Brian Crownover, DePaul Recruiting, Louisville Recruiting, Seton Hall Recruiting, Syracuse Recruiting, West Virginia Recruiting

BRIAN CROWNOVER ON THE PHILLY HS BEAT

Brian Crownover is the Lead Recruiting Analyst of CAA Insider.com and a frequent contributor to the NBE Basketball Report.  Over the weekend, Brian headed from his home in Philadelphia to Trenton (NJ) to take in the action of the Primetime Shootout.

 Brian analyzed the performances of committed Big East players such as Jordan Theodore,   Lamont Jones, Jeremiah Kelly, Dion Waiters and Darryl Bryant as well as several other major college commitments and future Big East prospects like David Bruce, Omari Lawrence, Kevin Parrom and others from Paterson Catholic, Bishop Loughlin and Montrose Christian.

 Here are the scores of the games he took in:

Linden 77 St. Raymond’s 68 (OT)
Paterson Catholic 56 Montrose Christian 34
Christ the King 64 Trenton Central 47
Bishop Loughlin 72 Trenton Catholic 48
American Christian 68 South Kent School 62 (OT)

Check out his player analysis below:

Paterson Catholic 56 Montrose Christian 34

Paterson Catholic

Jordan Theodore (2008 Seton Hall Commit)

Jordan put on quite a display in this blowout win.  The super quick lead guard made play after play and was unstoppable.  He got into the lane whenever he wanted to.  He changed directions on a dime and mixed in passing and scoring.  Jordan’s pull up jumper was on as he hit shot after shot after shot.  On one occasion he buried that shot after a beautiful spin move and another time after a crossover.  When he got into the lane, he also made a number of brilliant passes.  He really caught the crowd’s attention with a behind the back pass which was right on the money.  Jordan’s decision making with the rock in his hand was outstanding.  He dominated the game with phenomenal 24 points and 13 dimes on his way to being Most Outstanding Player. 

Jayon James

Jayon played a nice complimentary role to Jordan.  The solidly built wing scored both inside and out.  He buried a three pointer from the wing.  He then backed down his man and used a spin move and bank to score in the post.  He also passed the ball quite well, including one assist as he was falling down.  Jayon pulled down some rebounds too.

Fuquan Edwin

Fuquan was rather quiet.  He had an impact on the boards, but didn’t score quite like I’ve seen in the past.

Montrose Christian

Isaiah Armwood

Isaiah is so smooth and athletic and it makes everything he does looks easy.  He hit a couple pull up jumpers and one resulted in a three point play after being fouled.  He also battled inside on the boards and scored around the rim.  He was solid in this one, but actually relatively quiet by his high standards.

Terrell Vinson

This lanky wing has the ability to shoot or drive into the lane.  He buried a three pointer, but his shot was a little inconsistent.  Terrell also battled inside on the boards.  He was the lone Montrose player in double figures with 12 points.

Tristian Spurlock

Tristian made most of his impact on the defensive end.  The athletic forward blocked several shots.  He also crashed the boards and scored some on follow-ups.  Overall it was a quiet game offensively for him though.

Bishop Loughlin 72 Trenton Catholic 48

Bishop Loughlin

Doron Lamb

Doron has quickly risen up the ladder to put himself among New York’s elite this season.  He did nothing but help himself on Sunday in his ascent towards the top.  He’s a big time scorer that can put the ball in the hoop in a number of ways.  He possesses a silky smooth jumper and the ability to hit it from anywhere on the court.  He hit several of the pull up variety as well as from beyond the arc.  Doron even worked inside and buried a fade away post jump shot.  The explosive scorer had a number of transition baskets.  Some of those came off his own steals, but he also does leak out early a lot of times.  Doron did crash the boards on occasion too.  He was Most Outstanding Player with his team high 28 points in the victory.

Jay Pinkston

Jay had an impact on the boards as usual.  He did hit a free throw line jumper and was able to get into the lane, but had a rough day converting.  He missed a dunk, was blocked and turned the ball over a couple of times. 

American Christian 68 South Kent School 62 (OT)

American Christian

Lamont “Momo” Jones  (2009 Louisville Commit)

With Tyreke Evans out of the lineup, it seemed to take Momo some time to adjust.  Once he got going though, he exploded and led his team to victory.  He opened by missing his first four three point attempts and really struggled with his shot over the first three quarters.  The deft shooter did manage to start hitting from the perimeter late in the game.  He was also aggressive attacking off the dribble throughout the contest.  Momo finished with 24 points in this one.

Jeremiah Kelly (2008 DePaul Commit)

With Tyreke Evans not playing, I thought Jeremiah would have a bigger game.  He hit a couple three pointers, but otherwise was relatively quiet.  He missed a floater and a transition basket.  His shot wasn’t on like it was last week at Villanova.

South Kent

Dion Wiaters (2010 Syracuse Commit)

Dion is a talented young guard who can score.  He started off strong by hitting a couple outside jumpers.  The quick ball handler then when to the hoop.  He did draw a foul and dished out an assist.  Later on he got all the way to the rim for a dunk.  Dion did cool off later in the game from the perimeter and also had a couple misses around the hoop (including one where he was blocked).

Isaiah Thomas

This smooth lefty can really score.  He loves knocking down shots that are of the pull up variety.  He has a quick release and a smooth stroke.  He used a beautiful crossover move on one occasion before stopping and popping.  Isaiah had a nice scoop finish around the hoop too.  He could benefit more by distributing more frequently.  Isaiah can light up a scoreboard though and did so to the tune of 31 points in this loss.

Jin Soo Kim

Jin is a big wing forward.  He’s very fundamentally sound.  He throws crisp passes and can get into the lane using head fakes and other moves.  He banked a shot on the inside and had an offensive rebound putback.  Jin also pulled down several rebounds.  He’s actually more explosive than he initially looks.  He does need to add more muscle, although it’s not as critical since he plays a lot on the perimeter.

Assane Sene

Assane is a very long and thin post player.  He has some great natural ability, but still doesn’t appear to have put it all together yet.  He made his mark in this one on the glass and blocking shots.  The athletic post player had an impressive blocked shot where he was falling away from the ball.

Maurice Creek

Maurice is a solid role player of the bench.  He can really shoot the basketball and he buried a three pointer and an 8 foot jumper in the lane in this one.  He also grabbed several rebounds in his limited action.

Linden 77 St. Raymond’s 68 (OT)

St. Raymond’s

Daryl “Truck” Bryant (2008 West Virginia Commit)

Truck was huge in this overtime loss.  He did some damage on the perimeter as he nailed several three pointers, including one to force overtime.  The bulky guard also was on the attack.  He was able to get into the lane quite easily with his quickness and drew a number of fouls.  Truck did all he could, but it wasn’t enough against the talented Linden squad.  He was named Most Outstanding Player for his team after dropping 22 points.

Omari Lawrence

Omari was very sluggish early on.  The smooth guard got it going though and made several plays down the stretch.  He never has a problem getting into the lane.  He wasn’t able to finish early on, but as the game wore on he started scoring around the rim.  Omari got out and ran the floor and dished up several assists.  It wasn’t his best scoring game, but he was still solid.

Kevin Parrom

Kevin got up and down the court and made some plays in transition.  He got the offense going with a couple steals.  He scored an old fashioned three point play and hit a runner in the lane.  The talented forward struggled with his perimeter jumper though.  Kevin hit for 16 points in the loss.

Linden

David Bruce

David has really come into his own this winter and was phenomenal on Sunday afternoon en route to 35 points and 15 rebounds. He finishes very well around the hoop and was a real thorn in the side of the Raven’s defense. He scored on several old fashioned three point plays, including a reverse lay-up. He ran the floor and had an array of transition lay-ups and a dunk. David also found himself at the line quite frequently and used his smooth stroke to convert from there. Needless to say, he’s also a monster on the boards. David is a player we’ll be sure to keep a close eye on over the summer. He could wind up being one of those kids that really explodes between now and next year.

Brian also reviewed several mid-major prospects, a few of which could develop into Big East targets (AJ Mathews?) in time at CAAInsider.com with his story, Primetime Shootout – Day 2 Trenton.

Here is Brian’s story for the NBE Basketball Report on his first day in Trenton:  Brian Crowonver on Philly HS Beat (Primetime Day 1).

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