Post by FLHoya on Jul 24, 2011 20:02:59 GMT -5
KENNER LEAGUE SUNDAY JULY 24th
A note about yesterday's Tombs-DC Assault game (for additional comments on the game, I highly recommend posts #192-194 of the master Kenner League):
I took the yesterday off from Kenner League writing/Hoop Club tweeting, but I did stop by McDonough in the evening to watch the Tombs game. I tweeted (personal account) at halftime that I thought the first half was the best Tombs half of the summer. The score isn't relevant; what impressed was the team basketball on both ends of the court.
Even with a limited Jabril Trawick (he apparently hurt his toe sometime prior to the game), Tombs shared the ball well (John Caprio was dropping dimes, for goodness sake!) and had many assisted baskets. I thought Tombs in particular did well with sharp interior passing to integrate Tyler Adams and Mikael Hopkins...two different styled frontcourt players.
The defense IMO was the decisive side of the court in the first half. A very good team effort...nothing that'll show up in a stat sheet or even player recap, but in general on several long defensive possessions Tombs communicated well and shared help/recovery responsibility between players. Tombs lead was such I felt because they limited a good team via solid defense.
For me, the decisive factor in the second half factor was that Tombs ran out of gas. Tombs played yesterday with just a six-man roster (the freshmen and Caprio), whereas they normally have at least a nominal bench (Harvard's Max Kenyi + another player) if not a Jeff Green/Tyler Crawford type ringer. Combine the short roster with Trawick's limited minutes/effectiveness due to injury and Tyler Adams working back into playing condition and some fatigue was to be expected. By about 10 minutes to go, Tombs was clearly fading: they became slower to loose balls, didn't get back as well on D to stop breaks, and missed a few putbacks from tired legs.
What was great though...and what made this such a compelling game (probably the best KL game I've seen in past two summers)...was that despite this, both teams (DCA played with a short-ish roster too) kept making big shots in the final minutes, as they traded one point leads. In particular, Otto Porter with under a minute to go hit a very high degree of difficulty (though he's made that shot multiple times this summer) fall-away 12 footer, and Tyler Adams converted an offensive putback to give Tombs their final lead. Even Mikael Hopkins' waved-off basket that would have given Tombs the lead back with around 10 seconds to go was an assertive take.
There's a discussion starting now about how this Tombs team compares to other historical Tombs Kenner League squads. For me, it's tough to judge purely from lack of perspective: I started attending/writing in 2005, and didn't see in person the two cited examples of great Tombs teams (1994 and 2004). One thing that's probably worth adding: only once in a while because of roster changeover rhythms do you see a team w/ 5 freshmen like this year's Tombs.
The all-freshmen setup, I've been saying all summer, has paid tremendous dividends. It allows the players to develop a relationship on the court and assume leading roles on a team, rather than defer to veterans or NBA players. Whether or not Jabril Trawick is destined to play any point guard (my educated guess: he'll backup Markel Starks but Jason Clark will take some PG minutes as well), it's nonetheless valuable for him to lead the team during the summer. Likewise, Greg Whittington plays sometimes as a 2, 3 and 4 and Hopkins a 3 or 4...who knows if/where they'll play, but it's good to stretch your skills.
You couldn't have asked for a better setup than Tombs-DCA. Tombs played with a short bench (Caprio), Trawick banged up and Adams working into shape (he still needs multiple breathers) against a team featuring KL vets Jeff Green, Tyler Crawford, and Isaiah Tate who by the second half were clearly taking the game seriously and challenging Tombs. Green in particular did some great work defending Adams in the post and working against Hopkins on offense, really pushing both GU freshmen beyond their limits. They struggled on many possessions, but gradually Tyler started making stronger moves and Hopkins hung in there.
Of course, Jeff Green knows how to finish, and he pwned the end of that game...zero chance Hopkins was stopping Green on that final possesion. Same token: DCA exploited Adams having to guard a shooter and kept making threes over him. But that's the point of these summer games: the result isn't really relevant...what you want is for the GU freshmen to be challenged and ideally expand their games to meet those challenges. I thought it was notable, for instance, that Tyler Adams finally started using his body to shield Green in the second half and get some layups, or that Hopkins played with such a purpose inside (slashing, authoritative post and faceup moves, strong finishing), or that Otto Porter hit an unreal fade-away in the final minute to put Tombs ahead. They didn't win the game, but I still think under the circumstances they played their best game of the summer, and probably the best for a Tombs team since the Green/Hibbert years in 04-06.
All you can ask for in a Saturday afternoon.
A song to read to:
Elvis Presley, "Burning Love"
CLYDE'S 70 Town Tavern 63
Late in the first half, Nate Lubick took a hard blow to his right shoulder while setting a screen on the perimeter. Neither Nate nor defender were at fault in the full-speed collision; it was the type of bang-up that happens from time to time in a quick-moving basketball game. Nate let out at loud grunt after the collision, and headed to the locker room shortly thereafter, clearly favoring his right arm. He returned to the bench early in the second half with a large ice pack taped to his right shoulder/upper arm (picture a baseball pitcher icing his arm in the dugout after going seven innings). It was clear Nate wasn't going to return for the second half. He did appear to be in some discomfort (think "ouch, that smarts" rather that "lemme go pop that back in"). He retired to the locker room in the final minutes of the game, having ditched the ice pack but added a sling, which he was wearing several hours later during the DCX-Takeover game.
Nate absence, of course, limits the usefulness of any evaluation of his performance. One of the "occupational" hazards of Kenner League is uncertain rosters: you show up hoping to watch certain players, and even if schedules are in order, player availability is often up in the air.
As it happened, Nate Lubick was having a fairly productive, workmanlike first half before his injury. Aaron Bowen had also warmed up from the field, hitting two of his first three treys. After Nate's injury, Bowen only converted one more field goal.
The game itself, though it lacked many fireworks (save a Jeff Green signature: cherry picking blocks from behind), was a fairly tight affair. Town Tavern led by a few baskets for most of the game, until Clyde's put on a late mini-run in the final quarter of action. Clyde's tied the game with 5 minutes remaining and went ahead for good shortly thereafter. With 30 seconds to go and Clyde's up two points, GW's Dwayne Smith capped off a strong scoring performance with a dagger three pointer that secured what became a 70-63 victory.
Nate Lubick: (1st half only) 5 points, 2-3 FG, 1-1 FT, 7 rebounds, 1 foul
Nate's first half was indeed a workmanlike performance, which also notably included drawing two hard charges in the paint. Nate's primary matchup on both ends was former Radford Highlander Joey Lynch-Flohr, who at 6-8, 220ish pounds provides a fairly equal size comparison. Both players seemed eager to play physically in the post, and they engaged in several good positional battles; Nate did well to deny Lynch-Flohr good low post position and limit touches (not completely, and L-F scored once or twice on Nate), and used his size and leverage well.
Nate is consistently a willing and active rebounder, and will compete for every ball in his area. This can be a plus and a minus. On one hand, he'll gather a higher than average number of 50/50 rebounds. On the other, he still tends to reach over the back and swat at rebounds, a move that often earns a foul call in the Big East (or anywhere, for that matter).
One of Nate's field goals was an offensive putback for a three-point play. On the other, he received the ball in post position about 8 feet from the basket, backed Lynch-Flohr down with a few dribbles, and scored on a running left-handed scoop layup.
Nate occasionally directs traffic and advises teammates. Ahead of one possession, he directed Aaron Bowen to move into position for a set play, in which Bowen cut from the corner behind his high screen for a wide open three point attempt that Bowen swished.
One note: Nate was noticeably gassed after about 10-12 minutes, and slowed considerably running the floor until he was subbed out for a breather.
Aaron Bowen: 10 points, 2-6 2FG, 2-5 3FG, 1RB, 1A, 2TO, 3BLK, 5 fouls
On Aaron's first field goal of the game, he drove to his right from the perimeter, glided to the basket and finished with a rather graceful yet simple looking layup in traffic. To me personally, there isn't anything overwhelming about Aaron Bowen's athleticism (he doesn't leap out of the gym or blow past anyone), yet at the same time his length and smooth way about the court allow him to make offensive moves look deceptively simple when he attacks the basket.
If only he did that more often.
For most of the remainder of the game, Bowen became a jump shooter, an area that he's struggled with for a lot of the summer. His first half performance looked like a return to form for: confident, his shot composed, he looked the part of a dangerous spot up shooter and a valuable role player. By the second half, he cooled down and settled for some questionable shots (guarded step-backs from 18 feet, for instance). When Aaron goes cold from the field you can tell: his shots tend to fall very short.
As a writer, after about three Kenner League viewings per player, it becomes difficult to say something new. Part of this is because you begin to form an opinion, or perhaps "typecast" a player through the evaluative portion of a writeup. Part of it though is that you are in fact evaluating the same player, and (for me) the further along players are in college, the less likely there are to be major changes to their style of play.
For me, the Aaron Bowen story of the summer has been: better than you'd expect attacking the basket and using his length, but needs to do that more instead of shooting jumpers. The thing is, he DOES attack the basket once or twice a game with great results, but without fail relies most heavily on three point shooting. Leaves you wanting more.
A note about yesterday's Tombs-DC Assault game (for additional comments on the game, I highly recommend posts #192-194 of the master Kenner League):
I took the yesterday off from Kenner League writing/Hoop Club tweeting, but I did stop by McDonough in the evening to watch the Tombs game. I tweeted (personal account) at halftime that I thought the first half was the best Tombs half of the summer. The score isn't relevant; what impressed was the team basketball on both ends of the court.
Even with a limited Jabril Trawick (he apparently hurt his toe sometime prior to the game), Tombs shared the ball well (John Caprio was dropping dimes, for goodness sake!) and had many assisted baskets. I thought Tombs in particular did well with sharp interior passing to integrate Tyler Adams and Mikael Hopkins...two different styled frontcourt players.
The defense IMO was the decisive side of the court in the first half. A very good team effort...nothing that'll show up in a stat sheet or even player recap, but in general on several long defensive possessions Tombs communicated well and shared help/recovery responsibility between players. Tombs lead was such I felt because they limited a good team via solid defense.
For me, the decisive factor in the second half factor was that Tombs ran out of gas. Tombs played yesterday with just a six-man roster (the freshmen and Caprio), whereas they normally have at least a nominal bench (Harvard's Max Kenyi + another player) if not a Jeff Green/Tyler Crawford type ringer. Combine the short roster with Trawick's limited minutes/effectiveness due to injury and Tyler Adams working back into playing condition and some fatigue was to be expected. By about 10 minutes to go, Tombs was clearly fading: they became slower to loose balls, didn't get back as well on D to stop breaks, and missed a few putbacks from tired legs.
What was great though...and what made this such a compelling game (probably the best KL game I've seen in past two summers)...was that despite this, both teams (DCA played with a short-ish roster too) kept making big shots in the final minutes, as they traded one point leads. In particular, Otto Porter with under a minute to go hit a very high degree of difficulty (though he's made that shot multiple times this summer) fall-away 12 footer, and Tyler Adams converted an offensive putback to give Tombs their final lead. Even Mikael Hopkins' waved-off basket that would have given Tombs the lead back with around 10 seconds to go was an assertive take.
There's a discussion starting now about how this Tombs team compares to other historical Tombs Kenner League squads. For me, it's tough to judge purely from lack of perspective: I started attending/writing in 2005, and didn't see in person the two cited examples of great Tombs teams (1994 and 2004). One thing that's probably worth adding: only once in a while because of roster changeover rhythms do you see a team w/ 5 freshmen like this year's Tombs.
The all-freshmen setup, I've been saying all summer, has paid tremendous dividends. It allows the players to develop a relationship on the court and assume leading roles on a team, rather than defer to veterans or NBA players. Whether or not Jabril Trawick is destined to play any point guard (my educated guess: he'll backup Markel Starks but Jason Clark will take some PG minutes as well), it's nonetheless valuable for him to lead the team during the summer. Likewise, Greg Whittington plays sometimes as a 2, 3 and 4 and Hopkins a 3 or 4...who knows if/where they'll play, but it's good to stretch your skills.
You couldn't have asked for a better setup than Tombs-DCA. Tombs played with a short bench (Caprio), Trawick banged up and Adams working into shape (he still needs multiple breathers) against a team featuring KL vets Jeff Green, Tyler Crawford, and Isaiah Tate who by the second half were clearly taking the game seriously and challenging Tombs. Green in particular did some great work defending Adams in the post and working against Hopkins on offense, really pushing both GU freshmen beyond their limits. They struggled on many possessions, but gradually Tyler started making stronger moves and Hopkins hung in there.
Of course, Jeff Green knows how to finish, and he pwned the end of that game...zero chance Hopkins was stopping Green on that final possesion. Same token: DCA exploited Adams having to guard a shooter and kept making threes over him. But that's the point of these summer games: the result isn't really relevant...what you want is for the GU freshmen to be challenged and ideally expand their games to meet those challenges. I thought it was notable, for instance, that Tyler Adams finally started using his body to shield Green in the second half and get some layups, or that Hopkins played with such a purpose inside (slashing, authoritative post and faceup moves, strong finishing), or that Otto Porter hit an unreal fade-away in the final minute to put Tombs ahead. They didn't win the game, but I still think under the circumstances they played their best game of the summer, and probably the best for a Tombs team since the Green/Hibbert years in 04-06.
All you can ask for in a Saturday afternoon.
A song to read to:
Elvis Presley, "Burning Love"
CLYDE'S 70 Town Tavern 63
Late in the first half, Nate Lubick took a hard blow to his right shoulder while setting a screen on the perimeter. Neither Nate nor defender were at fault in the full-speed collision; it was the type of bang-up that happens from time to time in a quick-moving basketball game. Nate let out at loud grunt after the collision, and headed to the locker room shortly thereafter, clearly favoring his right arm. He returned to the bench early in the second half with a large ice pack taped to his right shoulder/upper arm (picture a baseball pitcher icing his arm in the dugout after going seven innings). It was clear Nate wasn't going to return for the second half. He did appear to be in some discomfort (think "ouch, that smarts" rather that "lemme go pop that back in"). He retired to the locker room in the final minutes of the game, having ditched the ice pack but added a sling, which he was wearing several hours later during the DCX-Takeover game.
Nate absence, of course, limits the usefulness of any evaluation of his performance. One of the "occupational" hazards of Kenner League is uncertain rosters: you show up hoping to watch certain players, and even if schedules are in order, player availability is often up in the air.
As it happened, Nate Lubick was having a fairly productive, workmanlike first half before his injury. Aaron Bowen had also warmed up from the field, hitting two of his first three treys. After Nate's injury, Bowen only converted one more field goal.
The game itself, though it lacked many fireworks (save a Jeff Green signature: cherry picking blocks from behind), was a fairly tight affair. Town Tavern led by a few baskets for most of the game, until Clyde's put on a late mini-run in the final quarter of action. Clyde's tied the game with 5 minutes remaining and went ahead for good shortly thereafter. With 30 seconds to go and Clyde's up two points, GW's Dwayne Smith capped off a strong scoring performance with a dagger three pointer that secured what became a 70-63 victory.
Nate Lubick: (1st half only) 5 points, 2-3 FG, 1-1 FT, 7 rebounds, 1 foul
Nate's first half was indeed a workmanlike performance, which also notably included drawing two hard charges in the paint. Nate's primary matchup on both ends was former Radford Highlander Joey Lynch-Flohr, who at 6-8, 220ish pounds provides a fairly equal size comparison. Both players seemed eager to play physically in the post, and they engaged in several good positional battles; Nate did well to deny Lynch-Flohr good low post position and limit touches (not completely, and L-F scored once or twice on Nate), and used his size and leverage well.
Nate is consistently a willing and active rebounder, and will compete for every ball in his area. This can be a plus and a minus. On one hand, he'll gather a higher than average number of 50/50 rebounds. On the other, he still tends to reach over the back and swat at rebounds, a move that often earns a foul call in the Big East (or anywhere, for that matter).
One of Nate's field goals was an offensive putback for a three-point play. On the other, he received the ball in post position about 8 feet from the basket, backed Lynch-Flohr down with a few dribbles, and scored on a running left-handed scoop layup.
Nate occasionally directs traffic and advises teammates. Ahead of one possession, he directed Aaron Bowen to move into position for a set play, in which Bowen cut from the corner behind his high screen for a wide open three point attempt that Bowen swished.
One note: Nate was noticeably gassed after about 10-12 minutes, and slowed considerably running the floor until he was subbed out for a breather.
Aaron Bowen: 10 points, 2-6 2FG, 2-5 3FG, 1RB, 1A, 2TO, 3BLK, 5 fouls
On Aaron's first field goal of the game, he drove to his right from the perimeter, glided to the basket and finished with a rather graceful yet simple looking layup in traffic. To me personally, there isn't anything overwhelming about Aaron Bowen's athleticism (he doesn't leap out of the gym or blow past anyone), yet at the same time his length and smooth way about the court allow him to make offensive moves look deceptively simple when he attacks the basket.
If only he did that more often.
For most of the remainder of the game, Bowen became a jump shooter, an area that he's struggled with for a lot of the summer. His first half performance looked like a return to form for: confident, his shot composed, he looked the part of a dangerous spot up shooter and a valuable role player. By the second half, he cooled down and settled for some questionable shots (guarded step-backs from 18 feet, for instance). When Aaron goes cold from the field you can tell: his shots tend to fall very short.
As a writer, after about three Kenner League viewings per player, it becomes difficult to say something new. Part of this is because you begin to form an opinion, or perhaps "typecast" a player through the evaluative portion of a writeup. Part of it though is that you are in fact evaluating the same player, and (for me) the further along players are in college, the less likely there are to be major changes to their style of play.
For me, the Aaron Bowen story of the summer has been: better than you'd expect attacking the basket and using his length, but needs to do that more instead of shooting jumpers. The thing is, he DOES attack the basket once or twice a game with great results, but without fail relies most heavily on three point shooting. Leaves you wanting more.
