Chris Paul elite camp – Basketball Elite

Chris Paul Elite Camp – Day 3

By Marcus Shockley

Chris Paul and Seth Curry aren’t happy with the call, even in a pickup game

The Chris Paul camp is not a showcase, it’s a hard core workout. Players who show up ready to learn from one of the best players in the NBA leave exhausted and hopefully more educated than when they arrive. For some of the college guys, it’s business as usual in some respects, with the exception that once players get to their collegiate teams they rarely have chances to play in a camp against their peers from other schools.

For a lot of the high school guys, it’s a short education in big time competition, especially for players making their first real tour of the national circuit, or for players who recently became nationally known. NBA scouts on hand, pro ballers and college athletes can be intimidating when it’s your first time around.

The scouts are pretty much there to see the college guys. Did last year’s CP3 camp set the stage for Kemba Walker’s rise into the draft spotlight? Possibly. He had to put in the work, but the event is a great way to gauge where a player is at in his skill level and development.

This year’s big college names include Harrison Barnes, Kendall Marshall, Seth Curry and Kenny Boynton. But a player who showed he has big time game and hasn’t been heavily talked about so far is Bradford Burgess, a 6’6″ rising senior at VCU. Burgess is strong and has the body and explosiveness to play against anyone, and he showed it this weekend.

The last day of camp was missing three of the bigger names, including Barnes and Marshall, as well as high schooler Rodney Purvis. Day 3 was a mix of drills and pick up ball, with a chance to get a look at some of the players in a few minutes of full court action.

Tyler Lewis and Codi Miller-McIntyre work to cut off the passing lanes

We’ll have more interviews from the event available soon.

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Chris Paul Elite Guard Camp 2011

By Marcus Shockley & James Blackburn

Chris Paul takes on Kendall Marshall as Jarrett Jack looks on.

One of our favorite camps of the year is Chris Paul’s elite guard camp, which brings in some of the best college guards as well as a couple dozen elite high school players. This year, Chris has brought in fellow pros Eric Bledsoe, Jarrett Jack and L.D. Williams to help the college players bolster their games. We’ll have more reports after the event and especially after scrimmage games; the first night is entirely drills, and it’s one of the few times you can see college players in a camp setting like this.

Some early notes:

College Players

Harrison Barnes – Actually looks a step quicker than last season, better with the ball. Could be from playing in the ACC all year, but he is active, talking to other players, working the drills. Had huge putback dunk in 5-on-5 drills. Great attitude, cannot emphasize that enough.

Kendall Marshall – Improved jump shot

Kenny Boynton – Very Quick

Jordan Taylor – Solid, smart- great defender- high release- shot has little hitch. Went through drills very hard. Has a strong upper body. Great defense in 1 on 1 drill. Had a great defensive trip against Chris Paul, forcing Chris into a tough fade way 3 that hit the side of the backboard. Explosive and can get to rim and go to middle- loves little right hand hook/floater- Shawn Marion type shot. Future pro

High School Players

Rodney Purvis Looks Ahead to Shawn Lester.

Rodney Purvis (PG, 6’4″, 2012) – Bigger and stronger than last season, now looks like NBA sized guard. Did not get to see him too much but he was matched up against Tyler Lewis in most drills. Purvis now looks like he’s got the strength for the college game. Still looks like his jumper needs consistency, but the first step and explosiveness is there. Fastest HS player baseline to baseline with out ball.

Marcus Bryan (PF, 6’7″, 2013). Has grown a couple of inches but still has an impressive fluidity to his game, great handle and quickness. He has good strength and his height makes him a match up problem for the guards at the camp.

Bronson Koenig (PG, 6’2″, 2013) . Poised and calm, worked to get into a rhythm during one-on-one drills. Has a solid mid range pull up jumper and deft, smooth moves to get to the basket. Needs to get stronger.

Codi Miller-McIntyre (PG, 6’2″, 2012) – Wake Forest commit. Very solid, strong with the ball, heads up dribbler who knows how to run the offense. Makes moves with determination and looks like he understands the flow of the offense very well.

L.J. Rose (PG/SG, 6’3″, 2012) – Handles the ball extremely well, eyes up dribbler. Has good strength. Looks like he could play the 1 or the 2, but need to see him play the point during scrimmages. Fades on his shot some, may have been tired after drills. Messed up one drill and went back and did it over again. Cool demeanor. Solid jump shot, started making them towards the end of the 1 on 1 drills, after struggling with it early. Good defense- contests most shots with hand in face. Has a bad habit of drop dribbling.

Gary Harris (SG/PG, 6’4″, 2012) One of, if not the top HS player that we saw tonight. Did it all. Won the 1 on 1 drill for the HS players. Very strong- can finish with contact. Man amongst boys. Can get to rim and finish. Solid defense. Needs to work on jump shot and consistency- low release. More of a slasher than shooter.

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Chris Paul Camp Notes: Kendall Marshall

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.