Post by vv83 on Aug 5, 2012 21:13:41 GMT -5
I went to almost all the weekend Kenner league games this summer (missed one Saturday) – so I figured I should share some general thoughts on what the summer performance of the Hoyas might tell us about their development. It is, of course, hard to make any really meaningful judgments from Kenner games – but I know I always enjoy reading any updates people post, so I figured some people might be interested in some summary reflections.
I don’t claim any expertise beyond being a fan who has watched a lot of college hoops over the past 30+ years – so these are just slightly informed opinions, which may be way off base! There are a lot of people who know a whole lot more about basketball than me who were at a lot of Kenner games this summer, so hopefully some of you with more expertise will use this thread as an opportunity to share your own analysis. Also - note that my comments are likely to err on the side of the positive – I’m the kind of fan that wants to be positive in anticipation of an upcoming season!
MARKEL STARKS: certainly one of the most impressive Hoyas this summer. He regularly scored 20-30 points, occasionally even more. He was consistently aggressive offensively, but not to the point of recklessness. He showed a good mix of driving to the basket (and finishing quite consistently), pulling up for jumpers off the dribble, hitting floaters in the lane, and nailing a solid percentage of his threes. He also showed some good vision passing off penetration, although he seemed to look for his own shot a bit more than he looked to set up others. I have a hard time judging defensive play in Kenner except for obvious stuff (e.g. steals and blocks), but in general Markel seemed to be working hard to fight through screens, communicated well with teammates, etc. It was great to see Markel play with an aggressive confidence. He seems well positioned to step into a significant leadership role this year.
NATE LUBICK: Nate is noticeably trimmer, and seemed to move better in chasing down rebounds out of his area. He was securing some rebounds that he tended to bat around in the past – he had around 20 boards in Clydes’ first playoff game. His finishing ability around the basket was more consistent, although with the pretty wide variance in defenders in kenner, it is hard to make any definitive judgment on this. His shooting stroke still was a bit of a struggle. He hit some jumpers, but missed quite a few foul shots. He was effective with driving across the lane for hook shots (“hooker in the lane!”) with both his left and right hands. Defensively, Nate has always been pretty solid in his positioning, and he had a bit more mobility and burst off his feet – nothing dramatic, but it looks like the lighter weight will help his mobility on both ends of the court.
OTTO PORTER: Otto owned the boards in most games this summer, regularly going for double digits, sometimes for 15+. He was the one player whose defensive excellence was obvious even in a looser summer league environment. He got his hands on lots of balls, came away with lots of steals and blocks. Best of all, he often played his best D late in games, making a number of clutch game winning defensive plays throughout the summer. He did not shoot a whole lot of threes, but his stroke was solid. He also shot well from the line, and continued to hit a wide variety of pull up and fall away jumpers. The really fun new element this summer – Otto coming down with a board and heading right up court to start the break. He did this very well, showing a good handle and good vision. He also finished extremely well in transition. All in all, it is hard not to be extremely excited about Otto’s potential for this season. I don’t think anyone who watched him play this summer would be at all surprised if he is right in the hunt for BE player of the year this season.
MIKAEL HOPKINS: did not play the second half of the summer – has anyone heard why? I assume some kind of minor injury, but nothing was obvious, and he was at almost all the Team Takeover games even when he was not playing. From his early summer play – he had some great stretches, where he used his quickness to score effectively in the post, and also by putting the ball on the floor from the high post. Hopkins clearly has a lot of talent, and he seems to be growing more comfortable and confident. He did have a few games where he was quite quiet for stretches, but he usually got back in the groove at some point and made significant contributions. Defensively – he did not control the defensive boards the way Otto and (to a much lesser extent) Lubick did this summer, although it is not as if he was weak here- just nothing special. Defensively, he uses his athleticism to block some shots, but is not a particularly intimidating presence in the middle. Ideally, Hopkins would play mostly 4. But depending on the health and development of other center candidates (moses, Adams, Hayes) we may need Hopkins to play quite a bit of center this year. Hard to tell from this summer how that would work out.
JABRIL TRAWICK: Jabril certainly brings it every game, even in the summer. You have to love his intense competitive spirit. He sometimes gets a bit caught up in the emotion, but on the whole he channels his aggression effectively. He was playing a more point guard oriented style, definitely looking to pass more than he did last year. He and Whittington had a good feel for one another – they ran one or two sweet back door cuts each game, and Trawick found Greg for some great lob dunks in transition. His ball handling was OK, although whether he would stand up to defensive pressure from top level defensive point guards is an open question. He thrived at attacking the basket, using his strength and athleticism to get into the lane. He finished pretty well, and continued to draw plenty of fouls. Jabril did on occasion attack the rim a bit wrecklessly - but he probably has to play aggressively to maximize his strengths, and his judgment was pretty sound on the whole. His shot looked more or less the same as last year. Decent foul shooter – not great, but looks like he should be able to hit 70% or so fairly consistently. He hit some threes, but missed his share as well. Jabril will probably never be a real weapon as a shooter, but the hope should be that he can develop the way Sapp did. Sapp was not a great natural shooter, but he improved over time, and was at his best as a shooter in clutch situations. Given Jabril’s competitivenes, I would not be at all surprised if he develops into a similar kind of “best in the clutch” shooterHe is a good defender, but quick guards can give him trouble. He had a great matchup with Markel this summer – he overpowered markel physically, but Markel outquicked him consistently. They went back and forth all game, both scoring over 25.
GREG WHITTINGTON: every game, greg would have a few breathtaking moments where he would come gliding downcourt with the ball, and bound to the hoop for a sweet finish in just a couple of long strides. He also did a good job backing down smaller players when he had a size advantage. Defensively, he got his hands on lots of balls, and did a solid job defending smaller, quicker guards. Greg is also very competitive and plays with an edge. He is not as consistently aggressive as Jabril, or as Starks was this summer. This has a good and bad side. He rarely forces anything; but sometimes he can seem to get a bit out of the flow offensively. His outside shooting was a bit hit and miss. His form is close to textbook, and he hit his share of threes. But he also missed plenty – usually not by much, but his shot looks so good, and he shows such good judgment in when to shoot it (almost always open in the flow of the offense) that you just expect him to make more. Hopefully this will come with a little time. Greg is a big time talent, and he should take a step forward this year – look at his stats from the last month last year, and that should be about what we should expect from him on a regular basis this year. But the long term potential is so enticing – his combination of length, athleticism, and skill is pretty elite, and if he can handle and shoot well enough to play the 2, he certainly could develop into an NBA prospect. Final note – Jabril and Greg’s team made it to the Kenner championship both years, losing a great game last year and winning a blowout this year. That kind of summer league success probably does not mean much. But Jabril and Greg are both really competitive guys who play with an edge – and they have won a lot of games together the last two summers. I’m probably being far too optimistic about this, but I do think there is something positive to be drawn from this fact in terms of the leadership these two can provide during the regular season.
MOSES AYEGBA: Moses missed some time in the middle of the summer (I think because of damage to a couple of teeth), but played quite a bit early and late in the summer season. I missed more of his games than those of the most other guys, so I don’t have as much data to go on. Offensively, he clearly has worked hard on moving across the lane from left to right to shoot the driving hook shot, and he was able to convert it a decent percentage of the time. But he did not do too much else offensively in the games I saw. Defensively- I thought that last summer, Moses showed exceptional mobility defensively. I was especially impressed with his ability to provide a strong challenge on a perimeter jumper, then get back into great rebounding position. This summer, he just did not seem as quick-footed. He likely is still recovering from the ACL tear, and hopefully he’ll continue to progress physically. He definitely looked a bit bigger/stronger. This helped him on the defensive boards, where he was solid. Hard to project what we can expect from him this year – this is probably one of the bigger question marks on the team, given how much we could benefit if Moses can provide solid defense/rebounding and relatively turnover free offense for 15 minutes or so each game.
AARON BOWEN: I only saw two or three of Aaron’s games, so I can’t offer any really meaningful insight. He is definitely athletic, and the team he played on (coach Turner’s team) liked to run, so this suited his style well. His athleticism plays well in transition and he finishes well attacking the basket. He also passed well in transition the few times I saw him play. I did not see him shoot many jumpers, so no helpful insight there.
BRANDON BOLDEN: Because he seemed not to play much his last year or two of high school; and because there have been rumors that he was not a particularly hard working or focused player, I think a lot of people are not expecting much from Bolden. Given this context, I thought he was a pleasant surprise this summer. He is certainly raw – very thin, needs a lot of skill development. But he is long and athletic. And it seemed to me that he played hard pretty much all the time – I got no sense that he was a lazy or unfocused player. Just raw and inexperienced. He showed his frustration at time over bobbled passes (his hands are not great at this point), getting his shot blocked, etc. – but this was constructive frustration, as he seems to know what he wants to do, he just is not quite there yet in his ability to finish plays consistently. He got muscled defensively and on the boards fairly often. But he also got his fair share of rebounds. His timing on shot blocking was not too good; but he still blocked some shots. As both a rebounder and shot blocker, his length and athleticism sometimes makes up for his lack of strength and experience. And he certainly looks to dunk anything he can, and dunks very emphatically when he has a fairly clear path to the hoop. He showed some ability to finish in the post going left, although he has no right hand to speak of – right now, he makes the Georgetown version of Greg Monroe look ambidextrous. He had a few really nice transition hoops, where he used his length and athleticism (there are those words again!) to swoop to the basket. His shooting form is not bad, but he does not knock down too many of his outside/foul shots. He does not get much rotation on his shot. It will be hard for Bolden to contribute too much this year. But you can see why he has been considered a decent prospect, despite not doing a whole lot in high school. The tools are there, but it looks like he will need a lot of coaching, and a lot of hard work to build strength/skills.
STEPHEN DOMINGO: played just one game this summer, so almost no data to go on. But in this one game, it was clear that he is a confident shooter. His form is good, he knows how to get himself open within the flow. He looks for his shot, but did not seem to force anything. He seems quite comfortable shooting pull ups off the dribble, maintaining his good form. He did not attack the basket off the dribble, or get the ball on any cuts to the hoop – so no idea about his finishing ability. He also did not do anything on the boards – not even in the mix for boards too much, which would become a concern if this is a consistent pattern. But Otto and Bolden ate up a lot of boards for the tombs, so it is not as if the team was counting on him as a primary rebounder, and his man did not seem to be beating him for offensive boards. There has been some concern that he is not an aggressive, physical player. He is certainly thin and needs to build strength, but he looks to have a frame that can carry more weight. In his one game, he definitely hustled defensively, and got on the floor a couple of times going after loose balls. He was nothing special defensively, but he hustled, and used his length to contest/alter shots a few times. He did not look like a blatant defensive liability, albeit this was just one game to go on. So it is impossible to say what he might provide this year – but he certainly demonstrated some fundamental shooting skill/acumen.
D’VAUNTES SMITH-RIVERA: He was a blast to watch. Plays with a cool confidence – he knows that he is a good offensive player, you can see it in the way he carries himself. Definitely strong and smart, with a very sound shot. He works a lot off that shot - solid on threes, but he also does a great job with pull ups/step backs in the lane. He did seem to struggle finishing at the rim against some of the bigger/better defensive teams. But even then, he still drew a lot of fouls, and he did a good job all summer finding teammates for assists off penetration. As others who watched him play a lot in HS indicated, he is an outstanding foul shooter. It is shocking any time he misses one, because his foul shot is so pure mechanically. Since he draws a lot of fouls, this aspect of his game could become a quiet killer for the opposition. His handle seemed pretty solid. On the whole, he looked like he can be a solid point guard in our offense – definitely more of a scoring point than a pure playmaker, but a better passer than what we might have heard about him. Defensively, he did seem to struggle at times with quickness in straight up man situations at times. But effort was not a noticeable issue. And he seems to be a clever defender – plays the passing lanes well and pretty good at plucking the ball from dribblers. He had quite a few steals that led to good transition opportunities. He could stand to lose some weight, but he did not look to be vastly overweight by any means. On the whole, DSR looks like someone who can contribute this year, and who should grow into a very solid BE offensive guard. Just how good he will be depends on how he develops defensively . He may never be a particularly good defender, but he showed enough this summer to indicate that he (hopefully) won’t be the defensive disaster that some people fear he might be.
DAVID ALLEN AND JOHN CAPRIO: both played quite a bit for the Tombs. Neither walk on is going to get any meaningful game time, but both should be good practice players. Allen is certainly a confident outside shooter, and seems to generally have a good sense of the game and decent skills for a walk on. Caprio would, I think, be an interesting player at a lower level. For a 6’5 guy, he can handle the ball a bit, he plays hard and rebounds pretty well. But he is not nearly athletic enough to compete against high D-1 athletes. Both guys play hard and seem to have great attitudes, and I would guess they will contribute a lot in practice and off the court.
TYLER ADAMS AND BRADLEY HAYES: did not play at all this summer, but were around for most of the games. Adams definitely looks to be in better shape than last year, but nobody knows where things stand with his health. Hayes looks to be a legit 6’10, maybe even a little more; and he has a solid frame. It would be great if one of these guys is able to contribute this year, but no way of knowing if this will happen at this point.
I hope people find these thoughts helpful, and that others have more to add!
I don’t claim any expertise beyond being a fan who has watched a lot of college hoops over the past 30+ years – so these are just slightly informed opinions, which may be way off base! There are a lot of people who know a whole lot more about basketball than me who were at a lot of Kenner games this summer, so hopefully some of you with more expertise will use this thread as an opportunity to share your own analysis. Also - note that my comments are likely to err on the side of the positive – I’m the kind of fan that wants to be positive in anticipation of an upcoming season!
MARKEL STARKS: certainly one of the most impressive Hoyas this summer. He regularly scored 20-30 points, occasionally even more. He was consistently aggressive offensively, but not to the point of recklessness. He showed a good mix of driving to the basket (and finishing quite consistently), pulling up for jumpers off the dribble, hitting floaters in the lane, and nailing a solid percentage of his threes. He also showed some good vision passing off penetration, although he seemed to look for his own shot a bit more than he looked to set up others. I have a hard time judging defensive play in Kenner except for obvious stuff (e.g. steals and blocks), but in general Markel seemed to be working hard to fight through screens, communicated well with teammates, etc. It was great to see Markel play with an aggressive confidence. He seems well positioned to step into a significant leadership role this year.
NATE LUBICK: Nate is noticeably trimmer, and seemed to move better in chasing down rebounds out of his area. He was securing some rebounds that he tended to bat around in the past – he had around 20 boards in Clydes’ first playoff game. His finishing ability around the basket was more consistent, although with the pretty wide variance in defenders in kenner, it is hard to make any definitive judgment on this. His shooting stroke still was a bit of a struggle. He hit some jumpers, but missed quite a few foul shots. He was effective with driving across the lane for hook shots (“hooker in the lane!”) with both his left and right hands. Defensively, Nate has always been pretty solid in his positioning, and he had a bit more mobility and burst off his feet – nothing dramatic, but it looks like the lighter weight will help his mobility on both ends of the court.
OTTO PORTER: Otto owned the boards in most games this summer, regularly going for double digits, sometimes for 15+. He was the one player whose defensive excellence was obvious even in a looser summer league environment. He got his hands on lots of balls, came away with lots of steals and blocks. Best of all, he often played his best D late in games, making a number of clutch game winning defensive plays throughout the summer. He did not shoot a whole lot of threes, but his stroke was solid. He also shot well from the line, and continued to hit a wide variety of pull up and fall away jumpers. The really fun new element this summer – Otto coming down with a board and heading right up court to start the break. He did this very well, showing a good handle and good vision. He also finished extremely well in transition. All in all, it is hard not to be extremely excited about Otto’s potential for this season. I don’t think anyone who watched him play this summer would be at all surprised if he is right in the hunt for BE player of the year this season.
MIKAEL HOPKINS: did not play the second half of the summer – has anyone heard why? I assume some kind of minor injury, but nothing was obvious, and he was at almost all the Team Takeover games even when he was not playing. From his early summer play – he had some great stretches, where he used his quickness to score effectively in the post, and also by putting the ball on the floor from the high post. Hopkins clearly has a lot of talent, and he seems to be growing more comfortable and confident. He did have a few games where he was quite quiet for stretches, but he usually got back in the groove at some point and made significant contributions. Defensively – he did not control the defensive boards the way Otto and (to a much lesser extent) Lubick did this summer, although it is not as if he was weak here- just nothing special. Defensively, he uses his athleticism to block some shots, but is not a particularly intimidating presence in the middle. Ideally, Hopkins would play mostly 4. But depending on the health and development of other center candidates (moses, Adams, Hayes) we may need Hopkins to play quite a bit of center this year. Hard to tell from this summer how that would work out.
JABRIL TRAWICK: Jabril certainly brings it every game, even in the summer. You have to love his intense competitive spirit. He sometimes gets a bit caught up in the emotion, but on the whole he channels his aggression effectively. He was playing a more point guard oriented style, definitely looking to pass more than he did last year. He and Whittington had a good feel for one another – they ran one or two sweet back door cuts each game, and Trawick found Greg for some great lob dunks in transition. His ball handling was OK, although whether he would stand up to defensive pressure from top level defensive point guards is an open question. He thrived at attacking the basket, using his strength and athleticism to get into the lane. He finished pretty well, and continued to draw plenty of fouls. Jabril did on occasion attack the rim a bit wrecklessly - but he probably has to play aggressively to maximize his strengths, and his judgment was pretty sound on the whole. His shot looked more or less the same as last year. Decent foul shooter – not great, but looks like he should be able to hit 70% or so fairly consistently. He hit some threes, but missed his share as well. Jabril will probably never be a real weapon as a shooter, but the hope should be that he can develop the way Sapp did. Sapp was not a great natural shooter, but he improved over time, and was at his best as a shooter in clutch situations. Given Jabril’s competitivenes, I would not be at all surprised if he develops into a similar kind of “best in the clutch” shooterHe is a good defender, but quick guards can give him trouble. He had a great matchup with Markel this summer – he overpowered markel physically, but Markel outquicked him consistently. They went back and forth all game, both scoring over 25.
GREG WHITTINGTON: every game, greg would have a few breathtaking moments where he would come gliding downcourt with the ball, and bound to the hoop for a sweet finish in just a couple of long strides. He also did a good job backing down smaller players when he had a size advantage. Defensively, he got his hands on lots of balls, and did a solid job defending smaller, quicker guards. Greg is also very competitive and plays with an edge. He is not as consistently aggressive as Jabril, or as Starks was this summer. This has a good and bad side. He rarely forces anything; but sometimes he can seem to get a bit out of the flow offensively. His outside shooting was a bit hit and miss. His form is close to textbook, and he hit his share of threes. But he also missed plenty – usually not by much, but his shot looks so good, and he shows such good judgment in when to shoot it (almost always open in the flow of the offense) that you just expect him to make more. Hopefully this will come with a little time. Greg is a big time talent, and he should take a step forward this year – look at his stats from the last month last year, and that should be about what we should expect from him on a regular basis this year. But the long term potential is so enticing – his combination of length, athleticism, and skill is pretty elite, and if he can handle and shoot well enough to play the 2, he certainly could develop into an NBA prospect. Final note – Jabril and Greg’s team made it to the Kenner championship both years, losing a great game last year and winning a blowout this year. That kind of summer league success probably does not mean much. But Jabril and Greg are both really competitive guys who play with an edge – and they have won a lot of games together the last two summers. I’m probably being far too optimistic about this, but I do think there is something positive to be drawn from this fact in terms of the leadership these two can provide during the regular season.
MOSES AYEGBA: Moses missed some time in the middle of the summer (I think because of damage to a couple of teeth), but played quite a bit early and late in the summer season. I missed more of his games than those of the most other guys, so I don’t have as much data to go on. Offensively, he clearly has worked hard on moving across the lane from left to right to shoot the driving hook shot, and he was able to convert it a decent percentage of the time. But he did not do too much else offensively in the games I saw. Defensively- I thought that last summer, Moses showed exceptional mobility defensively. I was especially impressed with his ability to provide a strong challenge on a perimeter jumper, then get back into great rebounding position. This summer, he just did not seem as quick-footed. He likely is still recovering from the ACL tear, and hopefully he’ll continue to progress physically. He definitely looked a bit bigger/stronger. This helped him on the defensive boards, where he was solid. Hard to project what we can expect from him this year – this is probably one of the bigger question marks on the team, given how much we could benefit if Moses can provide solid defense/rebounding and relatively turnover free offense for 15 minutes or so each game.
AARON BOWEN: I only saw two or three of Aaron’s games, so I can’t offer any really meaningful insight. He is definitely athletic, and the team he played on (coach Turner’s team) liked to run, so this suited his style well. His athleticism plays well in transition and he finishes well attacking the basket. He also passed well in transition the few times I saw him play. I did not see him shoot many jumpers, so no helpful insight there.
BRANDON BOLDEN: Because he seemed not to play much his last year or two of high school; and because there have been rumors that he was not a particularly hard working or focused player, I think a lot of people are not expecting much from Bolden. Given this context, I thought he was a pleasant surprise this summer. He is certainly raw – very thin, needs a lot of skill development. But he is long and athletic. And it seemed to me that he played hard pretty much all the time – I got no sense that he was a lazy or unfocused player. Just raw and inexperienced. He showed his frustration at time over bobbled passes (his hands are not great at this point), getting his shot blocked, etc. – but this was constructive frustration, as he seems to know what he wants to do, he just is not quite there yet in his ability to finish plays consistently. He got muscled defensively and on the boards fairly often. But he also got his fair share of rebounds. His timing on shot blocking was not too good; but he still blocked some shots. As both a rebounder and shot blocker, his length and athleticism sometimes makes up for his lack of strength and experience. And he certainly looks to dunk anything he can, and dunks very emphatically when he has a fairly clear path to the hoop. He showed some ability to finish in the post going left, although he has no right hand to speak of – right now, he makes the Georgetown version of Greg Monroe look ambidextrous. He had a few really nice transition hoops, where he used his length and athleticism (there are those words again!) to swoop to the basket. His shooting form is not bad, but he does not knock down too many of his outside/foul shots. He does not get much rotation on his shot. It will be hard for Bolden to contribute too much this year. But you can see why he has been considered a decent prospect, despite not doing a whole lot in high school. The tools are there, but it looks like he will need a lot of coaching, and a lot of hard work to build strength/skills.
STEPHEN DOMINGO: played just one game this summer, so almost no data to go on. But in this one game, it was clear that he is a confident shooter. His form is good, he knows how to get himself open within the flow. He looks for his shot, but did not seem to force anything. He seems quite comfortable shooting pull ups off the dribble, maintaining his good form. He did not attack the basket off the dribble, or get the ball on any cuts to the hoop – so no idea about his finishing ability. He also did not do anything on the boards – not even in the mix for boards too much, which would become a concern if this is a consistent pattern. But Otto and Bolden ate up a lot of boards for the tombs, so it is not as if the team was counting on him as a primary rebounder, and his man did not seem to be beating him for offensive boards. There has been some concern that he is not an aggressive, physical player. He is certainly thin and needs to build strength, but he looks to have a frame that can carry more weight. In his one game, he definitely hustled defensively, and got on the floor a couple of times going after loose balls. He was nothing special defensively, but he hustled, and used his length to contest/alter shots a few times. He did not look like a blatant defensive liability, albeit this was just one game to go on. So it is impossible to say what he might provide this year – but he certainly demonstrated some fundamental shooting skill/acumen.
D’VAUNTES SMITH-RIVERA: He was a blast to watch. Plays with a cool confidence – he knows that he is a good offensive player, you can see it in the way he carries himself. Definitely strong and smart, with a very sound shot. He works a lot off that shot - solid on threes, but he also does a great job with pull ups/step backs in the lane. He did seem to struggle finishing at the rim against some of the bigger/better defensive teams. But even then, he still drew a lot of fouls, and he did a good job all summer finding teammates for assists off penetration. As others who watched him play a lot in HS indicated, he is an outstanding foul shooter. It is shocking any time he misses one, because his foul shot is so pure mechanically. Since he draws a lot of fouls, this aspect of his game could become a quiet killer for the opposition. His handle seemed pretty solid. On the whole, he looked like he can be a solid point guard in our offense – definitely more of a scoring point than a pure playmaker, but a better passer than what we might have heard about him. Defensively, he did seem to struggle at times with quickness in straight up man situations at times. But effort was not a noticeable issue. And he seems to be a clever defender – plays the passing lanes well and pretty good at plucking the ball from dribblers. He had quite a few steals that led to good transition opportunities. He could stand to lose some weight, but he did not look to be vastly overweight by any means. On the whole, DSR looks like someone who can contribute this year, and who should grow into a very solid BE offensive guard. Just how good he will be depends on how he develops defensively . He may never be a particularly good defender, but he showed enough this summer to indicate that he (hopefully) won’t be the defensive disaster that some people fear he might be.
DAVID ALLEN AND JOHN CAPRIO: both played quite a bit for the Tombs. Neither walk on is going to get any meaningful game time, but both should be good practice players. Allen is certainly a confident outside shooter, and seems to generally have a good sense of the game and decent skills for a walk on. Caprio would, I think, be an interesting player at a lower level. For a 6’5 guy, he can handle the ball a bit, he plays hard and rebounds pretty well. But he is not nearly athletic enough to compete against high D-1 athletes. Both guys play hard and seem to have great attitudes, and I would guess they will contribute a lot in practice and off the court.
TYLER ADAMS AND BRADLEY HAYES: did not play at all this summer, but were around for most of the games. Adams definitely looks to be in better shape than last year, but nobody knows where things stand with his health. Hayes looks to be a legit 6’10, maybe even a little more; and he has a solid frame. It would be great if one of these guys is able to contribute this year, but no way of knowing if this will happen at this point.
I hope people find these thoughts helpful, and that others have more to add!
