Spent a couple hours there this AM with my son.
Watched St Louis Eagles (Tatum, Sneed, Tilmon, Verge, Cook...) sitting next to Tatum's Mom
Spoke with Jamal a couple minutes- dead period, so he couldn't talk to any players.
Izzo talking Calipari's ear off directly behind basket. Sean Miller, Danny Manning and a number of
other coaches, most not recognized by me.
I'm not a basketball guru by any means, but some things were obvious even to me
Jason Tatum- Wow. Dominating, even with many D-1 level players. Does everything and does it
superbly. Plays the 1-4. When he's on the court, he is the team. Brings the ball up,
unstoppable if he wants to take it to the hoop, ankle breaking crossover dribble from a
dead start, did I say unstoppable. Great FT shooting form.
Would be the best player on our team today without a close 2nd. No way he doesn't go to a blue blood.
The other guys only really got to play when Tatum was off the court, as everything happens
only if it comes off Tatum's fingers.
Xavier Sneed- looks like a player. Chiseled, high energy on defense, very athletic, runs the court.
Would be a major contributor for us, assuming we have a point and a big
Tyler Cook- tough inside player. Would take him in a second
Jeremiah Tilmon- tough for a younger big to excel in this environment (mostly guard and some wing orientation), but
was always in the mix down low
Alonzo Verge-- not impressive, although playing up. Slight frame, probably age appropriate.Passive, always giving up the ball to get rid of it, rather than creating offense, the rare shots he took were missed, no sense of "attack".
Nojel Eastern- if he was who I think he was, didn't take off his sweats
Alterique Gilbert- wow, what an athlete. Didn't play PG on his team when the 4 foot 11 inch PG was in; played the 2. When the short guy went out, he moved to PG. 1st play I saw him, PG sets him up for a lob dunk, which got a 10 for show, just didn't convert. A few minutes later, defending a 2 on 1 breakaway he blocks a power layup move by the opponent, who was clearly taller then him. A skywalker for sure.
Very active defensively, not afraid to go anywhere on the court on defense.
Offensively, a very good facilitator. Seems to have a good eye for the open guy in the flow of the play. Seems like he would make others around him be better players.
Didn't get to watch the whole game, as I had to leave.
Summary: A ton of really good basketball players in the 4 teams I watched. I'd have no problem taking the entire St Louis Eagles team, and rolling the dice
I guess that's why there were about 30-40 college coaches/assistants courtside for their game.
It's clear college BB requires continuously getting good players. Really impressive talent on display today. I hope we get the players we obviously need to compete at a high level.
I-L-L!
Watched St Louis Eagles (Tatum, Sneed, Tilmon, Verge, Cook...) sitting next to Tatum's Mom
Spoke with Jamal a couple minutes- dead period, so he couldn't talk to any players.
Izzo talking Calipari's ear off directly behind basket. Sean Miller, Danny Manning and a number of
other coaches, most not recognized by me.
I'm not a basketball guru by any means, but some things were obvious even to me
Jason Tatum- Wow. Dominating, even with many D-1 level players. Does everything and does it
superbly. Plays the 1-4. When he's on the court, he is the team. Brings the ball up,
unstoppable if he wants to take it to the hoop, ankle breaking crossover dribble from a
dead start, did I say unstoppable. Great FT shooting form.
Would be the best player on our team today without a close 2nd. No way he doesn't go to a blue blood.
The other guys only really got to play when Tatum was off the court, as everything happens
only if it comes off Tatum's fingers.
Xavier Sneed- looks like a player. Chiseled, high energy on defense, very athletic, runs the court.
Would be a major contributor for us, assuming we have a point and a big
Tyler Cook- tough inside player. Would take him in a second
Jeremiah Tilmon- tough for a younger big to excel in this environment (mostly guard and some wing orientation), but
was always in the mix down low
Alonzo Verge-- not impressive, although playing up. Slight frame, probably age appropriate.Passive, always giving up the ball to get rid of it, rather than creating offense, the rare shots he took were missed, no sense of "attack".
Nojel Eastern- if he was who I think he was, didn't take off his sweats
Alterique Gilbert- wow, what an athlete. Didn't play PG on his team when the 4 foot 11 inch PG was in; played the 2. When the short guy went out, he moved to PG. 1st play I saw him, PG sets him up for a lob dunk, which got a 10 for show, just didn't convert. A few minutes later, defending a 2 on 1 breakaway he blocks a power layup move by the opponent, who was clearly taller then him. A skywalker for sure.
Very active defensively, not afraid to go anywhere on the court on defense.
Offensively, a very good facilitator. Seems to have a good eye for the open guy in the flow of the play. Seems like he would make others around him be better players.
Didn't get to watch the whole game, as I had to leave.
Summary: A ton of really good basketball players in the 4 teams I watched. I'd have no problem taking the entire St Louis Eagles team, and rolling the dice
I guess that's why there were about 30-40 college coaches/assistants courtside for their game.
It's clear college BB requires continuously getting good players. Really impressive talent on display today. I hope we get the players we obviously need to compete at a high level.
I-L-L!
