Demo

This is pretty tempting. The good: I assume airfare and hotels in Puerto Rico in August would be pretty reasonable. The bad: I also assume Puerto Rico in August would be oppressive as hell, correct? Edit: And, oh yeah, hurricane season. Maybe not.

He played a lot of PG this weekend. His handle is probably his best skill and he flashed some vision/facilitation.

Don’t know anything past what’s been reported. The football stuff makes perfect sense. If he was 6’5”-6’6”instead of 6’9’-6’10” he’d have NFL left tackle prospect written all over him. Between how well he moves for a kid that size, how good his hands are in traffic and how hard he competes, on 2 watchings became a pretty big fan. Kid’s motor ran hot every second he was on the floor. Would take him and Alexander-Moody without a thought and then see what you can get done with some of the higher rated kids.

Some notes from yesterday: Jordan Smith- Had 22 on crazy efficiency in a win. I still think there’s a ceiling there because he’s a 6’1” scoring guard without a great handle, but he’s gonna be a fantastic college player. Great athlete. Physically mature. Competes his a$$ off on both ends. His shot has really improved. Best thing about him is he never takes bad looks or forces things. Just a very clean player. Prince Alexander-Moody- Had 15 in a win. He’s legit 6’4”-6’5” and a very good athlete. Can really change direction. Was the best defender on the floor. Didn’t shoot it great but has such a clean stroke I can’t imagine that’s a problem. I kind f think he evolves into a full-time PG. He was constantly scanning the floor and directing. Showed some facilitation ability. Was also directing their huddles. Really looking forward to watching him today. Side note: Was told by the parent of another player that he doesn’t use Alexander. He calls himself Prince Moody. Fwiw Baba Oladotun- Playing up. Had 14 in a comeback win. Ridiculous physical talent. Height and length. Athleticism. Run and jump. Great looking stroke. Handle. The whole pkg. And for 3 quarters he did literally nothing. 0 points, couple of rebounds, no factor. Then went out in the 4th and completely took it over. All 14 of his points, probably 5 boards, couple of blocks, couple of steals. Made a couple of deep 3’s. Took a rebound end to end and at 6’10” broke out a spin dribble in traffic for a finish at the rim. Awesome. Kind of looks like a better Kwame Evans. Sammy Jackson- Had 3 in a loss. Prototype wing frame. Fluid athlete but not real explosive. Has a nice stroke but had an off shooting night. Nice handle and they used him as a point forward. Imagine he had 5 or 6 assists. Pretty aware defender. Didn’t really love him. Will watch him again today. Najai Hines- Had 10/7 in a win over Jackson’s team. That kid’s a man. Nice physical profile. He’s probably 6’10 and something like 240, maybe more. Thick all over. Good hands and quick feet. Runs well. Easy movement and change of direction. Average vertical explosion. Competed. Right handed but finished twice at the rim with his left. Stroke looks ok. Liked the kid a good bit.

Nice. Plays against Sammy Jackson tonight. Easy add.

Thought the bounce off the floor was going to a cutaway edit of him dunking it.

Getting ready to head over. Tentative viewing schedule: Fri 4p. Team Takeover. Alexander-Moody, Smith 530p Drive Nation. Hampton 7p. Team Durant. Oladotun 830p Team Final(1/2) Mokan Elite(1/2). Jackson, Taylor, Jordan Sat 2p. BBE. Mitchell 330p. Mokan Elite(1/2) Nightrydas(1/2). Taylor, Jordan, Gaskins, Green 5p. Team Final vs Team Durant. Jackson, Oladotun 630p. Team Takeover vs Team Herro. Alexander-Moody, Smith, Sularski Couldn’t make Sunday work so couldn’t fit in some of the younger offers. Jackson and Alexander-Moody are the ones. Just absolutely feel like those 2 are a thing.

And the huge check is courtesy of NC St.

Ok, then. Given where he’s from I assume he’s been to St Joe’s and I imagine he’s been to VCU. So I guess that’s not as crazy fast as it sounds.

Watched part of a thing he did with Bossi that included a conversation about Diane and they mentioned IU specifically as a school to watch on this one.

https://x.com/AKRileyy5/status/1925405669769068661 Gus Johnson after a bowl of Kimchi. Love it so much.

Incredible player, but that thing he does where he gets complete tunnel vision and he’s not giving it up no matter how good a look someone else has is a problem. That never, ever happens to Haliburton.

The caption on Sportscenter just now on the game was “Big Apple Crumble”. Whoever came up with that needs a raise.

RIP Jim Irsay. Dude obviously had some pretty pronounced demons, but he always genuinely seemed to love the city and after seeing Stan Kroenke up close I really grew to appreciate that Jim cared more about winning than about maximizing the value of his team as a commodity.

I wonder how far we are from the 1st NBA-college trade. “The Indiana Pacers announce that they have traded Johnny Furphy to the University of Kentucky for Ortega Oweh and a 2027 top-100 HS commitment.” Barely kidding

Transferring to Link Academy per 247.

https://x.com/WinterSportsLaw/status/1924938103627612526 It was inevitable. Ziegler appears to be arguing that he’s entitled to another year for no other reason than he just simply wants to stay in college and make money. We’re right around the corner from a guy like Ziegler announcing their retirement from a college program at like 35 because they just got old.

Weird. There are several very good basketball prep schools in and around St Louis. But Ritter ain’t one of ‘em.

https://x.com/BadSportsRefs/status/1925176339151081939 It’s funny because it’s true.

TTU’s Darrion Williams withdraws from the draft. Some school is about to write a huge check.

https://x.com/TheHoopHerald/status/1924488401215959319 It’ll never not be funny the extent to which guys who fancy themselves as players fail to understand just how good NBA players are.

We’ll know beforehand if he’s getting drafted because he’s not staying in without a promise. Personally, I think there’s a pretty decent chance he does. He measured and tested pretty well and that stroke is that stroke. I imagine he’ll do ok in team workouts and if he has a really good one with someone and follows it up by interviewing decently and has answers to some of the knucklehead stuff someone will see that as a swing worth taking.

Yup. This kid and the kid from Philly both feel like you might have got in right before they blew up.

This recruitment’s got my spidey sense going. Going over to KC for EYBL Friday and Saturday and this kid is one of my priorities. Team Takeover plays at 4 on Friday. Will probably be the 1st game I watch.

Diane has 1 of the biggest frames for a 17yo that I’ve seen in a minute. Put that kid in a college strength/conditioning program and he’s gonna be immovable.