Slam 16 Showcase ft. Sool, Samson Johnson, Zion Cruz, Roddy Gayle, and other targets | The Boneyard

Slam 16 Showcase ft. Sool, Samson Johnson, Zion Cruz, Roddy Gayle, and other targets

Sorta glad Jalen Warley isn't going to a Big East school.
 
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Announcers are saying that Samson was one of the top 2 players in the game. I only watched maybe 6 minutes and saw 8 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks and an assist. Obviously this is a showcase... but he wasn't capable of that last winter.
 
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bendm said:
could samson be better as a freshmen than akok was?
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Potentially. But probably similar. I don't think he's as natural of a defender. People forget that Akok was actually not very highly ranked until June of what, 2018? He was terrible in AAU for most of the year and blew up 1 weekend. The 1 5* ranking was realistically probably too high for him.

Samson is definitely taller and a little bigger at the same stage. I think he's more of a true 4/5 now that he's gained some weight, where it's pretty special circumstances that we are going to be throwing Akok out at the 5.

Imagine a lineup of

Gaffney/Hawkins/Jackson/Akok/Johnson --No one is besting that group athletically. Throw them out in a 131 zone or that 122 press Hurley likes... super disruptive.
 
bendm said:
could samson be better as a freshmen than akok was?
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This is the first I've seen him play outside of highlight reels, so my opinion's worth what you pay for it. But based off of this one game, I think he could be. Give him another year to improve and get stronger, this kid's got a high ceiling.

One play he went up strong for a one-handed block with his right hand. It looked like the guy was going to get around him, and he basically changed plans in mid-air and made a great left handed block. Cool to watch.
 
So pumped! First time I've seen both play outside of highlight reels. I was really impressed. Felt like it was Sool's team when he was on the court. He's a leader in the making. Samson plays good D, runs the court well, and finishes at the rim. And the 2 of them already have chemistry. Big things coming!
 
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87Xfer said:
This is the first I've seen him play outside of highlight reels, so my opinion's worth what you pay for it. But based off of this one game, I think he could be. Give him another year to improve and get stronger, this kid's got a high ceiling.

One play he went up strong for a one-handed block with his right hand. It looked like the guy was going to get around him, and he basically changed plans in mid-air and made a great left handed block. Cool to watch.
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That block was wild

bold prediction: SJ will be our highest ranked 2021 recruit when it’s all said and done
 
Dooooooomed said:
So pumped! First time I've seen both play outside of highlight reels. I was really impressed. Felt like it was Sool's team when he was on the court. He's a leader in the making. Samson plays good D, runs the court well, and finishes at the rim. And the 2 of them already have chemistry. Big things coming!
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The more I see, the more I love the personalities of the kids Dan Hurley recruits. I think that means a LOT. There may be more than four banners hanging by the time he's done here. It's going to be fun either way.

In the near term, I've got the Pats Bills game to look forward to ;)
 
87Xfer said:
The more I see, the more I love the personalities of the kids Dan Hurley recruits. I think that means a LOT. There may will be more than four banners hanging by the time he's done here. It's going to be fun either way.

In the near term, I've got the Pats Bills game to look forward to ;)
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Actually, I decided to FIFM (fixed it for myself)
 
Chin Diesel said:
Definitely.

BY Rule #1.

Incoming recruits with no college experience are always better than existing roster players.
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of course. but in this specific instance i asked if samson could be better than akok was last year as a freshmen, not if samson could be better than akok will be next year as a junior.
 
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bendm said:
of course. but in this specific instance i asked if samson could be better than akok was last year as a freshmen, not if samson could be better than akok will be next year as a junior.
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Akok ..From an eligibility perspective.. Will be a sophomore in 2021 season.. Not sure we'll be seeing him as a sophomore if he's 100% recovered..
 
A very pleasing watch. I agree with @husky429 that Samson Johnson did not play like that last winter. When I saw him at Hoophall he was a spot up 3 point shooter that ran well end to end, but only made a few other plays intermittently. Now he has more strength, oodles more confidence, runs with purpose, finished play after play, caught the ball in traffic, finished Brimah lobs, rebounded strong, blocked numerous shots, and got co-player of the game. He jumped and missed a block, and was immediately higher than everybody on a quick second jump getting a rebound. He was doing this against Dereck Lively and Trey Patterson. We got a player.

Diggins will facilitate scoring. He got up and dunked 1 break but he controls the team under the rim and with pace. He threw a bunch of long distance fast break passes over the defense a la Doron Sheffer to Donny Marshall, (60 ft chest passes). He also drew the defense and threw Hamilton to Brimah lobs to Johnson. Hit a 3 as well.

Diggins and Johnson played with Corey Floyd which can't hurt our chances there. Floyd didn't own the game like our guys, but he played well, shot well, scored at the rim with power, and looks strong. Evaluating UConn, Corey will already know our team well, playing together with these guys, and, last year vs Sanogo.

The Villanova kids, Trey Patterson and Nnanna Njoku, are also great. Patterson reminds me of Wilkes from UCLA years ago. Very smooth and hit from all levels. Njjoku I had seen before but he is more impressive now. He and Sanogo will be beast on beast. It was nice to see Johnson compete with these guys, (same team as Njoku but Johnson was quicker and got to balls they both went for).

I had only seen Jordan Riley highlights and liked what I saw, Georgetown is getting an athletic stud that will put Georgetown back on the map if he doesn't get stuck having to do it alone. He played like his highlights.

Zion Cruz had some moments, but he and Roddy Gayle were underwhelming for the most part. Gayle was high on my 2022 wish list, far above Corey Floyd, but maybe I was over estimating him and under valuing Floyd. I need to rewatch most of the early part of the first half where some plays were made before I caught on who was who.

A general comment is that the broadcast team gave UConn a ton of love. They talked at length about us a half dozen different times. Rejoining the Big East where we belong, recapturing dominance of regional recruiting with Villanova, Hurley and The Patrick School, Diggins, Johnson,... They were real cheer leaders for us as heavy hitters returning to glory, and can't wait to see UConn play this year.

I think I can even watch this game again. Didn't get a sloppy all star game dunkfest till the last 3 min.
 
Forgot to mention 1 team coach was Book Richardson !!! Really? Isn't this the same guy allegedly involved with recruiting violations, money, steering recruits, and the sleeze of recruiting? Arizona? Gatorade thinks he's the right guy to be involved on their behalf with heavily recruited high school stars? That floored me.
 
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