Just returned from the Barclay Center where I watched both the regional and national games.
First here are some thoughts on our recent commit Adonis DelaRosa. He is much improved from when I saw him two years ago. He has dropped considerable weight and he is significantly quicker than he was, but two years ago I could not have imagined him playing D1 ball anywhere.
He is definitely a work in progress and has quite a ways to go. He will need to work on his conditioning, primarily running, because he does not get up and down the court well. There were many possessions that he just took the play off and did not bother to run at all. Although he is a big body and takes up quite a bit of space, he is not a defensive presence and will not likely be a shot blocker because he does not jump well.
On the positive side he is physically strong and can push people around in the low box to get where he needs to go in the paint. He knows how to use his body effectively. Once he gets the ball, his footwork is good and he knows how to draw fouls and get to the line. He missed half of his foul shots on four trips to the line going four for eight. He wound up the game with 12 points and 7 boards.
Additionally in half court sets he knew how to play and showed some good basketball IQ. If I had to compare him to a type. It would be a type like Josh Smith of Georgetown formerly of UCLA. He is however nowhere as athletic or talented as Smith. In fact Adonis stood out in this game because he was slower and less athletic than any other player, but also bigger and stronger. He was able to push around Pascal Chukwu a 7' 1" Providence commit on the low blocks easily whenever Adonis wanted the ball down low.
Lastly I got a chance to talk to him for a minute and he seemed like a really nice kid. He was wearing St. John's gear and seemed happy to be staying local. He will be an easy person to root for and although I think it will take some time (a couple of years at least) he could develop into a low post presence for us, especially if we play a system that caters to his strengths.
As for the rest of the regional game the Seton Hall players all played well especially Khadeen Carrington (named MVP) 18 points 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Also Seton Hall commits Desi Rodriguez had twenty points and Angel Delgado had seventeen rebounds. Seton Hall should be improved next year.
The national game's talent level was of course head and shoulders above the regional game. Duke is stacked with four top recruits especially game MVP Jahlil Okafor a 6' 11" lightning quick center (29 points and 9 rebounds). He is a one and done player who will likely be the first pick in the 2015 NBA draft. The other game MVP was Cliff Alexander a 6 ' 9" physically strong and athletic center headed to Kansas.
There were a few other standouts to me: Stanley Johnson, once mentioned on this sight as a possibility for us, is a super talented small forward with a complete game. He has a great three point shot, is lightning quick in the open court, has great ability to get his shot off in traffic, has excellent court vision and displayed very good passing skills. He is headed to Arizona and I think he will be a big star there. Also Emanuel Mudiay is an extremely talented point guard headed to SMU. He is as gifted a guard as I have seen in several years. He seemed to be able to shred the defense at will. He is very athletic,strong and quick and seems like a total winner to me. Lastly I should mention Tyus Jones a pass first point guard headed to Duke. He had ten points, eleven assists and seven rebounds and set up everybody on the court well.
All in all a very fun night of hoops in Brooklyn.
