By Shawn Siegel

shawn@collegehoops.net

July 11th, 2006

Reebok Summer Classic East: Day One

The Reebok Summer Classic East takes the court just a few days after the ABCD Camp on the campus of Farleigh Dickinson University.  36 of the top AAU teams in the country gathered along with dozens of college coaches taking in the action.

Catching some of the action, here are player capsules on some notable performers.

DC Assault vs Central Jersey Hawks

DC is one of the most stacked teams in attendance, with a strong chance of being the champion tomorrow evening.

Point guard Nolan Smith (6-4, 2007, #25 Rivals.com, Duke) was impressive but not spectacular.  Smith has great size, which makes him a menace on defense, and he finishes like a wing forward.  He can also shoot the outside the jumper.  Smith was more impressive in his offensive ability, though he wasn't quite playing the floor-general role as some other PG's in attendance.

Teammate Michael Beasley (6-9, 2007, #4 Rivals.com, Kansas State) flashed his powerful inside game.  The difference in this game was Beasley's unfair physical dominance over the Hawks forwards.  The kid is simply too strong and mature to be stopped once he gets the ball in the paint.

As good as Beasley is on offense, Julian Vaughn (6-9, 2007, #19 Rivals.com) was equally as dominant on the offensive end.  Vaughn had a handful of blocks, and at one point, he dribble drove past a 6'2" guard on offense.  Unlike Beasley though, who has a nice jumper and a more developed offensive game, Vaughn needs some polish on offense.  His decisions were sometimes not the best. 

While the Assault eventually pulled away and won with ease, the Hawks had some nice players as well.  Point guard Ed Fischer (6-3, 2007) was doing a solid job playing against the heralded Smith.  Fischer has good size and strength for a point guard, which helped him play solid defense on Smith. What separates Smith from a player of Fischer's ilk though is on the offensive end, where once Fischer brought the ball up and got the offense set up, he was mostly invisible against Smith.

Also of note for Central Jersey was shooting guard TJ LaFalce (6-4, 2007).  A teammate of Fischer at Freehold Twp HS in New Jersey, LaFalce has a good looking three-point stroke.  LaFalce had his shot going early on, but found it hard to get loose for that many looks as the game went on.  Still, LaFalce probably has the most college potential of anybody on the Hawks.

Team Odom vs CT Young Gunz

Malik Boothe (5-9, 2007) handled point for this New York City based team.  As he did last week at ABCD Camp, Boothe was again impressive leading the way.  His passes are almost always spot on and he rarely makes bad decisions.  Boothe obviously doesn't have the explosive offensive ability of guys like Nolan Smith and others ranked in the Top 10, but he's as rock-solid as point guards come.

A pair of big men also stood out for Team Odom.  Ryan Pearson (6-7, 2008) looked good considering he's only a rising junior.  Pearson is long and lean, and is active trying to block shots.  His team was basically playing a zone with Pearson standing down under the basket, so its hard to get a sense of how good he is on defense outside of blocking shots.  Still, he runs well, and also showed the ability to step out and hit the jumper.   Only negative was that he didn't do a good job boxing out on defensive rebounds, but sometimes its hard when playing zone to find a guy to box out.

Earl Anglin (6-7, 2007) looks the part of a college basketball player, with a very strong-mature looking body, but he has some holes in his game.  Anglin plays like his hands are small, a ready victim for steals and strips, and he seems afraid to mix it up inside for a kid of his size.  On offense, he tends to fade away and finish weakly, which offsets his apparent height and strength,

For the Young Gunz, Charoy Bentley (6-0, 2007) spent a lot of time on the wings shooting threes.  In fact my description of Bentley today is similar to what I wrote on Day Three of ABCD Camp, "Not too much out of Bentley today. Mostly standing on the wings waiting for the ball."  Today was similar though he was a bit more assertive, and a bit more willing to fire away.  Bentley can certainly score the ball if he gets hot, but his shot wasn't locked in this game.

New Heights NYC vs Triple Threat (MD)

This game featured a lot of major college talent.  Shane Walker (6-10, 2007, Maryland) is a big man who runs well but needs a lot of work to be effective in college.  He was pretty mediocre at ABCD Camp, and was equally mediocre today, despite playing against lesser competition.  Outside of the occasional big dunk, Walker disappears from the action, even on the defensive end where you'd think a guy with his body would be able to dominate.

On the other hand, Jeff Allen (6-8, 2007, #57 Rivals.com, Virginia Tech) is somewhat of a physical freak. Allen is a monster who runs surprisingly fast, and handles like a two-guard.  The problem though is that sometimes Allen thinks he can do a bit more than he can.  Allen likes to make believe he's a point guard and run the break, but often he makes poor decisions or runs into trouble when he does this.  Still, his amazing foot-speed for a guy who weighs 250 lbs, makes him like a mini-version of Glen Davis or James Lang a few years back.

Jeff Jones (6-4, 2007, #34 Rivals.com) is the type of player that has the ability to do it all as a shooting guard but still needs more consistency.  Jones can shoot the three, he gets into the lane with quickness, he can pull up and shoot the mid-range jay, and he's physically strong.  Even though he gets into the lane, Jones doesn't finish with authority and he didn't stand out on the defensive end.  Still, at 6-4 and with his physical attributes, there's no reason he shouldn't end up being a solid defender.

Also of note for Triple Threat was point guard Jeff Peterson (6-0, 2007).  Peterson really looks in control when the ball is in his hand, and I love how assertive he is when he drives to the hoop.  He almost looks like he's dancing in the lane at times.

Despite a decent size advantage, and perhaps a talent advantafe on paper, Triple Threat barely squeaked by New Heights in this one.  New Heights could easily have won if not for some poor foul-shooting from PF Jerrell Williams (6-8, 2007).  Then again, if not for Williams, New Heights wouldn't have been in the game.  Williams might not be as tall as Walker or a freak like Allen, but he played with more energy than those guys and can do a little of everything on the court.  He was easily the most active player on the court, finishing well, scraping for rebounds, and hitting one or two jump shots.  I'd never seen Williams before, but he seems like a worthy target for high-major schools, though he projects to be more of a solid-contributor than a big-time starter.

Rising Junior Lance Goulbourne (6-7, 2008) has some definite potential.  Goulbourne is listed as a PF, but he's really more of a wing player that is highly athletic and can even step out and shoot the long-range bomb.  According to Scout.com, Goulbourne is only a mid-major target right now, but he should definitely be on bigger school's radar depending on how he develops in the coming year.  Offensively, he'll need to find more ways to be effective, either learning how to beat guys one on one, or developing the long-range shot that it becomes a consistent weapon.

Tyrone Nash (6-6, 2007) is a solid high-major prospect.  He was particularly effective on defense, doing a bit of everything, from guarding the opposing team's big man to using his long arms to cover guards in the full-court press.  His game today was all about defense and rebounding, as he wasn't as involved in the offense as some other guys.  I'll need to watch again to see what he brings to the table on O.

Playaz Gold

Throughout the day, I kept an eye on this talented squad filled with quality college prospects.  Anthony Nelson (6-1, 2007) was somewhat mediocre.  He's got a really solid handle, but this sometimes gets him into trouble in the half-court because he dribbles around too much.  He's also a bit obsessed with spin moves, which sometimes were very effective to get out of trouble, and other times simply brought him into trouble.  Still, Nelson has solid vision and made nice passes to guys slashing to the hoop that I didn't think he'd be able to make.

Horace McGloster (6-7, 2007) showed some flashes of major talent.  A good athlete, McGloster looked good behind the stripe, where he hit a couple bombs.  Despite his size, McGloster spent most of the time on the perimeter and didn't show much on the inside. He also had one or two dropped passes and he let go of an easy rebound.  Despite the inconsistency and the lack of interior game, a 6-7 kid who moves around and hits the jumper like he does (perhaps he was just hot today) should be getting more attention. 

Rashad Bishop (6-5, 2007) was rock-solid for Playaz.  This is the type of player that most would want on their roster.  He was a very active rebounder, where he has a knack for catching the ball at his peak, enabling to board over taller players.  On defense, he has a good eye for blocking shots and gets his long arms into the passing lanes.  Offensively, he wasn't a stud, but Bishop looks like a player to look out for in the coming year.

While Bishop shined on defense, Corey Raji (6-6, 2007, #133 Rivals.com) had some moments on offense.  He had one great sequence where he hit a three on one possession, then the next trip he caught the ball behind the stripe, pump-faked the thre enabling him to blow by for an easy lay up.  Raji ran the wing and finishes effectively, but outside of the one three discussed, he needs more work refining his jump shot and handling the ball on the perimeter.

Other Players of Note

Kraidon Woods (6-8, 2006, #141 Rivals.com (for 06), Villanova) stood out for Team Philly this afternoon.  Woods was doing a lot of damage on the inside against a lesser opponent, blocking shots, using his quickness to get offensive rebounds, and finishing with power. 

I wasn't set to watch him, but you can't help but notice big Anthony McClain (7-0, 2007, #65 Rivals.com).  McClain, who plays down at National Christian in Maryland, moves extremely well for such a big guy and has a soft touch on the one or two shots I saw him take. I'll focus a bit more on him tomorrow.

For the GC Ballers, Johnny Flynn (5-11, 2007, #29 Rivals.com, Syracuse) was a load to handle for CT Basketball Club.  In a game that went to overtime, Flynn hit a three from about 40 feet out to win it at the buzzer.  More impressive though was the ease in which Flynn was able to get into the lane and finish. As the game got tight at the end, you'd think the lane would clog up, but Flynn was only able to blow by with more ease.  He's simply unfairly quick.

Lastly, forward Matt Hill (6-6, 2007) had a nice game for CT Basketball.  Hill has a very mature body, and does a good job down low.  His perimeter game is inconsistent, as flushed a three, but then shot an air-ball in his other long range jumper.  Though the perimeter game needs work, his inside game was very effective on both ends of the floor.  He's not a dominant defender, but he did block a shot or two and has nice nice long arms.

There's a lot of quality teams in this tournament, and this is just a small cross-section of what was out there. I'll be back tomorrow with more capsules from day two.

Reebok Summer Classic East - Day One

Also, check out ABCD Camp stories and rankings from this past week.