Adidas Phenom Showcase – Event Recap

Nick Restifo | Saturday, October 30th, 2010

This Saturday’s High School Showcase Camp at the New Haven Athletic Center showcased some of the top high school players in Connecticut.   These were the standouts.

Brian Patterson - Playing with his Hillhouse high school teammates on the loaded “Yellow” team, the tall, lanky, Lamar-Odom-esque Patterson showed off some range at the showcase by knocking down several  threes. While work needs to be done on his shooting mechanics, defenders are going to have to respect this developing part of his game. In addition to his offensive prowess, Patterson used his freaky wingspan to corral several rebounds he shouldn’t have had. He was patient on defense as well, careful not to over commit when defending the paint, and had several spectacular blocks.

Freddie Wilson - Wilson continues to impress and was a terrific floor general at the camp showing great court vision. It was Wilson’s good decision making in the first game, especially around the hoop, that propelled the “Yellow” team’s run that began their blowout of team “Navy”.

Jared Curry - The spark of the “Yellow” team’s second unit, Curry came off the bench and attacked the basket like he had a problem with it. He pounded the ball into the ground when he dribbled, and always seemed determined and unafraid to slice his way through defenders to score. But that wasn’t his whole game. He showed off a nice jumper off the dribble, and was able to effectively score from 15 or so feet.

Kuran Iverson - One of the most heralded prospects today, Iverson continued to show why he’s so special. Although he dribbled too much at times and took a few bad shots, his handle is still out of this world for a 6’8” player. Iverson had absolutely monster dunks, including one over a defender, and is still at his best 1v1 and off the dribble.

James Jennings – One of the top performances of the night.  Jennings has developed spectacular range, and is not afraid to shoot from well behind the 3 point line and connect. His silky smooth stoke netted him several three pointers on the night, and when defenders over committed, he would use his terrific dribbling ability to get into the thick of the D and find his teammate for the easy two. Iverson owes him some high fives for the nice looks he got from Jennings. On defense, Jennings used his quickness to stay in front of his man.

Jason Burgo - The only big man at the event who wanted to be a big man. Burgo boxed out, scored by being strong, fought down low for position and did everything a big man should. In his first game, he had a lot of hard fought points.

Anthony Smith – Smith showed sound the sound mechanics and persistence of a high level shooter.  When defenders began to admire his jumper he took full advantage, using a head or shot fake to create angles to take his man to the basket. 

Sean Obi - The 6’9” sophomore prospect from Africa is coming along quicker than anyone could have even dreamed of. Obi scored a lot at the event, and did not seem raw at all. Obi boasted a well developed understanding of where to be on the court and showed me one of my favorite post moves of the evening, a beautiful drop step to the right reverse from the left block that really showcased his tremendous potential.

Nick Green - This skinny, role playing prospect had a great game against team “Green”.  Green came off the bench and hit some nice shots with great form and had a gorgeous no look over the head assist from the right post to a cutting slasher. He picked up a few steals, rebounds, and loose balls as well, and always seemed to be in the right place at the right time.

Kenneth Warmar - He played hard defense as if his college of choice was watching him play, and collected several blocks and made offensive players miss their shots.  Extremely fast with the ball in the full court, he had a very high top speed, as well.