Junior lights it up in Vegas

[Wareagle]

Rivals has a good free update on Junior's great performance in Las Vegas at the adidas Super 64 Tournament in Las Vegas

http://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=830616

WROTEN'S ACE GETS CRACKED

Anthony Wroten Jr. held pocket aces all game long and like a great poker player, he let the opposition just feed him points while holding the best hand. However, Grassroots Canada caught the river and finished the game with a full house.

In Vegas, there are bad beats. And that is what happened in the third round of bracket play at the adidas Super 64 on Friday night.

Up by 11 points with roughly two minutes left to play in the second half, Seattle Rotary looked like they were in the driver's seat. A couple of controversial calls went in favorite to the Canadian kids and the stellar guard play of Jason Calliste and Junior Cadougan changed the entire game.

Calliste made a monster defensive play that resulted in a score for Canada. The 6-foot-2 combo guard was outstanding in the match-up. He scored 22 points in the win and was a major factor in the victory.

"Hey, I'm used to it. That same kind of thing happened to me last year here," Calliste said. "You have to keep your head…We just wanted to show that the Canadian boys can play."

"We never gave up because the game wasn't over. There was still time on the clock," Cadougan said. "Coach told us that the game was never over."

No it wasn't and Cadaougan and Calliste certainly played until the final whistle blew. Cadaougan

The Marquette bound guard hit two of the three free throws with 0.4 seconds left to play and sealed the 77-76 victory. He finished with 24 points, six rebounds and five assists.

"This is the best summer I've ever had," Cadaougan said. "I've improved a lot. I've spent a lot of time trying to get my weight down. Honestly, this is the best I've felt since grade nine. I'm back."

[77ncaachamps]

Oh man...good news AND the kid's got confidence in himself!

Can't wait for him to suit up for the Blue and Gold!

Just keep him away from the cheese curds and frozen custard! 

[mviale]

I think there is room for his wing man - Calliste

[wadesworld]

Murff still hasn't seen him, but he still knows more than whoever saw this tournament and wrote this article...I'm guessing Murff's response will be no defense was played, it's made into a guard's game, and the team they were playing were all EXTREMELY slow and unathletic, it's the only explanation as to how an unathletic, slow, overweight point guard can do so much damage, right?

[mviale]

Murf needs to understand that there are not 15 Keaton Nankivil's out there.

[farmdaddy]

Can't wait for '09!  He is gonna be great!!!!

[VegasWarrior77]

From the Las Vegas Review-Journal (it's the second story):
http://www.lvrj.com/sports/25958154.html

My favorite part of the story:
"Our kids got down for like half a second," Canada coach Ro Russell said of the end of regulation. "Our captain, Junior Cadougan, spoke up and reminded everyone to just believe in ourselves. We came here to win."

It looks like Junior is a leader who loves to win!

[Murffieus]

Murff still hasn't seen him, but he still knows more than whoever saw this tournament and wrote this article...I'm guessing Murff's response will be no defense was played, it's made into a guard's game, and the team they were playing were all EXTREMELY slow and unathletic, it's the only explanation as to how an unathletic, slow, overweight point guard can do so much damage, right?

What I reported on the video I saw was accurate----slow and not athletic for a PG-----also not a consistent trey shooter-----best part of his game is transition where he see's the court very well and once in the scoring zone passes well and/or takes it hard to the hoop off the momentum he had built up.

Now this video may have predated a 20 lb weight loss and a complete healing of his foot. So he may be quicker now.

Anyone have a recent video?

[77ncaachamps]

They beat Compton Magic in double-OT for the Vegas 64 Title.


The Grassroots Canada Elite squad poses for photos following an 88-79 double-overtime win over the Compton Magic, clinching the title at the 2008 adidas Super 64 Saturday night at Rancho High.


I think that's him on the court floor with the trophy.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/blogs/sports/2008/jul/26/northern-neighbors-prevail-adidas-final-coachs-son/


Northern neighbors prevail in adidas finale
By Ryan Greene  · July 26, 2008 · 11:05 PM

Coach Ro Russell was in no hurry to downplay the significance of his Grassroots Canada Elite squad's championship-clinching win Saturday night at Rancho High in the adidas Super 64 tournament.

"This is the biggest win for Canadian basketball in amateur history - A major tournament, with all the top-ranked teams," Russell said. "It's huge for our program, for our country. People were saying Canada is still behind and we're not as developed as the Americans. With the U.S. pounding us last night in the exhibition game, we're starting from young, to get our guys experience of Americanized basketball, so when these guys get to that level, we're not going to let that happen."

The Toronto-based prep squad - comprised of Canadian players, most of whom compete for high schools in the United States - finished its unexpected run through the elite field at Rancho High with a thrilling 88-79, double-overtime win over the Compton Magic.

"We were working hard, hard work pays off," said Grassroots guard Junior Cadougan. "We were waiting for this moment, to win a big-time United States tournament, to make people know Canada really does have some ballplayers."

Making the team's run through the bracket even more improbable was that organizing time to practice was pretty much impossible before showing up in Las Vegas, due to how spread out the entire team is throughout the year.

Grassroots dropped its opening game of pool play, and after that, never looked back. And after knocking off Seattle Rotary Friday night in the round of eight - advancing them to their first semifinal appearance in an American tournament this summer - seeing SportsCenter highlights of Team USA's 120-65 drubbing of Canada at Thomas & Mack added the final splash of motivation.

Cadougan - a senior-to-be who plays high school ball just outside of Houston and is already committed to Marquette - helped Grassroots keep the pace throughout much of the night with his aggressive point play, but Compton was the toughest team yet for them to crack.

"So far in the tournament, every team we've played, by halftime we've had them cracked," Russell said.

Compton's late regulation push was capped by a three-pointer from Roberto Nelson atop the key. But thanks to clutch free-throw shooting from junior-to-be (and Texas commit) Tristan Thompson and the hard slashing style of Jason Calliste, the Magic couldn't ultimately hold on. It became even tougher once big men Joe Burton and Darnell Shumpert fouled out.

Thompson finished with 19 points and earned tournament MVP honors, while Cadougan scored 22. Nelson dropped a team-high 26 points for Compton, Burton had 23 and UNLV commit Justin Hawkins added 10.

But Calliste - who scored a game-high 29 points, including a no-look and-one bucket in the second OT to seal things - may prove to be the prime example of what this win could do for the lesser-known Canadian players.

Calliste - a 6-foot-2 shooting guard who plays during the season at Mt. Zion Academy in North Carolina - had drawn interest so far in the recruiting game from Syracuse, Pitt, Duquesne, George Mason and Colorado. But now, things could turn up a notch.

"You can see, players like Jason Calliste, that people didn't know about, he's on the map now," Cadougan said. "He didn't have any (scholarship) offers before this tournament. That'll change big-time."

[77ncaachamps]

Found a better image:



Richard Armardri of the Grassroots Canada Elite was tourney MVP.

http://www.adidassuper64.com/

[wadesworld]

What I reported on the video I saw was accurate----slow and not athletic for a PG-----also not a consistent trey shooter-----best part of his game is transition where he see's the court very well and once in the scoring zone passes well and/or takes it hard to the hoop off the momentum he had built up.

Now this video may have predated a 20 lb weight loss and a complete healing of his foot. So he may be quicker now.

Anyone have a recent video?

You saw about 30 seconds of a highlight video, I could find a 30 second video of Allen Iverson looking slow and unathletic if I really wanted to.  Also, did they show him missing any of his 3 point attempts in that video, because I didn't see a missed one, which would be the only way he was inconsistent as a trey shooter.

[77ncaachamps]

I don't know if this is the video everyone is talking about:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=O31vY5StdX8

But he sure looks like the second coming of Khalid El-Amin.
That's fine with me.

KEA won an NCAA Title!

[ATWizJr]

JC looks smooth, strong and confident.  And will get better.

[noblewarrior]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiting/basketball/mens/news/story?id=3507156

A little more on JC and the addidas 64

[wadesworld]

Two quotes straight from the article I'd like to point out:
"Cadougan has deceiving quickness despite the shape of his body" and "Cadougan can stroke the jumper from 3 with his nice, high-release point and good rotation."
Hmm, WEIRD Murff, a guy who's SEEN him play in more than a 30 second youtube clip says he CAN do 2 of the 3 things well that you said he can't, and the other he doesn't touch base on.  WEIRD!

[Pardner]

What I reported on the video I saw was accurate----slow and not athletic for a PG-----also not a consistent trey shooter-----best part of his game is transition where he see's the court very well and once in the scoring zone passes well and/or takes it hard to the hoop off the momentum he had built up.

Now this video may have predated a 20 lb weight loss and a complete healing of his foot. So he may be quicker now.

Anyone have a recent video?

Junior was just a hs sophomore in that video which featured Deandre Jordan--who was just the 35th pick in the NBA draft by the Clips out of A&M. 

[CrackedSidewalksSays]

Cadougan's sizzling summer

Written by: noreply@blogger.com (NY Warrior)

Marquette commit Junior Cadougan continued his eye-opening play this summer, leading the  Grassroots Canada Elite squad to the title in the prestigious Adidas Super 64 tournament.  Cadougan scored 22 points in the double overtime win over the Compton Magic in Las Vegas.

The unexpected title caps a remarkable summer for Cadougan, who told Rivals.com "this is the best summer I've ever had."   How true.

In June, Cadougan exploded back on the national scene when he was named the top playmaker (and 18th best player overall) at the NBPA Top 100 Camp.  Cadougan followed that effort with a strong showing at Reebok U where ESPN said he was "as good as advertised" and "is excellent at being the coach on the floor."  Not content, Cadougan led his team to the title in Vegas this weekend.

With his string of elite performances against the best players in the nation, Cadougan has done more to strengthen his ranking and reputation than anybody else in the 2009 class this summer.  In fact, when new class rankings are released in the coming months, Cadougan may rise higher in the rankings than any player.  The pre-summer RSCI composite rankings pegged Cadougan as the 70th best player in the class of 2009 despite no ranking from Rivals.com or Dave Telep from The Insiders Hoops.

http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2008/07/cadougans-sizzling-summer.html

[BuzzSucksSucks]

So how is his name pronounced?  I'm reading it as as kaDOOGan.  But it could be KADagan, or kaDOOjen, or kaDUGGen, or KADajen. Or kaDOOan.  Maybe the G is silent.  Sounds like this is a name a lot of people will know in short order, however.

[bma725]

So how is his name pronounced?  I'm reading it as as kaDOOGan.  But it could be KADagan, or kaDOOjen, or kaDUGGen, or KADajen. Or kaDOOan.  Maybe the G is silent. 

According to IWB and Mark Miller, it's ka-do-gin(hard g, not a soft g).

[BuzzSucksSucks]

thanks

[ToddRosiakSays]

Catching up on Cadougan

Written by: Todd Rosiak


One of the cornerstones of MU's 2009-'10 recruiting class, point guard Junior Cadougan, has been tearing it up on the AAU circuit this summer.

Last week, he helped lead his team, Grassroots Canada, to the U-17 championship at the prestigious adidas Super 64 in Las Vegas by averaging roughly 23.0 points, 6.5 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 3.0 steals in eight games.

Cadougan came up big when it mattered most as well, scoring 22 points to lead Grassroots to an 88-79, double-overtime victory over the Compton Magic on Saturday night.

Cadougan and his teammates are currently in Los Angeles participating in another tournament, and on Sunday night I was able to catch up with his coach, Ro Russell, for an update.

Here's what he had to say:

How did Junior fare overall in Las Vegas? Junior outplayed every point guard that he faced at the tournament, and maybe changed the minds of a lot of scouts who before were kind of saying, ‘Well, he's good, but he's not one of the elite point guards in the country.' One guy in his last report specifically mentioned that he messed up in his ranking of Junior - or his lack of ranking Junior - and now Junior's separating himself from his peers and really raised his stock dramatically. Junior had a great event.

With his stock rising, one would assume he's hearing from other schools despite having orally committed to MU. Is that the case? Yeah. I can't say who, but there's been a few coaches that have tried to call him and there's been numerous coaches that have called me to try to see if he actually is going to go to Marquette, and how strong is our commitment, and if he's willing to take a visit at their school and those kinds of things. So yeah, he's definitely had a lot of coaches jump on the bandwagon.

Taking all that into consideration, how firm is Junior's commitment to MU? As firm as you can be. I've seen coach Buzz Williams and the other coaches at all of Junior's games the whole tournament, so they know what they've got, and they know they need to keep it. They've been showing their interest in every game, and watching him, and they must be impressed. Junior's 100 percent going to Marquette; he's not going to change his mind. He's totally happy about going there, his mom is totally happy about going there, I'm totally happy about going there, his high-school coach in Texas is happy. So everybody is totally on board, and he sees it as a great opportunity. He's gotten to know Lazar Hayward, getting to know Dominic James and so forth, so he already feels part of the family.

Statistically Junior had a good tournament, but reports said he was also big in the clutch on a number of occasions for you. Is that accurate? Yeah, he had some really good steals, some big rebounds, found guys for some really good three-point opportunities, really controlled the tempo. He knew where the mismatches were. He totally quarterbacked us to the championship.

How's Junior's confidence level at this point? He's as confident as he's ever been because his jump shot is on point too, now. With his driving ability, passing and now his jump shot he's so hard to guard coming at you full speed, with his strength. He can knock down the jump shot from three or the mid-range, so he's just really, really confident and on top of his game right now.

Earlier in the summer you mentioned Junior needed to improve on his jump shot as well as his conditioning. You brought up his shooting, but how has he done in those areas overall? When he got home from school, he's been in the gym every day. One of my other former players, Denham Brown, grew up in the same neighborhood as Junior, played at UConn and got drafted a couple years ago by Seattle, he's been in the gym every day with either him or me working on his jump shot, and it's totally paid off because you can see the results. He's probably dropped another five pounds. He's been playing so much, and he's been running, and he's been riding the bike and everything when he's been back home. The amount of playing he's been doing, he's been eating right.

Junior injured his foot last winter. Is he completely healed now? I'd say about 90 percent. His foot gets sore sometimes when he plays a lot. He still has some residual aftereffects from the injury. We got him some pads to put under his foot to relieve pressure and give him more cushion with all the wear and tear he puts on it in the game. He still needs to take some time off. When we finish these last couple tournaments he's going to take about a month off and just totally recuperate and get that refreshed and get that back on track.

Did he have surgery on it, or did they just cast it up? Casted it up.

How could Junior put up such big numbers in Las Vegas and not win MVP? He should have. Overall for the tournament, he should have. But sometimes they give MVPs to the person who played the best in the championship game, and I have a guard, Jason Calliste, who had 29 points and then my other wing forward was really solid in the second half and made some key plays down the stretch. Sometimes people choose on just the championship game, but overall I'd say from the beginning of the tournament to the end, Junior was the MVP.

You're at another tournament in Los Angeles now. How's that going so far? Yeah, we're in L.A. and just played our first game against Double Pump Elite, and we're continuing our winning ways. A lot of teams, they know who we are now so they're a little bit nervous, and it helps us going into games because they're a little bit intimidated by us. We've got Junior, we've got other guys, a lot of size, a lot of depth, so people look intimidated by us.



http://blogs.jsonline.com/muhoops/archive/2008/07/27/catching-up-on-cadougan.aspx

[77ncaachamps]

Rhymes with the sound Ryu makes in Street Fighter.


Shoryuken

KAAAAAADOOOOOOOOGIN!

[77ncaachamps]

Sounds like Chico needs to make a pitstop in LA and catch Cadougan in action...and share the tape with all of us here at MU Scoop!

BTW, Thanks for volunteering!

[77ncaachamps]

Junior was just a hs sophomore in that video which featured Deandre Jordan--who was just the 35th pick in the NBA draft by the Clips out of A&M. 

If someone can convince Chico to go to the Double Pump Best of Summer Tournament, Loyola Marymount, July 27-31. As many as 192 teams will compete in a tournament that wraps up the summer period.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Sounds like Chico needs to make a pitstop in LA and catch Cadougan in action...and share the tape with all of us here at MU Scoop!

BTW, Thanks for volunteering!

It's only 4 miles from my office (it's at Loyola Marymount's campus)....many UCLA hoops season ticket holders in my department so we may just try to get down there tomorrow or the next day....of course wouldn't you know it that tomorrow's game is during lunch but they're playing in Carson which is quite a bit farther especially with traffic.

On Tuesday they play in the morning back at LMU so I'll see what I can do.

http://pumptournaments.doublepump.com/games.php?clevel=d_129


Maybe Buzz will give me his autograph   

[muarmy81]

Anyone have a recent video?

Murf,

that's the problem, leave the scouting and talent evaluations to those who are paid to do so as well as those who've seen Junior play in an ACTUAL game.  Looking at another video is going to lead you to make more misinformed conclusions and we'll all end up pouncing on your "expert" evaluation.

[muarmy81]

I like that his coach mentioned his strength.  I think he's going to be a Levance Fields type of guard who's deceptively quick but can really be physical and use his strength to create his own shot.  I think it will mesh extremely well with our current guards who rely on being aggressive and physical on the perimeter.  Huge advantage in the BE. (Unless we have Hightower reffing

[MR.HAYWARD]

Hold on I thought Mu recruits always go down in the rankings.  remeber Chcos may this claim and then the numbers actually showed 5 out of the last 10 years the numbers went down....meaning in the other 5 years.... .   But when one makes such a sensational statement who cares about facts. 

Maybe we got a coach who recruits players who's number go up!!

[ChicosBailBonds]

Hold on I thought Mu recruits always go down in the rankings.  remeber Chcos may this claim and then the numbers actually showed 5 out of the last 10 years the numbers went down....meaning in the other 5 years.... .   But when one makes such a sensational statement who cares about facts. 

Maybe we got a coach who recruits players who's number go up!!

There you go distorting again...in fact I even provided 4 players (not years as you also distorted) where they went UP in the rankings.  It was 6 players (not years) they went down, 4 players (not years) they went up.  I also clearly said usually (never said always)....why do you lie so much?  Seriously, just asking.  Is it just ingrained in your nature?

Would you like the direct link that shows it wasn't 5 of 10, but rather 6 of 10 and that I never said always?  Would that help you with reality?

So let's recap...you said I stated always.  Nope.  (I clearly stated "doesn't always happen but usually does" then later said "likely"....60% of the time was my rationale)

You said I stated 10 years.  Nope  (in fact I only looked at 8 years, but more to the point it was recruits not years at all)

You said I stated 5 of 10.  Nope  (6 of 10...PLAYERS)

Here's the link for you since apparently your hatred of Crean has now bungled your mind in other areas now as well.

So exactly who is the one making sensational statements?  Hmmm, yeah that's a tough one.  I use the RSCI stats that show 60% of the time they've gone down (using a small sample of course) or something that you said in which case nearly EVERYTHING in your post is completely wrong.

http://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=9507.25

[ecompt]

You know that when Junior does become a very good player at MU that Murff will take the credit. "See, he read my criticisms and lost weight..."  blah, blah, blah.

[ErickJD08]

Guys, way to early to tell.  I think he will be a good PG because he 'seems' that he has alot of skills that can not be taught, like leadership and feel for the game.  Speed, strength, or even a better jump shot can be developed through training.  Its way too early though.  Many times, there are skills and abilities that do not transfer well into college.  Well see, I am keeping my hopes up because ... what else am I going to do.  Be a cry baby and complain about everything?

[Dr. Dunkenstein]

I don't think this article has been posted yet



http://www.usatoday.com/sports/preps/default.htm

[Thomas' Danish Delight]

Rhymes with the sound Ryu makes in Street Fighter.


Shoryuken

KAAAAAADOOOOOOOOGIN!

HAHAHHA...dude, that's exactly what I was thinking!

Thank you for the awesome graphic.  I have zero graphic arts skills, but I have an active imagination...you know what?  It's too bad our guys won't be showing up in Tae Kwon Do uniforms anymore...cuz it would have been perfect for Cadougan to show up and do a CaDOUUUgan fireball and have a basketball come out since you know, the guy's a great point guard...he'll be CaDOUUUUGAN'ing passes like fireballs

[77ncaachamps]

he'll be CaDOUUUUGAN'ing passes like fireballs

You should send that recommendation to MUCrew...he's the one who does the wallpaper.

What would make it sweeter?

Having Cadougan do a shoryuken on Tom Crean for the KO!

[rocky_warrior]

Junior was just a hs sophomore in that video which featured Deandre Jordan --who was just the 35th pick in the NBA draft by the Clips out of A&M. 

Ahhh...so that's the connection.  Buzz has known of Cadougan ever since he was recruiting Deandre for A&M.  Sure sounds like he nabbed a rising star before most knew he was rising.

[bma725]

Ahhh...so that's the connection.  Buzz has known of Cadougan ever since he was recruiting Deandre for A&M.  Sure sounds like he nabbed a rising star before most knew he was rising.

He likely knew of Cadougan before that, since everyone in the country was following him as a freshman.  Remember, Cadougan was a top 10 player as a freshman.  He was the #1 PG in the class, in some cases the #1 Guard, and everyone in the country was after him.  A few years ago, he was the kid to get if you wanted the next great PG.

Rising star doesn't really fit either.  More like re-established star.  He was at the top, but transferred schools and the weight and health issues caused him to drop off to the point where some considered him over the hill as a junior.  Most of the schools that had been in on him early like Florida, UNC, Illinois etc backed off.  But they never doubted his talent.  Now he's taken care of the health issues and proving that he still belongs.

[rocky_warrior]

As always - thanks for the clarification bma.