll the ball out," said Team Freddy Jones coach Pat Strickland, an assistant at Jefferson High School.

First-year Eastern Arizona coach Maurice Lietzke concurred. He said AAU teams that run offensive sets make evaluating players easier.

"You get a better feel for what kids can do and an idea of what their roles and capabilities are," Lietzke said, though not singling out Team Jones. "You can evaluate their skill set."

Added Strickland: "We like to add structure to it. You can show all your skills and athleticism, but we think it's more feasible for the coaches to see you doing that in a structured environment to show that you're coachable."

The team's philosophy will be on display Friday through Sunday in the eight-team, Super 17s bracket of the Rose City Showcase at Grant High School.

"As a player, Pat Strickland was a fundamental juggernaut, and that's what he really exemplifies as a coach," tournament organizer Canaan Chatman said. "He has athletic teams. But he makes athletic teams cohesive. There's not very many teams on the circuit taking charges."

E.J. Singler, a 6-foot-7 junior forward from South Medford who has become a leader for Team Jones, said the system keeps the team on track.

"We run and gun sometimes, but if we miss a couple of shots in a row, we get it together," Singler said. "We can always get a score if we set up one of our good plays. All the coaches like to say that we're the only team they like to watch because we run stuff."

The sixth annual tournament -- which has attracted such players as Dwight Howard, O.J. Mayo and Michael Beasley -- is loaded with talent again. And Team Jones, missing some of its key players, will try to create some chemistry on the fly.

The team, which finished first and second in two Texas tournaments in April, will be without Jefferson sophomore wings Terrence Jones and Terrence Ross. The Terrences, who led Jefferson to the Class 5A state title in March, were among 120 players invited to the Nike Hoop Jamboree in St. Louis this weekend.

Team Freddy Jones also lost Wilson senior guard Mario Gill and Jefferson senior point guard Kalonji Paschal. They became ineligible for AAU tournaments when they recently signed with Eastern Arizona, a junior college.

To help patch the holes, the team has added what Strickland called "two sleepers" in Patrick Simon, a 6-7 sophomore from Ephreta, Wash., who has committed to Washington State, and Godwin Okonji, a 6-9 sophomore from Henderson, Nev.

"We're going to teach them the basic stuff," Strickland said. "When they're out of the game, we can go to our full repertoire."

Much will hinge on the play of Singler, the younger brother of Duke's Kyle Singler. He has received scholarship offers from Saint Louis and Pepperdine -- "I don't see myself going to either one of those," he said -- and he anticipates getting an offer soon from Washington State.

"E.J. is our backbone," Strickland said. "So I give us a good shot still. He doesn't specialize in anything, but he just does everything really well. He doesn't take a play off. He guards the best player on every team, whether it's a 1 or a 5."

Strickland said Singler has come out from the shadow of his brother and South Medford senior guard Michael Harthun, who is headed to Washington State.

"He really is a smaller clone of his brother," Strickland said. "His brother is more versatile just because he can handle the ball and he's a little bigger. But I love E.J.'s approach to the game."

Living in Southern Oregon, however, Singler has made it to only one practice this year. He learned much of what he knows about the team's offense last year.

"In order for us to run our system, we like to get kids who are right in our backyard, so you can have time in the gym," Strickland said. "That's kind of unprecedented for AAU summer and spring basketball."