Quick Champions Classic Draft Notes
Sample size is still really small for the freshmen, so I didn't want to make any major judgments off of one game. Here are some of my thoughts though:
Game 1: Duke vs. Kansas
Honestly, none of the freshmen in this game really impressed me all that much. Vernon Carey looked to be a solid big but while his jump shots were going in, he shot a pretty dead ball and his free throws looked ugly. I was also disappointed by Matthew Hurt's jump shots, as he had almost no spin on his ball and had some questionable shot selection at times. He had some nice makes, but also some really ugly misses. Cassius Stanley had a couple nice wide open dunks, a nice drive and hit a three but doesn't seem to have much skill to support his athleticism and had 4 turnovers to 1 assists. Wendell Moore had some ugly plays and was 1-6 from the field with 0 assists and 4 turnovers. Duke has some talented freshmen who defended pretty well for the most part but offensively they have to get a lot better if they are going to be a title contender. Especially in terms of shot selection.
Overall, this was a tough game for big men, as the spacing for both teams was pretty atrocious. Each team pretty much had one good ball handler (Tre Jones and Devon Dotson) and they also each lacked shooting. This combined with the rust of an early season game led to a really sloppy game, so it might have been hard to judge some of these guys in a game with so little room to make plays. This was also a reason why Dotson struggled at times. He had so little room to operate and no help handling the ball (although he also made his share of ugly turnovers).
One guy who really impressed me for Kansas was Ochai Agbaji, who was one of my players to look out for this year (listed in last year's big board). His shot looks much improved and he has the rare combination of fantastic athleticism and defensive instincts. He also has gotten much more fluid offensively as he grows into that athleticism.
Game 2: Kentucky vs. Michigan St
Both teams were shaking off rust in this game, which again lead to a lot of sloppy play.
Tyrese Maxey seems like the real deal. Maxey had 26 points off the bench, including a dagger three pointer that basically put the game away for Kentucky. His shooting form and scoring touch reminds me a little bit of Coby White except his quickness and explosion is much better than White (close to a De'Aaron Fox level). Obviously this is only a one game sample size, and Maxey has a lot more to prove (i.e. can he score on longer and more athletic defenders, can he facilitate at all?). Nonetheless, it was a great start for a potential top 5 or 10 pick in the 2020 draft.
The rest of Kentucky's guys didn't provide much to make me all that excited, Ashton Hagans played great defense but needs to be more consistent offensively. EJ Montgomery and Kahlil Whitney didn't really get much of a chance to showcase their skills due to limited opportunity. Nick Richards looked very active defensively but also fouled out in 25 minutes.
For Michigan State, Cassius Winston showed why he's a potential NCAA player of the year candidate, and a pretty complete point guard on the offensive end. I still need to see more consistency from Aaron Henry but he has great NBA 3 and D potential as well as the ability to attack closeouts and finish at the rim. Look for Xavier Tillman to get more chances in future games and move up his draft stock.
In other news, Markus Howard started off the year with a fantastic game (38 points on 7-10 from three) in his new off ball role. Howard is one of the best scorers in NCAA history, so look for him to continue to dominate and improve his draft stock. I think he absolutely merits mid first round consideration, so I hope a team is willing to take a chance on him at the very least in the early 2nd.
Game 1: Duke vs. Kansas
Honestly, none of the freshmen in this game really impressed me all that much. Vernon Carey looked to be a solid big but while his jump shots were going in, he shot a pretty dead ball and his free throws looked ugly. I was also disappointed by Matthew Hurt's jump shots, as he had almost no spin on his ball and had some questionable shot selection at times. He had some nice makes, but also some really ugly misses. Cassius Stanley had a couple nice wide open dunks, a nice drive and hit a three but doesn't seem to have much skill to support his athleticism and had 4 turnovers to 1 assists. Wendell Moore had some ugly plays and was 1-6 from the field with 0 assists and 4 turnovers. Duke has some talented freshmen who defended pretty well for the most part but offensively they have to get a lot better if they are going to be a title contender. Especially in terms of shot selection.
Overall, this was a tough game for big men, as the spacing for both teams was pretty atrocious. Each team pretty much had one good ball handler (Tre Jones and Devon Dotson) and they also each lacked shooting. This combined with the rust of an early season game led to a really sloppy game, so it might have been hard to judge some of these guys in a game with so little room to make plays. This was also a reason why Dotson struggled at times. He had so little room to operate and no help handling the ball (although he also made his share of ugly turnovers).
One guy who really impressed me for Kansas was Ochai Agbaji, who was one of my players to look out for this year (listed in last year's big board). His shot looks much improved and he has the rare combination of fantastic athleticism and defensive instincts. He also has gotten much more fluid offensively as he grows into that athleticism.
Game 2: Kentucky vs. Michigan St
Both teams were shaking off rust in this game, which again lead to a lot of sloppy play.
Tyrese Maxey seems like the real deal. Maxey had 26 points off the bench, including a dagger three pointer that basically put the game away for Kentucky. His shooting form and scoring touch reminds me a little bit of Coby White except his quickness and explosion is much better than White (close to a De'Aaron Fox level). Obviously this is only a one game sample size, and Maxey has a lot more to prove (i.e. can he score on longer and more athletic defenders, can he facilitate at all?). Nonetheless, it was a great start for a potential top 5 or 10 pick in the 2020 draft.
The rest of Kentucky's guys didn't provide much to make me all that excited, Ashton Hagans played great defense but needs to be more consistent offensively. EJ Montgomery and Kahlil Whitney didn't really get much of a chance to showcase their skills due to limited opportunity. Nick Richards looked very active defensively but also fouled out in 25 minutes.
For Michigan State, Cassius Winston showed why he's a potential NCAA player of the year candidate, and a pretty complete point guard on the offensive end. I still need to see more consistency from Aaron Henry but he has great NBA 3 and D potential as well as the ability to attack closeouts and finish at the rim. Look for Xavier Tillman to get more chances in future games and move up his draft stock.
In other news, Markus Howard started off the year with a fantastic game (38 points on 7-10 from three) in his new off ball role. Howard is one of the best scorers in NCAA history, so look for him to continue to dominate and improve his draft stock. I think he absolutely merits mid first round consideration, so I hope a team is willing to take a chance on him at the very least in the early 2nd.
Comments
Post a Comment