I had a chance to check out the Saturday session with a buddy of mine today (UK fan) and thought I'd share my observations. Crazy event as it was 1 in 1 out almost all day. We left about 8:30pm and there were still about 100 people waiting outside to get in.
- St. Louis Eagles v. Arkansas Wings (Jayson Tatum v. Malik Monk) - Ugly game by the headliners. Tatum ultimately fouled out with 20 points and Monk finished with 19. Of their combined 39 points 25 came from the free throw line. STL seemed to play a better game but ARK came away with the win. We watched Tatum twice today and in the 1st game he was as good as advertised. Very skilled and just a very smooth element to his game that seems so organic when you watch him. Monk caught fire in his other game today as previously posted on this board.
A few other guys that stood out to me on STL were Jeremiah Tilmon, Tyler Cook and Alonzo Verge. Tilmon was a very sound and energetic big guy. Got a lot of baskets just by outworking people on the offensive glass. Same for Cook. Cook's father was actually sitting right behind us and said his son has been hearing a lot from BIG 12 and BIG 10 schools but hasn't cut down to any list yet. He also mentioned UNC very briefly but I got the feeling that could be only because he saw my UNC hat. Either way I really liked the way his son played. Energetic, strong base and really seemed to have good vision passing out of block or high post. Rivals currently has him ranked #79 nationally. Funny story, mid-game Chad Lykins made a positive tweet about Cook, I turned and showed his father and he told me to tell him thanks. I don't know Chad personally but I replied telling him that his dad was behind me and said thanks. I could see Chad on the baseline and watched him chuckle as he read it.
Alonzo Verge was a thin guard playing up as he's in the class of 2017. He got a lot of PT and seemed to be pretty fearless. Made several big plays for a kid his age. Really could use some muscle, however.
- Bruce Brown of BABC played great today. Was playing the point but I couldn't tell if that was a natural position for him. 6'0 with a very strong upper body and high athleticism. I counted 6 dunks in 1 game and a few of which were in traffic. An electric kid that was really entertaining to watch. Had the build and athleticism I think to make a great defensive back in football. From what I gathered on twitter his play was well enough today to get a couple of new offers.
- Boo Williams - First Matt Coleman. Kid has a very tight dribble that I really like for a kid his age. He was vocal on the floor and just plays like a floor leader and he showed a pretty consistent mid-range pull up game today. REALLY could use some muscle. Against Team MeanStreets he was just physically outmatched by there larger guards. That seemed to give him problems as they were checking him pretty tight.
Curtis Jones had the same problems v. Team MeanStreets. BW was down 15-20 most of the game before making a run at the end but it just wasn't enough. Jones ended with 23 I think mainly from the outside. His form on his jumper is a thing of beauty and he also has a rather quick release. He too could use some strength.
Bottom line, I want both of these kids. I think they would be great at UNC. They don't bring the "star power" of a Tatum or Giles but they could be vital pieces to make a complete team.
- CP3 vs. Georgia Stars (Giles v. Azubuiki and Wendell Carter) - Azubuiki is a beast. As usual, tried to break the rim every time he touched the ball and one time I thought he was successful. Giles didn't have a great performance. He really needed some help against the massive frontline that the Stars had. Honestly, I think a lot of that had to do with Wendell Carter specifically. This kid was phenomenal IMO. So active and surprisingly agile for a kid his size. Not to mention that he was also playing a year up. He was extremely efficient scoring 16 points on just 5-7 shooting. Also had 13 rebounds to go along. He seemed very comfortable guarding against Giles whether he was on the block our out on the perimeter.
- Jordan Tucker of NY Lightning - Honestly, I left a bit disappointed. Seems like he has all of the tools but he really wanted to simply float around the perimeter most of the game. With his size and athleticism I would have liked to see him attack the rim more and not make himself so 1 dimensional.
Bruce Brown and Wendell Carter were the 2 players that impressed me the most today. Would have liked to see a bit more from Giles. I'd like to see an offer go out to Coleman pretty quickly. As Clint has mentioned before his style of point play is made to the UNC system.
From the UNC staff I saw CB McGrath and Hubert Davis there at various times.
- St. Louis Eagles v. Arkansas Wings (Jayson Tatum v. Malik Monk) - Ugly game by the headliners. Tatum ultimately fouled out with 20 points and Monk finished with 19. Of their combined 39 points 25 came from the free throw line. STL seemed to play a better game but ARK came away with the win. We watched Tatum twice today and in the 1st game he was as good as advertised. Very skilled and just a very smooth element to his game that seems so organic when you watch him. Monk caught fire in his other game today as previously posted on this board.
A few other guys that stood out to me on STL were Jeremiah Tilmon, Tyler Cook and Alonzo Verge. Tilmon was a very sound and energetic big guy. Got a lot of baskets just by outworking people on the offensive glass. Same for Cook. Cook's father was actually sitting right behind us and said his son has been hearing a lot from BIG 12 and BIG 10 schools but hasn't cut down to any list yet. He also mentioned UNC very briefly but I got the feeling that could be only because he saw my UNC hat. Either way I really liked the way his son played. Energetic, strong base and really seemed to have good vision passing out of block or high post. Rivals currently has him ranked #79 nationally. Funny story, mid-game Chad Lykins made a positive tweet about Cook, I turned and showed his father and he told me to tell him thanks. I don't know Chad personally but I replied telling him that his dad was behind me and said thanks. I could see Chad on the baseline and watched him chuckle as he read it.
Alonzo Verge was a thin guard playing up as he's in the class of 2017. He got a lot of PT and seemed to be pretty fearless. Made several big plays for a kid his age. Really could use some muscle, however.
- Bruce Brown of BABC played great today. Was playing the point but I couldn't tell if that was a natural position for him. 6'0 with a very strong upper body and high athleticism. I counted 6 dunks in 1 game and a few of which were in traffic. An electric kid that was really entertaining to watch. Had the build and athleticism I think to make a great defensive back in football. From what I gathered on twitter his play was well enough today to get a couple of new offers.
- Boo Williams - First Matt Coleman. Kid has a very tight dribble that I really like for a kid his age. He was vocal on the floor and just plays like a floor leader and he showed a pretty consistent mid-range pull up game today. REALLY could use some muscle. Against Team MeanStreets he was just physically outmatched by there larger guards. That seemed to give him problems as they were checking him pretty tight.
Curtis Jones had the same problems v. Team MeanStreets. BW was down 15-20 most of the game before making a run at the end but it just wasn't enough. Jones ended with 23 I think mainly from the outside. His form on his jumper is a thing of beauty and he also has a rather quick release. He too could use some strength.
Bottom line, I want both of these kids. I think they would be great at UNC. They don't bring the "star power" of a Tatum or Giles but they could be vital pieces to make a complete team.
- CP3 vs. Georgia Stars (Giles v. Azubuiki and Wendell Carter) - Azubuiki is a beast. As usual, tried to break the rim every time he touched the ball and one time I thought he was successful. Giles didn't have a great performance. He really needed some help against the massive frontline that the Stars had. Honestly, I think a lot of that had to do with Wendell Carter specifically. This kid was phenomenal IMO. So active and surprisingly agile for a kid his size. Not to mention that he was also playing a year up. He was extremely efficient scoring 16 points on just 5-7 shooting. Also had 13 rebounds to go along. He seemed very comfortable guarding against Giles whether he was on the block our out on the perimeter.
- Jordan Tucker of NY Lightning - Honestly, I left a bit disappointed. Seems like he has all of the tools but he really wanted to simply float around the perimeter most of the game. With his size and athleticism I would have liked to see him attack the rim more and not make himself so 1 dimensional.
Bruce Brown and Wendell Carter were the 2 players that impressed me the most today. Would have liked to see a bit more from Giles. I'd like to see an offer go out to Coleman pretty quickly. As Clint has mentioned before his style of point play is made to the UNC system.
From the UNC staff I saw CB McGrath and Hubert Davis there at various times.
