Recruits' games Friday, Feb. 8

[ZagNative]

Meech Goodson, Andy Poling, and Jeff Taylor all play today, with info shown below in the order of the game times:

Meech Goodson: Klein-Collins Tigers(26-4, 8-1 in league) v. Westfield (15-13, 4-6) at home. The game will be broadcast on online radio at tsrn.com at 5:00 PM (7:00 PM texas time).

Klein-Collins is second in the league standings to 10-1 Klein-Forest and third state in the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches (TABC) poll.

Last post on the board came from htownzagfan about Meech being named PrepTicket.com’s Player of the Week. From the story linked in that thread:

He's averaging 15.5 points, seven assists, and about five rebounds per game; but what he brings to the Tigers doesn't always show in his stats. His coaches and teammates, however, know he can change a game by just being on the floor.
....
Goodson's all-around game was noticed by several colleges, and he had offers from all over the country. Next year, he'll be taking his game north to Gonzaga, where he could make an instant impact.

Jeff Taylor: Jeff’s Hobbs Eagles play at #1 Clovis at 6:00 PM (7:00 pm NM time). This ought to be a barn burner. You can watch it on online TV, http://www.nmaa.tv/, or listen on the radio on http://www.hobbsschools.net/.

Mark Few was in attendance at his last game, so fingers are even more firmly crossed that he'll end up in a Zag uniform come next fall.

Andy Poling: Westview plays Beaverton at home at 7:30. Online radio will be available at KUIK. Westview is 10-10, 3-2 in league. Beaverton is 5-13, 0-5 in league. League Standings

[ZagNative]

Added notes about Jeff Taylor's game:

Eagles invade Clovis
Teams likely to play several more times
By Kevin Wilson: Freedom New Mexico
February 8 2008 12:00 AM

Clovis is No. 1 in the state. Hobbs is No. 1 in the District 4-5A standings.

Those two facts give weight, and hype, to a game that already has enough of both.
....
Coach Isler is hoping the Wildcats will block something else out — 6-foot-7 post Jeff Taylor. Isler concedes the state’s top scorer is too good not to get points, and the focus is to keep him off the offensive glass and the free-throw line.

“What we’ve got to do is not let him get easy ones and send him to the line 12-15 times,” Isler said.

Isler gave the same description of 6-foot-6 guard Allen Tate, who’s averaging 22 points per game but “often gets overshadowed” by Taylor.

“If you put too much attention on Jeff,” Gilmore said, “we’ve got other kids who can score.”

and another story:

Whole lotta hoopla
Hobbs, Clovis meet in clash of state’s top two teams.
By Eric Butler: CNJ Correspondent
February 7 2008 10:58 PM

Given the intensity of the Clovis-Hobbs rivalry, tonight’s boys basketball clash would be well-attended even if both squads had records hovering around the .500 mark.

Both teams are quite a bit better than that, however, and that’s making the eyes and ears of the state turn toward Clovis’ Rock Staubus Gymnasium for the first game of the year between the two District 4-5A teams.

Clovis (21-0) is ranked No. 1 in Class 5A and Hobbs (21-2) is No. 2.
...
Clovis and Hobbs have met in state title games twice in the team’s long histories. Whether that happens again remains to be seen, but the number of potential college players on the court is somewhat reminiscent of one of those years.

In 1980, the Wildcats and Eagles were unbeaten when they met for the first time. Clovis’ Bubba Jennings and Hobbs’ Jeff Taylor, both who went on to play at Texas Tech, were among those on the court that night.

Now it’s Taylor’s son, also named Jeff, who is highly sought after — although several others on both squads will get their fair share of looks too. Assistant coaches from Tech, New Mexico, Eastern New Mexico University and Oklahoma State are expected to be on-hand for tip-off tonight.

[BobZag]

If Taylor chooses to be a Zag, Gonzaga's offense will be running on nitro next year. I'm told there is a whole lotta Brandon Roy in Jeff.

Thanks, ZN.

[ZagNative]

We've got three McDonald's All-American game nominees playing tonight in these matchups. We know two will be in Zags blue this fall. It would be so great to add the last missing piece!

[katman50]

Thanks ZN!

For turning us on to the link. Good game. Tied at halftime. Yes, Jeff Taylor is pretty good. Are any of the Zags coaches at the game? I can't believe how good the resolution is for a game on the computer. Thanks again for the heads up!

[ZagNative]

Meech's Game: Klein Collins handily beat Westfield 60-38, with Meech scoring 21 points. In the post-game show, Coach Shumacher commented that Meech has been scoring really well, that he knew that was going to be a big part of what Gonzaga was going to be needing from him, so he'd been working hard on that part of his game.

Jeff's Game: I just joined the game so don't know much. TV is great, but it just doesn't load fast enough on my pitiful DSL connection, so I'm switching to radio for the 2nd half. At the half, the game is scored 38-38.

Taylor has 14 points at the half.

Go Eagles!

[ZagNative]

Tough night for Jeff Taylor's Hobbs Eagles, as Jeff's 26 points could not bail them out from a 74-92 loss to the Clovis wildcats. So the Eagles are "human" after all ....

[katman50]

Clovis deserved to win. A heck of a team. I noticed that many times, Taylor wasn't even the first option (see Adam for Mead or Brooks for Franklin). They should go through him more. An unselfish player, he is. Good game. He would look good in a Zags uniform.

[ZagNative]

Andy Poling: I missed Andy's game last night, after splitting time between Meech and Jeff's games, but he had 21 points and 11 rebounds to pace Westview to an 82-73 Metro victory over visiting Beaverton. Story is here, but that stat is all that's in it about the Beaverton game.

[antbanks]

i know for sure that Russ Gilmore is gonna get on to the Eagles and your gonna see a difference when Clovis comes to Hobbs, Clovis is a tough team but im sure Hobbs will bounce back from this loss and come back stronger

[BobZag]

Thanks, everyone. Taylor and Hobbs have an off night and Jeff still gets serious points.

[ZagNative]

Argh! Hobbs lost one with Jeff Taylor in the game! I demand a meltdown on this board, just to give the young man a flavor of how much the Zags hate to lose!

Point of interest: If you look at MaxPreps team page for Hobbs, you can note the margins of victory in their 21 wins are large. In fact, they've won by an average of 32 points per game over their 21 wins. MaxPreps team comparison page for the next game shows Jeff with:
31 ppg
14.1 rb
1.3 blocks

(FWIW, I tend not to rely on MaxPreps stats much, because they are inconsistently maintained, so I wouldn't place any wagers based Jeff's per-game stats there.)

[tyra]

Sorry to ask but . . .

What position(s) is Jeff Taylor likeliest to play at Gonzaga?

[Birddog]

What position(s) is Jeff Taylor likeliest to play at Gonzaga?
Reply With Quote

Ahhh, the "presumptive close".

Since about half his points are scored off dunks and since he's about 6'8", I'll go out on a limb and say he'll be 4.

Birddog

[BobZag]

Ahhh, the "presumptive close".

Since about half his points are scored off dunks and since he's about 6'8", I'll go out on a limb and say he'll be 4.

Birddog

A 3 with some 4 skills, but definately a Wing first.