OburgCuse
Starter
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2011
- Messages
- 1,184
- Like
- 1,977
Went to the Jordan Brand open practice today to check out our boy Jerami Grant. There were maybe 100 people total there in the basement of the Charlotte Convention Center mostly evenly divided between media types/NBA scouts/player's families/fans. The practice itself was quite a bit more boring than last year because they never really scrimmaged today unlike last year where 80% of the practice was East vs West scrimmage. They basically had East practicing drills and stuff on 1 court and West doing same on other and then they did mixed up a little group work with some of the international guys. Can't really point anybody out for standing out against others because of the lack of scrimmage.
As far as Jerami goes everytime that I see him play it seems like his game is improving (as it should). He definitely sticks out a little in these type of settings where they are running weaves and fast break drills and he is running up and down the floor like a gazelle throwing down sick dunks. Athletically he is a freak, in that he is thin, but not nearly as thin as a lot of the guys and has a very broad shoulders and chisled frame that he jumps out of the gym with. His 3 pt shot has definitely impoved (even though still needs some mechanical tweaking) as he was consistently hitting from outside when he got his feet set and body squared. His mid-range game is fantastic as he has real good elevation and very nice touch. Probably the most impressive thing that I noticed was how he was cleaning up the defensive boards from the wing position in the little scrimmaging that they did. Noel who was on the same team was actually struggling in this department consistently letting the ball get knocked out of his hands or off his fingers. Grant seems to have a super attitude and have just a fun time out there. His potential due to the combination of size/athleticism/genes is extraordinary and he has the looks of an NBA player. I know his height has been widely debated in relation to Anya and Coleman and I'd have to say he looks a solid 6'8 or pretty darn close to it. He looked to have an inch over some other guys listed at 6'7 like Poythress and Kyle Anderson. I'm not sure how he fits into the team next year because of the players that we have returning and limited minutes available, but if he doesn't get a lot of minutes it certainly won't be for him not being good enough. He can certainly contribute immediately and I would venture to say he will be a more complete player and ready to contribute when he arrives than many of our recently higher regarded forwards (top 40-100 guys)...Joseph, Nichols, Warrick, Damone Brown. Not saying he'll have a better career because those guys had some of the biggest improvements in the Boeheim era, but I believe Grant is coming in with a higher floor and potentially a higher ceiling too because of his versatility.
Other random stuff:
-Steven Adams- Pitt via New Zealand is a monster size wise (solid build, 7 ft) and moves pretty well and seemed to have good touch from what I saw. Didn't watch him very closely because he was on the other court but he definitely passes the "eye test" and he did shoot decent from what I saw. Heard quite a few players mentioning how he was going to be 1 and done.
-Noel- obviously he's been discussed thoroughly and we pretty much know what he's all about. He's definitely much more raw than Davis offensively who was unstoppable here last year and I'm not so so sure he's a better shot blocker like many are proclaiming. Noel definitely gets more of the highlight variety swat the hell out of the shot, but Davis' wingspan was just so long that he got his fingers on everything. Anyhow Noel is certainly a force and is going to be a stud.
-Jimmy Dykes hopping around the place like he owned it...what a douche
-After the practice they all line up on a long set of tables and the fans were given posters where they could go down the line and get autographs from the players. I didn't do this last year and wasn't going to until I realized they were giving out the posters and thought it would be a cool thing I could do and give to my son. I was decked out in 'cuse gear so was hearing it from some of the guys going down the line and got a chance to chit chat a little with some of them. They were all super polite and Shabaaz is well spoken just as comes off in the interviews. Ricky Ledo wanted to make sure that I was a Mike Carter-Williams fan...lol. Jerami was happy to see the Orange and I got to say hello and tell him how much I looked forward to seeing him play this coming season. Last one down the line was Noel and he said "cuuuuuse" and I was like you disappointed me man..lol. He appoligized and was pretty funny as we joked for a sec, but he seems like a good kid. He made the decision that many of us may have made ourselves if in his shoes so oh well...now he's the enemy. All in all is was pretty cool go through the line and got a pretty sweet poster that I gave my son w/ possibly a few NBA future stars autographs on it.
If I think of anything else I'll add it, but it's pretty cool event that is free and not really advertised so kinda low key.
As far as Jerami goes everytime that I see him play it seems like his game is improving (as it should). He definitely sticks out a little in these type of settings where they are running weaves and fast break drills and he is running up and down the floor like a gazelle throwing down sick dunks. Athletically he is a freak, in that he is thin, but not nearly as thin as a lot of the guys and has a very broad shoulders and chisled frame that he jumps out of the gym with. His 3 pt shot has definitely impoved (even though still needs some mechanical tweaking) as he was consistently hitting from outside when he got his feet set and body squared. His mid-range game is fantastic as he has real good elevation and very nice touch. Probably the most impressive thing that I noticed was how he was cleaning up the defensive boards from the wing position in the little scrimmaging that they did. Noel who was on the same team was actually struggling in this department consistently letting the ball get knocked out of his hands or off his fingers. Grant seems to have a super attitude and have just a fun time out there. His potential due to the combination of size/athleticism/genes is extraordinary and he has the looks of an NBA player. I know his height has been widely debated in relation to Anya and Coleman and I'd have to say he looks a solid 6'8 or pretty darn close to it. He looked to have an inch over some other guys listed at 6'7 like Poythress and Kyle Anderson. I'm not sure how he fits into the team next year because of the players that we have returning and limited minutes available, but if he doesn't get a lot of minutes it certainly won't be for him not being good enough. He can certainly contribute immediately and I would venture to say he will be a more complete player and ready to contribute when he arrives than many of our recently higher regarded forwards (top 40-100 guys)...Joseph, Nichols, Warrick, Damone Brown. Not saying he'll have a better career because those guys had some of the biggest improvements in the Boeheim era, but I believe Grant is coming in with a higher floor and potentially a higher ceiling too because of his versatility.
Other random stuff:
-Steven Adams- Pitt via New Zealand is a monster size wise (solid build, 7 ft) and moves pretty well and seemed to have good touch from what I saw. Didn't watch him very closely because he was on the other court but he definitely passes the "eye test" and he did shoot decent from what I saw. Heard quite a few players mentioning how he was going to be 1 and done.
-Noel- obviously he's been discussed thoroughly and we pretty much know what he's all about. He's definitely much more raw than Davis offensively who was unstoppable here last year and I'm not so so sure he's a better shot blocker like many are proclaiming. Noel definitely gets more of the highlight variety swat the hell out of the shot, but Davis' wingspan was just so long that he got his fingers on everything. Anyhow Noel is certainly a force and is going to be a stud.
-Jimmy Dykes hopping around the place like he owned it...what a douche
-After the practice they all line up on a long set of tables and the fans were given posters where they could go down the line and get autographs from the players. I didn't do this last year and wasn't going to until I realized they were giving out the posters and thought it would be a cool thing I could do and give to my son. I was decked out in 'cuse gear so was hearing it from some of the guys going down the line and got a chance to chit chat a little with some of them. They were all super polite and Shabaaz is well spoken just as comes off in the interviews. Ricky Ledo wanted to make sure that I was a Mike Carter-Williams fan...lol. Jerami was happy to see the Orange and I got to say hello and tell him how much I looked forward to seeing him play this coming season. Last one down the line was Noel and he said "cuuuuuse" and I was like you disappointed me man..lol. He appoligized and was pretty funny as we joked for a sec, but he seems like a good kid. He made the decision that many of us may have made ourselves if in his shoes so oh well...now he's the enemy. All in all is was pretty cool go through the line and got a pretty sweet poster that I gave my son w/ possibly a few NBA future stars autographs on it.
If I think of anything else I'll add it, but it's pretty cool event that is free and not really advertised so kinda low key.
