I just got back from the Capital Classic, which is another all-star game similar to the McDonald's All American game. It was played in Washington DC. Got to see Amare play, and I must admit its pretty unbelievable how he runs the floor. But it is absolutely INSANE that he does it while dribbling the ball! This guys 6-10 245, and he'll grab a monster rebound, put it on the floor, and then weave in and out of defenders on the way to a coast-to-coast jam. After that I almost started doing the "we're not worthy" bow, but manged to catch myself. He may not be ready for the NBA, but he is definitely very impressive. And some of his dunks? Ouch!!! As far as the other players, the three Dukies didn't have a very good showing (Reddick, Randolph, Thompson). Poor guys, they got booed pretty hard by the pro-Maryland crowd. The two UNC guys also heard a little bit from the crowd, but they both looked very good. McCants is going to be on the same level as Vince Carter and Jerry Stackhouse. The Heels will make it to the NCAA tournament next season and probably be back in the Final Four in two years. That's how good these guys are. The two Maryland freshman that played also looked very good (Gilcrist and Garrison). The ACC as a whole is going to be tough again real soon. It seems like almost half the players are going to an ACC school.
Don't worry, I did the "we're not worthy" once bow to high school QB (gonna be a fr. at UT next year) Vincent Young last fall.
Dc, did Brad Buckman play? How did Amare look compared to Kwame? Believe it or not, last year, many people projected Amare in the top 3, I think he'll be in the lottery for sure. KidRock, tell me you don't go to UT ? Please?
gr8-1-Rest easy, I don't go to UT. I went to see the phenomena known as VY for 2 playoff games in the Dome, and was amazed.
Nope, Buckman didn't play. It didn't have all the same people from the McDonald's game. I thought Amare definitely looked comparable to Kwame. Just from the limited time I've seen Amare. Kwame is quicker, Amare is a better ballhandler, Kwame has better touch, Amare is stronger and much more fierce. So really, I think they're just about even but with different strength and weaknesses. Unless some teams hesitate because the lack of success of last year's high schoolers, I don't see why Amare wouldn't be drafted in the top 5 just like what happened in the last draft. By the way, I'm an Aggie, and I'm looking forward to Reggie McNeal. He's not getting hardly any notice because of Young, but from what I've heard he supposed to be more athletic, while not being quite as fundamentally sound. Plus, he led Lufkin to the state championship, where Vincent Young didn't. I'm just in amazement the Aggies actually drafted a top quarterback prospect. Knowing R.C.'s dumba$$ he'll probably move him to free safety.
DCkid, not making excuses, but Lufkin was preaseason #1, Young's Madison team was picked to finish 3rd in their district. I think McNeal is a hair faster than Young, but YOung is bigger and may have a stronger arm. His #'s were much better than McNeal's as well.
Yeah, I'm aware. Young has about 3 inches of height on McNeal and is quite simply a better prospect. But dang, Reggie's still one of the top three QB recruits in the nation. Its just good to see the Aggies finally get a top offensive prospect. But I guess this for another time and place. I could go into a diatribe about how bad R.C. Slocum sucks, and express my disbelief that he has not been fired yet, but I'll refrain.
Carmelo Anthony was awesome in that game Did u see the half court bounce pass? How many 6'7 guys can do that? Forget that he just came out of HS....
DCkid-I saw McNeal play in the 5A title game against Westlake and was impressed with his arm strength here's how I would break the 2 QB's down. Arm strength-Young has a gun, but McNeal's is slightly better. He absolutely shredded Westlake's DBs with 50+ yard bombs. Accuracy-Young by a pretty large margin. They both are about equal with the deep pass, but Young is a better 10-15 yard passer, as he puts more air under the ball when needed. McNeal has trouble harnessing his cannon arm. McNeal also had a lot of passes batted down over the middle by LBs. Young is exteremely polished. He can make pretty much any pass. Scrambling-Even. Both guys elude defenders exteremly well, and even break tackles from DL/LBs. Striaght ahead, McNeal might be a little faster, but Young is no slowpoke. Both guys have sick moves that end up with the defender eating turf. Conclusion-Young is basically a lock to be a great college player and probably NFL too. The only thing that could stop him, is a bad offensive system at UT, which doesn't utilize his skills. McNeal will also be a great player. The question is at what position? McNeal can be a great QB, if the A&M coaches can put some polish into his passing. If that doesn't work, out McNeal could be an incredible WR.
Remember Ron "2 or 3 Heismans" Powlus? Let's not get ahead of ourselves here. I'm not too worried about the offensive system; he'll have plenty of opportunities to get out of the pocket & create. Would you redshirt him this year, or let him get some garbage-time p.t.? I was at the Madison-North Shore game; kid is an UNBELIEVABLE talent & a joy to watch.
I'd give him garbage time PT, however that would piss off Nordgren and Mock... I figure VY will not be at UT for 5 years, if he is redshirted.
Buck-I understand your Powlus analogy, but Beano Cook is the one who annointed him king, and Powlus was cursed. Also, VY is a totally different QB than Powlus. Powlus didn't have much arm strength or mobility. Also Powlus tore an ACL at one point. Not to mention that ND was a run-oriented offense. UT coordinator, Greg Davis is the only man who can stop VY.
VY would humiliate Powlus in any QB skill out there. VY reminds me of a taller Michael Vick. He honestly isn't as fast as McNeal, but I get the feeling, he's better instinctively, and may have a better arm. Powlus got alot of hype becuz he was a qb in pennsylvania and played at UND. Other than that, he was average.
I was looking to catch the Astros score today, flipping around, and happened to catch about the last quarter of this game on TV today... Amare Stoudemire (and it is spelled with an "e", unlike Damon) was impressive, I thought. He was the tall one out there, and reminded me in some ways of Garnett. I was very impressed with his energy on both sides of the floor. Also impressed with his strength. This kid is not as skinny as I thought... he's cut and pretty beefed up in the shoulders area. He ran the floor extremely well and had some unreal slams in this game (keep in mind it was nothing but a run-n-gun slam-fest ... score was 150-something to 110 ... something outrageous). Keeping in mind I only saw a quarter's worth of action roughly, I was not impressed with the kid's jumper around the basket. On one turnaround dead-center from about 10-feet, he missed it so badly it banked in. Did not seem to have a nice touch and FT shooting looked like an adventure. For that reason I don't think he will have an immediate impact in the league. But I don't think there is any doubt the kid could be something special in a few years if he's got anything between his ears. I'm guessing he will go top 7 or 8, but who knows (league may be souring on high school kids) Gilchrist was a sick, sick ball-handler.... dribbled with his knees 4 straight times on an offensive set (and he was running). That got the fans pumped.... Jared Jack (sp?) also was an impressive ballhandler. I love how this draft is going to mess up John Calipari for life: At Memphis he could have a team with Qyntel Woods, Amare Stoudemire and DeJuan Wagner... instead he'll probably have none of them.
