The Kid Can Definitely Play- Isaiah Austin

I wanted to take some time away from my previous posts about potential sleepers in the 2012 and 2013 class. This next person I will be talking about is definitely not a sleeper. I figured one rarely sees the number 1 overall recruit in any class, so I had to blog about the opportunity to do so. So despite this whole blog’s premise of focusing on recruits from Illinois, this recruit hales from Texas. So this post is probably like Star Jones getting liposuction and thinking there is a chance she could be hot only to be disappointed on how unappealing she still looks. However, seeing this player in action right here in Chicago is worth breaking up the theme. And what makes this player so special, well here we go…..

Sr. C Isaiah Austin (7-0, 200 lbs, committed to Baylor)- When’s the last time you saw a 7 foot high school freshman. Unless your hanging out with the girls of the Amazon, probably not in a while. So when a 7 footer makes an appearance atop the recruiting lists, you know this kid is amazing. This is not your typical 7 footer, though. Don’t think 7 footer like Shawn Bradley (remember that guy, he’s on the same poster as your favorite dunks by other players), think Kevin Durant with less of a shot and more post-up ability. I did not see much of Austin’s shooting display because in pool play of an AAU tournament game, let’s just say there is as much effort displayed as Charlie Sheen trying to quit drinking. From what I read about Austin, however, is that he has a developing shot but could turn into a decent shooter from outside for his size. Looking at him, I would say his best comparison right now would be this previous year’s number 1 recruit in Chicago’s own Anthony Davis. The only difference I think in the two is Austin can post up defenders better but Davis is slightly better with the ball in his hand and a better defender than Austin. And if you don’t know what Davis’s game is like, dig through some previous blog posts. Without seeing much of a jump shot, it is tough to see what other scouts see in his game on a regular basis. However, what Austin did in and around the paint is enough for me to reconfirm his status near and in some cases, at the top of recruiting lists.

Austin is not your typical back to the basket big guy. He uses a lot more finesse and faces up defenders sometimes, too. When I say this kid can finish around the rim, I mean he can really finish around the rim. Austin has extremely quick feet for his size and seemed to be quicker than his defenders on what turned out to be a very good AAU team. Two things stuck out about Austin’s appearance: his extremely lanky body and his Sideshow Bob sized shoes. Austin and Shaq must go shopping together at the big and tall shoe store. The Jordan’s that he was wearing easily could have been a size 20. So with quick feet like Austin’s, it’s even more ridiculous how quick his feet were. If Austin had the ball within 5 or 6 feet from the rim, he was dunking over and around defenders. On one play, he caught an errant pass, faked for the dunk, took a dribble to avoid the defender, and two-hand power slammed the ball through the net. While he wasn’t throwing down dunk after dunk, Austin, on occasion, brought the ball up the court and passed the ball efficiently. By no means is he going to become the first 7 foot point guard, but it is extremely rare to find a player that big that can handle the ball well, so you know teams he plays on in the future will utilize that asset. For someone that freakishly big, Austin did not seem awkward running the floor. By looking at him, you can tell he definitely needs to add a lot more weight to his skinny frame. Sticking with the Anthony Davis comparison, picture Davis plus slightly more thickness around the body and more cut arms. However, you can tell by the size and width of his shoulders that he can easily add a lot more weight and girth to make him more of a force.

Areas of improvement would be better defense and more aggressive rebounding. I only saw one game of his and his role on this AAU team probably will be different than in college where he will be asked to do more. Defense is not known to be prominent in AAU pool play tournament games so that definitely added to the lack of intensity on defense on Austin. There are a lot of signs that he could be a great one. The big thing for him, no pun intended, is adding more weight and working more on his jump shot. To be the size of a center and play more like a power forward is something that has made guys like Kevin Garnett and Dirk Nowitzki a lot of money. He has good post moves now but if you couple that will a halfway decent jump shot, he could become almost unguardable.

NEXT WEEK: YOU DON’T KNOW ‘EM, BUT YOU BETTER START TO: PART 4              

You Don't Know 'Em, But You Better Start To: Part 3

Before we begin with part 3 of our series, I would like to note that SF Abdel Nader (6-6, 190 lbs) has opted not to attend prep school which would have made him a member of the class of 2012 and signed a letter of intent with Coach Mark Montgomery and Northern Illinois University to play basketball for them next year. What this means is one of the top Illinois prospects in the class of 2012 will play college ball earlier than we thought. This is huge get for NIU as Nader joins what already is a very good class for NIU standards, which includes Future of Basketball favorite Andre “Dre” Henley. What this also represents is that the 9 players that were part of my ‘Previewing the Class of 2012’ are really 8 players and 1 graduating senior who is no longer part of that class. Because of this, I feel obligated to merge my two series (‘Previewing the Class of 2012’ and ‘You Don’t Know ‘Em But You Better Start To’) into one (just for this week) like the Schwarzenegger’s and the Shriver’s minus the house maid. So I bring you one of my top 9 incoming seniors who is also one of my sleepers.

SG Jerron Wilbut (6-2, 180 lbs, offers from Bradley, UIC, and being looked at by Illinois)-  For a shooting guard, Wilbut does not have the size you would want in an upper level shooting guard and he does not have the explosiveness that will make top plays night after night. The tools that Wilbut does possess are an excellent feel for the game and sharp shooting capabilities. On numerous occasions, Wilbut made some nifty passes around the hoop as well as the perimeter. Wilbut made some crafty one hand passes as if he had the ball on a string, though I never got that expression because how do up play basketball with a string attached? He made some nice moves to get around defenders only to dish the ball off Steve Nash style around the hoop to a more open player. This type of ball handling and unselfishness makes players like Jerron a reliable secondary ball handler- the type of player that will run the offense when the defense is denying the point guard. This is a weapon that not a lot of shooting guards have at his age. I would almost go as far to say if Wilbut was a step quicker and craftier ball handler, he would be an ideal point guard and a big time program. But if I was 7-4 and Chinese I’d be Yao Ming, but I’m not and Wilburt isn’t a step quicker and he’s not a supreme ball handler. Wilbut isn't as slow as someone walking through quicksand, but his speed will never wow you. I would say he’s got average speed but uses quick decisions and good ball fakes to make up for his speed.

A Part of Wilbut’s game that will get him a free ticket to college is his long distance shooting. Rather it is in the corner, at the top of the key, or on the wings, Wilbut seemed to be knocking down a good majority of his shots. Even with a defender in his face, he was able to shoot over them and get the ball through the net. Jerron doesn’t do anything fancy link dance around with the ball or jab step for 20 seconds like LeBron seems do on occasion before he makes a fool of the defense hitting a fade away 20 foot jump shot. Jerron just goes straight up and shoots the ball. His shooting stroke and motion is a bit vanilla, but in a good way. He doesn’t feature a wacky shooting motion or shoots off balance, his stroke looks the same from anywhere on the court at any distance. I wouldn’t say he’s the best long distance shooter in the class of 2012 in Illinois, but he’s up there. A couple times the defense cheated and got up in Wilbut’s face when it looked like he was about to drain another three, but Jerron ball faked and drove to the hoop only to dish the ball off to a cutting teammate. This is the type of play that makes coaches look good.

Overall, Wilbut’s stock continues to rise this AAU season and bigger schools are starting to take notice. His ability to find ways to put the ball in the hoop will always garnish attention. His size is not favorable and his speed and quickness or lack thereof will hold Wilbut back from becoming a four star player when it’s all said and done. This does not mean, however, that Wilbut cannot be an impactful player in college; mid-major or a major program. Scouts have noted his commitment and persistence to become better which is why his stock is on the rise. I’m not saying this guy is the Apple stock in 1984, but maybe more like the Microsoft stock in the mid 1990’s- established but rising each day. Thus concludes a fine example of why I should never buy stocks or analyze them, but watch for Wilbut to have some big name colleges looking very hard into acquiring a sharp shooting, facilitating shooting guard this winter.

NEXT WEEK: I PAUSE THE ‘YOU DON’T KNOW ‘EM BUT YOU BETTER START TO’ SERIES AS I ATTEND THE BEST BUY CHICAGO CLASSIC OVER THE WEEKEND. I WILL BLOG ABOUT SOME STAND OUTS FROM THE LAND OF LINCOLN BEFORE I CONTINUE THIS RIVETING SERIES OF FUTURE STARS. 

You Don't Know 'Em, But You Better Start To: Part 2

I was thinking while posting for this blog how cheesy it would be to add a member of the 2012 class to my sleepers to become stars. After all, I did just do the top 9 players for the class of 2012 a couple posts ago. Trust me; it was tough coming up with 9 players because that class boasts as much talent as a handicap stair climbing contest. So going back and adding to the list would be as creative as James Cameron re-editing Titanic in 3D to make another billion dollars. But I figured overlooking this one guy in the class of 2012 was more on the lack of information I have on this kid. There are not a lot of highlights of him it seems like he is really close to his ceiling as a player; and let me tell you, it’s not a very high ceiling. But as an admirer of high school basketball talent, a few things win me over: size, strength, and speed. For a teenager to have some of these quality makes you a hot prospect because let’s face it, how many non-juicing high school athletes are quicker, stronger or bigger than some college athletes. Quick answer- look at any top 100 basketball prospect list, long answer, probably some mutant test-tube offspring from a remote lab in China somewhere. So when I looked at this next fella in part 2 of my mini-blog series, I figured, there might just be an outside shot he becomes a legit three star prospect. Considering what most people know about him now, that is definitely not a bad thing.

PG Ka’Darryl Bell (6-1, 170 lbs, offers from Ohio and Iowa)- For 6-1, Bell has decent size for a point guard. Although he’s not the prototypical big point guard NBA teams love, 6-1 is about the average size you would want in a point guard. If he’s lucky, he might even squeak out an extra inch when it’s all said in done. From what I’ve seen though, 6-1 might be generous. What strikes me about Bell is that he never seems to rush anything. He’s quick but not out of control. The little that I have seen of him is more in half court sets more so than transition, but he seems like a decent floor general. At some points, he can dribble too much, but he is a good, not great, facilitator. His game seems to feed off of others around him which is why he’ll never be a high major prospect, at the same time, this is the type of team player you would want. For Bell, it doesn't seem like getting into the lane or creating for himself is the most important thing. Driving and kicking or just staying at the top of the circle and setting up other players is something he seems to do with ease.

Because Bell played alongside incoming Illinois freshman SF Mychael Henry at Orr Academy in the city, Bell is used to playing second fiddle and setting up those who are better around them. The problem with some incoming freshman in college is that they are used to being the guy on their high school basketball team, so when they wind up being a middle of the road college player, their game does not translate. Because of this, Bell could be too passive at times. He does not have the most lethal shot and has a long way to go where that is a legit threat, but Bell has good range and will knock down threes. When Bell gets into the lane, he can finish with a floater or a nice jump stop, but Bell is not a big dunker and I am not even sure he can dunk. If anything, I’d say Bell doesn’t penetrate the lane as much as you would like to see in a point guard.

Overall, Bell is not an overwhelming player that has crazy potential. He is quick and has good point guard size and is a good, at best, passer. One handed passes or behind the back passes would be rarities from Bell, he’s just an old fashioned two handed passer that gets the ball to the open player. I would like to see him get a better shot and make up for his lack of inside game. His shooting stroke doesn’t look that bad so he should be able to improve his shot if he works hard enough. Other schools have taken notice of Bell like Drake, Nebraska, and Butler. However, a good AAU season might pull in more attention from bigger schools. I don’t see him committing anytime soon because I think he wants his AAU season to end and for him to show something in his senior year. But if he gets that offer he’s been waiting for, who knows.

NEXT WEEK- YOU DON’T KNOW ‘EM, BUT YOU BETTER START TO: PART 3

You Don't Know 'Em, But You Better Start To: Part 1

Over the next 5 weeks, I am going to preview some players around the city that are not grabbing national headlines now like a Jabari Parker or Thomas Hamilton, Jr, but after another season of competitive Chicago High School Basketball, you will know their name. For the sake of time, I will avoid including freshman and sophomores in this feature because they are so raw, that the player I see will be almost completely different two years from now. The greatest leap a high school player can have is from his sophomore to junior year. It is in this period that a dweebish high school kid could become a star in his junior year and climb up the recruiting charts. Without putting these players in order from most likely to shine to least, let’s start the list:

Jr. PF Russel Woods (6-8, 210 lbs, being looked at by Illinois, Purdue, DePaul, Marquette, and Wisconsin)-  Woods states that his early leaders are Purdue and Illinois despite not being offered by each program. That would be like saying Harvard and Yale are my early leaders for going to college when I have a 3.0 GPA. 

Maybe that is a bit of an exaggeration because Woods is talented enough to not only land those offers but to get even bigger offers from schools outside of the Midwest. The reason why he can be special is this kid’s size. Woods has a nice build for an incoming freshman in college, not an incoming junior in high school. The fact that he can add more muscle and speed to his game makes him a legit four star recruit threat. Right now, Woods is extremely physical down low and does not shy away from contact. He has a nice touch around the rim and can definitely finish with authority. The biggest impact Woods will have on a game is rebounding. Although he does not jump out at you as a freak athlete, he just has the hustle and desire you love to see in a kid as he continues to rise as a prospect. When looking at him, I get the impression that Woods is not someone that will let another player outwork him, especially on the glass. For an interior player, I love this part of a player’s game. There will be games that a frontcourt player cannot get his shot to fall or can’t finish around the rim and you will see it affect his game. The good frontcourt players will work that much harder on the glass to make up for a lackluster offensive performance. Case in point: Game 3 of the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks series in the playoffs where Joakim Noah scored 2 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. Noah did not let a poor, and at some points, disgusting offensive game interfere with his job defending and grabbing rebounds. Woods does not have the tenacity that Noah as in his career, but his commitment to make a difference on the glass is a big part of his game.

Woods possess great strength and rebounding skills at his age, but a lack of outside game is what make him unnoticed, for now, to scouts. Once Woods is outside of the paint, his game becomes very ineffective. He has not developed a consistent jump shot; even from 10 feet away from the hoop. With that, Woods is not quick enough to take opponents off the dribble and drive to the lane enough where he is a legit threat. Woods does his best work in the paint, backing down defenders and jump hooking or dunking around them. I haven’t seen a Woods back down this much since Elin came after Tiger with divorce papers (sorry Eldrick). If a defense can push him away from the basket, Woods becomes limited in what he can do. Russell is not shy or hesitant to take a jump shot; he is just not consistent enough to make defenses respect it.

Another factor working against Woods is his height. At 6-8, Woods has the ideal height for a power forward. However, Woods’ game right now is that of a center despite being labeled a power forward. If he will have any success in his collegiate years, it will be because he developed a jump shot to go along with his tenacity on the boards. Because he has faced little competition with defenders taller and stronger than him, it is tough to criticize Woods. However, if things do not change over the next two years, his collegiate career will be little and ineffective. Because of this, Woods will have to continue to get stronger, despite being a beast already, and bully his way through defenders and not around them. But unless Woods hits a major growth spurt putting him over 7 feet, he will need a jump shot like Rob Reiner needs a treadmill.

Right now, Woods plays AAU for Chicago powerhouse Mac Irvin Fire. Because of the notoriety of this AAU team, Woods will get plenty of attention. The up and down style of AAU basketball should showcase 

how much athleticism Woods has. Before his junior year starts, Woods will need to show progress in another facet of his game other than rebounding. Looking at him, Woods is definitely one of the stronger forwards at his age. The difference, in the end for Woods, between being a mid to high four star prospect and just some guy that wears a college uniform and sits on the bench his whole career as a low three star prospect is his midrange game. I am excited to see him develop into a multidimensional force down low. If he can accomplish this, Illinois and Purdue will be begging for his services.

NEXT WEEK: You Don't Know 'Em, But You Better Start To: Part 2

Previewing the Class of 2012, part 3

Before I begin, I would like to give big ups to Sr. SG Andre “Dre” Henley (6-4, 185 lbs, signed with Northern Illinois) for committing to play ball out in DeKalb this upcoming year for top Michigan State assistant turned head coach Mark Montgomery. When I last chronicled the recruitment of Henley, I thought, and I’m sure he did too, that he would go to a bigger school, but you got to start somewhere. It would not surprise me to Henley on the 1^st team all-freshman in the MAC. And with that, the final installment of my preview on the Class of 2012 in Illinois begins……

PF James Farr (6-8, 200 lbs, committed to Xavier)- The first thing that came to my mind when watching the highlights of Farr was how he was a skinny version of former Illini PF Mike Davis (6-9, 225 lbs). Weight and strength will be the biggest factor between Farr becoming a top 75 recruit or just another 3 star athlete. It is rare for an incoming senior to be college ready as far as strength goes. So it comes as no surprise that Farr’s biggest criticism comes as a power forward that needs to bulk up. Farr is a gifted outside shooter to a range of about 18 feet. He can knock down a jump shot better than a lot of shooting guards. This will come into play in the pick and roll game; something that Xavier uses quite a bit. He can fade away or just shoot straight up. Farr is around the boards most of the time but is not an elite shot blocker or someone who is consistently going to lead everybody in rebounds. He can dunk the ball but is not quick or flashy enough to really impress you. Farr cannot create off the dribble but can jab step the defender enough to give him space to shoot the ball. His face up game is very good and if he could have quicker feet, he’d be lethal. Right now, his pick and pop game is what makes him a division 1 player. If he is going to play power forward in college, he’ll have to add strength and develop more of an inside game. Or, he could develop more of a small forward game, something he’s doing now, and improve his jump shot to become a long jump shooter, almost like Bulls small forward Loul Deng. When put in the right system, and it looks like that will be the case at Xavier, if he stays committed their, Farr could be an integral part of the offense. I could get really corny and say “James could go Farr” but that would make my blog even less desirable to potential readers, so I’ll spare the semantics and say that if Farr can add the necessary strength a player at his position needs, he can creep into the top 5 recruits in Illinois for ’12.

SG Cameron Harvey (6-2, 190 lbs, originally committed to Wyoming, UIC, Baylor, and Dayton among a handful of other schools looking)-  This is a strange one- a couple recruiting websites maintain the fact that Harvey’s verbal commitment to Wyoming in 2009 is still intact. Maybe Harvey’s stock has risen so much that he can guarantee himself a scholarship offer from a better program, or maybe Harvey woke up one day and thought to himself, “there’s no way in hell I’m going to live in Wyoming- the whole state is one big table top that can have temperatures below zero a couple months of year and the big entertainment their watching geysers erupt. Either way, the rumblings are, despite what some of the most recognizable recruiting sites say, Harvey’s recruitment is still open. In fact, he picked up a scholarship offer from UIC in September of 2010. So why are all these schools looking at him? The reason is that Harvey is a very good spot up shooter. Rather it be from beyond the arc or about 15 feet from the hoop, Harvey is a very good catch an shoot player. However, at his size, it will be tough for him to succeed as a shooting guard since the days of the Ben Gordon-sized shooting guards seem to be long gone. Because of this, Harvey has improved his ball handling skills, but is nowhere near where a true point guard would be. Harvey does not attack the lane a lot so his threat is definitely from the outside. Looking at him, Harvey has one of the better looking shooting motions. Whenever you have a player that can hit the outside shot, some team out there will take a long look at you. Harvey is built well for his position, so it does seem a bit odd that he is not more aggressive make players towards the rim. Now, I’ve only seen a couple highlights of him and he did not display this part of his game, so I can’t say that he’s not aggressive to the hoop, but it looks like he is more comfortable shooting over defenders rather than going over them. Harvey kind of floats towards the corner to hit the three which helps space the floor for other players, but that takes away an ability to create a shot closer to the rim. Harvey committed very early on in his high school career and now it looks like he has second thoughts on playing out west. However, his recruitment has not picked up too much and it doesn’t look like Harvey will be coming to a top 30 program anytime soon.

SF Abdel Nader (6-6, 190 lbs, offers from New Mexico, Marquette, Ole Miss, and DePaul)- Nader is a rare gem playing in a conference that does not produce much division 1 talent. The last well-known player to come from the conference that Nader plays in is Jon Scheyer from Glenbrook North High School about 5 years ago, and that turned out pretty well. Nader originally gave a verbal to New Mexico but after reclassifying from the Class of 2011 to the Class of 2012, he reopened his recruiting. The Egyptian decedent earned third team all Illinois this last year according to the Chicago Tribune. At his height, Nader is extremely athletic and mobile getting to the rim. The one thing that Nader seems to be lacking is explosion towards the rim and playing above the cylinder. Other than that, Nader is a good shooter and can create plays for himself. I have seen Nader make some acrobatic plays under the rim to score like going up and under to score, or twisting his body around defenders to score. Nader is also a very good passer and can draw defenders around him to kick it out to open shooter. He is a very good ball handler and at some points of a couple games, he brought the ball up the floor. A knock against Nader that will hurt his recruitment is the fact that he plays in a conference that does not challenge him. It is almost like Derrick Rose showing up to your local rec center and taking over a pickup game. In a couple highlights, Nader was the same height or taller than any other player on the other team. And because the talent level in this conference is subpar, it has to take a lot for Nader to shine- much like Anthony Davis had to do on his team this last year for Chicago Perspectives High School. Because he does not have the explosion that you would see from a top 50 recruit, big time programs most likely will never fight after him. However, because of the many facets of his game, Nader could become and most likely will become a top 100 recruit. The ability to be a distributer and an aggressive scorer makes Nader a very tough player to guard and a very valuable part of whatever program he ends up on next year.

Over the last couple of weeks, I have focused on 9 players that high school and college basketball fans should pay attention to. As it stands now, this will be one of Illinois’ weakest recruiting classes in quite some time. This does not mean, however, that there are not quality and valuable players in this class. Hopefully some of these guys can put together good AAU and senior seasons to bolster them up the recruiting ranks.

NEXT POST- I DON’T KNOW, I’LL THINK OF SOMETHING