Thanksgiving hoopfest update thread
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Seymore Cox
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We're recruiting quite a few kids in this game, right?
Seymore Cox
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Good stuff sam.
realdallassooner
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They are playing Richardson Berkner not Richardson. I thought Douglass would win this easier from what I've heard of Douglass. Berkner has one big man and he's only 6'3".
Seymore Cox
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I've heard they have a kid named Xavier Thomas who's a high major recruit and I've read on this site about a kid Jordan Mickey who's 6'7 and Soma Edo who's 6'7. Also they have Terrell Harris's little bro, Kendal Harris who is very good, just as good as Stevie. They also destroyed Putnam City in a scrimmage at Wichita Falls I believe.
do you think he can become a point guard?
Seymore Cox
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Sam
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What were your thoughts on Douglass?
Will_Jennings
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I've been texting back and forth with Sam and he's given me a few updates on some of the games and players.
Dallas Lincoln defeated Prestonwood. Lincoln was up 26 to 4 at the half. OU recruit Julius Randle finished with 15pts.
Jarion Henry's Kimball team came back to beat Little Rock Hall after being down. Sam informed me that Henry had a shaky start, but settle down and had a solid game.
Sam also informed me, as he posted on this thread, that Stevie Clark and Marcus Smart had excellent games today and will face off tomorrow. Clark matched up with Kendal Harris, an OU recruit and sibling of ex-OSU guard Terrell Harris. Harris is a 6'1 guard at Richardson Berkner.
Dallas Lincoln defeated Prestonwood. Lincoln was up 26 to 4 at the half. OU recruit Julius Randle finished with 15pts.
Jarion Henry's Kimball team came back to beat Little Rock Hall after being down. Sam informed me that Henry had a shaky start, but settle down and had a solid game.
Sam also informed me, as he posted on this thread, that Stevie Clark and Marcus Smart had excellent games today and will face off tomorrow. Clark matched up with Kendal Harris, an OU recruit and sibling of ex-OSU guard Terrell Harris. Harris is a 6'1 guard at Richardson Berkner.
Sam
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Just got back in Norman, wish I could've stayed for tomorrow games but didnt feel like paying for a hotel. Going to be some great games tomorrow, if you're in the DFW area going to be some fun action in Duncanville.
Here are some things that stood out for me.
Stevie Clark isn't afraid to shoot it, he wasn't shooting well in the second half but kept jacking it up. Finally started taking it to the hoop later and was doing a lot better off the bounce, got some good points, got some steals that lead to fast breaks points.
32 of the Jenkins twins had a good game, active, had a nice dunk along with some put backs and some post moves. Really like his game for a lower D1/midmajor type, classic midmajor 3/4 hybrid as long as he keeps working on his game.
Of the Senior group of guards for Douglass, Devonte Smith had the best game. Played good defense and shot well.
Overall Douglass just has a great blend of athletes that allows them to play up tempo ball, in your face pressure. I guess they were struggling before I got there and their full court pressure got them back in the game. I really doubt if there is a better team in the state this year.
Jordan Mickey of Richardson Berkner has some potential, really skinny at 6'7 but seems to have good shot blocking instincts (saw him come weak side and swat Clark really bad). Seems to have a good tools to work with and grow on. Only 2013 so if he grows, get stronger and is committed to the game I think he could end up being a player to keep an eye on.
Marcus Smart, hard for me to be unbiased on him since I love watching him play so much. The "intensity" he uses on the court reminds of Blake in some ways, always working hard, big motor, focused. If he was just a little better of a natural athlete or taller I think he would end up top 10 or so as a class of 2012 member. Got sloppy with his passes as the game progressed, also seemed like he forced too many passes to get his teammates involved when driving. Funniest moment of the tournament might've been when some player from Huntington, Louisiana was jawing at him after a dunk. Marcus just remained like a robot and kept on playing as this guy is going crazy on the dunk .
Jarion Henry reminds me of a more assertive/scoring version of Nick Thompson. 6'8 but soft at times, good passer, tried to do too much dribbling at times along with scoring. Also got a hot head early on with a technical and let it get the better of him for the first half. Came back with a better second half, played "his role" more and was key in their 22 point comeback.
Henry's teammate Jordan Williams really seems like a massive steal for North Texas. Good athlete at 6'6, showed good touch from three. Tore apart a salty Little Rock Hall team (complete with a Nebraska commit, 6'6 wing, forget his name) as he was the key in the 22 point half time comeback. I wonder about him being eligible though, this is his 3rd high school in about 14 months (saw him in September of 09 as Nash and Mile' sidekick at Lincoln, then transferred to Colony for the rest of last year and played a key role in their state semifinals run) now is at Kimball.
Isiah Austin is getting more assertive, still thinks like a guard at times. One thing he has to learn is not bring the ball down after rebounds on both end, saw him get tied up by little guys way too often. He scares me as the future middle of Baylor's 2-3 zone.
Jamal Branch seems like another typical 4 year solid A&M guard, Sloan, Dash Harris etc. Nothing amazing, showed good passing today and looked ok playing a very good Ole Miss commit.
Lebrayn Nash came to play for once vs Prestoonwood. He forced some bad threes early but was hustling and making plays. I think he scared some little kid for Prestoonwood for life in the 4th quarter. nasty dunk. Just ran him over, looked like the MJ logo a little bit. Hit some nice midrange jumpers.
Keaton Miles, better athlete than I remember but struggled from the field. Honestly not sure if he's WVU caliber.
Zach Peters, was aggressive in the post but struggled a lot. I guess he fouled out in the 3rd quarter as he left then and wasn't seen again all game (hard to pick up on fouls sometime when filming).
Julius Randle struggled with Lincoln all first half as they packed the lane since Prestonwood's guards couldn't hit anything. Came back with a strong second half even stepping out on a few 3's and long 2's along with being more aggressive around the rim.
Saw Mike Anderson and Melvin Watkins in the stands, some Baylor assistant, Houston, various small schools. Hutchinson Community College assistant coach as well.
Thats all I got for now, tired and going to be soon. I'll clean up any incoherent thoughts in the morning and add some other stuff in that I most likely forgot about.
Here are some things that stood out for me.
Stevie Clark isn't afraid to shoot it, he wasn't shooting well in the second half but kept jacking it up. Finally started taking it to the hoop later and was doing a lot better off the bounce, got some good points, got some steals that lead to fast breaks points.
32 of the Jenkins twins had a good game, active, had a nice dunk along with some put backs and some post moves. Really like his game for a lower D1/midmajor type, classic midmajor 3/4 hybrid as long as he keeps working on his game.
Of the Senior group of guards for Douglass, Devonte Smith had the best game. Played good defense and shot well.
Overall Douglass just has a great blend of athletes that allows them to play up tempo ball, in your face pressure. I guess they were struggling before I got there and their full court pressure got them back in the game. I really doubt if there is a better team in the state this year.
Jordan Mickey of Richardson Berkner has some potential, really skinny at 6'7 but seems to have good shot blocking instincts (saw him come weak side and swat Clark really bad). Seems to have a good tools to work with and grow on. Only 2013 so if he grows, get stronger and is committed to the game I think he could end up being a player to keep an eye on.
Marcus Smart, hard for me to be unbiased on him since I love watching him play so much. The "intensity" he uses on the court reminds of Blake in some ways, always working hard, big motor, focused. If he was just a little better of a natural athlete or taller I think he would end up top 10 or so as a class of 2012 member. Got sloppy with his passes as the game progressed, also seemed like he forced too many passes to get his teammates involved when driving. Funniest moment of the tournament might've been when some player from Huntington, Louisiana was jawing at him after a dunk. Marcus just remained like a robot and kept on playing as this guy is going crazy on the dunk .
Jarion Henry reminds me of a more assertive/scoring version of Nick Thompson. 6'8 but soft at times, good passer, tried to do too much dribbling at times along with scoring. Also got a hot head early on with a technical and let it get the better of him for the first half. Came back with a better second half, played "his role" more and was key in their 22 point comeback.
Henry's teammate Jordan Williams really seems like a massive steal for North Texas. Good athlete at 6'6, showed good touch from three. Tore apart a salty Little Rock Hall team (complete with a Nebraska commit, 6'6 wing, forget his name) as he was the key in the 22 point half time comeback. I wonder about him being eligible though, this is his 3rd high school in about 14 months (saw him in September of 09 as Nash and Mile' sidekick at Lincoln, then transferred to Colony for the rest of last year and played a key role in their state semifinals run) now is at Kimball.
Isiah Austin is getting more assertive, still thinks like a guard at times. One thing he has to learn is not bring the ball down after rebounds on both end, saw him get tied up by little guys way too often. He scares me as the future middle of Baylor's 2-3 zone.
Jamal Branch seems like another typical 4 year solid A&M guard, Sloan, Dash Harris etc. Nothing amazing, showed good passing today and looked ok playing a very good Ole Miss commit.
Lebrayn Nash came to play for once vs Prestoonwood. He forced some bad threes early but was hustling and making plays. I think he scared some little kid for Prestoonwood for life in the 4th quarter. nasty dunk. Just ran him over, looked like the MJ logo a little bit. Hit some nice midrange jumpers.
Keaton Miles, better athlete than I remember but struggled from the field. Honestly not sure if he's WVU caliber.
Zach Peters, was aggressive in the post but struggled a lot. I guess he fouled out in the 3rd quarter as he left then and wasn't seen again all game (hard to pick up on fouls sometime when filming).
Julius Randle struggled with Lincoln all first half as they packed the lane since Prestonwood's guards couldn't hit anything. Came back with a strong second half even stepping out on a few 3's and long 2's along with being more aggressive around the rim.
Saw Mike Anderson and Melvin Watkins in the stands, some Baylor assistant, Houston, various small schools. Hutchinson Community College assistant coach as well.
Thats all I got for now, tired and going to be soon. I'll clean up any incoherent thoughts in the morning and add some other stuff in that I most likely forgot about.
Seymore Cox
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Nash with the throwdown over Malcolm in he middle. Good stuff Sam!
SoonerDAZE
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Sam pretty much hit the nail on the head with what he's already posted. Here's what I'll add:
I paid a lot of attention to the Dallas based rivalries and the Dallas kids that have the most potential. But while doing that I was caught by surprise by the teams from Mississippi (Provine) and Arkansas (Hall). Both were better than I thought they were going to be - especially Hall, and I'd already heard a ton of good things about them coming in.
David Rivers is a high-level athlete. Good sign by Nebraska. He plays the point on their full and half court traps. He was the reason they got up so big on Kimball, that and the fact they hit nearly every shot they took in the first half. Kimball was literally on their heels.
Second half, different story. Kimball ran full court man jump and run pressure and it looked like Hall got tired. They had one ball handler that could withstand the crowd and the physical pressure - Riquan Jones I think. He was about 6'1" and solid, but when the ball wasn't in his hands, Kimball generally capitalized. In addition, I thought the Kimball stars played way below normal. I think they got caught by surprise. They didn't start competing until they were down about 15.
Jarion complained about everything that didn't go his way, which is about normal. He'll complain about his teammates or the refs; but rarely looks in the mirror. Jordan Williams is definitely special. I think he's in the top 5 in Texas this year in class of 2011 (an admittedly down class).
Marcus Smart did not stand out against Louisiana (Huntington), but that's because he didn't have to. They had their way in that game from beginning to end. Nick Banyard played the best I've seen him play since leaving Grace Prep for Marcus this season. Phil Forte was solid, as was Smart.
In the Douglass/Berkner game, Berkner (who is very young and almost no bench to speak of) played really well in the first half. Jordan Mickey played better than I've seen him since early summer/spring before his knee started bothering him. He was aggressive on offense, though there wasn't much production from it. Soma Edo was there to clean up the mess on the offensive glass like he usually is. Kendal Harris was nursing a bad knee and played well beneath himself despite playing with good effort. Douglass was long and had a lot of athletes. They looked much more mature both physically and basketball-wise, and were well coached.
Berkner is a mid-level team in the DFW, but was clearly better than Douglass in the first half. I thought Douglass pulled their press off much too quickly in the early going showing too much respect for Berkner, and that probably hurt them. Xavier Thomas is a decent ball handler, but is really an undersized off-guard both in skill set and in mentality. That left Kendal as the only dependable ball handler for Berker, and Douglass came out in the second half, turned up the pressure, and made them pay for that. Kendal couldn't blow by anyone with his obvious knee issues, and that hurt them as the Douglass climbed back in the game.
I thought Clark was solid in the second half, certainly didn't stand out; but in the first half, I thought he was a liability. He obviously has the green light to shoot whenever he likes, and he abused that to Douglass' detriment the entire first half, including open look air balls. He is very explosive laterally and has a good first step, but is way too small to finish in the paint, in the half court, with any consistency, at this stage in his development. IMO, if he doesn't grow substantially, he'll have to develop a true point guard mentality to be a contributor at a high-D1 program, including a desire to be a quality defender. He certainly has the physical gifts to be one.
Prestonwood looked as though they were not prepared for the stage or the inner-city team they played against. The one bright spot for me was watching Zach Peters actually compete from the jump. In all seriousness, this is one of the few times I can remember him being aggressive from the beginning of a big game. He would show glimpses of it with Team Texas, but more often than not, he'd be passive until sometime later in the game.
What's sad is Zach's decision to be aggressive was all for not as none of his other teammates came to play in the opening half. Marquan Botley simply ran the show exactly like his coach wanted him to, and so had no ability to affect the game positively. Julius Randle played the most passive game I can remember him playing. Even worse than the opening half against Berkner a number of weeks ago at the GASO. He literally played behind the action most plays, and rarely, if ever that I recall, crept inside the three point line in the half court. I was shocked to see him play so soft, especially hearing his focus in the weeks leading up to the hoopfest.
Lincoln played about like normal. They were aggressive and had an all-knowing swagger. They didn't shrink in glare of the prime time slot. LeBryan didn't disappoint, and Keaton Miles was his normal athletic self. Seemed very focused. Lincoln and Marcus were the only DFW schools that looked like they weren't caught up in the moment - Rivals, ESPN, BallIsLife, TexasHoops, and other regional/area pundits were all over the gym; as well as, Missouri, Texas, ORU, SMU, Baylor, Houston, UTEP, and many, many others.
It was great to have that many quality players in one gym and it NOT be a summer-circuit event!
I sat next to Mike Anderson and his staff from around 2pm until the second half of the Lincoln/Pwood game on Friday. It was interesting to hear their comments about certain players. They absolutely took note of many of the things I posted here; and if they did, I'm certain the other D1 coaches in attendance did as well.
I paid a lot of attention to the Dallas based rivalries and the Dallas kids that have the most potential. But while doing that I was caught by surprise by the teams from Mississippi (Provine) and Arkansas (Hall). Both were better than I thought they were going to be - especially Hall, and I'd already heard a ton of good things about them coming in.
David Rivers is a high-level athlete. Good sign by Nebraska. He plays the point on their full and half court traps. He was the reason they got up so big on Kimball, that and the fact they hit nearly every shot they took in the first half. Kimball was literally on their heels.
Second half, different story. Kimball ran full court man jump and run pressure and it looked like Hall got tired. They had one ball handler that could withstand the crowd and the physical pressure - Riquan Jones I think. He was about 6'1" and solid, but when the ball wasn't in his hands, Kimball generally capitalized. In addition, I thought the Kimball stars played way below normal. I think they got caught by surprise. They didn't start competing until they were down about 15.
Jarion complained about everything that didn't go his way, which is about normal. He'll complain about his teammates or the refs; but rarely looks in the mirror. Jordan Williams is definitely special. I think he's in the top 5 in Texas this year in class of 2011 (an admittedly down class).
Marcus Smart did not stand out against Louisiana (Huntington), but that's because he didn't have to. They had their way in that game from beginning to end. Nick Banyard played the best I've seen him play since leaving Grace Prep for Marcus this season. Phil Forte was solid, as was Smart.
In the Douglass/Berkner game, Berkner (who is very young and almost no bench to speak of) played really well in the first half. Jordan Mickey played better than I've seen him since early summer/spring before his knee started bothering him. He was aggressive on offense, though there wasn't much production from it. Soma Edo was there to clean up the mess on the offensive glass like he usually is. Kendal Harris was nursing a bad knee and played well beneath himself despite playing with good effort. Douglass was long and had a lot of athletes. They looked much more mature both physically and basketball-wise, and were well coached.
Berkner is a mid-level team in the DFW, but was clearly better than Douglass in the first half. I thought Douglass pulled their press off much too quickly in the early going showing too much respect for Berkner, and that probably hurt them. Xavier Thomas is a decent ball handler, but is really an undersized off-guard both in skill set and in mentality. That left Kendal as the only dependable ball handler for Berker, and Douglass came out in the second half, turned up the pressure, and made them pay for that. Kendal couldn't blow by anyone with his obvious knee issues, and that hurt them as the Douglass climbed back in the game.
I thought Clark was solid in the second half, certainly didn't stand out; but in the first half, I thought he was a liability. He obviously has the green light to shoot whenever he likes, and he abused that to Douglass' detriment the entire first half, including open look air balls. He is very explosive laterally and has a good first step, but is way too small to finish in the paint, in the half court, with any consistency, at this stage in his development. IMO, if he doesn't grow substantially, he'll have to develop a true point guard mentality to be a contributor at a high-D1 program, including a desire to be a quality defender. He certainly has the physical gifts to be one.
Prestonwood looked as though they were not prepared for the stage or the inner-city team they played against. The one bright spot for me was watching Zach Peters actually compete from the jump. In all seriousness, this is one of the few times I can remember him being aggressive from the beginning of a big game. He would show glimpses of it with Team Texas, but more often than not, he'd be passive until sometime later in the game.
What's sad is Zach's decision to be aggressive was all for not as none of his other teammates came to play in the opening half. Marquan Botley simply ran the show exactly like his coach wanted him to, and so had no ability to affect the game positively. Julius Randle played the most passive game I can remember him playing. Even worse than the opening half against Berkner a number of weeks ago at the GASO. He literally played behind the action most plays, and rarely, if ever that I recall, crept inside the three point line in the half court. I was shocked to see him play so soft, especially hearing his focus in the weeks leading up to the hoopfest.
Lincoln played about like normal. They were aggressive and had an all-knowing swagger. They didn't shrink in glare of the prime time slot. LeBryan didn't disappoint, and Keaton Miles was his normal athletic self. Seemed very focused. Lincoln and Marcus were the only DFW schools that looked like they weren't caught up in the moment - Rivals, ESPN, BallIsLife, TexasHoops, and other regional/area pundits were all over the gym; as well as, Missouri, Texas, ORU, SMU, Baylor, Houston, UTEP, and many, many others.
It was great to have that many quality players in one gym and it NOT be a summer-circuit event!
I sat next to Mike Anderson and his staff from around 2pm until the second half of the Lincoln/Pwood game on Friday. It was interesting to hear their comments about certain players. They absolutely took note of many of the things I posted here; and if they did, I'm certain the other D1 coaches in attendance did as well.
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