Ponds Evaluation

paultzman

paultzman

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From reputable evaluator looking at his PG prospects. To me he is more of a combo guard, but he makes some interesting observations;


Jonathan Givony – ‏@DraftExpress

DX: USA Basketball U18 Tryout Camp Scouting Reports: PGs
http://dx.im/28Lcsa8 -Quade Green, Cassius Winston, Shamorie Ponds, Matt Coleman
 
"Not always a willing passer. Looking to create for himself first and foremost. " - That's good and bad... We need some good scorers... but hopefully he becomes a willing passer

"Very low release point, often flat-footed." Hopefully our two hall fame coaches help him with this... it'll help him with his future professional aspirations.

"Uses change of speeds, crafty ball-handling moves, shot-fakes, strong footwork and excellent timing to create space off the bounce... Has great touch on his jump-shot. Can throw the ball in the basket from difficult angles" - this is great.
 
"Not always a willing passer. Looking to create for himself first and foremost. " - That's good and bad... We need some good scorers... but hopefully he becomes a willing passer

"Very low release point, often flat-footed." Hopefully our two hall fame coaches help him with this... it'll help him with his future professional aspirations.

"Uses change of speeds, crafty ball-handling moves, shot-fakes, strong footwork and excellent timing to create space off the bounce... Has great touch on his jump-shot. Can throw the ball in the basket from difficult angles" - this is great.
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Sure out weighs the negatives
 
"Not always a willing passer. Looking to create for himself first and foremost. " - That's good and bad... We need some good scorers... but hopefully he becomes a willing passer

"Very low release point, often flat-footed." Hopefully our two hall fame coaches help him with this... it'll help him with his future professional aspirations.

"Uses change of speeds, crafty ball-handling moves, shot-fakes, strong footwork and excellent timing to create space off the bounce... Has great touch on his jump-shot. Can throw the ball in the basket from difficult angles" - this is great.
Click to expand...

Sure out weighs the negatives
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As Paultzman pointed out Ponds is a combo guard who was expected to be the go to player on his high school team. That's why he looked to score and, he did that successfully right to the State Championship. It is hard to break out of that mindset in a couple of tryouts at the Under 18 workouts.
At St. John's there is only one way for him to go and that is up US.
 
From a not-so-reputable evaluator;: He's a 2G(in a PGs body) who can man the point on occasion. He's a big-time scorer and, as such, has a scorer's mentality. He didn't play very much PG in high school and not sure that the transition will be as easy as some expect. The obvious comparisons are to Hatten and Hardy, both natural SGs who had success at the point. Hardy was bigger and more physical. Hatten not much bigger, but a complete aberration. For those of us old enough to remember him, he has a bit of Tiny Archibald in his game, without the PG skills. Lofty rankings aside, I will continue to temper my expectations.
 
From a not-so-reputable evaluator;: He's a 2G(in a PGs body) who can man the point on occasion. He's a big-time scorer and, as such, has a scorer's mentality. He didn't play very much PG in high school and not sure that the transition will be as easy as some expect. The obvious comparisons are to Hatten and Hardy, both natural SGs who had success at the point. Hardy was bigger and more physical. Hatten not much bigger, but a complete aberration. For those of us old enough to remember him, he has a bit of Tiny Archibald in his game, without the PG skills. Lofty rankings aside, I will continue to temper my expectations.
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From the clips I have seen LoVett reminds me a bit more of the incomparable Tiny.
 
I never get too excited about a player coming in because you really have only a small idea of what you are getting until a kid begins to perform at this level.

Based on this scouting report, I'd have concerns about a low release point and shooting flat footed. Sometimes an exceptional athlete can be taught better form, but often old habits are tough to break. Sometimes a player has incredible quickness and can still get off a shot (see Pearl Washington). Sometimes the level he is playing at catches up to this flaw that didn't stop him in hs.

Tough to break a player of a shoot first mentality, especially for college players auditioning for the next level.

Bottom line - we will see once the season starts.
 
Interesting there was no mention of defense which was very strong the three times I saw him play.
 
So he has a "great touch" but is an "inconsistent shooter"and is an "unwilling passer" but will "find the open man on drive and dish situations." All star tryouts are a funny animal. There are very, very few guarantees when moving from HS to D1 so we shall see, I think he will be terrific. The question in my mind is how much of an adjustment period will he have? And anyone who has seen him knows he is not a prototypical PG and maybe never will be, but he is a player.
 
Has it been determined whether Ponds will be eligible this season?

I am not suggesting anything about Shamorie, but as a StJohn's fan I am conditioned to expect disappointment until eligibility is confirmed.

I am excited about this upcoming season because St.John's will have player debth it has not had in many seasons being able to go 11 deep with players with seeming Big East talent.
 
Even accepting that it's just one man's opinion, the scouting report should temper expectations for the coming season. Ponds will be a freshman with much to learn. That goes for most of the roster. Mullin will likely have a very challenging season, with the goal to get the players ready for some kind of push in year 3. Player development is supposed to be Mullin's strength. He now has a chance to coach real talent, none of whom look line one and dones. I think we will get a chance to see what Mullin's coaching potential is this season. Bottom line is that the combination of an inexperienced team and an inexperienced staff makes me a little nervous. I'm expecting a team that will create turnovers and block shots on D, but struggle with rebounding and defending the 3. On offense, this will be a team built around the perimeter game. Expect a record number of 3s made, and missed. Interior scoring will be tough to come by. At least it should be exciting.
 
Has it been determined whether Ponds will be eligible this season?

I am not suggesting anything about Shamorie, but as a StJohn's fan I am conditioned to expect disappointment until eligibility is confirmed.

I am excited about this upcoming season because St.John's will have player debth it has not had in many seasons being able to go 11 deep with players with seeming Big East talent.
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A fair question, especially with Jefferson kids too often unfortunately. That said for what it's worth, I did hear he was on the right track. Being equally conditioned to be disappointed, I too look forward to verification.

Re the evaluation from Givony, very respected guy, he looks at kids relative to their pro potential and thus tends to be critical as he should. As noted, seeing Ponds at the tryout is a small sample. I believe he will be an unorthodox player who will develop into a nice four year guy. (Have only seen him twice) We should be patient & trust staff to maximize his strengths & address areas for improvement. Bryce Cotton was another small guard, a bit under recruited & evaluators had similar concerns about his physicality. To Providence's credit, they really developed him over a four year period. If Ponds can develop on a similar path I will be quite happy.
 
From a not-so-reputable evaluator;: He's a 2G(in a PGs body) who can man the point on occasion. He's a big-time scorer and, as such, has a scorer's mentality. He didn't play very much PG in high school and not sure that the transition will be as easy as some expect. The obvious comparisons are to Hatten and Hardy, both natural SGs who had success at the point. Hardy was bigger and more physical. Hatten not much bigger, but a complete aberration. For those of us old enough to remember him, he has a bit of Tiny Archibald in his game, without the PG skills. Lofty rankings aside, I will continue to temper my expectations.
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So Monte your not do reputable & tempered expectations for our GREAT new recruit are:
Points
Assists
Turnovers
Rebounds
Minutes per game
Intangibles

:)
SS & G
 
Our backcourt will be fine next year. Mullin said Lovett is a game changer. I trust his judgement. What I'm worried about is our front court. I'm not sold on Sima or his back up. Ponds will develop over time. I also wouldn't be surprised if our JC player starts at shooting guard.
 
So he has a "great touch" but is an "inconsistent shooter"and is an "unwilling passer" but will "find the open man on drive and dish situations." All star tryouts are a funny animal. There are very, very few guarantees when moving from HS to D1 so we shall see, I think he will be terrific. The question in my mind is how much of an adjustment period will he have? And anyone who has seen him knows he is not a prototypical PG and maybe never will be, but he is a player.
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He is a very skilled player who has not scratched the surface of his potential. He is also a good teammate according to reports. He reminds me of the late Reggie Carter with the same build and body movements. Reggie was a shooter as is Shamorie. He can be streaky but when he was feeling it he had the ability to score 30+ in a quiet way. He will not have to be the man on his St. John's team because he will have good support from Lovett, Mussini and Ellison but he will definitely get 20+ minutes per game. Lovett is the most physically developed of the four and will run the point most of the time imo.
 
Our backcourt will be fine next year. Mullin said Lovett is a game changer. I trust his judgement. What I'm worried about is our front court. I'm not sold on Sima or his back up. Ponds will develop over time. I also wouldn't be surprised if our JC player starts at shooting guard.
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We don't need Bashir Ahmed to play the two but he certainly is capable. When I first saw him play at JFK I was not overly impressed as he seemed to play to the competition and did not seem to go full throttle. I have not seen since other than in taped JC games and he seems to have grown an inch or two and gotten physically more developed. He seems to have a quick release and he is a good shooter and will team up nicely with Yakwe and Freudenberg all of whom have the quickness on offense to beat their man. Lovett, Ponds, Yawke, Amhed and Freudenberg are all legitimate 4* players with Sima, Owens, Mussini and Ellison all legit 3* players. Williams, at 6'7 is a dark horse but also a solid 3* talent if fully recovered. The talent is there to beat lower D1 schools and certainly any D2 teams. My major concern is the staff's ability to install a good defensive scheme which was virtually absent last season. Thus a few unexpected 30 point losses.
 
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