Maryland, Drew Neitzel, Kevin Durant
1. 20 almost-perfect minutes I'm not sure I've ever seen 20 minutes of basketball in which one team played better than Maryland just did against St. John's in the first half at Madison Square Garden. You can look up the numbers yourself, but the highlights are 55 percent shooting (6-for-9 from downtown); three players in double figures -- including Ekene Ibekwe, who matched his season output to date with 22 points; and holding SJU to under 22 percent from the floor. When the dust settled, Maryland went into the locker room with a 58-21 lead.
Gary Williams seems to have a bunch of of players who, unlike last year, make sense as a team. Ibekwe and James Gist aren't particularly polished or skilled relative to other ACC players, but both are tremendous athletes who run the floor extremely well. Last year, the Terps were without a true point guard, and the team seemed to lack an identity; Ibekwe and Gist couldn't score in the halfcourt, while Maryland's backcourt players' games weren't suited to an up-tempo style.
That's changed with the departure of Chris McCray, Nik Caner-Medley, and Travis Garrison, and the arrival of Greivis Vasquez and Eric Hayes. D.J. Strawberry can return to the wing, where he's perfectly capable of playing in the open court, something he struggled with as a lead guard. The ability of the two freshmen guards to push the ball means that Maryland finds itself in its halfcourt offense less often, which is good, because they will still struggle to score out of their sets.
2. Welcome to the party, Drew I've been relatively unimpressed with Michigan St. point guard Drew Neitzel in his first two years in East Lansing. His numbers have been good enough, but he always seemed a little nervous with the ball, and I don't really have any memory of him making any big plays. When it got down to crunch time, the ball always seemed to end up in the hands of Maurice Ager or Shannon Brown.
With those guys gone, however, Tom Izzo needs someone to step up, and in Thursday's victory over Texas, Neitzel showed he just may be the guy. And I started writing this well before he drove for the game-winning layup with 2.4 seconds left and the game tied. All night, he appeared more comfortable on the court, stepping confidently into three-pointers and snapping the ball around to his teammates.
The Spartans will rely heavily on Neitzel this year, asking him to increase his scoring while at least maintaining his assist level. The latter will be particularly tough, as the Michigan St. big men looked awful. Drew Naymick grabbed a couple of big offensive rebounds, but other than that, there's little good you can say about the performance he, Goran Suton, and company put on. Catchable passes and rebounds bounced out of their hands, and when they did manage to squeeze the orange, they either put up a jittery, rushed shot, or didn't even bother looking at the basket.
3. First look at Durant The kid is good. He didn't seem as smooth as North Carolina's Brandan Wright -- a similar player -- but he's more willing to get his hands dirty inside, and his ability to put it on the floor is still above average for a 6'9" 18-year-old. I liked his pullup jumper. I didn't like one step-back jumper I saw him take; it looked mechanical, like he was doing it in parts -- okay, one dribble with the right hand, now a hard step forward with the right foot, now I hop back, now I shoot! -- rather than a single fluid, comfortable movement. I'm also going to have to take the scouting report's word for it that he's a threat from deep. He did hit one triple, but he took eight, and his shot looked a little flat to me.
That's my first impression.
(And 1) O.J. Mayo, regarded as the top high school senior, signed a letter of intent with USC. It might be enough to get the Trojans into the tournament next year, but Mayo has the opportunity to influence that program well beyond the 2007-08 season. Second-year coach Tim Floyd has an NBA pedigree, and the signing of Mayo -- one of the most highly-recruited players in recent memory -- furrther validates USC as a viable option for high school stars.
Gary Williams seems to have a bunch of of players who, unlike last year, make sense as a team. Ibekwe and James Gist aren't particularly polished or skilled relative to other ACC players, but both are tremendous athletes who run the floor extremely well. Last year, the Terps were without a true point guard, and the team seemed to lack an identity; Ibekwe and Gist couldn't score in the halfcourt, while Maryland's backcourt players' games weren't suited to an up-tempo style.
That's changed with the departure of Chris McCray, Nik Caner-Medley, and Travis Garrison, and the arrival of Greivis Vasquez and Eric Hayes. D.J. Strawberry can return to the wing, where he's perfectly capable of playing in the open court, something he struggled with as a lead guard. The ability of the two freshmen guards to push the ball means that Maryland finds itself in its halfcourt offense less often, which is good, because they will still struggle to score out of their sets.
2. Welcome to the party, Drew I've been relatively unimpressed with Michigan St. point guard Drew Neitzel in his first two years in East Lansing. His numbers have been good enough, but he always seemed a little nervous with the ball, and I don't really have any memory of him making any big plays. When it got down to crunch time, the ball always seemed to end up in the hands of Maurice Ager or Shannon Brown.
With those guys gone, however, Tom Izzo needs someone to step up, and in Thursday's victory over Texas, Neitzel showed he just may be the guy. And I started writing this well before he drove for the game-winning layup with 2.4 seconds left and the game tied. All night, he appeared more comfortable on the court, stepping confidently into three-pointers and snapping the ball around to his teammates.
The Spartans will rely heavily on Neitzel this year, asking him to increase his scoring while at least maintaining his assist level. The latter will be particularly tough, as the Michigan St. big men looked awful. Drew Naymick grabbed a couple of big offensive rebounds, but other than that, there's little good you can say about the performance he, Goran Suton, and company put on. Catchable passes and rebounds bounced out of their hands, and when they did manage to squeeze the orange, they either put up a jittery, rushed shot, or didn't even bother looking at the basket.
3. First look at Durant The kid is good. He didn't seem as smooth as North Carolina's Brandan Wright -- a similar player -- but he's more willing to get his hands dirty inside, and his ability to put it on the floor is still above average for a 6'9" 18-year-old. I liked his pullup jumper. I didn't like one step-back jumper I saw him take; it looked mechanical, like he was doing it in parts -- okay, one dribble with the right hand, now a hard step forward with the right foot, now I hop back, now I shoot! -- rather than a single fluid, comfortable movement. I'm also going to have to take the scouting report's word for it that he's a threat from deep. He did hit one triple, but he took eight, and his shot looked a little flat to me.
That's my first impression.
(And 1) O.J. Mayo, regarded as the top high school senior, signed a letter of intent with USC. It might be enough to get the Trojans into the tournament next year, but Mayo has the opportunity to influence that program well beyond the 2007-08 season. Second-year coach Tim Floyd has an NBA pedigree, and the signing of Mayo -- one of the most highly-recruited players in recent memory -- furrther validates USC as a viable option for high school stars.
posted by H.S. Slam, Ph.D at 12:04 AM
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