Monday, October 5, 2009

Metro Fall League

Metro Fall League started Sunday night at Arlington High School and will run through the first weekend of November. There is a solid line-up of D1 commits and D1 prospects including Chrishawn Hopkins (Butler), Austin Etherington (Indiana University), Ethan Jacobs (Ohio University)along with prospects Khristian Smith (Pike), Neal Beshears (Winchester), Brad Hartman (Union County), Tyler Greathouse (Columbus North), Max Landis (Perry Meridian), Steven Jamison (Broad Ripple), and Demetrius Lawson (Zionsville).

Steven Jamison 6'5 Broad Ripple
showed a full offensive game. He converted a few jump hooks over smaller defenders and also showed range to about 21 or 22 feet. Definitely a mid-major type of wing and maybe higher depending on the program.

Max Landis 6'0 Perry Meridian is vastly underrated right now. He is good with hesitation moves and was getting into the lane at will Sunday and finishing which is just important. There isn't a lack of 6'0 point guards though. I think he would be great at a low major school although he can probably play higher depending on his development.

Khristian Smith 6'5 Pike showed a little more athleticism than I thought he had on an alley-opp that was thrown too high and he went up and got it with 2 hands. It was very impressive. He, also, came over from the weak side to block some shots high off the glass. He has a good outside stroke when he is spotted up.

Austin Etherington 6'6 Hamilton Heights hit some big shots down the stretch in one of his games to lead his team to a win. It looks like he has added some muscle which will be key for his collegiate career. He can do everything on the court.

Chrishawn Hopkins 6'2 Herron blows my mind at how unselfish he is even in games like this fall league. He does take a lot of shots but he could shoot every time down the court and it would rarely be a bad shot because he can elevate over a defender for a shot, he can beat most defenders to the rim and then finish the play way above the rim. He is always screening and setting up teammates for easy baskets. Butler definitely has a good one with Hopkins.

Demetrius Lawson 6'2 Zionsville had a good night showing that he can finish at the rim and shoot the ball from the outside. I would like him to develop into more of a point guard, but he is good enough to play the 2/3 at most colleges. He uses his strength to get by people a lot right now which he probably won't be able to do at the next level.

Neal Beshears 6'6 Winchester
looked really good playing against Austin Etherington. He did a good job defending him and really bothered Etherington with his length. I really think if he can add some muscle that his game will grow immediately.

Christian Ford 5'10 Ritter had a good first night. He is a solid spot up shooter that can create shots for people but struggles with shot selection. He is probably a D2 prospect right now heading into his junior year.

I didn't get a chance to see much of 2 teams. The team with Ethan Jacobs and DJ Ballentine was impressive but I did not get to see them play very much. I did not get to see much of Coach Stang's team play either which has Greathouse, Dodd, and Eric Harris. I hope to see them more this weekend.