We've had a couple video interviews and a story on Jeremiah Robinson-Earl's visit on the front page. There are no more interviews tonight. So rather than straight reporting, I figured I'd give you guys some thoughts and opinions on guys I've been watching play today:
*Jontay Porter is, well, exceeding all expectations. I've talked to some other media members (including, perhaps, the guy in charge of our rankings) and staff here watching games and the general consensus is that the kid is better than we thought. MoKan remains unbeaten over two weeks. Porter and the team have made a hell of an impression.
The latest game was a win over Team Takeover. That's a DC team that features Jalen Smith, a 6-9 kid who is the No. 13 player in the country. Porter outplayed him during the half of the game I watched. MoKan was down most of the second half and then made a charge in the final six minutes or so led by Porter. His final line: 18 points (6/12 FG, 4/7 3-pt), 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks...all while dealing with foul trouble. Smith finished with 12 and 6.
Porter can shoot (knocked down back to back threes at a critical time) but he's also a hell of a passer out of the post. Honestly, in watching him, I'm not sure what the weakness is. Maybe at times you want him to be a bit more of a bulldog on the low block, but AAU doesn't really lend itself to that. The kid is ready to play in college if he wants to.
*The most impressive physical specimen I've seen this weekend is Nazreon Reid. The dude is 6-10 and looks like he's close to my age. Absolute athletic freak. Runs the floor well and is the biggest and most athletic guy on the floor. At 6-10, he led the break and made the best pass I've seen in two days. He finished with 15 points, 12 boards and four steals. Missouri recently offered, but Schiffer has said the word is it's going to be very, very difficult to get him off the East Coast.
*Really liked what I saw from Elijah Weaver, although he also presented the challenge of trying to judge guys off AAU ball. For about the first ten minutes, he just kind of floated around the perimeter and waited to shoot. He didn't seem real active. But you can tell, when he plays hard, he's a guy. He's listed at 6-4 and looks every bit of it. He can play either guard position. Long, long kid. Looks like a wide receiver. He's got a college body. He has a nice left-handed shot with a very quick release. He's got what I would consider elite ball handling and passing ability. He's a top 30 player and it's easy to see why. He had 19 points, five assists and five rebounds this morning and barely came off the floor. He did have six turnovers, but AAU ball isn't always the most structured thing and I didn't see a lot of them that worried me.
*Really like watching Tyger Campbell play. He's just a team-first point guard. Doesn't hunt his shot. Gets other guys involved. Plays and talks like a leader. He is little (listed at 6-0, but I don't buy it) and admits he is an inconsistent shooter, but he's the kind of kid you enjoy watching play. His team had a strong game tonight, beating Mean Streets by 26 points. Campbell had 17 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and four steals in one of the most complete games I've seen this weekend.
*Have watched Mac Irvin Fire play a couple of times. They feature Ayo Dosunmu (pictured below) and Talen Horton-Tucker (pictured above). I just have a hard time seeing Missouri staying in the running for Dosunmu honestly. He's really blown up and probably will continue to. He's a long point guard (which fits what Cuonzo Martin seems to be looking for) who gets in the lane pretty easily. He can fill it up. Remains to be seen, but I'm just not sure that's a kid Missouri ultimately gets in the mix for. He had 13 and 7 in a loss this afternoon after scoring 17 this morning.
Horton-Tucker might be the most fascinating guy here. The first time I saw him I thought "No way that's the guy." He's built like a fullback. The first comp I thought of was Charles Barkley. He's listed at 6-5, 205 and maybe that's right, but he's just stocky. You look at him and think he's a power forward at the height of a wing. But the kid gets it done. He's a decent shooter, he finds ways to score and I saw him make quite a few defensive plays. If you recruit on the eye test, I don't know if you look twice at him. But if you watch him play, he's impressive. He ended this afternoon with 11 points and seven rebounds. He's not the best player on his team, but he's a guy that looks like he helps a team any way he needs to.
*Watched Walter Ellis play with G3Grind this morning. Didn't really stand out, but part of that is likely that he's adjusting to a new team. He's got a nice looking shot and really good size for a guard at 6-5. But he's skinny. The big question for him over the next year I think will be strength. Right now, he's got mostly mid-major offers with some high majors including Missouri taking a look. It will be interesting to see if the Tigers' interest develops.
*The only 16U game I've watched was MoKan to see Robinson-Earl. The kid looks 16. By that I just mean he's kind of baby-faced and you can tell he's got some development coming. But he's a heck of an athlete and a guy that is going to have his choice of where to go to school. He's averaged a double-double in his first two games and can get it done. Will be interesting to see if Missouri can stay in the running there.
One of his teammates, Josh Earley, is a guy who caught my eye. He's 6-7. I asked someone with MoKan if he could be a guy at the SEC level and he said "I think so. He's really improved in the last year." Right now, Earley has an offer from Denver University and told me he's starting to hear from Iowa and Nebraska. He's not nearly a finished product, but he's a guy I'll keep my eye on over the next year or so to see how he develops.
*Brad Beal is at halftime right now, trailing Expressions Elite. I've watched them a couple times so wanted to offer some thoughts on those players then focus on KJ Hymes for the final half.
*Fred Thatch is the opposite of a lot of these kids. I don't question his strength at all. The kid is SOLID. Looks like you'd run into him and fall down. He's played pretty well. I think his role is to be a lockdown defender. That's what will get him minutes. I question if he's quite quick enough to stand out as his size on the next level. We'll see. Not saying he isn't, just what I wonder. I don't really know how good a shooter he is at this point after only watching him for a couple games. Had a nice game yesterday.
*James Wiseman can really, really play. But now I was told by someone today that relocation to St. Louis may not be a sure thing. And honestly, I just don't know how Missouri gets involved if that doesn't happen. He was on the bench for a lot of the first half (perhaps he had fouls) but he looked really good last night.
*Darius Garland is the best player on Beal. Kid is ELITE. Gets in the lane anytime he wants. Has a great midrange. Really fast. Missouri isn't involved, just throwing out some info.
*Off to finish up by watching KJ Hymes. Speaking of which, I looked at a few possessions of his game in the first half. Was thinking "Damn, this No. 35 looks like a DUDE. He can fly." Turns out, it's Marvin Bagley. So, yeah, at least I can spot the top player in the country.
*I kind of like Hymes' game. He doesn't really flash (it's tough to flash playing with Bagley, good God and Bol Bol on the other team who is one of the smoothest seven-footers I've seen in a long time), but he just seems to be one of those guys that knows how to be in the right place. He finds his way into the lane to get an offensive rebound. He grabs a defensive board and makes the outlet pass. Like some others, he's long and lean (listed at 6-10, 205, not sure he's quite that tall). He'll have to get in the weight room. He wasn't a guy that just jumped off the floor, but I bet when I look at the box score he'll have played a strong all-around game. California Supreme (Bol's team) was up pretty big at half. Phoenix Phamily (Hymes' team, made a run but faded late).
I see a pattern of tall guards and lean, athletic wings by Martin. The question will be what he can get to put in the middle.
That's it for tonight unless something big happens in the final two minutes of these games. Hope you all enjoyed.
*Jontay Porter is, well, exceeding all expectations. I've talked to some other media members (including, perhaps, the guy in charge of our rankings) and staff here watching games and the general consensus is that the kid is better than we thought. MoKan remains unbeaten over two weeks. Porter and the team have made a hell of an impression.
The latest game was a win over Team Takeover. That's a DC team that features Jalen Smith, a 6-9 kid who is the No. 13 player in the country. Porter outplayed him during the half of the game I watched. MoKan was down most of the second half and then made a charge in the final six minutes or so led by Porter. His final line: 18 points (6/12 FG, 4/7 3-pt), 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks...all while dealing with foul trouble. Smith finished with 12 and 6.
Porter can shoot (knocked down back to back threes at a critical time) but he's also a hell of a passer out of the post. Honestly, in watching him, I'm not sure what the weakness is. Maybe at times you want him to be a bit more of a bulldog on the low block, but AAU doesn't really lend itself to that. The kid is ready to play in college if he wants to.
*The most impressive physical specimen I've seen this weekend is Nazreon Reid. The dude is 6-10 and looks like he's close to my age. Absolute athletic freak. Runs the floor well and is the biggest and most athletic guy on the floor. At 6-10, he led the break and made the best pass I've seen in two days. He finished with 15 points, 12 boards and four steals. Missouri recently offered, but Schiffer has said the word is it's going to be very, very difficult to get him off the East Coast.
*Really liked what I saw from Elijah Weaver, although he also presented the challenge of trying to judge guys off AAU ball. For about the first ten minutes, he just kind of floated around the perimeter and waited to shoot. He didn't seem real active. But you can tell, when he plays hard, he's a guy. He's listed at 6-4 and looks every bit of it. He can play either guard position. Long, long kid. Looks like a wide receiver. He's got a college body. He has a nice left-handed shot with a very quick release. He's got what I would consider elite ball handling and passing ability. He's a top 30 player and it's easy to see why. He had 19 points, five assists and five rebounds this morning and barely came off the floor. He did have six turnovers, but AAU ball isn't always the most structured thing and I didn't see a lot of them that worried me.
*Really like watching Tyger Campbell play. He's just a team-first point guard. Doesn't hunt his shot. Gets other guys involved. Plays and talks like a leader. He is little (listed at 6-0, but I don't buy it) and admits he is an inconsistent shooter, but he's the kind of kid you enjoy watching play. His team had a strong game tonight, beating Mean Streets by 26 points. Campbell had 17 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and four steals in one of the most complete games I've seen this weekend.
*Have watched Mac Irvin Fire play a couple of times. They feature Ayo Dosunmu (pictured below) and Talen Horton-Tucker (pictured above). I just have a hard time seeing Missouri staying in the running for Dosunmu honestly. He's really blown up and probably will continue to. He's a long point guard (which fits what Cuonzo Martin seems to be looking for) who gets in the lane pretty easily. He can fill it up. Remains to be seen, but I'm just not sure that's a kid Missouri ultimately gets in the mix for. He had 13 and 7 in a loss this afternoon after scoring 17 this morning.
Horton-Tucker might be the most fascinating guy here. The first time I saw him I thought "No way that's the guy." He's built like a fullback. The first comp I thought of was Charles Barkley. He's listed at 6-5, 205 and maybe that's right, but he's just stocky. You look at him and think he's a power forward at the height of a wing. But the kid gets it done. He's a decent shooter, he finds ways to score and I saw him make quite a few defensive plays. If you recruit on the eye test, I don't know if you look twice at him. But if you watch him play, he's impressive. He ended this afternoon with 11 points and seven rebounds. He's not the best player on his team, but he's a guy that looks like he helps a team any way he needs to.
*Watched Walter Ellis play with G3Grind this morning. Didn't really stand out, but part of that is likely that he's adjusting to a new team. He's got a nice looking shot and really good size for a guard at 6-5. But he's skinny. The big question for him over the next year I think will be strength. Right now, he's got mostly mid-major offers with some high majors including Missouri taking a look. It will be interesting to see if the Tigers' interest develops.
*The only 16U game I've watched was MoKan to see Robinson-Earl. The kid looks 16. By that I just mean he's kind of baby-faced and you can tell he's got some development coming. But he's a heck of an athlete and a guy that is going to have his choice of where to go to school. He's averaged a double-double in his first two games and can get it done. Will be interesting to see if Missouri can stay in the running there.
One of his teammates, Josh Earley, is a guy who caught my eye. He's 6-7. I asked someone with MoKan if he could be a guy at the SEC level and he said "I think so. He's really improved in the last year." Right now, Earley has an offer from Denver University and told me he's starting to hear from Iowa and Nebraska. He's not nearly a finished product, but he's a guy I'll keep my eye on over the next year or so to see how he develops.
*Brad Beal is at halftime right now, trailing Expressions Elite. I've watched them a couple times so wanted to offer some thoughts on those players then focus on KJ Hymes for the final half.
*Fred Thatch is the opposite of a lot of these kids. I don't question his strength at all. The kid is SOLID. Looks like you'd run into him and fall down. He's played pretty well. I think his role is to be a lockdown defender. That's what will get him minutes. I question if he's quite quick enough to stand out as his size on the next level. We'll see. Not saying he isn't, just what I wonder. I don't really know how good a shooter he is at this point after only watching him for a couple games. Had a nice game yesterday.
*James Wiseman can really, really play. But now I was told by someone today that relocation to St. Louis may not be a sure thing. And honestly, I just don't know how Missouri gets involved if that doesn't happen. He was on the bench for a lot of the first half (perhaps he had fouls) but he looked really good last night.
*Darius Garland is the best player on Beal. Kid is ELITE. Gets in the lane anytime he wants. Has a great midrange. Really fast. Missouri isn't involved, just throwing out some info.
*Off to finish up by watching KJ Hymes. Speaking of which, I looked at a few possessions of his game in the first half. Was thinking "Damn, this No. 35 looks like a DUDE. He can fly." Turns out, it's Marvin Bagley. So, yeah, at least I can spot the top player in the country.
*I kind of like Hymes' game. He doesn't really flash (it's tough to flash playing with Bagley, good God and Bol Bol on the other team who is one of the smoothest seven-footers I've seen in a long time), but he just seems to be one of those guys that knows how to be in the right place. He finds his way into the lane to get an offensive rebound. He grabs a defensive board and makes the outlet pass. Like some others, he's long and lean (listed at 6-10, 205, not sure he's quite that tall). He'll have to get in the weight room. He wasn't a guy that just jumped off the floor, but I bet when I look at the box score he'll have played a strong all-around game. California Supreme (Bol's team) was up pretty big at half. Phoenix Phamily (Hymes' team, made a run but faded late).
I see a pattern of tall guards and lean, athletic wings by Martin. The question will be what he can get to put in the middle.
That's it for tonight unless something big happens in the final two minutes of these games. Hope you all enjoyed.
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