Jordan Brand Classic Part 1
The Jordan Brand Classic is tonight in Brooklyn at Barclays. A perfect setting to showcase around 20 of the top high school players in the country.
But first, teams practices were held at Terminal 23. For those of you who do not know about Terminal 23, it is Carmelo Anthony and Jordan Brand’s special gym. It used to be an ornate ballroom and was transformed into a basketball court and training facility. Terminal 23 is definitely one of the coolest places I’ve ever seen basketball being played, if you have the opportunity to go there, you should definitely check it out.
The atmosphere in the gym was surreal, the walls lined with rows of NBA scouts evaluating these kids… again (after the McDonald’s all American game and Nike Hoop Summit). In my opinion,here are the standouts from yesterday’s practice- Jonathan Isaac, Miles Bridges, Bruce Brown and Tony Bradley. Each of them stood out in a different way and really were able to show their skill set against the best of the best. Isaac is only listed at 6’9″ but definitely looked at least 6’10”, he is an unbelievable athlete to go along with his size, and showcased his jump shot that extends all the way to the 3 point line. Bridges just did his thing as usual, shooting a consistent deep ball, attacking the rim with power, and throwing down rim-rattling dunks . Brown came in not as highly touted as some of the other prospects, but did much more than hold his own. He got inside buckets whenever he wanted and hit multiple jump shots. Last but not least, Tony Bradley. He really impressed me at McDonald’s and continued to do that yesterday, showing off his athleticism by running the floor and flushing down dunks, and stepping outside and knocking down the jump shot. All of these guys are very intriguing prospects and should make an impact right away in the college game next year.
Also, at the conclusion of the practice I got to catch up with the East coaches, Mike Jones (DeMatha), Glenn Farello (Paul VI) and Sharman White (Miller Grove). I asked them what it’s like coaching an all-star game and how they are going to coach, “The kids are the reason it’s an all star game, so we want to let them do their thing, but also have a little structure to it,” said Miller Grove coach Sharman White. Also, they said they are going to try to balance out the minutes as much as possible. At the McDonald’s All American game playing time was a problem, as some players barely got double digit minutes. You can see these players and coaches go to work on ESPN2 at 8PM eastern time.