I'm not gonna lie, I was disappointed. My third straight year at Adidas Nations (2013 here, 2014 here) was a little like coming downstairs on Christmas morning to find a ton of presents under the tree, but the biggest one being empty. Because the session I drove down from LA to Garden Grove for -- one of six such sessions at Nations last weekend -- happened to be one that future No. 1 draft pick Ben Simmons did not attend.
A day at Adidas Nations with big kids, big potential and braces
Adidas Nation features high school kids, NBA scouts and recruiting analysts for four days of nonstop hoops. We had to check in again to consume the sights and sounds.
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I spent the better part of the morning checking all six courts again and again looking for LSU's prized incoming freshman like a lost kid in a mall. But no, all three of the LSU Tigers were MIA and I had to wait another day to give Simmons his own Sixers jersey. In time. In time.
But there was still much basketball to watch and prospects to digest. And in typical Nations fashion, it was as weird as it was great. Some highlights include:
- Undeclared five-star class of 2016 two-guard Markelle Fultz has braces. These kids are quite young!
- UC Irvine's 7'6 senior Mamadou N'Diaye, who almost single-handedly (it's a big hand) upset the Louisville Cardinals in last year's NCAA Tournament. A regulation-sized basketball looks like a stress ball in his hands. When class of 2016's James Banks (at 6'11, looking like a child next to Mams) exerted every ounce of energy to climb the ladder and block his shot, N'Diaye simply reached back up lazily and dunked it. Braxton Blackwell (6'8, class of 2016) busted out laughing at his teammate, Banks.
- Spencer Dinwiddie and Marcus Smart in attendance, sitting next to each other and watching the college kids two seats down from me. I have an inordinate amount of love for Professor Mustache, which is a nickname I just made up.
- Watching N.C. State's Abdul-Malik Abu try and fail repeatedly to bite the tag off his shirt that was irritating the back of his neck. Even with a 7'2 wingspan, life is hard.
- Team Canada's Anthony Longpre (class of 2017, undecided) is a 6'8, full-on ginger, and he wore bright red sneakers to match. It was an inspiration.
Didn’t see many NBA scouts were there during my few hours in the gym -- though I heard it was packed for Saturday night -- but the ones I did see included: Phoenix, LAC, Houston, Portland, New York and Denver. Onto the big stories.
(Frank Jackson. Trevor Johnson / SB Nation)
HOOSIERS BACK
There were three representatives from the Indiana Hoosiers at Nations, all playing on Team Mavs (all the college players were grouped into one of four teams -- Mavs, Spurs, Wolves and Clippers. West bias!). They were senior point guard Yogi Ferrell, who has been running out of eligibility for what seems like a decade, junior forward Troy Williams, and 20th-ranked freshman big man Thomas Bryant. I watched the three of them beat a very tough squad boasting Kyle Wiltjer, Wayne Selden and Monte Morris. They worked well together -- Yogi taking good shots and getting wherever he wanted, Williams flashing next-level athleticism and the freshman Bryant doing all sorts of things a man his size shouldn't be able to do.
Add in sophomore James Blackmon Jr. and some legitimate shooters, and I’m looking at that No. 14 ranking ESPN just pegged them at like it’s 8-10 spots too low.
I TAKE THEE, WILTJER
My goodness, Kyle Wiltjer can score the hell out of the ball. Wayne Selden* and Frank Mason continued to feed the Gonzaga senior in the post, and Kyle continued to calmly make whatever move he felt like to get a clear look at the basket. Adidas Nations is a little like NBA Summer League in that it’s not conducive to crisply executed post moves, because kids are trying to make a name for themselves so much that they’re playing with a frenzy, which means gambling and doubles and copious uncalled fouls. But when Wiltjer gets the ball in the post, he doesn’t waste any time. He can shoot over either shoulder or put his body into the defender for a hook, and uses his tremendous footwork to get his guy to bite on fakes. And when he steps out -- to anywhere -- he holds the ball high enough that it’s unblockable.
He shot a three that hit the rim and bounced high into the air, and I just assumed it would go in. That’s the kind of player he is. Don’t know what, if anything, he’d be able to do in the NBA, but he’s the best scorer in college basketball, and that will help Gonzaga recover from the Pangos-sized hole in my heart this season.
Kyle himself also retweeted this tweet from me (not this one though).
*A brief aside about Wayne Selden, who I have loved for three years now. He’s consistently one of the most talented players on every court he’s on. He can do a combination of things that can absolutely play at the NBA level. But he is consistently inconsistent with his decision-making. He was careless with the ball and loose with his shot-selection. Kid could be so good if he just reined himself in a bit, which is strange because he’s not a Marshall Henderson-esque player, the nature of his game shouldn’t be reined out. But it’s not, so he’s a conundrum. But I love him for many reasons, newly added to that list is the fact that he says thank you every time someone hands him water.
BIG ASS BIGGIE
Caleb “Biggie” Swanigan’s knife into the back of Michigan State fans turned even more public when he swapped the Spartan green for Boilermaker gold. It takes a bad man to turn his back on Tom Izzo like that.
And that's just who Swanigan is. Ho-ly shit. The previous two Nations have seen me enamored with Montrezl Harrell ... sorry I just got Montrezl PTSD for an hour. Anyway. While Biggie doesn't have the athleticism of Trez, he's got all of the width, and certainly the meanness. On one particular play, Boise State's 6'9 forward James Webb had an open lane to the basket from the wing, and he took it. Swanigan slid down from the top of the key and met him at the rim. Webb went down. Hard. And he stayed down a while. Swanigan did not fall. If he wasn't charged with a flagrant foul, you might not have known he was even aware of the collision at all. In the huddle, as Webb was slowly making his way to two feet under the basket, I overheard Swanigan say: "He shouldn't have came in like that if he didn't want to fall down." Damn.*
Later on, I was next to one of the coaches as he talked about Swanigan: “Caleb’s old school, man. Like a 40-year-old who gets shit done. Big ass, too.”
That’s a big bad man with a big, bad ass coming to West Lafayette.
*Big ups to Webb, who went right back at Swanigan on the next play. Dude could also be special this year in his second season in Boise.
THE YOUNG KIDS
-- Fast-rising recruit Wenyen Gabriel was an absolute monster at Nations for Team Africa -- back-to-back games of 26 points/23 rebounds and 23 points/20 rebounds against the 2016 and 2017 U.S. teams -- but he barely played the morning I was there, an ugly 0-for-6 showing with only three rebounds. He stands out physically, both by his length and athleticism as well as his microscopically tiny legs. Could fit my wristwatch around those calves. Read more about his journey here.
-- It’s always fun to watch 16-year-olds act like 16-year-olds. When I was their age, I was putting packing peanuts in my friend’s car and then getting yelled at by his mom and having to clean them all up. Brandon McCoy and Ira Lee (undeclared 2017 bigs) were trying to make each other laugh during two-ball dribbling drills up the court.
-- Jarrett Allen, undeclared 2016 five-star big man from Austin, looks transported directly from 1971. Look at this dude. I trust him with my life.
-- I came into the high school games looking for some point guards to impress me, and boy did they. You can read about a few of them here, but the ones I got to see in person were 2016's Kobi Simmons, Lonzo Ball, Frank Jackson and Rawle Atkins, who was an absolute stud, second in the whole camp in points at 21.8 per game. Atkins' play has been well-documented here, but I'd add that I also came away very impressed. I'm not sure he's a point guard in the NBA, but he can certainly ball. I'd put his upside somewhere between Tony Wroten and Russell Westbrook. Gotta love a guard who plays angry and attacks the hell out of the basket.
Kobi and Lonzo played their games, finding guys in transition -- Kobi had a perfectly placed alley-oop to Javin DeLaurier (who also played well) and Lonzo hit Edrice Adebayo on the run with a behind-the-back pass for a dunk -- and not turning the ball over. This was my first look at Lonzo’s jumper, which is mystifyingly wonky, and I don’t think is good enough to keep as going forward. He shoots from the wrong side of his chest, and it didn’t look that quick coming out either. Kobi missed a lot of shots, but seemed to be focusing more on controlling the tempo with so many other good scorers on the court with him. He had 33 assists to just seven turnovers and the two of them played good two-man game together.
But the one I came away most impressed with in my limited time was easily Frank Jackson. It’s strange how sample size plays into it, because he had a tremendously unremarkable weekend at Nations, but the session I saw, he put up 18-5-5 on 11 shots and two turnovers. He controlled pace, didn’t over-dribble and found his shots (including one gorgeous floater) and opportunities for the other ball-needy guards on his team. He’s huge for a high school point guard, really thick and tough to move -- unlike Simmons and Ball. Frank also seemed to be taking it the most seriously. He never took a play off when I watched, and on a fast break attempt where he got fouled, he slapped the floor in frustration. Jackson clearly has his good days and bad, but he’s got the body and the athleticism, and I’m keeping both eyes on him going forward.
Dennis Smith Jr. didn’t play that morning, and I’ll forever resent him for it.
-- The 2017 guard class looks up to snuff as well, with Gary Trent Jr. and Jaylen Hands leading the charge on Team Lillard (Rose, Noah, and Wall were the other US high school teams). Hands, who has a perfect game for a defensive minded, pass-first, shoot-bad point guard, found fellow five-star recruit Jaedon LeDee for a bunch of backdoor cuts, where LeDee could really show off his unmatched bounce.
Trent Jr. was the one who stood out. Almost among everybody, as he had the ball in his hands nearly every play. He’s a five-star prospect out of Minnesota, ranked eighth in the class, according to ESPN. He took roughly a thousand shots, and looked occasionally great -- a stepback jumper over Frank Jackson gave me tremors -- but he dribbles himself into trouble and has the confidence to shoot his way out of it. Sometimes it works! The GTJ train will pick up steam very shortly.
-- This:
UCLA's Isaac Hamilton just got shook by a kid named Kobe from the Philippines and laughed and then traveled. Adidas Nations in a nutshell.
— Michael Levin (@Michael_Levin) August 2, 2015 That Kobe -- Kobe Paras -- will also be attending UCLA after this year.
-- High shorts are definitely back, which means I owe my dad 10 bucks. I look at Adidas Nations like my yearly update on high fashion, and JaVonte Smart (sixth-ranked prospect in 2018) led the charge on high shorts. They were way up there. Imagine seeing Allen Iverson in short shorts. What do his knees even look like?! Times change.
-- Major dap to the parent who yelled, “THAT KID SUCKS!” to somebody on the Latin America team. Shine it up with Adidas all you want, but these are still little league parents watching their babies exercise.
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