TMBSL 2013 Draft Combine and Camp (185 views)

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TMBSL 2013 Draft Combine and Camp

Madison Square Garden – On June 1st all of the profile players, plus a select group of other invitees showed off their skills at the 1st TMBSL Draft Combine and Camp, which mixes scrimmages, contests, and other skills events to give GMs a better idea of what kind of players are coming into the league this year.

Skills Contests:

Bench Press: While not as sexy as the NFL’s bench press section of the combine… and where IRL Kevin Durant famously failed to do a single rep at 185lbs… something can be gleaned about player strength. Before mocking these guys, remember that their arms are much longer than yours and their WAGs are much hotter.
1. Eric Bledsoe – 14 reps
2. Demarcus Cousins – 12 reps
3. Derrick Favors – 12 reps
4. Greg Monroe – 9 reps
5. Ryan Reid, Boban Marjanovic (tie) – 8 reps

3-Pt Shooting: Standard 3pt shooting contest, 5 racks of 5 balls, all around the arc. Timed.
1. Nemanja Bjelica – 19
2. Mark Titus – 18
3. Luke Harangody – 16
4. Demarcus Cousins – 14
5. Paul George – 13

The Scrimmages: The piece de resistance, the coup de grace, the big mamma-jamma. The entire reason people are really here. Questions abound with this class about the lack of offensive firepower and flair. However, there is no question that there are some tenacious defenders in the group and the scrimmages themselves were VERY physical. Rebounds were plentiful (because of a ton of missed shots) and they were heavily contested. Most scouts agree that there is not an elite scorer in this class, but those are the same polls that had Hillary winning (probably)

The lack of wing-depth in the class was very telling, as Hayward and George were able to do basically whatever they wanted on the court when not facing each other. Evan Turner disappointed throughout the day, despite his heroics over the course of his final season at Ohio State. Nemanja Bjelica continued his hot shooting, knocking down 60% of his 3s over the course of multiple scrimmages. He didn’t do much else, though. Al-Farouq Aminu was pretty quiet throughout, but didn't show any bad habits... so that's a plus.  Xavier Henry remains an enigma, looking brilliant on one play, then clueless on the next. His skillset is impressive, but scouts are split on whether he has the mentality to get better through consistent training and practice.  Devin Ebanks is cut from a similar mold, though probably slightly better on the defensive end.  The combine did little to shed light, one way or the other, on his future aptitude.

Bigs took turns trading blows. Hassan Whiteside did a great job when matched up with Cousins, but continues to be plagued by turnovers, no matter who is guarding him. Cousins is the jewel of the group, but you could see some issues with teammates and chemistry when he was split from his fellow Kentuckians, John Wall and Eric Bledsoe. Larry Sanders(!) from VCU and Ryan Reid out of FSU both were exceptional on the glass, but essentially invisible on the offensive end.

Speaking of that backcourt, both struggled from range, as has been the norm for their past. The only decent shooting performance in the scrimmage from a guard surprisingly came from Avery Bradley out of Texas, who repeatedly rose up over Bledsoe and knocked down contested jumpers. Lance Stephenson and John Wall, notably, missed every 3 they took… and they took a significant number of them. Wall’s speed is other-worldly, but he needs to be a better shooter at the next level. Jeremy Lin from Harvard showed off some flash in getting into the lane, but too often didn't have the burst to challenge a waiting big man.  Jordan Crawford showed some flashes finishing at the rim, but never when he was matched up against a profile perimeter player.