Kenner League July 8 2012 RECAP

Curren$y: "Flight Briefing"


Tombs 82 Can't Be Stop 72

Can't Be Stop is the second of at least two Kenner League names that are probably grammatically incorrect. If Can't Be Stop is a team name, I'm allowed to call my franchise I Love Lamp.

In the latest evidence that Hoyatalk consensus is just as good as a coin flip, today's Tombs game marked the debut of Hoya incoming freshmen D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera (whose name is absolute murder to type on a phone) and Brandon Bolden. The third member of the recruiting class, Bradley Hayes, watched from the bench wearing something in between a normal shoe and a full leg cast, and that's as specific as I'm getting because Hoyatalk MEDICAL consensus is just as good as a Ouija board.

In addition to the three freshmen and Otto Porter (at the LBJ Skills Camp this weekend), Tombs features current Hoya walk-on John Caprio and likely future Hoya walk-on David Allen from the state of Texas (his story and the associated Guess Who? game is in another thread on the front page). Filling out the roster are Max Kenyi (once subject of a Hoyatalk "Guess Where?" game...Seton Hall, according to the announcer) and Jamal Wise.

Can't Be Stop features, among others, Amadou Kilkenny-Diaw and the current Secretary of Education.

The first half was close throughout and not as fast-paced as most Kenner League games during the weekend. One notable "Only in Kenner" moment was Brandon Bolden hitting a long two-point field goal over Arne Duncan late in the first half. CBS took a 36-33 lead into the break.

The young legs on Tombs gradually pulled them ahead. DSR made a run of four consecutive three-pointers across both halves, and when David Allen converted a three-point play Tombs led 59-50 halfway to home in the second stanza. CBS didn't have the burst they needed to raise tempo and despite a valiant effort never closed beyond the final margin.

D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera: 26 points, 5-8 2FG, 4-5 3FG, 4-4 FT, 3RB, 4AST, 0TO, 2STL

I couldn't find any Hoya newcomer in my quick research that had a more impressive stat line in their Kenner League debut.

DSR's 26 points matched the high total for any of last year's freshman class during their first Kenner League (Jabril scored 26 once and Mikael had 25-8-4 block game). He certainly excited the crowd and made an impression on the people whose comments I could see on Twitter.

In DSR's first game(*) I saw a number of sylistic similarities to how Austin Freeman--who fittingly was in the building--played in Kenner while he was still at Georgetown. He uses a similar hesitation dribble at the top of the key and his non-power move involves a change of speed. If he didn't get to the rim when he attacks the basket, he favored a short fall away jumper from 5-7 feet that I think he made every time. On the outside, he possesses a smooth, composed shot that again reminds me a lot of Freeman's. He makes similar use of a perimeter screen--he'll dribble around it and if the
defender goes under, he can pull up; he can also receive a pass and get his release off behind a screen without much trouble for someone who isn't especially tall. He scored on a three in transition as well.

(*I should mention that Smith-Rivera is the only Hoya freshman who I saw play before today, and that's only when Oak Hill was on ESPNU.)

He scored in a variety of ways, as a matter of fact, and that's why I'd agree with the masses that he's an exciting player to watch for the rest of the summer. Plenty of players put up 26 in Kenner, but this kind of balanced, efficient game is more rare.

Another small thing I liked: he got Brandon Bolden involved a couple times when the big guy wasn't really scoring.

Nothing spectacular--a pretty common alley oop and a pick and roll play--but a nice thing to do.

Now...let me throw in a few caveats:

--DSR was the primary (almost exclusive) ball handler for Tombs when on the court. That alone gives you more scoring options.

--Speaking of which, without Otto Porter the Tombs fielded two walk-on Hoyas, another freshman, and two Kenner League vets who aren't intended to be featured scorers. DSR was always probably going to shoulder more of the scoring burden than, say, any Tombs player last year would have.

--The quality of opponent wasn't particularly high. Can't Be Stop, I'm guessing, won't content for any Kenner titles, and they don't feature much in the way of high-D1 caliber talent. Their starting center was a bench player during the Esherick-Thompson III bridge era (I love AKD though), and their sixth man is a cabinet secretary in the Obama administration.

This is all to say: He played a very good first game. He clearly possesses some exciting talents. But it's not likely he'll duplicate this performance--nor be expected to--most games out this summer.

That three-point stroke tho...

Brandon Bolden: 10 points, 5-10 FG, 5RB, 4TO, 1BLK, 3F

One theme I wrote about in yesterday's games is that how one should judge the performance of Hoya guards (Starks and Trawick specifically) based on how they're being used by their respective Kenner League teams.

With regard to centers: today a key theme is considering who they're matched up against when judging their performance.

In Game #1, Moses Ayegba struggled--and in fact may have been scoreless--when matched against one of the few high D1 true centers in the Kenner League. Brandon Bolden found himself on the opposite end of the spectrum, often matched against Amadou Kilkenny-Diaw, who saw frontcourt time during some of the leaner recent Hoya seasons.

AKD actually had a pretty good game, including scoring a number of times when guarded by Bolden. Kind of a classic matchup of veteran savvy and youthful exubernace...old guy usually wins.

Bolden is a good athlete for someone of his height, although he's quite thin. On initial viewing, he takes an athletic approach to the game: he tries to block every shot remotely in his area, he sprints around the floor and he's "active" if you want to call it that.

The catch is: his fundamentals have to catch up with the athleticism. For all the blocks he attempted, I only caught one time when he actually got ball. On several occasions he fell for shot fakes and found himself out of position. His defense overall today wasn't quite where you'd want it to be for Big East competition.

Offensively, he scored on the athletic plays: an alley oop from DSR, a follow-up jam. Outside of the open court, it was hit or miss. More strength training will likely improve his ability to fight for post position--gonna be tougher competition than Amadou in his future. Jump shooting was again hit or miss, though he did hit a very deep two over Arne Duncan...and that's about the strangest sentence I'll write today. Want to see if he's got any post moves to show.

John Caprio: 11 points, 5-7 FG, 1-2 FT, 5RB, 1TO, 1BLK

My guess is that Caprio's production will fall a little bit once Otto Porter returns. They may even go to Max Kenyi and/or Jamal Wise in the starting lineup to pair with Otto, DSR, and Brandon. Still, that's not bad for a walk-on, and I gotta say even though he's nobody's idea of quick with his first step Caprio gets to the rim off the dribble a fair amount in these Kenner games.

After the game, as Ron Bailey from HoyaReport did a photo op for the Tombs freshmen + Amadou with Arne Duncan, Coach Turner appeared to photobomb it.

Thanks for the recap. Looking forward to seeing the Tombs on Friday.

Thanks as always for the time that you put into these, FLHoya.

Not sure how the first two points are really caveats. You're making the argument that he's basically the best player on a lousy team, and yet he put up a stat line that was ridiculously efficient - the number of points isn't nearly as impressive as the efficiency and the lack of turnovers given that he was the primary ballhandler.

The second point about level of competition is well taken, but I'd throw out the point people have been making today - he was the top scorer on the top high school team in the nation. I don't think Kenner (and especially the level of defense played in Kenner) is that steep a jump for him. My guess is that he can throw up 26 point games this summer with the best of them.

Great summary!

No.

Lubick, Hopkins, Ayegba, Hayes, and maybe Adams for maybe 1.5 - 2 slots (assuming there are times when Porter plays PF). How is this something to be "terrified" about?

Only two things scare me and one of them is nuclear war.

Where's Lubick?