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By
Drew Wolin
4/19/08
The 2008 Jordan
All American Classic will take place at Madison Square Garden tonight,
Saturday, April 19 at 9:00 p.m. EST. The game will be televised
nationally live on ESPN2.
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Brandon
Jennings
Photo: Mike Burnley |
The 2008 Jordan
Classic inter-squad scrimmage held yesterday afternoon at LIU-Brooklyn
was played in front of a sparse, quiet crowd and turned into a blow-out
just a bit after halftime. That being said, the scrimmage was very
entertaining, as the uber-talented high schoolers showed off their
impressive individual skills. Brandon Jennings led the Black squad,
which was leading by as many as thirty points in the second half,
to the 126-113 victory. It got to the point where Brandon Jennings
was yelling from the bench, "We need some competition!"
and lanky swingman Wesley Witherspoon was taunting, "Yeah,
red!" during a timeout.
Top
Individual Performers:
· Brandon
Jennings – The flashy point guard looked like the
best player on the court, throwing numerous highlight reel passes
and getting numerous buckets of his own. He seems to have an extra
gear compared to the other players, allowing him to blow by defenders
at will. Even when subbed out of the game, Jennings tried to motivate
his teammates screaming from the sidelines (in the near-silent gym).
"I'm just a person that loves to play this game," Jennings
said. "I try to cheer on my teammates at first and then get
mine at the end." He finished as the game's leading scorer
with 23 points. Kemba Walker is one of the nation's elite defenders,
and should draw the defensive assignment of guarding Jennings. It
will be interesting to see how the UConn commit does on the one-man-fast-break
in the game tonight.
· Malcolm
Lee
– Lee has the savvy and floor game of an older, more experienced
player. While he is far from leaving anything to be desired with
his great athleticism, he is a very heady point guard with an accurate
outside shot, which he only utilizes in appropriate situations.
He rarely forces things the way most high school guards do.
· Tyreke
Evans
– Evans
is a player who everyone, himself included, expects to put points
on the board. After the game, he asked me how many points he scored.
When I told him that he dropped just 19 points (tied for 3rd leading
scorer in the game), he looked visibly upset. Tyreke's game plan
for the big show: "I'll just try to score early to get my team
on top and get the lead."
· Kemba
Walker
– Kemba
came out of the gates on fire, hitting his first three 3-pointers,
and finishing the game 4/5 from downtown (21 points). Though, as
mentioned before, Kemba is not all about scoring. He is a great
distributor and is known for his defensive prowess. To give an idea
of his priorities, when asked about his role next year at Uconn,
he immediately spoke about how he plans to help the team out defensively.
He will have his hands full tonight with Brandon Jennings and Malcolm
Lee.
What
Else to Watch for:
The black squad
simply out-competed the red team during the scrimmage. They played
more cohesively, and also appeared to have more talent than the
other team (though on paper this is certainly not the case). Scotty
Hopson was able to find holes in the defense and finish
at the rim with ease. Big man Greg
Monroe showed a decent lefty stroke from the outside, something
which he explained is "something that should take my game to
the next level … being able to hit the three will keep the
defense honest and help me make plays [for my team]." Fellow
big man BJ
Mullens did not touch the ball too often, though it is apparent
that his skill set, especially when coupled with his size, will
be something that NBA scouts will covet come draft time. He was
by far the biggest man on the court, standing a legitimate 7'1"
and listed at 260 lbs. Mullens appears to be focused on improving
too -- during warm-ups, while many of the players were shooting
half court shots, Mullens was working on his mid-range jump shot.
Wesley
Witherspoon,
who is still uncommitted, is a good all-around player whose length
and athleticism really help on the defensive end.
For the black
team, Michael
Dunigan should be able to help out by using his enormous
wingspan and tough guy attitude to handle his business on the inside,
as he did in the scrimmage. Also, Devin
Ebanks and Willie
Warren will help their team with scoring. Ebanks should
be able to utilize his long and lanky frame to knock down jump shots
over shorter defenders, while Warren, a much shorter yet more explosive
scoring guard, will be able to find creative ways to cut to the
hole or hit tough jumpers off the dribble.
There were
a few guys, namely Demar
DeRozan, who did not compete up to their ability in the
scrimmage. But he should be able to put it all together tonight
at the Garden; he is simply too talented and athletic to be a non-factor
in the game. Al-Farouq
Aminu
also under-performed in the scrimmage, though he is considered one
of the best in this group of elite players.
Check back for
a recap of tonight's 2008 Jordan Classic National game!
2008 JAA Roster
| Pos. |
Name
|
Ht |
Wt |
High
School (Hometown) |
College |
| PF |
Al-Farouq
Aminu |
6-9 |
210 |
Norcross (Norcross, GA)
|
Wake
Forest |
| SG |
William
Buford
|
6-5 |
185 |
Libbey (Toledo, OH) |
Ohio
State |
| PF |
Ed
Davis |
6-8 |
225 |
Benedictine (Richmond, VA)
|
North
Carolina |
| SG |
Demar
DeRozan |
6-6 |
210 |
Compton (Compton, CA) |
USC |
| PF |
Michael
Dunigan |
6-9 |
240 |
Farragut Career Academy (Chicago, IL) |
Oregon |
| SF |
Devin
Ebanks |
6-8 |
185 |
Patterson
(CT) (Queens, NY) |
Indiana |
| PG/SG |
Tyreke
Evans |
6-5 |
205 |
American Christian (Chester, PA) |
Memphis |
| PF |
Drew
Gordon |
6-9 |
230 |
Archbishop
Mitty |
UCLA |
| PF |
JaMychal
Green |
6-9 |
220 |
St. Jude (Montgomery, AL) |
Alabama |
| PG/SG |
Jrue
Holiday |
6-4 |
205 |
Campbell Hall (Chatsworth, CA) |
UCLA |
| SG |
Scotty
Hopson |
6-5 |
180 |
University Heights (Hopkinsville, KY) |
Tennessee |
| PG |
Brandon
Jennings |
6-1 |
170 |
Oak Hill Academy (VA) (Los Angeles, CA) |
Arizona |
| PG/SG |
Malcolm
Lee |
6-4 |
170 |
John W. North ((Moreno Valley, CA)
|
UCLA |
| PF/C |
Greg
Monroe |
6-10 |
240 |
Helen Cox (Gretna, LA) |
Georgetown |
| C |
BJ
Mullens |
7-1 |
260 |
Canal Winchester (Canal Winchester, OH) |
Ohio
State |
| SF |
Delvon
Roe |
6-6 |
205 |
St.
Edward (Euclid, OH) |
Michigan
State |
| PF |
Samardo
Samuels |
6-8 |
250 |
St. Benedict's (NJ) (Montego Bay, Jamaica)
|
Louisville |
| SG |
Iman
Shumpert |
6-4 |
185 |
Oak Park-River Forest (Oak Park, IL) |
Georgia
Tech |
| PG |
Kemba
Walker |
6-1 |
180 |
Rice (Bronx, NY)
|
Connecticut |
| SG |
Willie
Warren |
6-3 |
200 |
North Crowley (Fort Worth, TX) |
Oklahoma |
| SF |
Wesley
Witherspoon |
6-8 |
185 |
Berkmar
(Lilburn, GA) |
Undecided |
| C |
Tony
Woods |
6-10 |
240 |
Rome, (Rome, GA) |
Wake
Forest |
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