By Marcus Shockley

Although my focus at the CP3 guard camp was primarily to see the high school players, it’s hard not to pay attention when players like Harrison Barnes, Kyle Singler and Brandon Triche are also participating. In general, the college guys are bigger, stronger and work harder in all of the drills. This is to be expected after a year in the crucible of the college game.

As such, two things should be noted:

1) Kendall Marshall and Harrison Barnes were working out with the college players even though they technically haven’t played in college yet; however, both players has the look and work ethic of college players.

2) This is a skills camp, not a game. The players are working to improve, not show off their skills. It’s not open to the public, and it shouldn’t be. But that also means that players should be allowed to work on areas they need to improve on without being completely assessed based on that workout.

Watching Kendall Marshall play live again was a little different than what I’ve seen before in that I watched some drills, some one on one, and specifically, a couple of times going against Chris Paul.

I have heard a knock on Marshall as not being quick enough or having an ability to finish. I came to the conclusion after seeing him practice with USA basketball in the Northeast that because of his height and his ‘stand-up’ style of play, it’s deceptive. He moves his feet well on defense and is definitely an ‘eyes up’ dribbler. He absolutely has an ability to change speed with the ball that get him looks, is very fluid and is a excellent pass-first guard, however every time I’ve seen him, he can score. I think he needs more strength, because he sometimes has to rely on a fadeaway shot when his change in speed doesn’t get him an open shot at the rim.

In going one-on-one against Chris Paul, he moved his feet and cut Paul off, preventing Paul from scoring. Although the exchange was brief, I think the idea that he is slow is still a misconception. If he can defend effectively against possibly the best PG in the NBA, then he’s a serious player.

He’s a poised point guard with a ton of skills, great size and understands the game from a point guard’s perspective. He’s not a shooting guard or SF trying to move to PG, he’s definitely a 1 guard all of the way.

The camp did not give much outside shooting during the two workout sessions I attended, so I did not get much chance to review his shot.