Thon Maker and the Dangers of Mixtapes
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Kelly Kline via 24/7 Sports[/caption]
The media outside of the recruiting world recently got ahold of Thon Maker's new mixtape, and immediately thought it was a good idea to practically knight him as the second coming of Kevin Durant .
There's no doubt Thon is going to be a "must have" in the class of 2016. He led the EYBL, the top AAU circuit for all ages, in blocks while playing guys two years older than him. However, his stats in the scoring-heavy EYBL immediately disput the idea of Maker being like Kevin Durant. He had 23 three point attempts en route to shooting an underwhelming .174 from behind the arc. He did not put up monster numbers in the AAU circuit which comes as no surprise when you consider he's playing player who have been able to learn the game and hit the weights for 2 years longer than he has, but it also ends this notion that he's going to become the future version of the current best scorer in the NBA.
While there is plenty of upside and tools visible when watching Thon Maker, the mixtape creates this unfair view of a player as if the plays they make in the video are a regular occurrence. This is not the case with any player in high school, but the media gets ahold of these impressively edited mixtapes and thrives on sensationalizing these young players. I have had the pleasure of watching Thon Maker play entire games. He has moments that make me do a double take by exerting his length and athleticism to dominate the game. However, an entire game's worth of film offers plenty of instances of Maker showing his inexperience, lack of strength, and loss of court-awareness. Ed Isaacson of NBA Draft Blog saw the same thing that I did when he watched Maker.
https://twitter.com/nbadraftblog/status/433029088757161984
Maker is just the most recent player in a string of mixtape love affairs. If mixtapes equated to a player's talent, Ryan Harrow would be one of the best point guards in college. However, scouting requires observing a full game to see what a player truly brings to the table. Even then, the art of scouting is still a crapshoot. Mixtapes are certainly fun to watch. They offer clips of the aspects of basketball that every fan loves to watch, but they must be taken with a grain of salt.
The producers of mixtapes take hours of footage and consolidate the footage into a 2 to 3 minute clip. If an elite player could not assemble a few jaw-dropping clips over a few hours of gametime, I would be concerned. For the sake of these young players, avoid the tendency to hype their talents based off a handful of dunks, perimeter shots, and blocks. The hype does far more harm than good for a kid's future because the expectations to maintain the level of play shown in the mixtapes are absurd. If you want proof just look at the case of Demetrius Walker. The former Arizona State commit was once heralded as "the next Lebron" after some impressive highlights.
Kelly Kline via 24/7 Sports[/caption]
The media outside of the recruiting world recently got ahold of Thon Maker's new mixtape, and immediately thought it was a good idea to practically knight him as the second coming of Kevin Durant .
There's no doubt Thon is going to be a "must have" in the class of 2016. He led the EYBL, the top AAU circuit for all ages, in blocks while playing guys two years older than him. However, his stats in the scoring-heavy EYBL immediately disput the idea of Maker being like Kevin Durant. He had 23 three point attempts en route to shooting an underwhelming .174 from behind the arc. He did not put up monster numbers in the AAU circuit which comes as no surprise when you consider he's playing player who have been able to learn the game and hit the weights for 2 years longer than he has, but it also ends this notion that he's going to become the future version of the current best scorer in the NBA.
While there is plenty of upside and tools visible when watching Thon Maker, the mixtape creates this unfair view of a player as if the plays they make in the video are a regular occurrence. This is not the case with any player in high school, but the media gets ahold of these impressively edited mixtapes and thrives on sensationalizing these young players. I have had the pleasure of watching Thon Maker play entire games. He has moments that make me do a double take by exerting his length and athleticism to dominate the game. However, an entire game's worth of film offers plenty of instances of Maker showing his inexperience, lack of strength, and loss of court-awareness. Ed Isaacson of NBA Draft Blog saw the same thing that I did when he watched Maker.
https://twitter.com/nbadraftblog/status/433029088757161984
Maker is just the most recent player in a string of mixtape love affairs. If mixtapes equated to a player's talent, Ryan Harrow would be one of the best point guards in college. However, scouting requires observing a full game to see what a player truly brings to the table. Even then, the art of scouting is still a crapshoot. Mixtapes are certainly fun to watch. They offer clips of the aspects of basketball that every fan loves to watch, but they must be taken with a grain of salt.
The producers of mixtapes take hours of footage and consolidate the footage into a 2 to 3 minute clip. If an elite player could not assemble a few jaw-dropping clips over a few hours of gametime, I would be concerned. For the sake of these young players, avoid the tendency to hype their talents based off a handful of dunks, perimeter shots, and blocks. The hype does far more harm than good for a kid's future because the expectations to maintain the level of play shown in the mixtapes are absurd. If you want proof just look at the case of Demetrius Walker. The former Arizona State commit was once heralded as "the next Lebron" after some impressive highlights.
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