Top Prospects - College Game Summaries

[Uncia03]

There are a lot of college basketball games out there to watch, and I'm finding it very difficult to watch the games, notate through-out the game, and then summarize all of my notes into a coherent version of what went on during the games.

So I've decided to abandon the summarization of the games, and instead, just post my notes of the games that I watch. A lot of this is due to personal time constraints, and I find that by the time I can sit down and really write up a summary I've forgotten many of the nuances of what I saw.

So for those of you who want a recount of how some of the top prospects played, I'll be sharing my notes here. The information may be a little bit raw, but it's better than me not finding the time to get anything at all posted.

I'm not going to be notating every missed shot, every assist made, every rebound won or lost, but I'll be notating what stood at for me as the game was being played. If you would like me to include something in particular in my notes, let me know and I'll see if I can do it.

For those of you who are watching the same games, feel free to agree or disagree with any of my recountings of these games.

I'll try to be as accurate with my information as possible, but I'm not going to be spending much of any time proofing my notes before posting them, so if you see any glaring errors, feel free to correct them.

For the most part I'm not going to indicate who won or lost these games. I don't really care much about college teams and I'm watching for the sole purpose of scouting out the next crop of young talent, so unless there is a game-winning buzzer beater or some complete blow-out I won't be spoiling the outcome of the game in my notes, in case you're planning on watching it later.

I'm really only going to be focusing on some of the top prospects in these games. If a particular player who isn't on my radar does something spectacular, then I might make a comment, otherwise, consider this mostly just player scouting.

I've got about 10 games I need to catch up on, so hopefully I can get these games up and posted quickly in the next few days.

I'll be listing the players that I'm currently scouting, so if there is another player or two which you feel is worth the time to watch, go ahead and put in a suggestion and I'll see if I can add that player.
For some of the better teams, I might only be looking at a single player from that team, even though there might be other 1st round players out there.

A good example is Texas with Jordan Hamilton and Tristan Thompson. I'm really only scouting Hamilton at this point in time, as Thompson won't be a high 1st round pick, and I don't think he makes the Kings starting rotation if we do draft him, so therefore I'm not going to put a lot of energy watching his every move. ( I like Thompson, and if this were 2/3 years earlier I would be paying more attention to him as the Kings lacked big men, but now...don't see the need.)

So here are the players which I've been recording every televised game to see how they are faring:

Team ------------- Name ----- Draft Range -- NBA Position and Notes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Duke ---------- Kyrie Irving ------- 1-5 ------ PG (Only if he gets healthy)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kentucky ------ Brandon Knight --- 15-25 ---- PG (Defender/Shooter Good Size)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UCONN -------- Kemba Walker ---- 5-10 ----- PG (Undersized, Great Shooter)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BYU ----------- Jimmer Fredette -- 10-20 ---- Combo (Best Combo in League)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kansas -------- Josh Selby ------- 20-25 ---- Combo (Need to see more)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vanderbilt ----- Jeffrey Taylor ---- 15-20 ---- SG (Athletic, Tall, Defender)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Texas --------- Jordan Hamilton -- 15-20 ---- SG/SF (Best SG/SF Shooter, Rebndr)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
N. Carolina ---- Harrison Barnes --- 10-15 --- SG/SF (Starting to Come Around)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arizona ------- Derrick Williams --- 1-5 ------ SF Best SF prospect right now
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Baylor -------- Perry Jones III ---- 1-5 ------ SF (Biggest Risk/Reward)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Florida St. ---- Chris Singleton ---- 10-15 --- SF Best Defensive SF
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kentucky ----- Terrence Jones ---- 5-10 ---- PF/SF (Powerful as a SF, Has SF Skills?)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ohio St. ------ Jared Sullinger ----- 1-5 ----- PF Low-Post Machine, Best Freshman
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Moorehead St. Kenneth Faried ---- 25-35 --- PF Rebounding Monster/Defender/Roleplyr
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think that almost all of these players could make a positive contribution for this Kings team. I'm a King's fan first and foremost, so everything that I'm watching I'm viewing through the lens of what piece(s) we could add to make the Kings the best they can be. So there are no Centers on this list, as we don't need a Center.

I'd rather see a big guard next to Tyreke which is why I'm extremely high on Jeffrey Taylor out of Vanderbilt due to the fit he could be. This is also why I might not be as high on someone like Kemba Walker as most would be, due to what I consider would be a bad fit.
But since we saw Tyreke play SF today against Dallas, I'll be watching some of these smaller guards to see if one of them can change my mind about Tyreke's backcourt mate. (Fredette is getting close...)

Now on to the games!

 

[Uncia03]

Kentucky at Florida (2/5/2011)

Terrance Jones
38 minutes, 18 points (7/18 FG, 1/4 3pt, 3/5 FT), 7 Rebs, 2 Assists, 2 Blocks, 1 TO

Obvious travel, wasn’t called.
Faced up, drove at his man, and made a tough bank-shot from 5 ft
Nice Defensive Rebound.
Got hands on ball as man went up for a lay-up and disrupted shot, not sure if he’ll get a block or not, as shot was missed.
Good defense to contest opponent going for lay-up, bothered shot to prevent basket.
Strong take to rim, had the ball slapped away on the drive.
On fast-break, did a great job to stop and prevent offensive foul. Took it out himself and missed 3pt shot
Had ball knocked away on drive, recovered ball and then forced up bad baseline shot for 6ft miss.
Nice block when Parsons spun into the lane and put up a floater.
Another nice weak-side block as man put up a shot from the right side of the key.
Good post defense, forced man to pass out, then got rebound when outside man missed.
Nice quick back bound with spinning back step to the rim for a bank shot lay in.
Good defensive rebound to keep it away from two offensive players.
Nice dribbling spin-move into the lane from the top of the key for the left-handed lay-in.
Was doubled at FT line and made a nice pass to a cutting player under the basket. Shot blocked.
2nd half
Mis-handled pass from Knight for turn-over.
Got ball about 15ft out, spent about 5 seconds backing man down, then made a turn-around from 10ft which missed, but was fouled. Missed 2nd free-throw, but got his own rebound.
Backed down Tyus in post, but was blocked on his shot-attempt.
Nice fast-break play, gave up the ball, and got it back for the alley-oop dunk.
Great steal on post pass.
Got ball at top of key, drove down lane, but defender sat on his left hand, and block his shot attempt.
Hesitated to shoot a 3, dribbled into the lane, and got a shot off over his left shoulder for an 8ft shot.
Missed a 3.
Great defensive rebound.
Hit a set 3.
Good weak-side block
Missed 3
Got ball away from basket, backed down man, and missed turn-around in middle of lane from 8 feet.
Got ball at 3pt line, didn’t shoot the 3, made a fantastic drive down the lane for the right-hand slam with 40 seconds to go to bring them with-in 1.

Brandon Knight
36 Minutes, 24 Points (7/14 FG, 4/5 3pt, 6/6 FT), 5 Reb, 4 Assists, 1 Blk, 4 TO

Beautiful pass from top of the key to open man under basket for bucket
Made a nice drive into the lane, but missed lay-up.
Hit 14ft jump shot next time down.
Had ball stolen from him on drive, but on break caught up to opponent at rim and blocked shot. (It really was a foul, but it wasn’t called)
Hit 3 from corner with feet set.
Curled of the screen with a dribble-hand-off and pulled up for 15ft jumper.
Executed a pick and roll with Jones, Jones was fouled going to the basket.
Dashed into the lane, a little bit off-balance, but got off a nice tear-drop, but missed.
Drive into the lane from wing, missed nice jump hook on the move.
Lost ball for turnover while dribbling into the lane.
2nd half
Dribbled into lane and made a tough shot which he missed.
Great drive from wing down baseline, and made5ft baseline jumpshot.
Nice cross-over on FB, but missed the layup
Drove into the lane, picked up dribble, and used nice head-fake and step-through, but was fouled.
Dribbled ball off of teammate’s foot for TO, and Florida hit 3.
Knight got free via a screen, got ball and quickly shot in 3.
Strong drive into the lane, and was fouled.
Found open man on 3pt line who hit 3.
Had ball stolen from him in the open court while bringing the ball up.
Hit 2 FT with 2 minutes left to give them 1 point lead.
Missed 3pt shot to win the game on last shot of game.

 

[Uncia03]

Tennessee at Kentucky 2/8/2011

Terrance Jones
32 Minutes, 10 Points (2/9 FG, 0/0 3pt, 6/6 FT), 11 Reb, 2 Assists, 4 Blks, 8 TOs

Had shot blocked on the first 2 shot attempts in the game.
Got offensive rebound but missed put-back
Nice block, took ball upcourt quickly where he threw it away with a bad pass
Good defense on Harris who tried to get to rim and couldn’t.
Bad pass through lane for TO
Got rebound, pushed it up the court and passed it off to Knight for made wing 3 in transition
Great post defense on Harris, held him up, then blocked Harris attempt in middle of key.
Fouled aggressively going at the rim.
Cut under basket and finished with a short bank-shot.
Defensive deflection for steal.
Great no-look pass, but didn’t stop and called for Offensive Foul.
Out at 13 minute mark (4 points) and back in 2 minutes later.
Got hand on ball to get steal when ball was passed to Harris.
Good post defense against Harris. Harris couldn’t move him, and had to pass ball out.
Good defense against Harris again, to flashed into lane and put up a shot which was contested and missed.
Got ball in post, but stripped on the double-team for TO.

2nd half

6 points in 1st half
Good offensive rebound on missed FT.
Bad pass which was picked and taken the other way.
Lost handle out of bounds for TO when trying to drive baseline.
Turned ball over while making an inbound pass through full-court pressure
Got caught on screen to let Harris drive to rim for easy basket.
Good weakside block at rim.
1st point in 2nd half with 5.5 minutes left on 2 made FTs with 1 &1.
Great weakside block
Next 2 points on intentional foul on FT with 1 minute left.

Quick Notes
A horrible offensive game for Jones, turned the ball over and over again, and couldn't score. Tennessee was sitting on his left hand, and when they took that away, it really hurt his ability to score.
With that said, I thought he played a fabulous defensive game. The best defensive performance I've seen from him this year, and one of the better ones overall this year.


Brandon Knight
Wasn’t paying attention on a cut and didn’t see pass thrown his way under basket.
Mis-handled pass, and was lucky it wasn’t a TO.
Made transition 3pt shot.
Great pass to Jones who flashed under the basket and finished.
Let Goins get past him for easy basket.
Drove into lane put up a 10ft floater, but didn’t stop and charged with Offensive Drive
Picked up 2nd foul with 9.5 minutes left in 1st half.
Offense collapsed the last 7 minutes of the half when Knight went out of the game. Tennessee went on 14-2 run to end 1st half. (19 point lead cut to 7)

2nd half

3 points in 1st half
Let Goins use screen to get off shot for made 10ft bucket.
Strong defensive rebound.
Good offensive rebound and put-back
Hit set 3.
Great lob to Harrellson under basket for easy score.
Wonderful pass from 3pt line to Harrellson who cut into the lane for easy basket.
Helped push lead back up to 18 through 6 minutes of 2nd half.
Took and missed a quick contested three.
Great take to rim and finish high off the glass.
Airballed 3pt shot
Let Goins get by again, no defensive help, so easy bucket was scored.
Doubled at half-court line, and had ball knocked off of him for TO.

Quick Notes
Not a great game from Knight. Wasn't very aggressive or active in the 1st half, but was huge in helping Kentucky sort itself out in the 2nd half.
His defense against Goins was not good, and he's a great defender. This was one of the poorest defensive games I've seen from Knight so far

 

[Uncia03]

Texas Tech at Texas (2/5/2011)

Texas – Jordan Hamilton
33 Minutes, 16 Points (6/14 FG, 4/8 3pt, 0/0 FT), 9 Reb, 2 Assists, 1 Stl, 3 TO

Made move with dribble to baseline, was doubled and made pass out to teammate for made 15ft shot.
Came out from baseline to receive a pass at the 3pt line, turned and knocked the 3 down.
Had ball at 3pt line, recognized the defense and made great pass to Tristan for Alley-oop dunk.
Stopped #5(D'walyn Roberts 6'7) from getting to rim on baseline, forced passed out.
Great pass to cutter who missed shot under basket.
Man didn’t come out, and he knocked down the 3.
Got offensive rebound, but didn’t secure it, rather tried to dribble and had the ball knocked out of bounds off of him for a TO.
Dribbled ball off his foot for TO when going on drive.
Gets ball on hand-off at 3pt line and hit quick 3.
Great contest at rim to force tough shot which was missed.
Great job stopping ball in transition.
Hit 3 in transition. Took 2 steps and shot it up.
Made good alley-oop pass in transition, but shot was missed.

2nd half

12 points in 1st half (4/6 all 4 were 3s)
Just did a great job coming off of screens to get open for shots.
Missed 3 on same play they ran to start 1st half.
Great cut into lane but turned and missed 10ft pull-up, got Off reb, and I think pass to teammate hit rim
Good defense and forced tough shot which was missed.
Travel. Jumped up and didn’t shoot or pass it before he landed.
Good post-up when found himself on smaller guy, was fouled, no shot.
Great Off-Rebound, tipped it up and then went after it.
Having to guard #3 (Willis 5'11) did a good job staying in front and contesting shots.
Forced Willis into a travel.
Had smaller man on him, got post up, and then turn-around 10ft shot. (1st points in 2nd half with 8 minutes left. Has 14)
Guarding # 25(David Tairu 6'3)
Got steal off missed FT, and put up made bank shot.
Blocked on baseline rim attack.

Quick Notes
Hamilton's arch on his shot is a bit flat, but he's the best shooter of the SG/SFs that I'm watching on a consistent basis. Hit 4/8 3pt shots tonight. He continued his great rebounding in this game, and he gets rebounds because he always crashes the boards and gets good position. He isn't super athletic, but is just very effective at getting position and securing the board.
He's very good at using screens to get open, and he displayed that all through-out this game.
Unfortunately he didn't go to the line once, which isn't a good thing for him.

 

[Uncia03]

Florida St at North Carolina (02/06/2011)

I was really looking forward to this game. Singleton is probably the best SF defender in college basketball, and Barnes has been starting to heat up, so I was hoping for a great match-up. Unfortunately, things didn't quite turn out as I'd like them to be.

North Carolina - Harrison Barnes
29 Minutes, 17 Points (7/15 FG, 2/6 3pt, 1/2 FT), 10 Reb, 1 Assist, 1 BLK

Starts off game being guarded by Singleton
Good Off rebound, kicked it out for made 3
Missed 3pt shot (contested by Singleton)
Used Big-man screen to get some room to get off 3pt shot (Missed)
(No points in 1st stint before going to bench)
Nice drive into the lane and finish + 1. (Singleton on Henson at this point)
Did poor job fighting through screens and Dulkies hit 3pt shot
Got ball 15 ft away and took one dribble and strong take to basket for 2-hand slam +1. Missed FT, but got Off Reb. Took touch fade-away jumpshot which missed.
Good FB, gave ball up, got it back for lay-up.
Airballed 3pt shot.
7 points end of 1st half.

2nd half

Hit very difficult fade away jumpshot.
Good Off Reb, threw ball off opponent to keep possession.
Missed open 3pt shot
Let Singleton drive and get to the rim for a 4ft bank in.
Sore left shoulder, went out with about 14 minutes left (9 pnts 4 rebounds)
Good drive into lane and drew foul (non-shooting)
Ball fake at 3pt line, and dribbled right and pulled up and made 20 ft wing shot.
Hit wide-open 3.
Hit wide-open 3pt shot. (16 points for game)

Quick Notes
Much better in the 2nd half of this game, and I think it's primarily because Singleton wasn't playing him as much in the 2nd. Hit some tough shots, but made some good plays. Rebounded the ball very, very well in this one. Solid game, not as good as his last couple, but much better than a month ago.


Florida St – Chris Singleton
28 Minutes, 15 Points (6/10 FG, 2/4 3pt, 1/4 FT), 4 Reb, 1 Assist, 2 Stl, 3 TOs

Starts off game defending Barnes
Missed open 3pt shot (A bit early in shot clock)
A nice drive into the lane, used a spin then put up a left-handed hook from 5ft out over Henson.
Went at Henson off the dribble, and drew foul.
Got 2nd foul from Barnes with 11 minutes left in the 1st half.

2nd half

Playing defense on Strickland (6'3 180lbs Guard) to start half. (Stricland had 10 points in half)
Hit 3 when Barnes did not come out on him. (Early in shot clock again)
Drove baseline, got trapped, made bad pass for TO.
Drove into lane past Barnes for 4ft bank-in layup.
Great steal, then pass over two defenders to man streaking down court for easy bucket
Bad over-the-back foul for this 3rd with 10 minutes left.
Playing a lot of zonein 2nd half.
Nice runner in the lane, and right-handed hook from 12 feet went in.
Awkward shot over Henson, didn’t go in, but got Off Reb and put back.
Hit wide-open 3pt shot
Went for alley-oop on called time-out play, but fouled on play.

Quick Notes
He picked up two fouls in under 10 minutes and had to sit for the rest of the half. This really hurt his game.
When he got back in, was asked to guard everyone from Dexter Strickland a 6'3 guard to John Henson a 6'10 Forward. The person he should have been guarding was Kendall Marshall a 6'3 guard who was the best player on the floor in this one.
He played good defense, and those his offensive numbers look solid, a lot of it felt forced, and sort of lucky.
I would consider this a fairly sub-par game for Singleton, mostly due to his lack of production in the 1st half due to the foul trouble.


Game Notes
Kendall Marshall played phenominally well and was the best playing on the court in this one. He had 16 assists and 3 TOs (The last TO was on his last play before leaving for the bench, so really it was only 2 TOs for his productive minutes.)
He's going to be getting a lot more playing time, so it will be interesting to watch as he progresses.

 

[Uncia03]

BYU at Colorado State (1/22/2011)

This is an older game that I finally had time to sit down and watch.

Jimmer Fredette
38 Minutes, 42 Points (11/24 FG, 4/9 3pt, 16/17 FT), 4 Reb, 4 Assists, 2 Stl, 2 TOs

Blew by defender at foul line and got scoop basket + 1
Got rebound, pushed ball, drove into lane and dropped off ball for easy basket and assist.
Brought ball up, no-one came up on him, so hit 26ft 3pt jumper.
Leaner 3pt shot in transition, not a good shot, and missed.
Drove into the lane, defense collapsed, found man for corner 3.
Behind back dribble off foot for TO, but immediately got steal, drove into lane found man for dunk which was blocked.
Matched up on bigger man in post, was unable to keep man from scoring + 1.
Doubled, passed out, got ball back at 3pt line, made great pass to man under basket for easy hoop.
Fouled on pushed transition after made basket to go to FT line.
Tough shot blocked on drive at rim.
Fouled on shot attempt after nicecross-over to get into the lane
Got screen, then a great cross-over to go baseline, then step-through past a defender for easy lay-up.
Fouled driving into paint again, shoot FTs.
Drove into the lane using behind-the-back dribble, then made an impossible lean-in bank-shot
Used ball-fake at 3pt line to get past man, drove into lane, and hit 6ft shot off the glass from left side.
Hit set 3pt shot when man didn’t come out. Was about 30ft away.
Called for Offensive foul in transition as he passed it.

2nd half

Finished 1st half with 21 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists (6/11 shooting)
Great drive into the lane for easy lay-up in transition.
Step-back 3pt shot from the wing.
Put #33 (Dwight Smith) their best on-ball defender, and doing good job with Fredette.
Missed a couple of drives to the rim.
Step-back made shot from free-throw line.
Split double-team and fouled for 1&1.
Drove into the lane, left his feet with no-where to go and had TO.
Fouled going to the lane.
Had shot blocked by Smith at 3pt line.
So far 3/10 in 2nd half with 8 minutes left of game.
Hit 3 when BYU got offensive rebound and Smith wasn’t on him.
Great job moving with-out the ball, went straight down the lane got pass under rim for easy basket.

Quick Notes
This was his 2nd 40 point game of the year at the time, and for those of you who watch college basketball know, 40 points in a college game is amazing.

He spread his scoring perfectly even through the 2 halfs, 21 points in each half. However, he had a much more effecient game in the 1st half.

When Colorado put Smith on him, Smith did a good job at denying Fredette the ball, and keeping in front of him and just making things difficult.

For those who only consider Fredette as a shooter, he went to the line 17 times, making 16 of them. He has a great cross-over which he uses all the time to either create space for a shot, or to get past his defender. So his aggressiveness is good to see.
A great game for Fredette, though he was slowed down somewhat in the 2nd half and his assists and rebounds almost completely dried up in the 2nd half, which was the bigger issue in my mind. (I find it amusing that he only scored 21 in the 2nd half, yet it felt as if he was being slowed down, probably the lack of assists and rebounding contributes to that feeling.)

 

[Uncia03]

I have the following games taped and will post some summaries once I can sit down to watch:

Kansas State at Kansas (1/29)
Colorado State at BYU (2/2)
Syracuse at Conneticut (2/2)
Michigan at Ohio State (2/3)
Ohio State at Minnesota (2/6)
USC at Arizona (2/7)
Missouri at Kansas (2/7)
Arizona at California (2/8)
Nebraska at Baylor (2/9)
Texas at Oklahoma (2/9)
North Carolina at Duke (2/9)

In addition there are going to be two games on Saturday which are 'Must See' when it comes to draft prospects. I'm so excited, and you should all try and watch these games if you have the chance.

Kentucky at Vanderbilt at 10am (T. Jones & B. Knight vs. Jeffrey Taylor)
Baylor at Texas at 1pm (Perry Jones III vs. Jordan Hamilton)

Both should be great games with fantastic match-ups. I can't wait for the Kentucky/Vandy game.

 

[bajaden]

Just finished watching the BYU/Air Force game. Sort of a different game for Fredette. Normally he goes to the freethrow line around 8 to 10 times a game. He only made it 4 times in this game despite being mugged just about every time he drove anywhere near the basket. Thought he might have been injured on one play where he split the defense as he forced his way between two defenders only to have a third defender try and slide in front of him. The defender didn't quite make it but managed to get his leg out in front of Fredette tripping him and sending him to the floor. No foul was called, which was laughable, and Fredette came up limping badly.

Despite all the physcial defense and his only going to the line 4 times, he still managed to squeek out 25 pts on the night. Since BYU plays a 3/2 zone, its really hard to get a read on how good or bad a defender Fredette will be at the next level. On defense his foot speed appears slow at times, but on offense he seems to have good agility and footspeed. I'm sure they'll find out when they have the team tryouts and put him up against other quick PG's.

One thing is for sure. He was left open only twice in the game. All net each time. I've yet to see him miss a shot when left completely open. He's not just a three pt shooter either. He scores around the basket in variety of ways. On his second basket he was driving down the left baseline and was stopped by two defenders. He pulled up and spun on his right pivot foot back to his left. When they reacted to his move he reversed the spin and brought the ball up and under one of the defenders arms and flipped up and into the basket. He was about 8 feet away from the basket when he made the shot.

He needs to tighten up his ballhandling a little, and cut down on the turnovers. However around 4 of his turnovers should have been fouls, and in the NBA they would have been.

 

[Uncia03]

Alabama at Vanderbilt (2/10/2011)

Vanderbilt – Jeffrey Taylor
31 minutes, 19 points (7/11 FG, 4/5 3pt, 1/3 FT), 8 Reb, 1 Assist, 1 Stl, 2 TO. (Fouled out)

Broadcast didn’t get to the game till 5 minutes in, and Taylor was not in game at that time.
Back in game with 14 minutes left in 1st.
Vanderbilt playing a zone, so we might not see much of Taylor’s defense.
Cut into paint, received ball, kicked it to open man for made 3
Got rebound, took ball up, used a screen to drive into lane, then had ball knocked away while spinning to basket.
Caught ball on wing and made set 3pt shot.
Up by 6 with 9.5 minutes to go, now in man-to-man defense. Taylor guarding #21 (Senario Hillman 6’2 195)
Good pick-n-roll defense, moving through screen to force a pass from Hillman which resulted in TO.
Picked up loose ball (might get credit for Off Reb), went straight up for made 16ft shot from corner.

Got Off Reb under basket, went up and got blocked. Got Off Reb again, dribbled it out. Passed to man at 3pt line, then curled around and got ball back and this time was uncontested for an easy lay-up. Good movement with-out the ball.

Now guarding #5. (Tony Mitchell 6’6 210)

Anticipated pass, got steal, went for break-away dunk, was fouled, and made great lay-up +1. (Missed FT)

Now guarding #22(Andrew Steele 6’4 230), who made a great cut into the lane, received ball at rim and made a good shot past Taylor for 2.

Got ball top of the key, was indecisive, decided to drive into the lane, got bumped and stripped for TO which led to an easy fast-break for Alabama.

Next possession, moved to top of the key, was passed the ball, and went up for made 3pt basket. (No hesitation this time.)

Move into zone defense at 3.5 minutes. (Right after Taylor made 3.)
Picked up foul with 1.5 minutes left in 1st half, and left game.
Alabama goes on 5-0 run for remainder of the 1st half while Taylor is out.

2nd half

12 points in 1st half. (2/3 3pt)
Guarding Mitchell to start 2nd half.
1st offensive possession a shot by Jenkins is missed, Vandy gets Off rebound, Taylor moves to Wing 3pt line, gets ball and knocks down the shot.

Terrible defensive possession. Taylor bit on a mis-direction from Mitchell who then rolled to the basket from 3pt line, received the pass and had an uncontested dunk.

Good pass from 3pt line to Jenkins cutting into the lane, but Jenkins missed shot.
Now back in zone about 2 minutes into 2nd half.
Good defensive rebound.
Dribbled to left wing, took step-back 14ft shot which missed.
Dribbled baseline, drew double-team and had ball knocked out of bounds.

Back to man defense and Taylor is guarding Mitchell. Alabama got ball to Mitchell on low block, Taylor able to hold ground and once double came, Mitchell passed ball out of post.

Mitchell made great off-ball cut to get free, got ball and missed lay-up which Taylor contested. Taylor made a strong defensive rebound to gain possession of ball.
On Alabama fast-break, contested fast-break lay-up, fouled player and gave up +1. (Didn’t look like a foul took place.)
5 TOs in a row for Vanderbilt, Taylor hasn’t touched ball in all 5 possessions.

Brought ball up through full –court press.
Mitchell made another great off-ball move to cut to rim for a dunk. Taylor did a poor job there, as he turned his head and allowed Mitchell the opportunity for the big play. (Was slightly hedged by own man to prevent him from recovering on Mitchell)

12 minutes left in game, Taylor has only taken 2 shots in 2nd half, the made 3 on first possession, then the missed step-back a minute or so later, so very quiet and not getting touches on offense so far.

Brought ball up through full-court press.
Great offensive rebound (Went through 2 players to get rebound in paint), made good decision to kick ball out. The offensive possession ends when he gets the ball at wing 3pt line and knocks down another shot.

Received ball at top of key, aggressively attacked the basket and was fouled. (Made 1 of 2 FT)
Tried to draw charge, but picked up 4th foul with 9.5 minutes left, and he has to leave the game.

Back in the game with 5 minutes 20 seconds left. Alabama was +7 in the time he was on the bench.
Brought ball up court.
Guarding #22 (Steele).
Now guarding Mitchell. Great denial post defense against Mitchell, forced TO on entry pass.

Good close-out on Mitchell to contest 3pt shot, Mitchell airballed it.
Great drive down lane, passed it to big-man who was wide open underneath, but big man missed gimme lay-up.
Taylor fouled out with 1 minute 30 seconds.

[Quick Notes]
Taylor isn’t known as a scorer, and though he’s been working on his jumpshot, he isn’t nearly as good a shooter as Jordan Hamilton, who is another prospect I’m watching.

With that said, Taylor was very good tonight. He hit four of his five 3pt attempts, and went 7/11 on the day. If he can continue to hit the 3pt shot, he'll continue to be one of my top prospects as a good fit for our Kings.

One of my biggest problems with him is his lack of aggressiveness. When watching him play you can see that if he attacked more, he’d have even more success.

In today’s game, he had a lull in the 2nd half where he wasn’t involved in the offensive, but over-all he had a great game. He didn’t take bad shots, made good decisions with the basketball, and played a very efficient game.

His defense, which is what I like most about his game, was probably the poorest I’ve seen from him this year.

Now since he’s one of the best on-ball defenders in the league, he has to match up with just about everyone, and today his match ranged from 6’2 Hillman to 6’6 Mitchell.

There were a few times when he allowed his man to cut to the basket off the ball and get easy hoops, and he’s usually very, very good at denying those sorts of entry passes.
So his defense was decent, but nowhere near his usual level.

 

[Uncia03]

Kansas State at Kansas (1/29/2011)

Kansas – Josh Selby
27 Minutes, 12 Points (4/6 FG, 3/3 3pt, 1 of 2 FT), 3 Reb, 4 Assists, 5 TOs

Guarding #1 (Shane Southwell 6’6 220)
Good pursuit of long inbound pass to mid-court and forced Southwell into a travel for a TO.
Hit set 3 from wing after Kansas Off Reb.
Nice drive into the lane, spun and put up tear-drop which missed short.

Good entry pass from way beyond the 3pt line to Markieff Morris who had his man sealed in paint. Mk made shot + 1.

On fast-break, drove into the lane and made a bad pass for TO on alley-oop lob.
Drove from wing, got into paint and made pass to open corner man for made 3.

Another good entry pass to post. Was in 3pt corner, and Mk Morris was fouled by defender.
Dribbled ball off of foot when driving into lane for TO.
Now guarding #35 (Spradling 6’3 170), who brought ball up, and after a move or two got past Selby and into the lane and made under-handed scoop shot for 2.
Selby made a nice pass to Morningstar on fast-break. Morningstar fouled.
Guarding Southwell again.
Now guarding #22 (Rodney McGruder 6’4 205).
Got to rim on fast-break, defender tried to take charge, but called for foul. (Made 1 of 2)
Now guarding #2 (Devon Peterson 6’3 190)
Peterson drives into lane, but Selby forces him into a difficult shot which is missed.
Good defensive rebound in traffic.
Out of game with 5.5 minutes left in half, but back after 2 minutes. Kansas was +4 while he was out.

Went for steal, almost got it, but missed it. Southwell went to rim, but missed layup.
Hit set 3 from right wing in transition.
Offensive Foul for TO during fast-break.
Another good drive from wing to baseline then kick to open corner, 3 was missed.

2nd half

7 points in 1st half.
Guarding Southwell again to start 1st half.
Southwell got past Selby, but missed baseline jumper.
Great high-low pass from wing 3pt line to Markeif for big slam.

Good push up the court in fast-break, but was going too fast, got out of control and was called for a charge after passing ball. Came out of game 2 minutes into 2nd half.

Back in with 14 minutes left.
Drove into lane, then made bad entry pass too high for TO.
Out of game with 10 minutes left. Didn't do much with that 4 minute stint.

Back in with 6.5 minutes left. (Still only 7 points in game)

Scramble play, got ball at 3pt line, drove into lane, then made good pass to Robinson for dunk.
Moved to top of key, got ball and hit 3pt shot.
Got offensive rebound, took tough falling down jumpshot which he made.
Recording stopped with 1.5 minutes left in game.

[Quick Notes]
Selby had a decent game, but not much of an impactful one. He only took 6 shots, but he was efficient making 4 of them, and hitting all 3 of his 3pt attempts.

Though he had a lot of Turn-overs (5), he made some really nice passes, especially when driving to the basket.

He didn’t guard any major scorers, so his defense was never really tested that much, but he did well on the defensive end.

You can see that he’s an aggressive young kid who likes to attack the rim and shoots the ball with-out hesitation when open.

There were a couple of fast-breaks where you could see him signal to his teammates to throw him the alley-oop, and though that play never developed, he’s got good athleticism to make plays of that nature.

 

[Uncia03]

Nebraska at Baylor (02/09/2011)

Baylor – Perry Jones III
36 minutes, 11 points (4/6 FG, 0/0 3pt, 3/6 FT), 7 Reb, 2 Assists, 2 TO, 1 personal foul

First defensive play of the game, called for foul in the post.
Being defended by #13 (Brandon Ubel 6’10 220).
Convenience Def Rebound.

Got doubled in post, made great/quick pass to Walton at 3pt line, who then made a wonderful pass to Morgan underneath for basket. Jones with the Hockey assist from the double-team to set up the easy basket.

Triple-teamed in post, and decided to dribble-out. Got pass off to teammate who then stepped out of bounds.

5 minutes so far and hasn’t taken a shot.
Ubel out of game. Jones now being guarded by #21 (Jorge Diaz 6’11 235)

Jones establishes post position, but can’t handle entry pass for TO. (Not sure if he’ll be charged with it or if it will be charged to the passer)

Jones trying to get post position, but comes out to foul-line and receives ball. Makes a nice bounce-pass to posting Acey who gets the lay-up.

Out of the game at the 12 minute mark. Didn’t take any shots, probably had 1 rebound, 1 assist, and 1 TO. A very passive first stint for Jones.

Back in at the 9 minute mark. Team was +/- 0 while he was out.

At 7 minute mark Jones gets his first shot attempt. Posting up, being front Guarded by #0 (Toney McCray, 6’6 205), Ellis lobs pass to Jones which was a bit long, so Jones turned and jumped and put ball off the glass for the shot attempt, which missed short. Jones probably should have come down with ball then went up strong.

Jones didn’t rotate fast enough and allowed a relatively open 3pt shot by McCray from the corner which hit.

Sealed his man in the post, and had an easy offensive rebound/putback for first made shot 6 minutes into the game.
Made a good play to catch a bad entry pass, but was trapped under the basket and forced into a travel.
Great Off Rebound in traffic, was fouled for 1&1. Hit 1 of 2.

Got Def Rebound, and pushed it up himself. Drove into the paint, and thought he might be in trouble over-dribbling, but he passed it out to get into an offensive set.

Fouled, went to the line for 2 and missed both.

Nebraska had nice attempt at rim, but missed. Ended up with 3 Off Rebounds and a foul, while Jones was in the mix, he didn’t jump or get involved trying to get the Def Rebound.

Only 3 points in 1st half, but did a good job not picking up fouls after picking up 1st on 1st possession of game.

2nd half

Being guarded by McCray, McCray commits foul on Jones on 1st possession on 2nd half trying to keep Jones out of post.
Now being guarded by Diaz.
Baylor moved to man-to-man defense.
Got good post position, guard got him the ball, and he made a nice spin to the basket for made hook shot.

Guarding Ubel, who set a weak pick at top of the key. Jones followed guard, who got pass to Ubel who popped out to 3pt ine and knocked down 3. Jones did not defend the pick-n-pop well, and did poor job of recovering, and shouldn’t have followed guard on the pick to begin with.

Out of game at 12 minute mark. (5 points, 5 rebounds so far)

Back in game at 10 minuemark.
Back in zone defense.
Got good position in post, received good pass from Dunn and slammed it home.
Called for 3 second violation.
Fouled in post while receiving ball before shot. 1&1 opportunity, hit both.
Back to man-to-man. Jones guarding McCray who is hot player for Nebraska.
Great lob pass from Dunn in half-court set to Jones for easy slam dunk alley-oop.

[Quick Notes]
After having one of his best games against Texas A&M, Jones had a very passive, sub-par performance against Nebraska. He only took 6 shots the entire game, and though he was efficient making 4 of those 6, it just wasn’t a good game.

I’m not certain how much of it was his fault, and how much was the fault of his teammates. He spent the entire time in the post, trying to establish position, but he hardly ever had the ball thrown his way.

Some of that is on the Baylor guards not getting him the ball, but some of it is also on him not getting good enough positioning to deserve to receive the ball.

There were two times that an entry pass to Jones resulted in a TO on the night.

Even if it was the guard’s fault for not getting him the ball, I’m still not going to give him a pass in this one. In the A&M game he would move out of post position, curl around and flash back into the lane to try to get the ball in a different spot.

In this game, he spent all of his time in the post. He didn’t take a single jumpshot, he didn’t move out of the post and work to get different looks, and he needs to do more of these things to be aggressive on the offensive end.

On the defensive end, it wasn’t anything to write home about. There were a couple of plays where he could have done better, but it’s just hard to tell while in that zone.

He had the opportunity to guard Nebraska’s top scorer when they went man-to-man late in the game, and he did a good job staying with McCray to prevent him from scoring.

He did a good job staying out of foul trouble after picking up the 1st quick foul, but I wonder if that made him overly passive for the entire game, as the mindset of not picking up a quick 2nd foul threw him off his game for the night.

His next game is against Texas and it will be a fantastic one. Texas plays phenominal team defense, their rotations are fantastic, and it's why they've got a good shot of winning it all. Plus, it's another chance to watch Jordan Hamilton, and I hope that Tristan Thompson is on Jones, as that will be a fun match-up all game long.

This game is tomorrow afternoon (1pm) and I'm really looking forward to it.

 

[Uncia03]

Texas at Oklahoma (02/09/2011)

Texas – Jordan Hamilton
38 minutes, 20 points (8/16, 3/9 3pt, 1 of 2 FT), 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 Blk, 4 TOs

When TV broadcast finally got to the game, 4.5 minutes had passed.

Being guarded by #2 (Steven Pledger 6’4 206)
Threw a great lob from 3pt line to Thompson for alley-oop dunk.
Guarding #21 (Cameron Clark 6’6 190).

Drove from 3pt line to rim, used a good hesitation dribble to get all the way to the rim, was fouled before the shot.

Missed 3 in trasition.
Made a good defensive rebound, pushed ball up the court, made a great pass to guard going to rim from wing, but shot was blocked.

Nice drive from wing, got to glass and finished with the lay-up off the glass.

A strong defensive rebound, but traveled as he didn’t have great possession while moving up the court. (Should have just stopped and passed it to his PG)

Got good post position against #5 (C.J. Washington 6’7 210), missed baseline turn-around jumpshot from 8 feet out.

Moved to wing 3pt line from the post, got the ball and hit a quick 3pt shot.

Hamilton made great pass from corner 3 to Thompson under the basket. Thompson fouled going up.
Lost his man (Tyler Neal, 6’7 209) while considering to double-team. Neal cut to the basket, but missed easy lay-up.

Hamilton was posting up, but didn’t get ball. He used a down screen to run straight up the middle of the key to teammate who had the ball and handed it off to Hamilton and set screen. Hamilton quickly went up and knocked down 3pt shot from top of the key.

Hamilton called for 5 second turnover.
Made 24ft 3pt shot from left wing. Was a set shot, but also contested. Probably could have given it up for a better shot later in the shot-clock, but he made it.

Missed 3, on same play where used downscreen to get free at top of the key. He mis-handled the hand-off pass, and so his shot was a bit off-balance.

2nd half

11 points (3/6 3pt) at the half
Good defense on Clarke, preventing him from getting to his spot on the dribble.
Good baseline drive, missed shot, but got Off Rebound and fouled on the ensuing put-back attempt.

Had post position on right side, double came, and made a great turn-around jumpshot from 8 feet out.
Made a great baseline cut, was passed the ball and had an easy lay-up.
Hamilton missed wide open 3pt shot.

Got ball at free-throw line, faced up, then spun to his left, double-clutched while in the air and banked in the 1ft shot. A very nice quick, strong move.

Came off another screen, missed quick 3pt shot from top of the key.

Cut baseline, got ball under the rim, and he was fouled when he got tripped up. Came out of game at 10 minute mark, might have banged his knee when he hit the ground after being tripped.
Back in at the 8 minute mark.

Moved beautifully with-out the ball. Cut right around his man directly under the rim, sealing his defender. Thompson made quick pass and Hamilton had an easy hoop.
Good pass from 3pt line to Johnson posting up. Johnson missed basket.

Airballed a 3pt shot. Everyone was standing around, and he took a very contested shot.

[Quick Notes]
Another very good game from Hamilton. He shot 50% from the field and collected 9 rebounds, which led the team again. He continues to show a great knack of getting into rebounding position.

He was 3/6 from the 3pt line in the 1st half, but then missed all 3 of his 3pt attempts in the 2nd half.

Other than those missed 3pt shots, he was very, very good on the offensive end. He posted up, moved very well with-out the ball, made some great passes, and basically put his entire offensive arsenal on display.

On the defensive end, he played solid defense. Don’t recall his man beating him, though he had a couple of lapses that didn’t result any points scored against his team.

Looking forward to how he plays against Baylor on Saturday at 1pm.

 

[bajaden]

I have the Baylor/Texas game highlighted as my game of the day. Not only do you get to see a couple of the top prospects, but also a huge interconference matchup. Right now I would put my money on Texas who I have in the final four along with Ohio St. I haven't decided on the other two just yet, but I certainly wouldn't rule out Duke, who just seems to find a way to win when it counts. I watched the Texas/Oklahoma game and I agree with your analysis. Right now, at this given moment, if your looking for a SF/SG that could step in play at the next level immediately, then I would bet on Jordan Hamilton.

His all around game is just more polished than any of the other prospects, especially if your projecting him as a SG, which I'am. He may not be quite as good a defender as Jeffery Taylor, but he's still a very good defender, and Taylor can't compete with him on the offensive side of the ball. He has a good handle and is a good passer. His rebounding speaks for itself.

Having said that, T. Jones and P. Jones and also Barnes may ultimately end up being better players down the road because of their upside being so high. At the same time, all three are somewhat of a gamble. Especially Perry Jones, who may have the biggest upside of them all. In fairness to P. Jones, he suffers from some of the same issues that Derrick Favors suffered from last year. Poor guard play, in the sense of the guards getting the ball inside. But here's my problem. Last year Udoh suffered from the same thing, and yet he still found a way to impact the game. I'll admit that he had Tweety Carter at the pt last year, and while I wouldn't call Carter a true pt, he was better than what they have this year.

This I know. P. Jones doesn't seem to like contact, and shy's away from it around the basket. Most of his blocks are weakside blocks for from the rear of the play and seldom from the front, man to man. Once in a great while he'll battle for a rebound, but mostly, his rebounding is a weak part of his game. For a 6'11" player with his freakish athleticism, he should be pulling down 9 to 10 boards a game. He simply doesn't put out the effort, and that worries me. There's no doubt he's one of the most talented players in the draft, if not the most talented. But he scares me.

 

[hrdboild]

The problem with a guy like Perry Jones is that he has the skillset of a wing player but the size of a post player. So in college he's the tallest guy on the team and he gets pushed into the PF/C role whether he's suited to it or not. He's not strong enough to bang in the post nor does he seem to like doing it. Back before the age rule he probably would have been drafted out of high school, sit on an NBA bench a couple years, and find his role as an NBA SF. He's way too good with the ball in his hands to try and turn him into a back to the basket player.

 

[Uncia03]

I have the Baylor/Texas game highlighted as my game of the day. Not only do you get to see a couple of the top prospects, but also a huge interconference matchup. Right now I would put my money on Texas who I have in the final four along with Ohio St. I haven't decided on the other two just yet, but I certainly wouldn't rule out Duke, who just seems to find a way to win when it counts. I watched the Texas/Oklahoma game and I agree with your analysis. Right now, at this given moment, if your looking for a SF/SG that could step in play at the next level immediately, then I would bet on Jordan Hamilton.

His all around game is just more polished than any of the other prospects, especially if your projecting him as a SG, which I'am. He may not be quite as good a defender as Jeffery Taylor, but he's still a very good defender, and Taylor can't compete with him on the offensive side of the ball. He has a good handle and is a good passer. His rebounding speaks for itself.

Having said that, T. Jones and P. Jones and also Barnes may ultimately end up being better players down the road because of their upside being so high. At the same time, all three are somewhat of a gamble. Especially Perry Jones, who may have the biggest upside of them all. In fairness to P. Jones, he suffers from some of the same issues that Derrick Favors suffered from last year. Poor guard play, in the sense of the guards getting the ball inside. But here's my problem. Last year Udoh suffered from the same thing, and yet he still found a way to impact the game. I'll admit that he had Tweety Carter at the pt last year, and while I wouldn't call Carter a true pt, he was better than what they have this year.

This I know. P. Jones doesn't seem to like contact, and shy's away from it around the basket. Most of his blocks are weakside blocks for from the rear of the play and seldom from the front, man to man. Once in a great while he'll battle for a rebound, but mostly, his rebounding is a weak part of his game. For a 6'11" player with his freakish athleticism, he should be pulling down 9 to 10 boards a game. He simply doesn't put out the effort, and that worries me. There's no doubt he's one of the most talented players in the draft, if not the most talented. But he scares me.

I agree with all of this.

I'd be very surprised if both Texas and Ohio St aren't in the final 4. Texas' defense is just incredibly good, mostly due to fantastic team defense and rotations. Thompson does a good job anchoring the middle, and all the guards really pressure the ball and don't get beat off the dribble often. And Texas can score every which way, their biggest issue is at the FT line (Tristan Thompson especially), so I would hate to see them lose early because of that.

For Ohio St., Sullinger is just a load on the low block, and that team has a lot of experience and seasoned players in Lighty, Buford, Deibler, ect.
So both teams should be in the Final Four.

As far as the comparison between Taylor and Hamilton goes, it's hard for me as they are such completely different players. Taylor's such a fantastic defender, and his lateral movement is phenominal, so at 6'7 he's able to easily defend pretty much any guard in the nation.
He's really athletic, he can drive to the basket, and he's gotten a lot better at hitting the open 3pt shot.

Hamilton on the other hand is the far, far superior offensive player. Hamilton can create off the dribble a little bit, but he's just fantastic moving with-out the ball and using screens to get good scoring looks. And he's going to hit the open shot if he has it.
His defense is good, but not elite like Taylor. Hamilton also has a real nose for getting rebounds, and is surprisingly the better rebounder of the two.
And of course my biggest issue with Hamilton is whether he'll be able to defensively be able to play the SG spot, especially against quicker SGs.
For instance I'd have no probably putting Taylor on Kevin Martin, Monte Ellis, Jason Terry, Dwayne Wade, ect. But at this point, I can't see Hamilton hanging with those types of players. The good news is that Hamilton has shown me a good post game, so hopefully he'd be able to take advantage the other way.

A lot of this depends on what we do with all of our money. If we get a veteran starting SF, then Taylor/Hamilton/Barnes jump to the top of my list.
If we get a veteran starting SG, then Williams/Jones' jump to the top of my list.

I'm guessing that Petrie sort of knows which direction he's leaning towards, and that's going to greatly impact who he goes after. In addition, if we brought in a Gerald Wallace at the SF, then Hamilton would be the much better fit. If we brought in a Danny Granger, the Taylor would be the much better fit.

Hopefully the smoke will clear soon enough to help make it easier to gauge what's going to happen.

Finally as far as Perry Jones goes, this last game was a disappointment. But you can't deny that if he gets stronger, and goes on the court with the attitude to dominate, that he could easily be the best player of this draft 5 years from now. I'll admit that he's really risky, but the rewards could be off the charts if he is able to put it all together.

 

[Uncia03]

The problem with a guy like Perry Jones is that he has the skillset of a wing player but the size of a post player. So in college he's the tallest guy on the team and he gets pushed into the PF/C role whether he's suited to it or not. He's not strong enough to bang in the post nor does he seem to like doing it. Back before the age rule he probably would have been drafted out of high school, sit on an NBA bench a couple years, and find his role as an NBA SF. He's way too good with the ball in his hands to try and turn him into a back to the basket player.

I agree completely, and that's what could ultimately make him a star player. He's never going to be a PF in the NBA. His game is completely tailored around being a dominating 6'10 SF. In the games this year where he's played really well, his game has been more of a SFs, and in the games where he plays poorly, such as this last one at Nebraska, he spent all of his time in the post. Baylor would be doing him a huge favor if they let him move around, use screens to get good positions. Watch Jordan Hamilton's game against Baylor today. If Baylor let Jones play the same game that Hamilton does, I think we'd see a lot better outings from Jones, but since he's so tall and long, that isn't going to happen while he's in college.

The problem I have with Terrence Jones is that his game is more like a PFs, and although he's freakishly strong and athletic, he'd be an undersized PF, so to truly dominate he's going to have to play at SF, and I'm not convinced he can do it, especially next year.
For Perry Jones, he's got the height and length of a PF, but his so quick and smooth, that he can easily play the SF's game, and he's demonstrated his ability to play the type of game that you'd expect to see from a SF.
So next year, I don't expect him to have style of play issues, since he should be at the SF spot, while Terrence I can see struggling as they try to decide how best to match his talents and his athleticism into a position which best helps him and the team.

My only issue with Perry Jones at this point, is the primary one that Bajaden has pointed it time and again. And it has to do with attitude, competitive spirit, ferocity. Terrence Jones has all of that, while Perry Jones does not.
So Perry Jones may not end up being a good player in the NBA because he hasn't shown that competitive spirit that you want from players to work hard both on the court and off the court.
I have no doubts in my mind that Terrence Jones will do everything in his power to become the best player he can be. I wish I could say the same thing about Perry Jones, but I can't at this time.

I just wish Perry Jones would make it easy for me, and have T. Jones' passion and intensity, but he doesn't yet, and so it makes it harder for me to decide who has the best shot at the next level.

 

[Uncia03]

Kentucky at Vanderbilt (02/12/2011)

Kentucky – Terrence Jones
38 minutes, 25 points (9/14 FG, 1 of 4 3pt, 6/8 FT), 9 Reb, 2 Assists, 2 Stl, 3 Blk, 1 TO, 1 PF

Got a strip-steal in the post on weak-side help.
Tried to bounce a pass to a cutting Knight down the baseline but Taylor got his hand on it, Kentucky did, however recover the ball.

Drove from left-wing to foul line, and pulled up for made shot.
Got Off Rebound, handed it off to Knight, who missed 3pt shot.
Made a nice pass to man on 3pt line once double came.
Great drive from 3pt line to his left for a lay-up high off the glass.
Nice entry pass to Harrellson in the post for easy basket.
Out at the 12 minute mark and back in at the 10 minute mark.
Good Off Rebound and put-back.
Great weak-side block.
Was doubled in post, made nice pass out to man at 3pt line for made 3pt basket.
Missed 3pt shot.
Got fouled and made both FTs on 1&1.
Took a tough jumpshot which was really contested, and missed it.
Good weak-side defense, went up to block the shot and forced opponent to alter shot which missed badly.

2nd half

8 points in 1st half (3/5)
Kept ball alive on the offensive end, Kentucky ends up with basket.
Good defensive rebound.
Nice drive, got shot up from 10 ft, made basket +1
Missed 3pt shot.

Very nice post move. Backed his man down, then went up for a 6ft hook.
Drove from left wing, made nice attempt, but shot rolled off rim.
Drove left from top of the key, force to his right, was able to go right and put up shot but missed.
Good pass from post to man at 3pt line for made 3.
Good Off Reb and Put-back.
Another good Off Reb and put-back + 1.
Great hands at mid-court line, pressuring the ball, forced ball loose for a steal.

Kentucky – Brandon Knight
38 minutes, 20 points (7/13 FG, 4/7 3pt, 2/2 FT), 0 Reb, 2 Assists, 1 Blk, 4 TOs

Missed 3pt shot.
Made a cross court pass in transition which was stolen by Taylor.
Made good contest on Jenkins, but Jenkins knocked down 3.
Made 3pt shot after an Off Reb and ensuing scramble.
Great scoop-shot from a 14 feet in the lane, as he drove left to right.
Used screen and got free and knocked down 3.
Strong drive in transition, was fouled, though I think it was probably an offensive foul.
Caused a turn-over with good pressure defense on the ball.

Gave up ball at top of the key, then dove down the lane, got ball back for easy lay-up.
Missed wide open 3pt shot at top of the key.

Forced a pass in the lane to Jones which resulted in a TO.
Had ball stolen at mid-court from some pressure, but able to recover really well and block the ensuing shot attempt.

2nd Half

12 points in 1st half
Misses 3pt shot.
Allowed Tinsley to get past him and get the lay-up + 1

Shot blocked by Taylor.
Very nice drive into the lane, then pass to Harrellson who had shot blocked.
Great drive to the hoop in the fast-break.
Walked for TO on fast-break drive to the hoop. Taylor got in front of him.
Great take into the lane, wrap-around pass which was deflected.
Good drive into the lane, missed tear-drop from baseline.
Hit 3pt shot off the dribble exchange.
Had what looked like an alley-oop to T. Jones, but it didn’t go well.
Recovered loose ball to get Kentucky another possession.
Hit huge 3 from left corner.
Used screen to get open and hit huge 3pt shot.

Vanderbilt – Jeffrey Taylor
21 minutes, 4 Points (1/7 FG, 0/2 3pt, 2/2 FT), 3 Reb, 3 Assists, 2 Stl, 1 Blk, 2 TO, 4 PF

Guarding Brandon Knight. Got his hand on a pass to Knight, when Knight cut baseline.

Missed 3pt shot from left wing.
Picked up a cheap foul 1.5 minutes into the game, called for foul while going for Offensive Rebound.

Now guarding Miller, let Miller get free using a couple of screens, and Miller took and missed 3pt shot.

Nice drive down the lane, shovel pass to Ezeli under the basket who missed the shot.
Stole a cross court pass by Knight.
Guarding B. Knight again.
Badly missed 3pt shot which was well contested. (My guess is that he’s going to be hesitant taking shots now, after missing his 1st two.)

Nice defense keeping Knight from penetrating.

Another great defense on Knight, keeping him from getting into the paint and turning the corner. Probably forced Knight into a shuffle travel, but it wasn’t called.

Good drive to his left, created a lot of space with the step-back, but missed the baseline jumper.
Out at the 12 minute mark. (0-3, played good defense on Knight.)
Back in at the 10 minute mark.
Nice drive from right-to-left into the lane, and was fouled going up. (Made both)

Good help-side defense to clog the lane and prevent dribble all the way to the hoop, but ball kicked out to his man who missed the jumper.

Drove into the lane again, and lost the ball, but he was fouled which caused the TO, but it wasn’t called.
Picked up 2nd foul in transition at the 8 minute mark. (Probably gone for the half. Only 2 points)

2nd half

2 points in 1st half
Guarding Lamb, who made a nice step-back shot for basket.
Good drive into the lane, got to rim but missed shot.
Another good drive into the lane, but missed the shot.

Nice block on Knight, when Knight tried a tear-drop from the lane.
Good drive to baseline then kicked out to man who missed open 3pt shot.
Picked up loose ball for Off Rebound. Took pull-up jumper from baseline, but missed.
Picked up 3rd foul at 14.5 minute mark. (out of game)
Back in at the 11.5 minute mark.
Good defense on Knight in transition.
Called for Off Foul while spinning in the lane. (9 minute mark, out of the game with 4 fouls)
Back in at the 3.5 minute mark.

Got hand on pass for steal, ran down the court on fast break and got ball back for nice spinning lay-up. (1st basket in the game)

Great drive into the lane ,found Ezeli under the basket with nice pass. Ezeli fouled.
Guarding Knight. Got caught on screen, and Knight knocks down 3pt shot.

[Quick Notes]
Terrence Jones had a fantastic game in this one. Shot the ball, rebounded well (4 Off Reb), played excellent defense (2 Steals, 3 blocks)

He even hit a huge 3pt shot down the stretch. He actually did a very, very good job facing up and driving into the lane, and he’s so strong he was able to get good finishes through-out the game.

He still did not display an outside shot, or any sort of pull-up or mid-range game. Those are the things he’s most likely going to need to be a successful SF at the next level.


Brandon Knight also had a good game. He shot it well, especially from 3pt range (4/7). Unfortunately he had a couple of TOs which hurt the team, and with Taylor on him for a good portion of the day, he wasn’t able to get much space to run the team as well as he’d of liked.

He made some great hustle plays as well as some great fast-break plays through-out, and though there were a few warts, had himself a good game in this one.


Jeffrey Taylor had a really rough day. The fact that he only played 21 minutes was the story, as foul troubles really hampered him from getting into any sort of offensive rhythm. He missed his first two shots, which were fairly wide-open 3pt attempts, and that hurt as well. He isn’t a gunner, and doesn’t have a gunner’s mentality, so if he misses a couple, he tends to get a bit passive, as he doesn’t want to hurt his team by missing shots.
With that said, he played very good defense. He did allow Knight to hit an important 3pt shot towards the end of the game as he got caught up on a screen, and he also let Knight get into the lane once and get off a scoop-shot which was made, but beyond those two plays, he was all over Knight while on the court and really hampered what Knight was able to do on the offensive end.
But all-in-all a very sub-par performance from Taylor, as he didn’t have the impact he normally does, mostly due to not being on the court as much as he’d want to be.

 

[Uncia03]

Ohio St at Wisconsin (02/12/2011)

Ohio St – Jared Sullinger
40 minutes, 19 points (7/12 FG, 1/1 3pt, 4/4 FT), 12 Reb, 0 Assist, 1 Stl, 1 Blk, 1 TO, 1 PF

Guarding #30 (Jon Leuer 6'10 228)
Got tied up when he put the ball on the floor and drove to basket. (Possession arrow in favor of Ohio St)
Beaten off the dribble by Leuer, who then used step-through to get and make open shot from baseline.
Finally got a touch in the post at the 13 minute mark. 10ft jump-hook from baseline which rolled in.
Good defensive Rebound.
Got ball on left block, gave it up, got better position, got ball back, and was fouled driving under the rim.
Got ball in post, but put it on the floor, and had it knocked away for TO.
Offensive Rebound on airballed shot, got easy put-back.
Got good position inpost, but shot was contested and hurried and he missed it badly.
Leuer hit 3pt shot as Sullinger’s close-out wasn’t quite fast enough.
Great post position, able to go up for slam dunk.
Spun into the lane from right to left, and had shot blocked on 10ft shot attempt.
Good defense on #52, who tried to back him up in the post, but couldn’t.

2nd half

#52 (Keaton Nankivil 6'8 240) hit face-up shot over Sullinger.
Stepped into passing lane on rebound scramble for a steal.
Great slip into the post. Got great position, received pass and made easy basket.
Another good post move, to get ball past defender and over the rim.
Dove from top of the key and got the alley-oop which he layed in.
Missed short jump-hook.One of the few which hasn’t gone down.
Another short shot popped in and out.
Strong move, backed down man on the baseline, but missed the shot as it rolled off.
Critical Off Reb, was fouled going up. Made both.
Another Critical Off Reb, hit fading 3pt shot from corner.

[Quick Notes]
Got off to a very slow start offensively, as his team wasn’t getting him any touches. He finally got his first shot 7 minutes into the game, and from that moment on, played a very strong, efficient game in the post.
However, in the last 10 minutes of the game, the dynamic changed, and he stopped getting a lot of looks in the post. He was still active on the glass and had some huge offensive rebounds and put-backs, but his team wasn’t living off a steady diet of feeding him inside.
Still an incredibly strong game by Sullinger.

 

[Uncia03]

Baylor at Texas (02/12/2011)

Texas – Jordan Hamilton
17 Points (7/14 FG, 1/5 3pt, 2/3 FT), 8 Reb, 0 Assists, 1 Blk, 3 TO

Missed 3pt shot
Used screen to get free and knocked down 3 from right wing.
Guarding Anthony Jones(6’10, 195).
Got Off Reb and made a great pass up court on FB.
Might have lost Anthony Jones in transition, and Jones was wide open for made 3pt shot.
Missed 3pt shot, was open and a good shot to take.

Great baseline drive, used hesitation to get to rim and easy basket.

Was unable to convert a bad alley-oop pass. Kept it in bounds and retained possession.

Caught ball 6 feet from basket on right baseline, little flip shot was made.
Caught ball at top of the key, drove it down the lane and made the shot.

Let Fred Ellis (6’6 215) get past him in the lane, and get the easy bucket.

Went right back and drove hard down the baseline and slammed it down + 1.
Flashed into the lane, got the ball and made beautiful pass to man under rim who missed the shot.

Out of the game at the 5 minute mark. (12 points so far)

Back in the game at the 2.5 minute mark.
Looks like he got a block on Ellis’ shot, but Ellis’ shot went in and a foul was called.

2nd Half

12 points in the 1st half (5/8 FG)
Missed 3pt shot, on hand-off at top of the key.
Allowed Anthony Jones get Off Reb and put back.
Drove baseline, left his feet and passed it for a TO.
Missed another 3pt shot at the top of the key

Strong drive baseline, pull-up jumpshot made from 8ft (1st points of the 2nd at the 13 minute mark)
Got Off Reb, drove into the lane and was fouled going up for the shot.
Bad Off Foul, bumping a Baylor man off the ball.

Drove baseline then made nice pass to Thompson who was in the lane and fouled going up.

Drove baseline again, while under the basket kicked out to teammate at top of the key. 3pt shot missed.

Missed a pull-up jumper, then a baseline turn-around after an offensive rebound.
Got Def rebound, took it up the court, stopped under the rim and put it in.
Good defense against Ellis and forced a tough shot which missed
Nice block on Love who went to the rim.


Baylor – Perry Jones III
13 Points (6/13 FG, 0/0 3pt, 1 of 2 FT), 6 Reb, 1 Assist, 1 Blk, 2 TO

Being guarded by #1 (Gary Johnson, 6’6 238)
Good post move, shot was blocked, but it looked like a goal-tend by Thompson that wasn’t called.

Now guarded by Tristan Thompson (6’8 225).
Faced up Thompson on baseline, went for jumpshot, but Thompson blocked it.
Had good post position, but overshot the rim on a 2ft hook.
Great entry pass to Acey, but Acey missed the shot.

Let Brown drive right past him and to the rim for easy basket.
Decided to try to go to work against Thompson, after a few dribbles, raised up and missed 17ft jump shot.

Perry Jones taken out of game at 13 minute mark after that jumpshot.
Perry Jones back in 1 minute later.

Jones let Thompson shoot a nice 12 ft shot over him.

Dribbled from 3pt line, made a very, very tough spinning turnaround from 12 feet.
Ball in and out on 18ft jumper.
Travel in the post under the rim.

Tried to dribble around double-team and lost the ball for TO.
Got good position, spun around defender and slammed it home.
Perry Jones out at the 2.5 minute mark.

2nd Half

4 points at end of 1st
Missed 6ft hook from right side over Thompson.
Great post move, to spin around Thompson for the slam.

Another aggressive post move, and used length to get shot over Thompson with hook from 6ft.

Ellis found Jones under the basket, and Jones slammed it home.
Good post defense, held his ground and forced a travel.
Missed 12ft pick-n-pop jump shot.

Out of game at 10 minute mark
Back in the game at the 6 minute mark.

Allowed Johnson to get Off Rebound
Got Off Reb and put-back + 1
Let Thompson go way up to get Off Reb

[Quick Notes]
Jordan Hamilton had a good game in this one. His 3pt shot wasn’t falling so he was smart and was more aggressive attacking the baseline off the dribble than I’ve seen from him in the past.

His main defensive assignment was Anthony Jones who is an easy cover as he just hangs around the perimeter which is a shame as he’s 6’10 and should be mixing it up a bit more. So he looked fine on the defensive end.

One thing I really liked about Hamilton was that down the stretch he was calling for the ball, and wanted to make plays with the shot, dribble, or pass to get his team a win.


Tristan Thompson did a good job on Perry Jones III, and over-all it was another down game for Jones. Jones shot well from the field (6/13), but he really didn’t leave his imprint on this game. Dunn was the Baylor player who really carried the team in this one. I sometimes wonder if Jones is more passive because he expects Dunn to be the dominant player, whatever the reason, Dunn looked great while Jones was underwhelming once again.

 

[Uncia03]

Syracuse at UCONN (2/02/2011)

Syracuse – Kemba Walker
38 Minutes, 8 Points (3/14, 1/6 3pt, 1 of 2 FT), 6 Reb, 5 Assist, 1 TO

Good pass into the high post to help break down zone.
Wasn’t aggressive on a fast-break opportunity.
Hit 3 from top of the key.
Another nice pass, found teammate open close under the basket.
Hit tough step-back from 18ft.
Airballed tough step-back with time running out from 24 feet.
Had lay-up blocked on fast-break attempt.
Not at all aggressive against the zone.
Missed 22 ft 3pt shot from a bit beyond top of the key.
Nice drive into the lane and then made a great pass to big man under basket for easy dunk.

Drove into the lane, had shot partially blocked.
Put ball on the floor and had ball tied up. (Didn’t lose possession due to having possession arrow)
Got space with a cross-over, and missed 3pt shot from top of the key.
Good job getting position and took charge on fast break.
Another nice drive on fast break into the lane and dish to teammate under the basket for easy basket.
Took contested 3pt shot which airballed on the last possession of the 1st half.

2nd half

5 points at half (2/9 shooting)
Miss wing 3pt shot.
Aggressive take down the lane, but missed lay-up. One of the few really aggressive plays he’s made, though he didn’t finish this time.

Got easy lay-up on fast-break opportunity. (5.5 minutes into 2nd half for first 2 points)
Strong baseline drive, was fouled. (Made 1 of 2)

Head fake at the 3pt line, took two steps in and missed the 16ft pull-up jumper.
Great cross-court pass to streaking Lamb on fast-break for easy bucket.
Was fouled on fast-break bucket, missed the shot, but the foul wasn’t called.
Dove into the lane, was a bit out of control and put up a bad shot which missed.
Had ball stolen in the waning seconds of the game.

[Quick Notes]
A pretty horrendous game from Walker in this one. Through-out the game he was very, very, very passive against Syracuse’ zone. He only attacked the zone off the drive a couple of times through-out, and he shot the ball horribly and wasn’t able to do much while shooting.

He did make some pretty nifty passes both on the drive and dish to big men under the basket, as well as on the fast break. But over-all, a poor performance.

Jeremy Lamb was by far the best player for UCONN in this one. He’s a decent player, but he’s wafer thin and will need to seriously add some weight to make an impact on the next level.

 

[bajaden]

Just a horrible game for Walker. He's really been in a funk for quite a while now. Especially with his shooting. His last game against Providence is his best performance in a while, but overall for the last 8 games he's shooting 33.9%. And thats his overall shooting percentage, not his 3 pt percentage.

Whats troublesome, is that his worse games are against the better teams. He went 6 for 18 against Villanova. 6 for 17 against Tennessee. 7 for 23 against Louisville. 3 for 14 against Syracuse, where he was completely baffled by their zone. And 4 for 16 against St. Johns, a very good defensive team.

He's picking a bad time to come back to earth. And he's not just coming back and landing, he's crashing. I have him all the way back down into the middle of the 1st round again. Frankly, he scares me. There's no doubt he's talented, but he's also undersized a bit, so he has to be better than some dude thats 6'3" or taller. If he were more of a pass first PG, then I'd cut him more slack. But he's a shoot first PG, and a volume shooter to boot. If your going to pump out 16 to 19 shots a game, you better damm well hit at least 46% of them overall. He's a good 13 percentage points below that for the last month and a half.

 

[Uncia03]

Vanderbilt at Georgia (02/17/2011)

Vanderbilt – Jeffrey Taylor
34 Minutes, 7 Points (2/18 FG, 1/4 3pt, 2/2 FT), 13 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 1 Stl, 1 TO

Vanderbilt comes out in a 2-3 zone on defense.
Takes a 3 from the top of the key on the 1st play of the game and misses.
Got deflection on ball, but Georgia player recovered.
Good take to the basket, spun into the lane, ball bounced twice then off the rim for the miss.
Got to the rim in transition, but missed shot.
Missed 18ft shot from left of the key coming off the curl with catch and shoot.
Strong drive into the lane, but shot off the glass didn’t go down.
Currently 0-5 in 5.5 minutes of action.
Missed another 3 from the top of the key (0-6)
Got fouled on Offensive Reb attempt.
Got offensive rebound, missed put-back (0-7)
Got a steal.
Missed another 18ft shot, a bit of a broken play, where he did end up taking the good open shot. (0-8)
Good entry pass to posting Ezeli.
Out of game at 8.5 minute mark.

Back in at the 5.5 minute mark. (Team was -2 while he was out.)
Great quick pass from 3pt line to Ezeli who had sealed off his man, Ezeli’s shot blocked.
Got offensive rebound, missed put-back (0-9)
Had the ball on last possession, ran down the clock, had the ball stripped in the lane, but ball out on Georgia.

2nd Half

0 points (0-9 shooting)

1st play of the 2nd half, used a screen and knocked down 15ft jumpshot.
Missed getting Ezeli the ball who had sealed off his defender.
Out of game at the 15 minute mark.

Back in game at the 12.5 minute mark (Team -2 while he was out)
Made 3pt catch-and-shoot shot from left-wing.
Now guarding Georgia's main scoring threat in Travis Leslie. (6'4 205)
Got a deflection for a steal.
Great defense on one of Georgia’s guards, kept in front then blocked the shot attempt.
Got offensive rebound, took it out. Later missed an 8ft shot.
Another offensive rebound and missed put-back at the rim.
Got big defensive rebound. Fouled on 1&1 (Made both for his 6th & 7th points)

[Quick Notes]

A very, very odd game today. Taylor was horrendous from the floor today, shooting a miserable 2/18 from the field.
He had 0 points on 0-9 shooting in the 1st half, and only hit 2 of 9 in the 2nd half.

Now the shots he was taking were good shots. He was attacking the rim, getting offensive rebounds and missing put-backs, taking jumpshots in rhythm, and taking good set 3pt attempts. But absolutely nothing was falling for him.

What was odd was that his teammate (Jenkins) who is the leading scorer in the SEC also had 0 points in the 1st half, as Vanderbilts two top scorers had no points while playing a ton of minutes in the first.

Now what Taylor did do well in this one was hustle and rebound. He ended up with 13 boards, 5 of which were offensive. He was only credited with 1 steal, but he got his hands on balls and did well on defense.
Vanderbilt played a 2-3 zone for most of the game, which diminishes Taylor's best attribute, but in the last 1/4 of the game, when things got tight, Vanderbilt moved to a man-to-man defense, and Taylor was tasked to guard Travis Leslie who is Georgia's best scoring guard, and Taylor did a very good job keeping Leslie from doing any damage.

So he had a huge impact in this game with things other than scoring, but he was horrendous tonight in the scoring department. He really needs to get better at finishing at the rim, as that was his primary issue in this one.

Also of interest, Jenkins who had 0 points in the 1st half, had a monster 2nd half. Didn't score his first points till 13 minutes left in the game, but ended up with 21 on the night. He came up absolutely huge in the last 13 of this one.

And finally Festus Ezeli of Vanderbilt had a phenominal game and was 3 blocks shy of a triple double. He controlled the paint and ended up with 7 blocks, which really helped Vanderbilt when the team was having problems scoring.

 

[bajaden]

Taylor is sliding down my list. I watched the game, and to be honest, he hasn't had a good scoring game where he shot the ball well in some time. There's no doubt he's a very good defender and rebounder at the college level. But if he can't score in college, I'm not expecting some miraclilous turn around in the NBA.

Jenkins is a scorer. Thats what he does. If I could combine the two players into just one player, we'd have something.

 

[kingsboi]

Walker sucks. He's going to be another NBA chucker, if he's out sure it will look nice but man he just doesn't look all that.

 

[hrdboild]

Walker sucks. He's going to be another NBA chucker, if he's out sure it will look nice but man he just doesn't look all that.

He had a heck of a game yesterday. Just when everyone was starting to write him off. He's a talented guy, for sure. He's probably not the best fit for us, but I see no reason why he can't be as good as guys like Flynn, Collison, or Holiday. Not an All-Star guard perhaps, but a solid starter.

 

[bajaden]

He had a heck of a game yesterday. Just when everyone was starting to write him off. He's a talented guy, for sure. He's probably not the best fit for us, but I see no reason why he can't be as good as guys like Flynn, Collison, or Holiday. Not an All-Star guard perhaps, but a solid starter.

Yeah, he finally had a very good game. Both in scoring the ball and with assists. I think he had 8 assists in the game. Personally I hadn't written him off, I just moved him a little futher down my draft board. I think he can be a better player than Flynn. My problem with Walker is he's just a little too trigger happy for me. Not saying that can't be corrected to some extent, but the NBA is full of players that never changed from that mindset. He'd have to go to team like the Spurs where a coach like Pops wouldn't tolerate his shoot first attitude. Were likely looking at a top 5 pick, and there's no way I would take Walker that high. Irving is the only PG I'd take in the top five..

To be honest, I'd have a hard time choosing between Walker and Fredette. There's no doubt that Walker is the better athlete by a long shot, but Fredette is such a terrific shooter, I'd really be torn between the two. I also think Fredette would be the better fit. Of course I'm talking about having another 1st round pick in the middle of the draft.

 

[Uncia03]

Ohio State at Minnesota (2/6/2011)
An older game. Going to try and get caught up on my 10+ taped college games over this weekend.


Ohio State – Jared Sullinger
35 Minutes, 18 points (8-20 fg, 0/0 3pt, 2-8 ft), 13 Reb, 2 Assiss, 2 Stl, 0 Blk, 2 TO

Got ball in post, kicked back out, then received ball again. One back-up dribble, then a made 10ft turn-around hook on first possession of the game.

Got ball on baseline, defense collapsed, and he missed his lay-up attempt through traffic.

Bit on an upfake and allowed his man to get past him.

Go ball on left block. Passed to open man on the double, the shot was missed.

Got ball on left block. Spin move base-line on the double, but found himself too much under the rim and missed shot which went out of bounds off of Sullinger. Iverson(6’10 258) was guarding him, and played good defense.

A fantastic offensive rebound, really extended his arms to get it. But called for Offensive Foul on putback.

Made a basket on the fast-break.
Good post defense on Ralph Sampson III (6’11 240) . Sampson lost ball out of bounds.
Got ball on left block. Pass was deflected for a Turn-over when the double came.
Got Offensive Rebound and put-back slam-dunk.
Got ball on right block,shot was blocked on lay-up attempt off the glass.
Got 1-2 offensive rebound tips in a lot of traffic that didn’t go down. Good hustle on the glass.
Got ball on right block. Was fouled putting up the shot.
Let Sampson get good position and easy lay-in.

2nd Half

8 points in 1st half.
Picked up 2nd foul on first play of 2nd half.
Got ball on right block. Backed down his man, but missed the lay-up off the glass.
Got ball on left block. Shot blocked on his shot attempt at the rim.

Another Offensive Rebound. Drop-step and strong shot at the rim for the bucket + 1. (missed FT)

Good pass and assist to Lauderdale who slipped to the basket when his man went to double Sullinger.
Got ball on right wing. Backed his man down, then turned and jumped and fired a pass to a cutter under the basket which was knocked out of bounds.

Fouled while trying to establish position in the post. Missed the 1&1
Got ball while under the basket. Fouled and missed the 1&1. (0-5 FT so far)
Got ball on left block. Passed to man in right corner who hit wide-open corner 3.
Missed lay-up, got offensive rebound, and was fouled.
Got ball under the rim as he cut to the hoop, put up the shot, made it + 1.
Cut to the hoop from the left baseline, spun into the lane and laid it in.
Missed a shot in the lane, got offensive rebound and missed put-back.

[Quick Notes]
Sullinger didn’t have that great of a 1st half. Had 8 points, but he wasn’t as involved as I’ve seen him in the past. Lighty and Buford really set the tempo for Ohio St, and Sullinger didn’t have to do much.

He had a decent game over-all, and what was most impressive for his game was the offensive rebounds. He ended the day with 8 offensive rebounds, and most of them were through heavy traffic. He also did a fairly good job passing out of the double team, or spinning away from the double-team.

Rodney Williams of Minnesota was someone I’ve sort of been watching, but he had a bad game, and hasn’t had a good season. I don’t expect him to declare this year due to his inconsistent play.

 

[Uncia03]

Florida State at Georgia Tech (2/10/2011)

Florida State – Chris Singleton
36 Minutes, 16 Points(5/6 FG, 1/1 3pt, 5/8 FT), 10 Reb, 1 Assist, 2 Steals, 1 Blk, 2 TO

NOTE: This is the last game I have of Singleton before he breaks his foot and finds himself out for the rest of the year.

Good entry pass to big man down low.
Hit wide-open 3pt shot from the left corner.
Got a steal when his opponent tried to dribble behind his back and Singleton got a hand on it.
Got ball in the lane, turned around and knocked down shot from 8ft.
Out of game at 13 minute mark.

Back in at the 10 minute mark. (Team +2 while he was out)
Got beat on a cross-over at the baseline and committed a foul.
Missed a tough fade-away turn-around jumpshot 15ft out from the right wing.
Ball was poked away on one of his passes, but he hustled and was able to help retain possession.
Caught a very difficult bounce-pass on the fast-break. Went up for a one-hand slam and was fouled.
Mis-played fast-break with tough to handle bounce pass. Ball was eventually turned over.

2nd half

6 points (2/3 fg) 3 reb in 1st half

Florida State held Georgia Tech to 18 points in the 1st half.

Hit an 19ft jump-shot with a hand in his face on first possession of the 2nd half.

Got called for a technical, when he swung his elbows and hit defender on the chin. Next play he blocks shot and jumps out of bounds to tap the ball to a teammate to control possession. Then runs down the court, gets the ball, then finds teammate open in the corner for a made 3.

Took ball all the way from half-court to the rim, was fouled going up for the shot. (made both)
Stole cross-court pass, had a defender in front of him as he took it all the way and finger-rolled it in.

Out at the 12.5 minute mark.
Back in at the 11.5 minute mark.

Got offensive rebound, but ball stripped as he went up to take the shot.
Faces his man, makes a 15ft jumper from the right wing.

[Quick Notes]
I believe this was the last nationally televised game for Florida State and Chris Singleton before he broke his foot.
He performed well in all aspects of the game. He shot the ball well, rebounded very well, and played good defense as is expected.

He’s a big guy at 6’9, 225 and he’s should be a very good SF defensive player coming into the NBA.

He should be able to guard some of the larger SGs, all the SFs, and the tweener SFs such as Jeff Green. He’s very physical, has quick and strong hands and good lateral movement.

He’s not really a post defender, so don’t confuse his size with his defensive position, as he’s going to be at his best as a lock-down perimeter wing defender.

He’s athletic, but not a natural scorer. But he’s worked on his shot, and shouldn’t be a liability on the floor if left open. I think his biggest problem in the NBA will be fouls, as he plays with physicality and has active hands, so I can see him getting called for a lot of cheapy fouls which will probably greatly limit his minutes in the early going till he can adjust to what he can and can’t do on the defensive end.

I think he’s out for the year, but you should expect to see him declare for this year’s draft and he should be somewhere in the 15-25 range.
I like him quite a bit, though there are other players in that same range I think would be better fits for the Kings should we happen to find ourselves with a pick in that area.

 

[Uncia03]

Arizona at California (2/8/2011)

Arizona – Derrick Williams
33 minutes, 12 points (5/8 FG, 1/1 3pt, 1-4 FT), 18 Reb, 1 Assist, 4 TO

This game ended up going into triple overtime and unfortunately Derrick Williams fouled out with about a minute left in regulation.

Because this was a replay and only 2 hour hours, they cut out a lot of the regulation play in order to air all the overtimes. So I didn’t get to see Williams all that much in action in this one.


Still has his right hand taped up due to the injured finger. (only 2 fingers bandaged instead of full hand)

Guarding #10 who is a very wide body (Markhuri Sanders-Frison 6’7 265)
Got ball on right baseline 15 ft out and made skip-pass to open 3pt shooter who missed.

Got Offensive rebound, dumped it to man under basket who then had the ball stripped.

Didn’t provide help defense and let guard penetrate into the lane and lay up the ball.

Gets ball 18ft out on the left wing. Squares up, his man backs off and so he hits the pull-up jumper.

Gets offensive rebound and 2-hand slams the put-back.
Fouls Sanders, when Sanders gets inside post position and goes to score the ball.

Recording skips 10 minutes from 14 minutes left in 1st half to 4 minutes left in 1st half. Doesn't do anything of note those final 4 minutes other than grab some boards.


2nd half

Game skips from end of the 1st half to only 7 minutes left in the game.

Great defensive rebound, took it away from 2 Cal players.
Got ball on the right baseline, missed 15ft jumpshot.
Got ball on the inbound pass and slammed it down. (9 points)

In transition, received ball on left wing, got his feet set and calmly knocked down 3pt shot. Huge shot to help get Arizona back into it with a minute or two left.

Started drive at the 3pt line, strong drive but called for offensive foul. Don’t think defender was set.

Had to intentionally foul a player at the end of the game and fouled out.

[Quick Notes]
Not much to say in this one. Williams was an absolutely monster on the boards with 18. He shot the ball well, and even though his shooting hand is taped up, his shot still looks good. I missed too much of regulation play to comment much more.

 

[Uncia03]

North Carolina at Duke (2/10/2011)

North Carolina – Harrison Barnes
30 minutes, 9 points (3/8 FG, 1/3 3pt, 2/3 FT), 6 Reb, 2 Assists, 2 Bks, 1 TO

Guarding and being guarded by Singler

Blocks Singlers jumpshot in the lane. On the other end, uses screen and one-step escape dribble to his left and knocks down 3pt shot.

Uses quick upfake at the right-wing 3pt line to freeze Singler, then drives past him to the rim and is fouled going up. (Made 1 of 2)

Out of the game at the 15 minute mark.
Back in at the 12 minute mark.

Good defense on Singler, forced him into a travel as he drove into the lane.
Swing pass to man in corner who knocked down the 3.

Got defensive rebound on FT attempt and went on a one-man fastbreak and finished at the rim + 1.
Forced another travel for a TO with his defense.

Took Singler off the dribble from the 3pt line, when defense rotated he kicked it to wide open man in the right corner who missed the unguarded 3.

2nd half

Had ball tipped on pass which ended up in turn-over.
Drew an offensive foul on good defensive help rotation.
Couldn’t control defensive rebound on a missed FT. Duke turns that into a made 3pt shot.
Great back-screen to allow Zeller to be wide open under the basket. Zeller got ball and easy basket.

Game recording goes from 15.5 minute mark to 12 minute mark. Barnes is not currently in the game.
Back in at the 10 minute mark.

Good defense against Singler as Singler drives to basket and misses tough shot.
Gets offensive rebound in a lot of traffic and able to get the ball up quickly for the basket.

Spent a lot of time dribbling it around, trying to make something happen. Finally got into the lane and put up a shot which he missed. Looked as if he’s getting a bit frustrated at his lack of touches and really wanted to get some points for his team. Singler has been face guarding him, and not allowing him to get touches on the offensive end.

Caught ball at the top of the key. One step escape dribble to his right, and missed 3pt shot.

[Quick Notes]
Had a decent first half with 7 points and was efficient early, but wasn’t able to get anything going in the 2nd half. Henson and Zeller were really cleaning the boards, but Barnes still ended up with 6 rebounds on the night.

Barnes was more active on the offensive end then he was earlier in the season, but in this game he just wasn’t getting any touches as Singler was playing to deny him the ball, and North Carolina was not trying to run their offense through Barnes, hence the lack of shots in this one.

Played very good defense against Singler who had 7 points in the 1st half, and didn’t have any FGs for the rest of the game. (Made 3 of 4 FTs in the last minute of the game as N. Carolina was intentionally fouling players.)

Singler who was 3/17 of the field had a horrible offensive night, and it was due to Barnes’ great defense through-out the game.

Player of the game in this one was Nolan Smith who had 34 points on 13/23 shooting.