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What About the Comets Blue Team? (Part 3)
What About the Comets Blue Team? (Part 2)
What About the Comets Blue Team? (Part 1)
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Posted by Kurt Coleman at Aug 20, 2005 5:00PM PDT
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(KB - 08/21/05) In Louisiana at AAU 14U Nationals, the Blue team performed exactly according to expectations. They went 2-3 in pool play. Their best game was a six point loss to the Central Kentucky Angels, a top five team nationally.
Based on their performance against CKA, one wonders why they didn't finish 4-1 in pool play. The answer is simply inconsistency and matchups. Like most Florida teams, the Blue team threw talent at the opposition when preparedness and consistency would have worked. No one denied that the team had talented players. But their "here one day, exhausted the next" history made their pool performance predictable.
The Blue team lost their first bracket game in Louisiana and came home.
Not only that but the team was beginning to fracture at critical points. Samantha Shields, the team's leading scorer, became disaffected when she was not selected by her coach as the team MVP at YBOA states. Most observers felt she'd earned that accolade. Instead, the honor went to the coach's daughter.
Anytime a coach has a child on the team and that child is not clearly the team's leader, problems will arise. Examples and rumors of favoritism abound on Florida teams. Dynasty, DEBO, Comets Red, Comets Blue, Miracle, Xtreme, Lightning, Orlando's Finest and GGG all have coaches that have children on the team. Only the Comets Red and the Miracle successfully isolated themselves from accusations of nepotism.
In the case of the Blue team, the accusation led to the departure of their best player. Shields left the team after AAU nationals. Originally it was believed she was headed to the Red team, but she eventually ended up playing for the Florida Starzz.
The Blue team replaced her with a stud. Laquita Curry, a 6'1" forward from Titusville Astronaut, followed her friend Asia Wilson and joined the Blue team in the fall of 2004. Curry was projected as a scoring foward and as a defensive monster on the boards. Her signing was a coup for the Blue team.
The Blue team also attempted to recruit Jordan Coleman, Andea Smith and Andrell Smith of the Orlando Miracle 13U. Those three girls were already committed to playing 14U in 2005, however. The Blue team looked at several other Miracle players, including Jessica Bivins and Ayiesha Vickers, but again those players were already committed to other teams.
In the end the Blue team was forced to take Curry and stand pat. They projected a 2005 starting lineup of Curry, Wilson, Brittany Waters, Tiara Jackson and Jessica George.
Posted by Kurt Coleman at Aug 4, 2005 5:00PM PDT
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(KB - 08/05/05) The Comets broke new ground by being the first competitive team in Florida to create a competitor/sister team in their own age group. The feat had been accomplished in other states, but in Florida it seemed that everyone wanted to strike out on their own. The Blue team has struggled with identity problems since its inception. Playing in the shadow of the Red team has had certain exposure and name regonition benefits, but in the end it was all about the W. The Blue team was about to find that out this truism in their inaugural season.
In the Spring of 2004, Red team coach Garfield Blair consistently touted the Blue team as one of the top 14U teams in Florida. The Red team then stepped aside and allowed the Blue team to carve out its own niche. The Red team decided to play in the 16U division, leaving the 14U division to the Blue team, the Lady Wildcats, the Clearwater Heatwave, and the Orlando Miracle 13U. (The Miracle subsequently decided to play in the 15U division).
The Blue team opened the 2004 season with a 61-57 win over the Heatwave at the Miracle Challenge. The win raised a few eyebrows outside the Comets organization, but insiders shrugged it off as de rigeur.
The Heatwave came back and trounced the Blue team in the championship game, 54-37. Coach Blair said the Blue team only had seven players and was "exhausted".
Remember that quote.
Although the Red team played most of their tournaments in the 16U division, they had to qualify for AAU Nationals in the 14U division. The Red team played in the 14U division at the Cocoa Super Regional, AAU States, Spring Fling, and YBOA states that year. In virtually every case, the Red team was bracketed with the Heatwave. The Blue team was on the other side of the brackets. Heatwave parents were beside themselves with frustration.
Predictably, the Red team beat the Heatwave early in the brackets, usually forcing them to finish third. Then the Red team would face the Blue team in the championship, play lackadaisically and win by 30. The scores weren't as important as the finish. The Comets organization always finished 1-2 at these events.
The Blue team only played the Heatwave at 2004 YBOA states. The Blue team did beat the Heatwave at that event, but so did the Red team (twice) and so did the High Hoops Sun Rays. The Heatwave were missing several players that weekend, including Lauren Lee.
All of this is a roundabout way of saying the 2004 tournament season seemed somewhat choreographed in the Blue team's favor. The Blue team had yet to step out on their own and go toe to toe with a comparable competitor. By consistently finishing in the top 2, many of the Blue team parents believed the team was ready for the next level--AAU Nationals.
The Blue team picked up Asia Wilson for this event. Their roster underwent significant changes during the season. By the time nationals rolled around, the Blue team consisted of Asia, Lallique Roman, Brittany Waters, Jelana Childs, Candace Thompson, Samantha Shields, Tiara Jackson, Jessica George, Loren Thomas and Michelle Troche. The only remaining Red team members were Jessica and Michelle.
Shields emerged as the team's leading scorer and go to player. Wilson shored up the Blue team's guard corps. Their front line was solid if not spectacular. And the Blue team was learning the judicious use of the Red team's signature full court press.
The team went off to Louisiana with high hopes.
Posted by Kurt Coleman at Aug 3, 2005 5:00PM PDT
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(KB - 08/04/05) OK, you wanted to talk about the Comets Blue team, lets talk about the Comets Blue team.
The Comets Blue team was formed in the autumn of 2003 immediately after the merger of the Orlando Lightning and the Orlando Comets. Many people, including SG, made a habit of referring to the Comets Blue team as the "B" team. Nothing drew a rise out of Comets coach Garfield Blair more quickly. He invariably pointed out that the Blue team was conceived as a viable, competitive entity in the AAU b. 1989 division. And he wanted to ensure that any publicity the team received in Milquetoast mirrored that view.
But SG, blunt as always, is going to say how it eye-ess-wuz.
The Blue team was formed because, after the merger, the Comets had too many players on their roster. Playing time was going to be an issue. There were either going to be unpalatable cuts of long time team members - or - a new team was going to be formed. The Comets chose the latter course.
The original Blue team consisted of Jessica George, Kayla Griffin, Kristy Rivera, Callie Rivers, Candace Thompson, Lauren Thomas, Samantha Shields, Tiara Jackson, Michelle Troche, Arielle Johnson, Ciara Jones, A.C. Capehart and Larissa Wright. Griffin, George, Rivera and Thompson had been long time members of the Comets organization. Troche had been a Comet in the early years but left the team in 2002. Jessica's father Dino George was chosen as the coach of the new team.
The Blue team got off to a rocky start. By definition, their main competition in the 14U division was the five-time state champion Red team. The Red team was stacked with just about every top Class of 2007 player in Florida. By adding Krystal Thomas in the front court and Jacky Nikic on the wing, the Red team shored up just about all of their weaknesses. The Red team cruised past the Blue team by 30 points on every occasion.
So the Blue team sought out and found a reliable competitor: The Clearwater Heatwave (sans Sthefany Thomas). The Heatwave had been hounding the Comets for years and had not a single win to show for it. The Blue team decided to take on the Heatwave as a local competitor using this as a stepping stone to build a team that might be competitive with the Red team.
This is where the story gets a little murky. While ostensibly a sister team of the Red team, the Blue team mapped out a path by which they might gain parity with the Red team. To this end they recruited their own players and set their own game strategy.
However, Red team players that did not get "enough playing time" regularly ended up with the Blue team. Brittany Waters came directly to the Blue team from the Red team. Asia Wilson came by way of DEBO.
And when the Blue team was able to make a recruiting coup, the Red team was sure to be right there with their hands out (see Laquita Curry and Jalena Childs).
So, on the one hand the teams were sisterly rivals. On the other hand, the Blue team was more of a developmental team for the Red team.
This didn't sit well with Coach George. No Blue team players have made the jump to the Red team yet. If Coach George has his say, none will period. He doesn't believe in developing players for competitors.
And yet the teams regularly practice together. Coach Blair sits on the Blue team bench from time to time and shares coaching tips and tricks. The teams travel together and map out tournament strategy together.
This systemic dichotomy defines the Blue team. They want to be a viable competition team in their age group AND they want to be a loyal organizational team. (They want to have their cake and eat it, too)
They are walking on well travelled ground. The Georgia Pistols have a number of teams in the same age bracket, all of them delineated by different colors--much like the Comets Red and the Comets Blue. Indiana's Finest has the same thing. Both these non-Florida organizations make it clear that the teams are divided by talent. Players move between teams by excelling at one level and then moving up. They have 'A' teams, 'B' teams, etc. Fencor even calls their teams Fencor 'A's, 'B's, and 'C's. The parents sign an agreement early in the season that specifies that a player can be called up or send down at any time during the season--at the coach's sole discretion.
The Comets Blue has no such agreement. And they further complicate the situation by focusing on getting their players seen by the largest number of scouts.
The Blue team has set a huge table for themselves.
