By Shawn Siegel

shawn@collegehoops.net

July 8th, 2006

ABCD Camp: Day Three - Afternoon

Player capsules for the third afternoon of the ABCD Camp in Teaneck, NJ.  Day three evening capsules will go up tomorrow morning.  Players are listed alphabetically, with biographical information and a short scouting report. Each day different players are discussed, so check out previous days and upcoming days for other prospects.  Final player rankings will be released after the camp.

Cole Aldrich - #141 – Mavs - #16 Rivals.com (#3 C)

Bloomington, MN – 6’11” – 2007 – Kansas

Another mediocre game for Aldrich this afternoon, though he was 4 for 4 from the floor.  However, when he got the ball in the post once or twice, he made little baby stutter steps that should have been traveling calls that the refs didn’t call.  You’d like to see him catch and just go up strong, instead of needing to baby himself into position.  Up against Aaron Pogue, Aldrich looked better, but not by that much.

Charoy Bentley - #17 – 76ers

West Haven, CT – 6’0” – 2007

Not too much out of Bentley today. Mostly standing on the wings waiting for the ball.  Like I noted for Tim Flowers though, when Legion and King are on your team, there’s not much room to get the ball.

Malik Boothe - #3 – Mavs

New York, NY – 5’10” – 200

I didn’t watch Boothe today, but I forgot his capsule in yesterday’s coverage. Boothe has the body of a football player, specifically a running back.  He was up against the Bulls’ Percy Miller (who is not the greatest at this point), and really outplayed Miller.  His head is constantly up when he handles the ball, and is good at finding the open man.  Boothe has to be one of the best players not in any of the major top 150 rankings.

Chris Braswell - #114 – Knicks

Temple Hills, FL – 6’8” – 2008

Braswell has not particularly impressed me on offense.  He’s got good height, but the way he plays takes off a few inches.  He shoots from a very low position, and even on lay ups the ball is always below his head.  Defensively though, he’s a bit more solid, as he does a great job of getting his long arms into the passing lanes and slapping at the ball to make steals, and also grabs rebounds.

Kenny Collins - #115 – Magic

Redlands, CA – 6’8” – 205

This is a California player who I’m not really familiar with.  I get the sense that Collins has gone on a late growth spurt, because he seems to want to play on the outside and isn’t that comfortable down low with other bigs.  He can handle well for a 6’8” guy, and can finish relatively well too.  Good on-the-ball skills for a kid his size.

Timothy Flowers - #75 – 76ers

Chicago, IL – 6’5” – 2007

Flowers looks great in pre-game warmups, showing off his foot-speed with nice spin moves and hitting jumpers with nice rotation.  But in the game this afternoon, he was again mostly non-existant.  This has a lot to do with the style of play and being on the same team as offensive minded players like Legion and King.

James Harden - #72 – Knicks - #39 Rivals.com (#12 SG)

Rancho Dominguez, CA – 6’5” – 2007

Harden is a highly touted prospect, who has been solid but not special this week. He’s known as a great shooter, but he hasn’t really been looking for shots that often.  Once or twice this afternoon, his teammates had to chide him because he had the ball 10 feet from the hoop, but instead of shooting the open shot, he passed it around.  Also, although he’s got a good body, you’d really like to see Harden toughen up and play with some more strength and aggression.  In that sense, he’s more of a west coast player.

Brandon Jennings - #31 – Knicks - #1 PG Scout.com (08)

Lakewood, CA – 6’2” – 2008

Jennings is widely considered the top point guard in the class.  He’s played up to this billing, though Anthony Crater has basically been his equal.  While Crater is more of a passing guard, Jennings is more of an all-around offensive force, because he can shoot (his shot usually comes off the rim nice and softly), get into the lane and once he’s there, he can finish as well as pass.  He’s got some of the best dribbling moves of any point guard in camp, seniors included.

DeAndre Jordan - #139 – 76ers - #33 Rivals.com (#9 PF)

Houston, TX – 6”11 – 2007

Jordan was up against Kevin Love in the afternoon and showed some flashes.  Unfortunately, Love showed 5 times as many flashes, scoring 25 points and pulling down 14 boards.  Jordan did a very poor job of stepping out on Love’s long range shots, and did an ever worse job allowing Love to get 9 offensive boards. These were not all Jordan’s fault, but overall Jordan needs to focus more on the fundamentals as opposed to just jamming and blocking shots (he does do both quite well.)

Nalaey Kashwal - #118 – Cavs

Chicago, IL – 6’8” – 2007

King hadn’t really been hitting his trademark threes before exploding for 25 points on 11 of 17 shooting this afternoon.

Alex Legion - #66 – 76ers - #38 Rivals.com (#11 SG)

Southfield, MI – 6’5” – 2007

One of the most disappointing players in camp this week.  Everyone knows Taylor King likes to shoot, but Legion is trying to do outdo his camp teammate in shot attempts.  It seems like Legion has missed a lot more shots than he’s made, and his play has been sloppy.  He’s lost a few balls going up for lay ups, missed another open layup, and made one or two poor passes.  He can create a shot with his speed and athleticism whenever he wants, unfortunately the shots he created haven’t gone in.

Jon Leuer - #134 – Knicks – #27 PF Scout.com

Long Lake, MN – 6”10 – 2007

Leuer is a good long range shooter, who really looks to run off the curl and shoot the three.  Most of his shots though are from the left wing, and he hasn’t show the ability to drive to the basket.  Also, he’s extremely frail (195 lbs) and plays smaller than his height suggests.  Still, he looks very good shooting the long ball and could be a very effective weapon on the right team.

Kevin Love - #138 – Knicks - #5 Rivals.com

Lake Oswego, OR – 6’10” – 2007

How do the numbers 25 and 14 sound to you? Points and rebounds that is.  Love was pretty money this afternoon, outplaying highly rated DeAndre Jordan.  The key to Love’s greatness is his versatility, particularly the smooth jump shot. Opposing big men just don’t know what to do when Love catches it on the perimeter.  Also of note was how impressive he was at making real long outlet passes that lead the wings to easy baskets.

OJ Mayo - #85 – Hawks - #1 Rivals.com

Cincinnati, OH – 6’5” – 2007

(By the way, Mayo is listed officially as 73, but he’s been wearing 85.)  Mayo was solid today, being guarded by the talented Evan Turner.  Turner is a solid athlete who was doing a nice job on D, but Mayo still is able to create shots whenever he wants to.  The problem is that the shots he creates aren’t necessarily good shots, though he’s scoring a decent amount of points and his percentages are still solid, 53.7% so far.

Demetri McCamey - #51 – Mavs - #51 Rivals.com (#9 PG)

Bellwood, IL – 6’3” – 2007 – Illinois

Didn’t see much of McCamey this afternoon, but when I did, he was really overpowering senior PG Isaiah Thomas. 

Wendell McKines - #88 – 76ers

San Pablo, CA – 6’6” – 2007

McKines has been putting up numbers all week, first for the Hawks and then when he was moved to the 76ers.  He doesn’t have much of a perimeter game, but he has a nose for the basket.  He’s scored a lot of points in the paint against seemingly bigger players.  He’s very strong and tough-minded, but his game will need to become more well-rounded to be successful in college.

Dwan McMillan - #9 – 76ers

Hempstead, NY – 6’0” – 2008

McMillan was up against senior Stephen Thomas as well as follow junior Brandon Jennings during the afternoon.  McMillan played well against both. He really uses his quickness to get into the lane, and he can also shoot the ball from long-range. More impressive though was how he defended the talented Jennings, who he was giving up two inches to.  McMillan was really able to hold his ground while Jennings was trying to beat him with an assortment of moves.

Josh Miller - #1 – Hawks

Charleston, WV – 5’9” – 2007

Miller is a little (literally the smallest guy in camp) point guard with a lot of speed.  As soon as he gets the inbound or the outlet, he pushes the ball up as fast as can and does a nice job of it.  I never sat down to particularly focus on Miller, but I did find myself noticing his play often because he looked good. It should be noted though that Miller was on his squad’s “B” five, so that he was often going against lesser opposing pg’s.  Seems like a career backup at the high-major level or a starter at a lower level.

Aaron Pogue - #111 – Hawks

Dayton, OH – 6”9 – 2007

Yesterday, Pogue looked very overmatched against Kevin Love.  Today though, he was up against Cole Aldrich, and Pogue held his own with ease.  Up close, you realize just how thick this guy's arms are.  He wasn’t great, but he was a heck of a lot better than yesterday.

Isaiah Thomas - #2 – Hawks

Tacoma, WA – 5’9” – 2007

Last year, Thomas impressed with his spark and ball-handling abilities, but he was rather mediocre this afternoon.  I’ve watched his team play all week, as he’s teamed with Mayo and Walker and rarely has Thomas stood out.  Granted, with those guys, they basically do what they want.  Still, outside of the transition game, Thomas trails behind the other guards in his leadership, ability to finish in the lane, etc.  It didn’t help he was up against the much bigger and stronger Demetri McCamey.

Stephen Thomas - #21 – Knicks

Indianapolis, IN – 6’0” – 2007

This was the first time I’ve seen Thomas, and I was happily impressed. He has kind of an Army look to him, very clean cut and mature.  He plays with a lot of control, and has a really good looking shot that was on this afternoon as he hit a few threes in a 10 minute period.  He’s strong and looks like a good leader, but he never showed the ability to beat his man off the dribble and get into the lane.  He seems like a real steal for the mid-major schools out there.

Darquavis Tucker - #45 – Mavs

Saginaw, MI – 6’3” – 2007

Up against Bill Walker, Tucker looked small and weak, but Walker does that to most kids.  He can clearly shoot the ball, but I didn’t see much else.

Evan Turner - #95 – Mavs - #23 Rivals.com (#6 SF)

Chicago, IL – 6’7” – 2007 – Ohio State

The more I watch this kid, the more I like him.  Up against OJ Mayo this afternoon, Turner held his own.  He’s so long and lean, and can jump up on a dime, which causes a lot of problems on the offensive boards.  He’s one of the few guys who you could fault as being unselfish, as he doesn’t try to dominate the action like other stars.

Alex Tyus - #151 – Mavs - #41 Rivals.com (#12 PF)

St Louis, MO – 6’8” – 2007

Tyus wasn’t at his best today.  His jumper wasn’t falling, and he didn’t seem to be as active on the boards.  On offense, he has issues because he doesn’t really play with his back to the basket so when his jay is off, he doesn't have much to offer in the half court.  Until he locks in one of those skills, he’s relegated to scoring only on the break or after offensive rebounds. 

More ABCD Camp stories and archived coverage of previous years.

2006 ABCD - Day One

2006 ABCD - Day Two

2006 ABCD - Day Three- Evening

2006 ABCD - All-Star Games/All-ABCD

2006 ABCD - Final Player Ranking