Michael Cage

[cubsfan5150]

I was reading "the top 3 ballers from AR" when I came across Michael Cage, can anyone tell me how the Razorbacks didn't pick up this guy.  It would be hard for me to believe that San Diego State could ever win a recruit over the Razorbacks in basketball.  Thanks.

[Fatty McGee]

If you've been to San Diego, it shouldn't be hard to believe at all.

[Ugly Uncle]

What does San Diego mean in english?

[TulsaHogFan]

What does San Diego mean in english?

San Diego = Fire HDN.

I just asked this mexican and thats what he told me.

[TulsaHogFan]

What does San Diego mean in english?

San Diego = Fire HDN.

I just asked this mexican and thats what he told me.

LOL!   But I am not mexican.... 

SMITE THIS!

What?  When did this change?

LOL.

Nice one +1

[V. V. Hawg]

I remember Mr. Cage playing ball for WM.  Keith lee got all the attention while Michael destroyed us on D.  Heck, half the time Lee didn't even make it back to play D.  Michael would get a rebound and throw it to Lee for a dunk.  I always knew Michael would be better than Keith "knee" Lee. 

[Ugly Uncle]

I remember Mr. Cage playing ball for WM.  Keith lee got all the attention while Michael destroyed us on D.  Heck, half the time Lee didn't even make it back to play D.  Michael would get a rebound and throw it to Lee for a dunk.  I always knew Michael would be better than Keith "knee" Lee. 

They had a little white 2 guard that was great also...do you remember him?  I say little, he was like 6'4.

[hoggystyle78]

That team from W. Memphis has got to be one of the best highschool BB teams this state has ever produced. I wonder how they would've matched up with the team that had Caldwell and Major Jones?

[RedSatinHog]

I remember Mr. Cage playing ball for WM.  Keith lee got all the attention while Michael destroyed us on D.  Heck, half the time Lee didn't even make it back to play D.  Michael would get a rebound and throw it to Lee for a dunk.  I always knew Michael would be better than Keith "knee" Lee. 

They had a little white 2 guard that was great also...do you remember him?  I say little, he was like 6'4.

I think that guard's name was Aaron Price.

Sutton got too wrapped around the axle over getting Keith Lee to sign, and he lost the chance to sign one of the best rebounders who ever played basketball in Arkansas.  Seriously.  Can you imagine the teams from '83-'85 having Michael Cage down low opposite of Kleine and Ballentine?

[dana caldwell]

think the descriptions of sutton being focused on keith lee are right on. guess he didn't have as much cash to dole out as memphis state coach dana kirk.

cage was a stud. lee had loads of talent, but was soft.

[Ugly Uncle]

I remember Mr. Cage playing ball for WM.  Keith lee got all the attention while Michael destroyed us on D.  Heck, half the time Lee didn't even make it back to play D.  Michael would get a rebound and throw it to Lee for a dunk.  I always knew Michael would be better than Keith "knee" Lee. 

They had a little white 2 guard that was great also...do you remember him?  I say little, he was like 6'4.

I think that guard's name was Aaron Price.

Sutton got too wrapped around the axle over getting Keith Lee to sign, and he lost the chance to sign one of the best rebounders who ever played basketball in Arkansas.  Seriously.  Can you imagine the teams from '83-'85 having Michael Cage down low opposite of Kleine and Ballentine?

No, his name was Tim Harrell.

[clarksville hog]

I was a junior in High School when our Clarksville girls won the overall state championship. I stayed and watched West Memphis beat LR Central in one of the best games I've ever witnessed. I believe one of the younger Nutts starred for LR Central. I believe Cage was a Senior that year while Lee was a Junior. Seemed to me at the time they had similar ability but Lee was getting all the hype. Unfortunately, the Hogs missed out on Cage. He went on to a solid NBA career, while Lee became largely a disappointment.

[RedSatinHog]

think the descriptions of sutton being focused on keith lee are right on. guess he didn't have as much cash to dole out as memphis state coach dana kirk.

cage was a stud. lee had loads of talent, but was soft.

Dana,

I will say this much.  With Michael Cage, the outcomes of the Phi Slamma Jamma encounters would have been pretty different.  He would have been a heckuva defensive weapon to play against Olajuwon, and alot of the high-flying hack slams Drexler, Micheaux and Young did against us would have been curbed.

[dana caldwell]

AK,

right on. cage could've made a big difference in a lot of areas. that was about the time of poerschke (sp?), right?

[BPPig]

M. Cage could rebound. He made D. Hood look like a pure shooter and he played below the rim. He had a very long pro carrer on being one of the better rebounders to play the game and he finally developed a little touch as he aged. He was never considered a dominant defender. Lee could shoot and handle; he just wasn't so large in the toughness department. An area in which Cage excelled.

[Ugly Uncle]

M. Cage could rebound. He made D. Hood look like a pure shooter and he played below the rim. He had a very long pro carrer on being one of the better rebounders to play the game and he finally developed a little touch as he aged. He was never considered a dominant defender. Lee could shoot and handle; he just wasn't so large in the toughness department. An area in which Cage excelled.

That team was an excellent team.  Keith Lee was a great scorer and a monster until his knees went out (reason for sub-par NBA career.  Harrell was a pure shooter that was recruited heavily by Arkansas, Kentucky, Mizzou and Ole Miss to name a few.  He signed with Ole Miss, before changing his mind and going to Bible College to become a minister.  Cage was a man among boys on the boards.  But to say that he "played below the rim" is just not true.  I only got to see this team once live (watched them a second time when they televised the championship game), and M. Cage was unbelievable.  He caught a pass at the T spot, did a drop step move and took off from about 6 feet and did a tomahawk dunk.  On another play, they were on a 3 on one fast break, the ball came to Cage, the guy back tried to draw the charge from Cage, and Cage completely jumped over him (granted the kid was only like 5'9 or so) and dunked it.  I have no idea what you are talking about "playing below the rim."

[RedSatinHog]

Dana,

I think you may be right about Poerschke, and that's a name I haven't thought of in a while.  In fact, I don't really remember him even playing that much.

BPP,

I have a hard time believing that Cage made it as long as he did in the NBA by playing "below the rim".  I'm not saying the guy was Sidney Moncrief or Michael Jordan, but it was for darn sure he could play.

[BPPig]

M. Cage could dunk I am sure but his game was cleaning the boards. He took up space and kept it. He lasted years in the NBA because of that style. It is too bad most of his NBA time was with the Clippers.

BTW, lots of players have made the decision to stay more grounded in their games. MJ is a good example. He stopped most, not all, of his high flying antics and went to that beautiful fade away. It was much healthier and he sure packed on the rings. I am sure his vertical was still awesome it was just he learned a smarter way to play. Those big dudes take it personal when you dunk on them.

[werehog]

For some reason, even though East Arkansas has produced many of the best high school basketball teams this state has produced there has always been a tendancy to ignore kids from East Arkansas in both basketball and football. That's probably how Cage wound up at SD St. He was held in very high regard by BB fans in LA during his thankless tenure with the Clippers.

[orgkeith]

We had Carey Kelly, we didn't need Michael Cage.  One of the stupidest decisions a coach at the UA has ever made.

If not for his knees, Keith Lee would have been the best player to ever come out of Arkansas.  As a frosh at M$U he was a dominate player and totally dominated at their conference tourney, scoring, rebounding and blocking shots.  Took them to the Final Four one year or was it the elete eight.  After that they Deckerized him and the knees couldn't handle the weight.  He was still drafted in the first round before the knees completely gave out.

Lee had much more talent than Cage, just not the strong body to have the career he did.

[BPPig]

It was sad to see Lee with all his endurance problems. For all the people that think massive weight work is good for all BB players should compare film of Lee before and after all the muscle.

The U of A wasn't the only schools in the area to miss out on Cage. He ended up at San Diego State or something like that. I would love to know why he didn't end up at MSU.

I am from the Delta and would point out an obvious reason why E. AR would produce so many quality BB players but it would probably get me banned from the board.

[moehog]

Aarron Price was not white. He went to Memphis with Keith Lee and contributed very little. Got to play a little as a junior or senior. I have met both of them, had a class with Price.
Keith coached a semi-pro team for a year out of Jackson, Tn. after he was finished in the NBA. He was a GREAT player at Memphis but a horrible coach. He was assisted by Brad Jones - nephew of Jerry Sloan, who coached at Lambuth University and now his wife is a head coach at one of the directional Louisiana school. I coached at a high school back then and we had them over to work out in a promo type thing. I talked in great length with both of them and I could not even understand a single word when Lee spoke.  I hope he took good care of the money he made in the NBA and at Memphis.
Cage was a very good contributor in the NBA.

The best high school team I ever saw was the Memphis Melrose team that had William Bedford about the same time the west mempho group played. 1-10 players - there was little difference.

[rricha]

Both Dennis and Danny Nutt played in that game in 1980.

[Buck Ocean]

He made D. Hood look like a pure shooter

Enuff!!!!!!.....I've heard it all now!!!!

[Buck Ocean]

It is too bad most of his NBA time was with the Clippers

Sonics

[Randeye]

I was a junior in High School when our Clarksville girls won the overall state championship. I stayed and watched West Memphis beat LR Central in one of the best games I've ever witnessed. I believe one of the younger Nutts starred for LR Central. I believe Cage was a Senior that year while Lee was a Junior. Seemed to me at the time they had similar ability but Lee was getting all the hype. Unfortunately, the Hogs missed out on Cage. He went on to a solid NBA career, while Lee became largely a disappointment.

I thought Keith Lee played at Parkview???..... Oops, I'm thinking about Keith Peterson...

[SuperHog]

What does San Diego mean in english?

not sure what it means in english, but in German it means a whale's [CENSORED].

[SultanofSwine]

Uncleugly, I grew up with Tim's youngest brother and watched those teams every time they played. I have seen pretty much every great team in Arkansas since 80 and I have yet to see a team that could have beaten  the 80 WM team. The 81 team with Lee and Price was unbeaten but could not have beaten the 80 team on ther best day. Price and Lee were cousins. Tim as you mentioned chose to go the Bible college and become a minister and has done very well. He is now playing with the Meadowlark Lemon's exhibition team too that is an outreach ministry. Tim broke every record in the league he played in in college and would have been arguably the best pure shooter to ever play at UA had he gone there. IMO, he was a better shooter than Reddick by a long shot. MSU ruined Lee by having him put on nearly 40 pounds of upper body weight with little to no lower body developement. It was not even open for debate as to which of the two(Cage or Lee) was the best talent, Lee was hands down. Cage though was not only much more intelligent but he was a weight room fanatic and better prepared his body and it paid off nicely for him. Oh and Tim was the SF on that team most of the time. Mike McFerrin was the other white guy that played on that team and was the 2 gaurd.