OT- Lenny Cooke in 2012

[cusetown1]

He has lived up to the hype, until the end of the 4th quarter in the finals... (had to get that one in)

In all seriousness, he IS a freak of nature, and he HAS revolutionized the game.






The SI cover was after the ABCD camp that year.

Not that I care because I do think he is a great player. Many seem to knock him because he is more of a hybrid position and not a true PG. I hate that argument btw.

 

[TinyManInside]

Has Lebron exceeded expectations or has he not lived up to them? Keep in mind, when he was drafted he was a can't miss freak that would revolutionize the game. I think he has been a great player with expectations that were too high for anyone to live up to.

From a pure individual talent perspective, the dude is the best player on the planet, so he's certainly fulfilled that promise. I personally think that he's one of the very rare examples of a player actually being as good as the hype. Obviously there is the major hole in his resume (no championship), but no one talks about NBA championships when they're evaluating a high school player - you're just asking "can he score/rebound/defend/handle, etc at an ELITE NBA level? I said he'd be a 10-time All-Star after seeing him for the first time in Columbus, OH. In close to 10 years of watching more high school basketball and recruiting camps than I care to admit, the only other kid I saw that made me say "definite NBA all-star" was Durant.

Mason

 

[Marsh01]

While we are rehashing old stuff, did anyone else use to get the Big East Basketball yearbook magazines that came out every year? I think the first one I bought was probably in like 1984-1985 and I bought one every year they made them until they stopped making them.

This mag was the . Way before the internet and it had a pretty sweet recruiting section as well as team pages, breakdowns, history, etc.

I still have these magazines somewhere in my basement and cant tell you how many hours upon hours I poured through those growing up.

 

[TinyManInside]

While we are rehashing old stuff, did anyone else use to get the Big East Basketball yearbook magazines that came out every year? I think the first one I bought was probably in like 1984-1985 and I bought one every year they made them until they stopped making them.

This mag was the . Way before the internet and it had a pretty sweet recruiting section as well as team pages, breakdowns, history, etc.

I still have these magazines somewhere in my basement and cant tell you how many hours upon hours I poured through those growing up.

+1, those were great and I still have most of mine in my 'Cuse box - someday when I have a bigger house, I'm gonna crack that box open and all of the old posters and memorabilia will find a place on my rec room wall...

 

[cusetown1]

From a pure individual talent perspective, the dude is the best player on the planet, so he's certainly fulfilled that promise. I personally think that he's one of the very rare examples of a player actually being as good as the hype. Obviously there is the major hole in his resume (no championship), but no one talks about NBA championships when they're evaluating a high school player - you're just asking "can he score/rebound/defend/handle, etc at an ELITE NBA level? I said he'd be a 10-time All-Star after seeing him for the first time in Columbus, OH. In close to 10 years of watching more high school basketball and recruiting camps than I care to admit, the only other kid I saw that made me say "definite NBA all-star" was Durant.

Mason

nice post. If I were starting an NBA team tomorrow and could draft anybody from the NBA it would be Kevin Durant. And it's not close IMO.

 

[Marsh01]

nice post. If I were starting an NBA team tomorrow and could draft anybody from the NBA it would be Kevin Durant. And it's not close IMO.

I'd go with Jeremy Lin. Does Linsanity still even exist? God that was quicker than I usually last in bed.

 

[cusetown1]

I'd go with Jeremy Lin. Does Linsanity still even exist? God that was quicker than I usually last in bed.

let me guess, if you were starting an NFL team tomorrow and could draft anyone you'd draft Tim Teblow?

 

[Marsh01]

let me guess, if you were starting an NFL team tomorrow and could draft anyone you'd draft Tim Teblow?

Well...yea.

 

[Ghost]

While we are rehashing old stuff, did anyone else use to get the Big East Basketball yearbook magazines that came out every year? I think the first one I bought was probably in like 1984-1985 and I bought one every year they made them until they stopped making them.

This mag was the . Way before the internet and it had a pretty sweet recruiting section as well as team pages, breakdowns, history, etc.

I still have these magazines somewhere in my basement and cant tell you how many hours upon hours I poured through those growing up.

Before the internet existed those things were EVERYTHING. I would read the entire issue cover to cover, and then read them again.

 

[Marsh01]

Before the internet existed those things were EVERYTHING. I would read the entire issue cover to cover, and then read them again.

My god absolutely. I probably had everyone memorized at one time. I remember the issue where Marcus Liberty was the #1 player in HS and committed to Illinois. Great recruiting stuff that was way ahead of its time.

 

[jec1521]

Here's a video of Cooke at my local HS for anyone interested. It's quite obvious that the competition wasn't great.

 

[Ghost]

My god absolutely. I probably had everyone memorized at one time. I remember the issue where Marcus Liberty was the #1 player in HS and committed to Illinois. Great recruiting stuff that was way ahead of its time.

Ugh, Marcus Liberty, Battle, Kendall Gill, Anderson....that loss still makes me cringe.

 

[Orangeyes]

A 2001 video of Lenny Cooke in his first game for NVOT after transferring there.

The following was posted with the video:

"Lenny Cooke was a high school phenom and playground basketball legend. He transferred to NVOT in 2001 and it turned into the most interesting and exciting year of basketball in my life and probably everyone that played for the Knights that year could say the same thing. I found an old video that had a couple of games recorded and figured some of my NVOT alumni would get a kick out of it.

This clip has Lenny's much anticipated entrance for his first game (we rarely sold out one side of the bleachers until that day), the 'First Play', and a few clips of our games against Ramapo and Wayne Hills.

In the Ramapo game you can clearly hear the fans chanting 'SAT!' when Lenny is shooting free throws, our fans counter with 'NBA!' (in hindsight not so much), and in the Wayne Hills game Lenny was being guarded by Chicago Bear tight end Greg Olsen.

(I didn't spend much time editing this video...again just thought some people would think it was cool to kind of 'relive' this for a minute...enjoy)"

Cooke & LeBron appear in this video from the ABCD Camp 2001

 

[IthacaMatt]

I live in Old Tappan, NJ. Lenny is kind of a mythical creature around here, as Old Tappan High School doesn't get many players even near Cooke's level, ever.

Also, I was at the ABCD Camp that year. I was only 12 years old at the time so I don't really remember the game, but I did get to meet our one and only DeShaun Williams while there...

Afterwards, Lenny wasn't the same player. He was forcing it too hard to try to make up for that game. I heard a couple guys say, "He thinks he should go straight to the pros ? Then why ain't he dominating ? These are high school kids ."

 

[cusetown1]

Afterwards, Lenny wasn't the same player. He was forcing it too hard to try to make up for that game. I heard a couple guys say, "He thinks he should go straight to the pros ? Then why ain't he dominating ? These are high school kids ."

one of the reasons why there is an age requirement.

 

[Francis03]

I will say this - going into that camp I loved Lenny Cooke. But that game against LeBron sort of destroyed him. He basically played out the rest of the week running on fumes... I honestly think he would have been a hell of a college player if he had actually cared to get his grades in order (and avoided 'indulging' off the court - lots of rumors there).

Cooke and Carmelo had played 2 days prior to the matchup with LeBron. Carmelo outscored Cooke like 17 to 14 but Cooke's team won by 20 and Lenny had a ton of boards and assists in that game as well. At the time I thought Carmelo and Lenny were basically equivalent talents, but Carmelo kept improving and Lenny's life was a freakin' soap opera.

Lenny was sort of like a 3 inch taller version of Paul Harris - just a relentless rebounder, great defender, and a pretty good passer and ballhandler as well. Not a great outside shooter but at that stage he didn't need to be because so few people could stop him from getting to the rim. With good coaching and structure, who knows how he would have turned out?

As far as LeBron goes, I had seen him 6 months earlier in Columbus OH when I went out to see Billy Edelin play for Oak Hill against St. Mary's St. Vincent (also an incredible game that Oak Hill won on a last second drive by Edelin). So I already knew James was the real deal and that he was going to blow up that camp. The day before the Cooke/LeBron game, Lebron made what I still consider to be the single greatest basketball play I've ever seen in person... Trevor Ariza got a steal and what appeared to be a breakaway dunk - he had like a 20 foot headstart on everyone on the court - he rose up for a tomahawk, taking off about 3 or 4 feet inside the free throw line... LeBron somehow tracked him down, cut in front of him, jumped in the air and PALMED the ball right out of Ariza's hand. No contact or anything, just rose up on a guy about to throw down a tomahawk and took the ball out of his hand like candy from a baby. The gym literally went silent. An incredible play and I still remember the eerie feeling in the place, like no one could believe what they had just seen. I wish I could describe the play well enough to do it justice. Honestly, it was like seeing a magic trick.

Another great story from that Cooke/LeBron game was that I sat next to a scout from the Supersonics. The guy told me LeBron would be the #1 draft pick if he came out THAT YEAR (just finished his SO year of high school), and further told me that Cleveland was going to get the number one pick 2 years down the road when he did come out.

Mason

Great stuff as usual. I remember the first time I saw Cooke play, he was 18 but only a Sophomore at LaSalle high in Manhattan. He went up against St. Ray's and our boy Julius Hodge, who was blowing up as an unknown Junior at the time. The taller Paul Harris comparison is correct. Cooke was just too strong and was able to do whatever he wanted on the court. His team wasn't any good so they ended up getting blownout but Cooke was a one man show in do it all fashion. He actually almost got into a fight with a teammate, which made me wonder if he was a hot head, but I never heard any stories of him being a bad teammate so I'm not sure. Nevertheless after the game even though his team loss, Lenny Cooke had the gym buzzin and everybody was wondering if they just witness one of the next great phenom in basketball.

 

[The General]

Uh, Lebron is sick. However, he has not revolutionized the game.

JB said when Lebron was in HS that barring injury, he'd be one of the top 5 ever to play the game. He still has a ways to go. He's a physical freak. But he is not the killer that Kobe, MJ, Bird, Magic, etc are. He's just not.

Russ, Wilt and Kareem. Magic and Bird revolutionized the game. MJ and Kobe too. I'd even throw Hakeem in there. Shaq gets a nod. Lebron? Eh, time is ticking...

The thing all those guys had in common is that they would revel in putting their foot on your throat. They wanted to kick your ass. All of them. Lebron has been getting his make-up done since 9th grade. It shows.

I think Wade has some of that FU in him. Bird would call your piccolo player a m'fer and drop a game winner in your face. MJ wanted to kill you. Kobe choked the stuff outta Reggie Miller at like 20. Wade just busted Kobe's nose. Has Lebron ever manned up?

 

[Marsh01]

Ugh, Marcus Liberty, Battle, Kendall Gill, Anderson....that loss still makes me cringe.

yep me too

 

[IthacaBarrel]

The thing about guys like Cooke, while I am sure he would have benefitted from going to college, the cream will rise to the top and talent and natural athleticism will win out, unless you have a great feel for the game as Carmelo and guys like Pirece do, like this happens all the time, street agents, runners, etc etc. Paul Harris would have been drafted as a 19 year old HS senior but when undrafted 3 years later, I just think that Cook's game depended on athleticism and being stronger and faster than everyone, as did Harris'. I think if Cooke went to college, his stock would have gone down considerably as did Harris. You can't get by on just being a ridiculous athlete in the NBA unless you are 7 foot


If you watch Melo and Lebron, even from day one they just had a tremendous feel for the game, how to get in position, etc etc. Where a guy like Warrick was a ridiculous athlete who did not develop until he was 19-21, he is a far better athlete than Cooke ever was. To me Carmelo always had that Larry Bird, Bernard King, Gervin, Paul Pierce type old man game fixed in and a tremendous feel to go along with his natural athleticism ( even at Cuse), but I will say this after watching Melo for the first few times, I always saw him as a better basketball player than an athlete, I was never blown away buy his athleticism. ( speaking in elite NBA standards here not for average joes) He is a good athlete in the NBA but not great by NBA standards . Lebron to me is both a phenomenal athlete and basketball player, freak athlete for his size. But Carmelo is just such a savy scorer like some of the old school NBA guys, Bird, King, etc. even yesterday I was just amazed so to how he works to get open, he made so many backdoor cuts versus Pierce it was great to watch. Anyone who doesn't like the NBA should have watched Pierce and Carmelo battle in the 4th yesterday, it was a thing of beauty. Two hall of famers with such great feel

 

[br801]

To me Carmelo always had that Larry Bird, Bernard King, Gervin, Paul Pierce type old man game fixed in and a tremendous feel to go along with his natural athleticism ( even at Cuse), but I will say this after watching Melo for the first few times, I always saw him as a better basketball player than an athlete, I was never blown away buy his athleticism. ( speaking in elite NBA standards here not for average joes) He is a good athlete in the NBA but not great by NBA standards . Lebron to me is both a phenomenal athlete and basketball player, freak athlete for his size. But Carmelo is just such a savy scorer like some of the old school NBA guys, Bird, King, etc. even yesterday I was just amazed so to how he works to get open, he made so many backdoor cuts versus Pierce it was great to watch. Anyone who doesn't like the NBA should have watched Pierce and Carmelo battle in the 4th yesterday, it was a thing of beauty. Two hall of famers with such great feel

Great observations about Carmelo's game (and Pierce's). Seeing them play, I'm reminded of the NBA I watched as a kid in the late 60s and 70s. I wasn't a Bulls fan, but remember Chet Walker having a similar offensive game. Good times.