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The Ballgame! Jambo Preview w/Koehler, Gaskin, Gabriele & McBain · NorthJerseySports.com

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  New season, new sponsor as Vertical Rays is pleased to
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  At verticalrays.com or e-mail local Rep and friend of the show
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  Scott Pepetti at spepetti@verticalrays.com.
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  It's Vertical Rays on North Jersey sports.com.
• 0:44
  Media series. Talking all things.
• 0:45
  Hoops across North Jersey and what a perfect time for a snow
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  day I am Corey Dovac being joined by the man who got.
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  Safely off the bus. And into his home before the
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  snow started flying. He is Felician University
• 1:03
  assistant coach Brad Forestieri. What's going on, Brad?
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  What is going on, Corey? Yes, successful ride home, beat
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  the snow, woke up to about we're about now 6-7 inches deep.
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  But yeah, nothing else to do but to sit here, dissect the the now
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  69th Oscar F Thompson bracket since the seas had been
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  released. Do a little compare and contrast
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  on on our predictions compared to how it was seated.
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  But yeah, real excited. Yes, it's great.
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  We now, if you're tuned in, if you've been following along, we
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  did a show yesterday quickly or as quickly as Brad and I are
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  capable of doing it. We did our own brackets and now
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  we can compare them to what actually came out.
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  One of the longest meetings as I understand that the Jamboree
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  committee has ever had probably around 4 hours of trying to
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  parse stuff out. And we said it yesterday that it
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  was going to be tough because there's a lot of parity, you
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  know, and a lot of splitting hairs between, you know, which
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  is more important, a good win, a bad loss, all those things.
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  And it, it led to some different, you know, from my
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  perspective, your perspective and that, you know what they
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  say, there's the true your, your truth, every story.
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  Yep, yes. So, you know, we have your
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  truth, my truth and the Jamboree committee's truth to go over
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  today. We're also because it's a snow
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  day and it's perfectly timed because I said to Brad that any
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  coach who turns down an opportunity to come on the show
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  tonight either just doesn't want to be on the show or doesn't
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  like either one of us because there's no what excuse could
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  they say, you know? You're how do they how would
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  they not like us course. If you want the answer to that,
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  I'll go outside where my wife is shovelling and I'll get you a
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  definitive, but other than that, I can't see how.
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  So 4:00 we we extended 4 invitations.
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  We got four in the affirmative. So the guests on today's show
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  are going to be 10 applies. Jeff Kohler, his team is the
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  number two seed. We're going to have Rich Hill
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  Parks, Chris Gaskin on as well. His team is the #20 and which
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  we'll get into a little bit because it's not where I had
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  them. We're going to have Demarest Pat
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  Gabriel, I know an old friend of yours.
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  And there's going to be so much Elmwood Park talk going on here
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  that you know, for make the tournament.
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  We're going to digress. I know that.
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  But I'm looking forward to it. And Waldwick head coach Greg
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  McBain will be the NJIC representative on the show
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  today. So I'm looking forward to all of
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  that, Brad. But first, let's start with your
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  truth and my truth. And all things considered, I
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  think we were pretty close. My field of 24, I got 22 right.
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  22 out of the 24 that I thought should be in were in.
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  I had Midland Park in at #21 and I had Indian Hills in at #22.
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  Neither of them made it. The two that got in instead #24
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  Fairlawn and #18 Lyndhurst. And let's start there a little
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  bit, because I had Lyndhurst out totally.
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  I don't remember what you said about Lyndhurst, I mean.
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  You I had, so I had. Lyndhurst on the bubble there
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  were nine and seven. They had some some decent wins
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  and not so not so many bad losses.
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  You know they they had two losses to Saint Mary's.
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  Obviously it was the the three seed here and a couple of good
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  losses out of out of county Dickinson who's who's playing
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  pretty solid in Hudson County. But I just think, you know, Lynn
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  Hurst is tough. They're competitive.
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  They have a little 3 headed monster as well, led by senior
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  Johnny Tsunami and and two sophomores and Avery Caddo and
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  Te'o Mosca. So I, I don't, I don't disagree
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  with it. I think it's a little bit higher
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  than what I would have. I would have slayed them in.
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  But yeah, I I can understand the committee's representation.
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  Like I said, I think they were kind of right there.
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  I know you had them probably as a higher seat in the BIC, but
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  you know, I can, I can. You can flip the corner either
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  way. Yeah.
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  And I don't, you know, again, I don't have a problem with it
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  because when you get down to the 20, you know, 20 and below those
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  final four spots, like, yeah, there's a reason why you're
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  debating down there. So it's fine.
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  I I'm not going to say the only thing I'm surprised by is
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  they're an 18. They weren't one of the last
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  teams into the field, but. Yeah.
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  The fact that Lynhurst is in, I like it.
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  I mean, I think a little bit more weight was maybe paid to
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  the NJIC in this tournament. You know, with you, we're
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  obviously right. I had Saint Mary has the number
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  5 seed. You had them as the two you did,
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  right. And I'm at the two and they are
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  the three. So you were closer than I was.
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  And so, you know, I, I think it, it started there with the
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  respect for the NJIC and it carried on a little bit.
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  So I'm fine with that. And the other one is Fairlawn.
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  You know, Fairlawn played, I was at a girls basketball game on
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  Saturday morning and the ref had just, I, I forget his name.
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  It's a guy that I talk to every time I see him for the last 20
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  years. And I just, you know, I, I, I
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  can't keep the names straight. So great thing about my job is I
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  can call everybody ref or coach. So he was saying that he had the
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  game between Fairlawn and Ridgewood.
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  Ridgewood is the got a lot of respect here as the number 5
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  seed and Fairlawn played them to A2 point game.
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  So, you know, something like that might be the data point
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  that pushed Fairlawn into the tournament and a team like
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  Midland Park out of the tournament.
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  Yeah, I, I, you know, I'm, I'm actually, I mean, I'm not a
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  completely shocked at Middle Park not getting in because, you
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  know, there's not too much firepower outside of JC Graham.
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  And, and he hasn't had some of the games that he's had in the
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  past that kind of puts them on the map.
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  But overall, I still think they're, you know, it's a solid,
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  solid program. And yeah, I mean, I, I, I don't.
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  I think I had, I think I had about 3, three teams.
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  Off the. Board that I had in.
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  And a couple of seeds that. Were that were.
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  You know, a little toffy turvy, but.
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  Yeah. Like.
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  You had been in the park. Is the number 14.
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  See. I had 14, yeah, I was 14.
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  And I and I, like I said, I mean, I, I thought that, that it
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  sounds like I said, I mean, yeah.
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  And you had North Arlington in, I think those are the only two
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  that I did have. North Arlington Inn and and like
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  I said, I mean at 14, I mean at 14 and one, why not give them a
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  shot at 24? Yeah, I agree.
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  And you know, you had Emerson safely in at the 13 and I had
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  them down at 24. So then they wound up as the 23.
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  So there's some more NJIC. Yeah.
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  Well, let's let's get into some of the surprising things, not
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  based on our brackets, but just as the bracket as a whole.
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  Like, you know, Northern Highlands as the number 8 kind
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  of surprised me a little bit. I had them as the solid #4 like
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  in my mind, I had Bergen, Tenafly, Teaneck Highlands as my
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  top four and in my mind I was pretty set.
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  I was wrong. I'm very, you know, if you had
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  told me that Highlands was the five, the three, the six, blah,
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  blah, blah. Little bit surprised that they
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  dropped all the way down to the number 8.
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  I understand that they've lost three of their last four games,
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  but the last one was against Arts And you know, for Highlands
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  to go on the road against arts on the day of the cut off for
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  the Bergen County Jamboree tells me a lot about their program.
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  And, you know, they're they're playing to get better, not
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  worried about where they were going to be seated.
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  So I don't know. I'm I'm a little surprised that
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  they were as low as #8. Yeah, I mean, I, I think I had,
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  I said I had them at 5. We kind of had a little flip
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  there. Yeah, kind of kind of surprised
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  me a little bit for them to be that low.
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  So I I don't, I don't think they've had any bad losses, you
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  know, so to speak, like I said, maybe New York Collegiate, but
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  you know, still you're going yeah, you're going into
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  unfamiliar territory. You're playing quality, you
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  know, inner City Schools, right? Yeah, You know, yeah, arts is
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  arts is a big loss. But but aside from that, I mean,
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  you know, a six point loss to the two seed, you know,
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  Hackensack, they lost 2 by single digits whose 2 slots
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  ahead of them. You know, an 8 point loss to
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  Vasco, you know, isn't a bad loss, right, because Vasco is
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  also now ahead of them. Yep, I think it's you know, it's
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  it's kind of low, but like I said, if.
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  You would have said 6 or. Seven, I would have been like,
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  okay, that's that's not not far off.
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  Yeah, that was that was a. Surprise.
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  That was a big surprise. Yes, and it changes a a lot in
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  the bracket because now you know Highland still has a first round
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  by but barely one of the teams that we both had getting a first
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  round by you had dem rest as a 7.
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  I had them as a six. They come in as the nine now.
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  Now they you have to play a first round match, which I don't
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  always think is so bad because it gets you into the tournament.
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  You get the home game, you get a win in the County Jamboree.
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  And then you, you know, you go on and, and you get into that
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  round of 16. But you know, all of a sudden
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  Fairlawn, a pretty good Big N team, gets into the number 24
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  and Demarest goes from having a first round bye to being home in
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  a tester against Fairlawn. And we'll talk to Pat about this
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  in a little while, but just your thoughts quickly.
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  Yeah, I mean, I, I, you know, I'm not, I'm not opposed to
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  having a first round game, you know, especially when you're
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  having a good year because yeah, I, I think Fairland's gonna be a
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  good test for them. But I I'm not gonna lie.
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  You know, I, I. Think that I think they get past
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  Fairland and if I'm Northern Highlands at the eighth seed,
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  I'm kind of nervous getting Demorris after winning the
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  first, winning the first round game and now playing with a
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  little more confidence. And they haven't they haven't
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  played each. They they did play each other.
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  Where yeah, Highlands got better than by a dozen.
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  But I was at home it. Was at home.
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  Oh, there's one at home. Too.
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  That's right, because Highland is a whole site for the Raptors,
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  correct? And it's it's listen, it's it's,
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  it's one of those things where like, yeah, we got them at home
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  again, you know, and it's it's jabbery game, but it's a little
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  bit different, right? The vibes are a little bit
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  different. The turn out is a little bit
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  different. So a little more pressure, you
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  know, So yeah, I'm curious to see how that, I mean, that's
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  gonna be a very good game that that's my prediction there.
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  But yeah, I mean we. Can get.
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  We'll, we'll break. This down game by game by game,
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  Yeah. And obviously we're going to be
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  able to talk to Pat to get his his thoughts and and and feels
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  and you know, I know he thought he was in trouble, but I think I
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  think this is a a favorable, favorable seed for them.
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  I said lower than what we thought, but it may be kind of
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  favorable in the aspect of they get a chance to get with their
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  feet wet, maybe get 2 wings underneath their belt before
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  they get an opportunity at a Bergen.
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  Yeah, yeah, you're right too though Pat.
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  Yesterday I saw him at the girls game and he just looked at me
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  and he said core, I'm in trouble.
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  So we'll see how he feels about it coming up here shortly.
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  The only other thing that I want to mention here as far as
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  seedings go, and again, I don't at large as on the whole I don't
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  really have a problem with the way this all played out.
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  I mean, it was it's impossible every year, but this year with
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  the parody on the Are You there? Yeah, no, I'm here.
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  OK, yeah, no, it just got quiet, which is nice.
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  So no Jersey sports.com silence. Yeah, yeah.
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  Just, you know, listening great, which made me nervous because
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  I'm like, he can't really be captivated, but what I'm what
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  I'm talking about. But I will say that with the
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  parody across the public schools, you knew that it was
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  going to be, you know, one vote here and one vote there were
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  going to make a huge difference. But the only other thing I want
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  to mention about the seeds is that Riverdale, I had them
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  safely. I knew you're, that's what I was
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  going to bring up. Riverdale Little High 13. 13
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  with a home game against Richfield Park.
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  And you know, in my bracket I had Richfield Park as a 15.
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  Riverdale was a 19. So I would have had that flip
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  flop of Richfield and I had and I had.
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  I had Richfield Park at 16, you know, Yeah.
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  And Riverdale a little bit later.
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  So I, I mean, it's, it's that might add a little, that might
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  add a little fuel to a fire for a ratio part.
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  And, and and Coach Gassen did say.
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  At one point last. Year, if we go back to a Skate
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  Torment episode, he was keeping receipts.
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  I was on the board. So you know, this may add a
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  little fuel to the fire for them.
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  Yes, and I think I'm looking at games that I would potentially
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  cover in the first round. Now you can do any of them
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  because they all have their own stories and all are, you know,
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  good one off stories in themselves because I that's the
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  great thing about this time of year and with the 69 year
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  history of the Bergen County Jamboree, like when it's a good
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  year and that and that first round is competitive like it is
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  this year, like any win is a great win and a great story, you
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  know. Yeah, so, but judging by the
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  games themselves, I think the one that intrigues me the most
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  is Rich Hill Park at Riverdale. And that's probably the first
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  round game that I'm going to cover, so that should be fun.
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  I'm looking forward to it. Well, see if we'll see if Gaskin
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  wants me in the gym on a in a rogue.
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  Game. Yeah, you may have to, because
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  the game, the game that I'm looking at getting out to is
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  that 1914 game, that Waldwick Westwood game.
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  I think that's, you know, I think that's gonna be a pretty
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  solid game. Yeah.
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  You know, there's, there's some, there's some flair in there, you
• 14:48
  know, some familiarity with me, you know, as far as as far as
• 14:50
  coaches and, and some players of interest.
• 14:54
  But yeah, I think I think that's gonna be an interesting game.
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  I think, you know, Wallwood has has a very solid duo and Andrew
• 15:04
  Del Rey and Antonio Machinelli, who I think are pretty solid.
• 15:11
  Westwood, one of the one of the kids I I like what I I think has
• 15:15
  a good future. There is junior RJ and a team.
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  Yeah. Point.
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  Guard, point guard, right? I think he I think he's kind of
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  dynamic. I think he does a lot for that
• 15:23
  team. And I have a lot of respect for
• 15:25
  for Carsich and McBain. Me and McBain have have played
• 15:28
  together. You know, he was a somebody I
• 15:31
  looked up to when I was a younger high school basketball
• 15:34
  player his senior year because he was very dominant at
• 15:36
  Waldwick. So yeah, I think that's a that's
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  an intriguing match up for me. I like that game.
• 15:44
  I also think, I also think that I also think that Emerson game
• 15:49
  may be somewhat intriguing, you know, because, you know, rare,
• 15:54
  rare oppo's been historically of power.
• 15:57
  You know, rare oppo's been historically power.
• 15:58
  And Emerson's kind of played well.
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  And you know, and we know, we know that the man over there
• 16:04
  always has some things up his sleeves.
• 16:07
  So be curious to see what he what he does with Nick Beer's
• 16:10
  team. I'm looking at actually, I don't
• 16:13
  see a bad first round game, but you know, to be honest, I might
• 16:16
  have to Dwight Anglewood higher than we both had expected to
• 16:19
  Dwight Anglewood in at the number.
• 16:21
  I had old N as a 14 and I had Dwight Anglewood as a 20.
• 16:26
  That's almost a complete flip flop.
• 16:27
  So old Japan's going to be on the road at Dwight Anglewood and
• 16:30
  that game could be interesting as well.
• 16:34
  You know, I think every first round game you could make a case
• 16:37
  for either side. Like is Cresskill at the 12, you
• 16:40
  know, Pascack Valley dangerous as the 21?
• 16:44
  It's not like, you know, it's definitely not a walk over.
• 16:47
  Cresskill definitely the favorite.
• 16:48
  But Pascack Valley, you know, they play that tough big north
• 16:51
  schedule so they're not going to be intimidated.
• 16:53
  They're a hard nosed type of team and Cresskill's been
• 16:57
  playing great all season long. So we'll see how it goes there.
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  I mean, Long story short, this is the most competitive first
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  round that I've seen in the Bergen County Jamboree that I
• 17:10
  can remember. At least in the last decade at
• 17:13
  least. At least since the non public's
• 17:16
  really separated themselves and you know, kind of pushed the
• 17:21
  public's down where you weren't even really worried anymore
• 17:25
  about what was going to happen in the quarter finals because
• 17:27
  you knew it was going to be 3 lopsided games with the non
• 17:29
  public's moving through. So definitely invigorated by
• 17:34
  this year's tournament. All right, well, our first guest
• 17:38
  on this Snow Day Edition Jambo preview show on the ball game on
• 17:43
  North Jersey sports.com is an old friend of the show going way
• 17:47
  back to when he's from one of the biggest upsets in the
• 17:49
  history of the Bergen County girls basketball tournament as
• 17:53
  the number 16 seed as the head coach of the event, Tenafly
• 17:57
  Fighting Lady Tigers. Now he's the head muckety muck
• 18:01
  of the Fighting Boys Tigers. They are the number two seed in
• 18:04
  this year's Bergen County Jamboree.
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  Jeff Kohler, thanks for joining us here on THE Ball GAME.
• 18:11
  Corey, Brad, thanks for having me.
• 18:13
  Yes. So we go back a long ways, but
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  this is the first time I've ever interviewed you as the head
• 18:19
  coach of a number two seed in a Bergen County tournament.
• 18:22
  How you feeling? Yeah, it's pretty exciting.
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  Obviously comes with a lot of, you know, stressed and all that.
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  But I mean, the guys fought for it and they worked hard for it
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  and we put ourselves in position and, you know, we'll see how it
• 18:38
  goes. Yeah, and so, you know, I did we
• 18:41
  did pre season pictures and I know there was some you know,
• 18:45
  Brad, he Jeff is one of the most humble guys he'll ever meet.
• 18:48
  I mean, most coaches, especially most good coaches will never be
• 18:52
  like, hey, we're going to be good.
• 18:52
  You got to come see us. But like, you know when I said
• 18:55
  Jeff like, how's it going to be? Because I make that transition
• 18:58
  from, you know, football slash soccer season and I'm not really
• 19:00
  paying attention to what's going on in basketball.
• 19:02
  And he, as is his custom, said, oh, we, you know, we, we have
• 19:06
  some things to work on, blah, blah, blah.
• 19:08
  But you can tell there was a twinkle in the eye with this
• 19:10
  year's Tigers, Brad. And, you know, you being a
• 19:14
  Division 2 college head coach, I know there's some players of
• 19:17
  interest on that roster that you'd like.
• 19:19
  And you know, an undefeated public school team is fun to
• 19:24
  watch at this point in the season.
• 19:28
  Yeah, absolutely, Jeff, you know, kudos to you.
• 19:30
  I know this is our first time speaking, but yeah, you know,
• 19:33
  just a great job. You know, you're, you're in the
• 19:37
  same mind from as me. You know, I, I knew coming into
• 19:39
  this year we were going to be, you know, pretty good.
• 19:42
  I wasn't sure, you know, the pendulum could swing any
• 19:44
  different way. You know, I didn't think we'd be
• 19:47
  sitting here talking about, you know, my team being 16 and two.
• 19:49
  I'm sure you didn't think coming into this year like.
• 19:51
  You thought, yeah, we're going to be pretty.
• 19:52
  Good. But you know, I don't know if
• 19:54
  you would. Sat here and said, I think
• 19:55
  we're. Going to be undefeated before
• 19:56
  team and I would have, you know, wins against, you know, wins
• 19:59
  against Teaneck and Highlands and you know.
• 20:02
  But then, you know, you got some.
• 20:04
  Really. Good wins and, and, and some
• 20:06
  close calls, but it shows a lot of grit and a lot of maturity
• 20:10
  from your guys to come out with with 14 and kind of stay humble.
• 20:14
  At least that's the that's the, the, the vibe and that's the
• 20:17
  word on the street that I've been getting from from other
• 20:19
  coaches around the scene. Yeah, I think in the beginning,
• 20:23
  you know, we're we're always trying to find ourselves and and
• 20:25
  I wasn't quite sure we we graduated A6869 guy, Dan Regev
• 20:31
  and and Jake, you know, he was my point guard.
• 20:35
  So, you know, graduating them, you know, you have a six eight
• 20:39
  guy in the middle, you can kind of do a little bit more.
• 20:42
  And if you get beat, you know, you got a six, eight guy to
• 20:44
  worry about. So we lost them.
• 20:47
  You know, every team, every coach that we played at the
• 20:49
  beginning, guaranteed they went home saying, all right, you
• 20:53
  know, we could beat them next time, whatever.
• 20:55
  That's the typical thing. And and we were finding
• 20:58
  ourselves and, and you know, we're still, we're still working
• 21:01
  progress, we're still working on things and we're sharing the
• 21:05
  ball a lot more than we did in the beginning.
• 21:07
  The guys are trusting each other.
• 21:09
  I think that's the key. And our defense, you know, I'm
• 21:14
  really big on defense and some of my guys probably make fun of
• 21:17
  me that I'm not a big offensive guy.
• 21:19
  I, I really think that, you know, you can, could be off like
• 21:22
  the other night, yesterday or the day before.
• 21:26
  No, the day, the day before, we, we were one for six to start the
• 21:31
  game against Emirates and, and, but our defense was holding us
• 21:35
  in there. And, and that's why I always
• 21:36
  tell the guys like, you know, you could be off, but if you're
• 21:38
  playing great defense and, and you're hedging, you're rotating,
• 21:41
  you're switching, you're helping, you're talking, you're
• 21:43
  boxing out, you could stay with anybody.
• 21:45
  And, and I just don't like being relied with the three, you know,
• 21:51
  and we did take a lot more threes than I like.
• 21:53
  And but it's something that the guys figured out.
• 21:56
  We got to the rim and, and yesterday's game was really
• 21:58
  good. We got to the rim a lot more.
• 22:00
  So I think that's the key. I mean defense, moving the ball,
• 22:04
  but the guys are trying to find each other and, and, and that's
• 22:06
  the best part. You know, when I saw you at the
• 22:10
  Brian Long Classic against Cresskill, first of all, it was
• 22:12
  a great game, fun game to watch. Got me all I told you about it.
• 22:14
  It got me all pumped up about public school basketball this
• 22:17
  year. It's carried over.
• 22:19
  But you were saying at that time, you know, that you had
• 22:22
  been close in a lot of games at halftime, trailing a lot of
• 22:25
  games early. And you know, you're able to
• 22:29
  come not not just pull out games, you're able to come
• 22:31
  roaring back a bunch of times. You did that game, game against
• 22:34
  Cresskill. I mean, I think that speaks
• 22:36
  volumes about your team too, that no matter the situation,
• 22:39
  like you're kind of going to, you're going to fight it out
• 22:41
  until the end. And and you know, come what may,
• 22:44
  you're not, if you lose, it's not going to be because you got
• 22:46
  scared or because you put out a lack of effort.
• 22:49
  No, and the guys, guys do a great job adjusting if we adjust
• 22:53
  that half time or or even before the game or during the game.
• 22:56
  And and that's what I think that this makes this team so special
• 22:59
  is that, you know, we'll do it's gallery point.
• 23:02
  We'll go over all their cuts. But in the end, you know, high
• 23:04
  school ball, most of the teams, they'll do a couple plays in the
• 23:07
  beginning and then it gets, you know, it'll help the skelter up
• 23:10
  and down or, you know, basically motion and the guys adjust.
• 23:15
  They see what's going on and and that's what I'm most impressed
• 23:19
  with that or on the defensive end, if somebody gets US1 time,
• 23:23
  I can't remember a time that they did it again.
• 23:26
  Now I'm sure there was, but it's something that that speaks value
• 23:29
  to values to my 2 captains, Caleb and Nick, that we adjust
• 23:35
  during the game, you know, throughout the game, especially
• 23:37
  at halftime, and they figure it out.
• 23:40
  And that's the key with my obviously my coaching staff that
• 23:44
  it is just second is not when you look at our coaching staff,
• 23:47
  we have two all county coaches in lacrosse and soccer.
• 23:53
  We have another guy that just Justin Bassano that worked with
• 23:56
  Craig Nielsen, one of the best coaches probably in Bergen
• 23:59
  County history and football and softball.
• 24:01
  And then my my kind of my my associated head coach or my my
• 24:05
  right hand man Orin Fox is so good at paying attention to
• 24:09
  detail and understanding what the other team is doing and the
• 24:12
  cuts. And he has just a great mind,
• 24:15
  you know, in that way. So I think my staff and and me
• 24:19
  and the guys just adjusting to the play of the game is
• 24:23
  incredible. Go ahead, Brad.
• 24:27
  Yeah, I mean, you know, 2-2 words never spoken, right?
• 24:32
  I, I think, you know, and I'm not saying this for me as an
• 24:36
  assistant, but you know, I say this whatever, you know all.
• 24:39
  You know. All teams, all teams are part of
• 24:42
  that all. Teams are only yeah, I mean, so
• 24:45
  I think all teams, all teams are only as good as their as their
• 24:48
  head coach, right. And the head coach is only as
• 24:50
  good as this whole staff. You know, I think, you know, I
• 24:52
  think everybody, you know, has to bring something to the table.
• 24:56
  And you kind of just lay that out right there.
• 24:57
  Just, you know, you have a good a good staff that that has like
• 25:00
  your own little niches, right? Everybody brings their own
• 25:02
  little thing to the table. I'm big.
• 25:05
  I'm a big proponent of defense as well.
• 25:07
  You know, you know, as long as your defense always travels,
• 25:10
  you're always going to be in a in a game, no matter what the
• 25:13
  circumstances are. But yeah, you know, I just
• 25:15
  think, I just think when it, when it comes down to it, you
• 25:18
  know, you know, having great leadership, right?
• 25:22
  You talk about Caleb and Nick and stuff and, and having guys
• 25:25
  that that are buying into what's going on and, and never having
• 25:28
  that, that feeling defeated attitude, right?
• 25:32
  Always keep their chin up, always know that, you know, they
• 25:34
  can get a stop, get a bucket, you know, do whatever they can,
• 25:38
  right, And they come out on top. Like you said.
• 25:39
  I mean, you've had a bunch of single digit, you know, single
• 25:41
  digit wins, but you've had a lot of convincing wins by by well
• 25:46
  over double digits. So, yeah, it just goes to show
• 25:49
  that, you know, the kids have bought into what you and your
• 25:53
  staff are trying to do. And I think the committee has
• 25:56
  has understood that and, and have seen that, you know, time
• 25:59
  in and time out and, and your guys are deserved by that too.
• 26:02
  Seat. Yes, I mean, I think that's
• 26:05
  really such a privilege and to be in the Jamboree like we've
• 26:10
  done in the past, it's any time you get into Jamboree, that's
• 26:14
  definitely one of the first goals of the season.
• 26:17
  We played in the last showcase like yesterday and at the time
• 26:21
  when I, you know, when we make it 3 years ago, I think we had
• 26:24
  to win that game to make the Jamboree.
• 26:26
  So to be 13 and O going into yesterday, it was a nice feeling
• 26:31
  that you know that you're automatically exactly and and
• 26:35
  you'll see what happens. But but yeah, totally.
• 26:40
  How about, you know, another just getting back to the fun
• 26:43
  that is this high school basketball season in Bergen
• 26:46
  County in North Jersey. I mean, I wasn't at either game,
• 26:49
  but I did see, you know, some stuff was sent to me just about
• 26:52
  the fact that the fans, I mean, you know, Tenify has always had
• 26:55
  a great sports following. But it seems that, you know, the
• 26:59
  roadshow is starting to pick up some steam now.
• 27:01
  You know the yeah, the fans are in the stands.
• 27:04
  I know against Teaneck it was a great atmosphere in your gym.
• 27:06
  Against Demarest, it was a great atmosphere in your gym.
• 27:09
  I mean, that's what this is all about, right?
• 27:10
  And you know, bringing the community together is for me
• 27:15
  always. And I know you feel the same way
• 27:17
  is always the should be the number one goal of high school
• 27:21
  athletics. And when it comes together
• 27:23
  during a 14 and a start for a season, you got to love showing
• 27:27
  up to the gym everyday. Yeah, and I always tell my
• 27:30
  volleyball, softball and basketball teams when when I'm
• 27:33
  the head coach is that, you know, when you win, people come
• 27:36
  out, you know, you have to put a product out there that, you
• 27:39
  know, people want to see. So if you have a 9th grader,
• 27:42
  10th grader coming to the game and they see, you know, like a
• 27:45
  Caleb taking charges. I mean, he had 37 charges last
• 27:49
  year, yes, over 50 in two years. I mean, that's incredible.
• 27:53
  And and we give egg sandwiches, you know, out and and I almost
• 27:58
  third job just to to pay for his egg sandwiches.
• 28:01
  Where does where? Who is the provider of the egg
• 28:03
  sandwich? Where's the local?
• 28:05
  I am? OK, yeah, not donated by.
• 28:08
  Local the rule last year, we had to choose the rule that you had
• 28:11
  to win. You can't just you got to win
• 28:14
  the game because in order to get the egg sandwiches, all right,
• 28:17
  But I have a yeah. You're 14 to know it's your
• 28:19
  fortune. Oh yeah, yeah.
• 28:22
  So I have a few guys on the roster that that definitely will
• 28:25
  take it. And I know obviously Brad is a
• 28:27
  college coach. I mean, that's something, you
• 28:30
  know, it's hard to teach, but the fact that the kids just have
• 28:33
  to have the mentality. But but if you win, people come
• 28:36
  out and if you if you put a product out there that the fancy
• 28:41
  and then they. The word of mouth.
• 28:43
  And we did it in volleyball, you know, and a lot of times in the
• 28:45
  fall it's got to be around state time because maybe the other
• 28:49
  teams are not playing so you get more people.
• 28:52
  But we packed the gym during, you know, our state-run a couple
• 28:55
  of years ago. And even this year we had our
• 28:58
  first game, we had a big crowd, but in 2022, our state running
• 29:02
  basketball, we had packed gyms and, and now the kids that are
• 29:06
  seeing what it's like. And, and we always talk about
• 29:09
  these kids in Tenafly. They go to Arizona State, they
• 29:11
  go to Wisconsin, Michigan, Miami, IN, you know, all these
• 29:16
  incredible schools that, that you want to go to see the sport
• 29:20
  team and you go there for four years and then you live in
• 29:24
  Tenafly for 17 to 18 years. And you could do it in your
• 29:27
  hometown and you get the crowd and, and you get them to
• 29:31
  experience that with their home team and their hometown.
• 29:34
  Then they go off to college and they see that experience.
• 29:37
  So we're, we're, we're a lot of the kids that are going now that
• 29:40
  they're seeing what it's like. And and I'm hoping that, you
• 29:42
  know, they keep continuing coming out and we put a product
• 29:45
  out there that they're proud of. Yeah, no doubt about it.
• 29:48
  Last one from me, you know, and and I know as well as should be
• 29:52
  too as well, very team oriented and you're getting contributions
• 29:55
  from everybody. I know you have a, a four man
• 29:57
  senior class with Nick Valdini, Nikola Nicholas Lew and Caleb
• 30:00
  Berkowitz. But Aiden Goldschneider has been
• 30:02
  the engine this year. I mean, he's been great.
• 30:05
  I, I talked to him after that Cresco game and I remember
• 30:08
  covering him when he came in as a freshman.
• 30:11
  I, I saw it then and, you know, slowed by some injuries last
• 30:15
  couple of years, but this year he kind of came out of the
• 30:18
  blocks running and hasn't slowed down at all.
• 30:20
  And we'll do it in this context here because I told you after I
• 30:23
  interviewed him against Kresgel, like, when a kid is as
• 30:29
  competitive as he is, it really stands out nowadays, I think,
• 30:33
  you know, for all the things you, you can go, you can play a
• 30:37
  million games in AAU. You can get private trainers and
• 30:40
  work on your fundamentals and your, you know, basic skills.
• 30:44
  And you can get better in basketball.
• 30:45
  But to be a kid who not only just wants to, you know, beat
• 30:49
  the opponent, but really send a message every game he plays, you
• 30:54
  know, it doesn't mean you're going to win everyone, but it
• 30:55
  means you're going to try like hell to do it.
• 30:57
  It'll just give us a little bit about Aiden Goldscheider.
• 31:00
  Yeah, Aiden is a phenomenal talent, great kid.
• 31:04
  He's he's improving every year. And this year he definitely took
• 31:08
  another jump and he's still working.
• 31:11
  I mean, he's great on ball. Like he's you know, if Brad you
• 31:15
  come in, you know, when he's on ball, he's incredible.
• 31:18
  He's still working on off ball and he's getting better, not
• 31:21
  turning his head and seeing the ball.
• 31:23
  And those are things that he's improving to get to that next
• 31:26
  level off festively. He's a monster.
• 31:29
  Yeah, he, he could do it all. I, he spends hours shooting.
• 31:33
  I mean, I, we have to tell him like, you know, the other day he
• 31:37
  got hurt playing, you know, I was just working out on like a
• 31:39
  Sunday. And, and, you know, you try to
• 31:41
  tell him like sometimes you need that day of rest or, you know,
• 31:44
  whatever, just to kind of get your legs back under you.
• 31:47
  But he takes it hard. I've had some of my best
• 31:50
  athletes I've ever had, you know, they, you know, if it was
• 31:53
  Zuzi from, from volleyball or if it's John Celli or, and
• 31:58
  obviously Aiden and a lot of athletes that are the best on
• 32:01
  the team, that they take it as hard as anybody.
• 32:04
  And they know, hey, listen, you're the face of the program.
• 32:07
  And as a coach, you know, you know, you always lose the game
• 32:10
  for the team. If they lose and, and you take
• 32:13
  it hard, you know, I come home and you can't sleep at night
• 32:16
  and, and not many kids, you know, they leave the game and
• 32:19
  you know, they'll, they'll, they'll think about it a little
• 32:22
  bit, but they'll forget about it.
• 32:23
  But Aiden, it's basically on his shoulders and he knows that.
• 32:26
  And when you're great, you know, sometimes you've got to do that.
• 32:29
  And I always tell them, like, don't worry, you know, I got it,
• 32:32
  I'll get you back, whatever it is, and just go out there and
• 32:36
  have fun and play hard and just pick up the guys and trust the
• 32:40
  guys. And he's doing that more than
• 32:42
  ever. And I really believe that, you
• 32:44
  know, the college coach is looking at him.
• 32:46
  He's got so much more of a feeling.
• 32:49
  And we're seeing it every day in practice and games.
• 32:52
  But the kid works his butt off and he deserves everything he
• 32:55
  gets. Awesome, Brad, one more from the
• 32:58
  coach. You got the last word.
• 33:00
  Oh, I get the last word. Yeah.
• 33:04
  You know, I, I think, you know, it's humbling when you have a
• 33:06
  kid who's averaging, you know, almost 24 points a game and,
• 33:09
  and, you know, four or five assists a game and, and two or
• 33:12
  three steals a game. And we have a kid who, who who,
• 33:15
  you know, takes on that burden. You know, it, it could be a lot.
• 33:19
  You know, I had many conversations going going back
• 33:23
  with with Chris Roscoe when I was recruiting Chris Roscoe, who
• 33:25
  was, you know, a kind of fly alum.
• 33:28
  You know, it's a lot to carry. But but when you have such a
• 33:31
  good, you know, a good set of teammates and you have a good
• 33:35
  coaching staff, when everybody buys in it, you know, it means a
• 33:39
  lot. And yeah, I mean, you're not
• 33:41
  even from a recruiting standpoint, right?
• 33:43
  You know, I definitely could. I want to, you know, get in and
• 33:46
  look at, but just just the atmosphere and, and the, the
• 33:50
  product that you're putting out, you know, it sustains success.
• 33:55
  And that's the difference. That's the difference between
• 33:57
  having, you know, just a good team and having a good program
• 34:01
  where, you know, yeah, you can get lucky one year and do some
• 34:04
  amazing things and then the next year you can go from, you know,
• 34:06
  winning a section to, you know, being under 500.
• 34:10
  But sustaining success takes a lot.
• 34:12
  And it's more than just having, you know, a star, a star player.
• 34:15
  It's, you know, building that building that, you know, into
• 34:20
  each and every player day in and day out and progressing them and
• 34:23
  developing them so you have a sustainable program.
• 34:25
  And that's what I've been seeing from Tenafly more often than
• 34:30
  not, going back to those Roscoe days and and moving forward.
• 34:34
  Yeah, Chris Roscoe is obviously what a talent.
• 34:36
  You know, he was terrific and and we talked about Aiden, but
• 34:39
  we have, you know, the other guys like a Nick Lewin, what
• 34:43
  he's done from his freshman year to a senior year, the maturity
• 34:47
  he's gotten and, and, and his his work ethic, I mean he's
• 34:50
  always working and, and he's being unselfish and, and, and
• 34:54
  his defense is the last two years has been terrific on ball,
• 34:59
  off ball. He's that's like he was really
• 35:02
  high with Nick Lewin, but that that's the thing.
• 35:05
  Like he, he the good thing about Aiden and he always here with
• 35:08
  great players is that the great players make everybody great
• 35:12
  around him. And he's he's doing that making
• 35:15
  all the guys, you know, if it ever sell the, the, the, the the
• 35:20
  freshman coming up. And and so when you see him in
• 35:23
  practice and and he's making everybody better around him and
• 35:26
  that's what you want. And hopefully that will sustain
• 35:29
  for the next, you know, four or five years because the, the
• 35:32
  freshmen are seeing what it takes to, to play basketball
• 35:36
  when it takes to, to work. And, and, and Aiden's taken a
• 35:39
  lot of guys under his wing. And, and so is Nick Lewin.
• 35:42
  The 2 captains, Caleb and Nick Baldini.
• 35:45
  I think Nick Baldini has really stepped up his game in, in the
• 35:49
  fact that he's creating a lot more for himself.
• 35:52
  He's playing great defense. He's actually playing a lot of
• 35:55
  times the best defender on the other team.
• 35:58
  And then you have Caleb and then Chase Harris has done an awesome
• 36:02
  job of helping defense, being a law enforcer with the with the
• 36:06
  strength. And then one of my favorite play
• 36:08
  is Alex Mandolin. He's he's had my little quick
• 36:12
  guard that, you know, teams want to do junk defenses on us or,
• 36:16
  or, or, or zones or, or, you know, if they, if aid could kind
• 36:20
  of move off the ball. Alex creates for for everybody
• 36:24
  and his dribbling, his basketball IQ, his mind and the
• 36:27
  way he sees the court. He's like a quarterback, you
• 36:30
  know, in football. So when you get all those guys
• 36:33
  and you have David Cassidy and Harrison Lerner that are are so
• 36:37
  unselfish. Jonas Goldschneider that
• 36:39
  understand that maybe minutes aren't a lot, but they have to
• 36:42
  do mental reps in practice. They have to keep working hard
• 36:45
  and and get ready to be in there if the numbers called and and it
• 36:50
  goes from the kids and then I always say it goes to the
• 36:52
  parents, like they might not always like it.
• 36:55
  You know, obviously if your your kids not playing a lot, I get
• 36:58
  it. I really do.
• 36:59
  But but it's something that I think they all in the stand and
• 37:03
  like that was good yesterday, got everybody in, everybody got
• 37:06
  a lot of minutes and I don't think he didn't even play the
• 37:09
  fourth quarter or half the 3rd. So you know, he didn't care
• 37:12
  about his points. He didn't care about being one
• 37:14
  of the top players in the state. The points I didn't score like
• 37:17
  16, so it went down, but he did also didn't play, you know, 1/4
• 37:22
  and 1/2. And, you know, I had a girl, a
• 37:24
  lot of Casner that, you know, back in 2000 and three, 2003,
• 37:28
  four, five, whatever it was. And she we would beat people by
• 37:32
  a lot. And she ended up with like maybe
• 37:34
  1400 points. But I think she would have got a
• 37:36
  2000 points if if I didn't take her out because we were being a
• 37:40
  lot of teams. So he understands that and the
• 37:42
  guys understand it's not about the points, it's about the West.
• 37:46
  And no matter how we could get it, we get it and we're happy in
• 37:48
  the locker room right after. I'll tell you what, Brad, that
• 37:52
  right there, that last three to four minutes soliloquy is why
• 37:56
  Jeff Kohler is a good coach. Absolutely.
• 37:59
  It's just I, I don't, I am not a good coach.
• 38:02
  I don't know how to be a good coach.
• 38:03
  But I know a lot of guys who are and a lot of guys that I know
• 38:08
  who shall remain nameless. But Jeff, I told you that I know
• 38:10
  one who texted you. You're the coach's coach.
• 38:13
  Like when they say, you know who's a good coach, Jeff Kohler.
• 38:16
  So I have well. You know, you have to have the
• 38:19
  players and I've been pretty lucky.
• 38:22
  I kind of fly, you know, all the sports I coached and, and it
• 38:25
  goes to the athletic directors, you know, Ed Cromer, you know,
• 38:28
  Bill Jaeger, Dan Kilde and and now Joe Carello is, is, you
• 38:32
  know, whatever we need, they're always, they're always there
• 38:35
  helping us out or if we need gym space or whatever it is.
• 38:38
  So it, you know, coaches are good when they have the good
• 38:42
  players and you know, and you have to have the athletic
• 38:45
  directors to help you. And then the principal, Jim.
• 38:48
  And so we, we have a really good network of people.
• 38:51
  You remember Richfield Park had the $1,000,000 wall.
• 38:54
  Remember that. Yeah.
• 38:56
  Yes. Well.
• 38:57
  We have like a $2,000,000. Wall so.
• 38:59
  In 4:50, it's more than two. In 4:50, it's more than 2
• 39:02
  million. That'll definitely be more than
• 39:06
  $2,000,000. But I appreciate it, Corey.
• 39:09
  But you know, you got to have the players.
• 39:12
  You got to have the players to be successful.
• 39:14
  And we have. We have.
• 39:15
  Well, I like having you on here because I could talk to you like
• 39:18
  as you know, the, the podcast host and and you know, rather
• 39:21
  than when you and I get in in front of each other because
• 39:24
  we're friends and we're not going to sit there and tell each
• 39:25
  other how great we are. So I get the chance to do it
• 39:29
  here, which, which, which is fun and and you know, crafty.
• 39:34
  He mentioned Ed Cromer, which no doubt about it, was one of the
• 39:38
  greatest athletic directors in Bergen County at the time, but
• 39:41
  just so happens to be the head of the Bergen County Jamboree
• 39:44
  Committee, which made Tenafly the number two seed yesterday.
• 39:46
  So all God, all bases are covered here on the ball game.
• 39:51
  Jeff, nothing left to do. We'll play the games.
• 39:52
  Thanks for coming on and this was fun.
• 39:55
  Guys, thanks very much and hopefully we'll see you down the
• 39:57
  road. All right, that was great stuff
• 39:59
  there with Jeff Kohler and moving along here on our Snow
• 40:03
  Day Jambo preview edition of the ball game.
• 40:06
  Brought to you by Vertical Rays is the head coach of the
• 40:10
  Richfield Park Scarlets. An old friend of the show, an
• 40:14
  old friend of mine, he is Chris Gasket coach.
• 40:17
  Thanks for joining us here on The Ball GAME.
• 40:20
  It's great to be back. It's been a while.
• 40:21
  And believe me, every day at work we break Scott Pappetti's
• 40:24
  chops about getting vertical. You know, the vertical rays.
• 40:27
  So good to see the chief and his company doing well sponsoring.
• 40:31
  You guys. Yes, Scott Pappetti, the liaison
• 40:35
  between many fundraising efforts and Vertical Raise.
• 40:39
  So check them out verticalraise.com.
• 40:41
  Alright, let's talk about Richfield Park Scarlet
• 40:43
  basketball. I had you in my predictive
• 40:48
  bracket, a little bit higher than you were, eventually came
• 40:52
  in. You came in at the 20 I had you
• 40:53
  up at #15 but none of that matters now.
• 40:56
  You got Riverdale on the road in round one.
• 41:00
  I guess you know you. I'm sure you would have
• 41:02
  preferred to have had a home game for the first round of the
• 41:05
  Bergen County Jamboree, but your feelings, because you're in it
• 41:09
  and that's the most important thing.
• 41:12
  Yeah, you know, listen, home game, Rd. game, neutral site,
• 41:15
  whatever. I mean, anybody who knows me
• 41:17
  knows I've always felt very strongly about the Jamboree, you
• 41:20
  know, growing up in Bernerfield and.
• 41:22
  And I still remember the first time going to see a Jamboree
• 41:24
  game back in Hackensack back in the day when only 16 teams made
• 41:28
  it. So I still do consider the
• 41:31
  Jamboree the most special tournament in New Jersey because
• 41:36
  it's been been around for so long.
• 41:37
  So just to be part of it, great. I'm real happy for our guys as a
• 41:41
  program. We haven't been in the Jambo
• 41:43
  since I think 2020. And you know, I'm real happy for
• 41:47
  our guys to get to experience it and hopefully we here we come
• 41:51
  out and play well and give ourselves an opportunity on
• 41:53
  Thursday night. Yeah, and you know, it's the old
• 41:56
  BCSL American Division rivalry, Richfield Park in Riverdale.
• 41:59
  So it does have some history to it.
• 42:01
  You know Ronnie Van Sater's very well.
• 42:02
  Obviously you want to give us like, yeah, maybe some keys to
• 42:06
  the game for you guys when you go on the loop.
• 42:09
  Obviously Ronnie, Adam, all those guys over there, you know,
• 42:12
  we, we share a lot of stuff with one another and and we've become
• 42:15
  very friendly through the years. I, you know, I haven't had a
• 42:19
  chance to watch any of their film.
• 42:21
  I do, you know, follow them closely, but I'm, you know, my
• 42:26
  old boss, Tom Krausch. If used to tell me all the time
• 42:29
  worry about one team, your own. So that's kind of where my
• 42:31
  mentality has been this year so far.
• 42:35
  But, you know, obviously we have some time over the next couple
• 42:37
  days. But you know, if if it's
• 42:40
  anything that I've seen Ronnie and those guys do through the
• 42:43
  years, I'm sure it's going to be a well run and the kids are
• 42:46
  going to play really hard and it's going to be a but a big
• 42:50
  task for us to to get the job done.
• 42:52
  But I'm just more worried about our guys and I think just
• 42:55
  playing our game and being physical.
• 42:57
  And rebounding the. Basketball and valuing the
• 42:59
  basketball, you know, women in turnovers.
• 43:01
  When we do that, we've been rather successful this year.
• 43:04
  So that's going to be what we're going to continue to stress.
• 43:07
  How's your assistant coach taking all of this?
• 43:10
  Oh, coach is. Tremendous, you know, with.
• 43:13
  That I mean, everybody that was shown as a he's a very, very
• 43:16
  good basketball coach and a very good basketball mind.
• 43:19
  And you know, I'm very lucky to have him sitting next to me.
• 43:22
  I was talking about his disc golf game.
• 43:28
  I had to teach him a map. Rinelli, a lesson over at
• 43:30
  Greystone, but we won't talk about that here.
• 43:33
  Brad, what do you got for Coach Gask?
• 43:35
  You know, so, so for me, you know, I, I've had the pleasure
• 43:39
  of, of Mel, Coach Gaston since I was a high school player and I
• 43:43
  got to share the sidelines with him for a little bit during my
• 43:45
  tenure at high school over at Ewell Park, which was fun.
• 43:50
  Yeah, I think this is an interesting match up for him.
• 43:53
  Definitely 2 contrasting styles. I know how Coach Gaston and his
• 43:56
  team like to play, and I know how Riverdale historically is
• 43:59
  played. I'm sure they still play that
• 44:00
  way. Very slow, methodical,
• 44:02
  analytical. So, yeah, I'm curious to see
• 44:05
  how, how it all shakes down. But yeah, you know, tell us a
• 44:09
  little bit about, you know, Nick Cartagena and and, and, you
• 44:13
  know, I know he's kind of, it's been like the the focal point as
• 44:16
  far as as far as the team is concerned.
• 44:20
  But just yeah, about how, you know, how the team is, is
• 44:22
  handling, you know, sitting here being 13 and two, you know,
• 44:26
  three and one in the conference. You know, I can share less about
• 44:28
  the the seating. You know, it definitely is a
• 44:33
  little bit, you know, about a throw off that you know, we both
• 44:36
  had you at 15 and 1620, you know, a little off.
• 44:39
  But but you know, how do you think, you know, you guys are
• 44:43
  going to handle, you know, obviously you have another game
• 44:46
  before before the Jamboree games on Thursday, but you know, what
• 44:49
  do you think their mind frame is going to be?
• 44:51
  You know, now the seeds are out there in, you know, how do you
• 44:54
  think they handle all that going forward?
• 44:57
  You know, you guys can attest it probably more than I can.
• 44:59
  I just, I think kids nowadays, they don't fight like you say
• 45:03
  Jamboree to a lot of kids in a lot of places.
• 45:05
  And it's like, oh, it's, it's just a tournament is what?
• 45:08
  So I don't think that like back in the day, you know, we'd all
• 45:12
  be sitting there waiting for the for the announcement of, of who
• 45:15
  got what seat. I don't think kids were sitting
• 45:18
  on the end of their couch and. Last night, waiting with.
• 45:21
  Bated breath or whatever you want to call it, you know, to
• 45:24
  hear who they're playing and what their seat are.
• 45:26
  I just think that that the kids nowadays, it's just like who we
• 45:30
  play next, let's go play and that's it.
• 45:32
  So with with regards to that, I don't think that they they're
• 45:36
  happy to be in the tournament, but I don't think it was like,
• 45:38
  oh, where are we going to be? Who we going to play?
• 45:39
  You know, what seat are we going to get?
• 45:42
  So and I think that's good in a in a sense, because if you start
• 45:46
  over analyzing or always thinking, you know, maybe it
• 45:49
  could have a negative effect on yourself.
• 45:52
  And I don't know how other coaches would feel about that,
• 45:54
  but I do believe that the current athlete, they don't
• 45:57
  really live and die by the seed. They just say, hey, who are we
• 46:00
  playing? Where are we playing?
• 46:01
  And let's go as far as my team is concerned.
• 46:04
  Yeah, you mentioned Nick Carter Haney and he's having a super
• 46:07
  year for us, without a doubt, very talented 63 kid, play
• 46:11
  inside, outside, you know, but we we're we're not the deepest
• 46:16
  team. We usually only play about 5-6
• 46:18
  guys, but again, Nick's having a really good year for us and he's
• 46:22
  I think he's averaging 20, exactly 20 points and 11
• 46:25
  rebounds a game. You know, high school junior
• 46:28
  averaging a double double, you know, very, really impressive.
• 46:31
  You know, our lead guard Francisco, 10, who was an all
• 46:35
  County Allstate type football player is just the the greatest
• 46:38
  cared man and he just leads by example.
• 46:41
  We have another junior, Jeremiah Rementia, who you know he's a
• 46:45
  flasher in a really good pull up game, play some good defense for
• 46:49
  us, have a 66. Sophomore center Sebastian
• 46:53
  Caperso, who getting better and better every day, plays really
• 46:58
  hard, you know, finishes around the rim, you know, demands the
• 47:02
  ball. And unfortunately, we don't get
• 47:03
  it to him enough because he'll make it known.
• 47:06
  I'm hoping drumming the ball. Which is great for a young kid
• 47:09
  to have that, you know, type of personality.
• 47:11
  And then I have two other seniors who, you know, I can't
• 47:14
  speak any more highly of what they've.
• 47:16
  Brought to the. Program Peter Che, who's a you
• 47:19
  know, or like a shooting guard plays some really good defense
• 47:22
  and then Cameron Hannah who's like a six three.
• 47:25
  He's a four year starter for us. When he was a freshman we were
• 47:28
  really struggling. So we put him right in the
• 47:30
  starting lineup and he's been through a lot with us and just
• 47:33
  getting better and better. And just the way they handle
• 47:35
  themselves at practice and the way in which you know, they're,
• 47:39
  they're leading by example on the floor and just trying to
• 47:42
  hold their teammates accountable with Francisco.
• 47:44
  Who might be one of the? Best leaders I've ever had the
• 47:46
  privilege of coaching. It's been, it's been real fun to
• 47:49
  be around. And you know, wins are wins,
• 47:52
  losses are losses, but stronger. Kazak and I say it every day, we
• 47:55
  really are surrounded by a group of really good kids and that's
• 47:59
  what has made this season really enjoyable thus far.
• 48:03
  That's great. And, you know, we should go back
• 48:07
  and pull up some old shows, you know, when you're a little bit
• 48:09
  more, what's the word, cantankerous, combative.
• 48:13
  You. You and I throw myself in that
• 48:16
  category, too. We have mellowed as we've gotten
• 48:18
  older here. I'm curious to get your
• 48:20
  thoughts, though. OK, Yeah.
• 48:22
  I tell people all the time it's the post heart attack syndrome.
• 48:25
  Well, I haven't had mine yet, but I, I feel I'm trying to beat
• 48:28
  the beat the clock on that. But, you know, for years you
• 48:31
  were involved. You were the liaison for the,
• 48:33
  you know, Big N Conference to the, you know, for the Bergen
• 48:36
  County Coaches Association, the Jambo Committee and all that
• 48:38
  stuff. And you were deeply involved.
• 48:40
  And I know because we worked on stuff together, too, that you
• 48:42
  were, you know, dedicated to the task and trying to improve the
• 48:45
  tournament, trying to improve, you know, basketball in North
• 48:48
  Jersey. You've kind of taken a step back
• 48:51
  from that, which, like you said, is probably a wise decision for
• 48:54
  the, you know, coronary arteries.
• 48:57
  But but you know, I'm curious to get your thoughts on the state
• 49:02
  of basketball now, because Brad and I have been talking about it
• 49:05
  and, you know, I'm like re energized and pumped up about
• 49:08
  this season because, you know, if you took Burton Catholic out
• 49:13
  of this tournament and take nothing away from them, they're
• 49:15
  the obvious favorite and everything else.
• 49:16
  I I feel like there's six or seven different teams that could
• 49:19
  probably win this Burton County Jamboree.
• 49:23
  So I, you know, who knows how long it'll last.
• 49:25
  You know, Bosco could get back to its dominant self in the not
• 49:28
  too distant future. Same for Saint Joe's.
• 49:30
  Somebody else could pop up and, you know, decide that they want
• 49:33
  to market their non public school through sports and that
• 49:36
  is their prerogative. But if you just freeze frame
• 49:38
  this year, 2026, this is going to make for a heck of a
• 49:42
  Jamboree. And I know you've been around
• 49:43
  the game in Bergen County for a long time.
• 49:46
  Just your thoughts on the general shape of Bergen County
• 49:48
  basketball. Yeah.
• 49:50
  And 1st, you know, going back to, you know, I loved my
• 49:54
  opportunity in the days in which I was involved with the Jambo
• 49:57
  committee as the liaison and then having the honor of, you
• 50:01
  know, running the all county meeting and presenting the, the
• 50:04
  all county recipients at the, at the dinner and everything like
• 50:07
  that. I, I have a lot of respect for
• 50:10
  those guys on the committee and I know they do a great job and
• 50:14
  I, and sometimes, you know, appeasing all the coaches and
• 50:17
  the masses becomes very difficult And, and I, I
• 50:20
  understand that, but obviously this year, you know, there was a
• 50:24
  clear cut number one season. But then, like you said, like,
• 50:28
  you know, coach gas down at Saint Mary's and and Jeff,
• 50:31
  who's, you know, the salt of the earth type of guy with Tenafly
• 50:34
  and and Highlands and Teaneck and and Ridgewood with all
• 50:39
  these, these teams, you know, on any given night.
• 50:42
  And I'm, I'm not purposely skipping people.
• 50:44
  I'm just drawing drawing a blank because just as closely.
• 50:49
  You're an older gentleman at this point, yeah.
• 50:52
  I hate to admit Double Nickels. I hate to admit it, but double
• 50:56
  nickels is right around the corner.
• 50:58
  But you know, you know, I do agree with you.
• 51:01
  I think, you know, on any given night this year, there's so many
• 51:05
  teams who can beat one another and that's going to make it
• 51:09
  interesting. And it's also going to make the
• 51:11
  BIT interesting. I mean, there's no guarantee
• 51:13
  that some team that gets knocked.
• 51:15
  Out of the. Jamboree is going to go down and
• 51:16
  win the BIT either because I think you have #1 on its on its
• 51:22
  by itself and then you got the next 6 or 8 together and then
• 51:27
  the rest of the county. Is is basically.
• 51:29
  There. They're all in a hat.
• 51:30
  Yeah, they're all in a hat. And I so I think, you know,
• 51:33
  clearly you're right. Bergen is, is very, very good
• 51:37
  and and the clear cut favorite. But and, and I try to tell my
• 51:41
  guys this every single day. And any given day anybody could
• 51:44
  be in. I mean, who would have thought
• 51:45
  in my league that Fort Lee would have beat Cliffside Park?
• 51:48
  Cliffside Park is a very good basketball team.
• 51:50
  And then who would have thought earlier in the year Paramus
• 51:53
  would have beaten Ramapo. I mean, and Dan Redden does a
• 51:56
  tremendous job, but we're talking about Ramapo here.
• 51:58
  I mean, who's free one of the best programs in the state.
• 52:01
  Who would have thought? And I know Ramapo has had some
• 52:03
  injuries, you know, along the way and things like that.
• 52:06
  So it's just, but it goes to show you that any given day,
• 52:09
  anybody can beat anybody. I mean, it would take a
• 52:12
  Herculean effort to beat Bergen. But I think everybody else, you
• 52:16
  know, anything can happen. And hopefully, and that's what's
• 52:18
  going to hopefully make the tournament fun.
• 52:21
  Hope, honestly. Yeah.
• 52:23
  And, and like you say, it's probably not going to happen.
• 52:26
  It would take a huge effort to for somebody to knock off Bergen
• 52:30
  because I, I feel like the gap between 1:00 and 2:00 is, you
• 52:34
  know, as it's probably wider than it's ever been because
• 52:36
  there's no second, you know, powerhouse in there.
• 52:40
  But you only have to do it once where in years past when you had
• 52:44
  like, say, a Bergen Bosco, he was 123, you know, a team, no
• 52:48
  public school team was beating two of those on the way to a
• 52:50
  championship. And now what?
• 52:52
  No public school is probably going to beat one of them, but
• 52:55
  they only have to beat one of them.
• 52:57
  So there is an outside shot that something like that could
• 52:58
  happen. Brad, you have one more for
• 53:01
  Coach Gaskin before we let him get on his way.
• 53:07
  No, you know, I, I don't, I don't, I, I, I have so much
• 53:10
  respect for for Coach Gaskin. Like I said, I mean, he did
• 53:13
  describe that he may also have a, a, a future Jontello in
• 53:17
  Capurso. So I, I may have to get that to
• 53:20
  make sure I see a game. But yeah.
• 53:23
  You you, you know a. Lot of a lot of respect for for
• 53:26
  what him and his his team have have done in years past and and
• 53:30
  years, present and future, I'm sure.
• 53:33
  Yeah. It's just, you know, you kind of
• 53:35
  touched on it, you know, and and you were a former, you know,
• 53:37
  liaison. But, you know, it's just getting
• 53:39
  tougher and tougher, you know, you know, we, the Jamboree used
• 53:42
  to be 750, you know, every team, you know, once you started, you
• 53:45
  know, playing well, I remember when I was at Ellen Park, like
• 53:49
  we were, you know, making every win counted.
• 53:51
  Like we're trying to get to 750 to be in consideration to get
• 53:54
  in, you know, because it was only 16 teams, you know, and
• 53:58
  now, you know, now it's, you know, 650.
• 54:01
  And now call a spade a spade. Now, you know, even under 500
• 54:05
  gets you in, you know, but you know, at the end of the day, you
• 54:10
  know, you know, most of the teams that are in are all
• 54:12
  deserving of it. And, you know, it's not, I'm
• 54:16
  just, you know, I'm shocked that, you know, there's only
• 54:19
  four parochials in, you know, there's only four parochials
• 54:22
  that are in, you know, it's, it's definitely by far
• 54:24
  different, different landscape now than it than it's been in
• 54:28
  decades. Past.
• 54:30
  But. Yeah.
• 54:32
  You know, I I love the fact that there's a lot of public schools
• 54:34
  that are in it. And yeah, if you take Bergen out
• 54:37
  of the mix, you know, anybody, anybody can could win and get
• 54:40
  rolling. But yeah, I think it's going to
• 54:42
  be a very good Jamboree. And my hat is always off to you,
• 54:45
  Coach. I'm looking forward to to see
• 54:47
  how your first round game goes and potentially your second
• 54:50
  round game as well. I appreciate that very much,
• 54:53
  Brad. You know, I'm sitting over here
• 54:54
  listening to you and I and I am thinking back to like my days in
• 54:57
  high school where, you know, the whole entire county used to, you
• 55:01
  know, trek over to Hackensack High School and every game was
• 55:04
  being played over there and and their gym was packed to the
• 55:07
  Raptors. You know, never forget like
• 55:10
  Pagoda versus Teaneck, Pat Sullivan versus the kid, Heino
• 55:13
  Soto and, you know, Dean Smith and all these guys are in the
• 55:17
  front row. And the gym was.
• 55:18
  Mobbed and there were 200 people sitting outside.
• 55:21
  I don't know if the gym gets to that level anymore.
• 55:24
  People have so much more to do in their own personal lives and
• 55:27
  there's more, you know, whatever.
• 55:28
  Maybe they're not as interested. But I mean, again, I got that.
• 55:32
  Those are always my thoughts come Jamboree time.
• 55:35
  It's just a packed gym, people trying to get in to watch the
• 55:38
  the best teams in the county play.
• 55:41
  You know, I wish we could get back to that, but I just think
• 55:43
  we live in a in a world where everybody's had so many other
• 55:46
  things to do. And maybe high school sports
• 55:48
  isn't a priority. But it'd be nice if over the
• 55:51
  next couple weeks, these players on all these teams get to
• 55:55
  experience things like that, you know, playing in front of, you
• 55:58
  know, not just families and friends, but, you know,
• 56:00
  hopefully their classmates and people in the community come out
• 56:03
  and and back them up, Show respect for what the kids and
• 56:07
  the coaches are doing for their for their hometowns and
• 56:09
  everything. Yeah, well, it's just weird.
• 56:11
  And I feel like, you know, the I, I harp on it all over and
• 56:16
  over again, especially on our football show.
• 56:18
  And I talk about it all the time with everybody that I meet.
• 56:21
  I talk to people. I don't know why there has been
• 56:25
  an assault on the traditions of high school sports.
• 56:29
  It is built on local rivalries. That's all it's about.
• 56:32
  We just had Jeff Kohler on. He had a packed gym when they
• 56:34
  played Teaneck in the regular season.
• 56:37
  He had a packed gym when he played Demarest in the regular
• 56:40
  season. You can bring people.
• 56:42
  This Jambo is going to be well attended.
• 56:44
  Chris, I've seen you there. We've been at Tenafly in the
• 56:48
  round of 16 the last few years. It's you know, and, and again,
• 56:52
  like I'm ingrained like you are. I started covering this thing.
• 56:55
  You'd have to get to Tenafly High School on that round of 16
• 56:58
  or Northern Highlands, you know, and.
• 57:00
  I would get there an hour, hour and. 15 minutes before the game,
• 57:02
  make sure I got a parking spot, make sure I got a spot where I
• 57:04
  could set up my light and be ready to go for the game.
• 57:07
  And like the last couple years, I get there an hour and a half
• 57:09
  before and I'm like, where is everybody?
• 57:11
  You know. And slowly but surely, maybe
• 57:14
  we're coming to the realization that maybe we should get back to
• 57:17
  the roots of what high school sports are supposed to be.
• 57:20
  You're not keeping the best players in the world around.
• 57:24
  They're not even in New York City playing the in the Catholic
• 57:27
  League anymore. They're gone.
• 57:28
  They're at IMG. That's what.
• 57:34
  So even if the level of play has climbed down and taken a few
• 57:38
  steps back, it's so much better when it's competitive between
• 57:42
  local teams. You see it in the state final in
• 57:45
  football. Nobody went to see Ramapo play
• 57:47
  Winslow, Nobody cares. Everybody went to see Don Bosco
• 57:51
  prep play Saint Joe's. It was a glorified sectional
• 57:55
  sectional final and you had 10,000 people in in in Giants
• 57:58
  Stadium. It's not rocket science and I
• 58:00
  don't know why we insist on taking the local at a local high
• 58:06
  school sports. Perfect example and they need to
• 58:09
  change this immediately. Park Ridge, Emerson and
• 58:13
  Cresskill need to play each other in every sport 2 * a year,
• 58:18
  once. If it's in football.
• 58:19
  I don't care if they were good last year or not.
• 58:22
  They need to play each other. Richfield Park and its rivals
• 58:26
  need to play each other. Old Japan has to play Demarest,
• 58:30
  Elmwood Park, Brad, who do they got to play?
• 58:34
  And Garfield, Yeah, Elmwood Park has to play Garfield.
• 58:37
  Mr. Gaskin, thank you for sitting through my soapbox
• 58:41
  soliloquy. Thank you for joining us on.
• 58:46
  The it's been a pleasure guys. Thank you for having me.
• 58:48
  I know it's been a while but anytime I can help.
• 58:50
  You know, just just shoot me a holler.
• 58:52
  See you. Thursday.
• 58:53
  Appreciate it. All right, that was great stuff
• 58:55
  there with Richfield Park head coach Chris Gaskin and we are
• 58:58
  moving on to our next guest on this episode of The Ball Game
• 59:03
  here on North Jersey sports.com. Com the off the air Elmwood Park
• 59:08
  High School talk now over we go on the record to talk Demarest
• 59:12
  hoops with Pat Gabriel. Coach, thanks for joining us
• 59:15
  here on THE ball game. Thanks for having.
• 59:18
  Me guys, so I saw you yesterday in the gym.
• 59:21
  I was up covering the Emerson Pascack Hills girls basketball
• 59:25
  game. Great things going on with the
• 59:26
  Emerson girls basketball program of which your daughter is apart.
• 59:30
  And the first thing you know, then we spent the next 4 talking
• 59:35
  about the Bergen County Jamboree.
• 59:38
  I had you, you know in in my bracket, my pre bracket, I had
• 59:42
  you up at #6 Brad, I don't remember you.
• 59:46
  You had him at 7 in at #9 which changes things a little bit.
• 59:51
  Instead of hosting AI mean instead of you know a buy into
• 59:56
  the round of 16, you'll be hosting a first round game
• 59:59
  against the plucky opponent #24 Fairlawn.
• 1:00:02
  I just, you know, and. The committee has a tough job
• 1:00:05
  and blah, blah, blah and all that stuff and, and we know
• 1:00:07
  that's the case, but how are you feeling with the number 9 seed
• 1:00:11
  in the opening round? It's kind of where I thought we
• 1:00:15
  would we would be. I didn't, I didn't know.
• 1:00:18
  I mean, I think I said this to you yesterday.
• 1:00:20
  I could have seen us as high as 5 or 6 just based on the
• 1:00:27
  schedule we played. You know, obviously with
• 1:00:30
  Tenafly, Highlands and Teaneck beating us.
• 1:00:34
  But those are only three losses in the county.
• 1:00:37
  And I didn't know how the committee would look at us.
• 1:00:39
  Would they look at us as well? You lost those 3 opponents
• 1:00:43
  because they're really, really good and then you're in that
• 1:00:45
  next level. Or would they put us below a
• 1:00:49
  Ridgewood Hackensack? You know, I did.
• 1:00:52
  Bosco is the anomaly. You had no idea what the
• 1:00:55
  committee was going to do with Bosco.
• 1:00:58
  And so when when you start looking at the things and then
• 1:01:01
  half of that D Highlands on Thursday night, I did kind of
• 1:01:05
  feel like that, you know, 9-8 or nine would be where we would be
• 1:01:10
  at. If we were higher.
• 1:01:11
  I wouldn't have been surprised, but I didn't think we would fall
• 1:01:14
  below 9 and that's. Right where we're at.
• 1:01:17
  So you're cool with it and talk about a tough first round
• 1:01:21
  opponent in Fairlawn I had. I didn't have Fairlawn making
• 1:01:24
  it, but I don't have a problem with them making it.
• 1:01:26
  I mean, they're a team that has given a lot of good Big N
• 1:01:31
  programs a run. They only lost to Ridgewood the
• 1:01:33
  other day, as we heard from the two.
• 1:01:35
  And who is that referee for what?
• 1:01:38
  The the one that we were talking to at the game yesterday.
• 1:01:40
  I was telling Brad earlier that a referee, and I never know them
• 1:01:42
  by name. I know them all by face and I
• 1:01:45
  just called everyone Frank. Yeah, thank you senior moment
• 1:01:49
  there for me. But you know, he was telling us
• 1:01:51
  he had the game where Fairlawn only lost the Ridgewood by two.
• 1:01:55
  So you know they're going to be a a tough oh, wait, Casa Bella
• 1:01:59
  does a great job, no doubt about.
• 1:02:00
  It I always do a tough job. But yeah, just talk, talk about
• 1:02:04
  what's in store for you against Fairlawn.
• 1:02:06
  Yeah, if there if. There's a problem I have with
• 1:02:08
  the, with the Jamboree committees putting Kyle and
• 1:02:10
  Fairlawn at 24. Yeah, you know, you know, you're
• 1:02:16
  looking at them and and the crazy thing is, and, and again,
• 1:02:20
  I'm not in the room, you know, none of us are.
• 1:02:22
  But like had Fairlon lost the Cliff side I don't know if they
• 1:02:25
  would have gotten. In yesterday.
• 1:02:27
  If the you know if they lost that game.
• 1:02:29
  And I think that way got them in.
• 1:02:32
  I agree, and they're good. Like, I, I don't know, you know,
• 1:02:37
  the kid Jimenez, you know, the guard is very good.
• 1:02:40
  He's got the two sophomores that play well.
• 1:02:42
  And then you know the king inside.
• 1:02:45
  He's he's. Got a?
• 1:02:46
  Huge motor. I mean, he just he just goes
• 1:02:50
  like I could see why, you know, they lost by two to Richard the
• 1:02:55
  other night and and and like I said, I'm looking at that.
• 1:02:59
  I'm going wow, there, that's a 24 seed.
• 1:03:01
  And but, but again, when you look at the rest of the bracket,
• 1:03:05
  there's so much parity in in the county this year.
• 1:03:08
  Like, I don't know, you know what, what could you have done?
• 1:03:13
  Flip flop them and Emerson Emerson's, what, 14 and 1?
• 1:03:17
  You know, I mean, think about that 14 and one team getting a
• 1:03:19
  23 seat. So, so we're going to have our
• 1:03:23
  hands full like this isn't your, your old school 924, you know
• 1:03:28
  where it's going to be over by halftime.
• 1:03:30
  Like this is going to be a battle.
• 1:03:32
  And, and my guys, I mean, fortunately, my guys, we're not,
• 1:03:36
  we're not at that level where we take anybody for granted or can
• 1:03:40
  take anybody for granted. You know, we'll be ready to go.
• 1:03:42
  But I mean, they're well coached.
• 1:03:43
  They play really hard. And you know, we're going to
• 1:03:46
  have our hands full on Thursday night with them.
• 1:03:48
  No doubt. Go ahead, Brad.
• 1:03:51
  Yeah, so. You know, for me, you know, and,
• 1:03:53
  and you know, Pat me and you go go way back, you know, it's a
• 1:04:00
  little different, You know, for me, you know, the Jamboree, you
• 1:04:02
  know, we, we talked, you know, if you took Bergen out right,
• 1:04:04
  the Jamboree would be we, we think the Jamboree would be up
• 1:04:07
  for grabs. Yep, for a public school for
• 1:04:10
  anybody really. And, and, and you were part of
• 1:04:12
  you were part of past, you know, Jamboree where you know, every
• 1:04:16
  win was, was you need to get the wins.
• 1:04:18
  You know, it was 750, you know, and we were like hoping you, you
• 1:04:21
  got in. And I know it's a little
• 1:04:23
  different now, but but yeah, like, yeah, I think, you know,
• 1:04:26
  failing at at 24 is dangerous, you know, And then, you know, on
• 1:04:33
  one hand, half a dozen in the other, you know, they can go
• 1:04:36
  either way. Yeah.
• 1:04:39
  But you know, you know. But you know I know.
• 1:04:42
  You you've got a lot of. You know your teams, you know,
• 1:04:45
  and I and I know how your teams play because I, I, I sat next to
• 1:04:49
  this on the bench with you. So I so I know the style and
• 1:04:51
  everything else. You know, how do these teams,
• 1:04:54
  how does your team this year, right, compared to some of your
• 1:04:57
  teams previously where you know, those teams took you to the
• 1:05:00
  discussion finals again and and so on and so forth.
• 1:05:02
  Like, how do you see this team? Shake.
• 1:05:06
  It up, you know, getting a nine seed, you know, is do they have
• 1:05:10
  that is a chip on my shoulder because we we deserve the first
• 1:05:13
  round Bye or is it like are we going to you know, be a little
• 1:05:17
  more nonchalant and then careful almost get you know, you could
• 1:05:20
  potentially get cooked by a fairlon who's they don't have a
• 1:05:23
  Chris Mosley inside, but they're not they're not bad either.
• 1:05:25
  Yeah. Yeah, no, this team, I mean,
• 1:05:28
  definitely. They've had a.
• 1:05:31
  Chip on their shoulder. All year we've talked about with
• 1:05:34
  this group how we felt across the.
• 1:05:37
  Board. Most people thought we were
• 1:05:41
  going to take a bunch of steps backwards.
• 1:05:43
  You know when when you lose a ZAP Slide and a Marco to Croce
• 1:05:47
  and a Nick Gorenstein. I mean, they were.
• 1:05:48
  Those are top three scores from last year's young team and
• 1:05:53
  you're like. Well, you're going to lose those
• 1:05:54
  3. Kids, you know Zach is the all
• 1:05:56
  time leading scorer at in Demers.
• 1:05:57
  You know high school history. Yeah.
• 1:05:59
  You almost had 1000 points in a senior year alone.
• 1:06:02
  Yeah. And so you're losing him and he,
• 1:06:04
  he played for us since he was a freshman.
• 1:06:07
  And then you, you remove 6/4 of the reason 1 football player in
• 1:06:10
  the middle, OK, and Marco and then Nick, Nick graduates one of
• 1:06:14
  the best shooters in the county. And people definitely thought we
• 1:06:18
  were going to be, you know, not good, so to speak.
• 1:06:22
  And so we've said that to our guys, you know, you need to play
• 1:06:24
  with a chip on your shoulder because we had enough coming
• 1:06:27
  back. And we've actually, we've
• 1:06:31
  actually sustained 2 season ending injuries to kids.
• 1:06:35
  One that played last year was our 7th man off the bench that
• 1:06:39
  would have been a starter this year.
• 1:06:40
  And he was out for the season before the season started.
• 1:06:43
  So they're definitely not going to take fair loan lightly.
• 1:06:47
  OK, one, I mean, you guys both know me, I won't allow it.
• 1:06:52
  You know, there's no way that that I'm going to allow them to,
• 1:06:54
  you know, walk in the gym and take what were the 9 And they're
• 1:06:56
  the 24. We learned our lesson 3 years
• 1:06:59
  ago when I think we were the, you know, the 11 playing
• 1:07:02
  Lyndhurst at home. And Lyndhurst is like the 21,
• 1:07:05
  whatever it was, and it took overtime.
• 1:07:08
  We were down 18 in the third quarter and had to come all the
• 1:07:12
  way back and had to beat win that game in overtime.
• 1:07:15
  And Anthony Bernardes is a freshman on that team and now
• 1:07:18
  he's a senior. So, you know, our senior class
• 1:07:20
  remembers that game that you can't, you know, you can't take
• 1:07:23
  any of these schools lightly. So I don't worry about that.
• 1:07:26
  I think for us it's more of the chip on the shoulder.
• 1:07:30
  Speaking to them this morning and some of them last night, you
• 1:07:34
  know, they did feel like with the schedule we played that we
• 1:07:38
  wanted to buy. But like I said to them, I.
• 1:07:42
  Said, you know, you say it all the time of practice.
• 1:07:45
  You know, worry about the things you can control.
• 1:07:48
  You have no control over stuff like this.
• 1:07:49
  We play the teams that were scheduled to play whoever's next
• 1:07:53
  on our schedule. You know, we have passing fills
• 1:07:56
  on Tuesday. That will be our main concern,
• 1:07:58
  you know, tomorrow. And then, you know, we'll
• 1:08:00
  prepare for Wednesday with the guys on Wednesday for, you know,
• 1:08:03
  for Fairlawn on Thursday. But, you know, they're
• 1:08:05
  definitely gonna have a chip on their shoulder, but in a good
• 1:08:08
  way. You know, like I said, I don't,
• 1:08:10
  I don't envy the the committee. I feel like they see this right
• 1:08:14
  where we probably belong. And I'm OK with the seed, you
• 1:08:18
  know, but kids are kids, you know, sometimes they kind of get
• 1:08:21
  lost in like, oh, we shouldn't be this heat or we shouldn't be
• 1:08:22
  that seat. And no, you, this is going to be
• 1:08:25
  a tough enough game, you know, in round one, you know, playing
• 1:08:28
  Fairlawn who Kyle's in, in the Jamboree, you know, these,
• 1:08:32
  these, it's not like their first time in like 15 years.
• 1:08:34
  You know, they're good year in and year out.
• 1:08:37
  And you know, and I think they're playing, you know, their
• 1:08:41
  best basketball as far as you know, through the 1st 11 games
• 1:08:43
  right now. And so like I said, it's, you
• 1:08:47
  know, we better have a chip on your shoulder because if not,
• 1:08:50
  you know, fair alone, come in and clip us.
• 1:08:52
  Yeah, no doubt about it. So since so since you didn't
• 1:08:54
  play yesterday, did you already text a pedo and ask for them to
• 1:08:58
  shovel and and plow out the parking lot so you could have?
• 1:09:01
  Practice today. I've already I've already said
• 1:09:04
  them with it. Is there any?
• 1:09:05
  I just actually got the text message.
• 1:09:06
  Before we, before you guys, I knew it.
• 1:09:09
  I knew it that they're out of school and you're like, uh oh,
• 1:09:12
  you know, what are we going to do for tomorrow?
• 1:09:14
  So I don't know, you know, who knows?
• 1:09:16
  We'll find the court in Creston when the kids play Will Shovel.
• 1:09:18
  Practice outside. If anybody knows Michael Pito,
• 1:09:21
  they know he's out there shoveling by himself right now,
• 1:09:24
  and we'll be doing so until the snow ceases.
• 1:09:26
  He wants to win in the Bergen County Jamboree as well.
• 1:09:29
  And he's got, yeah, he's got plenty of energy, so he's.
• 1:09:32
  It's no problem at all. He'll take care.
• 1:09:34
  Exactly. So I, I pat, you guys have, you
• 1:09:39
  know, you went to the section final last year and it's funny,
• 1:09:42
  with a pair of brothers who graduated and now their younger
• 1:09:44
  brothers are stepping up to take a bigger role.
• 1:09:46
  Yeah. Yeah.
• 1:09:47
  Yeah, that's a that's a weird dynamic for a team and it it
• 1:09:50
  could have gone terribly wrong, you know, trying to live up to
• 1:09:53
  brothers who had, you know, great varsity careers and and
• 1:09:57
  trying to but sounds. Familiar.
• 1:09:59
  Right. But you know, they've pulled it
• 1:10:02
  off and it seems like you got buy in from everybody.
• 1:10:04
  And and I think the proof of that is the fact that we just
• 1:10:07
  had Chris Gaskin on before you and he was saying that his kids
• 1:10:11
  don't necessarily. I mean, again, they're into the
• 1:10:13
  season in their own way, but not might not have been hanging at
• 1:10:17
  the edge of their seat to find out where they were seated and
• 1:10:19
  everything else, you know, more of a, you know, whoever.
• 1:10:21
  It is. Whatever.
• 1:10:23
  Yes, so was I. And now to hear you say that
• 1:10:25
  your kids when you were talking to him last night, were like,
• 1:10:27
  you know, breaking down the bracket and maybe thought they
• 1:10:30
  should had a buy and all that other stuff.
• 1:10:31
  So, you know, I, I think you have buy in from the group that
• 1:10:35
  way and also talk about the, you know, the unique situation that
• 1:10:38
  is, you know, two brothers stepping up to fill the roles
• 1:10:41
  vacated by their two older brothers.
• 1:10:44
  Yeah. I mean, it's, you know, both of
• 1:10:47
  them. It's, it's funny.
• 1:10:49
  We, you know, Nick Gorenstein was such a, we say we, we talk
• 1:10:54
  about them as practice a lot. How Nick was like a type B
• 1:10:57
  personality. You know what I mean?
• 1:11:00
  You know, we, we'd be in practice, you know, going over
• 1:11:02
  something and Nick would be standing in the corner, you
• 1:11:04
  know, as we're going over a set or defensive assignment and Nick
• 1:11:07
  could be working on his golf swing.
• 1:11:09
  You know, stay with me, stay with me.
• 1:11:12
  You know, we're Julian now is the type A personality.
• 1:11:18
  You know what I mean? They are different in that
• 1:11:20
  respect. And listen, and and we've said
• 1:11:22
  this all along the past two years, we are not as successful
• 1:11:28
  as we were if Nick Gorenstein was a type A personality,
• 1:11:33
  because if he was ever a kid that said, I need the ball, I
• 1:11:36
  need to get 15 shots in the game, OK, it could have been an
• 1:11:40
  issue. But because he was OK getting
• 1:11:43
  six or seven shots a game, it was it just fit, you know what I
• 1:11:47
  mean? And that's why that team was
• 1:11:51
  successful. They all they loved each other.
• 1:11:53
  They hung out outside the floor. Now, Julian is different than
• 1:11:57
  Nick. Julian is is the type A
• 1:11:59
  personality. And, you know, he's been our
• 1:12:03
  leading scorer this year. And Jake, Jake's got it even
• 1:12:07
  worse because he's his older brother is the school's old
• 1:12:10
  family score, right? You know, and and they're two
• 1:12:13
  totally different people as well, you know, you know, So
• 1:12:18
  it's so you do you feel bad for them at times because you know,
• 1:12:22
  you're like, they're their own person.
• 1:12:25
  You know, they're not young. Julian's not Nick and Jake's not
• 1:12:29
  Zach, but they're both, I'm so proud of them because they're
• 1:12:32
  both figuring, figuring out for themselves.
• 1:12:36
  You know, they're carving their own niche here because they're
• 1:12:41
  they've done. I mean, without them, we're not
• 1:12:42
  ten and five. Yeah, they they've done a great
• 1:12:45
  job. And Jake more so in this
• 1:12:48
  respect. The two of them can score and
• 1:12:51
  score the basketball for us. But Jake is assuming Zach's
• 1:12:54
  role. You know, a lot of people didn't
• 1:12:56
  realize that Zach, yeah, he scored 1500 points in his career
• 1:12:59
  for us. But Zach also guard the other
• 1:13:01
  team's best player every night. Yes, he was a great.
• 1:13:03
  Defender, great defender for us. And Jake has embraced that role.
• 1:13:08
  And that's coming from Zach. You know, Zach and I talk a lot
• 1:13:11
  still. You know, he got from Wisconsin
• 1:13:14
  and he'll text me and we'll talk and he's like, coach, I keep
• 1:13:17
  telling Jake he's got embrace the role of guarding the other
• 1:13:19
  team's best player. And Jake has and he's done a
• 1:13:22
  great job of that, you know, So I I don't envy the position the
• 1:13:27
  two of them are in. It's tough following their
• 1:13:29
  brothers, you know, Brad with you and Jared, he's gonna play
• 1:13:32
  together. So there's a little bit, you
• 1:13:35
  know, but these two, I mean, definitely, yeah, it was great
• 1:13:38
  at the time because you have, you know, when Jake and Julie
• 1:13:41
  come up as freshmen, you know, when when they get nervous on
• 1:13:44
  the floor, Well, the brothers are on the floor probably with
• 1:13:46
  them, you know, so you just give the ball to them kind of, you
• 1:13:48
  know. So there's that comfort level
• 1:13:51
  where you and Jared didn't have that.
• 1:13:53
  But I think it was like a. It's a pressure thing, Pat.
• 1:13:56
  You know, when you, when you get to play with your brother,
• 1:13:58
  there's not as much pressure to to be this thing as your brother
• 1:14:01
  because you, you occupied the floor at the same time as you
• 1:14:03
  practice against each other, right?
• 1:14:04
  Like with me and Chris. You know.
• 1:14:06
  Me and Chris had kind of were already proven so now when Jared
• 1:14:11
  and Sean are coming up and they're trying to.
• 1:14:14
  You know. Yeah, like it's like we can't
• 1:14:17
  not try and win a section championship because our
• 1:14:19
  brothers did it and we would be under, We're performing if we
• 1:14:22
  didn't do the same things that our older brothers did.
• 1:14:25
  Yes 100% agree and but now that the brothers aren't there.
• 1:14:30
  Is that added? Pressure now because they were
• 1:14:32
  with their brothers. Well, that they left and you can
• 1:14:35
  you continue the winning tradition that your brothers
• 1:14:37
  started, you know, because that because that senior class last
• 1:14:41
  year with Zach and Nick and Marco, that was my first year.
• 1:14:45
  So they that group is the one that started what we've built at
• 1:14:49
  Damurst. And so now it's like, well, Jake
• 1:14:51
  and Julian, can you continue with your brothers, you know,
• 1:14:55
  have set in motion and they've done a great job of it.
• 1:14:58
  You know, so, I mean, I couldn't be prouder of the two of them,
• 1:15:01
  you know, how they how they handle everything that we throw
• 1:15:03
  at them. And I mean, most excited about
• 1:15:06
  that. They're juniors.
• 1:15:07
  I get it for another year, yeah. And it's, it's, it's, it's crazy
• 1:15:11
  too, just looking at the wider picture beside the Jamboree.
• 1:15:15
  I mean, you know, these are important games too, because
• 1:15:17
  there is so much parity and you're playing in the tough
• 1:15:20
  state section and every PowerPoint you can get, you
• 1:15:22
  know, those extra home games. You know, there's a lot to play
• 1:15:26
  for at this time of the year because, you know, we're all
• 1:15:28
  caught up in the Jamboree. And it's great because it's, you
• 1:15:30
  know, Burton County centric or whatever.
• 1:15:31
  But this is a great time of the year to, you know, set up what
• 1:15:35
  comes, what you hope is going to come later.
• 1:15:37
  So maybe you know just a word here on the bigger picture of
• 1:15:41
  Demers basketball, what you guys are hoping to to achieve even
• 1:15:44
  outside of Bergen County Jamboree and moving forward.
• 1:15:47
  Yeah. I mean, it's yeah.
• 1:15:49
  Listen, Corey, you and I talked about it yesterday.
• 1:15:51
  I mean. We talked about.
• 1:15:53
  Everything yesterday. Everything yesterday.
• 1:15:55
  But yeah, the Jamboree is, is one of the best tournaments in
• 1:15:59
  the state, the county tournament.
• 1:16:01
  You know, I said you, you know, I've been fortunate, you know,
• 1:16:04
  having coached in college, you know, for 15 years that I was,
• 1:16:06
  you know, I've been able to see other county tournaments and,
• 1:16:09
  and other than the Shore Conference tournament.
• 1:16:11
  Yeah, I was going. To say the Shore Conference is
• 1:16:12
  probably the only other one, yeah.
• 1:16:14
  Yeah. The Shore Conference tournament
• 1:16:15
  is great. A local.
• 1:16:16
  College. Thing I guess we we know where
• 1:16:18
  where to go. Yeah, you, you know, you know
• 1:16:19
  where the good ones are. The Jamboree is, is right with
• 1:16:23
  them, you know, and it's a lot of fun.
• 1:16:26
  You, you're going to play in front of, you know, good crowds.
• 1:16:29
  I mean, like we said, yes, of course, like the first round
• 1:16:32
  games when it used to be at Paramus Catholic and Burning
• 1:16:35
  Catholic, those places were packed.
• 1:16:37
  Yeah. You know, I, I, I think.
• 1:16:40
  It's lost a little bit that that now you get a home game and not
• 1:16:42
  that I'm complaining because I like having the home game.
• 1:16:44
  We haven't played so many home games this year at all.
• 1:16:46
  But you know, he you're going to get that second round at Tenafly
• 1:16:51
  and Northern Highlands, and those kids are going to be
• 1:16:53
  crowded. I agree for the first time in a
• 1:16:55
  few years they are going to be crowded.
• 1:16:57
  Yeah. And because the big behemoths
• 1:16:59
  are not going to come in and kill everybody by 40.
• 1:17:01
  Yeah, and, and to your point, and, and it's not a knock on
• 1:17:05
  what Billy's done at Bergen, you know, God bless them, they're
• 1:17:08
  doing an awesome job and everything like that.
• 1:17:10
  But you take Bergen out of the equation and this is a really
• 1:17:14
  fun tournament. Like we said last year, I
• 1:17:16
  remember we're sitting, you know, in Hackensack and we said,
• 1:17:20
  you know, in the quarterfinals, it was, I believe, if I remember
• 1:17:23
  correctly, 4 publics or 4 parochials, right.
• 1:17:26
  And we we played Bosco and we're sitting there like, wow, how
• 1:17:30
  much fun would this be if it was us, Ridgewood Highlands and I
• 1:17:34
  forget who, the 4th 1, the 4th Ramify.
• 1:17:37
  I think it was the 4th public last year.
• 1:17:40
  And I'm like, imagine that as a semi final.
• 1:17:42
  All four of us go into the semi finals saying to yourselves, we
• 1:17:46
  can realistically win this tournament, you know, and this
• 1:17:50
  year minus Bergen, unfortunately every other game it would be
• 1:17:58
  fun. I mean both teams are going to
• 1:18:00
  those games saying we can win this game and get to a final.
• 1:18:04
  Now, obviously when you're running to Bergen, you know it's
• 1:18:08
  going to take, you know, a miracle.
• 1:18:10
  I I think, you know, feed them because they're that good, but
• 1:18:15
  every other game should be fun. You should go into that game
• 1:18:19
  saying, you know, Saint Mary's is a three seat.
• 1:18:22
  Yep. You know, I mean, you're talking
• 1:18:23
  about a possible and I'm not not getting the TS, but if the seas
• 1:18:27
  hold, you're looking at a Saint Mary's.
• 1:18:29
  Ridgewood, right? Ridgewood's a six, I believe.
• 1:18:33
  Ridgewood. 5. Hackensack's a six.
• 1:18:36
  Yes. You're talking about Saint
• 1:18:38
  Mary's Hackensack. Now we scrimmaged, you know,
• 1:18:40
  Aaron and Hackensack, they're good.
• 1:18:42
  Yeah. They're real good.
• 1:18:45
  Yeah. And so that's a fun game, you
• 1:18:48
  know, that that's the game that you're trying to say, wow, that
• 1:18:50
  that's a good out of the wire, you know?
• 1:18:52
  Yeah, he's got. He's got some size, too.
• 1:18:54
  Yeah. You know Bosco, Yeah, very got
• 1:18:56
  some size could. Be.
• 1:18:57
  Yeah. Henna Π's gonna be a really good
• 1:18:59
  one. And.
• 1:19:00
  I I gotta? Be a little, and I'm a little
• 1:19:02
  partial for that one because like I said, I mean, you know, I
• 1:19:05
  obviously I've been a fun place for Bosco.
• 1:19:06
  Yes. Plays.
• 1:19:07
  Bosco But I mean, yeah, that's it.
• 1:19:10
  I think that can be a very good game.
• 1:19:12
  Yeah. Those, I mean, I thought I had
• 1:19:14
  it. I got Bosco Tenafly.
• 1:19:15
  I think that's gonna be a very good game.
• 1:19:16
  Yeah. And and you're not looking at,
• 1:19:18
  you know, a 40 point blowout, you're looking at a really good
• 1:19:22
  high school basketball game. And that's, you're hopeful.
• 1:19:25
  That's what the state, that's what the county tournament is
• 1:19:28
  about for us. This and we knew I knew coming
• 1:19:32
  in Highlands was was senior dominant.
• 1:19:35
  OK, I knew that they were going to be very good coming in.
• 1:19:38
  I don't think anybody saw T neck.
• 1:19:40
  No, I'm going to be told you out when you graduate 4 starters.
• 1:19:43
  What Damon has done, it has been an incredible job getting that
• 1:19:48
  team to play as well as they've played because he graduated 4
• 1:19:52
  starters and pretty good players.
• 1:19:55
  OK, one one of them at at planet William Patterson.
• 1:19:58
  The other one is, you know, Ty Carney's over at.
• 1:20:00
  Montclair, and then Harnett was at Ramapo.
• 1:20:04
  Was at Ramapo. I don't, I don't, wasn't Ramapo
• 1:20:06
  got. Hurt and then he moved to from
• 1:20:08
  what I was told I think he moved to like South Carolina or
• 1:20:11
  something. So he's not at Ramapo anymore
• 1:20:14
  but some pretty good basketball players that that Damon
• 1:20:17
  graduated and to see what they're doing this year, you
• 1:20:21
  know is is remarkable. But when you have Tenafly senior
• 1:20:26
  dominant, you know, Teaneck is loaded, you know, in Northern
• 1:20:30
  Highlands, our section is brutal.
• 1:20:33
  Yes. And they're, and now for us, I'd
• 1:20:36
  like to say they're senior, they're senior dominated.
• 1:20:38
  And you know, I'm, I'm in gradually 3 starters, but I do
• 1:20:42
  have a lot of young kids that are coming up and who are also,
• 1:20:46
  you know, playing in our program.
• 1:20:47
  So I like to think we're not going to go backwards next year.
• 1:20:49
  We're going to be a little bit better, but these games for us,
• 1:20:53
  for my guys, not having a Zack, a Nick.
• 1:20:58
  A Marco on the. Floor when adversity hits is
• 1:21:02
  going to help prepare us before those games come state
• 1:21:06
  tournament time because it's just and we saw it last year
• 1:21:09
  yeah our second round opponent was Wayne Valley right like
• 1:21:12
  there's just there's just no let up it's just it's constant every
• 1:21:16
  single you know every single night in in Group 3 is a battle
• 1:21:20
  and so hopefully. This prepares us for that.
• 1:21:23
  Pat Gabriel, We talked about everything yesterday.
• 1:21:26
  We've done it again today and it's been a pleasure, you know,
• 1:21:30
  catching up and I, you know, we needed this snow day just so we
• 1:21:34
  could coalesce around North Jersey high school basketball.
• 1:21:37
  It's been great. It's been refreshing.
• 1:21:39
  And thank you for joining us on The Ball Game.
• 1:21:43
  Anytime. Thanks for having you guys.
• 1:21:44
  All right. Great stuff there with Pat
• 1:21:46
  Gabriel from Demarest. And as we move on to our last
• 1:21:51
  but not least guest on this Snow Day episode, Jambo preview
• 1:21:55
  episode of the ball game, we have our NJ IC representative.
• 1:22:01
  He is Waldwick head coach. Greg McBain Coach, thanks for
• 1:22:04
  joining us here on the ball Game.
• 1:22:07
  My pleasure guys. Thanks for having me.
• 1:22:09
  I appreciate it. Yes.
• 1:22:10
  So you know, before we came on the air here, we're having a
• 1:22:12
  little bit of fun reminiscing, going down memory lane and you
• 1:22:16
  brought up an interesting something that I had totally
• 1:22:19
  forgotten about. I was, I mean we were in the gym
• 1:22:21
  at the same time. I think I even interviewed you
• 1:22:23
  after the quarter final game of the 2000 Bergen County Jamboree.
• 1:22:28
  It was the first one I covered for North Jersey sports.com.
• 1:22:31
  Waldwick. I remember that.
• 1:22:34
  Do you really? Yeah, I do remember that.
• 1:22:36
  Yeah, we beat Ridgewood in in Paramus's gym.
• 1:22:38
  That's crazy. Yes, OK.
• 1:22:40
  So. We were the we were the 8.
• 1:22:42
  Ridgewood was 1. Unbelievable times.
• 1:22:45
  And you know, this this Jambo is giving me some vibes of, you
• 1:22:50
  know, the the aliveness, for lack of a better term, of some
• 1:22:54
  of the public schools. I mean, we've been talking about
• 1:22:56
  it all show here that Bergen Kavik is the the favorite, but
• 1:22:58
  everybody else is in play, including Wolbwick.
• 1:23:01
  So how do you feel here first year at the helm and, you know,
• 1:23:06
  moving into got your team in the Bergen County Jamboree with, you
• 1:23:10
  know, you got you're optimistic going in, just like a lot of
• 1:23:13
  other programs. I'm.
• 1:23:15
  Excited about it. And that's, yeah, I think
• 1:23:17
  outside of Bergen. All credit to them.
• 1:23:19
  It is wide open for the public's.
• 1:23:22
  I'm just excited to be back in the Jamboree.
• 1:23:24
  It was such a good experience. Remember going to the game last
• 1:23:27
  year, actually sitting with Brad and just like missing being in
• 1:23:30
  the Rothman Center and what it's like, Just that whole atmosphere
• 1:23:33
  is amazing. I'm just excited to be a part of
• 1:23:35
  it again. Yeah, no doubt about it.
• 1:23:37
  And your team here, you know, one of the more exciting teams
• 1:23:40
  in the NJIC and in North Jersey as a whole, I mean, you guys can
• 1:23:43
  light it up when you get hot. That's the keyword when we get
• 1:23:47
  hot, and sometimes that doesn't happen all the time.
• 1:23:51
  I said it and I'll quote Mark Jackson years ago when he said
• 1:23:54
  he had Steph Curry and Klay Thompson.
• 1:23:56
  They're the two best shooters in the world.
• 1:23:57
  I think when my guys are on on fire, they're through the best
• 1:24:01
  shooters in this county. I firmly believe that.
• 1:24:04
  Go ahead, Brad. Maybe you don't want to tell the
• 1:24:07
  story of the long ago fracas at the Fairlawn Jewish Club that
• 1:24:10
  you and Greg might have been a may or may not have been a part
• 1:24:13
  of before social media. Happened.
• 1:24:15
  You're welcome. We open the floor to you and
• 1:24:17
  forever whatever you want to talk about.
• 1:24:19
  Yeah, you, you know, me and Greg do go way back as, as opponents,
• 1:24:25
  as teammates, as as just good friends.
• 1:24:29
  But yeah, you know, first year at the helm and you and Eric
• 1:24:34
  like a a pretty solid program and it's not so good to twing
• 1:24:38
  back to your roots, right, Playing at Waldwick and then FDU
• 1:24:40
  and Ramapo and and we had Coach Gabe and I'm sure you played for
• 1:24:43
  Coach Gabe, I think. I think you played for Coach
• 1:24:45
  Gabe. Right.
• 1:24:46
  So, you know, I'm sure we could have taken that memory lane too,
• 1:24:48
  but but now, you know, there's there's you're a little more
• 1:24:52
  invested now, right as not just the head coach of a high school
• 1:24:56
  basketball, but of your alma mater.
• 1:24:58
  And you have a pretty dynamic duo in Del Rey and Michinelli.
• 1:25:02
  Like, how does it feel now, you know, sitting at the, you know,
• 1:25:05
  as the the 19 seat in the Bergen Jamboree and getting your guys
• 1:25:09
  back in? Like, it's kind of it's a
• 1:25:11
  different feel for you, just like the the Jamboree has a
• 1:25:13
  different feel for me for when we played in it, right.
• 1:25:16
  But how's it feel like have have your guys embraced like what it
• 1:25:20
  means to you and to the program to be in the Jamboree?
• 1:25:24
  It's exciting all around. I think, yeah, they fully
• 1:25:27
  embraced it for me to get back and coach where I played 25
• 1:25:32
  years ago. Thanks for reminding me about
• 1:25:33
  that. And this is very exciting And
• 1:25:36
  just I'm still adjusting to the speed being the girls coach the
• 1:25:40
  past four years to the boys coach, just the speed and the
• 1:25:43
  quickness is it's still an adjustment period for me.
• 1:25:46
  But overall, just excited to be back here and get Walded back in
• 1:25:50
  the Jamboree where I think we belong.
• 1:25:52
  Yeah, you. I mean it also helps to have an
• 1:25:54
  1800 point score plus. Doesn't, doesn't hurt.
• 1:25:57
  It does not hurt. And yes, and Antonio, the other
• 1:26:01
  score he missed all of last year with a broken finger.
• 1:26:04
  I think he plays four to three games.
• 1:26:06
  If not, he's probably in the discussion for a potential 2000
• 1:26:09
  point score next year. Crazy and you know it.
• 1:26:14
  It's it doesn't always come with the way it's been the last few
• 1:26:17
  years is that, you know, keeping kids home and involved in the
• 1:26:20
  tournament. How has it been, you know, you
• 1:26:23
  have Waldwick bona fides. So I mean, is that a part of the
• 1:26:27
  pitch or are you not involved in that aspect of it?
• 1:26:30
  You know, are are are you quote UN quote, recruiting your own
• 1:26:33
  kids or are you how are you handling it?
• 1:26:36
  I know it's your your first year on the boys side, but talk about
• 1:26:39
  that side of small school Bergen County sports, which you know is
• 1:26:43
  important to all three of us because we all come from there.
• 1:26:47
  See, we have some talent coming up in the grade school, 7th, 8th
• 1:26:49
  grade kids, and I think with putting Waldeck back on the map
• 1:26:53
  in the Jamboree, these kids can come see this and experience
• 1:26:56
  what it's like. There's some talent in 7th grade
• 1:26:59
  kids are potentially going in the Catholics.
• 1:27:01
  But I think if they see how hopefully successful we do this
• 1:27:04
  year, they'll buy into it. Zel and be part of the small
• 1:27:08
  school that goes far and make some noises and make some noise
• 1:27:12
  in the state tournament as well. Yeah, I mean, it could be a lot
• 1:27:14
  of fun. It's crazy because we were
• 1:27:16
  talking about it again before we came on, but the four
• 1:27:19
  participants in the 2000 Bergen County Jamboree Final Four were
• 1:27:23
  Waldwick, Englewood, Hackensack and Teaneck.
• 1:27:25
  Hasn't happened since May or may not ever happen again.
• 1:27:28
  But you know, it would be fun, wouldn't it, if public.
• 1:27:32
  Schools had, yeah. Unbelievable.
• 1:27:35
  Go ahead, Brad, do you want to say more?
• 1:27:38
  I I'm sorry. Yeah, you got it.
• 1:27:42
  Yeah, I mean, for for me, yeah. And Greg, you know, outside of
• 1:27:48
  Pat Sullivan's Pagoda team, I mean, you were probably the last
• 1:27:52
  small school to make a run like that in the in the Jamboree.
• 1:27:55
  I just want to take a quick trip down memory lane.
• 1:27:58
  Like, what was that experience like?
• 1:27:59
  Like being, you know, being a small school.
• 1:28:01
  Like, you know, you said it was Teaneck, Hackensack, Englewood
• 1:28:07
  and Waldwick. Like you're talking about three
• 1:28:09
  Group 4 schools, right, who were perennial powers in Bergen
• 1:28:11
  County back then all the way into the early 2000s and late,
• 1:28:15
  you know, late 2000s, early teens, right?
• 1:28:18
  What was it like as as you know, what you and your team like
• 1:28:21
  going up against those those big dogs?
• 1:28:24
  It was, it was special. I mean, going into our senior
• 1:28:30
  year, we played everybody. We played Seton Hall Prep, we
• 1:28:33
  played Teaneck and we beat those teams.
• 1:28:35
  We we fought with Seton Hall Prep in the summer tournament.
• 1:28:37
  So we knew how good we were and we could play with anybody.
• 1:28:40
  So we not that we expected it, but we knew we we could be there
• 1:28:43
  if we if all things fell in a row.
• 1:28:47
  Crazy story about the game against Englewood.
• 1:28:49
  We're there like 3 hours early warming up and we're dumb 17
• 1:28:53
  year old kids and we could all dunk.
• 1:28:54
  We had like a mini dunk contest before the game and I rolled my
• 1:28:57
  ankle and I played the whole game, but I missed my next three
• 1:29:00
  games so I wasn't good. I mean no excuse I I didn't play
• 1:29:03
  well, but I always hard back on that that we probably could have
• 1:29:07
  beat Anglewood who Anglewood got hot.
• 1:29:09
  They were the 15 seat I think and they just rode all the way
• 1:29:11
  to the top. But it always bothers me that I
• 1:29:14
  didn't play my full strength that game because we were just
• 1:29:17
  haven't dunk contest with like a bunch of dumb kids.
• 1:29:20
  But we didn't know better. Yeah.
• 1:29:22
  Yeah, that's great. But that's what it's about.
• 1:29:25
  That's what high school basketball is about.
• 1:29:27
  Like, it's the first time on a big stage like that at the
• 1:29:30
  Rockland Center, and it's like, what can we do?
• 1:29:34
  Yeah. I always, I always harp on that
• 1:29:36
  too, because it, you know, in the grand scheme of things, what
• 1:29:39
  high school sports supposed to be about.
• 1:29:41
  It's, you know, it's the, the center of the community and it's
• 1:29:43
  supposed to bring the community together.
• 1:29:44
  And you know, you can have great runs like you did in Waldwick
• 1:29:47
  in, in 2000. And of course you remember every
• 1:29:50
  aspect of, you know, the Jambo run and all those great things.
• 1:29:53
  But you know, the, the, the rolling of the ankle, The Who
• 1:29:56
  left their shoe at this, you know, locker room one time, who,
• 1:30:01
  you know, who, you know, blue spitballs on the bus and
• 1:30:04
  whatever, you know, those, those are all things that I, I feel
• 1:30:08
  like should be the first and foremost.
• 1:30:10
  And you know, when you get to be our age, listen, I'm a lot older
• 1:30:13
  than the two of you. But when you you don't,
• 1:30:16
  especially if you didn't go through something like you did
• 1:30:18
  with Brad. You guys had that great run.
• 1:30:20
  And you know, Greg, you did too. But like for me, I played for
• 1:30:23
  some bad Palisades Park High School basketball teams.
• 1:30:26
  But I remember so much. Basketball Basketball in
• 1:30:28
  Palisades Park. Thank you for joining us on this
• 1:30:31
  episode of The Ball Game. We're going to slow it right
• 1:30:34
  here as I look for a new Co host.
• 1:30:38
  I I tell you, Corey, the kid, the kid this year at Powell
• 1:30:41
  Park, and I forget that his name is Casey.
• 1:30:44
  He's talented, the guard. He's a tough player.
• 1:30:48
  Yeah. He just, he doesn't have much
• 1:30:50
  help, unfortunately. He's a good player.
• 1:30:51
  Yeah, I I mean, I used to try to get to a Powell Park game once a
• 1:30:55
  year. I mean, I made it, you know,
• 1:30:58
  something that I, I just wanted to, you know, it's my alma
• 1:31:00
  mater. Boy, I grew up there.
• 1:31:01
  Whatever. It's been so bad in the recent
• 1:31:04
  past. And John Wiseman, who I consider
• 1:31:06
  one of the best basketball coaches in Bergen County for
• 1:31:08
  winning a few games at Val Park and every time he had some
• 1:31:12
  talent, he did a good job with it.
• 1:31:13
  Now East Pavin. Who was?
• 1:31:15
  A legend doing the best he can with this group too.
• 1:31:18
  But you know, it's hard and to, it's a transient community and
• 1:31:22
  you got to get in there and build it up and it's there.
• 1:31:24
  It's you know, it takes it from the, from the ground up and
• 1:31:27
  it's, it's a tough thing to do, which is why it's all the more
• 1:31:29
  impressive and which is why I love talking to guys like you,
• 1:31:31
  because, you know, Waldwick is a small school too.
• 1:31:34
  And it seems like it, it doesn't seem like Waldwick has a
• 1:31:38
  structure in place and the pedigree and legacy to build on
• 1:31:44
  as you move forward here. And I think that's, that's a
• 1:31:46
  huge thing. And it's, it really does bring
• 1:31:48
  the community together. I mean, how are your crowds
• 1:31:50
  been? Are people showing up in the
• 1:31:51
  gym? We're getting there.
• 1:31:52
  So we've had some big games this year.
• 1:31:54
  We actually we played against Pat last week at demos.
• 1:31:56
  Demos came to us and we we packed the gym in the park at
• 1:32:02
  home early on in the season. Jim was packed.
• 1:32:05
  We got Crest Hill coming on next Monday.
• 1:32:07
  We'll we'll pack the gym. We're getting there, we're
• 1:32:09
  getting there. Getting these kids to be
• 1:32:12
  boisterous and talk and chant is hard.
• 1:32:16
  But like when they're behind my bench, I'm yelling at them just
• 1:32:19
  so much. I'm yelling at my boys to get
• 1:32:20
  loud and get, get, get talkative because it helps.
• 1:32:23
  It helps you go to like you go to Bosco Bergen.
• 1:32:26
  Those kids in the stands are nuts.
• 1:32:28
  And it brings a great atmosphere that gets kids fired up to play.
• 1:32:32
  Yeah, no doubt about it. All right.
• 1:32:34
  Last one from me is Waldwick Westwood in the first round of
• 1:32:37
  the 2026 Bergen County Jamboree. What do you got to do to be
• 1:32:40
  successful there? You got to play hard Westwood.
• 1:32:44
  Those kids play tough. They're tough nosed kids, great
• 1:32:47
  coaching staff over there in their gym.
• 1:32:49
  It's going to be loud. The one sided stands is always
• 1:32:52
  right on top here. I'm excited.
• 1:32:55
  I I think we could play with anybody if we're if we're making
• 1:32:58
  our shots and we're we're playing defense.
• 1:33:01
  I don't want to say you live and die by the three, but a lot of
• 1:33:04
  our shots are threes and they're full and we're tough to beat.
• 1:33:08
  No doubt about it, Brad, you got the last one for the coach.
• 1:33:12
  I do. So aside from me always kicking
• 1:33:15
  your, your, your behind when we do play against each other.
• 1:33:19
  No, it's all serious. This.
• 1:33:22
  Yeah. You know, for for me, you know,
• 1:33:24
  it's just it's it's good to see, you know, I've always been an
• 1:33:28
  opponent. And so have you more of like a
• 1:33:30
  state public mentality, right? You know, yeah, I mean, outside
• 1:33:35
  of Bergen, you know, I said this would be a great tournament
• 1:33:37
  outside of Bergen and it probably wouldn't get back to,
• 1:33:40
  you know, all of the publics in a in a potential final four.
• 1:33:43
  But yeah, I I mean, I like that, you know, seeing guys coming
• 1:33:48
  back to their all modders, right?
• 1:33:50
  And, and being able to to coach and get back to the community,
• 1:33:53
  especially when you know the jobs that we have, you know,
• 1:33:56
  it's good. And I look forward to seeing you
• 1:33:59
  guys. I'm I am going to be at that
• 1:34:01
  Waldwick Westwood game. You know, you're you're another
• 1:34:05
  good friend of yours and mine, right, is over on the staff over
• 1:34:07
  there at Westwood. One of my alumni is coaching
• 1:34:11
  over there. So I think that's just going to
• 1:34:12
  be a very good game. I think that's going to be a
• 1:34:14
  great high school atmosphere. I would love to see the
• 1:34:17
  communities come out because, yeah, I think we've gotten away
• 1:34:21
  from, you know, the high school kids coming to games and packing
• 1:34:24
  it out with body paint and yelling and screaming and all
• 1:34:27
  that stuff. So, yeah, I would love to get
• 1:34:30
  back to seeing that. And, and I think you have your
• 1:34:32
  team, right and, and the Warriors of Warwick kind of
• 1:34:35
  rolling in that direction. So, yeah, I'm not just the
• 1:34:39
  Jamboree, but I'm curious to see how how the rest of your season
• 1:34:41
  plays out. And, and it's always been.
• 1:34:46
  I'm proud of what you've been accomplishing both on and off
• 1:34:49
  the court, man. Thank you, brother.
• 1:34:51
  I appreciate it. And getting back to what you
• 1:34:52
  said about kicking my butt playing, I never liked playing
• 1:34:56
  against you, Brad, because you're what, at 6-4, maybe 6-5
• 1:35:00
  and. 5 On a good day, yeah. I needed a guy in my height.
• 1:35:04
  I couldn't leverage you. You, you put your elbow on my
• 1:35:06
  back and you're dirty. You know you were dirty.
• 1:35:08
  And you? I'm not.
• 1:35:11
  I'm not judging for it. I had a hard time playing
• 1:35:14
  against you because you were in my height, but I always love
• 1:35:16
  playing against you. It was fun.
• 1:35:18
  Yeah, I, I enjoyed, I enjoyed our games score.
• 1:35:20
  We, we had some wars and, and battles and there may be a, a
• 1:35:23
  dunk or two that I might have on my head from Greg, but but yeah,
• 1:35:27
  you know, I, I hope, I hope and, and you know what, you know, I
• 1:35:31
  hope the kids listening to this, you know, and I, you know,
• 1:35:34
  obviously it's a little biased, right?
• 1:35:36
  We played in Kent's league, right?
• 1:35:38
  I have my own men's league now, right, in Oakville and and you
• 1:35:42
  know, I hope these kids find that like that once their
• 1:35:45
  careers are done, right, and they move on to the workforce,
• 1:35:48
  whatever they're doing, right, to be able to find like some of
• 1:35:51
  my like one of my best friends to this day, right, And aside
• 1:35:54
  from outside, I go back like Courtney Nelson, who I played in
• 1:35:57
  these this Group One state right, you know what I'm saying?
• 1:36:01
  Like we, we were at war, right, and the Group 1 semi final,
• 1:36:07
  right, and I didn't know Courtney at that point from,
• 1:36:09
  from a campaign and ever since that game, like we've been like
• 1:36:13
  best friends and like, and then we got into the, you know, the
• 1:36:16
  basketball league and they're like, we're, I'm playing with
• 1:36:19
  guys that for all over the place, right, me, you, a whole
• 1:36:21
  bunch of guys and, and like, like enhanced our relationships,
• 1:36:25
  not just from a basketball standpoint, but like just as
• 1:36:27
  from a friendship standpoint. And I hope that these kids see
• 1:36:29
  that like what you do nowadays, right?
• 1:36:33
  It's, it's going to take you further beyond the classroom
• 1:36:37
  and, and, and the playing fields and stuff.
• 1:36:39
  And, and I hope they embody that and, and eventually they can get
• 1:36:42
  back to do the same things that we do because it's, it's cool to
• 1:36:44
  be able to share all those memories with.
• 1:36:47
  Absolutely. You grew up watching or playing
• 1:36:49
  against or playing with. It's cool.
• 1:36:52
  So I I've. Always enjoyed our journey
• 1:36:54
  together my brother. Me too man.
• 1:36:56
  I appreciate it man. And I enjoyed listening to this
• 1:36:58
  conversation between you 2 and Brad.
• 1:37:00
  I think you make a great point if if parents nowadays would
• 1:37:03
  just not be so instant gratification driven.
• 1:37:08
  Let yes. Let a kid get coached, let a kid
• 1:37:11
  struggle, let a killed kid build relationships.
• 1:37:14
  And we're having this conversation.
• 1:37:16
  You guys graduated high school in the early, you know, Greg in
• 1:37:19
  2000, Brad couple years later. I mean, it's, you know, we're
• 1:37:24
  going on 2 1/2 decades after it and it's still such an important
• 1:37:28
  part of your life. And if you switch from school to
• 1:37:32
  school to school and you never get to big build those
• 1:37:34
  relationships because you're wondering about your opportunity
• 1:37:38
  coming at the next level. The news for everybody is that
• 1:37:42
  just about 0% of the people who have played Bergen County
• 1:37:46
  basketball over the years have gone on to make a living playing
• 1:37:49
  basketball. There have been, you know, it's,
• 1:37:52
  it's a statistical anomaly, the amount that have gone on to make
• 1:37:55
  a living doing it. So it's not about that.
• 1:37:58
  It's about what we're talking about here.
• 1:38:00
  You know, the I wish I could see the surveillance footage of you
• 1:38:04
  2 going at it in the Fairlawn after all those years ago so I
• 1:38:08
  can make a fair and accurate judgment.
• 1:38:10
  Unfortunately, I have to go by your words and we'll call it a
• 1:38:13
  drawer here, a draw here. And we will thank Greg McBain
• 1:38:17
  for coming on this edition of The Ball Game.
• 1:38:21
  Thank you coaching. Good luck with your game man.
• 1:38:23
  Thank you brother. Before you go, I'll I'll harp on
• 1:38:26
  this that the fight was not Brad and I's fault at all.
• 1:38:29
  It was his head coach where he coaches now and my brother who
• 1:38:34
  served this whole fight, and me and Brad after the two biggest
• 1:38:36
  guys in the courts and we get playing for everything.
• 1:38:39
  That's that's always the way it happens.
• 1:38:40
  Your big guys always get in foul trouble.
• 1:38:42
  I. Absolutely, Absolutely.
• 1:38:44
  Greg, best of luck this week, man, and keep it.
• 1:38:46
  Rolling Corey I. Appreciate it.
• 1:38:47
  Well, you know that old saying where I could talk about it
• 1:38:51
  until I'm blue in the face? Brad, the Bergen County
• 1:38:53
  Jamboree. I feel like I'm a little blue in
• 1:38:56
  the face. Yeah, and, and, and I guess
• 1:38:59
  that's that's kind of a proponent of, you know, the,
• 1:39:02
  the, the nail biting, waiting for the, the seeds to drop,
• 1:39:06
  seeing where teams, you know, are placed and and, you know,
• 1:39:09
  the build up of the season, right?
• 1:39:10
  We're, you know, we're, you know, 1615 to 17 games in right
• 1:39:14
  in the high school season. Yep, right.
• 1:39:17
  More than to start, you know, teams are starting to kind of
• 1:39:21
  really find their their footing when it comes to their
• 1:39:25
  identities. Right now we're getting into
• 1:39:28
  these post season tournaments and then, you know, right around
• 1:39:30
  the corner, right, four or five games later, right, we're
• 1:39:31
  talking about the skate tournament, right, being around
• 1:39:34
  the corner. So yeah, I think we're a little
• 1:39:36
  blue in the face. But now that we're here and
• 1:39:39
  there's a there's a bracket and there's seeds, Yeah.
• 1:39:44
  Now it's actually kind of, you know, really put, put pen to
• 1:39:49
  paper and and see where the ships are going to fall.
• 1:39:52
  Well, let's put pen to paper because our last order of
• 1:39:54
  business on this edition of the ball game is to make our
• 1:39:56
  predictions here. And, you know, I, I wanted to
• 1:39:59
  interject a whole bunch of times during the conversation we you
• 1:40:02
  were having with Pat and then again with Greg about, you know,
• 1:40:05
  Bergen's path of being far and away the favorite.
• 1:40:07
  And I agree with that 100%. I think maybe when things come
• 1:40:10
  up like this in future years, let's just give Bergen a bye to
• 1:40:12
  the finals because they're going to get there anyway and
• 1:40:15
  somebody's going to have to beat them.
• 1:40:16
  And then you can put everybody else in the hat.
• 1:40:17
  And this would that's another way that would.
• 1:40:18
  Be a great tournament, but since that is not possible, let's go
• 1:40:23
  through our brackets and decide you know who we see going as
• 1:40:27
  deep as you can. Now I will start with my first
• 1:40:31
  round winners. OK, I'm going to go with
• 1:40:33
  Cliffside Park, Demarest, Ridgefield Park on the road,
• 1:40:37
  Cresskill, Westwood, Dwight Anglewood, Ramapo and Ramsey.
• 1:40:45
  What are your first round winners?
• 1:40:47
  Very interesting and it's almost eerily identical.
• 1:40:51
  I have, I have Cliffside Park, I've got Demurst, I've got
• 1:40:57
  Richfield Park on the road, OK, I've got Crest Hill home.
• 1:41:01
  I have. Waldwick on the road.
• 1:41:03
  That's because Greg McBain is your boy.
• 1:41:05
  Let's be honest. But I also have, I also have an
• 1:41:08
  alma mater at Westwood. I just think that I think Del
• 1:41:10
  Rey and Michinelli's 6 foot four and I and I, I could have said
• 1:41:14
  on the on the on the pie before with Greg, but Michinelli and
• 1:41:19
  Michinelli's father and I worked together, right?
• 1:41:22
  And he also was a tight end at Rutgers for a while.
• 1:41:25
  So Greg, like to, you know, the biggest guy in the gym and his
• 1:41:28
  father is probably the second biggest guy in the gym.
• 1:41:30
  Yeah. So, you know, I know he, you
• 1:41:33
  know, he's he might be a little bit of a load, right.
• 1:41:35
  And he plays more on the wing. So having a big kid like that on
• 1:41:38
  the wing might present Westwood with some problems.
• 1:41:41
  Okay. I've got Dwight Englewood at
• 1:41:42
  home. Yeah, I've got Ramapo and I've
• 1:41:46
  got Lyndhurst on the road at Ramsey.
• 1:41:49
  OK, so we differ with Lyndhurst. I've got the Golden Bears with
• 1:41:53
  with a chip on their shoulder going to Ramsey and getting it
• 1:41:57
  done. And I'm going to give you
• 1:41:58
  credit, too, because you were on Lyndhurst and our preview show.
• 1:42:00
  You've been on Lyndhurst all day today.
• 1:42:02
  So you're not flinching. You put your money where your
• 1:42:04
  mouth is. I think we should, you know, set
• 1:42:07
  the parameters for our wager here.
• 1:42:08
  You know, Jeff Koehler was talking about the egg sandwich.
• 1:42:11
  We've been on the show for a while.
• 1:42:13
  I'm starting to get hungry. I can go for an egg sandwich.
• 1:42:15
  So yeah, Or betting an egg sandwich on the outcome of
• 1:42:18
  Bergkamp Jamboree. I'm with it.
• 1:42:20
  All right. So now you go first.
• 1:42:23
  Who do you have in the quarterfinals?
• 1:42:26
  Now in the corner that I have, I've got I've got Bergen and
• 1:42:30
  I've got Demarest. OK, Demarest, knocking off
• 1:42:35
  Highlands. In Highlands I've got Teaneck,
• 1:42:39
  I've got Ridgewood, I've got Saint Mary's, I have Hackensack,
• 1:42:46
  I have Don Bosco over Ramapo and I have Tenafly over Lyndhurst.
• 1:42:52
  OK, now we're going to differ here a little bit.
• 1:42:55
  OK is good, I think. I have Bergen Catholic, I have
• 1:43:02
  Highlands, I have Teaneck, and I have Cresskill pulling the upset
• 1:43:07
  of #5. Company getting it done.
• 1:43:13
  Yeah, I mean, I just, I listen, I, I root for what crazy things.
• 1:43:17
  I always root for the underdog. I always root for the small
• 1:43:20
  schools. And I've seen Cresco live, so I
• 1:43:23
  can speak to their ability. Now listen, Ridgewood, if there
• 1:43:26
  was a point spread on it, Ridge would be, it would be a heavy
• 1:43:28
  favorite. So I'm not under any illusions,
• 1:43:31
  but if there's going to be an upset in that round and I think
• 1:43:35
  Cresco is a live underdog, then I'm taking Saint Mary and
• 1:43:38
  another upset, I'm going to take Dwight Englewood against
• 1:43:41
  Hackensack. I, I was totally off with them
• 1:43:45
  in our prediction show. And then I went back and really
• 1:43:48
  studied their resume and they've played a lot of good teams.
• 1:43:51
  And I just feel like I, I just feel like I'm rooting for small
• 1:43:56
  schools. And if there's an opportunity to
• 1:43:58
  pick an upset, I'm going to do it.
• 1:43:59
  I'm going to take another upset. I'm going to take Ramapo as the
• 1:44:02
  number 10 seed beating Don Bosco Prep and then I'm going to take
• 1:44:06
  Tenafly as the number 2. So I picked 3 of the lower seeds
• 1:44:10
  in that round because I want to see it go haywire.
• 1:44:13
  I just wanted to be like, what is going on here?
• 1:44:15
  Can any of these higher seeded teams win?
• 1:44:17
  I would just it would be great to write about.
• 1:44:20
  It would be great to talk about on this show and it would be so
• 1:44:23
  good in so many ways for Bergen County basketball.
• 1:44:25
  So we'll. See, yeah.
• 1:44:26
  And it's and it's possible, yeah.
• 1:44:28
  And, and to be honest with you, to get, you know, I will say
• 1:44:31
  this, that 1160 game, that Hackensack Dwight Englewood game
• 1:44:35
  is probably aside from the the Highlands Demers game.
• 1:44:38
  I think that those are the two games to watch in that, in that
• 1:44:41
  round, yeah, yeah. And that's going to be a very
• 1:44:45
  well coached game. I think Alice Kuchar against
• 1:44:47
  Aaron Taylor, there's going to be, there's not going to be a
• 1:44:52
  quiet moment in that gym either, either head coaches, right, And
• 1:44:56
  either teams. I think that's going to be a
• 1:44:58
  very good game at 10 to fly. And I think that the Highland
• 1:45:02
  Zimmers game is going to be very good.
• 1:45:06
  Yes, I think that I I, I mean, I don't want to say which games I
• 1:45:10
  think would be a bad one, but I only see maybe two of them that
• 1:45:13
  let's and let's do it for next week.
• 1:45:14
  Let's get Aaron Taylor as we preview the round of 16 because
• 1:45:18
  he's a great dude and funny story.
• 1:45:21
  I I would like him to tell about the Group 4 state semi final
• 1:45:25
  when they were playing Colicchio and I guess he was at Linden at
• 1:45:29
  the time at the Elizabeth and I was a game at a game I was at.
• 1:45:32
  So let's make a mental note of that.
• 1:45:35
  It's a funny story. So, all right, so who's your
• 1:45:39
  final four? So my final four is Bergen.
• 1:45:47
  I have Teaneck over Ridgewood, OK.
• 1:45:50
  I've got Saint Mary's beaten Hackensack, OK, which you had
• 1:45:55
  Dwight Englewood. So I think either way, either
• 1:45:58
  way, I got Saint Mary's coming out of it because Saint Mary's
• 1:46:00
  has already beaten Dwight Englewood.
• 1:46:01
  OK, Right. And then I have I have Don Bosco
• 1:46:06
  over Tenafly. OK, you have you have Don Bosco
• 1:46:10
  going out against Rand Paul. So yeah, I think, I think you
• 1:46:12
  know that 1-2, you know, that's like a a bit of a three headed
• 1:46:16
  monster. And and JP scored right.
• 1:46:18
  Who's a Division One commit, you know, Jalen Lewis, who's an up
• 1:46:22
  and coming sophomore and and Brad Brown is the junior point
• 1:46:26
  guard there. I think they're going to
• 1:46:28
  surprise some people. You know, with, you know.
• 1:46:31
  Thinking that maybe Bosco is down, I think they may surprise
• 1:46:33
  some people and I I don't know if Tenafly's going to have
• 1:46:35
  anything to cover a six foot 6, you know, mini monster in JP
• 1:46:42
  storage. All right, yeah.
• 1:46:44
  I mean, listen, if if Tom Bosco Prep goes on to play Burton
• 1:46:48
  Catholic in the final, I think no one's going to be like, Oh my
• 1:46:51
  God, I can't believe it. So.
• 1:46:53
  Yeah. Exactly.
• 1:46:54
  It would actually be more of the same.
• 1:46:56
  So I'm just rooting against more of the same step.
• 1:46:58
  Yeah. And the other thing is, I have
• 1:47:00
  you, you said I have Dwight Anglewood beating Hackensack.
• 1:47:02
  But you know, it's not another question that Dwight Anglewood
• 1:47:04
  loses at home to Old Japan in the first round.
• 1:47:07
  So also true. That's true.
• 1:47:09
  Yeah, that's how crazy the tournament is.
• 1:47:10
  I have Bergen Catholic, I have Teaneck, I have Saint Mary.
• 1:47:13
  And you ready for my fourth final 14?
• 1:47:15
  I'm taking Ram PO because over the last 4-5 years, Ram PO has
• 1:47:19
  been the best public school in Bergen County by far.
• 1:47:23
  Four times state sectional champions, They won a Group 3,
• 1:47:26
  state a Group 3 championship. They went to the group three
• 1:47:30
  final last year. And I'm not, you know, people
• 1:47:31
  graduate and Peyton Seals is now Princeton and Chris Sorvino is
• 1:47:35
  now against the team that you beat the other day.
• 1:47:36
  Whatever. So but but pedigree stays the
• 1:47:40
  same. They're getting healthier.
• 1:47:42
  And I'm going to stick with the motto that, you know, to be the
• 1:47:46
  champ, you got to be the public school champ.
• 1:47:48
  You got to beat the public school champ.
• 1:47:49
  And until Ram PO gets knocked out in a pressure game of which
• 1:47:55
  they're either even with their opponent or, you know, upset,
• 1:48:02
  I'm going to keep going with Ram PO.
• 1:48:03
  Which gives me Burton Capital against Ram PO in the Burton
• 1:48:06
  County Jamboree final. And then the no brainer picks.
• 1:48:09
  Burton Catholic wins it all for me.
• 1:48:13
  Yeah, I I've got, I've got a Bergen, I've got a Bergen Bosco
• 1:48:17
  final which isn't really like you had indicated before, it's
• 1:48:20
  really not an eye razor, right. It's and I'm not going, I'm not
• 1:48:24
  going to that final. But but I will say this right,
• 1:48:27
  and I forgot to kind of mention this so that that Bosco Rampo
• 1:48:30
  game is also, I think, very interesting because not only is
• 1:48:33
  it a good game of of, you know, Bergen County basketball powers,
• 1:48:38
  right? Rampo, we just talked about
• 1:48:40
  having win all those sectionals and and a group title and Bosco
• 1:48:45
  obviously being a perennial Bergen County Powerbook.
• 1:48:48
  Nick Veer's old assistant and good friend, Tyrell Biggs, who
• 1:48:51
  is a Bosco legend, is back at Bosco coaching with Deverio.
• 1:48:55
  So I think not that there's any bad blood there, but I I think
• 1:48:59
  it's just always, you know, makes the game a little more
• 1:49:01
  exciting, intriguing when you have, you know, former coworkers
• 1:49:05
  and good friends, you know, on the sideline battling against
• 1:49:08
  each other all in good fun to try to advance into the next
• 1:49:12
  round of the counties. I think it's going to make for a
• 1:49:14
  very good. Atmosphere, no doubt about it
• 1:49:17
  and Brad, I am jamboed out. We will see you next time on the
• 1:49:21
  ball game. Follow the leader.