HyattsCuse
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A fun Saturday of hoops this past weekend at DeMatha. Thought I'd chime in on my thoughts for anyone interested.
I only went Saturday and couldn't make Sunday's games. The two big games were Oak Hill vs Grace Prep and JD vs DeMatha.
JD/DeMatha got out of hand pretty quick. James Robinson had his way in the 1st quarter and DeMatha's guards as a whole are in a whole other league compared to JD's guards. DeMatha also came out on fire drilling a number of 3's. I think DeMatha had a 13-15 point lead when Cavanaugh and Coleman picked up their 3rd foul each at the start of the 2nd quarter and both went to the bench. Then it got really ugly. DeMatha turned up the press and was up by at least 27 at one point in the 2nd quarter and cruised from there. It was an accomplishment just for JD to get the ball up the court in the 2nd quarter. Robinson didn't even play in the 2nd half. Looks like he got a nasty cramp or pulled his right hammy as he was getting it stretched out when he left in the 2nd.
I was really looking forward to seeing the new and improved Grant after the strong AAU season I kept reading about. I've been watching Grant for a couple years now, and honestly, while extremely athletic, he's never really done anything to "wow" me in the past. However, Saturday I was very excited by what I saw. His highlights were two nice dunks. His 1st dunk was on a fast break but he made pretty spin move into the paint to get free and threw it down one handed. His 2nd dunk was awesome. He got a loose ball in the corner, had a wide open baseline and threw down a tomahawk one handed dunk after taking 2-3 dribbles. The rest of his points were mostly on put backs and a short jumper. I was really encouraged by the rebounding. I knew he had a bunch though wasn't keeping track. Overall, he looks much more aggressive than in the past. In the past, he seemed to float around the perimeter while this year, you can see the confidence that's he's one of the best players out there. Grant must be watching a lot of Duke video because he flopped at least 3-4 times trying to take charges. The refs swallowed the whistle on all of them but one where he got called for blocking. He did successfully take 2 charges though including one really nice one against Cavanaugh where he slid to his right way before Cavanaugh even attempted a dribble. I would have liked to have seen Grant take a couple drives to the hoop, but the way the game went, it wasn't needed.
Unfortunately, Anya vs Coleman was not the battle I was hoping for, mainly because Coleman got his 3rd foul like a minute into the 2nd quarter. That really took him out of the game defensively in the 2nd half. Watching Coleman in that game reminded me of watching a younger Shaq play early on his NBA career. Coleman is just so much bigger than everyone that I thought a couple of his fouls were the result of his size advantage. It may have been a clean block, but just due to his size and strength, the other guy went flying
.
This was my first time seeing Coleman live and despite foul trouble, he was impressive in my opinion. He's strong in the post and got his shots pretty easily when he got his touches. He looks like he has a nice shooting stroke with nice rotation. He even drilled a 3 pointer in the 2nd half on a nice crossover move. While I'm guessing he's never been mistaken for an above the rim kind of player, he does need to get a bit more lift in his legs. He missed a few easy shots around the bucket and Anya blocked him a couple of times on 2nd chance attempts when Coleman rebounded his own miss. Nevertheless, I'm glad 'Cuse is getting him!
The funniest moment in the game was when Coleman had Grant one on one in the post shortly after coming back in the game late in the 2nd quarter. You could tell he was frustrated. He backed Grant in and attempted to posterize Grant with a two handed slam. He missed the dunk but was fouled by Grant on the play. It drew a lot of laughter from the crowd around me, because it just didn't look fair. It would be like a dad backing in his 10 year old kid in a game of one on one. There was nothing Grant could do.
The Oak Hill/Grace Prep game was the game of the day. D1 recruits at every position on the court for both teams. Grace Prep is ridiculously athletic and was putting on a dunk contest during warm ups. Isiah Austin can jump out the gym and he's 7' tall. The point guard, Mudiay, looks like he's going to be a good one. Same with one of their forwards, Mickey. They have a 6'9" kid who's highly rated in the '13 class (forget his name) but he didn't suit up. I'm assuming he's hurt. Come game time though, Oak Hill made the plays to put the game away. The player of the game, Tyler Lewis. 5'11" point guard for Oak Hill can flat out play. Made bucket after bucket in response to any kind of Grace Prep rally despite a really weird looking side rotation on his jump shot.
I only went Saturday and couldn't make Sunday's games. The two big games were Oak Hill vs Grace Prep and JD vs DeMatha.
JD/DeMatha got out of hand pretty quick. James Robinson had his way in the 1st quarter and DeMatha's guards as a whole are in a whole other league compared to JD's guards. DeMatha also came out on fire drilling a number of 3's. I think DeMatha had a 13-15 point lead when Cavanaugh and Coleman picked up their 3rd foul each at the start of the 2nd quarter and both went to the bench. Then it got really ugly. DeMatha turned up the press and was up by at least 27 at one point in the 2nd quarter and cruised from there. It was an accomplishment just for JD to get the ball up the court in the 2nd quarter. Robinson didn't even play in the 2nd half. Looks like he got a nasty cramp or pulled his right hammy as he was getting it stretched out when he left in the 2nd.
I was really looking forward to seeing the new and improved Grant after the strong AAU season I kept reading about. I've been watching Grant for a couple years now, and honestly, while extremely athletic, he's never really done anything to "wow" me in the past. However, Saturday I was very excited by what I saw. His highlights were two nice dunks. His 1st dunk was on a fast break but he made pretty spin move into the paint to get free and threw it down one handed. His 2nd dunk was awesome. He got a loose ball in the corner, had a wide open baseline and threw down a tomahawk one handed dunk after taking 2-3 dribbles. The rest of his points were mostly on put backs and a short jumper. I was really encouraged by the rebounding. I knew he had a bunch though wasn't keeping track. Overall, he looks much more aggressive than in the past. In the past, he seemed to float around the perimeter while this year, you can see the confidence that's he's one of the best players out there. Grant must be watching a lot of Duke video because he flopped at least 3-4 times trying to take charges. The refs swallowed the whistle on all of them but one where he got called for blocking. He did successfully take 2 charges though including one really nice one against Cavanaugh where he slid to his right way before Cavanaugh even attempted a dribble. I would have liked to have seen Grant take a couple drives to the hoop, but the way the game went, it wasn't needed.
Unfortunately, Anya vs Coleman was not the battle I was hoping for, mainly because Coleman got his 3rd foul like a minute into the 2nd quarter. That really took him out of the game defensively in the 2nd half. Watching Coleman in that game reminded me of watching a younger Shaq play early on his NBA career. Coleman is just so much bigger than everyone that I thought a couple of his fouls were the result of his size advantage. It may have been a clean block, but just due to his size and strength, the other guy went flying
.This was my first time seeing Coleman live and despite foul trouble, he was impressive in my opinion. He's strong in the post and got his shots pretty easily when he got his touches. He looks like he has a nice shooting stroke with nice rotation. He even drilled a 3 pointer in the 2nd half on a nice crossover move. While I'm guessing he's never been mistaken for an above the rim kind of player, he does need to get a bit more lift in his legs. He missed a few easy shots around the bucket and Anya blocked him a couple of times on 2nd chance attempts when Coleman rebounded his own miss. Nevertheless, I'm glad 'Cuse is getting him!
The funniest moment in the game was when Coleman had Grant one on one in the post shortly after coming back in the game late in the 2nd quarter. You could tell he was frustrated. He backed Grant in and attempted to posterize Grant with a two handed slam. He missed the dunk but was fouled by Grant on the play. It drew a lot of laughter from the crowd around me, because it just didn't look fair. It would be like a dad backing in his 10 year old kid in a game of one on one. There was nothing Grant could do.
The Oak Hill/Grace Prep game was the game of the day. D1 recruits at every position on the court for both teams. Grace Prep is ridiculously athletic and was putting on a dunk contest during warm ups. Isiah Austin can jump out the gym and he's 7' tall. The point guard, Mudiay, looks like he's going to be a good one. Same with one of their forwards, Mickey. They have a 6'9" kid who's highly rated in the '13 class (forget his name) but he didn't suit up. I'm assuming he's hurt. Come game time though, Oak Hill made the plays to put the game away. The player of the game, Tyler Lewis. 5'11" point guard for Oak Hill can flat out play. Made bucket after bucket in response to any kind of Grace Prep rally despite a really weird looking side rotation on his jump shot.
