Friday, December 31, 2010

ESPN's Joel Francisco on some top Bay Area talents

Joel Francisco of ESPN is looking at some Bay Area talents in action this week here and here:

Jabari Brown (Oakland, Calif./Oakland)
2011, SG, 6-foot-5, 190 pounds)
Brown tossed in 31-points, mostly from deep range, and his shot selection was efficient. He is a terrific catch-and-shoot type and his touch is feathery. He has an improved step-back jump shot off the dribble, but overall his perimeter game (ball handling) needs to improve for the next level.
 
Richard Longruss (Oakland, Calif./Bishop O'Dowd)
2012, WF, 6-6, 200
Teammate Brandon Ashley gets most of the notoriety, and rightly so, but Longruss was O'Dowd's best player on this day. He is a basketball player in every sense of the word at both ends of the floor. His length is impressive and he's a terrific all-around defender. Offensively, he is an outstanding rebounder and he can play inside and out. The potential is there for the high-majors to get involved.

Brandon Ashley
2012, PF, 6-8, 215
After a subpar first half in terms of effort (struggled to finish with contact) and production, Ashley dominated the second half as he led his team to a semifinal battle against an outstanding Long Beach Poly squad. Ashley utilized his length and soft hands to convert numerous baskets in the paint area. Defensively, he had a number of high-level blocks where he was able to keep the ball in play to get spark his team's transition game. Overall, Ashley has an immense upside but his fundamentals (brings the ball down) and skill-set (limited post moves) need to improve immensely for him to maintain his lofty national ranking.

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