Nike Hoop Summit: Friday Rewind

The Nike Hoop Summit practices concluded on Friday as both the World and U.S. team made their final preparations for their match-up on Saturday afternoon. The U.S. team had both a morning and evening practice while the World team had a single practice in the afternoon.

World Team:

Skal - Ken Nowaczyk/USA Basketball

NBA scouts and General Managers were out in full force to watch the World team Saturday afternoon. The long and talented team wasted no time in picking up the energy in the practice as they started with full-court shooting drills to get warmed up. It only took a few jump shots from Kentucky bound Skal Labissiere to see his immense potential and to understand why he might finish as the No. 1 ranked player in his class. Standing around 7 feet, Labissiere moves well and stays square to the basket on his jumpers. He gets good elevation and has a high release point allowing his shots to fall softly through the net. After getting warmed up, the World team went right to scrimmaging.

To start the game, the team was divided up with Jamal Murray, Stefan Peno, Ben Simmons, Thon Maker, and Zhou Qi on one team and Federico Mussini, George de Paula, Nedim Buza, Skal Labissiere, and Cheick Diallo on another. 2016 Kentucky bound forward Tai Wynyard came off the bench.

Team 1:

Right away, small forward Ben Simmons made his presence known. Without a true point guard on the team, Simmons handled the ball a fair amount and initiated the fast break after grabbing his own defensive rebounds. He knocked in a NBA three-pointer from the right corner to kick things off and then scored on two strong drives to the basket. He had a quickness advantage on Nedim Buza and used just one or two dribbles to get Buza off balance before accelerating down the left lane and finishing short runners with both his left and right hand. Throughout the game, Simmons was blazing in transition and also converted a nice finger roll after a drive down the middle of the lane.

Along with Simmons, Canadian shooting guard Jamal Murray showed off his deep range hitting multiple three’s proving that the deeper three point line did not make a difference. 7 foot forward Thon Maker struggled throughout the scrimmages before throwing down a rim rattling one hand dunk towards the end. Maker prefers to play outside the paint; however on Friday his shot was not falling and he struggled driving to the basket. While Maker has range on his shot, his misses were all over the side of the rim rather than falling short or long. 7’2” center Zhou Qi from China made a return appearance after missing numerous practices due to an ankle injury suffered on the first day of practice. Qi showed his ability to get up and down the floor well for a player his size and held his own on the defensive boards. Given his lack of upper body strength and 209 pound frame, Qi was not banging around down low on the offensive end. Qi prefers to hover around the foul line area looking for short jump shots which he can knock down given his shooting touch.

Team 2:

I came to see Skal. Both the media and NBA personnel have fallen in love with the power forward from Haiti and while it was a quite performance from the future star you could see why basketball minds are enamored with him. Skal waited until the last stanza to score a basket and did so with a right handed hook shot in the lane and he followed that up with a left-handed tip dunk in the middle of the lane where his whole forearm was above the rim. One area where he could have been more aggressive was when he caught the ball at the free throw line against a zone defense. He had several opportunities to turn and shoot from 10-12 feet but instead he passed on those open looks.

6’1”, 154 pound Federico Mussini and the 6’6” George de Paula ran the team’s offense with their contrasting styles. Mussini is short and quick and can knock in three’s from deep and get by his man off the dribble. Once past his defender, Mussini’s physical deficiencies come into play and he is often driving looking for an open teammate to kick the ball to. On the other hand, de Paula is strong and athletic and will try to use his almost 7 foot wing span to dunk on a defender’s head (which he tried). De Paula was aggressive in the scrimmages, but sometimes to the detriment of his teammates who often became upset with his lack of passing. In the first two scrimmages, de Paula took several forced jump shots and shooting is definitely not his forte. When he is driving and attacking he is a tough cover but not when shooting long and contested jump shots.

6’8” wing Nedim Buza put together a thrilling shooting display during the scrimmages knocking down deep three’s whenever his feet were set and he had some space. Buza has good lift on his outside shot and his attempts were always straight on-line with the basket. While he proved to be a knock down shooter, it was also clear that creating his own shot was not his forte. Lacking foot speed, Buza needed high picks to free him of a defender before launching a jumper.

Throughout the scrimmages the world team looked crisp. They worked on attacking the full-court press and zone defenses that the U.S. will most likely throw at them on Saturday. The U.S. will put pressure on the guards and look to speed the game up. Look for Ben Simmons to have a huge role in helping the World team combat the aggressiveness of the U.S.

U.S. Team:

The United States had two practices on Friday. The morning session consisted primarily of shooting drills and other team competitions while the evening practice featured another scrimmage against former college players. This time around the scrimmage consisted of three, 10 minute quarters.

This time around, small forward Jaylen Brown was ready to participate and took over the starting small forward spot from Brandon Ingram. The starters were Jalen Brunson, Malik Newman, Brown, Ivan Rabb, and Stephen Zimmerman. Unlike Thursday where the U.S. basically went five in and five out, substitutions were made in a more liberal manner.

Brown did not waste any time getting started making a driving lay-up, a corner jump shot from the right side of the court, and another lay-up in traffic. Throughout the course of the scrimmage Brown played primarily small forward, but also saw some time at the power forward spot where he was banging around down low with the taller and stronger opponents. In the last stanza, Brown made another driving lay-up and finished a short floater from the left side of the basket after drawing contact.

Shooting guard Malik Newman had an up and done scrimmage despite a variety of shot attempts. He was best in the open court attacking the basket and converted a few jumpers throughout but also miss-fired on several long two’s. It wasn’t an efficient performance for Newman, but it was quite the performance for Luke Kennard. One of the first players off the bench, Kennard scored a quick three baskets with a follow-up off a missed shot, a two dribble jumper from the right corner, and a cutting lay-up off of a nice feed from Briscoe. After his quick burst, Kennard sat out the rest of the scrimmage opting for some rest before the real game on Saturday.

The U.S. team also received some strong bench play with Isaiah Briscoe, Allonzo Trier, and Brandon Ingram all making plays. Briscoe continued his attacking style and even added a three in from the left wing. Trier had his soft, high arcing shot working throughout and Ingram was able to pick his spots with a few mid-range jumpers and a put back after a miss from five feet out. As for the U.S. big men, Ivan Rabb was the most active hitting short shots with both hands and relishing the contact with the former college players.

Match-Up:

The 2015 Nike Hoop Summit tips at 3pm EST on ESPN2. Last year the U.S. team won 84-73 behind the eventual trio that led Duke to the 2015 NCAA championship. Justise Winslow led the way with 16 points and Jahlil Okafor and Tyus Jones scored 14 and 13, respectively. This year, the U.S. guards will look to set the tempo and pressure the World team into turnovers. The World team has good height and length. Will Ben Simmons and Skal Labissiere lead the World team to a victory or will Malik Newman, Jaylen Brown, or Allonzo Trier step up for the U.S.?