2017 Nike Hoop Summit

[awhom111]

Part all-star game, part recruiting, part international basketball...

USA Basketball announced their half of the players, so it seemed like a good time to start the thread. In a trend at the youth national team level for some reason, more than half the players have the same names as their fathers.
https://www.usab.com/news-events/new...it-roster.aspx

The game will be on ESPN2 at 10pm ET on April 7th. It will be interesting to see Miles Simon coach the American team.

[Olympic Fan]

Part all-star game, part recruiting, part international basketball...

USA Basketball announced their half of the players, so it seemed like a good time to start the thread. In a trend at the youth national team level for some reason, more than half the players have the same names as their fathers.
https://www.usab.com/news-events/new...it-roster.aspx

The game will be on ESPN2 at 10pm ET on April 7th. It will be interesting to see Miles Simon coach the American team.

The USA roster includes two Duke signees -- Wendell Carter and Gary Trent -- plus our three remaining targets -- Kevin Knox, Trevon Duvall and Mo Bomba.

It should be worth watching ...

[Saratoga2]

The USA roster includes two Duke signees -- Wendell Carter and Gary Trent -- plus our three remaining targets -- Kevin Knox, Trevon Duvall and Mo Bomba.

It should be worth watching ...

So, who do we lose for next year and where do these guys ft?

Must go Matt and Amile and we will miss them both mightily

Jayson is a lottery pick and is expected to leave.

The question marks are Grayson, Luke and Frank, all of whom might be of interest to the NBA.

Then there is the situation at PF/C.

Will Harry make the move based on potential. Will Marques make the move also based on potential?

Will we lose one of our other bigs through transfer? Will Sean graduate as a Jr, or will he stay on the team as a non-playing rep.?

I am not mentioning the other players.

So we have two guards and an inside player to replace and could use a true PG type. My understanding is that Wendell is a big man who could play PF/C and Trent is G/SF

With our targets of a true small forward, another center and a PG, it kind of begs the question about which big men coach K expects to leave and which other guard?

[awhom111]

Now we have the other team:
https://www.usab.com/news-events/new...announced.aspx

It's great that there are a lot of Canadian players coming through, but since almost all them play on the same circuits as the American players, it makes it a little less special. I am looking forward to the German duo of Bonga and Hartenstein as well as Simanic and Sedekerskis.

[Troublemaker]

NBADraft.net‏ @nbadraftnet 14h14 hours ago
Trent, Porter, Jackson, Carter and Duvall the starters for the first scrimmage for #TeamUSA #HOOPSUMMIT

Hoping Duval will become the next Duke player with a commonly misspelled name.

Jonathan Givony‏Verified account @DraftExpress 14h14 hours ago
Super competitive evening USA practice/scrimmage. Wendell Carter, Michael Porter, Collin Sexton all having some nice moments. No NBA scouts.

Good to hear about Wendell. Sexton has been getting rave reviews the past couple of weeks (McDonald's practice + game, and now Hoop Summit practice).

[Billy Dat]

For those not accustomed to watching this game, it is 1000x better than the McDonalds game as it is less of an All Star showcase and more of a competitive atmosphere. You can get a much better idea of what a kid is made of, I am looking forward to it.

[Olympic Fan]

Sexton has been getting rave reviews the past couple of weeks (McDonald's practice + game, and now Hoop Summit practice).

I'm kind of torn when a top player signs with a bad program. On one hand, I admire the courage to forge your own path, but on the other hand, I wonder if the kid is looking to be a big fish in a little pond.

We had Ben Simmons waste his year of college for a bad LSU team and Markelle Fultz do the same at Washington this season.

Now we have a great prospect in Michael Porter joining a horrible Missouri program and Sexton -- who I agree looks very impressive in the postseason all-star games -- heading for Alabama.

I wonder how much these one-and-done superstars really help a struggling program. They add excitement and all that, but not often can a player like that lift a bad program to NCAA contention ... then when they are gone, the program is as bad as ever. Better to sign some lower rated guys who will stay and become the foundation of a program.

We can see that LSU is still in the toilet after Simmons ... and Washington in in shambles after Fultz. It will be interesting to see what Missouri and Alabama do next year with their superstars ... and what they do the year after when they are gone.

I'm not saying every top kid should sign with Kentucky, Duke, Arizona or Kansas, but there are 30-40 programs out there where a one-and-done player could change a good team into a title contender.

PS I agree with Billy Dat that the Hoop Summit is far, FAR better than the McDonald's Showcase (I hate to call it a game). Still a danger of reading too much into one game, but at least it's a real game.

[CrazyNotCrazie]

I'm kind of torn when a top player signs with a bad program. On one hand, I admire the courage to forge your own path, but on the other hand, I wonder if the kid is looking to be a big fish in a little pond.

We had Ben Simmons waste his year of college for a bad LSU team and Markelle Fultz do the same at Washington this season.

Now we have a great prospect in Michael Porter joining a horrible Missouri program and Sexton -- who I agree looks very impressive in the postseason all-star games -- heading for Alabama.

I wonder how much these one-and-done superstars really help a struggling program. They add excitement and all that, but not often can a player like that lift a bad program to NCAA contention ... then when they are gone, the program is as bad as ever. Better to sign some lower rated guys who will stay and become the foundation of a program.

We can see that LSU is still in the toilet after Simmons ... and Washington in in shambles after Fultz. It will be interesting to see what Missouri and Alabama do next year with their superstars ... and what they do the year after when they are gone.

I'm not saying every top kid should sign with Kentucky, Duke, Arizona or Kansas, but there are 30-40 programs out there where a one-and-done player could change a good team into a title contender.

PS I agree with Billy Dat that the Hoop Summit is far, FAR better than the McDonald's Showcase (I hate to call it a game). Still a danger of reading too much into one game, but at least it's a real game.

In general I would tend to agree with you. But in the case of Sexton, Alabama is not a total waste of time. Their coach is Avery Johnson, who had a successful career as an NBA point guard (Sexton's position) and also was an NBA head coach for a number of years. And it isn't too far from where he is growing up. So the school actually has a lot going for it, though it would be much better if he was playing there surrounded by better talent. From the program's perspective, it isn't necessarily going to be a game changer, but you don't turn a kid like that down either.

[Troublemaker]

In general I would tend to agree with you. But in the case of Sexton, Alabama is not a total waste of time. Their coach is Avery Johnson, who had a successful career as an NBA point guard (Sexton's position) and also was an NBA head coach for a number of years. And it isn't too far from where he is growing up. So the school actually has a lot going for it, though it would be much better if he was playing there surrounded by better talent. From the program's perspective, it isn't necessarily going to be a game changer, but you don't turn a kid like that down either.

Sexton is also coming in with a pretty good recruiting class (two 4-stars in addition to him) and is going to a bubble team in Bama. I actually expect them to get some preseason top-25 votes and believe they can make the tournament next season with him.

I also think Sexton will probably move ahead of Duval in the PG rankings for 2017 based on his past couple of weeks. So Duke is recruiting the #2 PG in that class, but I suppose I'll still take Duval if he wants to come, haha.

[Olympic Fan]

I also think Sexton will probably move ahead of Duval in the PG rankings for 2017 based on his past couple of weeks. So Duke is recruiting the #2 PG in that class, but I suppose I'll still take Duval if he wants to come, haha.

Except that it's not clear that Sexton is a point guard.

He's the No. 2 rated shooting guard in the class, according to ESPN. He's also listed as a shooting guard in the rsci, (although 247 ranks him as a point guard).

He has the ball in his hands a lot, but he's not a distributor and he has a high turnover rate. He's more a combo guard (like Grayson or Frank Jackson) than a point guard.

Obviously, prep rankings don't matter ... and it's possible that Sexton will climb past Duval in the various overall rankings (he now trails in every major ranking), but I'm confident that we've targeted the best point guard in this class -- and not just because he's interested in us.

BTW, I wonder how Luke's decision will impact Duval's choice -- reportedly, he has been waiting to see who goes and who stays at his various target schools. Without Luke, we still have Grayson, Jackson and Trent at guard ... no matter what Grayson decides, Coach K has never had any problem getting minutes for four guards in his rotation (especially since he so often plays a three guard lineup).

[Troublemaker]

USA Basketball‏Verified account @usabasketball 5m5 minutes ago
Just in! Official measurements of USA Junior National Select Team that will take on World Team in 20th annual @nikehoopsummit. #HoopSummit

[Rich]

In a trend at the youth national team level for some reason, more than half the players have the same names as their fathers.

Better than their mothers! (thank you, I'm here all night)

But seriously, what's the difference between "Jr." and "II"?

[pfrduke]

(measurement chart)

How crazy is it that Bamba can reach to 6" short of the rim without leaving the floor? That's incredible length.

[pfrduke]

Better than their mothers! (thank you, I'm here all night)

But seriously, what's the difference between "Jr." and "II"?

Not sure whether it's necessarily the case for any of these kids, but II can be used when it skips a generation (e.g., player has same name as grandfather).

[CrazyNotCrazie]

Better than their mothers! (thank you, I'm here all night)

But seriously, what's the difference between "Jr." and "II"?

Apparently Jr. means named after the father, while II means named after another close family member - thanks for asking as I had been meaning to look that up - I am Jewish so we don't do juniors (since we only traditionally name after the deceased):

http://mentalfloss.com/article/90893...ween-jr-and-ii

I am waiting to see college athletes with Sr. on their jersey, like Steve Smith Sr. I wanted to put that on my elementary-school aged son's jersey for shock value but got talked out of it...

[arnie]

So Troy Brown and Gary Trent are same height, but Brown's standing reach is nearly a foot higher. Slight difference in wingspan. So Brown either has no neck whatsoever, or Trent has many extra vertebrate?

[DukeFanSince1990]

Duval has a 6'9 wingspan? Sucks to a guard being guarded by him. Wow.

[Troublemaker]

So Troy Brown and Gary Trent are same height, but Brown's standing reach is nearly a foot higher. Slight difference in wingspan. So Brown either has no neck whatsoever, or Trent has many extra vertebrate?

Yeah, that's strange. I think Brown may be the freak there since Trent and MJ Walker essentially have the same measurements.

Duval has a 6'9 wingspan? Sucks to a guard being guarded by him. Wow.

Yeah, although there's a bit of Rajon Rondo disease there. That wingspan to height ratio probably makes it hard for Duval to shoot, so it perhaps isn't all positive.

[CDu]

So Troy Brown and Gary Trent are same height, but Brown's standing reach is nearly a foot higher. Slight difference in wingspan. So Brown either has no neck whatsoever, or Trent has many extra vertebrate?

Yeah, pretty sure that is a typo. I am 5'11", with a ~6' wingspan, and my standing reach is about 7'8". There is no way that Trent - who is 7" taller and apparently has arms about 3-4" longer - only reaches 7'10.5".

Apparently, he had a standing reach of 8'4.5" in 2016 and an 8'4" reach in 2015, both as measured by USA Basketball. So my guess it that he is probably in the 8'5" or 8'6" range.

[Troublemaker]

Yeah, pretty sure that is a typo. I am 5'11", with a ~6' wingspan, and my standing reach is about 7'8". There is no way that Trent - who is 7" taller and apparently has arms about 3-4" longer - only reaches 7'10.5".

Apparently, he had a standing reach of 8'4.5" in 2016 and an 8'4" reach in 2015, both as measured by USA Basketball. So my guess it that he is probably in the 8'5" or 8'6" range.

Hmmm, on second thought, I think you're right. Typo makes the most sense.