2014 Nike Hoops Summit Game

[tommy]

Overall, I actually don't think the high school class of 2014 is as good as many past classes. It has some guys who will be solid role players in the NBA, but maybe no all-stars. I think Mudiay is the one with the best chance. I agree with the ESPN announcers that Okafor could probably be a role player in the NBA right now because he's so polished, but he doesn't have as much potential/upside as guys like Myles Turner and Mudiay.

Here's the thing about Mudiay. He's big and strong and skilled. Just a beast. He could overpower any guard at the high school level and probably will be able to do that in college too. To me, the question about him is: can he get his teammates involved, or does he just get his? At this point, he's not in Tyus' class as a floor general, distributor, and leader. Terrific player, don't get me wrong, but I want to see more of him as a playmaker. Has he not done that so much because he doesn't know how to play within the team concept, or because he doesn't see the floor as well, or what? We'll soon find out. If it's the former, then he's going to a great place, because Larry Brown will show him what it means to play the position properly. If it's more a court vision thing or a personality thing, then I'd be a little hesitant to say he's headed for NBA stardom.

[Henderson]

Here's the thing about Mudiay. He's big and strong and skilled. Just a beast. He could overpower any guard at the high school level and probably will be able to do that in college too. To me, the question about him is: can he get his teammates involved, or does he just get his? At this point, he's not in Tyus' class as a floor general, distributor, and leader. Terrific player, don't get me wrong, but I want to see more of him as a playmaker. Has he not done that so much because he doesn't know how to play within the team concept, or because he doesn't see the floor as well, or what? We'll soon find out. If it's the former, then he's going to a great place, because Larry Brown will show him what it means to play the position properly. If it's more a court vision thing or a personality thing, then I'd be a little hesitant to say he's headed for NBA stardom.

Couldn't agree more. Nice analysis. Fraschilla (or was it the play-by-play guy?) reported during last night's game that Mudiay says he's hungry to learn from Larry Brown. We'll see.

I had a similar reaction watching Stanley Johnson last night. Really loves to take it to the basket, and he's good at it (did not shoot well last night from outside; got fouled at the rim a lot and shot free throws). But he played almost 25 minutes at off-guard last night and didn't have a single assist. It could have been an outlier (I'd not really watched him before last night), but I found myself asking whether he can (and is inclined to) play in the team concept.

[Troublemaker]

Top 10 plays video by the Oregonian: http://www.oregonlive.com/hoop-summi..._top_play.html

Dukies prominently involved, of course.

[Newton_14]

Loved the game and the play of our kids but COYS, you can have your 24 Second Shot Clock. It would ruin the college game. Basketball is a 5 man at a time team sport. It should involve all 5 team members in the offense. But I digress...

Ty is a great PG and he will be handed the keys to the offense on Day 1 just like Amaker, Hurley, Jason Williams, and Kyrie Irving. Quinn will play a lot of his minutes at SG next year. Tyus is just a special talent, but I don't think anyone was "complaining" about his defense, they were just pointing out his weaknesses. On ball defense is not his specialty, and he isn't the strongest guy in the world. He is going to have to put a lot of work in to his defense from an on ball, stopping dribble penetration standpoint. I do like his instincts on that side of the ball though so that is a plus for sure, and will help him. K may roll out the 2009 and 2010 strategy and put Rasheed at the point on defense with Tyus guarding the Shooting Guards. One of the things to watch.

Okafor is a beast down low. Old school post guy. A mix of power and finess, with great hands, incredible length, great footwork. If Jabari returns, that frontline will be wicked good. Jabari would be able to play more like the Ryan Kelly role when Ryan and Mason were Seniors, and I honestly think he would thrive in that role with Big Oak down low. A line up of Tyus, Rasheed, Winslow, Jabari, and Okafor has the potential to be really strong on both sides of the ball, something we sorely missed this past season. We could never find a combination of 5 guys that were good together on both ends of the floor. To me, that is the most important thing for next season to be a success. Being able to play at a high level on offense, and on defense. With the players we have (especially if Jabari returns) we should be really good offensively. With guys like Okafor, Winslow, Rasheed, Matt Jones, MP3, and Semi, plus the benefit of Jabari, and Amile, being able to defend their natural positions instead of banging with Centers much bigger than them, our defense should be much better than it was this season.

Last summer I predicted a really strong defensive team, and was miles offbase on that prediction. That glaring miss has me gunshy to make predictions this year. Maybe though, just maybe, the personell next season will actually lend itself to a team that can press full court, pressure in the halfcourt and this time actually cause disruption and force turnovers. Just remember I said maybe. Rasheed can defend. Matt Jones can defend. Winslow can defend (yes I know he has to prove that against ACC competition).

I truly believe Semi can grow into an excellent defender of the 2 through 4 positions. If Jabari returns, we may also see Amile get some time at the 3 as a defender, in addition to his normal 4 spot. K used Amile at the 3 at certain times his Freshman year, and I felt he aquitted himself well defending wings.

Anyway, I have stated many times the Nike Hoop Summit game is easily the best High School game each year, and this game did not disappoint. Love that our 3 guys really shined in leading the USA to the win. Can't wait to see them doing their thing in their Duke uni's.

[kAzE]

Loved the game and the play of our kids but COYS, you can have your 24 Second Shot Clock. It would ruin the college game. Basketball is a 5 man at a time team sport. It should involve all 5 team members in the offense. But I digress...

Ty is a great PG and he will be handed the keys to the offense on Day 1 just like Amaker, Hurley, Jason Williams, and Kyrie Irving. Quinn will play a lot of his minutes at SG next year. Tyus is just a special talent, but I don't think anyone was "complaining" about his defense, they were just pointing out his weaknesses. On ball defense is not his specialty, and he isn't the strongest guy in the world. He is going to have to put a lot of work in to his defense from an on ball, stopping dribble penetration standpoint. I do like his instincts on that side of the ball though so that is a plus for sure, and will help him. K may roll out the 2009 and 2010 strategy and put Rasheed at the point on defense with Tyus guarding the Shooting Guards. One of the things to watch.

Okafor is a beast down low. Old school post guy. A mix of power and finess, with great hands, incredible length, great footwork. If Jabari returns, that frontline will be wicked good. Jabari would be able to play more like the Ryan Kelly role when Ryan and Mason were Seniors, and I honestly think he would thrive in that role with Big Oak down low. A line up of Tyus, Rasheed, Winslow, Jabari, and Okafor has the potential to be really strong on both sides of the ball, something we sorely missed this past season. We could never find a combination of 5 guys that were good together on both ends of the floor. To me, that is the most important thing for next season to be a success. Being able to play at a high level on offense, and on defense. With the players we have (especially if Jabari returns) we should be really good offensively. With guys like Okafor, Winslow, Rasheed, Matt Jones, MP3, and Semi, plus the benefit of Jabari, and Amile, being able to defend their natural positions instead of banging with Centers much bigger than them, our defense should be much better than it was this season.

Last summer I predicted a really strong defensive team, and was miles offbase on that prediction. That glaring miss has me gunshy to make predictions this year. Maybe though, just maybe, the personell next season will actually lend itself to a team that can press full court, pressure in the halfcourt and this time actually cause disruption and force turnovers. Just remember I said maybe. Rasheed can defend. Matt Jones can defend. Winslow can defend (yes I know he has to prove that against ACC competition).

I truly believe Semi can grow into an excellent defender of the 2 through 4 positions. If Jabari returns, we may also see Amile get some time at the 3 as a defender, in addition to his normal 4 spot. K used Amile at the 3 at certain times his Freshman year, and I felt he aquitted himself well defending wings.

Anyway, I have stated many times the Nike Hoop Summit game is easily the best High School game each year, and this game did not disappoint. Love that our 3 guys really shined in leading the USA to the win. Can't wait to see them doing their thing in their Duke uni's.

I agree with your assessments, and I think the 5 man unit you mentioned will be the starting lineup at some point next year, though it is always subject to change. I'm still a bit hesitant to say that we're going to be a really good defense, just because good defense, much more than offense, requires 5 guys working as a unit, and with the amount of inexperience we have, it will take some time before we become an above average defensive unit.

The really great defenses this past year were all teams that had 3 or 4 upperclassmen starters who had been playing together for a minimum of 2 years. Florida, Louisville, Ohio St., UConn, St. Louis, San Diego St., Wichita St, Virginia, Arizona, and Cincinnati (pretty much the entire top end of the Pomeroy rankings for AdjD) were all veteran laden teams who had 3 or 4 starters who had been playing together for a minimum of 2 years together. You mentioned the 2009-10 team, and that team started 3 seniors with 2 juniors, with 2 of the really respected perimeter defenders we've seen in a Duke uniform in Scheyer and Smith. The only outlier I can think of is that 2012 Kentucky team, but they had 2 defensive superstar NBA talents in Davis and Kidd-Gilchrist, and also other very good defensive players in Terrence Jones and Darius Miller. I give Calipari a lot of credit for that team. They were immensely talented, but I never thought such a young team could play that type of defense together.

Our team will very likely have 3 new starters next season who have never played a minute of college ball. As talented as they are, I estimate they will struggle defensively for at least the first half of the season. Even though Winslow may be excellent on defense from an individual standpoint, there's still a ton for him to learn. There is precedent (Aaron Gordon) for a freshman to come in and immediately make a huge impact on defense, but he's an athletic freak and was surrounded by upperclassmen veterans, and we won't have that luxury.

We may very likely top the Pomeroy rankings in offense all year, but I don't think we will crack the top 25 in defense with such a young team. I think we'll definitely be better defensively than last year, but still not great. But as long as we keep improving throughout the year, and stay in the top 40-ish, we're going to be one of the favorites to reach the Final Four. We're just that talented, especially if Jabari returns.

[Kedsy]

There is precedent (Aaron Gordon) for a freshman to come in and immediately make a huge impact on defense, but he's an athletic freak and was surrounded by upperclassmen veterans, and we won't have that luxury.

FWIW, Arizona this year had just two upperclassmen (both juniors) in the rotation (counting players who played 6+ mpg), and one of those was a transfer who hadn't played a minute for Arizona before this season. Zona did not have "3 or 4 upperclassmen starters who had been playing together for a minimum of 2 years." The Arizona starters were one junior, one redshirt (transfer) junior, two sophomores, and a freshman. Three of those starters had played together for a year before this season, but the team had no seniors in the rotation and only one junior who had played for the team before 2013-14 (making their rotation younger than Duke's 2013-14 rotation) and yet still managed to have Pomeroy's #1 ranked defense. So it can be done.

[kAzE]

FWIW, Arizona this year had just two upperclassmen (both juniors) in the rotation (counting players who played 6+ mpg), and one of those was a transfer who hadn't played a minute for Arizona before this season. Zona did not have "3 or 4 upperclassmen starters who had been playing together for a minimum of 2 years." The Arizona starters were one junior, one redshirt (transfer) junior, two sophomores, and a freshman. Three of those starters had played together for a year before this season, but the team had no seniors in the rotation and only one junior who had played for the team before 2013-14 (making their rotation younger than Duke's 2013-14 rotation) and yet still managed to have Pomeroy's #1 ranked defense. So it can be done.

Yeah, I'm not saying it can't be done, it's just rare (Like that 2012 UK squad). 80-90% of the best defensive teams are typically guys who have played together for a long time.

[Saratoga2]

FWIW, Arizona this year had just two upperclassmen (both juniors) in the rotation (counting players who played 6+ mpg), and one of those was a transfer who hadn't played a minute for Arizona before this season. Zona did not have "3 or 4 upperclassmen starters who had been playing together for a minimum of 2 years." The Arizona starters were one junior, one redshirt (transfer) junior, two sophomores, and a freshman. Three of those starters had played together for a year before this season, but the team had no seniors in the rotation and only one junior who had played for the team before 2013-14 (making their rotation younger than Duke's 2013-14 rotation) and yet still managed to have Pomeroy's #1 ranked defense. So it can be done.

The Arizona example is a good one in that it makes light of the argument that you have to have a veteran team to have a strong defense. Arizona did have size and they used that. Other good defensive teams were Virginia and UCONN, both of who used a more compact defense than Duke. Perhaps our lack of physical presence and size together with our style of defense was what made us weak on defense.

[flyingdutchdevil]

The Arizona example is a good one in that it makes light of the argument that you have to have a veteran team to have a strong defense. Arizona did have size and they used that. Other good defensive teams were Virginia and UCONN, both of who used a more compact defense than Duke. Perhaps our lack of physical presence and size together with our style of defense was what made us weak on defense.

It certainly added to it. I think experience, lack of focus, and lack of ability also added to it. Quinn Cook may never have the ability to stay in front of his player. Some players just aren't that quick laterally. And it's a tough skill to develop. Maggette never had it, and neither does Amare.

[Billy Dat]

Fraschilla (or was it the play-by-play guy?) reported during last night's game that Mudiay says he's hungry to learn from Larry Brown. We'll see.

It's funny, as an old school dude who has never liked to, at least verbally, hand the keys to his team to rookies or freshmen, I assume Larry Brown will amend his ways in this instance.

[Henderson]

I have an international competition rules question: Now that Karl Towns Jr. has played on the World Team in the Hoop Summit and also internationally represented the Dominican Republic in international play, I believe he is forever disqualified from playing for another country in the World Championships and Olympics. Correct? Does the same hold true for Mudiay? I don't know that he ever played on a Democratic Republic of Congo team, but he played for the World Team in the Hoop Summit representing the D.R. Congo. If he wants to play in the Worlds or Olympics, must he always play exclusively on a DRC team?

[FerryFor50]

I have an international competition rules question: Now that Karl Towns Jr. has played on the World Team in the Hoop Summit and also internationally represented the Dominican Republic in international play, I believe he is forever disqualified from playing for another country in the World Championships and Olympics. Correct? Does the same hold true for Mudiay? I don't know that he ever played on a Democratic Republic of Congo team, but he played for the World Team in the Hoop Summit representing the D.R. Congo. If he wants to play in the Worlds or Olympics, must he always play exclusively on a DRC team?

Technically correct, but if both countries reach an agreement, exceptions could be made.

[MCFinARL]

I have an international competition rules question: Now that Karl Towns Jr. has played on the World Team in the Hoop Summit and also internationally represented the Dominican Republic in international play, I believe he is forever disqualified from playing for another country in the World Championships and Olympics. Correct? Does the same hold true for Mudiay? I don't know that he ever played on a Democratic Republic of Congo team, but he played for the World Team in the Hoop Summit representing the D.R. Congo. If he wants to play in the Worlds or Olympics, must he always play exclusively on a DRC team?

Under FIBA rules, he cannot play for another country once he as, at the age of 17 or over, represented one country in a "main international competition of FIBA." There is a discretionary exception for people who want to transfer to a second country if it is "in the interest of the development of basketball in that country." And players who represented one country before the age of 17 may play for another if both national federations agree. http://www.fiba.com/downloads/v3_expe/agen/docs/3-ELIGIBILITY-NATIONAL-STATUS-of-%20PLAYERS.pdf

So far, I haven't been able to figure out whether the Nike Hoop Summit counts as a "main international competition of FIBA," although it seems an argument could be made that Towns was not representing the national federation of the Dominican Republic in that game but the "World Team." In FIBA competitions, Towns was selected for the Dominican Republic team when he was 16, but if he has played in competitions since his 17th birthday, he would be permanently assigned to play for the Dominican Republic.

Mudlay does not appear on the current roster of the DRC team (according to ever-reliable Wikipedia, so take it for what it is worth), so his eligibility to play for another country would turn on whether the Hoop Summit is a "main international competition of FIBA," which I kind of doubt, though I have no evidence.

Edit: I see Ferryfor50 beat me to the most important part of this post, and much more concisely, too.

[Ichabod Drain]

I have an international competition rules question: Now that Karl Towns Jr. has played on the World Team in the Hoop Summit and also internationally represented the Dominican Republic in international play, I believe he is forever disqualified from playing for another country in the World Championships and Olympics. Correct? Does the same hold true for Mudiay? I don't know that he ever played on a Democratic Republic of Congo team, but he played for the World Team in the Hoop Summit representing the D.R. Congo. If he wants to play in the Worlds or Olympics, must he always play exclusively on a DRC team?

I do not believe that the Hoop Summit is an official FIBA event so I would say Mudiay could play for USA if he wanted to later on. If you go here the game isn't listed under FIBA events.

http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/eve...baCaleAll.html

[awhom111]

To add to this, if Mudiay did not become a US citizen until after age 16, he would have to fill the USA naturalized player slot. In competition, only one player can occupy that spot (like Nick Horvath has for New Zealand). I have said it elsewhere, but I hope that there is a loosening of this rule in the future, not for basketball-specific naturalization, but for players with some heritage in another country who do not obtain citizenship soon enough. If it were up to me, it would be even more loose to resemble some of the baseball/rugby rules.

What will be interesting is whether Calipari lets his old assistant Antigua take Towns for this summer or not. The late placement of the tournament is rather inconvenient for those with college obligations (including our coach).

[martydoesntfoul]

Hey marty, enjoy the game! How did Justise and Tyus look in pregame shooting? Did you get there that early?

Troublemaker: Below is a long overdue explanation for my DBR handle. Jim Sumner described it perfectly in a 2007 post that compared the exploits of George Burgin and Marty Nessley...

"Marty [Nessley] was the inspiration for the 'Marty doesn't foul' chant. If you aren't old enough to remember Marty, the cheer was intended to be ironic."

Speaking of George, I recall a game where he went something like 0 for 8 from the free throw line, and my friend went berserk demanding a partial tuition reimbursement equivalent to his share of George's scholarship.