Post by FLHoya on Jul 5, 2008 21:07:24 GMT -5
Kenner League 5 July 2008
Day 1 of the 2008 Kenner League. The question: Day 1 of a new offensive style at Georgetown?
I was always under the opinion that last season the Hoyas were on the verge of going up-tempo as if not their primary at least a significant offensive strategy. Ultimately, my feeling is that two factors prevented things from going in this direction:
1. Roy Hibbert as a tremendous, often dominant, post presence but (despite light years of improvement in conditioning and stamina) still a player not entirely compatible with a lightning quick transition-heavy offense. Someone of the body type and skill set like Vernon Macklin may be better suited, but Vern never did put it all (or even part of it) together consistently enough to be a go-to option.
2. Much more significantly, Chris Wright’s injury. With Wright out of the picture for the Big East conference season, the Hoyas lost not only the player most suited to be a facilitator of a high-energy offense, but also crucial backcourt depth that would have made it possible to let Sapp and Wallace loose more often.
That all being said, the Hoyas were right on the verge of “going quick” as it were. You could see it in how they played Jacksonville and Radford in December. The high scores and breakneck speed of both contests weren’t a consequence of overmatched opponents alone. No…when you watched the fast breaks, saw the pressure defense, observed how the players interacted on the court…it was clear they knew exactly what they were doing, and had actively practiced towards this goal.
If they could do it then, I imagine what they might try now.
Now, it’s stating the obvious to note that it was crucial to bring in frontcourt bodies for the upcoming season, what with the graduation of Roy Hibbert and Patrick Ewing, Jr. and the transfer of Vernon Macklin. To that end, cheers all around for locking up the talented and 6-foot-ten tandem of Greg Monroe and Henry Sims. A toast to the NCAA for wisely deciding to grant FSU transfer Julian Vaughn immediate eligibility for the 2008-2009 season.
Upon seeing the three incoming tall Hoyas play together (well, sort of) for the first time this afternoon, I came to a rather immediate conclusion:
We didn’t replace Hibbert, Ewing, and Macklin with three new big men. We replaced them with ATHLETES.
Kenner League games have always had a bias towards run-n-gun action—it would be unusual to see a KL game one couldn’t describe as “up-tempo”. But I can tell you there was a very clear qualitative difference between the Clyde’s and Tombs games and the two non-GU games they wrapped around. There are turnovers, to be sure, and mix-ups in communication. Players fall victim to the temptation to shoot whenever and wherever they feel, or to go ahead and try to fit that bullet pass into the seam that isn’t there. The Georgetown squads—particularly The Tombs—just seem more comfortable at a high rate of speed than their predecessors (after one game of course!).
Oh, this will be fun.
It was not fun watching the other games. The first one between Hoop Magic and Heart & Soul (quality name: ) finished in the mid-50s, and the third between Beyond Belief and Bearcats had a beyond-belief score in the high 30s at the end of regulation (oh yeah, they made us suffer through OT!).
CLYDE’S 70 DC JAMMERS 59
However, at exactly 1:22pm (only seven minutes late!) Julian Vaughn tapped the opening jump ball directly to his teammate for a breakaway dunk and we were underway with a bang.
Much of the early Clyde’s offense was dominated (not always in a good way) by former UC Bearcat and insert-bunch-of-NBA-teams-here (one of them is the Hawks!) player Dermarr Johnson. The result was a typical Kenner League affair, at least from the Clyde’s perspective: lots of gunning, lots of iron, every rebound guaranteed to be tapped around at least twice. The DC Jammers are traditionally a pretty good squad as far as KL goes—I seem to remember they used to field a team including James Gist and/or Greivis Vasquez of Maryland. All the same, Clyde’s was struggling and down if I recall by as much as 25-11 at one point, and the best player on the court was of all people Travis Lay from AU.
Clyde’s eventually got it together with Vaughn providing a spark with his work on the offensive glass (somebody has to clean up the misses I guess) and the team as a whole turning aggressive defense into transition points. By the half the margin had shrunk to 35-31.
The strong defense paid dividends in the second half as Clyde’s put together a turnover-aided scoring run to take full control of the game. Freeman looked very polished throughout the half and Vaughn’s dirty work, while not earning him a point after intermission, was well received.
In the end, Clyde’s pulled away to a somewhat comfortable 70-59 victory.
And then Austin Freeman ate 59 hot dogs in 10 minutes.
Austin Freeman: 17 points, 4-8 2pt, 2-5 3pt, 3-4 FT, 3RB, 3A, 4TO, 1 STL, 2F
He’s not fat.
Impressed to see him using his better-than-you’d-think speed off the dribble to go around the corner. Prior to his freshman season last summer, I’d always remark how in KL he’d kind of bull his way down the lane and use his bulk to absorb contact. He’s going for more of a finesse approach now, and with some more work finishing in traffic that should work out well for him, particularly if he’s going to see the 2-guard position much this season.
Not to say he isn’t still trying to use size to his advantage. In the first half he went at least twice to a backdown from the high post, although both times he dribbled out of it and went to the glass rather than trying a hook shot or fadeaway.
Three of Austin’s turnovers were in the first half, and reflected a bit of carelessness on fastbreak situations that can usually be attributed to…it’s the Kenner League after all. That comment I made above about the seam that just isn’t there…that was Austin a couple times. Fortunately in the second half he was fully in control, finishing off a few breaks and putting Dermarr Johnson through with a no-look pass late in the game in transition.
In the first 10 minutes or so he was getting scored on a decent amount, but a lot of it was jump shooting so it’s less of a concern, particularly as DC Jammers were very hot in the early going (at least one banked in three pointer).
Good start, nothing too surprising here.
Julian Vaughn: 5 points, 2-4 2pt, 0-1 3pt, 1-2 FT, 7RB (4 off.), 2 TO, 1BLK, 1F
First two things I noticed about Julian Vaughn were two things you don’t often see in Kenner League from a big man.
He runs the floor. I don’t mean that in the “gets back in a reasonable amount of time so the offense can get moving” sense. Julian’s out in front of the pack, arm extended, always trying to get in behind the defense for a quick layup. For a guy his size—and I should say, he’s a big boy, not overweight but not ripped either—it was very impressive to see that level of effort in a summer league game.
He hits the glass. Julian’s big moment was midway through the first half when he scored both his field goals on offensive putbacks, the second a resounding dunk. Vaughn’s first four rebounds were all on the offensive glass. He certainly put in a full day of work.
I immediately am impressed by Julian simply because he appears to want to do all the fundamental things that make for good basketball when he’s on the court. During offensive possessions, he was always working for post position, making himself available for passes and the like. When it comes to his actual post game, that needs a bit of work—he had the tendency to fall away on his shots and wasn’t nearly assertive enough with the ball in the post. But you get the impression from the way he plays on the court that he’ll be easy to teach in practice.
Absolutely a steal to get him as a transfer. A tremendous bonus that he can contribute this season…and he will contribute plenty.
Day 1 of the 2008 Kenner League. The question: Day 1 of a new offensive style at Georgetown?
I was always under the opinion that last season the Hoyas were on the verge of going up-tempo as if not their primary at least a significant offensive strategy. Ultimately, my feeling is that two factors prevented things from going in this direction:
1. Roy Hibbert as a tremendous, often dominant, post presence but (despite light years of improvement in conditioning and stamina) still a player not entirely compatible with a lightning quick transition-heavy offense. Someone of the body type and skill set like Vernon Macklin may be better suited, but Vern never did put it all (or even part of it) together consistently enough to be a go-to option.
2. Much more significantly, Chris Wright’s injury. With Wright out of the picture for the Big East conference season, the Hoyas lost not only the player most suited to be a facilitator of a high-energy offense, but also crucial backcourt depth that would have made it possible to let Sapp and Wallace loose more often.
That all being said, the Hoyas were right on the verge of “going quick” as it were. You could see it in how they played Jacksonville and Radford in December. The high scores and breakneck speed of both contests weren’t a consequence of overmatched opponents alone. No…when you watched the fast breaks, saw the pressure defense, observed how the players interacted on the court…it was clear they knew exactly what they were doing, and had actively practiced towards this goal.
If they could do it then, I imagine what they might try now.
Now, it’s stating the obvious to note that it was crucial to bring in frontcourt bodies for the upcoming season, what with the graduation of Roy Hibbert and Patrick Ewing, Jr. and the transfer of Vernon Macklin. To that end, cheers all around for locking up the talented and 6-foot-ten tandem of Greg Monroe and Henry Sims. A toast to the NCAA for wisely deciding to grant FSU transfer Julian Vaughn immediate eligibility for the 2008-2009 season.
Upon seeing the three incoming tall Hoyas play together (well, sort of) for the first time this afternoon, I came to a rather immediate conclusion:
We didn’t replace Hibbert, Ewing, and Macklin with three new big men. We replaced them with ATHLETES.
Kenner League games have always had a bias towards run-n-gun action—it would be unusual to see a KL game one couldn’t describe as “up-tempo”. But I can tell you there was a very clear qualitative difference between the Clyde’s and Tombs games and the two non-GU games they wrapped around. There are turnovers, to be sure, and mix-ups in communication. Players fall victim to the temptation to shoot whenever and wherever they feel, or to go ahead and try to fit that bullet pass into the seam that isn’t there. The Georgetown squads—particularly The Tombs—just seem more comfortable at a high rate of speed than their predecessors (after one game of course!).
Oh, this will be fun.
It was not fun watching the other games. The first one between Hoop Magic and Heart & Soul (quality name: ) finished in the mid-50s, and the third between Beyond Belief and Bearcats had a beyond-belief score in the high 30s at the end of regulation (oh yeah, they made us suffer through OT!).
CLYDE’S 70 DC JAMMERS 59
However, at exactly 1:22pm (only seven minutes late!) Julian Vaughn tapped the opening jump ball directly to his teammate for a breakaway dunk and we were underway with a bang.
Much of the early Clyde’s offense was dominated (not always in a good way) by former UC Bearcat and insert-bunch-of-NBA-teams-here (one of them is the Hawks!) player Dermarr Johnson. The result was a typical Kenner League affair, at least from the Clyde’s perspective: lots of gunning, lots of iron, every rebound guaranteed to be tapped around at least twice. The DC Jammers are traditionally a pretty good squad as far as KL goes—I seem to remember they used to field a team including James Gist and/or Greivis Vasquez of Maryland. All the same, Clyde’s was struggling and down if I recall by as much as 25-11 at one point, and the best player on the court was of all people Travis Lay from AU.
Clyde’s eventually got it together with Vaughn providing a spark with his work on the offensive glass (somebody has to clean up the misses I guess) and the team as a whole turning aggressive defense into transition points. By the half the margin had shrunk to 35-31.
The strong defense paid dividends in the second half as Clyde’s put together a turnover-aided scoring run to take full control of the game. Freeman looked very polished throughout the half and Vaughn’s dirty work, while not earning him a point after intermission, was well received.
In the end, Clyde’s pulled away to a somewhat comfortable 70-59 victory.
And then Austin Freeman ate 59 hot dogs in 10 minutes.
Austin Freeman: 17 points, 4-8 2pt, 2-5 3pt, 3-4 FT, 3RB, 3A, 4TO, 1 STL, 2F
He’s not fat.
Impressed to see him using his better-than-you’d-think speed off the dribble to go around the corner. Prior to his freshman season last summer, I’d always remark how in KL he’d kind of bull his way down the lane and use his bulk to absorb contact. He’s going for more of a finesse approach now, and with some more work finishing in traffic that should work out well for him, particularly if he’s going to see the 2-guard position much this season.
Not to say he isn’t still trying to use size to his advantage. In the first half he went at least twice to a backdown from the high post, although both times he dribbled out of it and went to the glass rather than trying a hook shot or fadeaway.
Three of Austin’s turnovers were in the first half, and reflected a bit of carelessness on fastbreak situations that can usually be attributed to…it’s the Kenner League after all. That comment I made above about the seam that just isn’t there…that was Austin a couple times. Fortunately in the second half he was fully in control, finishing off a few breaks and putting Dermarr Johnson through with a no-look pass late in the game in transition.
In the first 10 minutes or so he was getting scored on a decent amount, but a lot of it was jump shooting so it’s less of a concern, particularly as DC Jammers were very hot in the early going (at least one banked in three pointer).
Good start, nothing too surprising here.
Julian Vaughn: 5 points, 2-4 2pt, 0-1 3pt, 1-2 FT, 7RB (4 off.), 2 TO, 1BLK, 1F
First two things I noticed about Julian Vaughn were two things you don’t often see in Kenner League from a big man.
He runs the floor. I don’t mean that in the “gets back in a reasonable amount of time so the offense can get moving” sense. Julian’s out in front of the pack, arm extended, always trying to get in behind the defense for a quick layup. For a guy his size—and I should say, he’s a big boy, not overweight but not ripped either—it was very impressive to see that level of effort in a summer league game.
He hits the glass. Julian’s big moment was midway through the first half when he scored both his field goals on offensive putbacks, the second a resounding dunk. Vaughn’s first four rebounds were all on the offensive glass. He certainly put in a full day of work.
I immediately am impressed by Julian simply because he appears to want to do all the fundamental things that make for good basketball when he’s on the court. During offensive possessions, he was always working for post position, making himself available for passes and the like. When it comes to his actual post game, that needs a bit of work—he had the tendency to fall away on his shots and wasn’t nearly assertive enough with the ball in the post. But you get the impression from the way he plays on the court that he’ll be easy to teach in practice.
Absolutely a steal to get him as a transfer. A tremendous bonus that he can contribute this season…and he will contribute plenty.
