Border Wars – Florida vs. Georgia
Words. HShoop
Al-Farouq Aminu (Photo. Kelly Kline)
After hitting the East Coast and West Coast’s biggest basketball hotbeds with the most recent “Border Wars,” we’re back in the South for this one: Florida vs. Georgia. Rivals in most every sport, especially football, Georgia is known for producing big man (Dwight Howard, Kwame Brown, Randolph Morris, Jermareo Davidson, Alexander Johnson), while Florida cranks out multi-talented ballers at every position (Amare Stoudemire, Renaldo Balkman, Darius Washington, Taurean Green, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute). Looking at today’s high school stars from each state, who would win in a matchup?
GEORGIA
G: Cashmere Wright, 6-0, Sr., Urban Christian (Cincinnati)
G: Lorenzo Brown, 6-4, Jr., Centennial
F: Al-Farouq Aminu, 6-8, Sr., Norcross (Wake Forest)
F: Trey Thompkins, 6-8, Sr., Norcross (Georgia)
C: Derrick Favors, 6-9, Jr., South Atlanta
Bench: Chris Singleton, F, 6-7, Sr., Dunwoody; Tony Mitchell, F, 6-6, Sr., Swainsboro (Alabama); Andre Young, G, 5-9, Sr., Deerfield-Windsor (Clemson); Ralph Sampson, C, 6-11, Sr., Northview; Ari Stewart, F, 6-7, Jr., Wheeler; Noel Johnson, G, 6-6, Jr., Fayetteville.
FLORIDA
G: Dashan Harris, 6-0, Sr., Montverde Academy (Texas A&M)
G: Kenny Boynton, 6-1, Jr., American Heritage
F: Jared Swopshire, 6-7, Sr., IMG Academy (Louisville)
F: Eloy Vargas, 6-10, Sr., American Heritage (Florida)
C: Kenny Kadji, 6-10, Sr., IMG Academy (Florida)
Bench: Luke Loucks, G, 6-4, Sr., Clearwater (Florida State); Steve Tchiengang, F, 6-8, Montverde Academy (Vanderbilt); Wally Judge, F, 6-8, Sr., Arlington Country Day (Kansas State); Brandon Knight, G, 6-3, So., Coral Springs;
On the high school level, guards are probably more important than any other position. Florida without a doubt has the upper hand in the backcourt battle here. Even though they are a bit undersized for their respective positions, PG Dashan Harris and SG Kenny Boynton are quick, athletic and play defense. Boynton is also a high-level scorer. With Luke Loucks and Brandon Knight coming off the bench, the Sunshine State’s guard corps is deep. Georgia, meanwhile, has a backcourt scorer in Cashmere Wright and a versatile athlete off the bench in Noel Johnson, but ultimately they don’t have the depth to hang with Florida’s guards.
The forwards, on the other hand, favor Georgia. Al-Farouq Aminu and Trey Thompkins are excellent athletes and five-star recruits. Thompkins is a good defender and Aminu can score. Not to mention the built-in chemistry they’d have from being on the same high school team (Norcross) together would give them an edge. Off the bench, Singleton can do a bit of everything. For Florida, Eloy Vargas is a decent athlete but just doesn’t have the skills to match up with either of GA’s forwards. Jared Swopshire and Steve Tchiengang are also good, but not on the level of Aminu, Thompkins and Singleton.
The center position is close, but Derrick Favors get the slight edge. Favors is a good athlete who looks to punch everything in sight on the defensive end. Kenny Kadji is a big-bodied guy in the post who rebounds and will throw a few moves at you, too. But Favors’ defensive ability is better than Kadji’s offense, and Favors won’t have to worry about scoring with all the offensive weapons around him.
In a game like this, where the guards will be playing up and down, the bench is very important. In this case the bench favors Georgia. Versatile forwards like Singleton and Ari Stewart would just be too much for Tchiengang and Wally Judge. And Florida sophomore stud Brandon Knight could be somewhat neutralized by more experienced players like Georgia senior Andrew Brown.
The winner: GEORGIA
CRAZY!!!! florida cannot be messed with in any sport
For Georgia I would start
Pg Lorenzo Brown
Sg Noel Johnson
Sf Al-Farouq Aminu
Pf Trey Thompkins
C Derrick Favors
Georgia would win and Derrick Favors would be the best on the floor.