What's he up to nowadays?
adidas It Takes 5ive Classic: Day One Recap
Jordan Sibert
By Evan Daniels
Recruiting Analyst
Posted Jul 6, 2008
CINCINNATI, Ohio - The first day of the July evaluation period started off with a bang, as a host of prospects put up big efforts at the adidas It Takes 5ive Classic, held on the University of Cincinnati's campus.
Rhys Murphy, SF/PF, Chicago Elite - The new team under the Indiana Elite umbrella showed up with some talent and among the guys on their roster was this talented combo forward from Australia. He's apparently only been in the states for a week and is qualified for 2008, but planning to prep. He's an above average athlete with a good-looking stroke out to 22-feet. Murphy sure turned some heads in his first contest, especially when he crammed on a defender on a fast break.
Middleton Shows Off Stroke
Khris Middleton, SF, Carolina Celtics - The 6-foot-6 Texas A&M commit got his July started off on the right foot, by draining at least six three-pointers in an 8 a.m. game Sunday morning. Middleton, who has a long, lean frame, has an effortless stroke and deep range on his shot. Despite not putting the ball on the deck very often, he was still effective and managed to knock down a few shots from mid-range.
Matt Kavanaugh, PF, All-Ohio Force - No one expected All-Ohio Force to knock off Texas Select and the Atlanta Celtics, but they did just that due to big efforts by Kavanough. The Dayton commit plays very hard and muscled up with the competition when he got the chance. He gets up and down the floor and finishes well around the rim. Brian Gregory had to have been a happy camper as he watched Kavanough throughout the day.
Terrence Shannon, PF, Atlanta Celtics - As hard as Kavanough played today, it'd be tough to say anyone played harder than Shannon did for the Celtics. The 6-foot-7 forward mixes it up inside, rebounds the ball very well and scores it from 15-feet and in. He especially attacked the offensive glass and punked out the opposition for loose balls. Not even a busted nose could hold him down, as he returned in the second half after catching an elbow to the face.
Jordan Sibert, SG, All-Ohio Red 16's - Not many players raised their stock as much as Sibert did on day one of the evaluation period. The 6-foot-4 guard did a little of everything in All-Ohio's comeback win against the Carolina Raptors, as he finished with 22 points. He buried a trio of threes, showed he could handle and finish with both hands and attacked the rim, especially in the open court.
Lavonte Dority, PG, Chicago Elite - The 6-foot point guard out of Chicago (Ill.) Foreman played pretty well for Elite, especially considering it was the first time the team had played together. Dority ran the show pretty well and looked to create for his teammates. He's quick and has a strong frame, that he uses especially well going to the basket. He's certainly not a finished product, but has a chance to be a pretty solid player down the road.
Jelan Kendrick, Playmaker, Hoop Planet - It's tough to pick a position for Kendrick, so we've opted to refer to his as a "playmaker." He likes to have the ball in his hands and creates well for his teammates. On Hoop Planet, he's relied on to score and he can certainly do that. He got majority his points by attacking the basket, but he also hit a few pull-up jumpers.
Josh Smith, C, Seattle Rotary Select - The 2010 class is full of quality post prospects, at least at the top, and Josh Smith is right there with the best of them. He's got a huge frame and stands 6-foot-9, 275-pounds. He's got a nice set of hands, creates space inside and can score around the tin. Word is that he shot over 75-percent from the field during the high school season, and that's not a surprise, as he takes high percentage shots and gets a lot of tip opportunities.
McRae Had A Big Day One
Jordan McRae, SF, Atlanta Celtics 16's - Going out and dropping 35 in your first game and 19 in your second, certainly qualifies for a good day of work. That's exactly what this Midway (Ga.) Liberty County standout did. At 6-foot-5, he's got a long, wiry frame and is a high level athlete. McRae buried a few deep jumpers, but did most of his work by scoring at the rim or dropping in floaters on the baseline.
David Williams, SF, Atlanta Celtics 16's - In our first glance, Williams showed some potential. He's got good size for the wing spot (6-foot-7) and he showed a nice handle, especially pushing the break. Although McRae stole the show, Williams is a prospect to keep an eye on.
Terone Johnson, PG, Indiana Elite LNO - The Indianapolis (Ind.) North Central standout did a little of everything for LNO in their contest against the Florida Rams. At 6-foot-2, he can run the team, but is also a capable scorer, as he finished with ease at the rim and knocked down a few pull-up three-pointers.
Justin Jackson, PF, Florida Rams 16's - We just took a quick peak at Jackson, out of Melbourne (Fla.) Eau Gallie, and he was getting it down in the 16's division. The 6-foot-8 forward is equipped with a strong frame and is a capable shot blocker. He also showed a few moves on the block, including a spin to right handed finish.
Marshall Plumlee, PF, Indiana Elite 15's - The younger brother of Miles and Mason, had a pretty big game in a loss to All-Ohio in an evening game. He's already a legit 6-foot-9 and plays extremely hard. He's long, gets up and down the floor with ease and has a high skill level. In the second half he managed to record a few plus one's, but it was the spin move with a left hand finish that really caught our eye.
Christian Kirk, PF, KC Pump N' Run 15's - Although we only got to see KC Pump N' Run play for a half, Kirk did enough to earn some attention. The 6-foot-7 forward is solid athlete with a nice skill set. He scored it around the rim and even showed a nice jump hook move on the block.
After having a big game in front of a bunch of coaches, Jordan Sibert listed Wake Forest, West Virginia, Tennessee, Ohio State, Miami (Ohio), Miami (Fla.), Xavier and Butler. He said both the Miami schools, Xavier and Butler have offered.
Kenny Manigault has a long list of schools. He said that Wichita State is the only school to offer. He's also hearing from Georgia Tech, Florida State, Richmond, Virginia, VCU, James Madison, NC State and Stanford.
Teronne Johnson holds a scholarship offer from Butler. Louisville, Indiana, Kentucky, Purdue and Miami have also shown interest.
David Williams, of Jacksonville (Fla.) First Coast, said he's heard from Florida State, South Carolina, Clemson and Florida.
Jordan McRae said he's already heard from Oklahoma, Miami, Florida, Kentucky, Auburn, South Carolina, Texas and Tennessee.
There were a ton of college coaches in Cincinnati on Sunday and no team drew a bigger crowd than the Atlanta Celtics. During their first game Seth Greeberg, Sean Miller, Frank Martin, Rick Pitino, Sidney Lowe and Tom Crean all showed up. Assistants from Florida, Kentucky, UMass, Memphis, Tennessee and Ohio State also made appearances.
My boy J shutting it down down here in Cincy. I just said a week ago for everyone to watch out for the kid. I think he is going to be a 5 star by thetime it is all said and done. He is simply a freaky athlete and a terrific talent right now. Hopefully Mick can keep him here in Cincy.
Middleton Shows Off Stroke
Khris Middleton, SF, Carolina Celtics - The 6-foot-6 Texas A&M commit got his July started off on the right foot, by draining at least six three-pointers in an 8 a.m. game Sunday morning. Middleton, who has a long, lean frame, has an effortless stroke and deep range on his shot. Despite not putting the ball on the deck very often, he was still effective and managed to knock down a few shots from mid-range.
I haven't heard anything about our recruits yet, it's good to finally hear something about one of 'em (especially when that something is positive).
[h1]At USA U-18 trials, one star who still needs to grow up[/h1]
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- On Tuesday evening, 18 of the top teenage basketball players in America gathered on the Washington Wizards' practice court at the Verizon Center. The players had been invited by USA Basketball to try out for the team that will compete at the FIBA Americas Under-18 Championship tournament in Argentina later this month.
When it came time for full-court scrimmaging, Lance Stephenson, the much-heralded guard who has led Brooklyn's Lincoln High to three consecutive New York City championships, tried taking over the point guard duties. Stephenson wanted to show off the skills he picked up at Nike's Steve Nash camp last month, but he turned in an awful performance. He dribbled into traffic and committed sloppy turnovers. He fired no-look passes that sailed out of bounds. He drove to the basket and heedlessly forced up bad shots.
Even worse, after every mistake he acted like it was someone else's fault. He barked at his teammates. He whined to the refs. He rolled his eyes and slapped his thighs. He shook his head and muttered to himself.
In other words, he acted like what he is: a 17-year-old kid.
This may come as a surprise to those who have already proclaimed Stephenson to be the next big thing. We're told he's the next Stephon Marbury or Sebastian Telfair, just because he plays for Lincoln like they did. We're told he's the next O.J. Mayo, whom he once challenged at a recruiting camp when Stephenson was a high school freshman. (I was there; Mayo schooled him) Lance is supposed to be the next LeBron, the next Kobe, the next Carmelo.
It's a safe bet nobody would say those things about Stephenson if he were from, say, Phoenix instead of New York. At any rate, Stephenson demonstrated quite clearly at the Team USA trials that he is none of those things -- not yet, anyway. To be sure, he deserves to considered among the best 10 or 15 high school seniors in America, which is where most scouting services rank him. At 6-foot-5, 202 pounds, Stephenson was the most physically developed player at the trials. When the coaches made the players run the length of the court and back within 10 seconds, Stephenson completed the sprints way ahead of the pack. He also displayed a fierce will, which, combined with his speed and strength, enabled him to score a ton of baskets around the rim.
But the immaturity evinced in his body language was enough of a concern that Tom Konchalski, the longtime high school talent scout based in Queens, N.Y., pulled Stephenson aside before the evening session on Wednesday to give him a pep talk. Earlier that day, Konchalski had eaten lunch with Davidson coach Bob McKillop, the U.S. team's head coach, and Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, who was chairing the committee that will select the team. Konchalski told Lance that the coaches were, in Tom's words, "down on him" because of the way he had been acting. Stephenson apparently took that counsel to heart, because he was considerably more effective and even-keeled during Wednesday evening's practice. Like all teenagers, Lance has a lot of growing up to do, if only the world will give him a little breathing room to do it.
"Just because he has the body of a man doesn't mean we should expect him to have the maturity of a man," Konchalski said. "He's the result of our warped basketball culture. He's never faced adversity. He's always been the golden child. Believe me, he's not a bad kid and he has a world of talent, but he has to learn how to deal with frustration."
During the first two days of practice, McKillop made a point several times to pull Stephenson aside and gently give him encouragement and advice. On Thursday morning, however, McKillop told Stephenson's father, Lance Sr., that he was going to "bust [Lance's] butt" for the next two weeks. Lance Sr. told McKillop that was what they came for. Sure enough, McKillop jumped in young Lance's face during the ensuing practice and ripped him for not paying close enough attention during a drill. (McKillop had gotten hot at other players previously, but that was the first time all week he dropped an f-bomb.) To Lance's credit, he didn't pout or withdraw after McKillop's mini tirade. He simply dove into the next drill as hard as he could.
"A lot of times someone with his talent doesn't have the competitive fire that he has," McKillop said. "But that competitive fire can burn other ways, too. If he can channel that properly, he has a chance to be a superb player."
When I asked Stephenson about the concerns the coaches had expressed about his body language, he acknowledged that it was an issue but didn't think it was a big deal. "That's my eagerness to win," he said. "I just want to win so bad that I might show a lot of anger, but I really don't mean it in a negative way. I'm just trying to get my teammates to play harder."
I also asked Lance about the perils of being overhyped at such a young age. Consider that the person who first introduced him to Konchalski told Konchalski that Lance was ranked the fourth-best fourth grader in New York City. Stephenson seemed genuinely perplexed that anyone would suggest there is a downside to that kind of fame and expectation. "I like the attention," he said. "I think I earned it and I play hard for it. If people pick you to be the next great player, you've got to live up to it."
When Boeheim's committee winnowed the pool from 18 players to 14 on Wednesday night, Stephenson was among those who remained. It's a safe bet he'll still be there when the 12-man roster is finalized in a few days. As for his recruitment, Stephenson has narrowed his list of choices to five schools: USC, UCLA, Kansas, Memphis and St. John's.
Wherever he goes, he has a chance to be a very good player, maybe even a great one -- eventually. He also has a chance to play in the NBA -- someday. But that type of excellence is a long, long way off. The question in the short term is whether Stephenson believes his own hype. Because if he does, he'll have no chance at living up to it.
[h2]Enigmatic Lance Making Headlines
Posted on Jul 3, 2008 10:56 pm[/h2]
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Lance Stephenson may be the most talented player at the USA U18 National Team Trials, but he is also the most enigmatic.
The 6-foot-5, 200-pound Stephenson has mixed brilliant play, especially on the offensive end, with scowls, flashes of frustration and behavior that is viewed by the coaches as antithetical to the team concept.
On one occasion during the trials at the Verizon Center, head coach Bob McKillop pulled Stephenson aside in the middle of a scrimmage - in full view of players, coaches and the media - and whispered firmly into his ear. On another, McKillop unloaded a series of expletives in Stephenson's face after he hissed at one of his teammates during a drill.
"I think he has a chance to be a superb, superb player," said McKillop, the Davidson coach. "A lot of times guys with his level of talent don't have the competitive fire that he has. But the competitive fire burns other ways, too, and if he can channel that competitive fire completely into his performance, he can be very special."
After Stephenson had a rough morning session on Wednesday, McKillop ate lunch with New York recruiting analyst Tom Konchalski, who has known Stephenson since the fourth grade, when he was impressed by the young man's firm handshake and direct eye contact; Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, head of the USA Basketball Men's Collegiate Committee; and Sean Ford, the assistant executive director for USA Basketball. Stephenson was a primary subject of discussion.
Konchalski then pulled Stephenson aside before the afternoon session and offered some pearls of wisdom.
"Lance Stephenson is not a bad kid," Konchalski said of the Brooklyn native and rising senior at Lincoln High School, the same school that produced NBA players Stephon Marbury and Sebastian Telfair. "He wants to be a great player. He has bad body language but he's not a bad kid. What's going to make him ultimately successful in this game and in life is how he deals with frustration and adversity. And half of his body language is a result of when he's not playing well, when his shot isn't dropping, when he's not being productive or whatever. Part of it is directed at not getting calls when he goes to the basket and gets fouled, when teammates make mistakes and things like that. But you gotta deal with frustration and if he wants to be a great player, he's gotta learn that failure's gotta become fertilizer. He's gotta learn from them, and he's gotta turn every negative into a postive. And he's gotta fight through that frustration and just play. He should be, whether he starts on this team or not, he should be the leading scorer."
Konchalski also spoke often to Lance Stephenson Sr., who is actively involved in his son's life and recruitment and also serves as his AAU coach with the new Raising Champions teams. The family agreed to allow Lance to be the subject of a documentary entitled "Born Ready," yet Konchalski thinks Lance needs time to be a normal teenager.
"No, it's not good," Konchalski said of the documentary. "It's not healthy."
He added: "He's been living in a fishbowl all these years. Let him be a kid; he's 17 years old. (Basketball) is almost like a job. And I think he loves playing basketball. But I think when he doesn't meet with the success that's expected of him, that's frustrating."
McKillop has been very clear in his desire to see this team play unselfishly and as a unit so it can compete against international teams from Argentina, Venezuela and elsewhere when the FIBA Americas U18 Championship begins July 14. He has expressed frustration with Stephenson's inclination to hit the "homer" instead of the "single," such as when he forced a drive to the hoop instead of taking a 12-foot jumper.
"He showed the great scoring ability he has," the coach said. "I want him to catch-and-see, rather than catch-and-dribble. It's a habit he's had for, I suspect, many, many years because the first thing he does when he catches is, he dribbles. I think he understands that he's got to correct that. He's also unselfish. With those two qualities, seeing the court and being willing to pass, I think if he catches and sees, he puts himself in a position to capitalize on those talents. Plus, it enhances his other abilities to score. So now he's more than a threat with the ball on the floor, he's a threat holding the ball. And I think that's just going to accelerate his development as a basketball player."
Still, it is Lance's raw strength when he drives to the rim that makes him such a difficult player to defend. He simply overpowers defenders on the way to the basket. He is also capable of hitting from the outside and has devoted himself to improving his ballhandling skills, as evidenced by his time last week at the Steve Nash Nike Skills Academy.
He could be a big-time scorer if he can buy into the team concept, but he admits it's difficult because he is surrounded by talented players and is being asked to do things he never had to do before.
"It's a lot different," Lance said. "Everybody's good here. Everybody's playing hard. Everybody's trying to make the team, so everybody's trying to impress all the coaches. So everybody's playing hard, even if they have to foul, they're going to do it. So that's why I think it's tough for everyone here."
College seems almost a distraction to the players at the trials, yet Stephenson listed Kansas, Tennessee and Memphis as his favorites, while his father lists UCLA, USC, Kansas, Memphis and St. John's and says he prefers UCLA.
For now, though, Stephenson is determined to help his country and takes pride in putting on the USA Basketball jersey.
"It's not all about sneaker camps or LeBron camp or any other camp," he said. "It's more about playing for your country and doing something that's really important for other people."
yet Stephenson listed Kansas, Tennessee and Memphis as his favorites, while his father lists UCLA, USC, Kansas, Memphis and St. John's and says he prefers UCLA.
..
Ya mike saw that, random as hell
..Braswell I woulda still liked to come...but oh well, only so long JT3 coulda stuck with him. Gave him every chance.
