Dave isn’t going to be a guy that finishes at the rim in college, he’s just not athletic enough and is only 5’11-6. BUT he already has what Walton failed to develop, a reliable floater, and it is consistent.
1 Like
Dave was an average shooter up until this summer, where he put in a tremendous amount of work (and by tremendous I mean 4-6 hours per day, for 5-6 days per week). The improvement started showing in EYBL this summer, where I’d say he went from average to above average. Fast forward 6 months later, and he’s gone from above average to great. He’s a lights out shooter at this point. If he were strictly a catch and shoot type, he might be 45% from distance this year. As it is, he’s probably slightly above 40%, but the degree of difficulty on his 3 point attempts is insane.
I like that we’re starting to get extroverted types like David and Jordan in each class. Those guys bring natural leadership skills and can get the quiet guys hyped up, and it doesn’t hurt with the recruiting either.
1 Like
Yes. I think that floater could loom large.
I didn’t mean at the rim, but just inside the arc (floater, midrange, elbow, anything) - something Walton hasn’t been able to do.
Would you say he’s less athletic than Trey Burke? I ask only because Trey was a good finisher in college (obviously not athletic or strong enough to be a good driver in the pros). Trey also had a nice floater.
Even a guy like Travis Trice, by his senior year, was pretty crafty and had some solid driving ability. So I feel like this kid will eventually be able to do that. Seems like a very nice get for us.
1 Like
You don’t have to convince me about Dave at all. He will get everything possible out of his abilities.
I think he’s stronger than Trey at the same age without doubt, probably the same in terms of straight line speed, a bit quicker laterally, about the same vertically
Thought you guys might be interested in an analysis of Dave from one of his peers.
So I met up with Cain today, he came to watch my daughter play…really he was just coming to check on me to see if I was ok physically, of course he wouldn’t say that explicitly because he knows I’ll always say I’m fine regardless.
So anyway, I asked him his impressions of Dave. His response ‘he’s gonna be just like me where nobody really knows him nationally right now, but after he plays EYBL everyone will see he’s one of the top players in the country’
I asked Jamal in his opinion what makes Dave such a hard check and he said ‘just that Westbrook mentality, he’s just so aggressive with his shot, after a while he just wears you down and before you know it he has 30. He’s just so competitive’
I agree with Jamal on pretty much everything above
3 Likes
His game reminds me a bit of Ray Felton (college version). Obviously, I know Ray was an elite recruit and great player, so I can’t expect Dave to be that good, but his style seems similar to me. Short, strong, good outside shooter, generally a below the rim guy but still a good driver.
Explosive as ever
He reminds me of the late Brent Darby out of River Rouge and OSU.
3 Likes
I think that comparison is bang on.
1 Like
I am digging the fact that everyone is excited about DeJulius. I have a feeling DeJulius is going to turn out to be another JB recruit that proves, yet again, JB is truly one of the best evaluators of talent around…
Darby is actually the guy Brooks reminds me of. I’ll guess we’ll find out soon enough.
Another DeJulius comp for me would be Andre Woolridge.
I don’t think Brooks is as thickly built or as strong as DeJulius or Darby, but I think he has more hops than either.
In trying to get everyone’s spirits up after a tough loss
3 Likes
Is Pearson going to be a top 50 player like his athleticism would suggest?
Difficult to say with so many variables still in play. Does he grow is the main question. Skillset will develop of course, but how much? Obviously I haven’t seen anywhere near the vast majority of freshman around the country, but I’d be relatively confident saying Steve is at least among the top 100
Had an extensive conversation with Dave last night. Here’s a few tidbits that I thought may be of interest:
*Said he hopes Wagner stays for his senior year, says they will be lethal in PnR if that is the case.
*Said staff/fans will never have to worry about him being aggressive on offense when opportunity presents itself. I won’t mention names but I’m guessing you all can deduce who/what we were discussing
Flat out told me that Cassius Winston wanted to come to Michigan and that was the plan if Michigan hadn’t pulled the offer. He was going to commit to M in one week
I’ll add that this is the second reliable source that has confirmed the Winston scenario. Now that he’s committed, I’ll reveal the original source - Amauri Hardy, Winstons former AAU teammate
That said, I don’t blame JB for how he handled the Winston situation in light of Battle