Kenner League Notes: July 22-23, 2023

Below is a recap of the Kenner League action from this past weekend!

Ismael Massoud:

Saturday - 21 pts, 6-10 2 pt, 3-4 FT, 2-13 3pt, 3 red, 2 asst, 1 st, 1 TO

Sunday - 12 pts, 3-9 2pt, 2-8 3pt, 6 red, 2 asst, 1 bl

-Massoud did not shoot well this weekend, but was still able to put up a pretty big point total on Saturday. He’s pretty good at finishing drives to the basket- he has a soft touch with both hands. Likes to drive to his left.

-Good cutter - good hands, catches the ball on the move and uses his length/touch to finish.

-Pretty good passer. Makes one or two passes in each game that display above average passing vision

-Rarely ventures inside the 3 point line on offense except for transition. He therefore won’t get many offensive rebounds, since he is usually 20+ feet away from the hoop when a shot goes up.

-Had a nice finish on a lob dunk. He has decent jumping ability.

-When he gets a mismatch on a shorter defender after the defenses switches a ball screen - he likes to try to back the defender down from about 15 feet. But this usually results in a tough turnaround fadeaway jumper from the 10 foot range. That’s a tough shot. He can make is sometimes, but it is the kind of low percentage shot that the offense should try to avoid unless the shot clock is running out.

Wayne Bristol: (1 game) 22 pts, 8-9 2pt, 1-1 FT, 1-7 3pt, 6 red (3 off), 2 st, 3 bl, 3 TO

-Bristol’s 3 point shot was off, but otherwise he played a very strong game

-At points he was really flying around the court, impacting a lot of plays on both ends. Pushing the ball hard, hustling for steals/blocks, just lots of good stuff. He looks like a much more explosive/fast athlete than he showed last season

-His skills are still a bit rough at times. He’ll miss some tough jump shots badly, and he has a couple of sloppy turnovers in most games.

-But overall - he looks much more like a useful Big East level talent than he did at any point last year. I’ll be surprised if he is not a part of the regular playing rotation during the regular season, quite possibly as a starter playing 25+ minutes a game.

Drew McKenna: (1 game) 15 pts, 4-8 2pt, 1-1 FT, 2-6 3pt, 8 reb (1 off), 1 st, 1 TO

-Took a D board and went end to end with a strong finish - did this twice in the first half

-Again impressed with a very calm, skilled style of play. Nothing very explosive about his game, but he doesn’t let the defense speed him up, and he knows how to use his size/skill combination to make plays. Doesn’t play like an 18 year old kid - his game seems calmer and more mature than most players his age.

-It will be interesting to see how his athleticism matches up against Big East level athletes. It’s not that he’s a bad athlete - he just doesn’t have the burst/leaping ability kind of stuff going for him. He plays his game closer to the ground, but he knows his game and plays it well.

-Knows how to use his size/strength when attacking the basket. Doesn’t often blow past a defender off the dribble, but he knows how to get just a bit of leverage advantage - and then use his size to create separation/protect the ball and get off a fairly high percentage shot at the rim

Jay Heath:

Saturday -15 pts, 1-4 2 pt, 1-1 FT, 4-6 3 pt, 8 reb, 4 asst, 1 st, 3 TO

Sunday - 14 pts, 4-8 2pt, 3-4 FT, 1-6 3pt, 7 reb (3 off), 2 asst, 1 TO

-Heath seems like the kind of player who plays better in a real offensive scheme with better players around him. Passes well, in Kenner games - looks much more like a possible point guard in the summer than he does during the regular season.

-Always gets extremely now when he handles the ball. Good at using his shoulder to get leverage and attack the basket. Likes to go to his left and finish with his left hand.

-Doesn’t force much, plays smart basketball. One occasional exception - he does like to go ISO to hunt a step back 3 a couple of times each game. He is good at this, and hits the shot a decent amount of the time. But it pulls the team out of any kind of offensive design/flow when he does this.

Donovan Grant: (1 game) 0 points, 0-1 3pt, 11 reb (1 off), 1 asst, 1 st, 2 TO

-Grant got plenty of playing time, but just was not part of the offensive flow of this game.

-But his defensive rebounding was strong. He always works hard, and is aggressive in attacking the defensive boards

Ryan Mutombo: (1 game) 10 pts, 5-6 2 pt, 4 reb (2 off0, 1 TO

-Sets solid ball screens. Doesn’t bail out - holds position through solid contact from the defender. Did get called for one foul on a ball screen. But in general - did a nice job on this

-Always shows good touch around the rim. But he is pretty ground bound. Because he can’t use a quick jump to power through contact, he is not nearly as good at converting around the hoop against Big East athletes as he is in Kenner.

-Played less than half the game. Still put up some points, but did not impact the game much in any other way.

Supreme Cook: (1 game) 12 pts, 6-11 2 pt, 8 reb (3 off), 1 bl, 1 TO

-Does a nice job using his strength to create enough separation to finish around the basket. He has a decent ag of tricks around the hoop. But he can get swallowed up by bigger payers when trying to score in the post.

-Always plays hard - runs the court hard on both ends

-Always talking on D - calling out picks. directing teammates, etc. Does this much more/better than we have seen from Hoya defenders in recent years.

-Works hard when defending quicker players on the perimeter after a screen switch, but his feet are not very quick so he can get beat off the dribble in these situations. But he is able to contain the ball handler at times, and the effort is always there

-Has a good feel for drop defense of pick/roll. He knows how to position himself between the ball handler and the roll man in a way that discourages the pass to the roll man, while still putting some pressure on the ball handler

-Cook seems like our only bigger bodied player who is good enough to get major playing time. I expect him to start at center and play 25+ minutes a game. He won’t do anything too flashy, and his weaknesses will be exposed at times. But he’ll score around the basket fairly consistently, he’ll rebound/play D physically and with lots of energy. we would e in trouble at the center position without Cook, as he is our only true center who is good/ready enough to play competent big east minutes.

Notes:

-On Sunday I left before the final game, when Brumbaugh and Akok were scheduled to play. They did not play in their team’s game on Saturday, but I think that Brumbaugh may have played on Sunday. On Saturday I left before the final game. so I missed seeing Bristol/Styles

-I will not be at the games next Saturday. Not sure about Sunday - will depend on which Hoyas are playing as the playoffs kick off on Sunday.