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Individual Player Reports

 

Sebastian Telfair 5'10 PG
   Sebastian was the player I watched the most, not just because of who he is but because of the people he played against. He played against every one of the elite point guards in the nation. His first game I didn't see which was a matchup against Allan Ray, I don't know if the two guarded each other but from what I heard they looked pretty even in that game. At the same time he was playing against Raymond, Allan Ray and Sean Dockery were going head to head. Sebastian's game was on court 1 and Ray's game was on court 4, on opposite ends of the gym. All I kept hearing were roars from the crowd of "OHHHHH", and that was because Telfair was shaking Felton almost every time he touched the ball. That forced me to go over to that game, from watching it you would think that Sebastian held his own but then when you looked at the stats Felton had 21 and Telfair had 7, which made me say this has to be wrong. Telfair did have more assists with 6 to Felton's 2. Telfair's next matchup was against  Anthony Roberson, this was a much better matchup for Telfair then Felton, because Roberson isn't the flashy player that Felton is and because of this he would have a much easier time guarding him. Roberson did score 18 but shot a terrible 5-17 field. While Sebastian looked as good as he did the entire camp as he put up 22 points and dished out 6 assists without turning the ball over. It was clear to see that Sebastian was the better player in that game. The next game was a player who I think plays almost exactly like Telfair, Elijah Ingram. Both like to shoot 3's dazzle you with a pass or break his man down off the dribble, and neither are that athletic. Anyway this game was another knockout for Telfair as he played much better then Ingram as he scored 19 points and dished out 5 assists while Ingram only scored 11 points and was unable to record an assist. To my surprise what Ingram does best is make 3's and he just couldn't do that in this camp as he made just 1-6. The next game of his came against Sean Dockery. At one point I thought Dockery was the best point guard in the nation but after this camp I don't know if he is one of the top 50 players in the nation. He started out this game real well, as he scored 10 points in the first quarter and helped his team build a double digit lead after 1 but that was with Telfair on the bench. In the second quarter both were in the game, and it was clear to see who the better player was, and that player was Sebastian. He just did everything better then Dockery, he passed better, shot better and dribbled better. Telfair was able to bring his team right back into the game. In the end Dockery's team won, but everyone knew who the better player was, as Sebastian scorched Dockery for 22 and 4 dimes, while Dockery had 3 assists to go along with his 14 points and only 4 came against Sebastian. Unfortunately I was unable to attend the all-star game, from what I hear Sebastian was the best player on the court in the second quarter and the second best for the entire game. As Sebastian put up a ridiculous 20 points in the second and 29 for the game to go along with his 7 dimes. In my opinion Sebastian is the 3 best player in New York behind only Lenny Cooke and Allan Ray, and at worst one of the 25 best players in America regardless of class. People make a big deal about Sebastian being old, he is 1 year old and even if he was in the 11th grade he would be either #2 or #3. Next year expect him to win PSAL player of the year, and may be able to carry Lincoln to a city title. Personally I feel when he graduates from Lincoln he will be the all-time leading scorer in New York State, and NBA scouts will be drooling over him.

Lenny Cooke 6'6 SF
    For my time at the camp Lenny was the best player there. He showed a part of his game this year that he didn't last year. He showed off the dribble it is nearly impossible to guard him. I only watched 1 of his games for the entire game, and that game was the worst of his first 4, and he still played great. He scored 16 points, shot 7-10 and was 2-3 from behind the arc. He didn't have to score as much this year as he did last year because he had one of the best players in the nation on his team in Antonio Lawrence. During the 3rd set of games court 1 is always open, so Lenny used that time to play Dahntay Jones of Duke University one on one. It wasn't really much of a game as Lenny dominated him with the final score being 11-3. Cooke looks skinny but he is very strong as he just took it right to Dahntay, scoring around the basket and hitting jump shots on him. After he finished beating Jones, Duke's Chris Duhon wanted next, and he got pounded 7-2. After I saw that I was left saying he is definitely ready for the league. I only got to see the first quarter of his game against LeBron James because I had to leave. But early on in the first quarter James was getting to the basket at will and was dishing it off, while Lenny wasn't doing anything on offense. But then he got a break away reverse dunk. Then he got the ball on the wing and hit LeBron with 3 consecutive cross-overs then stepped back and hit the jumpshot in his face, which sent the crowd into a frenzy, and for that moment I was left thinking LeBron had nothing for Lenny. But later I went home and I saw that Lenny got killed in the end, as LeBron scored 24 to Lenny's 9, and 11-0 in the 4th when it counted the most. But Lenny got what everyone comes to camp for, the championship. As soon as I saw his team I knew they were going to win the championship, besides Lenny and Antonio Lawrence they had Earl Risby who made the underclassmen all-star game and big man Lawrence Carrier. I hear Lenny might just sit out next year and focus on his school work at Old Tappan, which would be a good a choice and would lead one to believe that his goal isn't to go to the NBA but qualify for college ball. I would love to see him play 1 year at St. John's or North Carolina, with Elijah Ingram at St. John's or Raymond Felton at UNC. Either choice he makes he can't go wrong, because I think he is destined to be a NBA all-star.

Charlie Villanueva 6'9 SF/PF and Chris Taft 6'9 C
    These are the two best players in New York in the class of 2003. Both had very good camps. Charlie is a SF but had to play PF at the camp. In the game I saw he didn't dominate but he was solid as he scored 12 points on 6-9 shooting. He got a couple if put backs to show that he can crash the boards and play the role of power forward. Taft got off to a slow start with just 4 points in his first game but then he erupted for 23 points and 8 rebounds in his second game and put everyone on notice that he was there to kill. He didn't have anymore 20 point games but he still played good for the rest of the camp, scoring 12 points and grabbing 6 boards a game while I was there. He showed off numerous moves including the jump hook to either side. He also showed the 15 footer. Charlie was trying to show his whole game which included the 3-point shot and his handle. I think both left the camp as 2 of the top 20 players in the their class. I feel Charlie is a top 5 player in the class, at the camp there were only 2 players in his class better then him, LeBron James and Kendrick Perkins. In the all-star game Taft didn't too well as he only scored 4, but Charlie was one of the best players in the game as he scored 21 points and grabbed 10 boards, to record the only double-double in the game. Next year at Blair I think Charlie is going to dominate the prep school scene in Jersey. At Xaverian Chris will be the best big man in the CHSAA, and will have an easy time getting 20 a night. The one thing he needs to work on is his rebounding.

Donnie McGrath 6'3 G, Allan Ray 6'1 G & Curtis Stinson 6'1 PG
    All 3 of these guards play on the New York Ravens and all had very good camps. Stinson is the one who had the most to prove, as he is the only one who didn't play high school ball this year. In his biggest game of the camp where he was matched up with Sean Dockery and not Allan Ray. He completely outplayed Dockery as he doubled him up in points at 12-6 and he had more assists with 6 to Dockery's 4. When I was leaving Stinson was tied for 5th at camp in assists with 3.8 a game. Curt didn't try to do anything he doesn't normally do, he just played his game, and that is taking it to the basket and finding the open man.  McGrath started the camp off with Carmelo Anthony on his team but because of summer school Carmelo had to leave. Because of this Donnie didn't have any perimeter help on his team. He played very well and even took the ball to the basket much better then he normally does. He showed off great one on one skills which either opened up his jumpshot or his penetration. He passed also passed well as he got 3 assists a game, and he was able to make the all-star game. In the playoffs he went even up with Elijah Ingram as he scored 13 to Elijah's 14. Next year at JFK Somers Donnie will have the green light, and I won't be surprised if he scores 30 a game next year, and will be in the running for Mr. Basketball. Allan had a great camp through his first 4 games he had not scored less then 15 in any game. He got the better of Raymond Felton when he went head to head with him, as Ray scored 15 and Felton scored 9. He went even with Anthony Roberson as he scored 22 to Roberson's 21. Ray's jumpshot was on the whole camp. From what I saw he had the best J in the camp, because he shoots from all over the court not just 3's. Al even showed the ability to make the nice pass. I believe he will be able to play the point on the college level but not yet, he will need at least next summer to practice. This year he will have to play the 2 guard because Daon Merritt will be at the 1. I expect Allan to put up big numbers because if he gets the box and 1 treatment like Julius Hodge got this past year, Merritt is a player then can dominate as well, so the box and 1 won't be effective against St. Ray's.  Because of this I think Ray is the early favorite for Mr. Basketball. 

Out of State Players
LeBron James 6'6 SG
    He is all the hype. The first game I saw him he only had 8 points, and had me saying he isn't that good. Then while I was watching another game I heard the crowd react when he took off from the second hash mark and dunked on someone. The next time he touched the ball he crossed his man on the wing, took it to the basket and took off from just in front of the dotted line and flushed it on 2 people one handed. That made me get out my seat. A couple of plays later he came down a pulled a 3 from about 22 feet, nothing but net. Then I was saying, he deserves all the hype. Then watching the first quarter of his game against Lenny Cooke I saw the ease that he was getting to the basket against a player that people were saying was more NBA ready then the #1 pick in the draft. Then I come home to find out that he completely outplayed Lenny and left people saying that he is far and away the best player in America. Because of this people are talking about him going pro after his Junior season of high school, which would be a first  in the sport of basketball. What separates  him from every other player in the country is that he does every thing well. He can shoot, rebound, pass, dribble, jump and defend, he plays the game which so little effort he makes it look easy.  People talk about who the next Jordan is, while there will never be another Mike there will be a first LeBron and in 20 years they may be saying some kid will be the next LeBron James.
Raymond Felton 6'2 G
    Felton was one of the players I wanted to see the most, and he did not disappoint with the exception of his matchup with Allan Ray, he was the victor in all of his showdowns. In a battle of Duke and North Carolina he dominated Sean Dockery. Felton put up 24 to just 8 for Dockery and brought his team back for a close 3 point victory. Felton is an excellent scorer, his offensive game has no weakness. He can take his man off the dribble, hit the mid-range shot or take it all the way to the rack. His 3-point range goes out to pro range, which makes him very hard to guard. His only weakness is defense and has trouble guarding quick guards who can shoot the 3. He may be able to bring a championship back to UNC, but he will have to do it quick because I doubt he will be around when his Junior year comes.
Kendrick Perkins 6'10 C
    One word describes Perkins, and that word is monster. He just dominates a game, one game I saw he had 28 points, 13 rebounds and 8 blocks, which had to be the best individual performance in camp. He went even up with Jason Fraser as he scored 13 points and grabbed 13 boards while blocking 4 shots as Fraser had 14, 13 and 6, which was Fraser's best game at camp. Perkins is a Shaq like center he isn't concerned with the 18 footer, he would rather go down low and move you aside then dunk on you. He is only a Junior so he will have time to get better and will be on the same level next year as Eddy Curry was this year, but in my opinion Perkins is too intense to be disinterested to dominae his opponent.