| 08 April 2011
The Nike Hoop Summit practices have continued all week here in Portland, OR and, already, a few players are beginning to noticeably stand out.
On Tuesday, I had the chance to talk with two players from the World Team -- specifically Lucas Nogueira and Bismack Biyombo, and both have garnered quite a buzz.
While Nogueira, or “Bebe,” impressed because of his measurements and extreme upside, his teammate Biyombo has dominated the talk of the town thus far due to his outstanding athleticism and NBA readiness. Entering the week as a probable mid to late first round pick, he’s now improved his draft stock enough to likely be selected in the lottery stage.
Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress even posted the following message to Twitter: “If ESPN had a camera at this scrimmage, Bismack Biyombo's blocks and dunks would make up half of Sportcenter's Top-10 plays tonight.”
But yesterday at the Blazers practice facility, it was all about the US Team players. Looking over ESPN’s top 100 recruit rankings, seven of the top nine prospects listed were all in the gym. Some local college players from the University of Portland and Portland State University also helped participate in the scrimmage in order to provide enough healthy bodies for a 5-on-5 game.
Right from the start, it was evident that the players weren’t very comfortable playing alongside each other just yet. In fact, most probably aren’t even used to competing in a game where there are so many other players with near equal abilities as themselves.
There were still oohs and aahs aplenty, however, as the scrimmage went on. These players have elite talent and there’s a reason they’re considered the best in the country.
Afterwards, I had the opportunity to speak with both Anthony Davis and Tony Wroten Jr.
Getting to Know Anthony Davis
Anthony Davis has a unique story as he went from being an unknown prospect to the #1 rated prospect (at least according to ESPN) practically overnight. Well, that’s somewhat of an exaggeration as it was really a little over the course of a year, but it’s a remarkable feat in that most of these kids have been pegged by scouts ever since the day they first picked up a basketball.
The reason for this sudden increase in interest was that Davis hit a late growth spurt. During his junior year and extending into his senior year, he grew seven inches, sprouting from 6’3’’ to 6’10’’ during that time. As a senior, Davis went on to average 32 points and 19 rebounds per game. He’s a special player, too, in that he maintained his skills as he grew, effectively giving him guard-like abilities with a power forward body.
When asked about whether his late development was an advantage or a disadvantage, Davis said he could see both sides, but that he felt it was mostly for the worse.
“I think I’m at a disadvantage. These [other prospects] I’ve known for quite a while, their whole high school careers, and they’ve been through this USA thing, other camps and all that, and this is my first year going through all this. So they know what to expect and all the drills and everything, so it’s putting me at a disadvantage.”
Alternatively, when asked about whether the late growth helped further develop his ball handling and passing, he agreed:
“I was 6’3” last year so I was playing at the guard and on the wing, so now that puts me at an advantage over other bigs.”
Speaking of an advantage over other bigs, I asked Davis if he had scouted the guys he’d be matched up against on Saturday, casually mentioning that both Nogueira and Biyombo each have a 9’3’’ standing reach.
“We saw them walk in here," he said. "They’re very tall. So that’s going to make my job a lot harder – we’re not that tall. But at the same time we’ve just gotta go out there and work hard.”
He’ll have the help of his teammates, and particularly, multiple other Kentucky committed players. In this Nike Hoop Summit game, 4 of the 21 total invitees are all headed to the University of Kentucky next year. Three are on the US Team and one is on the World Team.
I asked Davis if all the practices leading up to this game and the practices from the McDonald’s All-American Game have helped the four build an early comradery.
He answered, “It feels great, I get a chance to see how we play well with each other and how we’re going to play next year. It just gives us the opportunity to get used to each other a little more. It gives us the chance to play with each other before Kentucky, so I think it was a great advantage to see how we bond or see what we’ve gotta change before we get to Kentucky, because we want to win."
And not only win games, but win a championship. Davis thinks this is certainly possible:
“Yeah, we go out there and play like we know what we’re capable of, and we go out there and work hard and play hard every game, then yeah, we most definitely can win a championship next year.”
It’s pretty obvious that Davis is already looking ahead to the NBA. He didn’t come out and say it directly, but he’s well aware of John Calipari’s ability to quickly turn his program around year after year and churn out world-class lottery talent at the same time.
He had the following to say about playing for the popular coach:
“I feel good, you know he’s a great coach, he gets guys to the NBA and that’s where I wanna go. He develops them to get ready for the NBA. He doesn’t just go out there and coach, but he also trains them to make them better as players.”
When pressed about whether his intention was to leave after one year, his answer became a little more vague.
“Uh, I’m not gonna… you know, I’m not sure? It depends on my college play, you know, I could go one year or four years. I’m just gonna let it play out and if I think I’m ready to go to the NBA. It’s a situation that me and my family have to sit down and talk about.”
At the end of the interview, Davis shared what he most wants to show everyone on Saturday:
“My shooting ability, and my dribbling and passing ability. I think they think bigs can’t shoot, dribble, and pass. People don’t know that I was 6’3” last year, that I still have that guard mentality. I wanna show people that I can do that as well.”
Getting To Know Tony Wroten, Jr.
Of all the players selected for the Nike Hoop Summit US Team, Tony Wroten Jr. is the only one with Northwest roots. Following a path similar to the one players Brandon Roy and Will Conroy followed, Wroten is graduating from Garfield High School in Seattle, Washington and continuing on to play for the University of Washington.
Like Davis, Wroten has an interesting story that describes how he became a top high-school prospect, only his journey has been struck with hardship along the way. Adversity is what often strengthens players, however, and Wroten now appears to be a confident young man with a solid head on his shoulders.
At one point just a couple of years ago, Wroten was considered by some to be the #1 prospect in his class. The following year, he decided to try his hand at football, and in a tragic event, ended up tearing his ACL in his team’s first game of the season.
He was forced to miss his entire junior season of basketball as a result. Even now, although the knee is much better, it is still not fully healed.
“It’s great," he said. "It’s not 100%, but it’s definitely good, getting there, about 80% right now."
I told him it certainly looked good in track this year.
He responded, “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Track helped my knee keep in shape and made my knee stronger.”
He clarified that he didn’t view it as a setback, that the injury improved his attitude and helped him to not take the game he loves for granted.
“You know, I don’t really think it set me back, just a reality check, just let me know how much basketball means to me, that it can be taken away at any time. Being injured made me realize, you know, made me want the game even more.”
If there’s anything he’s bitter about, it’s that his game isn’t being more appreciated now that he is playing again. I asked Wroten if he felt that he was currently underrated.
“I’d definitely say I’m more underrated than overrated. I just play my game. If you like me, you like me. If you don’t, you don’t.”
To add insult to injury, Wroten was left off of this year’s McDonald’s All-American roster. According to him, it was quite the surprise.
“I just kind of laughed it off because obviously I thought for sure I would make it. Definitely got snubbed, but you know, everything added fuel to the fire, to my motivation,” he said.
For Wroten, this Nike Hoop Summit now serves as a shot at redemption, a chance for him to prove that he should have been selected for the McDonald’s team all along. He fully agreed with this perspective:
“Oh, most definitely. You know, keep it in God’s hands and definitely going to see on Saturday. I’m not mad at the McDonald’s committee, everything happens for a reason.”
When asked about which part of his game he most wants to put on display this weekend, he specified which kind of point guard he wants people to think of him as:
“All around game man, that I can do it all, pass, score. I’m a pass first point guard, so I want to show them, most definitely.”
News broke last week that the University of Washington’s premier point guard, Isaiah Thomas, had decided to declare himself eligible for the 2011 NBA Draft. While I expected Wroten to be happy about this turn of events due to the fact that it will open up more minutes for himself, he mostly held an alternative perspective.
“Obviously, I’m kind of sad. You know, because I wanted to play with him, but he did what’s best for him. I mean, he’s a great player, one of the best in the country, and once he gets drafted in the NBA he’s gonna be great.”
In regards to how Thomas’ absence will directly affect Wroten, he was more or less indifferent.
“I don’t really know because even if he would have stayed, I would have played great minutes and he would have been a good teammate.”
He added that Thomas’ decision wasn’t much of a shock:
“The way he played, I kind of knew he was going out, but it just kind of surprised everybody else.”
Now that the decision has been made, the door is now open for Wroten to come in and make an immediate impact. Abdul Gaddy will still be there and will most likely take over the starting point guard position, but at the very least, it opens up more minutes for Wroten.
Because of Wroten’s 6’5’’, 206 lb size, there is also the option of playing some time at the shooting guard position. He’d be open to this if it meant more time on the court, but it’s certainly not his first choice.
“My main vision is point guard. I’m going to be a point guard next year. I have no problem playing shooting guard sometimes, but my main vision is point guard.”
Finally, I asked Wroten how he settled on his decision to play for Washington, even though other schools, like Louisville, Connecticut, and Villanova, were all recruiting him.
“You know," he responded, "I just want to become a winner. Good coaching staff, great city, and a great team. UW fit all of those categories, so that’s why I chose UW. It’s just the best fit for me, you know? I wanna be nowhere else.”
photo 1: usabasketball.com
photo 2: andrewshurtleff.photoshelter.com
photo 3: nbadraftinsider.com
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