Went over to Gampel today to check things out. The team was scrimmaging. Started off with Boatright, Kemba, Hasheen, Olander and Roscoe vs. DD, Shabazz, Drummond, Lamb and Oriakhi. Really good basketball overall. Giffey, Okwandu and Wolf subbed in after the first game and the bigs just kinda rotated after that. The guards/SFs played the whole time. Calhoun and Blaney quietly watched in the front row for as long as I was there. Ollie, Miller and Hobbs came at the end. They went HARD for the time I was watching (about 45 minutes) and were still playing when I ended up leaving. They would stop for about a minute in between games then get right back to it, I think the games were up to 7 or something. Lots of fun to watch. Here were some of my impressions:
- Boatright is REALLY impressive. Very, very quick with a tremendous handle....as quick if not quicker than Kemba. Very shifty, great acceleration on the fast break. Always looking to push it going north. Not afraid at all to sky for a rebound amongst the big guys. Made a bunch of shots too, not just a passer. Vocal on the floor, quick to pick guys up after a good play. Some really nice drives to the basket with a couple highlight-level reverse layups complemented by some textbook pull-up jumpers ala Kemba. Came away most impressed with him. He's gonna be a really good one.
- Shabazz impressed too. He reminded me a lot of Marcus Williams when he was running the show a couple years ago, in that he is always in control and eyes focused on everything happening around him. He plays quick but seems to keep the game slow, if that makes sense. Seems to really dictate the pace and flow of the offense the way Marcus would. Better shooter than Marcus and def quicker. Probably more vocal than I had expected, always telling guys where to go and what plays to run as you would expect a team leader/PG to do. Very fluid out there, very smooth. Made a couple nice threes. Looks like he added about 10-15 pounds of muscle, certainly more filled out than last year. He looked really good.
- Lamb clearly the best player on the floor, with the exception of Kemba. Made every open shot I saw him take including a handful of threes. For all the games I saw, Kemba and Lamb were matched up on each other. Lamb really impressed defensively, was able to hang with Kemba the whole time without any problems. Very good handle with the ball, Kemba's clearly a solid defender and Lamb showed no problems with a smaller, quicker guy guarding him. Quietly excels offensively and defensively when he's on the floor.
- Drummond didn't really stand out as much as I had expected. Seemed to MAYBE roll his ankle just a bit early on so that may have affected him the rest of the way. Has a little trouble finishing around the basket if he doesn't have a clear dunk. Tendency to flail around a bit in the paint. Not as active in rebounding as I would have thought. His size is impressive though, not as toned but certainly as big as Oriakhi, bigger than Okwandu. Andre was matched up against Olander when he was in there.
- DD was impressive. He surprised me with his ball handling for a big man, especially when he was in transition or driving to the hoop. Flat out drained a couple really nice threes. Not afraid to mix it up with the bigger guys in the paint. I like him a lot.
- Giffey had some nice shots. Doesn't "wow" offensively but very solid overall. Clearly a good shooter. May have added some muscle over the break, more filled out than I remember. Made every shot I saw him take.
- NBA guys were as you'd expect: Kemba was great, Hasheem didn't separate himself as you would like a 1st rd pick to do. Had a couple nice elbow jumpers which was a bit of a surprise. Just seems to kind of get lost in the shuffle a little. He was matched up against Oriakhi the whole time, who is clearly a more physical player. Alex tended to beat him with muscle and tenacity. I know it was just a scrimmage but if you didn't know the players and you had to pick the 5 most likely to be in the NBA, Hasheem wouldn't make the list.
- Roscoe and Oriakhi were as you'd expect, solid overall, nothing flashy. Roscoe had a couple nice threes. Always nice to see him crash the boards too. He was matched up against DD the whole time. AO was solid as I said earlier. A couple nice jumpers on the baseline. Was jarring a little big with Shabazz at one point....couldn't tell if it was just trash talk or what. Seemed to go on for longer than I would have thought though which was a little suprising and led me to believe it was more than just good natured trash talk. Who knows though, just as easily could have been two friends needling each other. The team overall though is clearly very close, which is always nice to see. Olander was very active, lots of hustle. Couple nice dunks off of rebounds, some nice baseline shots here and there. He quietly does a nice job, and like the other guys he clearly filled out a little bit over the offseason, probably moreso than anyone else on the team.
