The NBPA Top
100 camp concluded on Saturday evening, which wrapped up an action packed three
day affair in Charlottesville, VA. The Celtics camp team were crowned champions
and guard Jaquan Newton put forth the best individual performance
seen all week in leading his Celtics squad to an upset win. After two long days
on Thursday and Friday, many players were road weary and nicked up during
Saturday’s play. While some kids were forced to sit out, the players that stepped
on the court let their talent shine and played high intensity playoff
basketball throughout the final day.
Top
Performers:
Jaquan Newton, 6’2”, 2014
Scoring over
20 points in one of the camp games turned out to be fairly rare, yet Newton
went for 31 points in the championship game to go along with seven assists and
four rebounds. In his semi-final game, Newton put in another solid performance
with 16 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists. While most teams and point guards
relied heavily on the pick and roll, Newton used his ball handling and
quickness to penetrate time and time again. After beating his defender off the
dribble Newton had no problem finishing at the rim amongst taller defenders.
Similar to earlier games Newton had his outside shot working and made teams pay
for sagging off in hopes of containing his drives. Newton took advantage of the
increased playing time due to an injury to Tyler Ulis and earned himself
a championship and a spot on the all-camp team.
Ben Bentil, 6’8”, 2014
Despite
playing in the consolation game of the camp to start the final morning, Bentil
brought his “A” game scoring in a variety of ways. He started his first half
barrage with a coast to coast lay-up primarily using his left hand to make it
down the court and then followed that up with a nice looking 15 foot jump shot.
Bentil used his muscle for a few baskets down low and also added another coast
to coast lay-up. His most impressive basket came on a textbook pic and roll.
After setting a hard screen, Bentil popped out for another 15 foot jumper which
he calmly drained. Bentil has the size and strength to dominate defenders down
low, but also displayed nice touch and form on his jump shots and solid ball
handling skills.
Myles Turner, 6’11”, 2014
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| Myles Turner - Kelly Kline / UA |
The most
talked about prospect in camp was Myles Turner, and he ended his week on a high
note. Matched up against touted 2015 big man Skal Labissiere,
Turner went to work on the offensive end while keeping Labissiere away from the
basket on the defensive end. To start the game, Turner connected on a right
handed hook shot from seven feet out and added in an “and-1” down low off of a
nice pass from TJ Haws. Turner also connected on a three-pointer from
the wing and a jump shot from just outside the lane. He scored 18 points in his
final game and given his height and athleticism is an extremely tough cover for
any defender given his ability to score down low and also from the outside. As
the competition continues to get tougher for Turner, his game continues to grow
stronger.
Anton Beard, 5’10”, 2014
The future Arkansas Razorback lead guard got
his 76ers squad off to a strong start Saturday morning as he pushed the tempo
and created opportunities for his bigger teammates. In the first quarter Beard
matched up with future Florida Gator point guard Chris
Chiozza in what will become a regular occurrence in SEC play. Beard began
the game with a fast break lay-up and followed that up with a deep jump shot.
He scored another lay-up in the half court set after blowing by Chiozza off the
dribble and added one more lay-up after running a pick and roll with Turner.
While Beard scored early on, he also added in six assists coming in transition
and the half court set. The strongly built Beard turned his game up a notch and
got a win over Chiozza’s squad to begin their point guard rivalry.
Charles Matthews, 6’5”, 2015
One of the
few bright spots in a blowout loss was the play of Matthews who went for 11
points to close out his camp session. His baskets came primarily from 15-17
feet as he used a left to right crossover to create space and his jumping
ability to rise over the defense for a shot attempt. With long arms and a top
notch vertical, Matthews can get a mid-range jump shot anytime he wants. He did
miss-fire on several of these shots and will need to continue fine tuning his
release throughout the summer.
Dwayne Morgan, 6’7”, 2014
Morgan’s, a
UNLV-bound combo forward, had his offensive arsenal on display in the second
half during his team’s loss. He scored nine points in an efficient manner and
was very active off the ball by setting screens and constantly staying in
motion. Morgan hit a pull-up jump shot to go along with a pull-up three pointer
from the left wing and then added in a powerful two hand dunk in the middle of
the lane after a basket cut. He also took a seven foot jump shot that he nailed
over the outstretched hand of Myles Turner. Over the past year, Morgan’s game
has steadily improved and when he looks to be aggressive he shows spurts of being
one of the most complete wings in the class of 2014.
Other
Tidbits from the Playoffs:
Tar Heel Teammates Face Off: In a quarter final match-up,
North Carolina commits Theo Pinson and Justin Jackson went head
to head. Pinson won the scoring battle 16 to 11, but did so with one additional
quarter. Pinson’s baskets came primarily with the ball in his hand as he used
his quickness and a hesitation dribble to get by Jackson several times from the
top of the key. He was aggressive attacking the basket which resulted in
several trips to the line and also a 10 foot bank shot over Jackson’s
out-stretched hand. On the other hand, Jackson as usual got his points from
catch and shoot situations or those where he only needs one or two dribbles to
free himself for a mid-range floater or pull-up. Jackson hit one three from the
corner to go along with a few patented floaters and drop shots. Overall,
Jackson did not have his typical efficient performance that earned him a spot
on the camp all-star team, but his team did get the win and earned a match-up
in the semi-finals with another future Tar Heel in Joel Berry.
Top PG’s go head to head: Joel Berry and Josh Perkins
are two of the most highly regarded point guards in the class of 2014 and they
got to go head to head for 24 minutes in a semi-final game. Two players with
contrasting styles went at each other as best they could but neither one had an
overly dominant performance. Perkins has a few inches on Berry to go along with
a bit of quickness, while Berry is stronger and a better mid-range jump
shooter. Berry went 1-4 in the first 12 minutes as he hit his first shot from
the foul line extended (his bread and butter shot) coming off a pick and roll.
While Berry’s team primarily ran a pick and roll offense, he did use an in and
out dribble move to blow by Perkins once and get into the lane but a lay-up
attempt that was blocked by Karl Towns Jr. In the second half Berry
added another jumper from just outside the foul line to go along with a three
from the wing as he finished with 8 points and 2 assists. On the opposite side,
Perkins was fairly quite in the first quarter as he miss-fired on a few outside
shots. Known as one of the best ball handlers in the camp, Perkins had trouble
getting by Berry in the half court set. In the second stanza, Perkins knocked
in two three pointers and a jump shot in a quick two minute span. All of these
shots came in transition and Perkins finished with a similar 8 point, 2 assist
performance. While this match-up could be deemed a draw, it was Berry’s
defensive effort in keeping Perkins out of the lane that was most impressive.
The Road to the Championship: In a semi-final win, Jaquan
Newton’s Celtics squad got strong performances from a number of players
including Chieck Diallo, Reid Travis, and Perry Dozier. Diallo
was his usual force around the basket dunking anything in sight and blocking
shots, while Travis was scoring from all over en route to a 26 point, 11
rebound performance. Last but not least, was Perry Dozier who scored nine
points. Dozier used his crossover to create space for open jump shots as he was
being guarded by the 7 footer in Thon Maker. Dozier had an up and down
camp, but when his confidence is brimming and his jump shot is falling it is
obvious why so many high major coaches are involved in his recruitment.
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| Karl Towns - Kelly Kline / UA |
Big Man Battle: Two of the top big men in the country, and
fellow 7-footers, were on the same court for a semi-final matchup in Kentucky Wildcats commit Karl
Towns Jr. and 2015 center Stephen Zimmerman. With a significant
size advantage, the monstrous Towns was guarded by Angel Delgado but
matched up with Zimmerman on the defensive end. Delgado is not small by any
means, but there were a few possessions where he was eaten up down low by
Towns. To put Towns size in perspective, he was dominating Jerome Williams aka
the Junkyard Dog down low in a one on one match-up during the camp break. On
the other side, Zimmerman used his quickness to score on Towns. He has a fast
spin move when operating down low and used that several times on Towns while he
also got to the line numerous times in scoring 13 points. Towns used his size and
strength to score down low, but Zimmerman played to his own strengths in what
turned out to be a very entertaining big man battle.
