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A Portsmouth Invitational preview: Kyle Fogg faces familiar foe

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The 2012 Portsmouth Invitational Tournament opens tonight, and Arizona Wildcats guard Kyle Fogg probably has as good of a scouting report as any when it comes to his first opponent, when he opens play tomorrow.

Playing for the Sales Systems Ltd. squad, Sean Miller's former lockdown shooting guard could find himself matched up, at some point, with California Golden Bear Jorge Gutierrez, who will be playing for the Roger Brown's. That'll be a good kick-start to the event considering Gutierrez's history against Arizona, and it goes without mentioning how Fogg and Gutierrez will similarly lean on their defense and grit to earn them a paying job.

Don't know what any of the above jargon means?

Here's an overall preview for the senior-only tournament that's geared toward finding homes -- both in the US and overseas -- for some of the nations best graduating basketball players.

What is it?

A 58-year-old event, the tournament is one of the few that's catered toward the players rather than the fans. Usually a couple hundred scouts attend to view the 64 players invited to the event, and the general numbers indicate an average of about 10 make it to NBA rosters at some point in their careers. The most recent Wildcat to attend was Nic Wise, who has carved himself out some solid campaigns overseas

What do the 64 players do?

The 64 players are broken into eight-man teams to play in a bracketed tournament. For those who are knocked out immediately, there's a consolation bracket to ensure players have at least three games to show their stuff to scouts.

[The bracket with links to box scores]

Who's in it this year?

Aside from Mr. Fogg, there's a number of names the average college basketball fans might know. Fogg will play a very sizey Roger Brown's squad in the third game tomorrow. Aside from Guterriez, the opponents include Syracuse point guard Scoop Jardine and Memphis forward Wesley Witherspoon, the victim of Derrick Williams' block that got the Wildcats out of the round of 64 in the NCAA Tournament last year.

Also in the tournament are Momo Jones' Iona teammate Michael Glover, former Oregon gunner Devoe Joseph, Florida point guard Erving Walker, Minnesota's Ralph Sampson III, Oakland scorer (25.7 points per game) Reggie Hamilton, and March Madness and Norfolk State star Kyle O'Quinn.

Kyle Fogg's team

Coaches : Leo Anthony & Martin Oliver
# Last Name College Pos Ht Wt PPG RPG APG SPG BPG FG% 3PT% FT%
12 Gibson, Xavier Florida State F 6' 11" 248 7.4 4.8 0.4 0.5 1.2 49.7 27.8 67.6
13 Griffin, Eric Campbell F 6' 8" 190 15.7 8.6 1.5 0.9 2.4 61 36.7 56.8
4 Johnson, Chris Dayton F 6' 6" 201 12.1 6.3 1.5 0.8 0.7 46.1 38.6 86.4
3 Pope, Herb Seton Hall F 6' 8" 236 15.2 10.3 1.4 1 1.6 47.1 35.6 61
5 Chang, Jet BYU-Hawaii G 6' 4" 190 17.8 3.5 2 1.5 0.3 41.7 30.1 66.4
2 Fogg, Kyle Arizona G 6' 3" 188 13.7 3.8 2.1 1.1 0.4 42.1 44.1 79.5
10 Gatens, Matt Iowa G 6' 5" 212 15.7 3.7 1.9 1.5 0.2 48.1 42.6 85.9
1 Ware, Casper Long Beach State G 5' 10" 175 17.4 2.4 3.3 1.4 0.1 40.7 36.1 79.7