Brimmer & May Has More Talent and Depth

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – When Greg Kristof looks down the bench this year, he’ll like the options he has a little more this season. The talent in his Brimmer & May program has been good, but this year’s team will have more of it than before and some size.

We’ll start with the size since that’s easily noticeable at first glance. Ryan Canty (6’9″ Sr. PF, Danvers (MA)) joins the program after spending last year at rival Tilton. Possessing a big body that he can move well, he ran the floor and scored a couple of post field goals in addition to making a nice long outlet pass on one play. He tried to do too much a couple of times, and if that gets reined in he’ll be a productive inside player.

Also new to the school is John Powell (6’7″ So. PF, Ashland (MA)), who has grown in the last year. Powell has some length and a body that has a ways to go, and while he’s capable of using his right (off) hand he has struggled to finish near the basket. Some added strength will surely help there, although that alone won’t solve that issue. He missed a lot of time in the last calendar year due to injury, which also helps explain why he’s not at his best at the moment but should be better once he’s playing regularly.

The only other player who is close to a post player is Alijiah Robinson (6’6″ Fr. PF, Dorchester (MA)), who is repeating his freshman year. A bum ankle has limited him thus far, although he was able to go on Thursday and had his moments, getting an offensive board and short jumper, and one time making a quick post move to score. Long and with a ways to go both physically and with the skill package, he is a player of the future.

Oliver Nazon (6’5″ Sr. SF-PF, Chestnut Hill (MA)) returns for his second season at the school and looks much more ready for the season than he did a year ago. His ball skills are better, he was active, scored on drives and finished well with defenders around. Most importantly, he looks more confident, and although his jumpers missed badly he didn’t let that affect the rest of his game.

Two more seniors on the wing are Chris Sherwood (6’4″ Sr. SF, Sharon (MA)) and Jared Fay (6’3″ Sr. SG, Lynn (MA)). Sherwood, who was not present on Thursday, recently committed to New Hampshire after a good month of July. New assistant coach Tom Nelson has been working with him on his jumper, which has long been the missing link in his game as he’s a great athlete who can score going to the basket. Fay has improved steadily over the last year with a better game off the dribble to complement his jumper, which was on display Thursday. He also looks ready to be a leader on this team and his confidence is clearly at a high level.

Jake Fay (6’5″ So. SG, Lynn (MA)) is Jared’s younger brother and has grown just over the last couple of months. Still with a ways to go physically, he’s capable of lighting it up from long range but didn’t do that on Thursday. A point of emphasis for him will be doing other things to help the team when the shots aren’t going down, which right now happens from time to time because his shooting tends to be streaky.

Marco Banegas (6’1″ Sr. PG, Dorchester (MA)) comes to the school for a post-graduate year, and has been in and out of action with a bum ankle. He figures to be the starting point guard, and his play could dictate how this team’s season goes while his recruitment is on the line as he hasn’t been able to get past the label of being a “potential” player. The tools are there, but all too often he’s been caught between guard spots in trying to be a scorer instead of running the show. He has plenty of talent to get the ball to on this team, so if he plays like a pass-first floor leader, the team could go far and he could shed the “potential” tag.

Playing behind Banegas will be Adrian Oliveira (6’0″ So. PG, Cumberland (RI)), who is a baby physically and will have a little adjustment to playing in NEPSAC. He’s not lacking talent, as he drove often on Thursday and also hit a mid-range baseline shot.

Brimmer & May has more size and depth than they have had since moving up to Class B and now AA in the new-look NEPSAC. Those are two things that can make a team dangerous, and they look to be capable of contending in what will be a very competitive Class AA this year.