Orlando Comets

(KB - 04/06/06)   In Erin Knight's freshman season her high school team went
30-2 and won the FHSAA Class 2A state championship.     A sixth man on that
team,  Erin's sophomore season should bring a starting job on a team
that returns four D1 starters and is favored to win the state
championship for a second time.

Prior to that, Erin was a pivotal player on an AAU team that
won four consecutive AAU state championships.

Quite simply, Erin is a winner.

You can see it in her steely grey eyes and unflappable
demeanor.     Never demonstrative in victory or defeat, Erin
walks on the court with the cool assurance of a "Been there,
done that" player.

When the offense is clicking, Erin is swishing shots from
beyond the arc--daggers--two, three, five in a row.   Shooting
off one foot, squared up, open, defended--it doesn't matter.
When Erin is hot, facials ensue.     She has left more than one
coach grumbling "Where did that little blonde chick come from!"

No longer little (but still a blonde chick), Erin has grown to be
a respectable 5'7" and may have an inch or two more to grow.
She maintains the court savvy that small guards have to learn in
order to beat trapping defenses.   But now she can see over them.

Erin is capable of playing point guard but strongly prefers to
play shooting guard.   It fits her personality and style better.
As we said before, her modus operandi is her jumpshot, but
Erin can finish with either hand in transition.    Erin gets her
points in bursts. She is truly a microwave.

With the Comets Fusion 15U, Erin is re-united with her long-
time AAU coaches Kim Bivins and Faye Robinson.    Erin will
be an integral part of the team's quest for a fifth Florida
state championship.

We wouldn't expect anything less.

(KB - 04/05/06)   The Comets are splitting up this weekend.    Three Comets teams will compete at the AAU super regional at the Champions Sportsplex.    The Comets Red team will attend the Nike Roundball Classic in Gainesville.

What'd you think I was talking about?

The Nike Roundball Classic is yet another gathering of the top Nike teams in the Southeast.     The Tallahassee Essence will be there.    Also, Brittany Carter and the Georgia Nikes are scheduled to attend.   The Red team, recently ranked as the #1 Nike team in the nation, are fulfilling a Nike obligation by attending.

The Roundball Classic is not a tournament.   According to tournament director Kim Davis, it is a series of workouts with professional trainers followed by scrimmages between the attendees.   The purpose of the event is to show the girls what skills are expected at the next level.     The girls will be given a chance to practice and hone their skills against teams of similar calibre.

The absence of the Red team and the Essence from the Champions super regional gives the other 16U Florida teams a solid chance of qualifying for 2006 AAU 16U Nationals.    AAU regularly schedules super regionals for
just such a purpose.

The Comets Blue team and the Miami Premier Jags will attend and should
be considered the favorites.    This super regional also has the SF Lady Jags, the Clearwater Greenwave, South Florida Riptide, Team Florida, Suncoast Wolfpack, Tampa Bay Inferno and Bay Area Ballers scheduled to attend.    (Holiday Hoops are scheduled to attend but may not play because of an ugly incident at a USSSA tourney in Port St. Lucie last weekend)

This tournament also has a new team:   the Comets Black.

The Black team would be a third 16U Comets team.   Coached by Nik Nikic, the Black team showed up in Tallahassee two weeks ago as the RDV All-Stars.     The Black team consists of Jacky Nikic, Brianna Smith, Chelsea Pennick, Brittany Carranante, Lauren Lee, Ebony Walker, Trinity Robinson, Chandler McCabe, Christina Silva, Kristi Hopper, Amanda Allen, Simone Lowman and Joanna Bussa.    Essentially, the Black team is the convergence of Bishop Moore's high school team with the Clearwater Heatwave and some of the younger GGG 16U players.

The Black team had been under consideration as a Comets team for some time.    After much discussion, the Black team was recently added to the Comets organization.     This will be Jacky Nikic's third go round in a Comets uniform.

The Comets 15U and 14U teams will also be competing at this super regional.   The 15U Fusion will square off against  the Bay Area Ballers and the Tampa Extreme in Pool B.    Also in the 15U division will be Chelsea Regins and the Lady Roadrunners, the Jacksonville Lady Sparks,  and the Premier Jaguars 15U.

The Comets 14U Red will square off against the Jacksonville Lady Sparks and the South Florida Lady Jaguars in Pool C.

The schedule for the Champions super regional is HERE.

She can't go left, Asia thinks.

She puts her hands on her knees and feigns
exhaustion.     The ballhandler picks up
on this obvious non-verbal clue and
drives to the basket.    Asia cuts her
off at the key and rips her cleanly.

Sucker.    I can't believe she
fell for that, she thinks, as
she completes the break-
away layup.   What is that?
Twelve, now?     I'm gonna
try for twenty, she thinks.

After the game her dad asks her,
"How many points did you get?"

"I dunno.   I don't keep track."

Asia is as cool as the other side of the
pillow.

The Blue team is Asia's team and she knows it.    The
Lightning were Jacky's team.    The Red team is Brooke's
team.    

But the Blue team belongs to Asia.   When they need a bucket or
a clutch steal, they look to Asia.     And she does not disappoint.
She thrives under the pressure.

After the departure of last year's leading scorer, Laquita Curry, Asia has
stepped comfortably into that role.    She moves seamlessly between the point
guard and shooting guard positions.    Her versatility allows the Blue team to present
strategic matchup problems to opponents.

Asia takes particular pride in her defensive prowess.    She doesn't overpower offensive players.    She lures them into making heedless mistakes.    She has an uncanny ability to ferret out weakness and exploit it.      If you see Asia sitting back on her heels with her hands on her knees, it's an act.    It's the Asia Wilson rope-a-dope.    Don't fall for it.

In her high school career, Asia has been a varsity starter since her freshman year and has led her team to the Final Four twice, winning it all in 2006.     She is a two-time, All-Seminole County player.

Asia also led the Comets Blue team to the 2005 AAU D2 National championship.    There's certainly nothing rope-a-dope about that!!

(KB - 03/28/06)
Everybody, and we
do mean EVERYBODY,
loves Brooke Thomas.

In six years of following AAU girls
basketball, we have heard it all.
Every complaint, every snide
criticism, every backhanded compliment.

In six years we have never heard anyone utter
a single complaint or criticism against Brooke.
She is the church-going-est, "Come here and give me a hug"-iest,  never-say-die-iest, sweetest, most unassuming player on the AAU circuit.    When she walks into the gym she has to go up and hug 50 strangers before she even picks up a ball.  She is everyman's daughter and/or little sister.

Everybody loves her, even the Comets' most hardened enemies.

Brooke is an assassin.

Beneath that sweet, Mother Theresa exterior
lies the heart of a cold-blooded killer.
Watch her play one time and you'll
see.   When the ball is tipped off,
Brooke strips off her papal
robes and out comes the filleting
knife. She dissects defenses
like a skilled surgeon.
Her court awareness is
unparalleled.   Six years
of running point guard
for the top AAU team
in Florida will do that
for you.

And after the surgery,
her bedside manner
is warm
and caring.
She sliced
you up,
but you still
love her.   

"Come here and give me a hug!!"