As Elliott Poole steps onto the United Center court Sunday, 15 Westinghouse players will be looking to get a piece of the powerfully built, 6-foot-6-inch, 225-pound Farragut star.
Good luck.
Julian tried just about every means short of tackling him in Thursday’s Public League semifinal, and Poole still wound up with 36 points and 20 rebounds.
And he wasn’t even at full strength. Poole will again ignore the pain of lower-back spasms and a bruised hip when the No. 7 Admirals (22-9) confront the No. 4 Warriors (26-5) in the city championship game at 5 p.m., with a berth in the Class AA quarterfinals at stake.
Two factors are elevating Poole to the top of his game. He responds to physical tactics by channeling his aggression into overpowering moves inside and converting his free-throw attempts when a whistle is blown. He hit 10-of-12 from the line against Julian.
Secondly, he is upset at being snubbed by the national all-star games.
Perhaps Westinghouse coach Chris Head should attempt a novel approach in dealing with Poole: Try being nice to him.
Poole is so accustomed to bouncing off bodies and playing off shoves in executing his drop-step and spin moves that a hands-off policy might confuse him.
If he isn’t fired up, maybe Poole won’t be so dominant.
In the first game at Westinghouse, the Warriors sent waves of players at Poole to bang him around. Upset at the lack of foul calls, Poole strayed from his game and Farragut lost.
“Westinghouse’s best defense is to hold you, hack you and push you around,” Poole said. “I lost my head the first time. It’s a maturing process, and I’ve learned how to handle it. Westinghouse will send at lot of players at me Sunday and try to beat me up. I’ve just to make them pay for it at the free-throw line.”
That’s what Poole did in the rematch last month at Farragut, where the Admirals prevailed.
“It didn’t matter how we played against Poole that game,” Head said. “We committed 31 turnovers.”
Look for Westinghouse’s “Poole patrol” to consist of 6-6 Richard Russell and bulky forwards Aaron Moore and Deandre Billingsley. Head may not risk having his best inside scorer, 6-4 Darius Glover, get in foul trouble defending Poole.
“I’m hoping that with this game being on TV in front of a big crowd at the United Center that the referees will keep the game in order and not let Westinghouse get away with all that holding and grabbing,” Poole said.
“If that happens we have a real good chance to beat them.”
Westinghouse is shooting for its fifth Public League title in the last 10 years, while Farragut’s lone championship came in 1995 when Kevin Garnett moved to Chicago from South Carolina. In ’96 the Admirals were second to Westinghouse.
“I just hope my guys want it bad enough because you know those Westinghouse players are going to be fired up,” Farragut coach William Nelson said. “Elliott will have to stay focused, because they’ll try everything to get him out of his game.”
Westinghouse’s vaunted defense will not only have to contain Poole down low but also keep Farragut’s outside shooters–Marcetteaus McGee, Courtney McGarry and Jason Smith–in check.
Offensively the Warriors will need big games from Glover, Russell, point guard Jamaal Brown and their most talented player, 6-4 sophomore Jamarcus Ellis.
