McDonald’s All-American Game 2013: Stats, Observations, Impressions
Not the Center of attention. Hope you weren’t too spoiled by the class of 2012 centers. Next year’s encore will leave you pining for the past. For every hidden gem and validated hotshot in this year’s freshman class hovers a bold question mark in next year’s bar-lowering assembly. The 2013 class is a fitting representation of a growing trend in basketball away from true, back-to-the-basket pivots and toward versatile players with rangy skill sets. Get used to stretch-4s, hybrid forwards and smaller lineups.
Exhibit A: Kennedy Meeks. The North Carolina pledge must not have received the proper coaching he should have in high school. Quite frankly, he didn’t belong on Wednesday’s stage. Meeks landed the stigma as the lone All-American shut out of the scoring column. The wide-bodied center spent most of his limited playing time aimlessly roaming the perimeter, settling for a pair of unwelcome 3-point heaves (both missed badly) while fighting through short breaths just to get up the court. Meeks has the girth to become a bruising inside presence a la former Spartan Derrick Nix, but he’ll have no one to bang against if he continues to dwell 25-feet from the hoop.
Wayne’s World. Selden has big-time game depressed by muted expectations. The Kansas commit has largely slid under the radar in this year’s class, out-shined by the prominent likes of Wiggins, Parker, the Harrison brothers, James Young and Jabari Bird, among others. True to form, Selden chipped in a quiet 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting, but his top two plays of the night — excluding his missed throw-down, which would’ve been the highlight of the night — were a pair of needle-threading bounce passes to slashing teammates. Talk about the total package. Ben McLemore is a gifted scorer, an even better pure athlete, but Selden’s complete repertoire may have Rock Chalk Nation forgetting about Big Ben in no time.
Anthony “Cat” Barber is slick. He had his highs and lows, drifting between the two like a Windy City breeze, but Barber’s game impressed on the whole. He seems to lose a step when playing against other elite players — no surprise there — but the fluidity and ease of his game is something that should translate to the college level immediately. His instincts in transition and the quick release on his improved jumper both stood out above his peers. Barber will have big shoes to fill in Raleigh. Five pairs of them, actually. G’luck to him.
SEC talent pool filling up again. Kentucky isn’t the only one running the pump, either. Florida ushers in a pair of blue-chip studs in addition to Virginia Tech transfer Dorian Finney-Smith. Although raw, gangly power forward Chris Walker is an athletic specimen unsurpassed in the 2013 class. He’ll need to get stronger and more instinctive, but holy upside. Kasey Hill had a Chicago showing to forget, but the Montverde star is second only to Andrew Harrison among high school floor generals. Bobby Portis may single-handedly push Arkansas over the top. The future Hog chipped in ten points for the West while showing off his budding perimeter game. Portis and BJ Young in the same backcourt? Yes please. LSU scooped up a rising star in Jarrell Martin. The Baton Rouge product scored ten points himself and looked a lot more comfortable removed from the basket than he did during the summer circuit. He should complement Johnny O’Bryant particularly well.
Kentucky’s future frontcourt was quietly very productive. Well, not Marcus Lee, who was just plain quiet. But Dakari Johnson (12) and Julius Randle (11) teamed up for 23 points. Johnson got all but one of his buckets via easy dunks while Randle showcased the full arsenal, prancing coast-to-coast and finishing in stride in his best highlight of the night.
The frontcourts at Arizona and Kentucky are in great hands. Can Sean Miller and John Calipari schedule a December showdown in Arlington already? If you’re big, athletic, versatile and skilled, odds are you’re either a Wildcat or Wildcat-to-be.
The lost art of the charity stripe. Both teams missed 23 free throws. The East squad was the biggest culprit, missing 17 of its 35 attempts.
Kentucky’s commits are the real deal. No surprises here. This class is worth every bit the hype. Will Wiggins make a legendary haul immortal?