Photo Source: ESPN
After first declaring the talented UCLA freshman ineligible to play in college, the NCAA reviewed an appeal by the university and has now cleared Shabazz Muhammad to play at the collegiate level. The L.A. Times is reporting that there are conditions, including payback of $1,600 worth of impermissible benefits as well as several games he will have to sit out before he can join the team on the floor.
NC State continues their solid recruiting run over the past two years with their latest commitment, BeeJay Anya (C, 6’8″, 2013), who selected the Pack on Friday as the early signing period continues to roll along with more commits. Anya is a solid post player with physical presence, and he will add rebounding and strength in the frontcourt.
Photo Source: BleacherReport.com
Kennedy Meeks, one of the top centers in the nation, chose to play his college basketball at North Carolina, announced last night on ESPNU’s Signing Day special. Meeks a solid rebounder with the best hands for a big man in high school right now. Meeks chose the Tar Heels over Georgetown.
This week hosts Chad Cook and Will Avery catch up with legendary Oak Hill head coach Steve Smith.
Image courtesy Rant Sports
By James Blackburn
Game Scouted: Wake Forest vs. Radford
Wake Wins 79-67
Box Score
Travis McKie (F, 6’7”, JR)
Stats
29 min, 4-8 FG, 0-3 3pt., 3-4 FT, 9 reb, 3 PF, 2 assist, 3 TO, 11 TP
Strengths
Travis struggled over all from the offensive end this game, but did showcase a few things particularly in the second half that will potentially translate to the professional level. He attacked and went to the rim aggressively the first few times he touched the ball and showed what we already knew, that he could get to the rim in straight line dribble drives. What he did better then last season was the ability to drive in a straight line and kick to the open shooter in the strong side corner, something he did not often do last season because his head was down and he could not see open teammates.
Although he struggled to find his shot tonight, to McKie’s credit, he did a decent job passing the ball to teammates, better then the 2 assist in the box score shows. He had several nice post entry passes and lob passes up court in transition for easy scores for his teammates.
Used his size/strength/athleticism to pace the Deacs in the rebounding category with 9 rebounds tonight. One he secures the rebound, he is not at risk of losing it or having it taken away as he secures it strongly with 2 hands and had several rebounds where he practically ripped the ball off the back board. Rebounding is one of and has been McKie’s greatest strength since arriving at Wake Forest.
Looked comfortable in the mid post with his back to the basket- getting his first two scores in this area 15’ and in. He used his size/strength to his advantage and was able to get a couple of easy scores this way by slashing from this area and facing up and hitting the mid range. Though he did struggle by any consistency shooting from the outside this game, he is a good FT shooter, shooting 3-4 tonight and is a 70% + shooter from the stripe for his career.
Weaknesses
Honestly this was not a good showing from McKie, despite what the numbers tell you from the box score. Defensively he really struggled in all facets against a smaller, yet younger and more energetic Radford team. He showed a poor overall effort and principals on the defensive end early on by getting hung up on screens and not fighting or making strong effort to get around screens (especially ones off the ball), jogging back on defense, and showed poor closeout principals on the perimeter (Not closing out under control).Didn’t box out at all this game and allowed his man who was shorter and less athletic to get a several offensive rebounds and run free un-touched to the rim-(Was the first man to be substituted for shortly after- leaving the game after just 5 minutes on the floor). Nearly every board he collected this game was the result of him being by himself and on the defensive end- not because of him boxing out or working extremely hard- also worth noting was he didn’t collect a single offensive board. Didn’t show good technique defending on the perimeter most of the game- stood too tall and didn’t show the capability to slide his feet and stop dribble penetration. Defensive stance is poor- doesn’t move feet well laterally, hands are down by side too much- needs to use wing span to defend- jumps out of control at shooters instead of contesting w/ a high hand and staying on the ground (fouled a 3-point shooter with 13 min. left in 2nd half by jumping to block his shot). Lost track of his man several times in transition.
On the offensive end, McKie struggles didn’t solely rest on missing shots, but in other areas as well. He did not cut hard when he was off the ball to get open- Radford defended him easily off the ball. Ran off an off the ball screen half-heartedly on the second possession of the game- acted like he didn’t want the ball. Looked frustrated most of game on the offensive end of the floor. Didn’t head hunt on screens when running sets. He looks like he is rushing his shot- shooting is in-consistent, especially from 3. His release is low and he pushes the ball to a degree. His mechanics aren’t great, but they are not bad either.
Overview
Playing in opening regular season game against a very young Radford that that went 6-26 last season. Travis looked cool, collected, and in chill mode going through warm-ups just before the start of the game. As previously stated he struggled offensively this game and didn’t find the scoring column until 15:30 min. left in the second half.
McKie is attempting to transition from an undersized PF to the SF once again, which is something that NBA scouts are monitoring. His ball handling and shooting is inconsistent and he struggled this game to defend on the perimeter. He plays much better when he embraces the undersized PF role and when he works hard and does the dirty work inside. In my opinion he would be a good D-League option if he decided to leave after this season where he could be a rebounder and athletic F. He would be better served to stay another year and continue to work his perimeter play and show scouts that he can play the SF at the next level. I actually believe that if he could contribute at the pro level (D-League/NBA) if he played the undersized PF position and worked extremely hard in the trenches grabbing rebounds and scoring in the paint, something he showed the last two years at Wake Forest.
One thing worth noting as well is the fact that even though in my opinion, McKie had a poor performace, he still shot 50% from the field, grabbed 9 rebounds, and had a couple of assist in a win. Granted it was against a below average team, but it was the first game of the season. It was his best night or best performance but he grabbed some big rebounds at the end and scored all 11 of his points in the second half to help put a scrappy Radford team away. My point is even on a rough night for McKie he was 1 rebound shy of a double-double. I have seen him put up way bigger numbers against ACC competition in the past. The key is and will continue to see monitor his progression and how much he is improving, if at all.
The Carolina Phenoms AAU 8th Grade Boys team will have tryouts on November 17, 2012 from 4:30-6:30pm at South Rowan High School.
The Phenoms program is a solid program put together by good coaches who are focused on helping their players improve, and are some of the ‘good guys’ in the world of AAU, so please check them out.
Isaiah Hicks, a UNC commit, shows some of the poise, athleticism and agility that makes him such a solid get for the Tar Heels.
At Basketball Elite, we always strive to be accurate over time. In a sports media landscape where it doesn’t matter what someone thought last week or five years ago but right this second (preferably on Twitter), there’s very little accountability for predictions or assessments.
Well we’re about to tackle that and make it a little harder for pundits and prognosticators to toss out their predictions and then change them later without ramifications.
We’ve scouted players for their NBA or pro prospects for some time, and this year will be no different, but this season our scouts will be specifically tracking the top predicted NBA draft prospects and several related mock drafts.
Here’s where it starts.
As of today (November 7, 2012), DraftXpress has their #1 projected pick as Shabazz Muhammad, a freshman SG at UCLA. Meanwhile, NBADraft.net has their #1 pick as Cody Zeller a 6’11” PF/C playing for Indiana.
Now, who is the #1 pick, or the #2, #3 or #4 pick is kind of dependent on the upcoming season, the outcome of the draft lottery, and so on. So saying there are two different #1 projected picks isn’t really that odd.
In fact there’s only one player difference between the two sites’ top 5, where DraftXpress has international player Rudy Gobert going at #4 and NBADraft.net has North Texas big man Tony Mitchell going at #5.
So here’s what we’ll be doing. Our scouts will be watching all of the players in these mock drafts (and we may add a couple of others as well), and assessing how accurate their rankings might be as the season progresses. In addition, we will be tracking changes to the draft rankings and especially note when those changes are reflected across multiple sites. We also will be reviewing the mock drafts after the NBA draft of 2013 to determine who was the closest, who was the most accurate earliest, and so forth.
And of course, at Basketball Elite, we do something unique to scouting services; we assess the players after they are in the NBA, or after their playing career is over regardless of where they play, to see how accurate we were. In this case, we will be tracking everyone else’s predictions as well.
Oh, and by the way, ESPN’s mock draft has another #1 pick, Nerlens Noel of Kentucky. So who’s got the early correct prediction?
A First Look at the Deacons 7-Man Recruiting Class
By James Blackburn
Score: Wake wins 73-66
Box Score
*Denotes Starter
Game Notes – 1st Half
• Game started 2-0 in favor of Rollins because of a Technical foul issued to Freshman Madison Jones before game started
• Wake Started off settling for Jump shots and found themselves in a 9-0 hole early before Tyler Cavanaugh drove to the rim for a lay-up and scored.
• Wake is allowing Rollins to score easy baskets and are comfortable in their offense early on.
• The Deacons are being too passive early- no one being willing to shoot and then having to settle at end of shot clock.
• Wakes bigs do a decent job boxing out- but need to attack rebounds instead of standing and looking at it.
• Wake is going to really struggle against pressure this season.
• Rollins is switching all screens in the first half.
• Wake closes the half with a 28-25 lead mainly because of them attacking the basket and getting Rollins into foul trouble and getting out into transition, resulting in easy baskets.
Game Notes- 2nd Half
• Wake is getting out in transition and is getting easy baskets.
• Wake has extended its lead to double figures by pressuring the ball and turning the game into a more up-tempo.
• One area of major concern for Wake is rebounding-Rollins got too many offensive boards.
• Wake is finally starting to hit some shots and some 3’s.
The three Freshmen I was most impressed with tonight were Codi-Miller McIntyre, Madison Jones, and Aaron Rountree– great kids not only on the court but off the court as well. Here are scouting reports on all seven of the freshmen.
Scouting Reports/Notes
*Codi Miller-McIntyre (G, 6’3”, Hargrave Military Academy)
22 min, 5-7 FG, 1-2 3pt, 1-4 FT, 1 rb, 1 assist, 3 TO, 4 PF, 12 TP
Started game playing the PG w/ CJ Harris playing off the ball. Had a nice fake hand-off pass and drive for a 2-hand dunk in the half-court that awakened himself and the team. Does a great job of getting the ball up court quickly with the pass. Showed the ability to split the P/R trap and get to rim. Good athlete and ball handler. Was the most impressive looking freshmen for the second 10 minutes of the first- half and beyond. Really gets into his guy defensively. Great mix of size/strength/athleticism with the ability to score by attacking the rim or shooting the pull-up. Very poised as a freshmen- doesn’t ever look rattled- is under control at all times.
Madison Jones (G, 6’1”, Ravenscroft School)
26 min, 2-3 FG, 1-1 3pt, 2 rb, 5 assist, 1 TO, 7 steals, 5 TP
Came in and is playing the PG position replacing McIntyre- Size for quickness switch at PG. Quick crossover dribble move- has the ability to create for himself or teammates when the play falls apart. Can get to the rim, but size is an issue- gets bumped off his lines too easily. Quick hands, plays the passing lanes- will be one of Wakes leaders in the steals department this season. Pressured his man and played excellent on-ball defense in the second half. Playing the PG position better then expected early on- doing a solid job of passing/getting ball to post. Doing a great job of breaking down the defender, getting to the rim, and kicking to the open man. Smooth. Had a few highlight passes leading to easy baskets for teammates. Has a tendency to dribble instead of passing up court immediately, but to his credit he did have a few up court passes- sees the floor pretty well. He is a freshman and that is something he could away with in HS, taking that 1 extra dribble, but not in college, especially the ACC. Quick first step. Even though he didn’t shoot much from the perimeter- he has a nice stroke from 3. One word to describe Jones game…Quick. Most impressive freshmen in the second half- His play was probably the central reason that Wake squeaked out the win. Reminds me of Ish Smith when he was at Wake- better shooter then Ish and he has his quickness/same size issues.
Devin Thomas (F, 6’9”, Central Dauphin HS)
22 TP, 5-8 FG, 6 rb, 1 st, 1 blk, 10 TP
Must get stronger (Something that could, and probably will be said, about all the freshman, except for Miller-McIntyre). Good hands. His post-ups are not strong enough- doesn’t get great position and doesn’t demand the ball. Displayed a nice drop step/spin move that he utilized several times to score over his left shoulder. Actually didn’t look that uncomfortable defending a little on the perimeter- more nimble/mobile then I thought. Solid overall performance inside for the freshman.
Andre Washington (C, 7’0”, Hargrave Military Academy)
5 min, 1-1 FG, 1 rb, 1 TO, 2 TP
Didn’t see any action until 10 minutes to go in the first half. Attacked the offensive glass and tried to block everything inside. Raw offensively. Was invincible most of his time on the court.
Aaron Rountree (F, 6’8”, Greenfield School)
11 min, 1-2 FG, 1-1 3pt, 2 rb, 2 blk, 1 st, 3 TP
Didn’t get in the game until the second half, but didn’t miss a beat, impacting the game immediately upon entering with his motor/energy. He showed the ability to hit the open set 3 and defend multiple positions with his length. Has possibly the most upside out of all of Wakes freshmen. Didn’t even play in the first but finished the game on the floor in a tight contest- speaks to how he impacts the game in areas that don’t show up in the box score. Needs to continue to get stronger, tighten his handle, and defend with out fouling- but he has a never-ending motor and a high ceiling.
*Tyler Cavanaugh (F, 6’9”, Jamesville-Dewitt HS)
19 min, 3-9 FG, 0-2 3pt, 3 rb, 2 TO, 6 TP
Most impressive looking freshman 10 minutes in. Demands the ball in the post, showed the ability to score by putting the ball on the floor, and can hit the 3 with feet set, good pick/pop guy. Looks comfortable and confident which is more then I can say about a few other freshmen so far. Needs to improve his ability to finish inside, doesn’t take his time and missed some easy looks. More comfortable playing on the perimeter.
*Arnaud William Adala Moto (F, 6’6”, Episcopal HS)
19 min, 1-2 FG, 1-2 FT, 7 rb, 3 TO, 2 blk, 3 TP
Got caught out of position defensively/beat to spot early on- freshman mistakes. Also allows opposing bigs to way too deep post position. Good defensive pressure on perimeter. Very limited offensively. Must improve ball handling. Hard worker who stays active- athletic. Lead the Deacs in rebounds tonight and will be counted on heavily in this department throughout the year as Wake is not big inside and struggle rebounding the basketball.
Today’s the day for the D-League draft and one player who hopes to hear his name called is former UNC Asheville player Matt Dickey, a guard who has a legitimate shot at getting drafted. We caught up with Matt at one of the D-League tryouts and he gave his thoughts on the league and potentially playing overseas.
