Excited to be in Dallas for this weekend's Nike EYBL event, it's the first time I've had a chance to cover an AAU event up-close like this, so this is a new, fun experience for me.
I watched a couple of games on Friday that featured Indiana targets and put them below. I'll continue to update this post with notes from games on Saturday and Sunday.
Friday Night
I watched a couple of games on Friday that featured Indiana targets and put them below. I'll continue to update this post with notes from games on Saturday and Sunday.
Friday Night
- Mokan Elite 76 vs. Boo Williams 57
- Austin Swartz
- His shot didn't fall at the high-level it did in Atlanta or in Phoenix, but you might not might a more pretty looking shot in the 2024 class than his Swartz his smooth off the bounce, has elite catch-and-shoot potential. His range is also undeniable. He pulled the trigger behind the NBA 3-point line on a couple of occasions and made one or two of them from deep. He started chucking a little bit in the final minutes with his team getting blown out. But if you're looking for a shooter, Swartz is the guy in the 2024 class.
- I do think he does leave some to be desired without the ball, though. He doesn't cut a ton and he can be guilty of ball-watching too. I think if he gets into an offense that runs him around screens and actions to get open from beyond the arc at the college level he'll find some good success in those kinds of offensive sets.
- Defensively he's a bit limited in some areas. He's not an elite athlete so he's not elevating over the rim to block shots. But he does have good length that has the ability to frustrate some of his opponents. He does a good job of keeping his man in front of him, too. There was a couple of occasions when he got caught on his heels and his man went past him.
- Jaeden Mustaf
- His size is undeniable for a guard. I was really impressed with how broad his shoulders re in person. I think that will really help him overcome some of the differences in physicality between the college and high school/AAU level. Combine his size and athleticism and you have a pretty dynamic big guard that should be able to get to the rim and guard multiple positions on the defensive side.
- Mustaf also sees the floor well. He kicked to a couple of open shooters in the corner and made a really nice alley-oop lob for an assist in the second half of the game. This is valuable because he played both on- and off-ball. I don't think I'd consider him to be primary point guard right now, but he could turn into that kind of player with a little bit more seasoning as a ball handler.
- As a shooter, there's some work that needs to be done. He's not great off the bounce, Mechanically, he needs work off the bounce.
- Austin Swartz
- Florida Rebels 81 vs. NJ Scholars 59
- Liam McNeeley
- I'd like to see the Rebels play through him a little bit more offensively. Or maybe see him be a bit more high-usage than he was on Friday night. At times I felt like he was passive and didn't assert himself. But the game had little flow because of a ton of foul calls and lots of dead ball turnovers, so that could have something to do with it too. I'll be interested to see McNeeley's usage rate this weekend with more opportunities.
- I'll give McNeeley credit, he goes to the glass to rebound and box out. But I think he could do it harder. I know it's AAU and boxing out isn't something that prospects are trying to do at a super high level. But I wanted to see McNeeley use his strong lower half to his advantage and really get some good positioning and get some boards. This is something I'm going to watch as the weekend professes.
- In the first half he drilled a nice 3-pointer on thew wing that got the Rebels going and gave them some momentum. In the second half, he took a charge early int he second to insert some energy into his teammate and help really create some separation on the scoreboard.
- Marcus Allen
- He doesn't have the size that McNeeley has, but I think he's a bit more of a springy athlete. Late in the game he threw down a dunk around a defender that required him to hand in the air a bit before throwing down the lob. He's thinner. But he has longer arms.
- The most impressive thing Allen does in his game is run the floor. He runs hard and with a purpose. I loved watching him sprint toward the rim looking to get easy buckets on the break. That's a style of basketball that I really enjoy watching, and Allen was going after it on Friday.
- i really liked watching him guard too. He has quick feet and is able to change direction well, which helps him keep his man in front of him.
- Liam McNeeley
