This is a video of the Nike Peach Jam final. Najai Hines, our new four star recruit, is #35 for the New York Rens.
Najai Hines Scouting Report
- Thread starter pglamonica
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This is a video of the Nike Peach Jam final. Najai Hines, our new four star recruit, is #35 for the New York Rens.
Thank you so much for posting, watched in entirety. not an overly impressive showing for Hines against quality comp.
Does this move the needle as far as being the last place team in the BE this coming season? Look at how bad RU was with having 2 first round NBA picks. Star players don't matter if there is not a solid foundation around them. Still many question about the players and team play this coming season. Reason to be more optimistic.....yes! Reason to manage and harness expectations......yes!
He definitely moves the needle, but we need to temper expectations. He’s a freshman and he’s learning on the job. Is certainly not going to be dominant this year, but he will likely start and is better talent wise than the other bigs on the team. Still a bottom half team IMO.
agree, foul shoots was tough and like to see him muscle up, has nice soft hands and as someone else posted he does have nice moves around the basket,, guys looked a bit tired after a brutal stretch of games.. All in All I am happier than a pig in Sh--t to have him!
He is a big upgrade even as a freshman IMO. And with Erheriene’s development we should have solid minutes at the 5. I also think Budd Clark is going to be reliable and good at the point which had none of last year.
The productivity in those spots should be upgraded a lot if we compare seasons to seasons by next April. And it should be set, not the constant rotation.
The rest? Idk. It can’t be worse lol. I still think we’re a losing BE team but not 2-18 inept.
I’m usually the last guy to expect anything from a freshman, but Hines is huge. I don’t think he will struggle as much with the physical adjustment. I’m not expecting Delgado-level production (9ppg and 10rpg in 28 mins as a frosh), but something just short of that.
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I think he will be a better scorer as a frosh. Angel had trouble finishing his early years. Hines is gonna thrown it down your face. Angel was one of those guys who understood how to rebound. He wasnt bid or athletic, he just knew how to do it. Hines is bigger. I am expecting a frosh who contributes at a high level.
Hines has shown good mobility and moves on the block and can use both hands. Delgado had a nose for the ball which is why he was such a great rebounder. Angel did not have a great vertical leap though. From the clips it looks like Hines can elevate better.
In the highlight video that Dan posted which I responded to? Idk I just watched it again. Maybe I'm hard of hearing...
I mean the freshman Big man from Georgetown fared pretty damn good last season so u never know
Hines was THE major story in NJ High School basketball this year and one of the top stories nationally. Led a Public School to the #1 spot in NJ - when was last time that happened? Wins over Roselle Catholic, St Patrick's and others.
Hines was a Major breakout player at Peach Jam - the #1 AAU event in the country. Led his team to the National Final.
Do we need to temper expectations as a freshman? Of course, and it sucks that he will be a Free Agent following that.
BUT, this is excellent news for Seton Hall which has been in short supply of good news. When was last time Seton Hall got a top player in NJ? When was last time SH got a breakout star from Peach Jam who impressed all the national media?
Its not going to make us a winner this year but I give all us suffering Hall fans permission to be a little giddy for a couple of days. Enjoy it and dream about keeping Budd Clark and Hines on the team for a second year.
Hines was a Major breakout player at Peach Jam - the #1 AAU event in the country. Led his team to the National Final.
Do we need to temper expectations as a freshman? Of course, and it sucks that he will be a Free Agent following that.
BUT, this is excellent news for Seton Hall which has been in short supply of good news. When was last time Seton Hall got a top player in NJ? When was last time SH got a breakout star from Peach Jam who impressed all the national media?
Its not going to make us a winner this year but I give all us suffering Hall fans permission to be a little giddy for a couple of days. Enjoy it and dream about keeping Budd Clark and Hines on the team for a second year.
Best post since the On3 conversion
!Seriously, I think you nailed it. Our 4/5 rotation was weak before this and one injury to Godswill or Payne from being a disaster. We are not going to get a better big man, even if he's a raw freshman....this is exciting. NJ kid from a program that we have had a horrendous history that has shown marked improvement over his senior year. Clark and Hines have potential to be entertaining and two anchors in the starting line-up...maybe not Sleepy Floyd and Ewing, but it sure beats what we had last year at the 1 and 5 by a mile.
Fanta , Finklestein and Oglesby(sp) did the final; Excellent knowledgeable and fun commentary, some great insider points and views. You should watch it
Probably interchangeable, but since Godswill is more of a 5 than 4, I would think Payne plays more 4 assuming he can put the ball on the floor. Putting Hines and Godswill on the floor together creates a dilemma as neither has the handle and limits the ball movement.
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We have been complaining that we have not been getting local talent. Well no more. Watching this guy play is very eye opening. He could be one of those few freshmen who excels and brings quality minutes. We have seen it at other schools. It looks like he can run the floor. Will not score outside the post, but that’s not what he is for. Just hope he can keep out of foul trouble.
Just my opinion but I hope Sha plays 4 guards and 1 Big most of the time.
None of our Bigs have any perimeter game. So that's 2 guys in the paint which makes it more crowded for Clark to operate. Clark's not a good 3-pt shooter either so we'd have 3 players on the floor you don't have to guard from 3.
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You have to spread the floor to do that effectively somehow. Sha seems to want to do the opposite as he's clearly not into the 3PT game and wants guys working to the rim and playing physical, getting to the line. We often end up with crowded lanes and lots of turnovers. Having a PG like Clark who will get into the paint instead of a pedestrian like Dual will help this though.
IDK how physical any of these new guys are either. Last year's group was anything but. The style worked with Richmond, Davis, and Bediako because they played tough, especially with Davis being such an undersized 4. Then Dawes found his shooting in BE play that year to give us some spacing.
I agree with your basic point. Harper and Bailey didn't lead Rutgers to great heights but to suggest they are examples of freshmen who didn't contribute is ridiculous.
I thought he was a bit lax and slow running up and down court in the video posted. He needs to speed it up a bit to fit into Shas up tempo game plan otherwise he will be left in the dust. Godswill run the court much faster.
I'd argue that all of the players mentioned were solid contributors as freshman.
Eddie Griffin averaged a double-double. Whitehead averaged double digit points per game.
The point is valid but the examples don't prove the point IMHO.
Havent Sha's SPU and SHU teams played very slow style bball? Did he say he wants to change that and play at a faster tempo?
Maybe last year but given there are really no 3 point threats the name of the game is to drive to the basket and there are more opportunities to do that before the other team packs it down low and dares you to take threes that they know you can't make. Thus the best offense is up tempo and speed up the game before the "D" get set.