dfavors03

By Nick Prevenas

Wall or Favors?

That was the question everyone was asking heading into Day 3 of Las Vegas’ AAU
hoops gathering. Who is the top player in the class of 2009?

John Wall is leading D-One Sports
through the Reebok Summer Championships, while Favors headlines the Atlanta Celtics
in the adidas Super 64, so we won’t see them battle it out the old fashioned way.
In addition, Xavier Henry
another player with a legitimate claim as the top rising senior — isn’t here
at all.

Instead, we have to compare levels of dominance.

Wall entered the Reebok event as a man possessed, staking an early claim to the
pole position. But Wall struggled a bit on Thursday, while Favors made his statement.

Meanwhile, Day 3 featured a stronger overall slate of games than Wednesday’s sub-par
offerings. Some prospects (like Anthony Wroten) excelled, others (like Tristan
Thompson) held steady, and a select few (like Lance Stephenson) fell flat on their
faces.

Derrick Favors

In Wednesday’s loss to the Pump and Run All-Stars, Favors
exhibited flashes of brilliance (as his eight blocked shots will show), but he
never truly dominated the contest on the offensive end. He was steady, but not
jaw-dropping.

Thursday
was a different story.

Favors took advantage of the Texas squad’s short front line and racked up 27 points,
15 rebounds, three blocks and countless shot alterations. The 6-foot-9 forward
out of South Atlanta High School hit 9-15 shot attempts and provided an interior
defensive presence that kept the D1 Ambassadors from venturing into the lane.

Favors also cleared space for Noel Johnson and Trae Golden — two of Atlanta’s
better prospects — to contribute to the Atlanta Celtics’ 99-80 first-round win.
It was an impressive performance that cemented Favors’ status among his class’
elite.

Is Favors a perfect prospect? Not yet. He needs to tighten up his handle (Texas
players ripped his dribble twice) and develop more of a mean streak. Texas didn’t
have the big bodies to bang with Favors inside, so he basically did as he pleased.
Against more physical players, Favors has a tendency to get out-muscled. In addition,
if Favors is forced to guard a quicker forward on the perimeter, his lateral quickness
suffers a bit.

Favors drew an embarrassing technical foul (throwing the ball behind his head
and catching the corner of the backboard) that came out of frustration and fatigue,
as the Texas squad had closed to within three midway through the second half.
Those moments will hopefully vanish as he matures.

Favors’ physical gifts, however, are unmistakable. Early in the game, he caught
a length-of-the-floor outlet pass that was thrown three feet behind him, came
down with it, and took it strong off the glass in one motion. You can’t teach
that kind of fluidity. He is also a fundamentally sound defender, displaying strong
help-and-retreat instincts along with his natural shot-altering skills. He possesses
a nice shooting touch, even burying a couple of turnaround 15-footers. As his
ball-handling skills improve, he can take advantage of a surprisingly quick first
step.

Is Favors the second coming? Well, he’s not nearly as tenacious as Michael Beasley
or as athletic as former Atlanta Celtic Josh Smith — two players to whom he is
frequently compared — but he is darn good. Look for Favors — currently neck-and-neck
with John Wall atop the NBADraft.net class of 2009 rankings — to emerge as a
strong college hoops star and a potential lottery pick if/when he declares for
the NBA draft.

Tristan Thompson

Could the lanky Canadian southpaw equal his impressive Tuesday showing in today’s
game against Arizona Pump and Run?

Well, yes and no. Mostly yes.

The 6-foot-8 Thompson tallied 16 points (6-8 shooting) and 13 boards in a blowout
first-round win at the adidas Super 64 tourney. He added three steals and three
blocked shots.

A rising junior out of St. Benedict’s Prep in New Jersey, he displayed the same
smooth game and open-court speed that opened our eyes yesterday. The game seems
to come easy for him, and we expect him to improve significantly by the time he
wraps up his prep career.

On the downside, Thompson struggled to assert himself when Arizona Pump and Run
shifted into a 2-3 zone. With defenders collapsing on the post, Thompson couldn’t
isolate himself on the block and utilize his patented “back down, fake right,
shoot a short lefty jumper” move.

He picked up most of his points in the flow of the game off put-back dunks. Point
guard Junior Cadougan remains the focal point of this team’s offense.

In addition, his birthday (March 13, 1991) makes him slightly older than some
of the other top-flight 2010 prospects. This isn’t a big negative, but it does
mean he’s further in his physical development than a handful of his counterparts.

But there is no denying that Thompson is one of this event’s most explosive and
intriguing front-court prospects. We don’t have him ranked in our top-five yet,
but don’t expect that to last long.

By Borko Popic

Tony Wroten

The
auxiliary gym became a major attraction all of sudden when the talented Seattle
Rotary team took the court. They have two very promising players in senior Peyton
Siva, a heady playmaker who has nice range and a very steady game, and junior
Joshua Smith, a 6’10 big man who has great strength and moves extremely well for
a player his size.

However, the best of the bunch is the rising sophomore Tony Wroten, a smooth 6’5
lefty capable of playing either backcourt position. His handles are very smooth
and he is a terrific passer, seeing plays ahead of time and delivering pinpoint
passes. Even though he has all these PG skills, he is too talented of a scorer
to be restricted as a playmaker.

He may not have a lightning-quick first step, but he is very shifty/crafty and
he knows how to get the defender off balance before slithering into the lane.
He changes direction and angles extremely well, allowing him to split defenses;
once he gets to the hoop he has impressive athleticism and good length, allowing
him to finish in a variety of ways.

For a player born in 1993, he is extremely mature, shows great composure and,
most importantly, plays hard on both ends of the floor, all the time. His defensive
intensity was a breath of fresh air in a tournament that has been heavily lacking
it.

Not surprisingly, he is a bit skinny, but his frame has the potential to grow
and develop nicely. His jumpshot is a bit inconsistent — he has good balance
and gets nice elevation — but he tends to pull back on his release quickly leaving
his shots short. All in all, these are things that are easily corrected, and there
is no doubt that he is a player that will be the center of attention for many
years to come.

Lance Stephenson

There was much buzz surrounding Lance "Born Ready" Stephenson’s talent
and skill set. Unfortunately, what we saw today was…mildly put…disappointing.
Seeing him for the first time, he immediately looks very awkward and his body
is not that of a basketball player. He is somewhat bowlegged and tends to move
around on his toes too much, making him look as if he is strutting rather than
running.

He has a very well-defined body and some nice length, but his quickness and explosiveness
are marginal. Both he and his team were badly outplayed by a squad that put on
an offensive clinic, running backdoors and getting shooters open coming of numerous
screens.

Stephenson forced the issue early on, putting up shots and trying to attack the
basket even when numerous defenders ran at him. His handles are decent, but when
it takes 8-10 dribbles to get anywhere, it defeats the purpose of putting the
ball on the deck in the first place. His shooting stroke is nice, but he rushes
it almost every time and he likes to fade on shots that don’t require it.

He got into foul trouble in the second half, and that is when his team actually
made a push and got the game close. Once he returned, he killed all the rhythm
his team had going. Surprisingly, his motor and intensity level was highly suspect,
not running back on defense, and even taking possessions of on offense as his
teammates were fighting to score. One has to wonder if he has bought into all
the hype and stopped working hard at his game.

There was no official boxscore available for the game, but Stephenson did not
score more than six points. His team lost, meaning they’re out of the tournament.
Based on what we saw today, Stephenson struggled to look like a high-major college
player, much less a player worthy of getting drafted.


By Aran Smith

John Wall

Despite
a bit of an off day, Wall continues to be one of, if not the most impressive prospect
in Las Vegas. Today, playing against an inferior Triple Double Elite West squad,
Wall played down to the level of his competition to a degree.

After averaging 26.3 in his first three games, Wall scored just 12, while committing at least 7 turnovers. He got ripped at mid-court on one occasion and forced a few passes. But when his game was on, it was sensational.

He made one jaw-dropping play off a baseline in bound in which he skied way over the rim for the ally-oop flush. He also made a number of breathtaking drive-and-dishes where he knifed through the defense showing his unreal speed, threading the needle to teammates for easy baskets.

Without question, Wall is a premiere talent with size, speed and legitimate point-guard skills, but today the holes to his game were evident.

He needs to concentrate on protecting the basketball and improving his shooting range, but considering that he led D-One past the Breakdown duo of Kenny Boynton and Brandon Knight on Wednesday, his off game should be taken with a grain of salt.

Ryan Kelly

While he lacks great fluidity running the floor, 6’10 senior bigman Kelly has a very nice offensive skill set around the basket. He’s got nice footwork and uses drop steps and hooks effectively.

Kelly made a couple surprising runners from the top of the key to the basket s well as finishing an ally oop dunk from Wall.

Kelly should make an excellent college center but will need to either grow some or grow into his body better as he currently has more of a center’s game in the body of a power forward.

Facebooktwitterredditmail

2 Comments

  1. senior
    24 years old or younger. travesti Bryr. porno izle Whereas most of the players on the Dream Team were at the end of their careers or just entering their physical primes, no one on the Dream Team has tapped the lezbiyen surface of their potential seks except for Bryant and Kidd, sikiş who are Hall-of-Famers already. I apologize for all . porno lezbiyenler temizlik firması halı yıkama sex izle maynet Come on… er..not to mention branda kiralık daire redeem team would be travesti but I condone what he’s doing to temizlik Sohbet odaları kurye in college kurye years of porno izle or lowered once again back down to the orginal sohbet limit of 18 and no college experiance. It’s not the GM’s, or the Coach’s fault for chat sex porno izle Bryant aside, the sohbet most important players sikiş branda porno izle sohbet pornolar sıcak videolar sıcak video sıcak video sıcak videolar ateşli videolar ateşli video porno video porno videolar porno videoları porno videolar porno video sex videoları sex videolar erotik videolar erotik video kızlık bozma sex filmi sex filmleri sex film porno filmi porno film porno filmleri grup sex grup sex seks filmi seks filmleri seks izle sikiş sikiş izle chat sohbet odaları Film izle Dizi izle Online Film porno izle sex izle 89 porno team would be playing agaisnt the dream team ..redeem team by ten Cook Because of Jennings and all of the one-and-done players kurye in college basketball a new limit will be enstore for all of us to complain about. Within the next ten years I believe the limit

  2. NBA
    Teammates Malik Hairston and Maarty Luenen unexpectedly heard their names called but Taylor didn’t.
    Chat Sohbet Muhabbet Egitim Egitim eJJe Egitim ATATURK Ruya Tabirleri
    Siirler Hikayeler Fikralar Programlar Guzel Sozler Resimler freetemplates Taylor was arguably Oregon’s best player last season, but his 6-foot-4 frame makes him a undersized at the next level. Nonetheless, his scoring ability, length and athleticism give him a chance to make in in the league.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.