With Garfield High seconds away from completing a blowout victory of the Eastlake High Wolves of Sammamish, the members of Garfield’s boisterous student section rattled their car keys over their heads and began to chant at Eastlake’s fans: “Start your trac-tors! Start your trac-tors.”
Talk about a golden’ oldie! That’s a chant I did when I was at Garfield. It’s the ultimate in urban snobbery–dismissive while completely inaccurate. Obviously we know the opposite side of 520 isn’t carpeted with farms and navigated by tractor, it’s carpeted with hot yoga studios and navigated by Porsche Cayennes. Still, one must assert one’s superiority when one’s basketball team is leading by 20 points. A chant of “Na-na-na-na, hey-hey-hey, goodbye” soon followed.
Eastlake had actually kept it close in the first half. Most coaches, faced with Garfield’s pressure defense, deep roster, and superior athleticism, order their team to play offense at a glacial pace, the better to prevent turnovers and shorten the game. Eastlake coach Brian Dailey, a former University of Missouri player and coach, had a different strategy. He urged his team to run, to break Garfield’s press and get easier shots. This was not only effective, it was a hell of a lot of fun to watch. Four minutes into the game, the teams had combined for 23 points.
I’ve seen Garfield twice now, because I wanted to confirm a feeling I had in the first game I saw–that they are a much more enjoyable team to watch now that superstar Tony Wroten has left for college.
As Washington Husky fans now know, Tony Wroten provides instant scoring and spectacular athleticism, but he’s not very good at sharing the ball or getting open looks for his teammates. Last year’s Garfield offense was four guys standing around waiting for Wroten to do something–much like Washington’s is now. As a fan, it’s stressful! You and everyone else knows who is going to take the ball, and there are really only three outcomes–a made shot (yay!), foul shots (more stress!) or a turnover (boo!).
It takes all the spontaneity out of basketball, the enjoyment of seeing an unexpected pass lead to an open shot. Wroten’s style of play is similar to the style that turns many fans off the modern Jordan/Kobe/LeBron NBA–it’s all drive-and-dish, no passing. With Wroten, honestly, it’s mostly drive, which is even worse.
With Wroten gone, Garfield shares the ball much better–and the Bulldogs’ two best players, junior wings Tucker Haymond and especially TreVaunte Williams, are if anything too unselfish with the ball. Williams showed a great sense for the game, operating mostly in the high post. He would take a pass, wait for a double-team, then pass the ball to an open shooter. Then, as the shot went up, Williams would rumble into the paint in search of an offensive rebound, of which he snatched many. Williams scored the quietest 18 points I can remember, they came mostly on putbacks.
Haymond, 6′-5″ and a terrific leaper, will surely earn a college scholarship as a shooting guard. For Garfield, he’s playing on the low block. And how. He’s an impossible matchup for most high school forwards–just as tall as they are, just as strong (Haymond has clearly hit the weight room) but much quicker and a much better leaper. Eastlake could not defend him one-on-one. When double teams came, Haymond passed out of them, and his teammates moved the ball around until they found an open shooter.
Garfield’s perimeter players aren’t going to be mistaken for Reggie Miller, but they hit enough threes to keep opposing teams honest. Junior guard Aja Buchanon (#13), shoots a rainbow style three that kisses the rafters before descending into the basket. Junior guard Demario Hall (#10) has a terrifically quick release. The two combined for 13 points–which isn’t much, but their outside-shooting ability prevented the Wolves from collapsing on Haymond and Williams.
The game turned in the third quarter, when Garfield went on a 26-6 run–Eastlake’s shots stopped going down, and Garfield’s superior rebounding led to easy transition baskets for the Bulldogs. Garfield held the lead in the fourth quarter, and eventually both coaches emptied their benches. Then, the chanting began.
