Bruin Recruiting: Prep News Roundup (10/18)
By Bruin Basketball Report
Prep News Roundup is published every Monday.
Recruits
Adonis Thomas is no stranger to Memphis Madness. The Melrose High senior forward was at FedExForum in 2007 when Derrick Rose made his University of Memphis debut. He was there again a year later when Tyreke Evans wowed a crowd of 14,000 in his public introduction as a Tiger. "It's always great," Thomas said. "But I think maybe this is going to be the biggest one because of the Memphis guys that are on the team this year. It's going to be great to see these guys finally at the college level." While fans will finally get their first peek Friday at Memphis' heralded 2010 recruiting class -- one that has the Tigers ranked among the nation's top teams this preseason -- it's Thomas that coach Josh Pastner and his staff are hoping will come away impressed from the Madness festivities at FedExForum. Commercial Appeal 10/11
There's rumors circulating that Quinn Cook, one of the top point guards in the 2011 class, is close to making a decision between UCLA, Villanova, Duke, North Carolina and Kansas. It looks like it's down to Duke and NC, but the Bruins have an outside chance. Seattle Times 10/11
The buzz in recruiting circles right now is that the Blue Devils have emerged as the favorite to land Quinn Cook, a crafty and sharpshooting point guard who's ranked No. 20 by Scout.com. Cook is close friends with Duke senior Nolan Smith and seemed impressed two weeks ago after a visit from Duke coaches Mike Krzyzewski, Steve Wojciechowski and Nate James. Cook has already taken an official visit to UCLA and is scheduled to see Villanova later this month. Kansas is also trying to get him on its campus. But there's a growing vibe that his commitment to Duke could come any day now. Fay Observer 10/14
But do you really want to know why Josh Pastner has gone to all this trouble to make Memphis Madness the city's must-attend event of the year? You'll find the answer sitting somewhere down in front tonight in the form of Melrose senior Adonis Thomas, whose college decision -- perhaps as soon as next week -- will essentially determine whether the Tigers get the recruiting class they want. Commercial Appeal 10/15
The Red Storm are the favorite to sign scoring guard Nurideen Lindsay of Philadelphia and are in the running for California small forward Amir Garrett, center Norvel Pelle of Compton, Calif., and North Carolina small forward Dominique Pointer, who has narrowed his list to Michigan and West Virginia. New York Post 10/15
BBR :: Article Link :: 5:00 PM ::
16 comments
16 Comments:
Unless we can get a really standout and immediate contributor PG here it would be best to save the scholarship. As much as I want the Bruins to do well and quickly, it most likely will take another year or so to get back on track.
This of course is unless Josh Smith and Lamb comes through exceedingly then we can make a big difference this coming season. Like previously mentioned, if Smith is double double solid and moves decently, I can see our frontline do very well as Nelson can have a huge advantage playing off Smith.
A powerful PF who is aggressive, mobile, and have a knack for the ball can be havoc alongside a solid Center who takes up much attention. Keep the irresistible force on the move and the immovable force in the middle like Bruin 666 says and it is a tough line to crack. Not to mention a SF like Honeycutt who can pass well and also have a knack for the ball, it really will bother opponents. If these guys are solid, Lee will get so much good looks and easier baskets.
The only question is, which PG will show up and take charge of the flow of the game. You dont have to be spectacular stats wise here, but just manage the game well.
Good post DB. We could have a very good front line. I am very excited that the season will be starting soon. Does anybody have any intelligence on how Lazeric Jones has been doing in practice?
Swami:
A recent L.A. Times article states that the competition for the poing guard position is fierce between Jones and Anderson. That is not really what I wanted to read. I was hoping Jones would be miles ahead of Anderson but that doesnt seem to be the case as the JUCO transfer is having a bad time of it in practices and turning the ball over too much.
The Bruins need an intelligent point guard to keep possessionof the ball and make good decisions. It seems like this will continue to be a nagging pain for the Bruins and will lead to to frustration for the front line bigs who need to find a way of getting the ball down low.
With the exception of Honeycutt, there is no one who can create his own shot for the Bruins. They don't run a mamn to man motion offense well and have never been able to solve a zone.
It will be a rebuilding year for the young and error prone Bruins, but hopefully Smith, Nelsen, Honeycutt and the frosh will stick around for the Twins and a better year in 2011-2012.
I saw a film clip of Lazaric Jones. You can tell that his strength will be on defense. Probably will be one of the better on-ball defenders on the team. However his offense is a big question mark. Does not appear to have the quickness, nor the instinct you would like a point guard to have. I hope I'm dead wrong.
On a side note, I heard Quinn Cook has narrowed his choices to Duke, Ucla and Villanova.
BB:
If you were Cook, where would you go? A defending national champion, the most competitive conference in the country in the Big East or a program with a great past but no future?
Howland needed to recruit a point guard who could run the show; if its going to be a choice of Anderson or the un tested Jones, we are in trouble.
Dont be surprised if Malcolm Lee gets to be a PG and has Lamb or the youngster from Indiana at shooting guard.
They are deep in the front court and they should wear people down but they will not be able to handle the Huskies or Stanford or USC in speed and athleticism.
Powell is shooting guard for 2011-12, so still a big hole next year unless Quinn comes here, but as stated earlier, why would he?
Jammer, I can't argue with any of your points. But I'm surprised Quinn Cook has not committed to Duke once they offered him a scholarship. My guess is that he is thinking about PT. He would have to supplant either Kyle Irving or Austin Rivers in the starting lineup, which would be very difficult. Also with a potential Nba lockout, neither Irving or Rivers may opt out to the NBA after their freshmen year. So I think Ucla (& Villanova?) has a legitimate chance to land Cook.
Also I agree that we might see Lee at PG. In my opinion he did a credible job last year having never before played that position until Division 1 college.
Actually per ESPN it seems that Duke and Ucla are the favorites right now. It comes down to perhaps where he can get the most PT time and if he is thinking about marketing himself, then hed chose UCLA. Why? Bigger market, weak pg play and a good amount of good bigs means more potential impact.
He can be known as the pg that brings UCLA back into light or he can jump on another program's bandwagon. It is pretty much up to him, but if he is looking to make a bigger impact, then UCLA will be better.
We shall see next two weeks or so on his choice.
Cook ahs narrowed it down between Duke and UCLA. I hope he comes to Westwood and makes it his team.
I have seen soem video of Jones and he seems to have a good head on his shoulders despite the "lower level of competition" at the JUCO level. If the Bruins can stay healthy; not be hurt by their PG, get 65% of their points from the front court and play great on the ball defense they can finish .500 in the Pac 10 and get some quality wins against non conference powers like Kansas and BYU, they should be okay.
If we can keep everyone for another year and the Wear Twins are half as good as advertised, they will be contending again.
Reports state that Josh Smith has worked hard and has stayed away from Taco Bell drive throughs; losing 50 pounds. The Bruins seem to have taken their conditioning to the next level and hopefully that means they will run and use those great wing players to finish strong.
Time will tell.
Jammer, I am guessing that you are a fat ass that has never played basketball in your life. Get up off the couch and do something with yourself. Again,I hope I don't catch you saying good things about the bruins this year. You are an ignorant prick.
any news on Elijah Carter and how the visit went?
Well. Sounds like I have your interest peeked. I belive the Bruin Hoop Report was set up for open and honest dialogue about the Bruins. You are using it to showcase your extensive vocabulary.
No need to be insulting.
If you read carefully, there was nothing negative in my post.
Guys like you need to get our head out of the sand and look at reality. Ask why UCLA is not mentioned as one of the top 50 basketball teams in the nation. Being abusive on a public blog clearly shows your ignorance, not mine.
Let's move on past our personal differences. I'm probably old enough to be your father. I was there to watch Goodrich, Wickes, Rowe, Walton, Johnson ... where were you?
It's a rebuilding year and Howland can do it if he gives his kids a chance to showcase their talent.
Tyler Lamb has caught CBH's eye. They will be fine at shooting guard and the front line will be fine in time if they learn to seal and use their off season build up in strength.
Till your next outrage ... cheers!
It certainly is refreshing to hear coach wanting to run more. As a fan and also player for much of my life although not at the college level, I like to see faster pace games. This however doesnt mean there isnt good defense in fast pace games. As a matter of fact, even more energy is required in faster pace games as it tends to favor offense more.
Anyhow I do like Lamb as he seems to be the kind of player like will stick around for a few years. Duke has been lucky to have Nolan Smith and Kyle Singular stick around for so long. This season can be pretty good for the Bruins if the PG indeed manage the game will and the Bigs show up.
We just need to maximize or advantageous and minimize our weaknesses and we will be fine. The 08 and 09 recruiting classes basically didnt do too much yet for us which is why we have been hurting. It is virtually like not recruiting for two years almost.
CBH has them running this year and hopefully their athleticism will come through.
In their open practice on Monday, Howland had Jones playing the point guard along with Lee, Honeycutt, Nelsen and Smith. Lamb will probably be the first guy off the bench and look for Stover to help if any of the bigs gets winded or in foul trouble.
The key will be Jones who seems to be slightly ahead of Andersen on the depth chart. If he can reduce his turnovers and make good decisions, the Bruins will be fine.
Jammer: Excellent and mature posts. Thanks.
I do think that if UCLA does everything you say, we will be better than .500 in the conference. Given last year, I think this team is vastly underrated. I look for them to improve steadily over the next few months. The key will be better conditioning which means much better man-to-man defense. They must have referred to the "Pyramid of Success" after last year's debacle. I think we can win the conference.
Rob:
Staying healthy will be a real key for the young team. Smith seems to be as good as advertised; but can he run the floor?
Early reports say that CBH will go 9 deep which will decrease the minutes for some of the starters like Lee and Jones.
The young and small kid from Indiana seems to be out of his element and a lock down defender will keep him on the bench. That might have been a wasted scholarship.
In the last two open scrimmages, the team combined for 162 points. Is up-tempo working or is there no defense being played?
If Jones can make this his team; they will be fine. I am not convinced that Malcolm Lee can handle the pressure of being the go to shooting guard. He was given a free pass last year for playing out of position at PG.
If the guys up front can do 65% of the scoring and Jones runs a smart offense, they will be good enough to be in the top 5 of the conference. Lamb and Stover have to play huge off the bench and there has to be a dramatic improvement in Andersen's play.
They have to have the perfect storm and keep these guys on campus next year so the Wear Boys can come in and dominate. Imagine a front line of Wear, Nelsen, Smith, Honeycutt, Lamb and Stover.
They will be better than last year ...can't get worse. But this is a year to establish their identity and then challenge for a Conference title and NCAA berth. UW, UA, USC, Stanford are all superor teams right now in the conference. A 4th place finish would be realistic. They simply can't have bad losses in non conference games like they did last year.
They have to play as a unit; have great weakside help on D, fast break when they can and be prepared to face a lot of zone defense. They will miss Roll and his outside shooting and his sense of calm on the floor. This group is young and they have not played in venues such as Oregon, Standford or Arizona. Add Kansas on the schedule and they could be victims to some scary final results.
Who are these Bruins? Up tempo? Lock down defense? Full court pressure? Trapping the ball on top and in the corners?
Unless CBH gives them a mission; a steady 8-9 man rotation and some pride, they will fall disappointingly short again. And again we will have to ponder what went wrong.
I am worried that CBH is getting out recruited in the conference and that a lot of very good players are signing on with his former team (Pitt)and keeping them in top 10 teams in the country category. Even Lavin seems to be getting some high profile kids to the Big Apple. Losing out on CA kids is a shame but not having the pipeline in other parts of the country will hurt them.
A winning season could change all that in a heartbeat.
Let's hope so!
Report and Swami's predictions based on the Westmont scrimmage:
1. Nelson - 20 points - leaner looking - quicker - a little hurried. Will likely lead the team in scoring. Improved shooter. A beast on the fast break.
2. Smith - a very large young man - quick on his feet though. Will be an offensive force inside. Good hands. And a good foul shooter, by the way. This is no Bobo.
3. Jones - will be solid - a definite improvement over Jerime. Nice outside shot if left alone. Good court sense. Will want to see him against a premier guard.
4. Lee - looked pretty good. No noticeable improvement over last year, except perhaps a little more confident and under control.
5. Honeycutt - his shot looked better - didn't see much from him at this game. If this is all he has this year, no way is he NBA bound after this season
6. Anderson - not bad (really) - his shot looked solid. He will spell Jones a fair amount, but this will be Jones' team.
7. Stover - the most pleasant surprise - much improved over the little we saw in last year's pre-season. The dude can run and loves to block shots. He'll be a decent backup to Smith, and he'll keep getting better and better as he grows into his body. Tremendous upside. This is the kind of kid who will be a testament to Ben Howland's ability to build a player.
8. Lamb - will be a major contributor - good size wing - his shot wasn't clicking tonight, but he'll hit some big ones for us.
9. Brendan Lane - kind of disappointing, as I have thought he has potential - still a bit weak in the upper body and hands, and yet to prove he can hit consistently from the outside.
10. Matt Carlino - I like this kid - showed some sneaky quickness tonight. Nose from the basket. Didn't hit anything outside, but I've seen him on tape and he has a nice left handed stroke. Can we fantasize that he is another Gail Goodrich, or even 75% of that?
Team as a whole: Ben has let the horse loose; these kids were running way more than in past years, and Ben seems to be willing to take some of the bad stuff (turnovers) that goes with that. Defensively, they pretty much sucked, letting inferior opponents run a Princeton offense against them with some success. Ben ought to bring that team to scrimmage with us at least once every week so our boys practice against some sneaky back-cutters and aggressive one on one drivers.
Swami's last prediction in this post? I will have pleasant dreams about the Bruins tonight.
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