Welcome to the GMC Hoops Column called Taking It To The Rack.  This is where we get to sound off on particular issues in the GMC, or provide analysis of what is going on in the county.  As we get closer to the beginning of the season, a column will be appearing more frequently. Here's this week's column.

2/27/08--FARWELL TO METUCHEN'S DEJUAN MILLER

Good evening everyone. Sorry that I haven't been able to keep this section of the web site up to date much during the season. I have been out to many games thus far as you may well know, and I have not been able to get around to writing up a column on a weekly basis. Anyway, let's take a look at what's been going on recently before we give a final salute to Metuchen's DeJuan Miller, who played his final game as a Bulldog on Tuesday night in a loss to South Amboy in the Central Jersey Group I State Tournament.

PERSONAL NOTES

Some of you may be wondering why there hasn't been an update to the GMC Summaries section of the web site as of late. Actually there are several reasons for that. First and foremost, my back has been bothering me as of late, and I've not really been able to sit at my desk for long, and type a lot of articles. I have been typing as much as I could on the home page with regard to games I've been covering. Second, I've been working on a lot of video highlights for the site, and that takes some time to put together. In addition, I was working on getting the GMCT Previews and State Tourney Preview online, and have even begun working on the 2008 GMC Hoops Awards in an effort to get that out earlier this year. I will try, however, to get going on the summaries again. My back is feeling better so I'm optimistic.

100 GAMES FOR GMC HOOPS THIS YEAR?

Last weekend, you might have seen in the blog that I attended and covered my 90th game this season when I took in the 2008 East Brunswick/GMC JV Tournament Championship between fifth seeded Bishop Ahr, and second seeded Cardinal McCarrick. Cardy Mac won, 80-64. Last year, I saw a grand total of 96 games, and that was after seeing all four public state finals for the first time ever for the site. Tonight, Wednesday night, February 27th, I'll be in Piscataway to see the Chiefs take on Watchung Hills in the Quarterfinal round of the North Jersey Section 2 Group IV State Tournament. This will be my 95th game this season. With a game on Thursday at Colonia, Friday at Cardinal McCarrick, and possibly Saturday, GMC Hoops will have seen 98 games, which will be a new record breaking the mark from last season. It is more than likely that I will be seeing my 100th game next week.

GMC HOOPS TROPHY STANDINGS

You may have noticed earlier in the week that the web site was originally scheduled to be at J.P. Stevens on Wednesday night (Feb. 27th) against Linden. However, the latest GMC Hoops Trophy Standings have dictated to me that we must see Piscataway in action since the Chiefs are only two points behind Cardinal McCarrick for first place in the race. The Chiefs have yet to win a GMC Hoops Trophy while Cardy Mac has won two (2003 and 2005). South Amboy is also in the thick of things thanks to the Guvs victory over Metuchen on Tuesday night. The Governors are also tied with the Chiefs for second, two points back of the Eagles. In addition to seeing P-Way tonight, the site plans to see McCarrick on Friday night against Bishop Eustace of South Jersey in the Non-Public B South Quarterfinals in South Amboy. Perth Amboy Tech and Carteret are next in the standings with six points each, and although the Patriots have a better winning percentage than the Ramblers, their season ended on Tuesday thanks to a 75-42 loss to Bound Brook. If Middlesex wins on Thursday night against New Providence, we'll be there on Saturday for their semifinal matchup against either South Amboy or Asbury Park.

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

Over the past several weeks, the web site has been posting a good deal of video highlights from recent games as well as several from very early in the season that hadn't been put up yet. Games with highlights include: Cardinal McCarrick and Union on February 9th, St. Joseph's and Bishop Ahr in the GMCT Quarterfinals on February 17th, Colonia and J.P. Stevens in the GMCT Elite Eight on February 17th, St. Joe's and P-Way in the GMCT Semifinals, and St. Joseph's and Cardinal McCarrick in the GMCT Championship. There will also be highlights from the state tourney contest between Piscataway and Watchung Hills. To view all the video highlights posted, visit the Video Highlights section of the GMC Hoops Blogosphere.

RECORD NUMBER OF HITS FOR FEBRUARY

The web site has enjoyed another great season in terms of activity, and even having a tremendous February. With only several more days to go in the month, GMC Hoops is closing in on 800,000 hits, which is an all time mark for the site. Usually with the shorter month, and the fact that many teams are wrapping up their seasons by this time if they're not already done. So, that usually translates to fewer hits as the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament is ending. However, the video highlights, conference and state tourney analysis has kept interest in the site. In addition, I posted some thoughts on the recent GMCT Girls final, which may catch the eye of those interested in following girls basketball.

GMC RECORD IN NON-CONFERENCE GAMES

As of the games completed on Tuesday, the Greater Middlesex Conference is now 88-66 overall in 154 games against non-conference opponents. Last season, the conference was 89-92. So, the GMC has turned things around quite nicely against out of conference foes, and going into state tournament play, that is a very good positive. Some key non-conference wins worth bragging about this season: Piscataway over Immaculata and Seton Hall Prep, J.P. Stevens over Scotch Plains and Academy Charter, South Brunswick over Wayne Hills, Colonia over Moore Catholic and Freehold Boro, East Brunswick over Asbury Park, St. Joseph's beating Ridge, Moore Catholic, and Hoboken, Monroe over Point Pleasant Boro, and Sayreville over Hightstown.

GMC RECORDS IN CROSSOVER GAMES

With the conference schedule now over, and only a few matchups possibly left in the various state tournaments. It looks like the GMC Hoops Conference Cup may come down to a game in the Central Jersey Group I State Tournament if all the teams left do their part and win out. Potentially, Middlesex has a matchup with South Amboy in the semifinals, and if the Blue Jays win, then, the GMC Blue will win the cup. A loss will give the cup to the GMC White. Considering the fact that the White Division had a pretty comfortable lead several weeks ago, it turned out to be quite a horse race at the end. Actually, the race was closer than last year. Similarly, the GMC White held a big late lead in the season, and then the GMC Red rallied to come away with the gold. Looking at the GMC Hoops Crossover Kings, Cardinal McCarrick has things pretty much sown up with an 8-0 record overall in crossover games..

GMC HOOPS SALUTES METUCHEN'S DEJUAN MILLER

On Tuesday night in South Amboy, GMC Hoops took in a splendid contest between the 12th seeded Bulldogs of Metuchen, and the fifth seeded Guvs of South Amboy. Metuchen, which was making its fourth straight state tourney appearance after not being in the states for 16 seasons or so, had been to the Final Four three straight seasons. Unfortunately for MHS, the season came to a halt as South Amboy overcame a late fourth quarter deficit to win, 59-56, and advance to play fourth seeded Asbury Park in the Central Jersey Group I Quarterfinals on Thursday. The loss for Metuchen meant an end of an era for the Bulldogs since it was the last game played by senior forward, DeJuan Miller.

As always, Miller gave it his all on the floor in this contest. The senior forward, who is bound for Oklahoma to play football for the Sooners and Bob Stoops next fall, made 9 of 16 shots from the floor, and 3 of 5 from the line for a team high 21 points along with 11 rebounds for a double-double, 4 blocks, and 2 steals. In the first half, Miller was virtually unstoppable as he scored 15 points on 6 of 11 shooting from the floor, but in the second half, only took five shots as his teammates failed to get him the ball, especially in key situations. It had been an issue for the Bulldogs all season, but understandably so with a young squad trying to figure themselves out, and coexist offensively with this phenomenal talent, who despite being better known for his football prowess, ended up being third on the all time scoring list at MHS with 1,390 points all time.

Similarly, against Spotswood at MHS on January 18th, the Bulldogs were unable to get the ball enough to Miller. So, the senior took the law into his own hands. Not scoring his first point until the 1:14 mark of the second period, Miller put together a 35 point barrage on 12 of 16 shooting from the floor including a three point bomb that ended the third period in a 30-30 tie. He didn't stop there either. Besides making 10 of 16 from the foul line, Miller also pulled down 15 boards before fouling out with 1:18 left in the game in a 62-51 loss. Miller had essentially accomplished all of this in just under two full periods of play. For his efforts this season including the monster game against the Chargers, Miller was recognized as the GMC Hoops Player of the Week for the week of January 21st to the 26th. He also won the weekly honor once last season for his efforts during the first week of January, 2007.

Earlier, I mentioned his career scoring accomplishments at Metuchen. Miller, third all time, ranks only behind the legendary Artie Flaherty (1985) with 2,052 points, and a legend in his own right in Larry Spigner (1989) with 1,712 points. Spigner, who also happens to be the nephew of the late Bernard Spigner, a broadcaster for WCTC during the day a few years ago, recently had been involved with the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, and died too soon of cancer last year, was a contemporary of mine although a far, far better one. I had seen a number of Larry Spigner's exploits over my four years of high school life. Eventually going on to attend college at Lafayette, Spigner actually played freshman ball with another all time scorer, and legendary contemporary of my time, Tony Newsom of J.P. Stevens. Newsome would move to North Edison, and transfer to J.P. Stevens his sophomore year, which was 1987, the year the Hawks defeated top seeded Colonia, and Gary Battle in the GMCT Semifinals before losing to East Brunswick in the Championship. Two years later though, Newsome, Rocky Pravato, and George Bowen defeated the Bears, and a coach named Bo Henning for the 1989 GMCT Championship.

Returning back to Spigner, the first varsity game Spigner played in was on a late January night in 1986 at South Plainfield High School when a Metuchen team that was 3-12 took on a South Plainfield team fighting for a state tourney spot, and led by Joe Thompson, previous all time scorer at the school before Marquis Jones came along. If my memory serves me correctly, Spigner had 25 points in that game as the Bulldogs not only pulled off a shocker, but also eliminated the Tigers from qualifying for the state tournament. The next year, Spigner's sophomore year, a transfer came in from Washington, D.C., and his name was Charlie Grubbs. The two joined forces on a team that went all the way to the 1987 GMCT Final Four before losing to eventual champion, East Brunswick in another memorable semifinal. Then, came the magical 1987-88 campaign. The Bulldogs were relieved to see South Brunswick, and then talented junior, Donnell Lumpkin, move up to the GMC White, but then had to contend with a loaded St. Peter's Cardinals team coming down from the year after two sub .500 seasons there.

The Cards had the likes of Mike Doctor, Eric Butler, Larry Adams, Mark Wilcox, Wayne Seibert, Kobie Fowler, Darryl James, and many more, and were coached by Wayne Fiorino, who now has a son named Matt playing at Bishop Ahr. St. Peter's beat Metuchen both times during the regular season as Doctor held Spigner to just 14 and 12 points in each of the two contests if I recall from reading the paper that year (Wayne Fiorino probably has more accurate numbers on exactly what Spigner scored). However, the 1988 GMCT was not your ordinary GMCT, and despite the Cardinals getting the top seed, and advancing to the Final Four, it wasn't immune to the upset bug that had gripped that year's tournament. At that time, the GMCT was only a 16 team field rather than the open tournament format it has become today with the added wrinkle of the Play-In round implemented last season. In addition, if your team won its division, it was seeded in the top four rather than the top eight like it is now. So, the Boilermakers of the now long defunct, New Brunswick Tech, was seeded fifth thanks to a first place tie in the GMC Red between second seeded St. Joseph's and third seeded Stevens.

As far as Quarterfinals go, only the 2007 GMCT Elite Eight had as many upsets. Seventh seeded Carteret, which had a youngster named Dave Turco, who's gone on to be quite a coach, joined up with the likes of Corey Lowe to defeat the Falcons of St. Joseph's. Then, sixth seeded Metuchen led by Spigner, defeated Stevens and former teammate Newsom. Finally, in the Cinderella story of the tournament, Cedar Ridge, the tourney's twelfth seed, led by Tim Klag, knocked off fourth seeded J.F. Kennedy for the third time that season with the upset of the day. By the way, the GMC White that year was wackier than ever. South Plainfield defeated South Brunswick (69-67) and Kennedy (60-49) to lift the Tigers into the state tournament. Kennedy beat SBHS twice. The Vikings beat Cedar Ridge twice, and the Cougars beat SPHS twice and Kennedy three times. Go figure! In the semifinals, Metuchen rolled past Carteret as Lamar Smith torched the Ramblers for 35 points. To this day, John Haley of the Home News-Tribune reminds Turco of that loss. Meanwhile, St. Peter's defeated Cinderella Cedar Ridge to reach the final for the first time since 1985.

In the Championship Game, St. Peter's limited Spigner to eight first half points, but the Metuchen junior was not to be denied on this night. With the Metuchen Bulldog mascot towel whipping the St. Peter's Cardinal mascot, and driving the frenzied towel waving Bulldog fans into hysteria, Spigner played inspired in the second half and overtime with 19 points to lead MHS to the memorable, 55-53 win. The Bulldogs later went on to win a sectional crown as it defeated Manville at Sayreville for the 1988 Central Jersey Group I Championship. Flaherty was a tremendous player in his own right as well although he had graduated from Metuchen a year before the GMC formed, and I didn't have the chance to see him play. Flaherty actually played some spirited games on the playground against Joe Thompson back in the day, and Thompson was always a fierce competitor. This was a guy, who went to war against the likes of former SPHS wrestling coach, Tom Baker in the student faculty game back in Middle School when I was only in 6th Grade! Flaherty went on to Vermont, which is now the home of another Metuchen standout, and former teammate of Miller's, Marqus Blakely.

Thompson soon followed Flaherty to Vermont after he graduated from SPHS in 1986. However, the former Tiger standout didn't quite have a liking for the very cold weather up there, and decided to come home. Bottom line, for someone like Miller, who is playing basketball as a second sport essentially, to be in such rarified air as that is something special. I'd often was asked during the course of the season if Miller could play Division I, and I'd have to say, "Yes, why not?" The scary thing about this kid is that if he had not been such a great football talent, and spent more time focusing on basketball, he could have been an even greater player than he was. Talking with his coach, Rick Stoner back in October, we had discussed how good a jump shooter he had become during the Summer of 2006 at the Elizabeth Summer League. The problem for Stoner was that the football team had enjoyed some success that fall, and he wasn't able to get Miller into the gym soon enough to continue working on his jumper. If you had seen the three pointer he hit against Spotswood that night in January at MHS, you could say that the potential was there.

Throwing that all aside as well as the individual accomplishments, just take a look at what Metuchen, as a team, and as a school as done during the time Miller has roamed the halls there. After not making the state tournament for over 15 years, the Bulldogs have qualified for four straight seasons. In addition, MHS had reached the CJ Group I Final Four three of those four years with two berths in the Central Jersey Group I sectional final. Looking at the GMC, Metuchen won its first division title in almost 20 seasons when Miller was a sophomore, and made its first GMCT Final appearance since that magical night in Feburary, 1988, when the Blue Division school, and 2006 GMCT top seed faced, and ultimately lost to Colonia in the Championship. Miller's memorable semifinal performance against Monroe played a big part in Metuchen's ride to that final. With Blakely struggling with foul trouble in both the Elite Eight and Final Four, it was Miller and then junior 6th man, Lamar Nichols that stepped up, and carried the Bulldogs to big wins.

It was sad to see Miller's career end the way it did on Tuesday night. Following the game, Miller spent several moments in grief on the court as his mother, teammates, South Amboy players, and others in the Metuchen community such as Lamar Nichols father tried to console him. Although, I was nowhere near as good a player as Miller, one thing I can share with him is that terrible feeling of finality when the final horn sounds in your last high school game. The feeling came for me on a night in early March of 1988 in the Quarterfinal round of the Central Jersey Group II State Tournament when South Plainfield bowed out to Holmdel, 71-53 after upsetting Piscataway Vo-Tech two nights earlier at the buzzer. You never think that it will ever end, but then all of a sudden one day it's over, and a part of your life is gone. However, for Miller there is solace in the fact that there is a bright future ahead with many more magically moments potentiall in store. Farewell, DeJuan. Thanks for the memories, and good luck!

Greg Machos
President
GMC Hoops

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