borninthebarn
True Believer
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- Nov 20, 2008
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I went down to the Howard Pulley league for the first time last night. It was the first time I have seen either Royce or Rodney live, so I was ready for good show. Vince Grier showed up and while a lot heavier than he was in college reminded fans how fun he is to watch.
In the first game Rodney was slow to start. The Madison Magic team put a bigger guy on him to keep him from the rim for put-backs and rebounds. They called him out a couple of times to remind his guy to keep him off the rim for alley-oops. Rodney responded by nailing 2 NBA-land three pointers and picking up a few more points where he could (I didn't keep track and don't know his stats). He also had a breakaway where he attempted a 360 dunk but took off from just too far and ended a couple inches short and missed.
In the second half as the defenders tired Rodney was given a little space and the crowd was rewarded. He had 2-3 fantastic put-back dunks and some good rebounds. He tends to drift a lot when taking mid-range jump shots (not surprised when you can jump like that). Tubby will fix that and improve his mid-range game quite a bit. With a couple of minutes left B2X had built a ~12 point lead and things sort of went silly - Grier had the ball at mid-court and spiked it into the ground as an alley-oop, and Rodney went up and put it down. Silliness, but fun to watch.
Hoffarber had a solid game - shot probably 33-40% (wasn't counting) from 3. He started to heat up at one point - hit 2-3 in a row, but HP is not the kind of league where teams work to set up the guy with the hot hand - you have to get the ball and make your own shot. Hoff didn't shoot for a long time and when he finally put up a couple more they rimmed out. Other than that had his normal solid game with cuts, assists, and solid defense.
In the second game Royce's Hudson Enterprises team played the HP Panthers. Seantrel is a beast of a man. Jacob Thomas can flat-out shoot the rock. I only stayed until half, but Royce clearly has a Big Ten-ready body. I think the HP guys are only a year behind him in age but he looks several years older than all of them (other than Seantrel) physique-wise.
Royce didn't do a whole lot in the first half after putting up 6 of the first 7 points (mostly because the rest of his team thought it wise to jack threes every time down the court). Hudson Enterprises was getting schooled by the quicker and more in-shape HP team. Hudson could have dominated if they would have worked inside. The only guy on the HP team that could handle Royce's strength was Seantrel, and Hudson had 3 guys Royce's size or bigger.
Overall, I was impressed by both Royce and Rodney. It's been said before, but I'll say it again - Rodney is some kind of athlete. If he can find a mid-range jumper and bulk up a bit to handle the Big Ten he could be really fun to watch. Rodney was better than I expected from long range (4 for 5 from NBA-land I think). Royce is a man - we could have a really physical front line for a change with Colton, Trevor, and Royce.
In the first game Rodney was slow to start. The Madison Magic team put a bigger guy on him to keep him from the rim for put-backs and rebounds. They called him out a couple of times to remind his guy to keep him off the rim for alley-oops. Rodney responded by nailing 2 NBA-land three pointers and picking up a few more points where he could (I didn't keep track and don't know his stats). He also had a breakaway where he attempted a 360 dunk but took off from just too far and ended a couple inches short and missed.
In the second half as the defenders tired Rodney was given a little space and the crowd was rewarded. He had 2-3 fantastic put-back dunks and some good rebounds. He tends to drift a lot when taking mid-range jump shots (not surprised when you can jump like that). Tubby will fix that and improve his mid-range game quite a bit. With a couple of minutes left B2X had built a ~12 point lead and things sort of went silly - Grier had the ball at mid-court and spiked it into the ground as an alley-oop, and Rodney went up and put it down. Silliness, but fun to watch.
Hoffarber had a solid game - shot probably 33-40% (wasn't counting) from 3. He started to heat up at one point - hit 2-3 in a row, but HP is not the kind of league where teams work to set up the guy with the hot hand - you have to get the ball and make your own shot. Hoff didn't shoot for a long time and when he finally put up a couple more they rimmed out. Other than that had his normal solid game with cuts, assists, and solid defense.
In the second game Royce's Hudson Enterprises team played the HP Panthers. Seantrel is a beast of a man. Jacob Thomas can flat-out shoot the rock. I only stayed until half, but Royce clearly has a Big Ten-ready body. I think the HP guys are only a year behind him in age but he looks several years older than all of them (other than Seantrel) physique-wise.
Royce didn't do a whole lot in the first half after putting up 6 of the first 7 points (mostly because the rest of his team thought it wise to jack threes every time down the court). Hudson Enterprises was getting schooled by the quicker and more in-shape HP team. Hudson could have dominated if they would have worked inside. The only guy on the HP team that could handle Royce's strength was Seantrel, and Hudson had 3 guys Royce's size or bigger.
Overall, I was impressed by both Royce and Rodney. It's been said before, but I'll say it again - Rodney is some kind of athlete. If he can find a mid-range jumper and bulk up a bit to handle the Big Ten he could be really fun to watch. Rodney was better than I expected from long range (4 for 5 from NBA-land I think). Royce is a man - we could have a really physical front line for a change with Colton, Trevor, and Royce.