Mason Plumlee Collector Thread

[dbd4ever]

I got a phone call at work this morning and a friend of mine was at the Chic-fil-A classic basketball tournament in Richland Northeast, SC this afternoon and that Coach K was sitting three rows in front of him. Well as soon as I got off of work, I made tracks over to the gym and when I got the program, I noticed that Ryan Kelly, Mason Plumlee, and also Marshall Plumlee were part of this tournament. I didn't get there until around 7:30 and I caught the end of Orlando Christian(FL) and Richland Northeast(SC). We were sitting up in a corner of the gym, wondering where Coach K was and I happened to look down and there was Coach K, Coach Collins, Miles Plumlee and the entire Plumlee family. They were all waiting for Mason and Marshall to play in the final game of the evening. I used the intermission in between games to walk over and meet Coach K, which was truly awesome(even though he wasn't doing any pictures, I got his autograph). He was just as genuinely nice as I had imagined from seeing on TV. But anyway, Mason and Marshall are just as advertised. They are both very long and lean, but very fundamentally sound. Both of the younger Plumlee's look taller than Miles, but a lil skinnier. Either way, if Coach K can keep Marshall's interest, Duke should be well off in the big man category for a few years to come. I didn't get to see the entire game because I had to leave but there is a whole day of games tomorrow if anyone is close and would like to check out the Plumlee's and Ryan Kelly. I also noticed that Clemson recruit and Pinewood Prep star Milton Jennings spent a lot of time with Coach K and the Plumlee's while we were there. I don't know if they are just good friends or what. Here's a list of the top players at the tournament:

Mason Plumlee, Christ School - Committed to Duke
Marshall Plumlee, Christ School
Ryan Kelly, Ravenscroft - Committed to Duke
Milton Jennings, Pinewood Prep - Committed to Clemson
Daniel Orton, Bishop McGuinness - Committed to Kentucky
Mfon Grove, Miller Grove - Committed to Georgia Tech
Marshawn Powell, Miller School - Committed to Arkansas
Devin Booker, Union County - Committed to Clemson(Trevor Booker's
younger brother)
Matt Wilson, Ravenscroft - UNC Wilmington
Lakeem Jackson, Christ School - South Carolina
Kenny Manigault, Pinewood Prep - Wichita State
Keith Clanton, Orlando Christian - Central Florida
Dee Giger, Christ School - Harvard
Jon Bevins, Logan
and many more!!!!

[CameronBornAndBred]

Too cool on your unexpected event and thanks much for the update! Sounds like it was a lot of fun, great to read the whole Plumlee family was there enforce. Would be something else to have 3 brothers on one team.

[Bob Green]

Here's a list of the top players at the tournament:

You forgot Mychal Parker of Miller School. He is a highly sought after Class of 2010 shooting guard/wing.

[Bob Green]

Christ School won tonight 77-63. Mason Plumlee scored 15 points and grabbed 16 rebounds before fouling out with 18 seconds left in the game.

http://www.chick-fil-aclassic.com/summary/game16.htm

[Madrasdukie]

I got a phone call at work this morning and a friend of mine was at the Chic-fil-A classic ...and many more!!!!

That sounds really neat. Thanks for the report.

[Devilsfan]

If Plumlee is rated by some as a four star senior and Ryan is a five star senior then Wall should be a seven star senior, imo. He is an extremely exciting player to watch. It would be great to get to see him on a regular basis.

[Diddy]

For those of you in the triangle, and WNC, yesterday's HS tourney game between Oak Hill and Plumlee's Christ School Greenies was televised. Oak Hill won, but that team was far, far more talented from top to bottom than the Greenies. Oak Hill had several players who are clearly going to play at the top levels of college basketball. The Greenies had 4-5 clear college players. The clear advantage held by Oak Hill was at the point, where Oak Hill has a star in the making heading to VT next year. His game is very similiar to BC's Rice. The Greenies PG was a gamer, but he was far less talented than his counterpoint, and it doomed Christ School. Oak Hill also had a clear advantage in the post. Plumlee was the best player on the floor, but Oak Hill had quality depth that the Greenies could not keep up with. One player in particular, Keith "tiny" Gallon, will be a stud for Capel at Oklahoma. Good for them.

I saw some good things. First and foremost, Plum is an excellant athlete, and is highly skilled in the face up portion of the game. He was fully capable of bringing the ball up against against a very talented Oak Hill backcourt. He did so several times, and Oak Hill quickly learned to lay off him, lest Plum make them look stupid. Offensively, Plum plays WELL above the rim, feasting on putback slams, ally oops, and drives to the rim. I saw no evidence of a true, back to the basket game, but given the rest of his game I am very confident he will soon be at least proficient at that. His three stroke looked good and he knocked a couple down. His Offensive game was so good, that at the Halftime interview as his team headed to the locker room Oak Hill's HC baldly stated that his team could not stop Plumlee. Their strategy going forward would be to limit the rest of the team, which they effectively did.

As good as Plum was on O, and he was outstanding, his D is far ahead of his O. Yikes. Oak Hill quickly learned not to challenge Plum in the post. Plum rejected most straight on attacks. Oak Hill hit a few circus shots by twisting their shots arround Plum's arms, but they missed more than they hit. More impressively than the low post blocks was the fact that Plum also had a few perimeter blocks, one on his guy as he shot a three (although Gallon did hit a couple of threes over Plum), and one on a guard who tried a three. He also got his hand on a midrange J at one point. Even better than the blocks was the straight up D. He has great positioning, rotates perfectly, and stays in his stance. On a couple of occaisions, Plum picked up the opposition PG (not Momo, the stud heading to VT) and shut him down. No penetration, no feed pass to the post, no shot. The PG had to swing it arround the perimeter.

I was quite pleased with Plum. He is not a true low post banger, and he does need some practice on the back to the basket portion of his game. He definitely needs some work in the weight room. Another 10-15+ lbs would make him godly on the court.

Still, overall, we have a good one coming next year. If his older bro is a better athlete, someone would have to prove it to me. He will be able to handle heavy minutes, from day 1.

This past weekend I read the most recent edition of the ACC sports Journal (formerly the PoopSheet). It discussed both Plum and Kelly, as well as the Wear Twins at UNC. It said that while the Wear twins continue to underwhelm and drop in the rankings, both Plum and Kelly could end up as top 10 players by the end of the year. Both need some weight room work, but their skills and athleticism continue to shine. That edition was also down on a few of UNC's other recruits. Their athleticism/skills aren't progressing as well as hoped. Henson is still a beast, but the rest of the class? Not so much.

Also, on the Wall front, he has been ruled a fifth year prep, making him ineligible for the McD's AA game.

[Oriole Way]

Thanks for the insightful writeup.

I am very excited about Plumlee, especially on the defensive side of the ball. We haven't had an interior enforcer since McRoberts, and hasn't had a dominant one since Shelden Williams.

I'm not sure whether Plumlee will be a huge offensive factor his freshman year, but I would love to be wrong. Then again, I doubt we would need him to be if the big three are all back. It would be great if his defense got him substantial minutes on the floor. Like you, I would also be even more excited if he gained some weight and worked on his back to the basket game. Hopefully he can put on some pounds like Ryan Kelly already has since he committed. Sometimes skinny big men can't gain wait, so I hope Plumlee doesn't wind up like Casey Sanders, who couldn't gain a pound no matter how hard he tried.

[roywhite]

Thanks for the scouting report, and a very nice writeup. Both Kelly and Mason P. sound terrific.

I sometimes wonder how some previous Oak Hill teams (and maybe this one, too) would do if they all carried over to the same college team. I suspect they would be a ranked team.

[RainingThrees]

Even though Kelly is more skilled on the offensive end I think Mason has a better chance of starting next year. We need a good center and if Zoubek or Miles havn't progressed enough Mason will start. However, I think if Zoubs remains healthy and continues to improve his skill set and conditioning at the rate he is currently improving he will start.

[SMO]

Even though Kelly is more skilled on the offensive end I think Mason has a better chance of starting next year. We need a good center and if Zoubek or Miles havn't progressed enough Mason will start. However, I think if Zoubs remains healthy and continues to improve his skill set and conditioning at the rate he is currently improving he will start.

You think Miles is going to let his little brother start over him? This could be an interesting sibling rivalry!

[Indoor66]

It would be an iteresting linup is we played MP1, BZ, MP2, KS and Jon. Talk about some size!

[roywhite]

I've seen some highlights of Mason P. and met him briefly last spring. He's awfully thin at this point; no doubt he'll be a player, but he would have some weight/strength issues if we're looking for him to be a starting center early.

[SupaDave]

We haven't had an interior enforcer since McRoberts, and hasn't had a dominant one since Shelden Williams.

Not really a long enough time to be considered a drought.

[CarterTheGreat]

Not really a long enough time to be considered a drought.

But I am suspect that anyone thought McRoberts was an enforcer. I cannot remember how many times I screamed at the TV for him to be strong on D. I have to strongly disagree that he was an inside presence.

[ice-9]

For those of you in the triangle, and WNC, yesterday's HS tourney game between Oak Hill and Plumlee's Christ School Greenies was televised. Oak Hill won, but that team was far, far more talented from top to bottom than the Greenies. Oak Hill had several players who are clearly going to play at the top levels of college basketball. The Greenies had 4-5 clear college players. The clear advantage held by Oak Hill was at the point, where Oak Hill has a star in the making heading to VT next year. His game is very similiar to BC's Rice. The Greenies PG was a gamer, but he was far less talented than his counterpoint, and it doomed Christ School. Oak Hill also had a clear advantage in the post. Plumlee was the best player on the floor, but Oak Hill had quality depth that the Greenies could not keep up with. One player in particular, Keith "tiny" Gallon, will be a stud for Capel at Oklahoma. Good for them.

I saw some good things. First and foremost, Plum is an excellant athlete, and is highly skilled in the face up portion of the game. He was fully capable of bringing the ball up against against a very talented Oak Hill backcourt. He did so several times, and Oak Hill quickly learned to lay off him, lest Plum make them look stupid. Offensively, Plum plays WELL above the rim, feasting on putback slams, ally oops, and drives to the rim. I saw no evidence of a true, back to the basket game, but given the rest of his game I am very confident he will soon be at least proficient at that. His three stroke looked good and he knocked a couple down. His Offensive game was so good, that at the Halftime interview as his team headed to the locker room Oak Hill's HC baldly stated that his team could not stop Plumlee. Their strategy going forward would be to limit the rest of the team, which they effectively did.

As good as Plum was on O, and he was outstanding, his D is far ahead of his O. Yikes. Oak Hill quickly learned not to challenge Plum in the post. Plum rejected most straight on attacks. Oak Hill hit a few circus shots by twisting their shots arround Plum's arms, but they missed more than they hit. More impressively than the low post blocks was the fact that Plum also had a few perimeter blocks, one on his guy as he shot a three (although Gallon did hit a couple of threes over Plum), and one on a guard who tried a three. He also got his hand on a midrange J at one point. Even better than the blocks was the straight up D. He has great positioning, rotates perfectly, and stays in his stance. On a couple of occaisions, Plum picked up the opposition PG (not Momo, the stud heading to VT) and shut him down. No penetration, no feed pass to the post, no shot. The PG had to swing it arround the perimeter.

I was quite pleased with Plum. He is not a true low post banger, and he does need some practice on the back to the basket portion of his game. He definitely needs some work in the weight room. Another 10-15+ lbs would make him godly on the court.

Still, overall, we have a good one coming next year. If his older bro is a better athlete, someone would have to prove it to me. He will be able to handle heavy minutes, from day 1.

This past weekend I read the most recent edition of the ACC sports Journal (formerly the PoopSheet). It discussed both Plum and Kelly, as well as the Wear Twins at UNC. It said that while the Wear twins continue to underwhelm and drop in the rankings, both Plum and Kelly could end up as top 10 players by the end of the year. Both need some weight room work, but their skills and athleticism continue to shine. That edition was also down on a few of UNC's other recruits. Their athleticism/skills aren't progressing as well as hoped. Henson is still a beast, but the rest of the class? Not so much.

Also, on the Wall front, he has been ruled a fifth year prep, making him ineligible for the McD's AA game.

Thanks for the excellent write-up! It sounds like the 4 is MP2's natural position in college. Given we'll have Z, LT and MP1 next year I wonder if MP2 is better utilized as our 4...whether backing up Singler with Kelly or battling Kelly for the starting spot if Singler leaves early.

[geraldsneighbor]

Thanks for the excellent write-up! It sounds like the 4 is MP2's natural position in college. Given we'll have Z, LT and MP1 next year I wonder if MP2 is better utilized as our 4...whether backing up Singler with Kelly or battling Kelly for the starting spot if Singler leaves early.

I hope everyone stays. Don't even get me thinking about this yet.

[SilkyJ]

Thanks for the excellent write-up! It sounds like the 4 is MP2's natural position in college. Given we'll have Z, LT and MP1 next year I wonder if MP2 is better utilized as our 4...whether backing up Singler with Kelly or battling Kelly for the starting spot if Singler leaves early.

not this again. you're saying that b/c you keeping reading about his face up game, which is not what defines who plays as the 5 on this team. I'm not saying anything new when I say who plays the "5" vs the "4" is based on who guards the opponent's biggest player on defense. The fact that MP2 prefers to face up from the high post ~13 feet away on offense instead of catching the ball with his back to the basket 8-10 feet away, or the fact that he sometimes drift out to the perimeter and fire a 3, does not mean we have to play him at PF and play him alongside Zoubs or his brother or Lance (who by the way is 6'8" and can't jump/block shots and MP2 is 6'11" and is known as a VERY good shot blocker and is like a state high jumping champion).

Furthermore, all that is to say nothing of the context of the whole team and the people he'd be playing over. With him playing the 4 and one of the 3 players you mentioned playing the 5, then one of Scheyer/Gerald/Kyle (the 3 best players on the team) would go to the bench. Do you really think that's apt to happen, at least for any significant amount of time? (and yes you could throw Nolan in there as who he could supplant, but you have to have a PG out there and K is not gonna play scheyer as the PG for any significant amount of time, injuries, etc. aside) You can only really imagine that if we play against a REALLY big team but even then I dont think its any secret K prefers to quickness and athleticism to just pure size, which is also to say, he prefers to "go small" b/c more than he prefers to "go big." Witness: the last two games K has taken out Zoubs and played McClure alongside Kyle, pushing Kyle to the 5 for quite a bit.

[CameronCrazy'11]

Ya, MP2's a 4/5 for Duke, probably more 5 in his first year. Even if Singler did leave, a rotation of Lance/ Kelly could handle the 4.

[ice-9]

not this again. you're saying that b/c you keeping reading about his face up game, which is not what defines who plays as the 5 on this team. I'm not saying anything new when I say who plays the "5" vs the "4" is based on who guards the opponent's biggest player on defense. The fact that MP2 prefers to face up from the high post ~13 feet away on offense instead of catching the ball with his back to the basket 8-10 feet away, or the fact that he sometimes drift out to the perimeter and fire a 3, does not mean we have to play him at PF and play him alongside Zoubs or his brother or Lance (who by the way is 6'8" and can't jump/block shots and MP2 is 6'11" and is known as a VERY good shot blocker and is like a state high jumping champion).

Furthermore, all that is to say nothing of the context of the whole team and the people he'd be playing over. With him playing the 4 and one of the 3 players you mentioned playing the 5, then one of Scheyer/Gerald/Kyle (the 3 best players on the team) would go to the bench. Do you really think that's apt to happen, at least for any significant amount of time? (and yes you could throw Nolan in there as who he could supplant, but you have to have a PG out there and K is not gonna play scheyer as the PG for any significant amount of time, injuries, etc. aside) You can only really imagine that if we play against a REALLY big team but even then I dont think its any secret K prefers to quickness and athleticism to just pure size, which is also to say, he prefers to "go small" b/c more than he prefers to "go big." Witness: the last two games K has taken out Zoubs and played McClure alongside Kyle, pushing Kyle to the 5 for quite a bit.

Those are plausible line-ups but as I implied in my post, I don't think MP2 is going to be starting or getting major minutes unless players (i.e. Singler) leave early. And quite frankly, if Singler leaves early my money is on Henderson also leaving early. In that scenario MP2 might best be slotted in the 4 spot. I don't really think we need a rail thin, face-up player guarding the opposing team's biggest and strongest man-beast, especially given our current, capable rotation at the 5. Just think of what happened to Singler last year.

Also, I'm not sure why you implied we wouldn't be able to utilize MP2's height or shot blocking ability as a 4. Power forwards DO spend time in the post. Battier never played the 5 but he blocked a ton of shots; capable help side defense counts for a lot.

Assuming Singler and Henderson leave, I expect the optimal mix of roles to be roughly...
- Nolan bringing the ball up, Scheyer creating
- Scheyer, Elliot, Pocius as scoring guards/wings
- Kelly and MP2 doing their best Singler impersonations, primarily at the 4 but also the 3 or 5 depending on match-ups
- Olek backing up the 4 spot
- Zoubek, LT and MP1 to continue what they're doing this season at the 5

And if Singler and Henderson do stay for next season, then who really cares where MP2 plays because we are going to be DAMN GOOD regardless. If MP2 can get significant minutes - at any position - it'll mean he's doing well.

------------------------------

I didn't mean to get into the topic of line-ups and about who might leave early. I do and am appreciating this season's tremendous team; simply taking the opportunity given by MP2's latest update to speculate what his role might be next season.