Will write a more detailed piece on some of the players and games that I have seen within the next few weeks. Till then here goes some quick hitters.
1)My man sterncuse was on point in his recent report here about Frank Howard. Not sure if he'll be a full time PG, but he has outstanding vision and can facilitate well in the half court. Lord knows we can use all the help that we need in half court offense. Imho think of an overall better version of Mike G, if you're looking for a comparison.
2)VJ King showed off some solid offensive skills knocking down several jumpers and some finishes inside. Still seems to be finding his way on a new team. Can tell he's not trying to do too much this early, but surprisingly PVI is really lacking in talent overall this season, so he's going to have to step it up along with Frank in every game to give their team a chance to win. One negative, at 6'7 or so he only had 2 rebounds for the game and that came within the last several minutes in garbage time yuck! Gotta get more mean on the glass young man.
3)Jamal Murray probably had the best performance of the day. This is the type of guard that wins you championships. Wish we can find a way to say F it and land him but everything is a big ? until the end of the season, when we see who goes and stays.
4)Thon Maker is a definite pro, but his game at the moment still needs plenty of refinement. Spends 80% of his time offensively on the perimeter and that's just a no no on the high school level when you're 7'1 imo. Frame still needs to fill out as I've seen numerous undersized but stronger players have success against him inside the paint. The Durant comparisons were totally ridiculous. If anything KG is a better one because of his nice face-up game.
5)When talking long term pro prospects. Jayson Tatum a top 3 2016 forward was probably the best one that I saw today. He's listed around 6'9 and is highly skilled with plenty of versatility. Can handle it like a PG and has range from deep. Could stand to be a little more aggressive on the inside at his size but that will probably come due in time. All of the big boys are on him and I'll assume that he ends up at either Duke, UK, or Kansas.
6)Some names to keep an eye on that I would love to see SU turn it up on are Dematha's
2017 SF DJ Harvey and
2016 CG Markelle Fultz. Harvey is very athletic and his overall game is coming along. Looks good putting it on the floor and knocked down several threes as well. Looks to be a good defender also. Fultz is a combo guard that does a bit of everything that contributes in wins. Whether it's scoring, passing, shooting, defending, etc. Also add in the fact that he's very athletic and explosive as well. Fultz has been a late bloomer on the national scene, but I think that will change from this point on as I'm sure he turned a lot of heads today.
7)Was able to check out 2016 PG Howard Washington and 2017 PG Aaron Thompson, who plays alongside Howard at PVI. Both are solid players and will eventually be contributors on D1 teams, but I didn't see any high level elite attributes from them to make me think that SU should make them a priority at this point. Obviously improvements can be made and I'll definitely keep an eye on them to monitor their progression.
