USA U17 Preview

The USA U17 tryouts kick-off June 10 in Colorado Springs in preparation for the U17 World Championship’s held June 23-July 3 in Zaragoza, Spain. 39 players from the 2017 and 2018 classes will be in attendance as they try to secure a spot on the 12-man roster.

History:

photo - USAB

The 2016 team will become the fourth team to represent the USA in the U17 World Championships with the event beginning in 2010. So far, the USA has won three gold medals while never losing a game. Head coach Don Showalter is 23-0 in U17 action winning games by an average margin of 37.7 points per game. The 2010 team defeated Poland in the gold medal game by 31 points and the 2012 team beat Australia by 33 points. Two years ago, the 2014 team matched up with Australia once again in the gold medal game and won by just seven points, which also happened to be the first time the USA did not win a game by double digits. Malik Newman took home the U17 MVP in 2014 following in the footsteps of Jahlil Okafor (2012) and Bradley Beal (2010).

Prior to the U17 World Championships, the USA U16 always competes in the FIBA America’s tournament the year before (2015 in this case). Last year, the USA team breezed through pool play and the playoffs leading up to the gold medal game with Canada. While the US team won by 17, they overcame a 20-point second quarter deficit as ESPN’s No. 1 rising sophomore, RJ Barrett was displaying his ability. Gary Trent Jr. and Jarred Vanderbilt led the way with 19 points in that game, with Trent Jr. winning MVP honors.

While the majority of the roster will stay in-tact, despite the 39 players in tryouts, there is always some upheaval from the U16 to U17 level. The 2010 team returned 67% of the players from the U16 team while the 2012 team returned 58%, and the 2014 team returned 75% of the players.

2015 U16 Roster:

Gary Trent, 2017, SG/SF, 16.8 ppg

Markus Howard, 2016, G, 15.0 ppg

Wendell Carter, 2017, C, 13.6 ppg, 8.8 rpg

Kevin Knox, 2017, SF, 10.6 ppg

Jarred Vanderbilt, 2017, F, 9.8 ppg, 7.8 rpg

Jordan Brown, 2018, PF, 9.4 ppg

Jalen Hill, PF, 2017, 8.6 ppg

Javonte Smart, 2018, G, 6.8 ppg

Robert Woodard, 2018, SF, 5.6 ppg

Tre Jones, 2018, PG, 4.6 ppg

Jaylen Nowell, 2017, G, 5.0 ppg

Connor Vanover, 2018, C, 3.8 ppg

Selection:

The first round of cuts will occur on Sunday, June 12. The USA coaches are trying to form the best team, which means that a handful of 5-star prospects will be cut for players that might not be as talented from an individual perspective. In 2014, players such as Dennis Smith and Malik Monk did not make it through first cuts.

Team USA Predictions:

The Locks from U16’s

Wendell Carter – Dominant big man that will be the inside force for the U17’s

Kevin Knox – Got his start last year at the U16 tryouts and now is a Top 10 player

Gary Trent – The U16 leading scorer

Markus Howard – Zone buster. Last USA experience before heading to Marquette

Jarred Vanderbilt – Pogo stick that will help with a variety of defensive sets

Highly Probable:

Jordan Brown – Came off the bench for the U16’s, top 10 in the 2018 class

Javonte Smart – Talented guard from the 2018 class, tough to stop off the dribble

Tre Jones – Continues the Jones’ USA connection

Newcomers:

Austin Wiley – Another big body to play behind Carter

Naz Reid – Cut from the U16 team, can he impress this time around?

Cameron Reddish – Smooth shooter from 2018 that was cut last year

Troy Brown – Makes his first USA appearance

2014 U17 Tryout Memories:

The tryouts occurred during the third live period in July and college coaches were allowed to watch the second day of practice. Almost all of the big time names were in attendance.

Chatting with Jim Calhoun during the first practice and listening to some wild recruiting stories

Harry Giles starting to look like the Harry Giles of old on Day 2. Pull up jumpers and one-hand dunks as his confidence grew

Derryck Thornton putting together a perfect floor game in front of Coach K, Capel, and Scheyer. After that, the full-court press was turned on in Thornton’s recruitment.

Henry Ellenson was cut from the U16 team, but one year later he was one of the most impressive players in practice. Now, he is expected to be the top draft pick from the 2015 players that were in attendance.

Links:

2014

2012

2010

NBA Rookie Report

How did the first-round picks of the 2015 NBA Draft perform in Week 1 of the regular season? Well, Karl Anthony-Towns and Jahlil Okafor made their presence felt while Jerian Grant and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson were two of the top non-lottery performers.

1. Karl Anthony-Towns (TWolves) – You couldn’t ask for a better start for the No. 1 pick. Two double-doubles and two wins to start the year. Towns scored 14 points on 6-10 shooting in a win against the Lakers and then went for 28 and 14 against the Nuggets going 11-19 from the floor. After just two games, it's amazing to think that Towns scored less than 5 points in almost 20% of his games at Kentucky.

2. D’Angelo Russell (Lakers) – It’s been a rough start for the Lakers going 0-3 in the first week of games. Russell has averaged 25.4 minutes per game and 9 ppg, 2.7rpg, and 1.7 apg. He scored 13 points against the Kings, but is shooting just 36.7% from the field although he is a perfect 5-5 in the 15-19 foot range left of the free throw line.

3. Jahlil Okafor (Sixers) – Okafor got off to a scintillating start against Boston and finished with 26 points in his first NBA game. He scored 10 points in his second game and is averaging 18 points and 6.5 rebounds per game on 50% shooting.

4. Kristaps Porzingis (Knicks) – Porzingis has struggled from the field in his first 3 games, but has made it to the free throw line 16 times, including 12 attempts in his opener against Milwaukee. He is just 1-6 from the three point-line and is averaging 11.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.

5. Mario Hezonja (Magic) – Super Mario started off with a bang scoring 11 points in a close loss to the Wiz knocking down 3-5 from three, but played just 14 minutes against the Thunder and went 0-3 in 5 minutes against the Bulls.

6. Willie Cauley-Stein (Kings) – Cauley-Stein only played 8 minutes in the Kings opener, but responded with a 17 point, 9 rebound, 3 block performance in 30 minutes against the Lakers. In his third game, WCS registered 8 points and 9 rebounds.

7. Emmanuel Mudiay (Nuggets) – Mudiay started the season off strong in the scoring column with 17 points in a win against the Rockets, but not surprisingly he is struggling from the field shooting just 33.3% and he is also averaging 6.3 turnovers per game (11 against Houston).

8. Stanley Johnson (Pistons) – Johnson has connected on 3 field goals in each of his first three games. He went 3-10 from the field in his first two games and 3-8 in his third. So far he is averaging 8.3 ppg and 4.3 rpg and has scored 6 out of his 9 made baskets around the rim.

9. Frank Kaminsky (Hornets) – Frank the Tank is averaging 2.7 points and 1.3 rebounds per game in 8.5 minutes. He is 2-4 from the three-point line but has only played double digit minutes once.

10. Justise Winslow (Heat) – Winslow got his career going with a resounding one hand dunk against Charlotte and scored 5 points in his first game. Winslow went just 1-4 in his second game, but then played 31 minutes in his third game and went 4-8. So far he’s averaging 5.7 points and 4.7 rebounds and is 3-3 on corner 3’s.

11. Myles Turner (Pacers) – Turner has turned in two solid games, going 4-6 from the floor in his first game and 4-8 in his second game. The Texas big man is averaging 9 points and 4 rebounds per game. All of his baskets have come from the middle or right-side of the floor.

12. Trey Lyles (Jazz) – It hasn’t been the best start for Lyles as he is 0-6 from the floor in 3 games and didn’t score until his third game going 2-4 from the three-point line. He is averaging 2.3 rebounds in 6.8 minutes per game.  

13. Devin Booker (Suns) – Booker started out hot in his first game going 6-7 from the field for 14 points against Dallas. He went 1-2 from the three-point line and added two rebounds. Booker only played 2 minutes the following game.

14. Cameron Payne (Thunder) – The Murray State guard got his first NBA playing time on Sunday against the Nuggets. In four minutes, Payne had 1 assist and 1 steal.

15. Kelly Oubre Jr. (Wizards) – The Wizards are 2-1, but Oubre has registered just 1 minute of action against the Milwaukee Bucks.

16. Terry Rozier (Celtics) – Rozier played 2 minutes in the Celtics home opener and went 0-2, but did not play in either of the Celtics next two games.

17. Rashad Vaughn (Bucks) – After getting significant playing time in the pre-season, Vaughn has played just 17 minutes. In the Bucks season opener Vaughn played 13 minutes and scored 7 points on 3-5 shooting. Vaughn only played four minutes against the Raptors and went 0-2.

18. Sam Dekker (Rockets) – Dekker has only played 6 minutes for the underperforming Rockets. Against the Nuggets Dekker played only one minute and then against Golden State, Dekker played 5 minutes and registered 1 steal and 1 rebound.

19. Jerian Grant (Knicks) – In three games Grant is averaging 7.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg, and 4 apg. The talented guard from Notre Dame has played at least 20 minutes in all three scored 10 points in his first game and recorded 7 rebounds and 7 assists in his second game.

20. Delon Wright (Raptors) – Wright’s only playing time occurred on Sunday where he got in Toronto’s game for two minutes against Milwaukee missing a three from the right corner.

21. Justin Anderson (Mavs) – The former Cavalier only played 3 minutes against the Suns on 10/28, but the athletic wing saw his playing time jump to 18 minutes one day later in a loss to the Clippers. Anderson went 2-8 against the Clippers and 1-5 from three, but he also pulled down 6 rebounds to go with an assist, a steal, and a block.

22. Bobby Portis (Bulls) – Portis has not played for the Bulls through four games.  

23. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (Nets) – Hollis-Jefferson was the recipient of early playing time logging an average of 25 minutes in his first two games. He scored 8 points in his first game, followed by 10 points and 4 rebounds on 5-7 shooting against the Spurs.

24. Tyus Jones (TWolves) – Through 3 games, Jones is still looking for his first playing time in a regular season NBA game.

25. Jarrell Martin (Grizzlies) – Suffered a fractured foot in September.

26. Nikola Multinov (Spurs) – Currently playing in Europe. Draft and stash.

27. Larry Nance (Lakers) – Nance has not played for the Lakers in 3 games.

28. R.J. Hunter (Celtics) – Hunter has not played for the Celtics in 3 games.

29. Chris McCullough (Nets) – McCullough is still recovering from a torn ACL suffered while at Syracuse last January.

30. Kevon Looney (Warriors) – Looney is recovering from hip surgery and will be out 2-4 months.

USA Men's Developmental Camp Preview

October is here. Why is that important? For basketball recruiting junkies it signifies that the USA Men’s Developmental camp has arrived which is one of, if not the best event of the year. For two days 50+ of the top players in the sophomore (2018), junior (2017), and senior (2016) classes will gather for drills, skill work and intense scrimmaging in one gym at the USA Olympic complex in Colorado Springs.

The format rotates every other year and the developmental camp which starts on Saturday features 18 seniors that will be staking their claim for the Nike Hoop Summit in April in addition to 40 players from the sophomore and junior classes that will be getting ready for next year’s U17 World Championships and U18 FIBA America’s tournament.

This past summer the USA U16 team won the FIBA America’s gold medal and all 12 members will be in attendance including leading scorers Gary Trent Jr., Markus Howard, and Wendell Carter. Just because all 12 members will compete in Colorado Springs, doesn’t mean that they are all a lock to make the U17 team next summer. In 2010, 67% of the players from the U16 team made the U17 team. In 2012, just 58% of the U16 players returned and in 2014, 75% of the U16 players returned in 2014.

Two of those players that returned in 2014 for the U17 team were Jayson Tatum and Harry Giles. Tatum committed to Duke during the summer and while Giles is in the midst of his official visits, it’s widely expected that he ends up in Durham next season. In 2014, Jahlil Okafor and Tyus Jones were inseparably on and off the court during the two-day camp. They later committed to Duke and then went on to win a national championship before becoming lottery picks after just one season….

Two years ago, the senior class used their size and strength to make an impression on the younger players. Okafor and Myles Turner gave Diamond Stone all he could handle down low and Rashad Vaughn and Stanley Johnson dominated on the wing. No surprise that all four players are in the NBA. How will players such as Jaylen Hands and Trevon Duval fare against De’Aron Fox and Kobi Simmons? How will Michael Porter and E.J. Montgomery match-up Tyus Battle and Josh Jackson?

This year the senior class features a plethora of five-star recruits including Giles, Tatum, Jackson, Terrance Ferguson, Malik Monk, and Jonathan Isaac. While the seniors will be mixed in with the younger players for a good majority of the camp, they will also go through drills and scrimmages amongst themselves.

As for the sophomore and junior classes, both Marvin Bagley III and Wendell Carter Jr., are supposed to be in attendance. Both of these players are at the top of their class. One player who got cut from the USA U16 team that I expect to make an impact is 6’5” shooting guard Cameron Reddish. The sweet shooting guard from Pennsylvania was fairly quite last spring during the USA U16 tryouts but his talent was evident in the limited touches he received. Ranked as a top 10 player in his class, I expect Reddish to make a strong impression this weekend.