[Scrimmage Videos] Royce White blocks Jon Leuer, takes it the distance + more

Can someone identify the players on each team?

Whites: Royce, Fortson, Parsons...

Blacks: Lamb, Machado?, Leuer...

 

reminds me more of josh smith than lebron... he's quick, but he isn't fast.

 

Battier may die this year.

 

Hello friends, ISU fan here. The Rockets gained a lot of fans in the state of Iowa with their #16 selection. Just stopping by to provide my input on Royce. I haven't watched the NBA since the Jordan era (no pro sports in Iowa so we love our college boys...er boys and man) but have found renewed love with the anticipation of following a Cyclone who participated in our resurrection under second year coach Fred Hoiberg. Quick background, he came to ISU because he wanted to be close to his family and because of his anxiety in request of Kentucky to fly him down there immediately. Up until he actually stepped on the court, there were the usual dreamers and haters on our forum, one man stating he will be the best Cyclone to ever play (quite a feat) and those that disliked the fact we would take on such a troubled young man (we were desperate at the time returning just three starters two seasons in a row) as the extremities. During the Capital City League held in Des Moines during the summer featuring various college players from around central Iowa, he was quoted saying he would rather get an assist than score and his goal was to get so many assists a game, can't remember for sure. Early on, you could tell he had the ball handling and vision unknown to nearly every player his size, combined with outstanding strength being able to bench 185 30 times which lots of NFL players dream of. There was a game, I believe it was Texas Tech, where he only took one shot the entire game (made it). Up until the NCAA tournament this year, most felt he would come back another year to work on his free throws and outside shooting. After dominating UConn and being the best player on the court against a team stacked with NBA talent in Kentucky, we all got uneasy on whether or not he would return. Ultimately, he and head coach Hoiberg (has extensive ties to the NBA) decided it was best for him and his family that he declared. I truly believe it was probably best for him to go now though I would give quite a few things unappropriate for a message board to have him back. His size and strengths have a few fall backs: his hands are something like 12 inches from tip of thumb to tip of pinky which would explain his poor outside shooting, his 6'8" will be interesting to see how he fits in the NBA, and he was just too damn strong for college basketball, getting charges called for murdering players on a gamely basis no matter who was truly at fault. He was improving slightly on his free throws by the end of the season and for those of you who attend games, when he makes one have the whole crowd explode like he just made the game winner if he makes it and he seems to shoot them a little better later in the game. That worked for us at least. It will also be scary to see Royce with the continuation rule in the NBA. What most would think would prevent a player from getting the ball to the rim when they intentionally foul to stop a shot has needs a lot more to stop the lion. Just don't expect him to make the free throw afterwards half the time. I hope Royce sticks with the Rockets, never had feelings either way towards them. I'll try and stop by if there is anyone that has more questions. Also, don't take everything I stated as fact. I have a fantastic memory but as great as it is, it's still all just from my memory.

 

This is awesome footage; wasn't it last year that Clutch got in trouble for posting a 15 min vid of scrimmage (the one where Lin looked pretty good). Very glad that although press is not allowed to shoot for more than 2 min, they're putting up a ton of content at the official site.

For anyone who cares, I think these were the teams; apologies for any unintentional racism...

White:
Courtney Fortson (Long Dreads)
Chandler Parsons (Jesus' more handsome brother)
Royce White (The tank handling the ball and playmaking)
Zoran Dragic (Green Shoes, looks like his brother but taller)
Jai Lucas (Short PG who subs for Fortson)
Kyle Fogg (Slightly taller off-guard, plays alongside Dragic and Lucas, receding hairline?)
Jerai Grant (Tall, skinny big man, very dark skinned)

Black:
Scott Machado (Primarily matched up against Fortson, runs PG)
Manny Harris (White-Sleeved Undershirt)
Jon Leuer (Big White Guy)
Jeremy Lamb (Jumpers, bad defense and Horrible Body Language)
Terrence Jones (Guards Royce, looks very long/big)
Diamon Simpson (Lighter skinned PF, small left shoulder tattoo + large tattoo on right arm up to elbow)

Motiejunas, Morris, Smith and Holman not featured.

My notes; Terrence Jones looked great body wise; clearly about 2" taller than Royce White.

Machado definitely seems like he has the proper instincts to play as a pass-first PG, very happy he's not a ball-pounder. However, every time I started to get excited about him, he made a horrible turnover due to backcourt pressure. He might not have the quickness to get by guys at this level.

I really hope the Rockets will keep Jon Leuer if they manage to get one of Dwight or Bynum. The guy is very smart and spaces perfectly on offense. Reminds me a ton of Maarty Leunen. Can't ask for much more as a minimum salary guy.

Royce White made some incredible passes, and kept his handle pretty tight overall. Definitely is a pure PF however, put any thoughts of him being a 3 to bed. Will instantly be the best pick and roll player the Rockets have (Scola is still better at the pick and pop); man is unstoppable if he gets a head of steam going to the bucket.

If he's still on the team by October, Jeremy Lamb will most definitely be the whipping boy of CF. His body language on the court seems to be terrible, he seems to get discouraged easily, and while everyone else is really competing, he seems to be too laid back. Note that I said "seems" for all of those statements; I actually don't have a problem with how he plays; it's just that he looks so disinterested, I'm sure posters will be quick to single him out as the Rockets go on long losing streaks.

 

how unfortunate he is a bad free throw shooter. he will draw plenty of fouls going to the rim. he needs to work on that form.

 

I don't get it often, but I have an itch that dude is gonna be LEGIT. I hope we find a way to keep this one.

 

You can bet your ass the Magic want White & possibly Lamb and Morey is going to give it up. Too bad, that was a nice block and going coast to coast. He reminds me of Rodney Rogers, any1 else see a little Rogers in him?

 

That is actually a pretty good comparison, hopefully he is an all-star version of Rodney though.

 

Can't wait to see him play

 

Thanks for the insight. My biggest question is whether he has the lateral quickness and footspeed to guard small forwards in the NBA. 6'8" is not good for a PF. But if he has something comparable to Ron Artest's footspeed, maybe he could develop into that kind of defender, which would be awesome. Based on his play in ISU, was he able to keep up with big-time athletic 3s?

 

He intrigues the hell out of me. He's def. got major tools, and though he comes off very intelligent in his interviews, he also seems a little insane.

However, I just want to know, am I actually seeing some Sir Charles Barkley in his game or do I happen to be a little insane myself?

 

I like White. Hope he's still a Rocket after today.

 

If he can stay in shape then his game has tremendous potential. But if he ever starts to pack on some pounds at any point of his career I can see him taking a downturn production-wise. He needs to stay quick to be able to take full advantage of his skill set.

 

I apologize for that rocketman, I will def. heed your advice moving forward.

I absolutely agree SMR6, the thing that concerns me about him is his lack of explosiveness. Nevertheless, I'm curious to see if he can use his tools at this level, by making up for with his sheer size and strength. Kind of like Ron Artest.

 

Hell yeah. that was awesome.

 

Sorry it took so long to respond, I didn't realize I had to be activated and approved before posting. It is hard to say how well he will be on the defensive end. I can assure you that he will not be pushed around much on the block and does have some quickness with his feet though I am not sure how well he would be at that position. For those who don't follow college basketball, ISU returned just three scholarship players two seasons in a row. Our coach decided to take on any talent he could find which included four transfers from D1 schools in Royce, Chris Allen from Michigan St., Anthony Booker from S. Illinois, and Chris Babb from Penn St. Given our depleted roster, Royce was usually the tallest player on the court for us and did not get a chance to defend at the 3 position. However, his ability to beat bigs on the dribble and guards by bodying up, I would assume this would translate similarly to the defensive end somewhat. He led a team full of guards in steals and assists, not to mention blocks, rebounds and scoring. Our team was rather unconventional without a true PG which is why Royce was able to display his point forward skills easily. On a team that finished 3rd in the Big 12 after going 3-13 a year ago while beating UConn before losing to Kentucky in the NCAA tourney, it's not like he had weak teammates when he led the team in all five major statistical categories.

 

Fortson is far from white, leuer is far from black...