[Rosiak's Blog] Maymon goes out in style

[ToddRosiakSays]

Maymon goes out in style
               

Madison -- Jeronne Maymon, less than a week away from arriving on the MU campus as part of the Golden Eagles' seven-man recruiting class, lived up to his billing as the state's Mr. Basketball one final time.

The Madison Memorial graduate put up 20 points and 12 rebounds to lift his North team over the South, 92-87, on Saturday morning at the UW Field House in Madison.

The 6-foot-7 Maymon didn't have a particularly good shooting day -- 9 for 21 from the field, 1 for 3 from three-point range and 1 for 5 from the free-throw line -- but he more than made up for that with his tenacious work on the boards.

Maymon grabbed seven of his 12 on the offensive end, and proved to be just too much to handle on the interior for a South squad that had some pretty nice size and talent in Racine Horlick's Jamil Wilson and Germantown's Ben Averkamp.

He scored 10 straight points early in the game in a variety of ways -- a putback, a free throw, a three from the right wing, a turnaround jumper and a runner -- and then added a couple more layups early in the second quarter as the North headed into halftime with a 48-44 lead.

The North opened its lead up to 54-4 early in the third quarter, but a 9-0 run got the South back into the game, and by the end of the period into the lead at 71-69.

It was at that point that Maymon began asserting himself again. He missed a pair of free throws to open the fourth quarter, but was able to track down his second miss and ultimately save the possession for the North. Jordan Giordana then hit a three from the top of the key to give the North a 72-71 lead it wouldn't relinquish the rest of the way.

Maymon wound up scoring six points in the fourth quarter as the North went on to win for the fourth time in the past five years.

It was the first time I'd seen Maymon play in person for over a year, and there's little question he'll be able to help MU immediately.

He was a man among boys at times in this one, and he looks to have sharpened his ballhandling considerably. Maymon even ran the point a few times, and looked comfortable doing it. It's highly doubtful he'll even be called upon to do that at MU, but having big guys who can handle it is obviously a nice luxury to have for coach Buzz Williams.

Maymon's got a big frame with room for more weight, and knows how to use it to his advantage. Although he had some lapses at times (he admitted afterward he needed to improve his conditioning; it was also very hot in the non-air conditioned Field House), he also appeared more focused defensively.

He didn't spend much time matched up against Wilson (Wilson didn't even start for the South), but when he did he stayed in his face and didn't allow him much room to operate. Wilson threw up a couple of airballs from three-point range as a result.

Maymon, by the way, airballed his first free-throw attempt early in the game, earning a few laughs from himself and others.

It was the first time I'd seen Wilson play, and while the physical talent is obvious, he appeared to be on cruise control much of the time. The South coach, Germantown's Steve Showalter, got on Wilson more than once for it as well.

He wound up with 14 points and five rebounds, but shot 2 for 7 from three and turned the ball over four times. It'll be interesting to see how he develops at Oregon. If he puts forth the effort and responds to the coaching he'll receive, he could wind up being a prototype high-major wing with a nice outside-in game.

As usual, Maymon was quotable after the game. Here are some of the highlights:

On playing his final high-school game in Madison: "It felt great, bringing the trophy back to the North. I didn't Madison was in the North. I guess they were trying to even out the teams. But my last game in Madison felt good, playing with the best players around the state. There's no better feeling."

Are you ready to be booed when you return to Madison as a member of MU: "It's going to be fun. (laughs) I'll have a couple fans here -- my parents are going to be here, I've got a lot of family here. But it's going to be me facing adversity. The fans ain't going to like me, but I'm still going to play my game. It ain't going to change."

How proud of you of how much you improved academically this year: "I mean, if I wouldn't have did that I wouldn't even be going D I; I'd probably be going to junior college or someplace else. With the help of God, He made me think about what I need to do, got my mind focused on the grades. Basketball was always going to come, but if I didn't have the grades, I wasn't going to be playing basketball in the future. So I thank God that I settled down and did that."

What are your goals for your freshman season at MU: "Trying to play a lot of minutes. I'm not saying I'm going to (start), but I want a lot of minutes. I'm going to still have good grades. I don't want to go there and be academically ineligible. I'm not going there just to ball; I want to actually get an education, because if ball don't work out I can have something to fall back on. But I'm just going to go there, try to work hard on all aspects of my game, in the classroom and on the court."

Do you see a lot of opportunity in front of you at MU: "Oh yeah, there's definitely a lot of opportunity for anybody to step up and play big minutes. I mean, we've got seven guys coming in. You never know who's going to play what game, matchups, so we're just in a good position to make something of ourselves in our first year in the Big East."

Have you been in touch with Vander Blue since he decommitted: "Oh yeah. He's been over to my house. We've played ball, shot ball. He's just trying to take it one step at a time and get back on his game. I'm going to continue to encourage him. That's like my brother from another, so I'm going to continue to encourage him no matter what he does."

Would you like to see him wind up at MU: "I mean, whatever he chooses. I ain't going to put no pressure on him to pick a school or do anything like that. Whatever he chooses, I'm down for it."
               

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/48681077.html
               

[77ncaachamps]

It's going to be interesting to see how Maymon and Wilson both fare during their collegiate careers.

Maymon sounds like Danny Fortson with an outside game! I love offensive rebounding monsters!

[DomJamesToTheBasket]

Rosiak sure sounds impressed!

[GB Warrior]

He doesn't exactly have his way with words quite like Wes, does he?  

[ATWizJr]

He doesn't exactly have his way with words quite like Wes, does he?  

incoming college frosh never do sound as good as graduated seniors.

[nyg]

Its been a long time since MU had a "beast".  Keep it up Jeronne.  

[GGGG]

The North opened its lead up to 54-4 early in the third quarter, but a 9-0 run got the South back into the game, and by the end of the period into the lead at 71-69.

Wow....that's quite the run!!!

[VegasWarrior77]

I hope "brother from another" stays close to his brother for many years!

[DaCoach]

I suspect Maymon will be going to the line often. I sure hope one of his goals is to groove free throws so he hits 75% of them.