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I went to my first pickup game of the summer today. I thought to post this on one of the other threads, but I figured it would get overlooked, so I'm creating a new one.
Here we go:
In attendance:
Carl Hall
Ron Baker
Evan Wessel
Ede...
Toure Murry
David Kyles
Malcolm Armstead
Josh Walker
Ben Smith
Demetric Williams
Jake White
Randall Vautravers
Someone I think was Teleke Cotton (I've never seen a picture of him.)
Then there were 3 recruits. One of which came only minutes before I left, so I didn't see him play. He was about 6'8" and African. He hugged Ede when he came by the bench and smiled asking where Ehimen was. Ede told him that EO was back in Nigeria. I know know this kid's name is Henry. Like most Africans I've met, he seemed very kind and smiled a lot.
The other 2 recruits (or at least kids that I didn't know) were both about 6'6" probably SFs.
They both played a little nervous at first, guarding one another. Both of them airballed their first shots I believe.
They played alright, one of them looked very familiar, the other didn't look so familiar. The unfamiliar one was Jordan Fouse from Wisconsin, seemed a little less athletic/quick, but he scored quite a bit over the 3 games I saw him play in. started hitting his threes. Slow release with very little spin.
The teams were
(starting off)
Carl
Ben
Jordan Fouse
DWill
Malcolm
against
Ron
Jake
Toure
DK
Gavin Thurman
Ron was the man :). I really like the way this kid plays. He started off with a Nowitzkiesque one foot step back 15 footer. Nothing but net. That was aobut 7 seconds into everyone playing. Throughout the games he played smart and quick. And he looked like he knew he belonged. He didn't take many shots, but I think he made every single one he took. lots of drives and quick passes to others that were cutting (toure) it was sweet.
Toure played looser. That looseness made him more agressive and faster. On breaks, instead of holding his left hand out like he really needed to make sure no one was going to steal it, instead of doing that, he ran FAST zipping down the court. He made alot of fancy passes, many connected, some created easy baskets, some were turnovers. He didn't seem to make too many of his own shots. He took 0 jumpshots that I can remember. He drove the lane and looked like he was probably getting hacked a lot. but he made many nice passes.
DK played pretty well. had a few dunks. blocked one of bens shots. made 2-4 3s I believe. I don't remember watching him too much.
Jake White had the 2nd or 3rd basket of the game. Ron feed him the ball on a semi fast break and he pulled up from charging the basket from baseline in order to not meet carl face to face, pulled up his dribble real fast and banked in a 12 footer with confidence. After that he made a few blunders or just missed shots around the rim he should have made. He was a little frustrated. He missed his first 3 of the evening, but later on made the next 2. He was a good rebounder for the most part, Ben was eating the glass though and grabbing boards that jake should have gotten.
Ben, as I was saying was dominating the glass. It was impressive. Getting mostly offensive boards and lots of put backs. Some putbacks he'd miss, only to out jump everyone again to slap it back in off the glass. The two PGs on his team found him quite often in transition, he scored alot the first game, probably the most on his team. was only 1-3 or 1-4 from 3 that I saw. making the first one.
Demetric, playing like he owned the place. Trying to direct everything. he was lights out from 3, a few from a few feet beyond. 5-7 I believe. It was cool. he passed it well in transition, giving one oop to ben. I don't remember him driving the lane much..(save for transition)
Malcolm, was pretty crafty, he did a good job of using screens and fakes to get to the basket. He's a lefty. Didn't make any 3s. 0-4 I think. He wasn't too happy about that either. doesn't have the best form. Strong hands though, he put his vice onto the ball when toure drove the lane, Malcolm tore that ball out of his hands (it went out of bounds though). he was solid though. He knows how to play and did a great job of passing on the break. Some pretty impressive bounce passes.
Carl hall, missed his first attempt.. pretty much a dunk. haha. I noticed that he doesn't jump particularly high. On that attempt and another attempt that was sucessful, he wasn't getting too far over the rim. I was surprised. He moves his feet well to get position for rebounds, but, like I said, Ben was getting most of the them. (on the same team) He didn't do too much though. didn't seem too aggressive. They would feed him the ball and almost half of the time he would pass it back out without dribbling or really even making an attempt to create offense.
the Malcolm/Demetric/Ben/Carl team won the first game.
They then took on Josh Walker, Randall, Evan Wessel, Ede, and whom I presume to be Teleke.
This team was way over matched and at first it seemed like it was going to be a slaughter...but then Ede happened :good:
Josh actually scored a few buckets, BUT they called travel on him alot. And he wasn't too thrilled about that at all...
Randall badly missed some 3s but made a few as well probably 2-6 from 3.
Evan displayed some talent. But it seemed like he was taking only difficult shots. I started getting the feeling that he would make up his mind before he got the ball as to whether he was going to pass it or try to score.
Alot of shots he attempted he would be fading to the side or fading back. A couple times he would catch the ball and immediately take a jumpshot, quick and confident, but i think he would have had enough time to gather himself for a half second. I don't remember him making too many shots. But Ron and him have some similarities to their game. both have nice quickness. and ron took a couple of tough shots, but his fell. I think Evan practices those shots alot so i'm sure they fall more often than they did tonight.
Teleke was soild. Has broad shoulders. And relatively huge calves. He played under control. I only remember him taking one jumpshot. had a ridiculous arch to it. (he may have been closely guarded) he didn't look to score very often, but he choose his times wisely, making probably 75% of his shots.
Then there was:
EDE :D
Ede... so awesome! Took that team on his shoulders. quick 6'5" with excellent handles. driving and stoping quickly then bursting forward again. His shot was sweet, making tons of 3s and releasing quickly. He was dominating the unfamiliar recruit that was guarding him, then Ben guarded him, making it a little more difficult to drive in, but he still made shots and created space to make them while Ben guarded him. It was sweet. near the end of that game, it was clear to everyone that Ede was going to shoot, they'd set double screens for him and he would curl then catch and shoot, it was sweet. He was also wearing the bright orange shoes from his picture that we've seen on in the recruiting forum. I can't say enough good things about Ede, he was freakin sweet! :good:
Overall, the shooting percentages were pretty high. As time went on and as they grew more exhausted more shots were missed.
Something that might be important to note, is that they had been weightlifting for an hour and a half before these games started. They were already a little tired and sore from that. From my own experience of playing ball after lifting, this can really have an effect. Obviously they're all much more qualified athletes than I, but it might still be worth noting.
It was fun. I'll probably see many more over the summer.
Edit: to add recruits names.
Here we go:
In attendance:
Carl Hall
Ron Baker
Evan Wessel
Ede...
Toure Murry
David Kyles
Malcolm Armstead
Josh Walker
Ben Smith
Demetric Williams
Jake White
Randall Vautravers
Someone I think was Teleke Cotton (I've never seen a picture of him.)
Then there were 3 recruits. One of which came only minutes before I left, so I didn't see him play. He was about 6'8" and African. He hugged Ede when he came by the bench and smiled asking where Ehimen was. Ede told him that EO was back in Nigeria. I know know this kid's name is Henry. Like most Africans I've met, he seemed very kind and smiled a lot.
The other 2 recruits (or at least kids that I didn't know) were both about 6'6" probably SFs.
They both played a little nervous at first, guarding one another. Both of them airballed their first shots I believe.
They played alright, one of them looked very familiar, the other didn't look so familiar. The unfamiliar one was Jordan Fouse from Wisconsin, seemed a little less athletic/quick, but he scored quite a bit over the 3 games I saw him play in. started hitting his threes. Slow release with very little spin.
The teams were
(starting off)
Carl
Ben
Jordan Fouse
DWill
Malcolm
against
Ron
Jake
Toure
DK
Gavin Thurman
Ron was the man :). I really like the way this kid plays. He started off with a Nowitzkiesque one foot step back 15 footer. Nothing but net. That was aobut 7 seconds into everyone playing. Throughout the games he played smart and quick. And he looked like he knew he belonged. He didn't take many shots, but I think he made every single one he took. lots of drives and quick passes to others that were cutting (toure) it was sweet.
Toure played looser. That looseness made him more agressive and faster. On breaks, instead of holding his left hand out like he really needed to make sure no one was going to steal it, instead of doing that, he ran FAST zipping down the court. He made alot of fancy passes, many connected, some created easy baskets, some were turnovers. He didn't seem to make too many of his own shots. He took 0 jumpshots that I can remember. He drove the lane and looked like he was probably getting hacked a lot. but he made many nice passes.
DK played pretty well. had a few dunks. blocked one of bens shots. made 2-4 3s I believe. I don't remember watching him too much.
Jake White had the 2nd or 3rd basket of the game. Ron feed him the ball on a semi fast break and he pulled up from charging the basket from baseline in order to not meet carl face to face, pulled up his dribble real fast and banked in a 12 footer with confidence. After that he made a few blunders or just missed shots around the rim he should have made. He was a little frustrated. He missed his first 3 of the evening, but later on made the next 2. He was a good rebounder for the most part, Ben was eating the glass though and grabbing boards that jake should have gotten.
Ben, as I was saying was dominating the glass. It was impressive. Getting mostly offensive boards and lots of put backs. Some putbacks he'd miss, only to out jump everyone again to slap it back in off the glass. The two PGs on his team found him quite often in transition, he scored alot the first game, probably the most on his team. was only 1-3 or 1-4 from 3 that I saw. making the first one.
Demetric, playing like he owned the place. Trying to direct everything. he was lights out from 3, a few from a few feet beyond. 5-7 I believe. It was cool. he passed it well in transition, giving one oop to ben. I don't remember him driving the lane much..(save for transition)
Malcolm, was pretty crafty, he did a good job of using screens and fakes to get to the basket. He's a lefty. Didn't make any 3s. 0-4 I think. He wasn't too happy about that either. doesn't have the best form. Strong hands though, he put his vice onto the ball when toure drove the lane, Malcolm tore that ball out of his hands (it went out of bounds though). he was solid though. He knows how to play and did a great job of passing on the break. Some pretty impressive bounce passes.
Carl hall, missed his first attempt.. pretty much a dunk. haha. I noticed that he doesn't jump particularly high. On that attempt and another attempt that was sucessful, he wasn't getting too far over the rim. I was surprised. He moves his feet well to get position for rebounds, but, like I said, Ben was getting most of the them. (on the same team) He didn't do too much though. didn't seem too aggressive. They would feed him the ball and almost half of the time he would pass it back out without dribbling or really even making an attempt to create offense.
the Malcolm/Demetric/Ben/Carl team won the first game.
They then took on Josh Walker, Randall, Evan Wessel, Ede, and whom I presume to be Teleke.
This team was way over matched and at first it seemed like it was going to be a slaughter...but then Ede happened :good:
Josh actually scored a few buckets, BUT they called travel on him alot. And he wasn't too thrilled about that at all...
Randall badly missed some 3s but made a few as well probably 2-6 from 3.
Evan displayed some talent. But it seemed like he was taking only difficult shots. I started getting the feeling that he would make up his mind before he got the ball as to whether he was going to pass it or try to score.
Alot of shots he attempted he would be fading to the side or fading back. A couple times he would catch the ball and immediately take a jumpshot, quick and confident, but i think he would have had enough time to gather himself for a half second. I don't remember him making too many shots. But Ron and him have some similarities to their game. both have nice quickness. and ron took a couple of tough shots, but his fell. I think Evan practices those shots alot so i'm sure they fall more often than they did tonight.
Teleke was soild. Has broad shoulders. And relatively huge calves. He played under control. I only remember him taking one jumpshot. had a ridiculous arch to it. (he may have been closely guarded) he didn't look to score very often, but he choose his times wisely, making probably 75% of his shots.
Then there was:
EDE :D
Ede... so awesome! Took that team on his shoulders. quick 6'5" with excellent handles. driving and stoping quickly then bursting forward again. His shot was sweet, making tons of 3s and releasing quickly. He was dominating the unfamiliar recruit that was guarding him, then Ben guarded him, making it a little more difficult to drive in, but he still made shots and created space to make them while Ben guarded him. It was sweet. near the end of that game, it was clear to everyone that Ede was going to shoot, they'd set double screens for him and he would curl then catch and shoot, it was sweet. He was also wearing the bright orange shoes from his picture that we've seen on in the recruiting forum. I can't say enough good things about Ede, he was freakin sweet! :good:
Overall, the shooting percentages were pretty high. As time went on and as they grew more exhausted more shots were missed.
Something that might be important to note, is that they had been weightlifting for an hour and a half before these games started. They were already a little tired and sore from that. From my own experience of playing ball after lifting, this can really have an effect. Obviously they're all much more qualified athletes than I, but it might still be worth noting.
It was fun. I'll probably see many more over the summer.
Edit: to add recruits names.
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