2023 Recruiting: Gavin Griffiths

[superjohn]

I was able to watch about half of it and I totally concur with your assessment. I'm a bit on the fence with him as he does seem a bit duplicative to Karaban but it'll be interesting to see his development over the next 6-12 months.

Way better shooter than Karaban and more bouncy than Karaban. Griffiths is a perimeter player, Karaban is an inside out player with a more diverse game than Griffiths at this stage. Different body types and games.

 

[businesslawyer]

I was able to watch about half of it and I totally concur with your assessment. I'm a bit on the fence with him as he does seem a bit duplicative to Karaban but it'll be interesting to see his development over the next 6-12 months.

If he was exactly duplicative of Karaban, so what? We can’t know that they are both going to be all league level players, and even if they are we need two players at every position anyway. Unless you like a Sanogo being out and the team having to totally redo their offensive philosophy on the fly.

 

[husky429]

I was able to watch about half of it and I totally concur with your assessment. I'm a bit on the fence with him as he does seem a bit duplicative to Karaban but it'll be interesting to see his development over the next 6-12 months.

Eh they're both wings so there's bound to be overlap. but Karaban is probably a 3/4 and Griffiths a 2/3. Can't have too mamy shooters anyways.

I'd love to lock up Griffiths amd go after some elite athletes to round out the class

 

[BGesus4]

As a bonus, getting him would also increase our chances with Bowen

 

[mauconnfan]

Need shooters period, we will see that soon enough. Never enough shooters but can we run an offense that’s get less athletic shooters open? Like most other teams can that is.

 

[UCfor3]

Top 45 player that is local and can shoot the lights out of the ball. Where do I sign? Isn't Karaban both an inside and outside forward who has an offensive game at several levels? From the scouting report above it sounds like Griffith is more of a finesse perimeter player. A 2/3 as opposed to a 3/4. Others here who know more like 429 correct me if I'm wrong. Just the impression that I got from the scouting reports and videos. Heck, I even remember a video where Karaban was backing people down and showing some back to the basket moves. Doesn't sound duplicative at all other than they can both shoot.

 

[Ricker]

Defensively Karaban frequently was matched in the post against 7' centers. You're not going to see that from Griffith. Griffith self describes as a big guard. The only overlap is that offensively both are going to need some space outside the arc. I covet this kid's shooting after watching his AAU games. Didn't see anybody consistently better on any team. We will be blessed to have a 7'1 passing post that demands a double team, with shooters like Karaban and Griffith to kick out to, and a 6'6 slashing guard like Castle, or a game manager like Diggins, to initiate. That mix is a great core to build around with athletes like Johnson & AJ. If Hawkins is still here it would be lethal. Love an early commitment.

 

[mauconnfan]

Defensively Karaban frequently was matched in the post against 7' centers. You're not going to see that from Griffith. Griffith self describes as a big guard. The only overlap is that offensively both are going to need some space outside the arc. I covet this kid's shooting after watching his AAU games. Didn't see anybody consistently better on any team. We will be blessed to have a 7'1 passing post that demands a double team, with shooters like Karaban and Griffith to kick out to, and a 6'6 slashing guard like Castle, or a game manager like Diggins, to initiate. That mix is a great core to build around with athletes like Johnson & AJ. If Hawkins is still here it would be lethal. Love an early commitment.

Great summary as per usual Ricker thanks! Makes the future thoughts a beautiful picture of offensive flow.

 

[Lynyrd]

25 PTS
7 REB (2 offensive)
3 AST (1 potential /1 foul)

2 TO
3 STL
1 BLK

6/8 2FG
4/7 3FG
1/1 FT

• Competition level is good not great. Better than BCHS but less than any of our 2021 recruits would have faced in HS.
• Handle is good not great for a 6’7 player. Not a breakdown ballhandler or anything, but can do a little work in the half court. TO prone in the open court.
• Pretty weak for what we normally recruit. Effects his rebounding, getting through screens and fighting contact.
• Not sure he’ll be doing much on the boards in college without getting stronger. He has good hands but pushed around a ton.
• Kid can shoot the bejeezus out of the ball. Might have a purer stroke than Hawkins in HS, and that’s saying something.
• Soft hands around the rim
• Confident at the FT line
• Seems to have pretty long arms
• Basically getting double-teamed every time he touches the ball inside the 3 point line, and sometimes out.
• Better passing than I saw in AAU. Seems to be a point of improvement
• Not a super+ athlete… it still will effect his defense and offense. Maybe we’re spoiled with Rese and Andre–idk. He does look like he has better and quicker hops than he demonstrated in AAU. Maybe just the lower competition level making him look better, idk
• I’ll give him credit though–his positional defense is solid and he sees to stay in front of guards and the other teams bigger players too on defense.
• Seems to have a solid BBQ on offense. Defense idk… effort is less than you’d like to see but that’s pretty true of most recruits. Falls for the crossover a bit too much. Gives up when they hedge the screen on getting back into the play
• Nice footwork on the catch to shoot. Seen him use a hopstep and a 1-2 step to get into his shot. Underrated skill.
• I’m not seeing a ton of big defensive lapses in terms of positioning. Generally in the right spots
• Played maybe 26 minutes

First play of the game… dunk
Kingswood Oxford vs. Westminster High Varsity Mens' Basketball

Block + rebound on the next play
Kingswood Oxford vs. Westminster High Varsity Mens' Basketball

Easy steal
Kingswood Oxford vs. Westminster High Varsity Mens' Basketball

Putback 2
Kingswood Oxford vs. Westminster High Varsity Mens' Basketball

Breakaway. 2 dribble, assist
Kingswood Oxford vs. Westminster High Varsity Mens' Basketball

Putback dunk
Kingswood Oxford vs. Westminster High Varsity Mens' Basketball

Another dunk
Kingswood Oxford vs. Westminster High Varsity Mens' Basketball

Steal
Kingswood Oxford vs. Westminster High Varsity Mens' Basketball

NBA+ range 3. Deep.
Kingswood Oxford vs. Westminster High Varsity Mens' Basketball

Another 3.
Kingswood Oxford vs. Westminster High Varsity Mens' Basketball

Steal and draws the foul
Kingswood Oxford vs. Westminster High Varsity Mens' Basketball

Assist
Kingswood Oxford vs. Westminster High Varsity Mens' Basketball
Rebound + assist
Kingswood Oxford vs. Westminster High Varsity Mens' Basketball

Pick and roll dunk
Kingswood Oxford vs. Westminster High Varsity Mens' Basketball

Rebound
Kingswood Oxford vs. Westminster High Varsity Mens' Basketball

Shot off the iverson cut. Nice footwork on the screen
Kingswood Oxford vs. Westminster High Varsity Mens' Basketball

Great write up … if I can suggest anything, move bullet #5 to bullet #1

 

[UConnStats]

25 PTS
7 REB (2 offensive)
3 AST (1 potential /1 foul)

2 TO
3 STL
1 BLK

6/8 2FG
4/7 3FG
1/1 FT

• Competition level is good not great. Better than BCHS but less than any of our 2021 recruits would have faced in HS.
• Handle is good not great for a 6’7 player. Not a breakdown ballhandler or anything, but can do a little work in the half court. TO prone in the open court.
• Pretty weak for what we normally recruit. Effects his rebounding, getting through screens and fighting contact.
• Not sure he’ll be doing much on the boards in college without getting stronger. He has good hands but pushed around a ton.
• Kid can shoot the bejeezus out of the ball. Might have a purer stroke than Hawkins in HS, and that’s saying something.
• Soft hands around the rim
• Confident at the FT line
• Seems to have pretty long arms
• Basically getting double-teamed every time he touches the ball inside the 3 point line, and sometimes out.
• Better passing than I saw in AAU. Seems to be a point of improvement
• Not a super+ athlete… it still will effect his defense and offense. Maybe we’re spoiled with Rese and Andre–idk. He does look like he has better and quicker hops than he demonstrated in AAU. Maybe just the lower competition level making him look better, idk
• I’ll give him credit though–his positional defense is solid and he sees to stay in front of guards and the other teams bigger players too on defense.
• Seems to have a solid BBQ on offense. Defense idk… effort is less than you’d like to see but that’s pretty true of most recruits. Falls for the crossover a bit too much. Gives up when they hedge the screen on getting back into the play
• Nice footwork on the catch to shoot. Seen him use a hopstep and a 1-2 step to get into his shot. Underrated skill.
• I’m not seeing a ton of big defensive lapses in terms of positioning. Generally in the right spots
• Played maybe 26 minutes

First play of the game… dunk
Kingswood Oxford vs. Westminster High Varsity Mens' Basketball

Block + rebound on the next play
Kingswood Oxford vs. Westminster High Varsity Mens' Basketball

Easy steal
Kingswood Oxford vs. Westminster High Varsity Mens' Basketball

Putback 2
Kingswood Oxford vs. Westminster High Varsity Mens' Basketball

Breakaway. 2 dribble, assist
Kingswood Oxford vs. Westminster High Varsity Mens' Basketball

Putback dunk
Kingswood Oxford vs. Westminster High Varsity Mens' Basketball

Another dunk
Kingswood Oxford vs. Westminster High Varsity Mens' Basketball

Steal
Kingswood Oxford vs. Westminster High Varsity Mens' Basketball

NBA+ range 3. Deep.
Kingswood Oxford vs. Westminster High Varsity Mens' Basketball

Another 3.
Kingswood Oxford vs. Westminster High Varsity Mens' Basketball

Steal and draws the foul
Kingswood Oxford vs. Westminster High Varsity Mens' Basketball

Assist
Kingswood Oxford vs. Westminster High Varsity Mens' Basketball
Rebound + assist
Kingswood Oxford vs. Westminster High Varsity Mens' Basketball

Pick and roll dunk
Kingswood Oxford vs. Westminster High Varsity Mens' Basketball

Rebound
Kingswood Oxford vs. Westminster High Varsity Mens' Basketball

Shot off the iverson cut. Nice footwork on the screen
Kingswood Oxford vs. Westminster High Varsity Mens' Basketball

Thanks as always. You can never have too much skill, and as an in-state kid Griffiths is a no brainer. Hopefully we can lock him up early like Castle.

 

[Umami Zen]

Griffiths grew up as a UConn fan. Bucket getter. Lets do this .

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

Agree we need shooters - but we need shooters that can also play realky good defense (Polley gets so much grief for his one dimensionality, right?). I'm not convinced that Karaban has the needed foot speed and I'm not sure Griffiths will be physical enough - though he's young and will fill out a bit before he's 20/21 years old - that's why my comment about the next 6-12 months to see how he rounds out (no pun intended). Sorry but I try to put on a critical lense as well as see their upside in order to keep my assessments balanced.

One thing that really has struck me in looking at our recent recruits and commitments is that the kids from CT/New England don't play against top flight competition in their high school/prep seasons (though obviously they do in their summer AAU seasons), so trying to keep that in mind.

My god- Castle's Newton team is like 7 or 8 deep of D-1 players (half of them major D1). And even the teams they beat by 10-25 points usually have a couple D1 players. Kind of a different world.

 

[superjohn]

Agree we need shooters - but we need shooters that can also play realky good defense (Polley gets so much grief for his one dimensionality, right?). I'm not convinced that Karaban has the needed foot speed and I'm not sure Griffiths will be physical enough - though he's young and will fill out a bit before he's 20/21 years old - that's why my comment about the next 6-12 months to see how he rounds out (no pun intended). Sorry but I try to put on a critical lense as well as see their upside in order to keep my assessments balanced.

One thing that really has struck me in looking at our recent recruits and commitments is that the kids from CT/New England don't play against top flight competition in their high school/prep seasons (though obviously they do in their summer AAU seasons), so trying to keep that in mind.

My god- Castle's Newton team is like 7 or 8 deep of D-1 players (half of them major D1). And even the teams they beat by 10-25 points usually have a couple D1 players. Kind of a different world.

Kids from New England don't play against top flight competition in their high school/prep seasons?

You're misinformed, NEPSAC has the best talent in the country.

 

[UConNick]

Kids from New England don't play against top flight competition in their high school/prep seasons?

You're misinformed, NEPSAC has the best talent in the country.

I think he meant more that KO isn’t in one of the top NEPSAC conferences - they aren’t playing Brewster or New Hampton or Tilton or Putnam Science in-league; they’re playing Hotchkiss and AOF. Still miles better than CIAC, of course.

 

[Umami Zen]

I think he meant more that KO isn’t in one of the top NEPSAC conferences - they aren’t playing Brewster or New Hampton or Tilton or Putnam Science in-league; they’re playing Hotchkiss and AOF. Still miles better than CIAC, of course.

True about KO but GG also plays with and against a lot of top NEPSAC guys with his AAU team affiliations. Room for development in the summers

 

[husky429]

Great write up … if I can suggest anything, move bullet #5 to bullet #1

Thanks lol. These are just my thoughts that I type in a note on my phone as I watch. I'm not going "order of importance" or anything. Just stream of consciousness.

 

[husky429]

Thanks as always. You can never have too much skill, and as an in-state kid Griffiths is a no brainer. Hopefully we can lock him up early like Castle.

Absolutely. I do think looking for some athletic defensive stoppers would be a good next step though if the staff are pretty confident in Griffin

 

[superjohn]

Absolutely. I do think looking for some athletic defensive stoppers would be a good next step though if the staff are pretty confident in Griffin

Yep, we need some big time athletes mixed in. Clingan and Karaban are more size and skill than speed and athleticism. Castle and Griffiths can get up pretty good but they're more great players because of size and skill. Castle is a huge point guard who does everything really well and Griffiths an Elite shooter with great height/long arms.

 

[UConnStats]

Yep, we need some big time athletes mixed in. Clingan and Karaban are more size and skill than speed and athleticism. Castle and Griffiths can get up pretty good but they're more great players because of size and skill. Castle is a huge point guard who does everything really well and Griffiths an Elite shooter with great height/long arms.

Definitely need some athleticism to keep our defensive identity, but skill is at more of a premium in CBB. Plus, Hurley could teach a rock how to play good defense, but offense is a very different story.

 

[husky429]

Plus, Hurley could teach a rock how to play good defense, but offense is a very different story.

This is a great point. We really meed to recruit offensive talent if we're not going to build a good Xs and Os offensive system.

Defense is really hard to evaluate with HS players too. Basically all of our recruits give a lackluster effort defensively in HS. Out of all the recruits I've watched full games of, the only one who has impressed me on D is Hawkins.

 

[Lynyrd]

Thanks lol. These are just my thoughts that I type in a note on my phone as I watch. I'm not going "order of importance" or anything. Just stream of consciousness.

I know I was just having fun with it.

 

[KingAG]

Definitely need some athleticism to keep our defensive identity, but skill is at more of a premium in CBB. Plus, Hurley could teach a rock how to play good defense, but offense is a very different story.

That’s where AJax, Samson Johnson, and Hawk come in. Even Gaffney and Akok are pretty good athletes

 

[dennismenace]

This recruiting excitement just keeps on coming. All of a sudden we are getting the quality recruits in every class. Bravo to Dan Hurley and staff who have been relentless is getting their man time after time. What a turnaround! Those sad years are looking further and further in the rear view mirror.

 

[superjohn]

 

[seeya27]

 

[KingAG]

He's blowing up. We have the inside track. Probably better for us if we lock this up sooner than later

 

[superjohn]

 

[Umami Zen]

Mild concern is he's tight with Bowen and Providence is pushing hard on Bowen. Don't know if Bowen sees a lot of PT potential at UConn.

Tea leaves ..no inside info.

 

[Huskyforlife]

We gotta spank Providence on the 18th.

 

[BGesus4]

Mild concern is he's tight with Bowen and Providence is pushing hard on Bowen. Don't know if Bowen sees a lot of PT potential at UConn.

Tea leaves ..no inside info.

Providence isn’t our competition for Bowen. Duke is.