Open gym report
Boy, did the practice gym at the Al McGuire Center have a different feel about it on Sunday afternoon.
With only two players from last season's team -- Jimmy Butler and Chris Otule -- taking part in the festivities, it was a combination of new school and old school as the summer begins in earnest for MU's 2009-'10 recruiting class.
First, the news:
-- Junior Cadougan has not yet arrived, but is expected to be on campus on Monday.
-- Youssoupha Mbao also was not around. As coach Buzz Williams said last week, it'll probably take awhile longer before he shows.
-- David Cubillan was interning for ESPN Deportes 1510 at the Giants-Brewers game today, which is why he didn't take part.
-- Being an open gym, there were some different faces on hand. Most notable was Menomonee Falls' J.P. Tokoto, a sophomore-to-be who, according to reports, already has scholarship offers in hand from MU, Wisconsin and Kansas. More on him later. Milwaukee Washington's Quevyn Winters was the only other high-schooler to take part.
Assuming everyone is mostly interested in the newcomers, I'll break down what I saw from each of them, and then follow up with Butler and Otule, and then some other tidbits sometime Monday.
This was one of the longer sessions I've seen, with seven games player over nearly two hours. One little interesting change has been instituted, in that in order to win a game, the player who knocks down the final shot has to step to the free-throw line and also hit a freebie to make it official. Miss it, and the game continues. That creates some pressure, of course, and some interesting scenarios at times.
Also, each of the five newcomers was in the gym fresh off a workout with strength and conditioning coach Todd Smith, so some were a little slower to get it going than others.
So with that being said, here we go, player by player:
Darius Johnson-Odom: Whatever it was -- the previous workout with Smith, or just getting comfortable with all the new faces -- 'DJO' was one of those who took awhile to get it going. But once he did, there wasn't anyone who was able to slow him down.
What made him stand out to me was the herky-jerky nature of his game -- in a good way. Already a lefty, he's got plenty of stops and starts in his game, as well as a nice pump fake that he's willing to use on the perimeter to get his defender up in the air.
I didn't have him down for a basket until the fourth game (he sat out at least one to that point), when he knocked down a three from the left wing in what turned out to be a losing effort for his team. He turned it on in a big way from there, though, and wound up finishing the day stronger than anyone else in the gym.
He began rolling out his offensive arsenal in the fifth game, knocking down four shots: a short jumper, a pretty step-back jumper from about 18 feet that he set up with a pretty crossover, and a big dunk on the break to close things out.
In the sixth game he was even better, scoring five of his team's baskets, and again in all different ways: a fallaway jumper; a hanging putback of one of his own missed three-pointers; a pullup three on the break; another three, this time in the half court; and another fallaway jumper, this one a game-clincher that he followed up by swishing the game-winning free throw.
In the seventh game, DJO knocked down a pair of shots -- a three from the right wing and an alley-oop layin -- and also showed some a mean handle on one play where he got into the lane, spun and fired a pretty no-look pass to Otule, who was caught by surprise but grabbed it and was fouled.
I don't have a real sense on how he is defensively yet, but he's clearly got the athletic ability and quickness to be a pain on that end. He's also a very impressive leaper -- he measured in with a 33-inch vertical, best among the newcomers so far -- and threw down an array of windmills and other power dunks with ease after the games were done.
He's clearly got the skills to play the point, but should be a real handful at the 2 when put in positions to take advantage of his strengths. He'll play major minutes from the outset.
DJO also was the best tester of the newcomers; aside from his vertical he also posted a 3.11 25-yard dash and put up 185 pounds 12 times on the bench press. He also weighed in at 196.
Jeronne Maymon: He told me last weekend at the WBCA All-Star game in Madison he didn't feel his conditioning was up to par. I predicted Smith would rectify that in a hurry, and it turns out I was right on the money.
He weighed in at 257 pounds the day he arrived but is already down to 250. He was also sporting matching bandages on both elbows -- reminders of his earlier workout.
Maymon hit a three early in his first game, then hit another to apparently close out a victory. He missed the free throw, however, but teammate Robert Jackson cleaned up his mess and sealed the deal shortly thereafter.
In the second game, Maymon impressed with his willingness to hit the floor, going down hard early but having the presence of mind to throw the ball ahead to a streaking teammate for a dunk. He threw in a no-look pass to Butler not long thereafter, knocked down a three from the top of the key and then threw a pretty alley-oop to Butler for a dunk as his team closed out an impressive 11-0 skunking.
He picked his spots from there, with a few strong rebounds and finishes, but his best games were clearly early. Like DJO (and just about everyone else playing), he didn't play all seven.
Maymon was the only freshman in the group who didn't appear affected by the physical play; he instead looked right at home. He'll have no problems playing big minutes early on.
He also checked in with a 29.5 vertical and five reps at 185.
Dwight Buycks: This was the second time I'd seen Buycks, and while he's had his moments, so far I've been reminded of the way Butler played initially when he arrived on campus last year: tentatively, seemingly trying to fit in rather than forcing the action.
He knocked down a few threes on Sunday, and appeared to be on the same page with DJO on different occasions, but that was really it.
Undoubtedly there's more to come, and there's little doubt he'll also see major action in his first season with the Golden Eagles. But his progress will be interesting to chart over the rest of the summer.
Buycks weighed in at 195.
Erik Williams: The first thing that struck me about Williams was that he is bigger than I had envisioned.
That's one of the weird things about an early commit -- you build up this picture in your mind over a few years, then he comes in and isn't at all what you pictured. Williams weighed in at 198, and has a great frame for adding weight with broad shoulders and solid legs. He isn't frail in the least.
Williams arrives billed as a big-time leaper and shot blocker, and he showed some of both on Sunday when he had one monster dunk on the break, and also swatted a couple shots. But what stood out on this day was his three-point shooting.
He didn't put up a ton, but he wasn't necessarily shy, either. And while his shot is flat, it was on line and true more often than not. He found a comfort zone from the left wing, and let it fly.
Not surprisingly, Williams had some trouble with the physical aspect of the game. What with guys like Maymon, Otule and Jackson banging around on the inside, that wasn't altogether surprising. With some more strength and confidence, he could develop into a pretty good rebounder thanks in large part to his hops and timing around the rim.
Williams' vertical was 28 inches, and he put up 185 once on the bench.
Brett Roseboro: He opened the day with a jumper, and ended it with a game-winning three from the top of the key and then the ensuing free throw.
In between, he was in and out of the action and didn't get much else accomplished. He had trouble with the physical play but didn't back away from it -- an important distinction to make. Roseboro also got on the floor early for a loose ball; that he and Maymon were the first two to do so on the day was interesting.
While it might take awhile to tap into what he has to offer completely, Roseboro does present an interesting skill set at the 4. He's got a sweet left-handed jumper, and could become a real weapon on pick-and-pops and in the high post in time.
Roseboro weighed in at 218 pounds, and put up 185 five times.
And there you have it. Check back for Part II later Monday, which will include a report on Tokoto.
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