Hi I went to a few of the games on Thursday. Had a good time. Thought I would share a few impressions in the interest of discussion. I am not a recruiting guy, of course, so take it for what it is worth.
The Important (Michigan) Stuff
Booker: Wow, what a struggle he had today. Certainly looks the part, good-sized guard in terms of height and frame, and a lovely jumpshot. But he was bad in the half a game I saw. 1 for 5 in the first quarter, making a tough, contested layup but missing from deep, midrange and the paint. Very diverse offensively, which I really like from a ‘shooter’, but just didn’t have it. Probably 2 for 8 or 10 by the time I left at halftime, and with a bad turnover as well (a travel as he worked in the post again a 5-9 guard).
Barnett: 6-7 forward from St Louis. I wasn’t v impressed. Has some elements of a stretch 4, and did hit a 3, and he has good handle and passing for his size. Hard for me to see him guard a 3, better as a 4 but would be frequently overpowered and he definitely didn’t rebound like a 4. Very Beilein-y – so trust the coaches … he’ll probably be a great player for us someday. But I don’t love him right now.
I left before seeing Chatman play.
Other random stuff:
Deangelo Russell is a kid from Florida who is going to OSU next year, and I think he is gonna be trouble. Nice, slithery, herky-jerky guard.
My favorite player from today, not the best, but my favorite, was Theo Pinson, who is headed to UNC. One of the few true forwards I saw, excellent handle, clean release, very active and smart, good enough athlete to guard 2-4 in NCAA. Loved him, although you need to project a jumpshot to put him in the NBA.
Best player I saw is a sweet point guard headed to Duke, Tyus Jones, from Minnesota. Great presence on the court, quick as can be, super hands on defense, excellent passer. Really nice player. Duke also has a nice 6-3 2 guard coming in, who had the dunk of the day in warmups, self-toss, through the legs, windmill. Also, and this is so Duke: this dunking guard was the only white kid I saw today on a USA team.
Player of the day: James Blackmon, on his way to Indiana, caught fire from 3, heat five or six in about a quarter and half as his team destroyed Brazil by just under 50. He probably scored 25-30 in a great offensive performance.
Lot of good guards, not many decent wings and almost no good bigs. I guess I need to attribute some of that to All Star setting, but I just didn’t see a lot of talent over 6-5. One guy who I did really like was a 6-7 or so forward named Terry Larrier, who was very smooth. He seems underrecruited – Miami FL looks like his leader right now amidst a bunch of low hi-major types.