Jackson, Crawford spark Memphis Magic Elite to adidas Super 64 crown

By Ryan Greene

Monday, July 27, 2009 | 2:30 a.m.

Joe Jackson insists he could have hit the 30-foot 3-pointer while double-teamed along the left sideline to defeat the New England Playaz Sunday night in the adidas Super 64 title game.

But in true point guard fashion, the Memphis Magic Elite star found a way to fire the ball cross-court to teammate Chris Crawford, who hit a floater from 10 feet out on the right side to clinch the tourney title, 64-62, at Rancho High.

“Tell you the truth, if I would have turned around and no one was around, I would have knocked the shot down –- that’s how much confidence I’ve got,” the 5-foot-11, 150-point standout proclaimed. “But one of my teammates was open. I had to pass the ball.”

The fact that the Memphis club was even in a position to have a shot at the victory was probably more of a miracle than Crawford’s runner with less than a second remaining.

Trailing 50-34 a little past the mid-way point in the second half, both teams looked sluggish, showing the effects of a non-stop game schedule since the tournament’s start on Wednesday. Following pool play, the title game was the sixth in three days for each team.

“I don’t feel tired, but I know I am,” Jackson said. “That’s how we like to play, I guess. We know we can come back, so we never get down.”

With the deficit at 14 points, the Magic began applying full-court pressure, forcing three consecutive New England turnovers to spark a 12-1 run.

“They like to stall the ball and run their offense,” Jackson said. “If you pest them and get up in them, make them change their minds and do different things, they’ll turn it over, do crazy stuff and take bad shots.

“We didn’t give up, came back, gave it our all and got rewarded for it.”

Jackson fed Crawford for a 3-pointer in the right corner with 1:21 to play, tying the game, 60-60, and giving Crawford his second trey during the frantic late comeback.

Then, Memphis forward Tarik Black atoned for what could have been a costly technical foul for some trash-talk minutes earlier by drawing a charge on New England’s next possession, and a driving deuce by Jackson gave Memphis its first lead with less than a minute to play.

Playaz forward Dartaye Ruffin tipped in a bucket to tie the game with less than 10 seconds to go, and instead of opting for a timeout, Jackson improvised.

After squirming his way past mid-court, he knifed to the left and tried to draw a foul call with both teams in the bonus. Instead, he was trapped.

Jackson lifted himself in the air and fired a two-handed pass across the floor to Crawford, whose man was busy applying the trap on Jackson.

“I looked at the clock and took the dribble … 1.3 (seconds remaining), I think,” Crawford said. “I knew it was going in. Wasn’t any doubt in my mind.”

Crawford and Black each scored 16 for the Magic, while Jackson –- who took home tournament MVP honors –- scored 20. He would have had a double-digit assist total, too, had it not been for his team’s awful first-half shooting performance, as it headed to the intermission with just 22 points and a 10-point deficit.

New England big man Nate Lubick -- a Georgetown commit -- scored a team-high 19 points.

It wasn't the first time the Magic had come from behind to win this week against the Playaz, either, as they dug out of a 14-point hole against New England earlier for a victory in pool play.

“We just had a lot of games, probably were fatigued, but had to step it up because this was the championship game and we had to show them we’re number one,” Crawford stated after posing for a team photo with his hardware.

As far as college coaches in the stands –- which is the whole point of the prep tournaments held in Vegas over the past week –- it would have been tough for them not to be impressed with Jackson’s poise throughout, even when Memphis was dragging its feet for three-quarters of the game.

Jackson -– who Rivals.com ranks as the No. 18 prospect in the 2010 class and plays high school ball at powerhouse White Station High –- said he has no plans of making a choice anytime soon as far as his collegiate destination is concerned. It’s easy to see his potential, though. Despite his small stature – 5-11 ¾ barefoot, 6-0 ½ in shoes, he says –- he took the ball to the hole on taller defenders at will and also hit a series of outside shots, including a trio of them in the first half to help keep the Magic within range.

When asked who he’s considering, he rattled off the names of eight elite programs –- Syracuse, Tennessee, Memphis, Kentucky, Duke, Kansas and Connecticut.

In the stands to watch him accept MVP honors from that list were Kansas assistant Danny Manning, Tennessee assistant Steve Forbes and Memphis assistant Jack Murphy.

But like any point guard doing his duty, Jackson decided to spread the wealth when asked about what winning the prestigious Super 64 crown meant to him.

“Some of our players, we need scholarships,” he said. “And some of the college coaches there now know that we’ve got some good players.”