USA BASKETBALL: Scrimmage notes; Banks' thoughts on Texas hoops culture
HOUSTON – Last night, the USA U18 team took a break from working on offensive and defensive sets and scrimmaging each other to put it all in action against the University of Houston. It wasn’t always pretty, but the group of 12 that are about to represent USA in Chile during the FIBA Americas Championships put it on Houston pretty good. A few scrimmage thoughts:
--- The first five on the floor for USA were 2017 point guard Matt Coleman, 2016 Washington guard Markelle Fultz, 2017 forward/wing Michael Porter Jr., 2017 forward/wing P.J. Washington, and 2016 Texas big man Jarrett Allen.
--- We caught up with Allen after yesterday’s morning session, and the five-star from St. Stephen’s in Austin singled out his jump shot as an area of improvement, and it’s an accurate, honest assessment. In the scrimmage, the 6-10 Allen didn’t hesitate to correctly put up a couple of open mid-range jumpers, but missed. He has the form and the touch, but at times the form and balance are inconsistent, which throws him off. Really, it’s just a matter of constant repetition and getting more comfortable putting that shot up a lot. After all, he’s skilled in the post and so long that he could get buckets down there – Allen showed the left-handed baby hook in the paint during the scrimmage, something he flashed all week – almost at will during his high school and grassroots career. It’s (jumper) in there somewhere, and was shown a few times during practice, and once in a scrimmage when he received a pass from Fultz and immediately kissed it off the glass from about 10 feet out.
What caught our eye was Allen’s competitiveness. The quiet demeanor suggests there isn’t a fire burning inside Allen, but that’s not the case. We saw it at the McDonald's All-American Game week, and we saw it last night. After not converting a tough dunk attempt over a couple of people, the Texas big sprinted down the floor and aggressively challenged and blocked a shot from the backside. If he doesn’t get the motor going full speed and doesn’t aggressively go after that shot, he would have had no chance at blocking it. Allen competed on the glass, caused problems on defense with his length, and showed some Plus, the scrimmage was pretty physical in the paint, and Allen was fouled hard a couple of times; he didn’t get shy, and kept attacking on both ends.
--- Coleman, a top Texas priority in the 2017 class, showed why he was selected to the roster. He talked constantly, led, defended all over the floor, and ran the team. Coleman took just two shots by our count, and both were wide open jumpers; he made one of them at the top of the key. There were a couple of times when the college-level ball-pressure and pick-and-roll defense frustrated him. However, there were also two times when he tossed Washington alley-oops from the perimeter in a half-court set, including one gorgeous feed from the deep wing against a 2-3 zone.
--- He didn’t score like some others, and missed badly on a few open jumpers early in the scrimmage before finding his stroke later on. But Washington might have been the most impressive player overall Wednesday night. The five-star prospect and Frisco, Texas native ripped the ball away from a player on back-to-back positions in the press, and took one of those coast-to-coast for a layup. Washington, who is rated the No. 19 prospect overall, fought for rebounds, played with terrific toughness, and positioned himself well on both offense and defense. Because of his strength and motor, Washington made himself a part of so many plays on both ends of the floor, and impacted the game offensively inside and out and also defensively in the full-court and half-court.
--- Trae Young, a 2017 five-star combo guard, was able to shake free a couple of times to connect on deep jumpers. What stood out most about the Norman, Oklahoma product’s scrimmage was how competitive a scrappy he was on defense; he doesn’t have elite lateral quickness, but his instincts and willingness to defend Wednesday night made up for it.
--- Texas big man James Banks made his presence felt when he muscled an offensive rebound away from two people, and immediately put it back up for a make on a putback. The 6-10, 242-pound Longhorn freshman moved well on defense, again showed underrated ability as a passer, and filled his role well.
--- The best defender on the floor was 2017 five-star Hamidou Diallo (Putnam Science Academy; Putnam, Connecticut by way of Queens, New York), who is a terrifying menace in a pressing defense because of his quickness, strength, size and length and quickness. Diallo caused a number of turnovers as a half-court and full-court defender and frustrated offensive players. He also crashed the glass very well for a guard, and made good decisions on offense.
M.J. Walker, the nation’s No. 23 prospect in the 2017 Rivals150, continued to show an improved jumper during the scrimmage, and is a similar force in a pressing defense. The Georgia product provided one of the scrimmage’s highlights when he aggressively attacked a crease in the zone defense from the perimeter, and converted a tough reverse layup with a foul. Walker showed solid poise and played under control, unleashing his strength and supreme athleticism to his advantage.
--- Before resting for the rest of the scrimmage, Michael Porter Jr. was a perfect 3-for-3 from the floor, 2-for-2 from the line, and looked like the best player during that early stretch. He connected on a trio of deep pull-up jumpers.
--- Markelle Fultz’s ability to elevate is so easy and smooth that he can get his shot whenever he wants. The 2016 five-star wasn’t as dominant as he’s capable of being, but chased down a shot in transition to smack it off the glass on defense, made a couple of tough jumpers, and got to his spots on the floor well.
--- 2017 No. 4 overall Mohamed Bamba is raw, but he’s also skilled and extremely long (7-9 wingspan). Combine that length with the fact that he can actually get up-and-down the floor and move well laterally for his size and you have a big that can make a lot of things happen in the paint. But the most impressive thing about his scrimmage was when he acted as a pick-and-pop big and knocked down a deep two with a smooth stroke and touch. Once the game slows down for him more and more, look out.
--- Maryland freshman Kevin Huerter, a 6-5 guard, connected on six or seven deep threes. He’s an absolute sniper that gets the ball off quickly with a balanced, easy stroke. Plus, Huerter adds production on offense and defense in other areas. He looks like he’s going to be a really solid player in college sooner rather than later.
--- USA 18U head coach Shaka Smart gets to continuing coaching two of his Texas players in Chile, and don’t underestimate that experience for Texas.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for all three of us really because summer in the freshmen year is all about getting acclimated to a new level of play and getting yourself ready to be successful as a freshman in college,” Smart said about coaching Allen and Banks for Team USA. “And also developing a relationship both ways – coach-player and player-coach – and the case of those two together, developing relationships with each other. We’re going to get a chance to spend a lot of time together on that and they’ll get a chance to play against some really good competition in practice and five games overseas.”
--- Banks, a passionate player that’s infected the hardwood consistently with his vocal nature and energy, believes there’s an exciting culture right now in Austin.
“Guys are always in the gym. Guys are always in Cooley getting up shots. Guys are always working out in the weight room. Everyone wants to get better,” he said about the environment at Texas right now. “Everyone is watching film. It’s a great environment right now, especially with all the young guys. We have four freshmen; everyone wants to be in the gym. We have three sophomores; everyone wants to be in the gym. Shaq and the seniors are really working hard. Everyone is really working hard.”
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