DCWildcat
03-30-2006, 11:15 AM
All-American Game Analysis
Including whole game now. Hard to take away a whole lot since it’s just a showcase, but still interesting to watch. I’ll sort by my grades for them.
Team wise, OSU and Ga Tech had the most impressive showings. Daquan and Cook will need to learn to just dump the ball to Oden, though. UNC wasn't particularly great. Loserville's burger boy was terrible.
Kevin Durant (Texas): A tale of 2 halves. 1st: Moving very lazy away from the ball. I thought he was going to own everything in sight, but he just sort of runs to the corner and stops. Unimpressive. Second half, he exploded. His length is just insane, he makes Teyshaun look like he has stubby arms. Very good work ethic and a good shooter. No-brainer top 10 pick if he could go pro right now. If he took every shot for Texas next year, they wouldn’t hurt at all. Grade: A
Gerald Henderson (Duke): If Derrick Jasper can utilize his size advantage as well as Henderson can, he'll be outstanding. Great feel for mismatches and willing to exploit them. Fearless. Handles could improve a little. Moving well without the ball, not sure if he's the leading scorer but he was close in the first half. Only flaw is going to Duke. Won dunk contest. Grade: A
Thaddeus Young (GA Tech): Wow. I had no idea he was this good. Big, quick, and very, very smooth. Missing him will suck. I'd be surprised if he stays past his first year. Too bad he didn't choose UK, but I couldn't really see him in Tubby's offense. He is an absolute go-to player. Should have had more rebounds, though. Grade: A-
Chase Budinger (Arizona): Moves shockingly well for a big, his vision and his handles are great. Willing to run the floor. Played more like a guard than a forward. Flew all over the court, crazy athleticism. Is very ugly (check his Rivals picture). Could do a better job rebounding. Get off the damn perimeter and play in the inside! No need for you to keep shooting from the outside. Grade: A-
Javaris Critttendon (GA Tech): TY's future teammate. Extremely explosive, incredible ballhandling. Got a little fancy at some points, but his vision is uncanny. The most fun player to watch on the court so far, loves to be involved and direct everything. Much more magician-like than the pure speed of Lawson or the strategic Henderson. Second half wasn’t quite as impressive, got a little out of control at times. Grade: B+
Tywon Lawson (UNC): Crazy fast and great ballhandling skills. Easy to see why he's considered the #1 PG. 2nd half: I can’t get over his speed, it’s insane. Played a little out of control at times, trying to force layups through places they won’ go. Still, his ability to run the floor and his amazing handles make up for that, and Roy will probably reign him in. Would make a fantastic wide receiver. Grade: B+
Greg Oden (Ohio St.): Absolutely ridiculous. Blocked 4 or 5 shots in the first 5 minutes alone, one of them against Durant. Stellar vision for a big guy. Can tell his wrist is hurting, though. Great feel for the game, but he didn't look like he was trying very hard (possibly the wrist). Lumbered a lot more than I thought, considering the high praise of his athleticism. The announcers made his first half sound much better than it was. Still, would be a no-brainer #1 overall if he could’ve gone pro. Grade: B, considering injury
Daquan Cook (Ohio St.): Likes to shoot the ball. A lot. Has a nice shot, though, so it won’t hurt. Very skilled offensive player. Great inside finisher as well. Missed a lot of easy passes though, so I’m not sure of his ability to direct an offense. A very shoot first, shoot second, dribble third, pass fourth kind of player. Grade: B
Vernon Macklin (Gtown): Very aggressive, thinking player. I really like the game he showed in the first half. Very quiet, but still involved. Leads in assists, but I don't think he's taken a shot. Played very lazy D in the second half and was significantly less involved. Grade: B-
Brandon Wright (UNC): Looks like an elephant. I hope he has a terrible career. (jk). But going to UNC was astonishingly dumb decision, given his fit for UK's system, the amount of playing time he'll likely forfeit, and the general impulsiveness of his decision. Didn't really do anything noteworthy in the 1st half. I came away rather unimpressed; he didn’t put any effort at all into boxing out. He did move well without the ball, though. Lankier than I expected. Played better in the second half, but still didn’t show any post moves. Grade: B-
Wayne Ellington (UNC): A very average game. Scored some uncontested points, and had one particularly nice drive, but didn’t show any flashes of brilliance or great ball movement. Grade: C+
Spencer Hawes (Washington): Nice touch from the outside, worked hardest for the rebounds of anyone out there in the first half but didn’t necessarily get any. Decent second half, but he couldn’t rebound at all. Disappointing, I expected a lot more. Didn’t adjust well to the game conditions. Grade: C+
Lance Thomas (Rutgers or Duke): Not very flashy, played similar to Ellington: a few uncontested moves, but nothing really shocking. I didn’t see anything worthy of him being an All-American. Doesn’t seem to have the upside of the others. Grade: C
James Keefe: (UCLA): Had a nice first half with some tough rebounds and good shot selection, but didn’t do a damn thing in the second. Good stroke, I saw him in warm-ups. Athletic for a white guy of his size. Has a lot of upside. Grade: C
Sherron Collins (Kansas): Played the only really selfish half of anyone in the game. 1 of only a few players not to impress me so far. Quick moving the ball up the floor, but his vision didn't seem very sharp. Continued his misplaced aggression in the second half. Pretty sick dunk at the end of the game. Never really looked comfortable; I suspect he’ll take much longer to develop than Lawson, Crittendon or Cook. Grade: C-
The Lopez Brothers (Stanford): Seemed to work hard but didn’t get a whole lot of touches. Didn’t run to the floor like everyone else, can’t run as well as the rest of the bigs. Still, that won’t be what the need to do at Stanford so it’s not that much of a problem. Nevertheless, they didn’t adjust to the game conditions, which is one mark of a good player. Grade: C-
(Jon?) Scheyer (Duke): Announcers said something about him maybe being the next Redick. Way too aggressive, though--if he keeps that habit of driving into the bigs, he's going to get murdered. Unimpressive. Reminded me of the last few minutes of the LSU-Duke game where Paulus, McR, and Redick kept driving and getting owned. Second half confirmed it; he seems to really want to push the ball. It’s ok to pass the ball on the perimeter every once in a while. Great shooting touch, so quit driving! Grade: D+
Scottie Reynolds (Oklahoma): Sucks that he’s going to Oklahoma now. Not impressive at all. Grade: D+
Darrell Arthur(Nowhere, UK a slim possibility): Agile and quick for a big, but didn't do a whole lot. Not moving particularly well off the ball. Unimpressive. Always seem to be at the wrong place for rebounds, looked like he was kind of trying to get involved but wasn’t particularly tenacious. Grade: D
Mike Conley (Ohio St.): Did nothing good or bad. Grade: D
Earl Clark (Loserville): Completely outmatched. I’m not being biased: he flat out sucked. Slow, poor off the ball movement, weak handles for someone touted for his ability to be a tall guard. Never in the right place at the right time. Poor decision making in the open floor. Didn't take advantage of mismaches. Seemed to be playing out of position. I’m not scared. Grade: F
DJ Augustin (Texas): Did nothing good. Some bad. Grade: F
Demond Carter (Baylor): Did he play? Grade: F
Including whole game now. Hard to take away a whole lot since it’s just a showcase, but still interesting to watch. I’ll sort by my grades for them.
Team wise, OSU and Ga Tech had the most impressive showings. Daquan and Cook will need to learn to just dump the ball to Oden, though. UNC wasn't particularly great. Loserville's burger boy was terrible.
Kevin Durant (Texas): A tale of 2 halves. 1st: Moving very lazy away from the ball. I thought he was going to own everything in sight, but he just sort of runs to the corner and stops. Unimpressive. Second half, he exploded. His length is just insane, he makes Teyshaun look like he has stubby arms. Very good work ethic and a good shooter. No-brainer top 10 pick if he could go pro right now. If he took every shot for Texas next year, they wouldn’t hurt at all. Grade: A
Gerald Henderson (Duke): If Derrick Jasper can utilize his size advantage as well as Henderson can, he'll be outstanding. Great feel for mismatches and willing to exploit them. Fearless. Handles could improve a little. Moving well without the ball, not sure if he's the leading scorer but he was close in the first half. Only flaw is going to Duke. Won dunk contest. Grade: A
Thaddeus Young (GA Tech): Wow. I had no idea he was this good. Big, quick, and very, very smooth. Missing him will suck. I'd be surprised if he stays past his first year. Too bad he didn't choose UK, but I couldn't really see him in Tubby's offense. He is an absolute go-to player. Should have had more rebounds, though. Grade: A-
Chase Budinger (Arizona): Moves shockingly well for a big, his vision and his handles are great. Willing to run the floor. Played more like a guard than a forward. Flew all over the court, crazy athleticism. Is very ugly (check his Rivals picture). Could do a better job rebounding. Get off the damn perimeter and play in the inside! No need for you to keep shooting from the outside. Grade: A-
Javaris Critttendon (GA Tech): TY's future teammate. Extremely explosive, incredible ballhandling. Got a little fancy at some points, but his vision is uncanny. The most fun player to watch on the court so far, loves to be involved and direct everything. Much more magician-like than the pure speed of Lawson or the strategic Henderson. Second half wasn’t quite as impressive, got a little out of control at times. Grade: B+
Tywon Lawson (UNC): Crazy fast and great ballhandling skills. Easy to see why he's considered the #1 PG. 2nd half: I can’t get over his speed, it’s insane. Played a little out of control at times, trying to force layups through places they won’ go. Still, his ability to run the floor and his amazing handles make up for that, and Roy will probably reign him in. Would make a fantastic wide receiver. Grade: B+
Greg Oden (Ohio St.): Absolutely ridiculous. Blocked 4 or 5 shots in the first 5 minutes alone, one of them against Durant. Stellar vision for a big guy. Can tell his wrist is hurting, though. Great feel for the game, but he didn't look like he was trying very hard (possibly the wrist). Lumbered a lot more than I thought, considering the high praise of his athleticism. The announcers made his first half sound much better than it was. Still, would be a no-brainer #1 overall if he could’ve gone pro. Grade: B, considering injury
Daquan Cook (Ohio St.): Likes to shoot the ball. A lot. Has a nice shot, though, so it won’t hurt. Very skilled offensive player. Great inside finisher as well. Missed a lot of easy passes though, so I’m not sure of his ability to direct an offense. A very shoot first, shoot second, dribble third, pass fourth kind of player. Grade: B
Vernon Macklin (Gtown): Very aggressive, thinking player. I really like the game he showed in the first half. Very quiet, but still involved. Leads in assists, but I don't think he's taken a shot. Played very lazy D in the second half and was significantly less involved. Grade: B-
Brandon Wright (UNC): Looks like an elephant. I hope he has a terrible career. (jk). But going to UNC was astonishingly dumb decision, given his fit for UK's system, the amount of playing time he'll likely forfeit, and the general impulsiveness of his decision. Didn't really do anything noteworthy in the 1st half. I came away rather unimpressed; he didn’t put any effort at all into boxing out. He did move well without the ball, though. Lankier than I expected. Played better in the second half, but still didn’t show any post moves. Grade: B-
Wayne Ellington (UNC): A very average game. Scored some uncontested points, and had one particularly nice drive, but didn’t show any flashes of brilliance or great ball movement. Grade: C+
Spencer Hawes (Washington): Nice touch from the outside, worked hardest for the rebounds of anyone out there in the first half but didn’t necessarily get any. Decent second half, but he couldn’t rebound at all. Disappointing, I expected a lot more. Didn’t adjust well to the game conditions. Grade: C+
Lance Thomas (Rutgers or Duke): Not very flashy, played similar to Ellington: a few uncontested moves, but nothing really shocking. I didn’t see anything worthy of him being an All-American. Doesn’t seem to have the upside of the others. Grade: C
James Keefe: (UCLA): Had a nice first half with some tough rebounds and good shot selection, but didn’t do a damn thing in the second. Good stroke, I saw him in warm-ups. Athletic for a white guy of his size. Has a lot of upside. Grade: C
Sherron Collins (Kansas): Played the only really selfish half of anyone in the game. 1 of only a few players not to impress me so far. Quick moving the ball up the floor, but his vision didn't seem very sharp. Continued his misplaced aggression in the second half. Pretty sick dunk at the end of the game. Never really looked comfortable; I suspect he’ll take much longer to develop than Lawson, Crittendon or Cook. Grade: C-
The Lopez Brothers (Stanford): Seemed to work hard but didn’t get a whole lot of touches. Didn’t run to the floor like everyone else, can’t run as well as the rest of the bigs. Still, that won’t be what the need to do at Stanford so it’s not that much of a problem. Nevertheless, they didn’t adjust to the game conditions, which is one mark of a good player. Grade: C-
(Jon?) Scheyer (Duke): Announcers said something about him maybe being the next Redick. Way too aggressive, though--if he keeps that habit of driving into the bigs, he's going to get murdered. Unimpressive. Reminded me of the last few minutes of the LSU-Duke game where Paulus, McR, and Redick kept driving and getting owned. Second half confirmed it; he seems to really want to push the ball. It’s ok to pass the ball on the perimeter every once in a while. Great shooting touch, so quit driving! Grade: D+
Scottie Reynolds (Oklahoma): Sucks that he’s going to Oklahoma now. Not impressive at all. Grade: D+
Darrell Arthur(Nowhere, UK a slim possibility): Agile and quick for a big, but didn't do a whole lot. Not moving particularly well off the ball. Unimpressive. Always seem to be at the wrong place for rebounds, looked like he was kind of trying to get involved but wasn’t particularly tenacious. Grade: D
Mike Conley (Ohio St.): Did nothing good or bad. Grade: D
Earl Clark (Loserville): Completely outmatched. I’m not being biased: he flat out sucked. Slow, poor off the ball movement, weak handles for someone touted for his ability to be a tall guard. Never in the right place at the right time. Poor decision making in the open floor. Didn't take advantage of mismaches. Seemed to be playing out of position. I’m not scared. Grade: F
DJ Augustin (Texas): Did nothing good. Some bad. Grade: F
Demond Carter (Baylor): Did he play? Grade: F
