Post by Swede on Jan 12, 2009 10:25:19 GMT -5
I watched our future bonnie, Demitrius Conger's game last Saturday. Here are my observations:
He appeared first and foremost in this game to be a pass-first wing forward who has a good handle (even in traffic), very good passing ability, very good defense and a very good anticipation of his teammates and opponents next moves. What I was not able to get a feel for was his scoring/shooting ability because he did not take a shot further out than 5 feet (except for two free throws). I did see him shooting in warm-ups and he hit 3 pointers from the right elbow quite consistently.
His is a very thin player with long arms and average hops. He will need a lot of work in the weight room to be ready for the D1 pounding. Many times he was outmuscled for position underneath. If he was not able to grab the rebound, most times he was able to tip the ball instead of letting anyone on his side of the carom to get a clean rebound. That being said, he will not make his living underneath the basket at Bonas anyway.
Demitrius has two speeds...1 mile per hour or 100 miles per hour. He utilized the 100 MPH well when the ball is in his area on defense or when he touches the ball of offense. When he doesn't have the ball on offense, though, he tends to drift from one position to another instead of making hard cuts to free himself. He also tends to be in his 1 MPH zone in transition back on defense or up on offense if he is not around the ball. His mind on offense always seems to be at 100 MPH because he seems to know what he is going to do with the ball before he gets it and acts with the dribble or pass before the defense knows what hit them. His mind on defense is also 100 MPH always communicating, switching and fighting for good positions to defend.
He handled the ball a lot breaking the press, which the opponent used the entire game. He has extreme confidence dribbling in traffic (which may not be a good thing at the next level). He has a lot of nifty dribbles that allowed him to knife through double teams. The only time he aggressively looked for his own shot, he got a defensive rebound and weaved through the entire defense for a layup. His passes were crisp and hard and he used a nice variety of wrap-arounds and bounce passes.
He knocked heads with an opponent with 4 minutes left in the game and was mostly out of the game for the rest of the way. I was impressed by the size and the quality of the players on both teams overall, so he is not playing against slouch high schools in his preparations for us.
As I watched him, I kept trying to think of a comparison player that people might know. The only one I could come up with is Tayshaun Prince (only with a big ? for his shooting). He looks like he is just smoothly drifting through the offensive sets until he gets his hands on the ball, then he exhibits his double threat of quick dribble-drives and/or his quick passing acumen (again, didn't see the third threat of a shooting ability).
He wound up shooting 2 for 5 from close (1 was blocked) and 0 for 2 from the foul line (after he bumped his head). He had 6 rebounds, but 3 were from missed opponents foul shots. He did have 5 assists, most of them being ooh and aah inducing. His 6 turnovers were from various means (teammates missing a nice pass, one palming, one backcourt, two lost dribbles). He got 3 steals with his long arms and swarming defense.
Overall, I would give him a grade of incomplete, since I wasn't able to see anything in terms of his shot. Their last home game is in two weeks and I may be able to catch him again.
He appeared first and foremost in this game to be a pass-first wing forward who has a good handle (even in traffic), very good passing ability, very good defense and a very good anticipation of his teammates and opponents next moves. What I was not able to get a feel for was his scoring/shooting ability because he did not take a shot further out than 5 feet (except for two free throws). I did see him shooting in warm-ups and he hit 3 pointers from the right elbow quite consistently.
His is a very thin player with long arms and average hops. He will need a lot of work in the weight room to be ready for the D1 pounding. Many times he was outmuscled for position underneath. If he was not able to grab the rebound, most times he was able to tip the ball instead of letting anyone on his side of the carom to get a clean rebound. That being said, he will not make his living underneath the basket at Bonas anyway.
Demitrius has two speeds...1 mile per hour or 100 miles per hour. He utilized the 100 MPH well when the ball is in his area on defense or when he touches the ball of offense. When he doesn't have the ball on offense, though, he tends to drift from one position to another instead of making hard cuts to free himself. He also tends to be in his 1 MPH zone in transition back on defense or up on offense if he is not around the ball. His mind on offense always seems to be at 100 MPH because he seems to know what he is going to do with the ball before he gets it and acts with the dribble or pass before the defense knows what hit them. His mind on defense is also 100 MPH always communicating, switching and fighting for good positions to defend.
He handled the ball a lot breaking the press, which the opponent used the entire game. He has extreme confidence dribbling in traffic (which may not be a good thing at the next level). He has a lot of nifty dribbles that allowed him to knife through double teams. The only time he aggressively looked for his own shot, he got a defensive rebound and weaved through the entire defense for a layup. His passes were crisp and hard and he used a nice variety of wrap-arounds and bounce passes.
He knocked heads with an opponent with 4 minutes left in the game and was mostly out of the game for the rest of the way. I was impressed by the size and the quality of the players on both teams overall, so he is not playing against slouch high schools in his preparations for us.
As I watched him, I kept trying to think of a comparison player that people might know. The only one I could come up with is Tayshaun Prince (only with a big ? for his shooting). He looks like he is just smoothly drifting through the offensive sets until he gets his hands on the ball, then he exhibits his double threat of quick dribble-drives and/or his quick passing acumen (again, didn't see the third threat of a shooting ability).
He wound up shooting 2 for 5 from close (1 was blocked) and 0 for 2 from the foul line (after he bumped his head). He had 6 rebounds, but 3 were from missed opponents foul shots. He did have 5 assists, most of them being ooh and aah inducing. His 6 turnovers were from various means (teammates missing a nice pass, one palming, one backcourt, two lost dribbles). He got 3 steals with his long arms and swarming defense.
Overall, I would give him a grade of incomplete, since I wasn't able to see anything in terms of his shot. Their last home game is in two weeks and I may be able to catch him again.
