Harry Giles & Ivan Rabb Match-up

Two five-star big men faced off in one of the first big individual match-ups of the holiday weekend at the Bass Pro Shops Tournament of Champions semi-final on Friday night. Harry Giles, a five-star prospect in the junior class and a potential top draft pick in 2017 faced off against senior Ivan Rabb, who is currently the No. 7 ranked player in the class of 2015. Giles helped lead his Wesleyan Christian (NC) team to a 59-49 victory over Bishop O’ Dowd (CA).

The 6’10” Giles finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds while the 6’10” Rabb ended the game with 14 points and 13 rebounds. While both players finished with a double-double neither was overly dominant and both players were quiet for long stretches. The two teams started off the game in a zone and slowly moved to more man-to-man in the later part of the second quarter.

Harry Giles – 14 points, 11 rebounds, 6-14 FG’s, 0-1 3PT, 2-2 FT’s

Harry Giles started with a smooth looking jump shot from just inside the three-point line, but then went scoreless the rest of the quarter with two missed dunks. In the second quarter Kwe Parker found Giles for a two hand dunk before he put together a nice baseline spin move converting with a left handed lay-up. Moving to the second half, Giles’ first basket came off a beautiful set play that resulted in a lob. He also added in another dunk and a tip-in for his 14 points.

The stat line is nice and Giles’ team got a win (thanks in part to the play of Brandon Childress), but it wasn’t a typical dominant game for Giles. He missed four dunks during the course of the game and disappeared at times as well in O’Dowd’s zone defense. He did record several blocks and also created several deflections when matched-up with Rabb on the defensive side.

Harry Giles Shot Chart

Ivan Rabb, 14 points, 13 rebounds, 5-14 FG’s, 4-4 FT’s

Rabb recorded his first field goal when time expired at the end of the first quarter and added in two tip-ins in the first half. He showed off his ambidextrous skills in the second half hitting a left-handed shot over Giles in addition to a left handed lay-up. Rabb started to move outside the post as the game progressed and he did hit a 15 foot jump shot, but also missed two pull-up jump shots just outside of the right free throw line.  Throughout the course of the game, Rabb got to face off with Giles on the offensive end while he only guarded Giles a few times on the defensive side. In his one-on-one battles he scored straight-up on Giles one time and got to the free throw line another. Rabb did create space when facing up on Giles for jump-shots on three occasions, but wasn’t able to convert.

Ivan Rabb Shot Chart

Overall: Draw

The stat lines for Giles and Rabb were fairly similar and while Giles got the win, this match-up ends in a draw. Rabb got more chances to play against Giles on offense, but Giles was also impressive creating deflections on the fast break as well as the post. Both players have the ability to score inside and out, but Giles gets the edge on aggressiveness. He moves more fluidly than Rabb on the court and also plays a bit stronger. Both players are deserving of their top ten status, but it is the junior Harry Giles that has the higher upside.