Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers’ youngest son Austin Rivers is just bananas. He has had such an outstanding senior year at Winter Park HS in Florida that he overtook other top flight prospects like Michael Gilchrist(St Patricks) and Anthony Davis(Perspectives) to rank as the consensus #1 overall player in the 2011 HS Class.
He appears to be the total package, possessing a virtually unstoppable offensive game marked by the dual ability to seemingly effortlessly drain buckets from behind the arc or drive right by you on the way to another poster dunk, probably followed up by an and-1 continuation. One thing he has shown this year is an added toughness in that he is not afraid to back down, no matter which player stands in his path to the hoop.
What I also like is his amazing confidence since he is the type of player that knows he’s that good and appears to have no problem letting you know, just like when he guaranteed he’d score 40 before a recent game, then promptly went out and dropped 43 points in only 3 quarters on a hapless Sunshine State rival.
This year, behind Austin averaging a ridiculous 30+ ppg, including a season high 46 points against Montverde Academy around Thanksgiving, Winter Park has been as hard to beat(24-5) as any squad in the nation this year. Many fans venture within driving distance to pack tiny HS gymnasiums just to catch a glimpse of the college ranks’ next big thing.
With high school hoops playoffs starting up, there was no doubting that Rivers would again take his game to another level as all elite level ballers do. Never was this more on display when his teammates began their quest for a Florida State Title with an opening round match-up against an unsuspecting foe that never knew what hit them. Winter Park went on the road to face Lake Howell and came away with an 80-52 victory behind another spirited effort by Rivers, who scored 25 points, grabbed 7 boards, and came up with 2 steals.
The game’s most electrifying play came when Rivers rose up to receive an alley-oop pass from a teammate, and promptly posterized an opposing player who proved to be a step late and a few inches short of denying Rivers. What has gotten people talking is the fact that after the facial, Rivers was given a technical for hanging on the rim and staring down his victim still laying on the floor.
You be the judge. Should Austin have received the tech?
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen also provides content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
