I’m liking Mañon. Good instincts on D, plays within himself, and is a decent ball handler. He needs to develop a jumper in order to make the next leap.
Didn't get to watch it in real time. Just caught up and took some Q by Q notes that I'll covert to player by player notes, based on those worth discussing. Okereke: I HATE how he moves. If he gets it outside of the post, his hands and dribble is extended too far out. Easy steal for the opposition. There is no bend in his movements, that popped in his highlight reel but against better players it's LOUD. He has a NBA body but with him on a 2-way, I want our coaches to have him focus on catching it in the post and going up without dribbling, corner 3s, and post defense. Chunk everything else in his bag. Suder: shorter, less athletic Austin was actually put in a position to be successful from the initial game plan. He's too focused on making the perfect play. That was a detriment to him and the lineup. Corner 3, he passed on. Drive he hesitated on and then forced a pass to a corner 3 when the defense already set up. He has to play his game, less hesitation, and quicker reactions for the right play and not the perfect play. He's not fast, he's not athletic, he seems to be smart but in his head. Has to figure that out this year or that is a wasted 2-way spot. Thiero: much better than game one. Stuck to doing Adou things. Athleticism and defense, game high 7 FTAs. He got to the basket at will but for all but one of those drives, had no plan on what to do when he got there if the ref wasn't going to reward him with a whistle. Defense was a steal or blow by, except for when Manon came up and helped him secure a trap in the 4th (that was exciting). 3 isn't where it needs to be and there's no reliable post move when he beats everyone to the basket. Couple nice dump offs, one to Smith but he isn't ready. Perhaps his most exciting move of the game, a steal and dunk got erased by Goldin at the rim. Then that was immediately a miss and he and Suder collided on the left baseline due to miscommunication/understanding on spacing. McCray: hated all his minutes. Clanks and bad passes with sparkling shoes. I'm out. Congrats on finally hitting something in the 3rd. Watson: equally promising and frustrating. Every decision was the right one. The passes, the shots, the reaction time. He just isn't good enough to convert or benefit from the right decision. Glad to see he came up with the game winner. A good reward for his game long effort. Manon: he's calm, cool and collected. The full court defense. The ability to absorb and react to contact on drives. The defense in the final 2 minutes, highlighted when he and Thiero combined their powers to trap. That was fun and really successful in the final minute of the 4th. Carr: kid is ready offensively. Effortless. He can flat out score and has extreme confidence with each attempt. Defensively, I think it was Temu Dort that bullied him in the post, but he's definitely got to eat, sleep and live in the weight room for the next 2 years + a steady plan with the team dietitian.
I really appreciate you doing all this work to summarize the summer games I'm learning about all these players, what their flaws are and what they need to work on
gotta say...i don't know if it's that the talent pool got diluted by NIL or what, but i'm not super impressed with our two-way signings this time around. neither suder nor okereke look like they should ever play in the league. suder is so incredibly slow for someone who is also not particularly tall. his shot looks great, but he'll basically never get it against nba players, and he's not a pg. okereke also moves like someone who should be playing two positions up, size-wise (moves like a center but is sf-sized). interesting that they both fit a mold: strong, high iq, good shooters--but short and slow for their positions. i just don't see a future there. manon...maybe, but i'm pretty dubious at this point on him, too. he's not a strong ballhandler, and at his height, you need to be a bit better there (e.g., caruso played pg in college and handles the ball credibly if not at nba pg level). he'd have to be an absolute beast of a stopper at the guard spots to overcome what appears to be a near total lack of offense. i still have hope for thiero, simply because his physical gifts are nearly unmatched even at the pro level. carr obviously stands out as the best prospect by far, and my enthusiasm for him is only tempered by the fact that i was equally jazzed about knecht.
