McDonald's All-American Game Wrap Up
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Via Brian Spurlock USA Today Sports[/caption]
The 36th annual McDonald's All-American Game was played tonight at the United Center with plenty of buzz as 3 hometown kids (Ulis, Okafor, and Alexander) were taking center stage. With all 4 2014 UK recruits on the rosters, Kentucky fans had plenty of reason to watch the game, and the incoming players did not fail to provide some excitement for next season. The West team (Ulis and Booker) beat the East (Lyles and Towns) in a tight 105-102 contest. Justin Jackson (UNC commit) and Jahlil Okafor (Duke commit) were awarded the MVPs.
Just looking at the UK players:
Tyler Ulis- 5 points 3 assists 3 rebounds
-Ulis has been making waves all week in the practices and scrimmages and continued to impress everyone watching on the big stage. He threaded the needle time and time again to the open player. Notably, he drove baseline in transition only to find a trailing Jahlil Okafor for a huge slam. He followed that play up by pushing the pace and throwing a bullet across the court to Stanley Johnson in the corner. Ulis did get swallowed up on his first drive to the basket, but he made up that and any mistake by playing incredibly quick and intelligent defense, causing steals and all sorts of problems for Duke commit Tyus Jones. I cannot stress enough how impressive Ulis has been this week amongst so many stars.
Trey Lyles- 8 points 8 rebounds
- Lyles is never going to make the Sportscenter top play, but he is a pleasure to watch play basketball. He has outstanding vision for a post player and simply finds a way to score the ball. He's great at getting in position on rebounds, has great touch around the basket, and is so polished for a high school player. One play that really stuck out with Lyles is when he went diving on the ground for a ball in an exhibition game. That type of hustle will always translate to the next level.
Karl Towns- 6 points 5 rebounds 2 blocks
Towns' best play came early in the game when he swatted the shot of future teammate Devin Booker and sent a full court outlet pass on the money to give his team an easy basket. Towns maintained the fluidity and smoothness to his offensive game that he has showcased throughout his high school career. He seems much quicker since the last time I saw him play which was a serious area of improvement for him.
Devin Booker- 8 points
Booker had a relatively quiet game, but he was only one of two players who hit multiple threes in the game. Evan Daniels noted that Booker still "had a really solid week" on Twitter. Booker also showed strong defensive effort especially in the All-Star Game environment where defense is never expected.
Other Notes:
-Emmanuel Mudiay is everything he has been hyped up to be. He threw down a slam right before the half time buzzer that was simply vicious. He will be a scoring machine at SMU next year with his elite athleticism to get to the rim.
- If UK plays Duke next year in the tournament, Ulis will be a fantastic option to use on Tyus Jones. The two elite point guards have a budding rivalry, and Ulis has a knack for really giving Jones fits with his defense.
- Stanley Johnson continues to impress every time I watch him play. He is simply one of those players that really catch your eye even on a court full of five star recruits.
Via Brian Spurlock USA Today Sports[/caption]
The 36th annual McDonald's All-American Game was played tonight at the United Center with plenty of buzz as 3 hometown kids (Ulis, Okafor, and Alexander) were taking center stage. With all 4 2014 UK recruits on the rosters, Kentucky fans had plenty of reason to watch the game, and the incoming players did not fail to provide some excitement for next season. The West team (Ulis and Booker) beat the East (Lyles and Towns) in a tight 105-102 contest. Justin Jackson (UNC commit) and Jahlil Okafor (Duke commit) were awarded the MVPs.
Just looking at the UK players:
Tyler Ulis- 5 points 3 assists 3 rebounds
-Ulis has been making waves all week in the practices and scrimmages and continued to impress everyone watching on the big stage. He threaded the needle time and time again to the open player. Notably, he drove baseline in transition only to find a trailing Jahlil Okafor for a huge slam. He followed that play up by pushing the pace and throwing a bullet across the court to Stanley Johnson in the corner. Ulis did get swallowed up on his first drive to the basket, but he made up that and any mistake by playing incredibly quick and intelligent defense, causing steals and all sorts of problems for Duke commit Tyus Jones. I cannot stress enough how impressive Ulis has been this week amongst so many stars.
Trey Lyles- 8 points 8 rebounds
- Lyles is never going to make the Sportscenter top play, but he is a pleasure to watch play basketball. He has outstanding vision for a post player and simply finds a way to score the ball. He's great at getting in position on rebounds, has great touch around the basket, and is so polished for a high school player. One play that really stuck out with Lyles is when he went diving on the ground for a ball in an exhibition game. That type of hustle will always translate to the next level.
Karl Towns- 6 points 5 rebounds 2 blocks
Towns' best play came early in the game when he swatted the shot of future teammate Devin Booker and sent a full court outlet pass on the money to give his team an easy basket. Towns maintained the fluidity and smoothness to his offensive game that he has showcased throughout his high school career. He seems much quicker since the last time I saw him play which was a serious area of improvement for him.
Devin Booker- 8 points
Booker had a relatively quiet game, but he was only one of two players who hit multiple threes in the game. Evan Daniels noted that Booker still "had a really solid week" on Twitter. Booker also showed strong defensive effort especially in the All-Star Game environment where defense is never expected.
Other Notes:
-Emmanuel Mudiay is everything he has been hyped up to be. He threw down a slam right before the half time buzzer that was simply vicious. He will be a scoring machine at SMU next year with his elite athleticism to get to the rim.
- If UK plays Duke next year in the tournament, Ulis will be a fantastic option to use on Tyus Jones. The two elite point guards have a budding rivalry, and Ulis has a knack for really giving Jones fits with his defense.
- Stanley Johnson continues to impress every time I watch him play. He is simply one of those players that really catch your eye even on a court full of five star recruits.
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