by the newest ECB correspondent, Tommy Jenkins
McDonald’s Practice Day One
New York, New York
Amare Stoudamire must have something personal against basketball rims. He sure likes to punish them. Stoudamire was a rim-rattling machine on the first day of practice for the McDonald’s High School All American Game.
If Stoudamire gets the ball within four feet of the basket it is best just to take cover, because he is going to try and dunk it. And dunk it hard. On Sunday, his over powering strength tore threw the East team. He is simply too strong for most high school big men. And he knows it. So again and again he powers the ball through defenders and wreaks havoc on the helpless rim. While Stoudamire does not have a lot of range, nor can he put the ball on the floor effectively, his super athleticism allows him to spin away from double teams before they have a chance to get set. And once free, he knows how to finish.
He is also one of the more loquacious players on the court. Call him Mr. Encouragment. His voice could be heard often congratulating teammates on good plays.
The East and West teams practiced on two separate courts at opposite ends of the wonderful facility (aptly named Basketball City) on Manhattan’s west side. Both teams went through a series of drills early on designed to work on passing and running the break. Then the real fun started as they broke down into scrimmages. On the East side, point guards Raymond Felton and Elijah Ingram had a nice head up battle that showed their incredible quickness. Felton was his typical self – hitting from long range, driving to the rim, and setting up teammates. The ultra athletic Felton has all the tools, which have been discussed often since last summer. One thing that is frequently overlooked though is his great jump stop in traffic. Felton elevates so quickly from the stop that he just about always has a clean look at the basket. Ingram is not as strong as Felton and this prohibits him from finishing consistently inside. But his great lateral quickness creates plenty of space for setting up teammates.
Rashad McCants is an interesting talent. Looking at him from just a height standpoint, it appears he is a shooting guard. His athleticism and strength, however, allow him to play bigger and makes McCants a certain matchup problem for a lot of teams. McCants has good range on his shot and hit several long threes on Sunday. Where the fun starts for McCants though is when he takes it inside. McCants had several nice drives against bigger defenders on Sunday and he has the strength to finish when the rim is in sight.
DeAngelo Collins did not make the trip to New York. The word I heard was a sprained ankle had him sidelined. With Paul Davis also out, the West team is a little thin up front. Michael Thompson, Chris Bosh and Brad Buckman are the only centers or power forwards playing. The East has Stoudamire, Jason Fraser, Travis Garrison, Eric Williams, Torin Francis, Shavlik Randolph and Sean May. Wow. The West’s strength lies in the backcourt where they have a multitude of quick, athletic guards – Sean Dockery, Dee Brown, Hassan Adams, Anthony Roberson, Daniel Horton and Bracey Wright. This dichotomy between the East and West should make for a very interesting game on Thursday night.
Day Two
Sean May physically resembles Maryland center Lonnie Baxter, and like Baxter, May is an effective scorer on the blocks. But May also has range on his jumpshot – long range. He has a beautiful stroke, and on Monday morning he showed he could hit jumpers from mid range to outside the three point line.
When it comes to Sean May’s game, looks can be deceiving. Despite his wide body, May runs the floor well as evidenced when he ran down a player on the break and stripped him. He also possesses arguably the best hands of any of the McDonald’s participants. May catches difficult passes with ease and he always seems to catch the ball in perfect position to score. Given all of this offensive firepower, surprisingly May’s play of the day came on the defensive end. Stoudamire caught the ball on a mini break and went up for yet another rim rattler. All between him and the basket was Sean May. May rose to the challenge – literally. Showing tremendous courage, May elevated and, gasp!, blocked the attempted dunk. A lot of oohs and ahhs were heard from his teammates.
During one 4 on 4 scrimmage May was teamed with Felton, Randolph and Fraser. This group proved to be highly effective. Having May and Randolph at the forward spots was a thing of beauty to behold. Both of these big men pass the ball so adroitly, that easy scoring opportunities occurred on almost every possession. May to Randolph, Randolph to May, they had the defense on their heels with their interior feeds. Throw in point guard Felton and this group had such offensive precision, it was almost unfair.
Ingram sat out today’s practice which forced sharpshooter J.J. Redick to play a lot of point guard. This didn’t effect his shooting at all, however. Redick may be the best shooter at Basketball City (Bracey Wright is probably his closest competition). Redick has already learned the art of using screens. This morning he kept sliding off of screens with the ball and nailing shots from long range. And he doesn’t need much of an opening.
Carmelo Anthony and Rashad McCants were matched up for a stretch. Anthony’s height gave McCants some problems on defense as he shot over him several times. Conversely, McCants used his explosiveness and strength to drive past Anthony and finish.
During the West scrimmage the guards were in control. A very entertaining up and down affair with Sean Dockery penetrating consistently and Bracey Wright putting down jumper after jumper. Both Wright and Daniel Horton have beautiful jumpshots. The guard heavy game was highly entertaining in a helter skelter way. Hassan Adams was excellent getting out on the break and Dee Brown was wide open as he pushed the ball baseline to baseline.
The few West big men spent much of the time playing catch up. Brad Buckman showed his versatility inside and out hitting around the rim and from outside. Michael Thompson was a rebounding machine, particularly on the defensive end.
Several scouts were at today’s session. I spotted representatives from the Hawks, Nuggets and Heat. Undoubtedly their main focus was Amare Stoudamire. It seemed most of the scouts were hanging around the East team’s court. Many people feel Stoudamire will declare for the draft.
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Fat Ass can play D too...he needs an address for his postcar
