Priest

I think the system that he is in doesnt fit his style at all unlike gordon and rose. hackett and mayo just stand by the 3 point line basically and try to feed the post. I have been impressed with hius defensive effort so far but I'm waiting on him to just take over a game and show why people were raving about him. A lot of the freshman have done that so far but IMO mayo hasnt

Like A Breath

I thought NBAdraft.net was really harsh on him by dropping him all the way down to #9, but I can see why. He is a Deron Williams-level athlete with a shooting guard's mentality; he is simply too short and not quick enough to dominate the way he was supposed to.

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HKF

I don't know, I think Deron Williams is a better athlete than him. Williams has given NBA big men facials. Mayo doesn't look quick on this level at all.

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Geaux Tigers

Im not really impressed.

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Like A Breath

I should have added "Chubby Illinois Era" to my Deron Williams comparison. Chris Douglas Roberts will probably be a bad defender on the next level and he's shutting Mayo down just with his length. Mayo will either have to become a maestro point guard or go do some plyometrics if he wants to be an All-Star some day.

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TM

, GT

you know why he's going to be good - because he can do it on both ends. he didn't do very well offensively tonight, but he just proved tonight that he can lockdown a big time scorer. my opinion of him has gone up after tonight.

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Priest

umm CDR barely guarded mayo. I dont think anyone locked him down He just missed his shots. He got pass players but I do agree he doesnt look quick or anything like that and this is something i thought before when taking his game to the next level


Also I think it might have something to do with usc style of play. They arent a fast break team and they slow it down a lot. If someone told me mayo was a selfish player and i finally got to see him play in college i would be wondering what they are smoking

To mayos credit he has been playing excellent d especially on players that are faster then him. He'll be good on the next level as long as he plays the point

Like A Breath

There were a few minutes where CDR was guarding Mayo and all he had to do was spread his arms out to keep Mayo from driving on him. I use CDR because CDR is the average size of a player that will guard Mayo in the NBA and Mayo didn't exploit what should have been a big mismatch. I think Mayo is an obviously skilled and talented player, but he is a tweener right now and it will hold him back unless he becomes a better point guard. For a player whose athleticism was compared to Kobe and Dwyane Wade, seeing him struggle to break down average defenders is a big disappointment.

Obviously I was misinformed on his athleticism. Now, he's going to have to impress with passing and ball handling. He played some point guard at times, so I'd like to see him thread a few needles and show his instincts with some pick-and-roll action.

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Priest

I here you and agree somewhat. I never thought he was as athletic as kobe or wade. If you want to get technical about it kobe and wade have a reach of 6''10 while mayos reach is 6''6 and thats a big difference that i think people dont realize.

Also usc plays a slow down type of offense that is very tight nite and relies people coming off of screens. Ask yourself how many players from usc did you see going one on one and blowing past people

You are correct mayo is a tweener but I would play him at pg. He can post up smaller guards and he can get past gaurds his size. Mayo doesnt try to use his quickness but he uses hesitation moves to get you off your feet and he has a great bball iq to get the job done.

Mayo isnt playing how he played in high school. He isnt going one on one or is he being selfish. One thing that really suprised me is his D. He guarded rose the whole game and locked him down and stayed in front of him which is impressive considering the player rose is

Jenness

I watched one of his televised high school games and came away really impressed. I know it's just high school but he had every skill in the book and his basketball IQ looked incredibly high. I thought he looked legit. But he hasn't been all that good at college thus far.

To begin with, he's not nearly big enough. He looks about 6'2 and even if he's 6'3 or so, he still doesn't have the long arms to play above his height. But the really disappointing thing for me, as a fan of his, as someone who expected to come away impressed, is that he's not really all that quick. He never blows by his man and he never gets all the way to the basket in half-court sets. He's a good leaper as he shows in his dunks but he lacks a top-notch gear. If he doesn't have the size, then he at least needs the quickness and he just doesn't have it.

I thought he was a top-3 selection for sure in the next draft. Now I can see him really dropping.