JP Tokoto

JP Tokoto (Menomonee Falls) vs. Marquette University High (2/3/12)

Senior JP Tokoto faced off against Marquette University High this past Friday night with UNC assistant CB McGrath in attendance. Tokoto led his team to a 53-51 victory and finished with 23 points, 11 rebounds, 4 blocks…….and 8 turnovers.

highschoolhoop.com

As you could guess and expect from a Wisconsin Friday night district match-up, JP was head and shoulders above all the other players in terms of talent and athletic ability, Per MaxPreps, Marquette was 4-9 coming in.

Q1-Q3

During the game their were two different versions of JP Tokoto: 1) The Facilitator and 2) The Attacker. For the first three quarters I saw the version that was happy to play facilitator and take what the defense gave him. He showed off his athleticism at times, but it always felt like he could do more. For most of the game, Tokoto played the role of point forward; either helping his team break the press or playing distributor at the top of the key against Marquette’s half court zone that was used all game. Tokoto showed off a real nice handle while breaking the press and relatively good court vision. Despite the court vision he showed, Tokoto was often a little careless with his passes or moves which resulted in 7 first half turnovers. In the first half Tokoto was 4-8 with 9 points. He started the game hitting a one dribble pull up jumper right inside the 3 point line and then had several deep misses. At one point Tokoto stole the ball, went 3/4 of the floor and easily converted an and-one lay-up. Tokoto went 2-7 in the 3rd quarter with 1 turnover. Most of his missed shots came on 15-18 jump shots where he hung in the air too long showing off his hang time. These shots were usually shot on the way down and ended up short more often than not. See shot chart below (makes in green):

• Tokoto - Through 3 quarters: 6-15 from the field, 2-3 from the line

Q4

The fourth quarter was a different story and this version was Tokoto in full attack mode. For the first time all game, Tokoto’s coach moved him to the wing spot and let him attack the zone from the foul line extended. In the last 4 minutes of the game he had an and-one drive, a put back lay-up off an offensive rebound, a strong drive to the basket that resulted in an easy assist, a dunk in traffic and a key block with 30 seconds left to preserve the win. Even with the subpar competition, this burst was impressive and hopefully something fans will be seeing on a consistent basis over the next few years. As soon as Tokoto was put on the wing, he became more aggressive trying to get all the way to the basket instead of settling for one dribble jump shots. Tokoto became more active getting the ball down low and used his athleticism to score over the defenders.

• Tokoto - 4th quarter: 3-3 from the field, 3-5 from the line

Positives: Athletic ability, dribbling and passing skills – Despite the 8 turnovers, Tokoto showed off a good court vision and handled Marquette’s full court press and half court zone defense admirably.

Negatives: Shooting / sloppy passing at times. Tokoto was 0-3 from the 3 point line and the majority of his missed shots were from mid-range.

Comparison: Reyshawn Terry – After Tokoto’s sophomore year he became the first 2012 player to receive a scholarship from Roy Williams. At this time he was highly ranked (top 10) primarily due to his freakish athleticism. This ranking was a bit pre-mature and now scout.com has him ranked as their 90^th best player. Reyshawn Terry was ranked in a similar spot as a high school senior and possessed an athletic ability similar to Tokoto’s. Terry did not see the floor as a freshman and only rarely as a sophomore, however he had a breakout junior year and turned into a reliable starter at UNC. Tokoto does not display Terry's shooting abilities, but I think he will be a player that progressively gets better each year in Chapel Hill until he becomes a reliable starter and contributor similar to Terry.