True to some extent. His teammates aren't complete scrubs. They've got some skills, but struggled to finish some easy buckets around the hoop and definitely didn't have an outside game working for them (2-14 3pt, 31% overall). Leurs needed a big performance out of Thomas and he, along with his team, struggled against a MUCH smaller, quicker team. Howe, featuring star guard Larry Stone (5'9", IUPUI), is an IPS school that will make a run at state.
First impression of DeShaun- "this kid's a sophomore?!" He passes the look test to say the least. Very LeBron-esque in that he is larger than the competition. He's got a big body, not as muscular as LeBron, but that's not a knock on Thomas at all. Could use some definition, but heck the kid's only what 15, 16 years old?
DeShaun is very left-handed. Overall, his dribbling skills are impressive for a 6'7 sophomore, but he's not the guy to handle the ball on every possession. He showed good moves when trying to attack the hoop from the top of the key after it seemed the offense started to breakdown. He had a good spin move back to his left-hand and finished with a fingerroll in the lane. Passing skills- not applicable. He didn't really display them, so I'm not sure. I'll just say, I don't think he's going to be a PG, or have the basketball IQ/vision of LeBron. He's a 6'7"/6'8" forward with a good frame and the ability to go outside a little.
He got frustrated early after a few inside looks didn't fall and Howe began to pull away with some steals and easy lay-ins/dunks. After the inside game wasn't working, he looked to take his game outside, where he continued to struggle. He missed his first 9 shots, including I think 4 threes. He was able to get his shot off well after creating some space with a quick jab step or two, impressive for a kid his size. He likes his pull back J, which he tended to fade away from too much on some attempts. Good rotation and release, imo...his shots just weren't falling yesterday. His previous stats show that he has the ability to score in many different ways, but his jumper was not one of them in this particular game. 1-5 on threes, 7-19 total.
Where he did the majority of his damage was late in the game when he finally started to assert himself on the boards more. He got quite a few putbacks in the 4th quarter. Very soft touch around the rim and even a little further out in the lane. It's easy for him at this level to get some boards and go right back up for an easy lay-in, even when getting mauled by double/triple teams. He doesn't get up and down the court as fast as I thought he would. He looked tired from the high-pressure opponent. Still, this is an athletic KID. He's a sophomore and he was playing a very very tough, quick, and athletic team.
He ended the game with 20 pts and 10 boards, an impressive statline. #1 prospect for '10? I haven't seen any other recruits, so I'm really not in a position to say. Just looking at some physical skills and his overall game though, he has to be up there. I found him to be one of the most impressive looking kids (let alone sophomores) in an event full of D-1 prospects and the state's best teams... and that's even after a game that I'm sure wasn't his best. I'm very excited to see how he develops the rest of his HS career and can't wait for him to don the scarlet and gray
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Oh yeah...He did finish the game with a NICE highlight jam, much like the one featured in his youtube/scouting video. A guard got the steal in the final seconds and DeShaun finished with a sweet one-handed jam off the backboard as the buzzer went off. The kid's got some hops.
I might be forgetting some thoughts...it was a LONG day...I sat and watched around 11 straight hours of basketball (for only 12 bucks!). I'll take any questions and see what I can do. edit- I'll also try to get some thoughts in other prospects threads, though they won't be as extensive...I think Van Trese is the only other prospect that was close to OSU that played, since Offutt was out.
