Last night I had a chance to go down and watch my favorite team the Cincinnati bearcats. When I got to Hofeinz I went looking for my seats and then I sit down looking around the place and when I look 5 seats down my left I see Calvin Murphy and Moses Malone. I meet them later on. But the whole game I could hear Calvin Murphy talking, he kept on saying things like " Martin is amazing and that he will become something big in the NBA" They were jumping up on some of the things Martin was doing. I was just impressed with him. He can jump so high and has so much leadership. His defense is AWESOME. Did you guys see that block he did on Spears, spears was running down the court and martin ran after him and spears didnt know he was behind him, next thing you know spears throws a layup and martin jumps and blocks it all the way to halfcourt. Demarr Johnson was great as well. He is soo damn athletic. He can shoot and drives in great. He can fit with the rockets really well. Pete Mikeal didnt shoot the ball welll at all. But he has great defense. This is the thing about him, he wont bring offense all the time but he has defense every night. Kenyon didnt shoot from the free throw line well or he would of had like 30 something. This was probably his worst time shooting the free throws. Something interesting was after the game I saw kenyon martin and calvin murphy talking to each other and joking around. It was a great game. What did you guys think of it?
I was actually disapointed in Cincy. I expected that they would look alot better. Let's face it, UH (my alma mater) has nothing in the way of big people. Their front line constists of two 215 lbs. small forwards (Younger and Williams) along with an overweight guy coming off his 4th knee operation (Early) and the backups are two walk ons (Ballis and Moceanu). Cincy should have crushed UH inside, but they didn't. I was surprised that Cincy allowed Gee Gervin to go off in the second half. I kept expecting that they would double him and force him to give up the ball, but they never did. Martin - Very strong and very athletic. Great shot blocker, although he did goaltend a couple of shots that didn't get called. I'm still not convinced that he can score consistently in the NBA against big people. With his strength and leaping ability, he shouldn't be averaging under 10 boards a game against the competition that he's faced this year. Still a sure high lottery pick and the first PF taken. Johnson - great all around skills and a tough matchup at his height. I don't think he's ready for the NBA yet. He'd have to be the skinniest player in the NBA if he came out now. Needs another year or two to develop. He's got tons of potential, but currently George Williams (UH frosh and 1998 Texas HS player of the year) is a better player. Mikeal - tough night for Pete. He couldn't throw it in the ocean last night.
Cincinnati didnt play all that well. Clyde Drexler really did a good coaching job, he made the bearcats take outside shots and not let them go inside. George Williams is a really good player. Bearcats can always turn it up when they want, and martin is usually the guy that always picks them up. Gee Gervin is a great player, did you see his moves? It was crazy. The Bearcats knew that Gervin was going to be the problem. But all I got to say is this, DRAFT KENYON MARTIN.
Cincy has a ton of talent, but they often play uninspired, so I wasn't surprised by the final score. I wonder how much of that is because they team is young and some of the vets are transfers or JUCO players. They show flashes of chemistry then other times they just show up and grind out a win. They by far have the most talent in the NCAA (and maybe even more than the Clippers as well). Martin is a stud, he truly improved his offensive game in the offseason. I'm still curious to see how he will play vs other good big men (hopefully they can make a run in the tournament). That will be very telling.
