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for the final six minutes against Wethersfield tonight. It was one of those nights that hopefully JWF will learn and grow from. After scoring 50 points in games against Everett and New Mission from Mass. JWF scored 10 points tonight against Wethersfield all in the first half while watching his team blow a 12 point lead in the second half and almost lose to a feisty and spirited Wethersfield team at Wethersfield High School.
I can certainly confirm JWF has high major D1 physical attributes. Unfortunately tonight his mental makeup was less than stellar frustrating his New England Hall of Fame coach to the point he benched his star player while watching Wethersfield fight and claw its way to what was almost an improbable victory. The final score was 75-70 but don't let that score fool you. With the score 71-68 a Wethersfield player was fouled while shooting a 3 pointer with just 6 seconds left. He made the first 2 cutting the lead to 71-70 and then missed the third free throw after coach Smith called a timeout to freeze the shooter. Wethersfield fouled immediately and Windsor sank 2 free throws with 4 seconds left making the score 73-70. Windsor then stole the in bounds pass and made a layup for the final score of 75-70.
I sat directly behind the Windsor bench tonight. Some of the comments directed at JWF from coach Smith were "You want to fight with me yet you can't go out there and fight the other team" "Why don't you take it to the basket nobody can stop you except yourself" and finally a very heated comment during a timeout in which coach Smith stated "This is about team not..." the rest left out. We never saw JWF again after that timeout. Coach Smith won the game with his other players and after the game it was hard not to let him know what a great game he coached for Windsor. One of the more memorable parts of the game came when Wethersfield came back and cut the lead from 12 to 5 in the last quarter and during a time out JWF looked up into the stands to make eye contact with someone while his coach was talking to his team. JWF then took his hand palm up and put it towards the back of his coach as if to tell the person in the stands my coach is the reason I'm not playing.
JWF made 1 three pointer and missed several others and went 1-2 from the line unofficially. He is a very strong kid and made several quality passes while turning it over about 3 times also. His on court demeanor was one of excessive deference tonight. At first it made a good impression as he came across very unselfish. As the game progressed however it was noticeable he just wasn't mentally into the game at all. There was never any overt outbursts by JWF towards his coach as his personality did not lend itself to that. His coach was frustrated with him and it ended up with a benching in crunch time.
It appears I had the bad luck of watching this kid play on a night where his mind was elsewhere. He did not look like a top talent at all especially mentally. It is safe to say however he has a Big East body and with more maturity and good coaching could develop into a solid player at the next level. This kid will have to get in the right hands as he is VERY fragile and needs the right buttons pushed. Of course this is a 1 game assessment which certainly does not take into account his whole body of work from previous games.
A lot of RED flags with JWF tonight BUT the potential is still there and he has proved that on other nights.
For the record his academics are also a potential issue per a good source.
He does seem like a very good kid. Just a high school Junior.
I can certainly confirm JWF has high major D1 physical attributes. Unfortunately tonight his mental makeup was less than stellar frustrating his New England Hall of Fame coach to the point he benched his star player while watching Wethersfield fight and claw its way to what was almost an improbable victory. The final score was 75-70 but don't let that score fool you. With the score 71-68 a Wethersfield player was fouled while shooting a 3 pointer with just 6 seconds left. He made the first 2 cutting the lead to 71-70 and then missed the third free throw after coach Smith called a timeout to freeze the shooter. Wethersfield fouled immediately and Windsor sank 2 free throws with 4 seconds left making the score 73-70. Windsor then stole the in bounds pass and made a layup for the final score of 75-70.
I sat directly behind the Windsor bench tonight. Some of the comments directed at JWF from coach Smith were "You want to fight with me yet you can't go out there and fight the other team" "Why don't you take it to the basket nobody can stop you except yourself" and finally a very heated comment during a timeout in which coach Smith stated "This is about team not..." the rest left out. We never saw JWF again after that timeout. Coach Smith won the game with his other players and after the game it was hard not to let him know what a great game he coached for Windsor. One of the more memorable parts of the game came when Wethersfield came back and cut the lead from 12 to 5 in the last quarter and during a time out JWF looked up into the stands to make eye contact with someone while his coach was talking to his team. JWF then took his hand palm up and put it towards the back of his coach as if to tell the person in the stands my coach is the reason I'm not playing.
JWF made 1 three pointer and missed several others and went 1-2 from the line unofficially. He is a very strong kid and made several quality passes while turning it over about 3 times also. His on court demeanor was one of excessive deference tonight. At first it made a good impression as he came across very unselfish. As the game progressed however it was noticeable he just wasn't mentally into the game at all. There was never any overt outbursts by JWF towards his coach as his personality did not lend itself to that. His coach was frustrated with him and it ended up with a benching in crunch time.
It appears I had the bad luck of watching this kid play on a night where his mind was elsewhere. He did not look like a top talent at all especially mentally. It is safe to say however he has a Big East body and with more maturity and good coaching could develop into a solid player at the next level. This kid will have to get in the right hands as he is VERY fragile and needs the right buttons pushed. Of course this is a 1 game assessment which certainly does not take into account his whole body of work from previous games.
A lot of RED flags with JWF tonight BUT the potential is still there and he has proved that on other nights.
For the record his academics are also a potential issue per a good source.
He does seem like a very good kid. Just a high school Junior.