Unless you're a Villanova, Kansas, Michigan, or Loyola fan, you're looking at next season already. McD's AA game isn't a great representative usually of who'll actually be good/bad, as it's a very AAU-style game (minimal defense, etc), but it's a nice display of raw talent.

I've seen a decent amount of these guys play now, and I'm starting to suspect that while last year's HS class was more top-heavy, this one may be deeper with pros. Especially at the guard and wing positions-- most of these bigs don't seem *as* pro ready, but hey, one good season can change all of that.

2018 McDonald’s All-American game: East Roster, list of players

Player Jersey Number Position Height High School College
RJ Barrett No. 6 G/F 6’7 Montverde Academy Duke
Moses Brown No. 1 C 7’2 Archbishop Molly High School UCLA
Darius Garland No. 10 G 6’5 Brentwood Academy Vanderbilt
Louis King No. 23 G/F 6’9 Hudson Catholic Regional High School Oregon
Romeo Langford No. 22 G 6’6 New Albany High School Undecided
David McCormack No. 33 C 6’10 Oak Hill Academy Kansas
EJ Montgomery No. 3 F/C 6’10 Wheeler High School Undecided
Immanuel Quickley No. 2 G 6’3 The John Carroll School Kentucky
Naz Reid No. 5 F 6’7 Roselle Catholic High School LSU
Jalen Smith No. 31 F/C 6’10 Mount Saint Joesph Maryland
Colby White No. 0 G 6’4 Greenfield School North Carolina
Zion Williamson No. 12 G/F 6’7 Spartanburg Day School Duke

2018 McDonald’s All-American game: West Roster, list of players

Player Jersey Number Position Height High School College
Darius Bazley No. 15 F 6’9 Princeton High School Syracuse
Bol Bol No. 1 C 7’2 Findlay Prep Oregon
Jordan Brown No. 21 F 6’11 Prolific Prep Undecided
Devon Dotson No. 3 G 6’2 Providence Day School Kansas
Quentin Grimes No. 5 G 6’6 The Woodlands College Park High School Kansas
Keldon Johnson No. 23 G 6’6 Oak Hill Academy Kentucky
Tre Jones No. 0 G 6’3 Apple Valley High School Duke
Nassir Little No. 10 G/F 6’7 Orlando Christian Prep North Carolina
Reggie Perry No. 2 F 6’9 Thomasville High School Mississippi State
Jahvon Quinerly No. 11 G 6’1 Hudson Catholic Regional High School Villanova
Cameron Reddish No. 8 G 6’8 Westtown School Duke
Simi Shittu No. 7 F/C 6’10 Vermont Academy V

The reports that he's a "low motor" player are definitely true from the couple of games I got to see him play out here. He was content to coast from play to play until he saw an opportunity-- but when he'd strike on those opportunities, it's easy to get enamored with the talent. He can hit 3s, he can viciously block shots, and he's relatively mobile for a guy so tall and long. Every time you want to say "this dude is overrated," he'll do something that gives you a Kenan as Steve Harvey reaction.

Hard to say what kind of pro he'll be unless he shows consistently that he can play the full 40. He also definitely needs to gain weight-- Ayton could afford to occasionally coast because he's a grown man body who can hit 3s at a high clip and beast when necessary. I could see Bol having the same trouble with more physical bigs that Bamba did on occasion this season.

I like it... I like it a lot.

I'm never sure who's coming back. But K.J. is a dawg.... dawg!

Then my mother-in-law pops up from outta town, smh




*************************************

Fuck aliens

-Warriorpoet415




http://soundcloud.com/rayandersonjr

Hoop young boys, hoop..

Then Cam... but he reminds me of Rudy Gay. Maybe because he looks like him.

After that, I'm not sure. This class doesn't seem too deep.

I like Zion too, but not too sure how his game is gonna translate in college let alone the NBA.

It’s a half-hearted open gym run where the ball hoggy guards are way too pressed to get theirs.

Smh... yeah Coach K was able to solve that impossible Rubik's Cube?

That huge dilemma of figuring out what to do with Lebron, Kevin Durant, Steph, Boogie, Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis, Kobe, and James Harden?

Yep... still mad.

Most impressed by:
Barrett
Reid
Williamson
Dotson
Johnson
Jones
Little
Reddish

High potential bigs with work to do, may not be OAD but should contribute right away:
Montgomery
Smith
Perry
Bazley
Moses Brown

Talented shooters:
Quickley
White

Talented chuckers:
Garland
Langford

Not saying the others are bums or that there isn't more to say on the guys listed. But I think this is a surprisingly deep class. And yeah, Duke UNC is gonna be crazy next year. Nassir broke Zion's thumb, Zion's gonna be festering on that shit all offseason.

>Most impressed by:
>Barrett
>Reid
>Williamson
>Dotson
>Johnson
>Jones
>Little
>Reddish

Little got that edge that you can't teach. Zion is a bull, once they get his body together it's gonna be a problem. Cam and RJ just smooth.


>
>High potential bigs with work to do, may not be OAD but should
>contribute right away:
>Montgomery
>Smith
>Perry
>Bazley
>Moses Brown

Got my eyes on Smith

>
>Talented shooters:
>Quickley
>White

Manny Quickley will shoot the damn cover off the ball. Consistent, not streaky. Cal can put him at either guard spot with his IQ, feel and shooting ability. Knock down free throw shooter too.

>
>Talented chuckers:
>Garland
>Langford

Langford..score it shoot it, shoot it score it in volumes. No idea where he's leaning.

>
>Not saying the others are bums or that there isn't more to say
>on the guys listed. But I think this is a surprisingly deep
>class. And yeah, Duke UNC is gonna be crazy next year. Nassir
>broke Zion's thumb, Zion's gonna be festering on that shit all
>offseason.


Solid class with a bunch of versatile guys.

That's the highest compliment I can give. Assholes win championships because they're just so damn pressed.

peace & blessings,

x.

www.twitter.com/poetx

=========================================
I'm an advocate for working smarter, not harder. If you just
focus on working hard you end up making someone else rich and
not having much to show for it. (c) mad

UNc got a good one.

Let's see how Roy cons this one into staying for three seasons.

"Miles Bridges ready, but Jaren Jackson isnt"

iconic coaches costing their players millions is one of my new favorite CBB subplots

the readiness in question is actually Jackson's emotional maturity

smh

He’s skilled, athletic, plays hard, and plays team ball. Think he’ll be a very good all around player that contributes across the board. Him and Brissett will create a lot of matchup problems next year, and Dolezaj is the perfect smart role player to play off of them.

Seems like the type of dude who could potentially not give much as a freshman *or* the type who could be a OAD. His jumper looked okay, which I think is a very good sign.

He’s going straight to the G-League.

>He’s going straight to the G-League.

Sugar laden bullshit.

I put up with this shitshow quality b-ball all year this year thinking about how good they’d be next year. Nope.

And we still made the sweet 16! And we sucked! Lol. This sport is done. The quality of play sucks, the refs suck, the NCAA itself is a joke.

If the kid picked the $26,000 the G League pays plus whatever was in the bag the agent that got all in his ear last night handed him.

KJ tries so hard and he so extra. I yearn for the day when we can have 3 or more dudes like this on the same squad.

And Manny was passing like this was a regular game. He looks so smooth. Put him out their Q-jawn it's gonna pop.

PG-Reddish
SG-RJ
SF-Zion

That the lineup? I hate that Duke will be that damn good next season.

*vomits*

But I'm gonna laugh so hard if they lose more than 5 games and don't win the title. lol

PG: Tre Jones
SG: Cam Reddish
SF: RJ
PF: Zion
C: probably Marques Bolden

Alex O'Connell, Javin DeLaurier, and *maybe* EJ Montgomery first off the bench.

>*vomits*

>But I'm gonna laugh so hard if they lose more than 5 games and
>don't win the title. lol

I'd say odds are pretty high they lose more than five games. I'd peg 6 as a realistic number-- they're gonna lose some bullshit start of ACC play as always, one or two marquee road games, and I imagine teams with an athletic star big will probably give us *some* trouble, especially if we don't get Montgomery, because while Bolden is insanely improved, he's not especially quick, and DeLaurier, while a terrific defender, is a stick figure. Montgomery would be somewhat quicker, but he'd also be a freshman, so I'm not convinced he'd give us more than 5 fouls in a matchup like that this coming season. We'd prob just have to play small ball and try to out-run whoever the opponent tosses our way.

And you were gonna laugh if we didn't win the title anyway, lol. That's how it goes with Duke, UNC, UK, Kansas. You're expected to win annually. Are expectations heightened next year with the recruits? Sure, from the outside, but they can't really get much higher than "title or bust" anyway, so I don't really feel it like that.

Duke fans
K-State fans, Mizzou fans, rest of them BigWhatever teams
Louiville fans

no one cares about them.

I never see Duke choked articles or segments on ESPN with Bilas, Williams, or Vitale talking about Duke’s failures.

But I see a lot UK articles.

.

Justin Jackson stayed and lost some stock. Jake Layman stayed when he should've left junior year and lost some stock. Melo Trimble stayed and lost all stock.

Staying is a bad idea. Same's true for Duke players too, in fairness.

the state of Michigan has had 5 McDs AA in the last 14 years (Deyonta Davis, James Young, Keith Appling, Amir Williams, Ray McCallum)

there were twice as many (10) in half as long (7 years) prior to that :(

and flint, which has had 5-6 in its outsized hoop history, will probably never have one again due to a man-made public health crisis that will last for decades. thats a nice little book of recipes, lost forever.

No snark, genuine question.