MD Designs vs. Sales System
Jason Maxiell, Cincinnati
Despite only measuring out at 6-6, this was another great day for Jason Maxiell. He dominated the game once again, separated himself as clearly the best big man at the camp, and just did whatever he wanted whenever he wanted to, truly one of the nastiest players in college basketball. Or as the scouts like to call him "a *****" (no joke...that's a good thing, I swear). He has this scowl on his face the entire game, is constantly trying to rip off the rim every time he dunks, and there just isn’t a player here that can guard him. He was flying over players the`entire game, elevating and dunking with authority whenever he got the ball in the paint. His vertical leap is just shocking considering how bulky he is. Even when he is shooting (and nailing) the mid-range jumper he just gets up in the air and ends up throwing the ball downwards towards the basket because of how high up he is. No one could keep him out of the paint and he established position and caught the ball whenever he felt like it. He had 14 points in the 1st half, and 20 for the game to go along with 2 blocks and 4 rebounds. I think tomorrow is his final game and that’s a damn shame unless you are a big man (or another big man's agent) that's also participating at this camp.
Ivan McFarlin, Oklahoma State
The perfect sidekick for Maxiell, McFarlin seemed as if he hadn’t even missed a beat from leaving Eddie Sutton’s system at Oklahoma State. He was all over the glass on both ends of the court, scoring all of his points off garbage, but really helping his team with his energy and hustle. He must be one of the scrappiest, hardest working guys at this camp, and considering the talent level here, that’s saying an awful lot. He’s probably not big, athletic or skilled enough to get drafted (but who knows at this point), but he surely made himself some money tonight with the way he played in front of the European scouts. In a couple of years, after he works a bit on his offense outside of 5 feet, he might be a good guy for an NBA team to bring in if they want to make their team a little bit tougher.
Deng Gai, Fairfield
The loser from the terrific McFarlin-Maxiell MD Designs combo in the post was clearly Deng Gai. For the 2nd straight day Gai did a whole lot of nothing in his time on the court. He only got 19 minutes today (compared with Maxiell’s 31) but what he did with those 19 compared with Maxiell’s 31 left no doubt that the coach was making the right move considering the fact that the team needed to win in order to play another game. Gai basically got no looks (only two shots to go along with 4 rebounds and 2 blocks) and looked to pass every time he got the ball because of how raw he is offensively. He is still incredibly intriguing because of his size and 9 foot wingspan, but he did not help himself much today. He might be able to get himself an invite to Chicago (he appears to be borderline at this point) based on his potential, but he was already there last year and didn’t do a whole lot either. He’ll have to take matters into his own hands tomorrow to really make a solid case for himself.
Juan Mendez, Niagara
Mendez had another good game statistically, but not really in terms of convincing the scouts that he’ll be able to make the NBA as a 6-7 power forward. He drifted out to the perimeter again an awful lot, trying to show off his range, and nailed a couple of threes, but also missed badly on a few. It was the same thing that happened last game, he fell in love with the outside jump shot, got off to a very slow start, and then made a lot of damage in the 2nd half around the basket where he is clearly a lot more comfortable. Mendez and his team lost today and that’s it for them at Portsmouth. It's unclear whether he showed enough to garner another look at Chicago, it will probably boil down to just how crowded the field is.
Carlos Powell, South Carolina
Even though he’s going home, Powell might be the most intriguing prospect to be found on Sales System’s roster. He’s a 6-7 very athletic small forward, with a good body, a nice handle and a knack for getting to the basket. He was clearly having fun today, doing a little bit of everything, making some very athletic moves, and even though he had a couple of nice hook shots rim out for him, he looked like a pretty intriguing prospect that might get some more looks down the road if he continues to develop his perimeter game.
The Dajuan Wagner award
Every day we’ll hand out this award to the player that does his best Dajuan Wagner impersonation. This is dedicated to our favorite NBA ballhog, reserved strictly for 2 guards who are masquerading as 1’s while refusing to pass the ball to anyone else on their team. Today’s award goes out to Jerry Johnson from Ryder, who proved his worthiness by taking the air out of the ball on the perimeter dozens of times and dribbling around for 15-20 seconds at a time before jacking up an off-balance fadeaway jumpshot. His teammates were pleading for the ball, the crowd groaned everytime he touched it, but Johnson just kept jacking em up, even if they sometimes somehow went in. Congrats to Johnson. I’m sure his teammates at Ryder are devastated at him graduating, as are we about his team being sent home.
Will Conroy, Washington
Conroy put himself firmly on the NBA draft radar today with the way he has played and carried himself so far. He was a very borderline prospect coming in here, but made a great case for himself as a solid backup PG to bring off the bench and to have in practice because of his smarts, character, energy, leadership and work ethic. He did a great job getting everyone involved today, mixing his scoring with a good amount of passing, pushing the tempo when needed, getting in the lane, playing solid D, doing a little bit of everything and showing a solid attitude throughout. He’s exactly the type of PG you want to have running a team here at Portsmouth. The field of PG’s will be pretty crowded at Chicago most likely, but he made a solid case for himself today. He might not get drafted necessarily, but he’s got a better chance now at making someone’s team which is all he should care about.
Beach Barton Ford vs. Portsmouth Sports Club
T.J Sorrentine, Vermont
I was a bit surprised to see Sorrentine’s name on the list of players when the rosters came out, because from the little I had seen of him he did not seem like an NBA prospect at all. He definitely changed my mind about that today, especially when you compare him with a lot of other guys at his position that I thought much more highly of and didn’t show squat today. Sorrentine is a very unorthodox PG, he plays the game in a way that’s very unique to him, with the way he shoots, the way he pushes the ball, gets in the lane, and the decisions he makes. Today it was all coming together for him, though. He was always upping the tempo of the game, being extremely unselfish and doing a fantastic job of moving the ball around and getting everyone involved. Sorrentine also knocked down a bunch of three pointers to solidify himself as one of the best shooters at this camp. The European scouts around me were especially intrigued, especially when one of them mentioned that he should be able to get an Italian passport because of his family’s heritage. He definitely helped himself today, even though he lost.
Quemont Greer, Depaul
Greer may have ended up with a nice statline, but nothing he did today impressed me as far as the NBA draft is concerned. He showed off a very weak handle, very average athletic ability, and he forced things horribly when he was on the perimeter. Maybe I am being too harsh on him considering that he scored 19 points, but I just wasn’t impressed by anything he did and still consider him a major tweener.
Chuck Hayes, Kentucky
A pretty solid game from the Kentucky's tweener big man. He showed a very nice handle while slashing to the basket a couple of times, a part of his game that I wasn't really sure about before. He was very aggressive as always, and made some terrific passes to his teammates to end the first half on his way to a triple double with 5 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. He was always somehow around the ball and affecting the game, playing very good defense on the biggest player on the floor, a 6-11 big guy that struggled with Hayes' strength and relentlessness. As usual he did all the little things for his team, in his usual intelligent way, but at the end of the day he's still a 6-6 SF/PF at best. Will it be enough to get him a look at the next level?
Jackie Manuel, North Carolina
The star of the game, and probably of the entire day and maybe tournament so far. Manuel showed off things that we never ever got to see out of him at UNC with the role he was playing. I thought he was a pretty athletic kid before today, but I had no idea just HOW incredibly athletic he is. Manuel was flying all over the place today, getting up to block shots (4) emphatically, finish alleyoop passes (from Sorrentine), bounce back off the floor from his own personal trampoline for offensive rebounds, pinning shots on the backboard after he already trailed by a good 10 feet, finishing the break with a powerful tomahawk jam, etc etc. He was easily the most athletic player we’ve seen so far, but he also played some outstanding defense, hit a 3 (maybe with a toe on the line but I didn’t think so), put the ball on the floor and finished, there was simply nothing that he didn’t show. I had to restrain myself numerous times from standing up and going nuts after he made yet another incredible play, reminding myself that I am sitting in the press box and we’re not supposed to do that unfortunately. The fact that he managed to play the way he did just 3 days off winning a national championship makes this even more impressive I thought. Manuel put himself firmly on the NBA draft radar with the skills he showed today, leapfrogging a couple of 2 guards who didn’t show up at Portsmouth and maybe even doing enough to garner an invite to Chicago if he plays well enough in his next game.
