Exactly How Good Is Mo'ne Davis At Basketball, Anyway? [merged thread]

[Kaizen]

But not when the most popular 13-year-old athlete in the country tells ESPN this: "I want to go to UConn and be the point guard on the basketball team. That's, like, my dream and then go into the WNBA." That's how I found myself in Philadelphia watching Mo'ne Davis last week. The 2014 Little League World Series phenom is a freshman now, and she plays varsity for Springside Chestnut Hill Academy. On this day, SCHA was visiting fellow Philly school Germantown. Here is what I saw.

http://espn.go.com/espnw/sports/article/14714514/exactly-how-good-mone-davis-basketball-anyway

 

[CocoHusky]

http://espn.go.com/espnw/sports/article/14714514/exactly-how-good-mone-davis-basketball-anyway

Dan thinks Mo'ne has some work to do to become UCONN potential especially on the defensive side of the ball.

 

[EricLA]

To me this indicates it's probably a bad sign for UCONN's interest in her:

Davis played the majority of minutes, but noticeably didn't join her teammates in their halftime layup lines. She also stayed on the bench during one timeout while even a player on crutches hobbled to join the huddle.

Geno has 0 interest in kids who are not consummate team players, teammate supporters, and all around great kids. I can't tell obviously if Mo'ne is a "good" kid or not, but it's not a good sign if she's not involved with her teammates, not supporting them, and not taking an apparent interest in what the team is doing. IF she really wants to go to UCONN, my first comment to her would be "hustle 100% of the time, be a great teammate, and constantly be involved in what your team is doing". Anything less will cause Geno to walk away immediately...

 

[JimGunther]

To me this indicates it's probably a bad sign for UCONN's interest in her:
...

Saw the same "problem". Surprised the author didn't point it out more explicitly.

 

[huskeynut]

Doesn't sound like an evaluation that fits Geno and UCONN.

 

[CocoHusky]

Saw the same "problem". Surprised the author didn't point it out more explicitly.

Doesn't sound like an evaluation that fits Geno and UCONN.

Mo'ne is a HS freshmen Class of 2019. A UCONN signing/offer/decision is not imminent. She has 3.5 more years to get UCONN ready. An evaluation like this now is still valuable.
Mo'ne is at one of the best High school for what is most important which is academics. Basketball wise the best indication that she is not in the best place is that she was starter on the Varsity as a 8th Grader.
She has access to some very good AAU programs like the Phillly Belles (Stewie ) or FENCOR (EDD + Caroline Doty) or Comets (Megan Gardler) or Triple Threat (Brittany Hrynko + Betnijah Laney) which will also rapidly accelerate her development.

 

[Icebear]

Mo'ne is a HS freshmen Class of 2019. A UCONN signing/offer/decision is not imminent. She has 3.5 more years to get UCONN ready. An evaluation like this now is still valuable.
Mo'ne is at one of the best High school for what is most important which is academics. Basketball wise the best indication that she is not in the best place is that she was starter on the Varsity as a 8th Grader.
She has access to some very good AAU programs like the Phillly Belles (Stewie ) or FENCOR (EDD + Caroline Doty) or Comets (Megan Gardler) or Triple Threat (Brittany Hrynko + Betnijah Laney) which will also rapidly accelerate her development.

Not really. At most she would have 2.5 to get an offer and sign.

 

[TRest]

5' 5" and no outside shot, no defensive intensity. And she plays against average competition at best, from what it sounds like. At least her parents were able to cash in when it was possible.

 

[vtcwbuff]

I thought it odd that the author decided to include negative comments about a kid so young - unless he considered them an indication that she might not be a team player. I came away thinking that perhaps she had more attitude than game.

 

[SallyH]

5' 5" and no outside shot, no defensive intensity. And she plays against average competition at best, from what it sounds like. At least her parents were able to cash in when it was possible.

That's a bit harsh, no? The kid is 14, and found herself a media star at 12 and probably didn't know how to handle it. I would hate to be defined forever for comments and behavior I exhibited at age 14.

 

[TRest]

That's a bit harsh, no? The kid is 14, and found herself a media star at 12 and probably didn't know how to handle it. I would hate to be defined forever for comments and behavior I exhibited at age 14.

I said nothing about her behavior or comments. The author was analyzing her potential as a future college recruit.

 

[CocoHusky]

I thought it odd that the author decided to include negative comments about a kid so young - unless he considered them an indication that she might not be a team player. I came away thinking that perhaps she had more attitude than game.

Dan is one of the most respected talent elevators out there. He would certainly know what it takes to play at UCONN. He was asked (probably by ESPN) to do this evaluation.

 

[Gus Mahler]

Dan is one of the most respected talent elevators out there. He would certainly know what it takes to play at UCONN. He was asked (probably by ESPN) to do this evaluation.

Geno and CD are pretty good at elevating talent . . .

 

[CocoHusky]

Not really. At most she would have 2.5 to get an offer and sign.

Yes really. I didn't say anything about how long she has to get an offer. I said: She has 3.5 more years to get UCONN ready.

 

[CocoHusky]

Geno and CD are pretty good at elevating talent . . .

Yea there OK too!

 

[SallyH]

That's a bit harsh, no? The kid is 14, and found herself a media star at 12 and probably didn't know how to handle it. I would hate to be defined forever for comments and behavior I exhibited at age 14.

You're right. I should have directed my comment to your value judgement about her parents cashing in.

 

[Huskylove3]

I thought it odd that the author decided to include negative comments about a kid so young - unless he considered them an indication that she might not be a team player. I came away thinking that perhaps she had more attitude than game.

I think it is unfortunate too for a 14 year old to have a negative article featured for ESPN, but when you (or your parents) decided to exploit your 15 minutes of fame, you're no longer a regular 14 year old.

 

[CocoHusky]

I think it is unfortunate too for a 14 year old to have a negative article featured for ESPN, but when you (or your parents) decided to exploit your 15 minutes of fame, you're no longer a regular 14 year old.

Big difference between saying yes to opportunities that are presented to you based on your circumstances and talent and "exploiting" a situation.
If Mo'ne Davis were Mike Davis ( a boy) those same opportunities would not have prevented themselves, and there would be nothing Mike Davis parents could do to create those opportunities, therefore this is not exploitation.

 

[frecupido]

Maybe her teammates are giving her a hard time because of her fame.

 

[TheGOAT23]

Mo'ne is a HS freshmen Class of 2019. A UCONN signing/offer/decision is not imminent. She has 3.5 more years to get UCONN ready. An evaluation like this now is still valuable.
Mo'ne is at one of the best High school for what is most important which is academics. Basketball wise the best indication that she is not in the best place is that she was starter on the Varsity as a 8th Grader.
She has access to some very good AAU programs like the Phillly Belles (Stewie ) or FENCOR (EDD + Caroline Doty) or Comets (Megan Gardler) or Triple Threat (Brittany Hrynko + Betnijah Laney) which will also rapidly accelerate her development.

CoCoHusky, those are definitely some good AAU teams. Philly Belles and FENCOR may be the upper echelon of programs because they tend to recruit/ attract the BEST girls from far away like a Stewie. There were a few girls from CT that played on the Belles. I haven't seen Mo'ne at any tournaments in the last two years. Maybe this was due to her commitment to little league baseball. Since her little league days are behind her, I am hoping to see her at tournaments in Manheim, PA, D.C. Nationals and the Deep South Classic in Raleigh. These are tournaments where Triple Threat, The Comets and FENCOR like to frequent. Geno was at Manheim last year watching Molly Bent (Rhode Island Breakers) who was playing on the court adjacent to ours.

 

[CocoHusky]

CoCoHusky, those are definitely some good AAU teams. Philly Belles and FENCOR may be the upper echelon of programs because they tend to recruit/ attract the BEST girls from far away like a Stewie. There were a few girls from CT that played on the Belles. I haven't seen Mo'ne at any tournaments in the last two years. Maybe this was due to her commitment to little league baseball. Since her little league days are behind her, I am hoping to see her at tournaments in Manheim, PA, D.C. Nationals and the Deep South Classic in Raleigh. These are tournaments where Triple Threat, The Comets and FENCOR like to frequent. Geno was at Manheim last year watching Molly Bent (Rhode Island Breakers) who was playing on the court adjacent to ours.

To the best of my knowledge Mo'ne has not played AAU basketball yet. Last summer her little league team spent the summer on a bus tour of the South exploring some of more significant civil right movement landmarks. ESPN did a special on it. The AAU rule also changed circa 2008 or 2009 to where you have to share a state border to play on the same AAU team, so the days of kids coming from CT to play for the Belles are over unfortunately. Would not be surprised if Mo'ne ends up at Belles because the Belles actually use her HS as a practice/tryout facility at least they used to.

 

[willtalk]

That this is still a topic of discussion on this site is absurd. People on this site might be one of the best groups in the country when it comes to college basketball knowledge and awareness, but when it comes to high school basketball- not so much. The level of talent at the high school level in girls basketball has increased dramatically in the last few years. It is no longer very possible for an athlete ( no matter how good- and I remind people that even the percentage of stars in little league who make the major leagues is slim . And that's the same sport ) to compete at the top level without making a commitment to the sport at a very early age. This is something that her parents and adviser's have obviously seen as unnecessary. Her chances at this stage of becoming a Husky are slim and none. She would have to really pick it up to even get a D1 scholly at this point.

I made posts about this topic many times but it appears people want to believe what they want to believe. The only reason they even wrote an article is because she is somewhat new worthy due to her accomplishments in little league baseball period. She has yet to even do anything in respect to basketball that shows any level level or ability to indicate she would even be in the ballpark as a D1 prospect at this time. I think the person who wrote this article just wanted to put a realistic perspective on this issue. Scouts are not going to blow smoke, rather they usually give an honest evaluation and they usually leave a possibility for optimism.

I get to see a lot of high school basketball. The area I live in right now has many of the top teams in the country. Players on those teams spend year round honing their craft on the top AAU and high school teams against the best competition available. You level of improvement is relative to the level of competition you face. You can look like a superstar if your competition level is low. Just saw a game where one team beat another team by about 60+. The team they beat had just come of a previous victory of 50+ points against another team. Unless you are facing players at the highest level you can not really evaluate where you stand at that level. She should be totally dominating players at her present level of competition to even be considered a D1 recruit. Contrary to what some of you think 14 is not that early in a basketball players developmental stage. In fact she is already far behind most top level 14 year old's in development. It is not mean and cruel to differentiate a dream from reality.

If anyone was mean or cruel it was the media (who is totally ignorant of girls basketball ) who pushed this non story and kept it alive. Also her parents and advisers who promote the dream and do not explain and ignore the means necessary for the dreams ends.

 

[j66kicker]

I think it is unfortunate too for a 14 year old to have a negative article featured for ESPN, but when you (or your parents) decided to exploit your 15 minutes of fame, you're no longer a regular 14 year old.

That's a step in the right direction - word is that UCONN isn't taking "regular kids."

 

[Huskylove3]

Big difference between saying yes to opportunities that are presented to you based on your circumstances and talent and "exploiting" a situation.
If Mo'ne Davis were Mike Davis ( a boy) those same opportunities would not have prevented themselves, and there would be nothing Mike Davis parents could do to create those opportunities, therefore this is not exploitation.

I'm sorry but there is a big difference between saying yes to a celebrity all star game and acting in a commercial. I could care less if she's a boy or a girl, that doesn't change my opinion.

 

[CocoHusky]

I'm sorry but there is a big difference between saying yes to a celebrity all star game and acting in a commercial. I could care less if she's a boy or a girl, that doesn't change my opinion.

Of course not, and nothing probably will.