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so do u guys think austin rivers is a little overrated, are other players just getting better, is austin a lock to be the top kid in his class...

I don't care what kind of numbers Austin Rivers puts up.

'christ is the best player in this class.

I think Gilchrist is an elite defender and has great energy on the floor. He's really great in transition. He's been compared to Scottie Pippen and I could agree with that comparison. He needs to work on his perimeter shooting which is not a knock because no kid is a perfect or a finished product coming out of high school.

Rivers is an elite scorer. He's got some hot dog in his game and the mustard falls off when he's feeling himself too much at times, but I believe Coach Klkfjdljfdfky will reign his game in make it more in the flow with the team. There will be times that his one-on-one ability will not be denied though.

It's a tossup on who I think is the better player because their games are so different. I think Rivers will probably excel faster in college first, but they will both be lottery picks in 2012.

The game that I saw between Bishop Gorman from Las Vegas and St Patrick was crazy in terms of the talent on the floor. Bishop Gorman will be highly ranked next year because they have a gang of juniors that are gaining a lot of interest. Junior Shabazz Muhammad reminds me of one of my mentors growing up in Charles O'Bannon. They are about the same size at 6'5''/6'6'', lefty and athletic. Muhammad is already a better shooter than Charles ever was though. Muhammad is being recruited by all the big schools in the country, but because of his parents LA ties, I hope he keeps it west coast and goes to UCLA. We could use a game changer.

I was also impressed with Savon Lloyd-Goodman from the high school games this past weekend. He's a junior at Academy of New Church and plays with Rakeem Christmas who has committed to Syracuse. LLoyd-Goodman has verbaled to Villanova and I think Jay Wright is getting a super athlete. He's similar in ability to Gilchrist, but is better offensively.

Shabazz Muhammad is getting more serious about the recruitment process and has zeroed in on three schools.

ג€œRight now Iג€™d say UCLA, Duke and Kentucky are standing out more,ג€ said Muhammad, a junior shooting guard at Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.). ג€œIג€™d say that those are my top three schools.ג€

Muhammad, ranked No. 4 in the ESPNU Super 60, also considers North Carolina, Louisville, Memphis, UNLV and Kansas, among others.

On Saturday night, Muhammad helped draw a standing room only crowd at Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas as Bishop Gorman faced crosstown Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.).

In front of approximately 20 college coaches and former UNLV coaching icon Jerry Tarkanian, Muhammad scored 33 points. Still, Findlay Prep pulled out a 89-86 winin double overtime on a 3-pointer at the top of the key with 1.7 seconds left by reserve guard Kevin Kaspar.

Texas-bound Myck Kabongo, who kept Findlay Prep (21-2) in the game with repeated drives to the basket, scored a team-high 26 points. On the Pilotsג€™ final possession, Kabongo let the clock run down after Gorman freshman Noah Robotham nailed a game-tying 3-pointer with 31.9 seconds remaining.

With the defense focusing on Kabongoג€™s penetration, he found an open Kasper who then nailed his only field goal of the game.

ג€œGood teams find a way to win,ג€ Kabongo said. ג€œ[Kaspar] said in the huddle he was going to hit the shot for me. I believe in my teammates, every one of them.ג€

Bishop Gorman (13-5) was playing in its first game since a 79-63 loss to FAB 50 No. 1 St. Patrick (Elizabeth, N.J.) on MLK Day.

On Friday, the Pilots defeated Flora MacDonald (Red Springs, N.C.), 86-57, in their first home game in 41 days. Junior post Winston Shepard continued his stellar play of recent weeks with a 23-point, 13-rebound performance. He shot 7-for-9 from the floor and 9-for-10 from the line.

This is great news that Muhammad has UCLA in his top three. I like how he said UCLA first when he made his statement. I'll take it with a grain of salt because anything can happen, but as I said before we need a game changer and he's definitely one who can be a factor in that regard.

Muhammad will be on TV at the Nike Extravaganza that will be taking place on February 5th against my old high school, Poly which is ranked #6 in the country. We got a PF in Ryan Anderson who is going to Boston College and a PG in Alexis Moore who will be going to USC next year. We also got a wing player in Roshown Prince who is a sophmore and will have a lot of colleges on his sack when he becomes a senior. My squad is undefeated and is the #1 team in California. Should be a great game.


I wish I could have watched the Bishop Gorman/Findlay Prep game. Myck Kabongo is worth the price of admission to watch. I believe he's better and definitely much faster than his fellow Canadian at Texas, Corey Joseph. I'm sure Joseph will be around next year when Kabongo slides in to town, but I wonder if they will both start in the backcourt next year? Kabongo is too good to come off the bench. Rick Barnes will have some interesting decisions to make.

Love my Jackrabbits to death, but I got to give it up for Shabazz Muhammad and Bishop Gorman. We were winning for most of the game until the 4th quarter when they gave it to us. The undefeated season is but a memory.

They played in a 2-3 zone against us and exploited a weakness in our outside shooting. Despite our perimeter shooting woes, we had numerous chances on looks close to the basket that we couldn't convert. It was very frustrating watching this game.

Our defense was ferocious, limiting everybody but Muhammad. The full-court traps, 1-3-1 halfcourt zone, man-to-man D was strong all night. The rebounding was poor and Gorman's length bothered us a lot though.

They had 6'9'', 6'8'', 6'6'', and 6'5'' in their starting lineup, with a dude 6'9'' coming off the bench. We had great athletes and have some size too, but nothing compared to what they could bring into the game. On too many of our posessions, it was 1 and done. On offense they got several second chance opportunities. Their size was a tremendous advantage.

We had nobody who could matchup well with Muhammad and he destroyed us. There were several that tried, but Muhammad was head and shoulders better than anybody on the court. He killed us in transition, with some deep J's, mid-range one hand floaters (I swear they remind me so much of Charles O'Bannon), and from the line. He needs to work on his ball handling some, but for the high school level, he's unfuckwitable.

Muhammad's mom went to my school. She is the sister of Stefon Paige that used to play WR for the Kansas City Chiefs back in the day. She was a great basketball player and track star in her own right at Long Beach St.

love the long information-laden 'semi-inside' data, breeze, keep it coming, you are the most improved poster and in the running for mvp of this forum since you decided to just talk ball and not get wrapped up in mutual faggotry



besides his crazy efficient and versatile game, shabazz muhammad is instantly a great nba name, hope he doesn't stumble along the way

Tall ass white kid Alex Murphy commits to Duke, to no one's surprise.

My Philly peeps probably know of him. I've been following him for a few years now since my Uncle is at ANC.

He is going to Syracuse next year. Big things.

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http://msn.foxsports.com/collegebasketb ... mas-080610

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When I saw him play against Boys & Girls High School, he didn't play well. He looks like he's going to be a project.

Even his stats are pedestrian for an All-American type.

he's no 'christ.

all i'm saying is

HOLY FUCK WHAT A DOPE NAME

shabazz muhammed vs. rakeem christmas

tough name battle

Gregg Popabitch wrote:he's no 'christ.

I think Rivers is better than 'Christ. Not sure what 'Christ is he looks like a tweener. Not really knocking him, I like his game...but Rivers ball-handling is otherworldly. Impossible to keep out of the lane and his high school team sucks outside of him so all the focus is keyed on him. His shot needs some work, surprisingly. But I think Rivers, once he fine-tunes his game a bit, is going to be special.

I haven't seen Gilchrist play, but I've read on numerous sites that the kid is already a defensive stud so that probably factors in to people's ratings about him.

djm13 wrote:I think Rivers is better than 'Christ. Not sure what 'Christ is he looks like a tweener. Not really knocking him, I like his game...but Rivers ball-handling is otherworldly. Impossible to keep out of the lane and his high school team sucks outside of him so all the focus is keyed on him. His shot needs some work, surprisingly. But I think Rivers, once he fine-tunes his game a bit, is going to be special.

I don't see tweener in his game at all. He will be a swingman in college and in the NBA. Don't see him playing the 4 at all in the NBA, but he may dabble with it a little at UK. He will definitely be able to guard small and stretch 4's because of his length. Offensively, he's a little awkward shooting (especially at the free throw line), but he handles the ball well like a guard and is really explosive on the break.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball ... /rank-2288

This dude is number 12 ranked player and getting his own thread.

Trub320 wrote:http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball ... /rank-2288

This dude is number 12 ranked player and getting his own thread.

and his last name is christmas. wtf

i'd merge it into prospects but since it's gloss i'm gonna let it breathe for a minute

Trub320 wrote:http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball ... /rank-2288

This dude is number 12 ranked player and getting his own thread.

Still that's pretty good. Parlay this into an Austin Rivers appreciation thread then.

lolz, merged

DVR'd a couple of high school games from this weekend and I was more impressed with the latter game I saw (more on that in a sec).

The first game featured Oak Hill against Christ School. Christ School has Marshall Plumlee, who will be the third Plumlee to go to Duke and Oak Hilll has Omar Cook among several D1 prospects, who will also be going to Duke. They were both named to the Mickey D's All-American team last week.

I've seen Cook play this season and he got severely outplayed by Shannon Scott at the point guard position (who was also named to the Mickey D's team), so I wasn't really braillen his game from before. Supposedly he had some kind of injury from when he was at Dematha last year that he hasn't fully recovered from. His burst isn't what it used to be, but on reputation he made it to the Mickey D's game. Christ School couldn't fuck with Oak Hill's all-star talent. Oak Hill toyed with Christ school and Cook looked smooth doing it.

Plumlee is about 6'11''/7'0 and like his older brothers, he's mobile and athletic. He's really thin and will need to hit the weight room, but he shows promise on the defensive end. Offensively he's ok, but Oak Hill's bigs pushed him off the block most of the game.

Paul Biancardi sayed during the telecast that there is a rumor he may redshirt to add strength. I don't think he should burn his redshirt unless he has a major injury. How cool would it be for the Plumlee family if they were all out there at the same time? I can't stand Duke as noted heavily, but that's kind of dope if you ask me. He may not find that many frontcourt minutes next year, but he should at least be able to hit the floor and gain some experience.


The 2nd game that I saw was a game that speaks to me because I used to live in St. Louis back in the day and the two teams that played are from the area. It featured Chaminade who has Bradley Beal and BJ Young from McCluer North who signed with Arkansas. I saw Beal play in an AAU tournament last year that was televised on ESPNU and in the Elite 24 from last summer that took place at Venice Beach.

Point blank, Beal is beyond the truth. He's the real muthafuckin deal. He has NBA range and is consistent from behind the arc. The anouncers were comparing him to Ray Allen shooting wise. I prefer Eric Gordon because they are the same size at 6'3''. Beal is more explosive and already has an NBA frame as a high school senior. Gordon was a chubby, deceptively quick and strong cat who played with a t-shirt underneath his jersey (I saw Gordon play against Jordan's sons four years ago and he lit St. Joseph's up for 50 too BTW).

Going back to Beal, I saw strong handle with the ability to take fools to the hole with either hand. He had a sick, dominant left hand dribble opportunity that was spoiled by a foul on the ground, but he still made the and-1 anyway. I saw great anticpation on defense when he jumped up and tipped a pass intended to be a long heave from the defensive backcourt. He then caught up with the ball which had landed near the sideline and launched an NBA three-point-shot, which he drilled.

He is not just a great shooter. He can slash to the basket with ease as a scorer. The fact that he's 6'3'' could stunt his development some because it is not great height for a 2, but he appears to be one of those elite players that can overcome that obstacle and not let it be a problem, similar to Gordon or even D-Wade who's 6'4''. I could forsee Beal playing both guard positions in the the future because he's capable of creating for others very well.

Beal shot 15-21 (5-8 from the land of plenty) in the game for 40 points. He had several long range bombs that made me shake my head in disbelief, and I came away more impressed with his performance than anybody I've seen this year and that includes Rivers and Gilchrist.

Rivers and Beal are the top 2 SG's in the class of 2011 but personally, I think Beal is better. He's a better athlete, shooter, and defensive player. Plays with more energy too. The ratings are the way that they are because of politics.

Beal will be at Florida next year and it will be interesting to see how Billy Donovan will split the playing time between Irving Walker, Kenny Boyton, and Rutgers transfer Mike Rosario (who was also a MDAA). Beal should be able to snatch minutes immediately. I seriously doubt that Boyton will leave school and go pro, but it shouldn't take him long to realize that Beal will take his lunch money on the court. The sooner Boyton realizes that, the better Florida will be.

Agreed on Beal. I'd put him right there with Rivers, maybe better. Fuck Boyton, Walker and Rosario - Beal should be the best guard the minute he steps on campus..hopefully Donovan realizes that.

whatever happened to barry sanders son?

alpha wrote:whatever happened to barry sanders son?

He'll be a senior in high school in the fall. He has a lot of schools pursuing him too.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball ... iels-83314


this guy looks big time. need to learn more about this dude.

Nl5H wrote:http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball ... iels-83314


this guy looks big time. need to learn more about this dude.

You ask and you shall receive. Daniels is from LA. He played at Taft High school with Larry Drew II and they won a city title 3 years ago. He is supposed to be a freshman in college right now, but decided he wasn't ready physically for college ball and decided to go to IMG to work on his frame. He could contribute in college right now, but there are plenty of kids who play ball that have been held back a grade at some time in there life or went the prep school route for a variety of reasons.

He's a lanky 3 with good athleticism. Gets to the basket well and can score from all over the place. By far, he is the most talented player unsigned right now.

I know your interest in him right now is because Duke is on the trail and closing fast. He was supposed to go to Texas, but decommited. He's been linked to Kansas and Kentucky also. Other schools have climbed in to the mix too, like San Diego St.

Doesn't seem like Daniels wants to affiliate himself with UCLA or USC. Kevin O'Neill is fucking crazy and Ben Howland's defensive first/offensive philosophy second outlook is a turnoff to LA area recruits. It's a huge reason why so many good prospects have signed elsewhere. Expect a decision in early-to-mid April though from Mr Afraid-To-Commit.

I wouldn't turn the kid down or anything, but where the fuck is he going to play? Not in front of christ or liggins if he stays. Definitely not over Miller. I don't think you can snag a kid like that if he knows he's a 6th or 7th man.

I know those guys are listed as guards but they really only play in the 3 spot.

Regardless, Kentucky seems to have fallen off his radar lately so it's probably a non issue. I'm hoping to get Lacey and be done with the recruiting.

Yeah, I can't see Daniels at UK either. In fact, his whole drawn out process to find a school is pretty lame. I know it's a critical decision in all, but get the facts, process them, see how you fit in and choose. It shouldn't take this long.

I saw Trevor Lacey play AAU ball last summer with Austin Rivers. He's not the most athletic guy, but he's a crafty scorer. Carries a little bit too much weight for his size, but he is also a football player.

He's another player that could get lost in the shuffle if he goes to UK because of the incoming talent and the talent that is already entrenched. My hunch is that he will stay in-state and sign with either the Tide or the Tigers.

there are so many good players at kentucky, it must be a nightmare to get a starting spot...

ucla has some rather good players right now... they are primed for big things in the next 3 years.