Love and Youth Mark Day Three at ABCD Camp
TEANECK, N.J. – The old adage seems to apply: the more things change, the more they stay the same. Most notably, day three at the Reebok ABCD Camp saw Kevin Love still stand out above the rest of the field in the camp’s own statistical ratings and continue to lead in scoring and rebounding by comfortable margins.
Meanwhile, O.J. Mayo has played well but is nowhere to be found in the player rating, though good friend Bill Walker is second. As the talk continues to swirl about his likely commitment to USC (FOXSports.com is reporting that he will commit by the end of the camp), Mayo continues to play well but not quite at the level we’ve seen him play before.
While we mention the statistical ratings, it must be noted that they need to be taken with a grain of salt and then some. Although Love has looked like clearly the best player here, the ratings only say so much because they’re based on a relatively limited set of statistics and the camp setting is not at all as structured as the settings where these young men play their high school games. We mention them because they give a little idea of what’s going on, as they certainly are not completely useless.
With that out of the way, we take a look at some notable players we saw on Saturday, where there’s a clear focus on underclassmen.
Dante Anderson (6’4″ Jr. SG, Gainesville (FL) Eastside HS) The top single-game scoring output that we saw was his 24-point effort on 9-12 shooting this afternoon. In the evening, he followed it up with 14 more on 7-12 shooting. He’s scored often on quick drives to the basket and is having a nice camp.
Olu Ashaolu (6’7″ Jr. SF-PF, Brampton (Ont.) Community Christian School) Each time out, he looks more and more like he can become a small forward down the road, and Saturday was no exception. The highlight of the day was his 17-point, six-rebound effort in the evening that came on 7-of-9 shooting. He’s been active, especially around the basket, and has scored on some drives as well.
Kenny Boynton (6’2″ So. SG, Pompano Beach (FL) Blanche Ely HS) The camp’s fourth-leading scorer had a good day in going for 13 and 15 in his two. While he wasn’t shooting lights out, he did make a tough foul line jumper along the way and generally went right for the basket.
Anthony Crater (6’2″ Jr. PG, Flint (MI) Southwestern HS) We already know he can really shoot the ball, but on Saturday Crater took a back seat and ran the team. He posted eight assists in two games and didn’t score much, but the playmaking is welcome since that’s the question that’s lingered for a little time about his game.
J.J. Hickson (6’9″ Sr. PF, Marietta (GA) Wheeler HS) We like how this well-built, athletic forward goes to work inside, and he did just that. After going for 14 in the afternoon, Hickson scored another 14 on a perfect 6-6 from the field and had eight rebounds.
Karron Johnson (6’6″ So. SF, Richmond (VA) Patterson School) He went scoreless in the afternoon, which isn’t something we’ll see much of over the next few years. Give him credit for coming right back with an 18-point effort in the evening on 6-6 shooting, including two from long range. It’s safe to say he’s among the top rising sophomores here.
Sylven Landesberg (6’6″ Jr. SG-SF, Queens (NY) Holy Cross HS) Nice scoring wing has had a good camp, and on Saturday we saw him go for 19 points and six rebounds as his team picked up a win. He’s scored from mid-range, long range and a few times on slashes to the basket.
Roberto Nelson (6’4″ So. SG, Santa Barbara (CA) High) He had a couple of nice games on Saturday, going for 19 and 15 in his team’s games. Along the way, he shot the ball well and also grabbed eight rebounds from the wing and has gotten better as the camp has moved along.
Brockeith Pane (6’2″ Sr. SG, Dallas (TX) Davis W. Carter HS) Well-built guard is a scorer, plain and simple, and plays to that strength by not taking too many jumpers when they’re not going. He went for 13 in the afternoon and 18 in the evening, making 12-of-18 shots along the way. Using his strength and quickness, he just drives to the basket and knows how to finish.
Eloy Vargas (6’10” Sr. PF-C, North Lauderdale (FL) Chaminade Prep) He’s had his struggles inside since he has to get a lot stronger, and he had a 1-for-8 game from the field in the afternoon. But we like his potential and especially when he works inside for games where he rebounds amidst the offense not being there, as he grabbed 15 rebounds in the two games.
Sunday concludes the camp, featuring the underclassman and senior all-star games in the afternoon.
