Kenner League Recap: Saturday, July 1st

KENNER LEAGUE NOTES: SATURDAY, JULY 1

Georgetown Hoyas basketball is back! Check out the below recap of today’s Kenner League action featuring a number of the faces you will see in the Blue & Gray next season in Year 1 of the Ed Cooley era.

Ismael Massoud: 9 pts, 3-9 2pt, 1-7 3pt, 9 reb (1 off), 3 asst, 1 st, 2 TO

-His offensive game was limited mostly to jump shots. He looks to find open space off the ball on the perimeter for catch/shoot 3s, always moving off the ball. Teammates did not do a very good job of finding him when he was open at the three point line.

- He’ll do some limited iso ballhandling to try to set up a step back 3, and he dribbled into a few pull-up mid range jumpers.

-Shooting form is good, but was simply a bit off target today.

-Looks like he won’t be trying to create much off the dribble. Doesn’t have an explosive first step. But he seems to understand his game, and he did not try to force anything.

-Made some nice passes. Sees the court well, threw a few good passes from the paint area out to open 3 point shooters. Good to see him look for these passes, rather than trying for force up a heavily contested mid range jumper.

-Had a big late game rebound, then took the ball end to end and made a good pass for a layup that kind of clinched the game.

-Plays a smart, calm game. Looks like he could be a solid stabilizing force as a complementary player but he is not going to create much offense himself

-Always hard to assess defense in these games. Ish seemed to work hard and know where to be. But he does not have a lot of foot quickness, so he might struggle to defend quicker wings. Looks like he has decent length, and is build a bit more solidly than I thought. He may be able to hold his own in low post defensive matchups on a limited basis, but you would not want him trying to defend a good low post scorer (like Soriano, for example) by himself on a regular basis

Dontrez Styles: 14 pts, 2-6 2pt, 4-6 FT, 2-6 3pt, 6 reb (1 off), 1 TO

-Looks great physically. Solidly build, in excellent shape. Jumps well. Just looks like an athlete.

-His shot mechanics are solid, and he hit some tough jump shots (both 3s and 2s). but he also tried a lot of tough jump shots. He did not really look to attack the basket off the dribble. Was looking to set up his jumper more than to drive.

-His release is not real quick - he had one three tipped, and another fully swatted out of bounds.

-Gets off his feet quickly and with good elevation on D. Could be an effective shot blocker.

-Hard to assess too much off this game. He did some nice things, but most of his impact was limited to hitting tough jump shots.

Wayne Bristol: 20 pts, 3-7 2pt, 2-2 FT, 4-7 3pt, 2 reb (1 off), 1 asst, 1 st, 1 TO

-Bristol had the best day of the three Hoyas playing in game one (Bristol, Styles, Massoud). He played a solid, smart game. Did not force much, scored his points within the flow of the game. Found a solid number of scoring opportunities without playing much iso ball.

-Hit a nice 3 - pump faked, defender flew by. Bristol re-set with a dribble step to his right and drained the three. The kind of smart, calm play that good 3 point shooters make.

-Scored a few baskets off the dribble. He is at his best offensively as a spot up 3 point shooter, with some ability to create a bit off the bounce if the defender closes too hard/out of control.

-Hit two clutch 3s late in the game as his team mounted a comeback attempt

-Overall impressive game from Bristol. Definitely the best game I have seen him play in Kenner or last season. He may be more in the mix for playing time this season than we might have thought.

Drew McKenna: 14 pts, 4-10 2 pt, 3-5 FT, 1-2 3pt, 12 reb, 3 asst, 1 st, 1 bl, 2 TO

-Impressive first game for McKenna. He has an interesting playing style - reminds me a little bit of Kyle Anderson in that he seems to slow the game down when he has the ball. He always has his head up probing for openings/ looking for teammates. He plays at his own pace, something you don’t see all that often in a young player. His game is far less frenetic than the game of a lot of talented young players.

-Looks for the pull up jumper, both from 3 and the mid range. Has good mechanics, and uses his height/length to get solid looks even when he is decently defended.

-Able to create a little bit off the dribble, but looks like more of a jump shooter right now.

-Good job on the defensive boards. He was always in good position, and came down with anything in his area. Often grabbed a rebound and started dribbling up court - head up, always looking for an open teammate.

-Had a bad late game turnover. Brought the ball up court, but when pressured by two defenders in desperation mode, he got trapped and coughed up the ball for an easy basket that kept the other team in the game for an additional possession.

-I had no idea what to expect of McKenna going into this game. But he knows how to play, and has a solid skillset. It might be hard to keep him on the bench. I was definitely more impressed with McKenna today than I was with either Styles or Massoud. Not that those guys played poorly, but they just did not have a whole lot of impact on their games. McKenna had a significant impact on his game.

-it is just one game in a loosely played summer league - but McKenna showed enough to get me interested in seeing how he looks through the Kenner games, and feeling hopeful about his long term contributions to the program.

Jay Heath: 22 pts, 3-7 2pt, 4-5 FT, 4-9 3 pt, 3 reb (1 off), 5 assts, 1 set, 1 TO

-Heath played point guard more or less. He looks like a real PG often in Kenner games, but he was not able to translate this at all into real games last year.

-He could have had a lot more than 5 assists. He set up multiple other good scoring opportunities that teammates could not covert. he was finding open guys with quick, smart passes all game.

-He asserted himself as a scorer more in the second half (15 of his points).

-Took two bad threes that he missed badly on two straight possessions. But shortly after that he hit two tough step back 3s. He is a good three point shooter, and can hit those tough step backs at times. But they are not really good shots. I would hope to see him taking mostly catch/shoot threes, with some 3s off ball screens. We took way too many of those “dribble between the legs a few times than fire up a step back 3” kind of shots last year. Heath can function well within the flow of the offense - as a shooter, attacking the basket, passing to open shooters when help defender close off his drives. Hopefully with better coaching and teammates who are a bit more team oriented in their approach - Heath will play this kind of ball/player movement offense this season, and far less iso stuff.

Other Saturday notes:

-I left before the final game - in which Rowan Brumbaugh and Akok Akok were scheduled to play. I saw on Twitter that Brumbaugh put up good numbers (21 pts, 6 rebs, 4 threes, 2 steals). I’m eager to watch him play tomorrow - I have a sneaky feeling that he might be the player that determines whether we struggle pretty badly this season, or whether his play as a real point guard helps us be consistently competitive.

-Two non-Hoya players really stood out in the first two games:

Tyler Perkins (Penn) - 6’4 guard who is going to be a freshman. he was great - 37 points! He hit a bunch threes, some of them very tough. He also scored attacking the hoop, grabbed rebounds, etc. He was all over the court and was the best player in either game today. Went to the Landon School in Maryland. He looks like he’’ll be a very solid Ivy League player. He is fairly athletic, but not overwhelmingly so. He is very strong and skilled, and plays smart basketball. Very fun player to watch

Julian Reese (Maryland) - the center who put Wahab on the bench. He could do just about whatever he wanted offensively. Scored in the post, hit some jumpers, looked quite good. He has filled out a bit. He looked more skilled and aggressive today than he has when I have watched him in real games for Maryland in the past.