Parents and friends of Team Alaska and Bob Gottlieb:

Things have gone real well so far. Its never easy, but I am real pleased to say we have a real good solid team. In my judgment, we have 11 of the top 15 players in the state and they have come down a week early for the opportunity to work directly with me for an entire week and it certainly has paid off.

Monday night we had a scrimmage game with an excellent AAU Travel Team called H Squad. It was held at Fremont H.S. in Los Angeles, with referees. Although they were missing several good players, two of their best players had just flown in that day from Oakland. When the dust settled, Branch West ended up on the bright side of the scoreboard with a 109-71 victory that left Head Coach of H Squad and good friend Rick Isaacs shaking his head and saying, you know, they are a pretty good team.

Tuesday, we scrimmaged against a very tough, physical Ocean View H.S. team, without referees, and not continuous action. No score was kept, but BWBA not only played tough and did quite well, but got very important experience from the scrimmage.

Today, BWBA Team ALaska Head Coach, Keni Klein flew in from Louisville and assisted Bob Gottlieb as we beat up a pretty good Sonora H.S. team 73-35 in the opening round of the Sonora H.S. 16 team tournament, held at Sonora H.S. in La Habra, CA.

BWBA put on a smothering full court pressure man to man defense, with occasional stunts and used the constant pressure to cause numerous turnovers resulting in easy baskets.

Outstanding two way guard play is the big difference between this year's edition of Team Alaska and that of a year ago. Playing point guards Warren Lewis of Dimond and Jordan Jamestown of Anchorage East together has given BWBA a tremendous perimeter duo.

Both are quick and aggressive defenders and unselfish play makers that no how to find the open man on offense. They are setting the tone and their hi level of defensive energy has been contagious.

The improvement in overall fundamental soundness of everyone has been nothing short of wonderment. The first day everyone arrived and practiced, the entire group was a turnover waiting to happen. Today, the opposing coach remarked how fundamentally sound the entire group looked.

Whereas everyone has improved at differing rates, even some of the slow learner types, and those with ability but being in somewhat of an emotional shell, have all started to blossom and contribute significantly.

Stray tuned as the competition will get stronger each day.

Branch West Team Alaska improved its overall record to 3-0 with its second impressive win in the Sonora Tournament earning a hard fought 58-50 win over a talented and well coached Downey H.S.

Chris Bryant, the 6'4" major league long range shooter from Metlacatla H.S. in S.E. Alaska, again led BWBA in scoring finishing with 23 points, hitting 5 straight three pointers, at one time. Point guard Warren Beasley from Anchorage Dimond H.S., one of our two fine point guards also chipped in with 15 points.

Matt Fisher, 6'8" who played at Delta Junction H.S. last year, and who has transferred to Lathrop, was a tower of strength on the boards. His shot blocking and rebounding are of Team MVP caliber. he also chipped in with 10 points, mostly off of the new out of bounds play that Coach Kevin Klein put in that morning.

We play host school Sonora H.S. tonight at 7:30 pm.

Branch West Team Alaska beat host Sonora H.S. 75-37 in a game that was much closer than the final score. BWBA led from start to finish but at one time, Sonora cut the lead to 42-32.

Sonora also is a tough, physical team that had two of its best players at the Double Pump Camp and thus missed the game, but they really got after BWBA, not only playing good defense, but throwing up a tough full court zone press.

Scoring was quite balanced as newcomer Jesse Prins. 6'7" #3 man from Palmer H.S., and high quality perimeter shooter, led BWBA to a 19 point halftime lead, scoring 12 points in the first half himself. Dominic Lozano, the 6'0" off gd from Barrow H.S., where his dad is the new Head Coach, came off the bench to scores 15 points.

Jordan Jamestown 6;0: JR point guard from Anchorage East had a monstrous all around game. His overall defensive athleticism is of Team MVP caliber. Finished with 10 points any number of assists, rebounds and steals. PLays all out and has a ton of heart. Older brother Ozie Jamestown had by far his best game on the defensive boards. His overall toughness and competitive spirit, are a big part of whatever success we have had so far.

Their two sisters, who both live in the Los Angeles, attended the game. They missed the early part of the game as Coach Gottlieb's directions left something to be desired.

Chris Bryant's dad was in from Metlacatla and attended the game along with two of his best pals from high school in Nevada, both of whom live in the LA area.

Tomorrow is a hell of a challenge. We play Compton Dominguez H.S. in the finals. This is the team that was rated the #1 high school team in the USA three years ago, with 7'0" Tyson Chandler, who went directly to the NBA and the Chicago Bulls out of high school.

They are nowhere near as good a team as they were back then, but they are still a formidable team, that will be heavily favored. However, they are beatable, and we are becoming a pretty darn good team of our own, and it should be a heck of a game.

Stay posted.

Boy are we proud of the team. We got beat in the finals against a major team Comton Dominguez H.S. 94-89. We led the entire game until the middle of the 4th quarter when the officials went to work on us.

It was a disgracefully officiated game. The director of the tournament Mike Murphy agreed they were JV high school refs and my opinion is that they were intimidated by Ruseel Otis, the coach and the very fact of were they were or who they had been in previous years, when they were the dominant program not only in California, but the #1 team in the country for several years.

We had a 8 or 9 point lead with about 5 minutes to go and all of a sudden they started calling 5 second dribbling count violations on our point guard, and all sorts of mysterious fouls on the boards, that simply put Dominguez back in the game and totally gave them the momentum and confidence they did not have at any point prior to that in the game.

We had some terrific gutty performances by several key players. Chris Bryant, as usual was our major offensive weapon. He is a magnificent shooter and had another excellent game and fortunately, his dad and his dad's two high school buddies who now live in LA were all there to see it. He had 22 points.

Ozell Jamestown, however stepped up and despite sitting out the entire 2nd quarter, led the team with 24 points. He is a warrior with the heart of a lion.

His younger brother Jordan, while only scoring 6 points, was also a warrior with a heart every big as his brother's.

Matt Fischer, who also is a warrior with an enormous heart had 12 points and a ton of rebounds and blocked shots, but was not overly effective throughout the 2nd half, missing some easy shot around the basket he never misses.

He did not tell that when he dove for a loose ball early in the game, he hurt his hip, and he really played hurt the rest of the game. After the game, there was a knot on his hip like an egg, so he really was hurt. We iced it after the game and hopefully he will be OK. They have the complete day off to rest as the Full Court Press Tournament starts tomorrow.

Kurtis Devon 6'6" 230 4/5 man from Palmer has really improved defensively and on the boards and really contributed though not on the scoreboard.

Several of the kids were obviously somewhat intimidated by the magnitude of who we were playing and played like a deer caught in headlights, and thus did not play any where as much as they had played in previous games. However, Dominic Lozano and Harley Danner from Barrow did play tough and with confidence., though they did not score much.

Overall, I was very proud of the team. They are representing Alaska very well.

Stay posted.

Coach Kevin Klein took over as the Head Coach for the the Full Court Press Tournament held at the Warrior Center in Cypress, CA.

BWBA Team Alaska continued to play outstanding full court pressure defense. With twin point guards Warren Lewis of Dimond and Jordan Jamestown of Anchorage East applying unrelenting constant pressure all over the floor, the team wore down a good solid San Diego Select team 71-56.

Coach Klein did a great job getting meaningful playing time for all 11 players. Scoring was balanced led by 6'8" center Matt Fischer. Playing with a painful hip bruise, matt has been a dynamic rebounder/shot blocker with great consistency.

Though not a big scorer, he is contuibg to improve in all facets of the game. I predict he will be recruited on scholarship to a great many NCAA D2 schools.

We also learned that Kinzey Reeves, the 6'10" center from Lathrop H.S. in Fairbanks, AK who graduated this June sill be signing this week a full NCAA D1 scholarship to St. Peters College from New jersey.

Kinzey averaged 12 ppg and 10 rebs'g for Lathrop, but had no scholarship offers until his parents retained Bob Gottlieb's Recruiting Assistance Service. Kinzey also played in the Easter Classic for BWBA this past spring, and films of those games were a very positive factor in his recruitment.

Tomorrow is a big doubleheader as all 50 teams in the tournament play twice.

What a wonderful day for Team Alaska. Kevin Klein has taken over the reins and is doing a masterful job with the team.

In the first game yesterday, BWBA Team Alaska beat Northern California Reach Your Goal 93-72. IN another well balanced effort, Jordan Jamestown, who has had a magnificent summer thus far led the team with 15 points. Brother Ozzie Jamestown and Dominic Lozano both had 14 pts. and Warren Lewis, point guard from Dinmond H.S. in Anchorage chipped in with 10 pts and some outstanding defense.

Dominic Lozano plays for Barrow H.S. and is the son of new Head Coach Jim Lozano. Dominic, Warren Lewis and Jordan Jamestown all are going to be just juniors in high school this coming year.

However in the big game of the summer for this fast improving team was the evening game vs. H Squad. Though we beat them handily in a scrimmage, most of their key players were away. Matt Sargent, the 6'2" splendid guard from Ocean View H.S. was at ABCD Camp in New Jersey and Curtis Allen, the 6'3" superstar from Rolling Hills H.S., and one of the top 3 seniors in LA, was away at Nike Camp/

Team Alaska, playing with tremendous defensive intensity led the entire game before losing 53-52 in a heck of a game. We led by as many as 17 pts in the first half, but H Squad is a tough, physical, talented, athletic crew that had no quit in them.

They roared back and took the lead for the first time with about 2 minutes to go. With the score tied, H Squad was fouled with 6 seconds to go. They made the first but missed the second. Coach Klein called time out to set up a play and we ended up with a very good shot that almost went in.

It was a heart breaking loss. Ozie Jamestown was unbelievable. He was a "man". He was a one man wrecking crew. He put the team on has back and literally carried them on his back. he drove, he shot perimeter jumpers, he was everywhere. His younger brother Jordan Jamestown sets the whole table and tempo for the team at both ends of the floor. he too is a whale of a competitor.

I do not have the final individual stats yet to report, but will include them in my next report.

Well it seems like we have had a real nice reaction to our BWBA Team Alaska Reports and updates so here is #7.

The team had another splendid day. Earlier in the day they beat BWBA White 58-47. Nine of the 11 players scored led by Ozie Jamestown with 14 pts, followed by Matt Fischer with 12.

Matt has been a tremendous addition to the team. We would be lost without his rebounding and shot blocking and overall toughness and competitive spirit. He will have a solid sgot at a NCAA D2 scholarship this year.

He is originally from North Carolina until his entire family moved to Delta Junction, a small town about 2 hours from Fairbanks. His dad is a fireman. When I asked why the family decided to move to Delta Junction, he said his dad just wanted a change.

His high school team never practiced. They just played games. This year, the family has moved to Fairbanks so Matt can play for Lathrop H.S. under the well respected Coach Milo Griffin. Matt led Lathrop to the championship of the UAF team Camp this past June.

Together with Mike Titus, an excellent returning combo guard and Josh Lorenz, the terrific combo guard who transferred to lathrop after leading West Valley to three straight wins over Lathrop last year, Lathrop will ne a strong candidate to possibly give Bartlett of Anchorage, a run for their money.

With Coach White returning to Anchorage West as the head coach, and a number of the top young players in Anchorage transferring over there, look out, there could well be a new "Sheriff" back in town, in a year or two.

Back to BWBA Team Alaska. In the night cap, Coached by Kevin Klein, they took on BWBA Orange, the #1 team coached by Bob Gottlieb, with 9 or 10 NCAA D1 players.

BWBA Orange led by 11 point early in the 2nd half, but led by Ozie Jamestown who had 12 points, Chris Bryant with 12 and Warren Lewis with 10, BWBA Alaska stormed back to actually take the lead with under 2 minutes to go.

I actually mad a major coaching error and went to a zone thinking we might disrupt their rhythm. I thought we had a 1 point lead. However I misread the scoreboard and when we went zone, they just backed out the ball and held it for 30 seconds until I realized we were behind by a point, not ahead.

We quickly got out of our zone and went after them and did get a crucial turnover and then fast broke down the court and drove in what could easily have been called an offensive foul, and got the call on the defense, and stepped up and made both free throw to give us back the lead.

We then went back down the court, and with Team Alaska playing smartly and with great poise, they moved it around, probing the defense, waiting for a quality shot, when all of a sudden the female ref called Ozie Jamestown for a 3 seconds in the lane violation in the lane. He was camped in the lane, but it was the kind of a call that's hardly ever called, especially that late in a close game.

They then had to foul and BWBA Orange ended up winning 57-53. Team Alaska deserved the game. They outplayed and out fought Team Orange the entire 2nd half. Their ability to penetrate the lane and dish to open people had Team Orange befuddled the entire second half.

Team Alaska played with great emotion and intensity throughout. Their entire team was up cheering the guys out on the floor. They have earned the respect of everyone down here.

The adidas Big Time Tournament will be an even greater challenge as the competition will be even strongest. This year they will have 400 teams competing.

Today and tomorrow we have given the entire team off. Their job is to get some rest and re energize their batteries and be refreshed for Las Vegas.

We will practice Sunday and Monday and leave Monday after practice. Las Vegas is approximately a 4.5 hr drive. The tournament starts Tuesday.

Many of the players went to the beach today. Some went to the movies. Some were going to the Orange County Fair tonight. Tomorrow night its dinner at Downtown Disney.

Anything to give Mrs. Gottlieb (Alias Saint Jane) a couple of nights off. She has cooked dinner for the entire team for most all of the past two weeks, sometimes serving as late as 10 pm at night when the games ended late.

We have been happily married for 35 years. However, at this point, if we do not leave for Las Vegas soon, my chances of getting to 36 may only be a glimmer. Six of the players plus Coach Klein are sleeping here, three in rooms, two on sofas and two on the living room floor.

Thank god for Joey Lindquist's mom. I asked her if she could take one or two players last summer. She said she could probably only take 5. The other 5 are at the Lindquists. Son Joey, 6'8" and 230 lbs, who is like a mighty Joe Young reincarnated, signed recently at Cal State Monterey Bay where he got a tuition scholarship through the efforts of Coach Gottlieb and his BWBA Recruiting Assistance Service.

Stay tuned as we will soon be off to Las Vegas.

Bob Gottlieb
Director
Branch West Basketball
714-997-0380 (h)
cell 714-719-3080