Out in Los Angeles at the HAX Athletic Club in, the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) wrapped up their pre-Peach Jam Sessions with their third showcase of AAU teams. Top teams will be selected to go to the Nike Peach Jam finals in South Carolina - it should be called the Palmetto Jam, but that's a side issue for another day.
The Peach Jam is always a fun chance to watch the next big college stars competing on a nationally observed stage. Last year's sessions provided great statistical insights into some Red Storm targets, a sense of what their tendencies are.
We haven't gone into great detail about Kyle Anderson. He's one of the Red Storm's 2012 targets and looks like he might be a nice fit; he's highly ranked, but confusing to scouts. He's got excellent size for a college (and maybe even pro) forward or wing. But his game is all about facilitation. Anderson's the moderator of offenses. The maestro of the orchestra.
How did Kyle Anderson do at EYBL? Take a look, below the fold>>
(Stats provided by Nike EYBL)
The baller dubbed "Slo-Motion" (and you can see him in slo-mo action in the video below) is simply effective every time he goes out. He's steady, efficient, effective, and well known for his basketball intellect.
Interestingly, this Memorial Day weekend saw him go for his shot more. Kyle Anderson took almost 13 field goal attempts per game, a leap from the 8 field goal attempts he took in the first two EYBL sessions in Virginia and Dallas. Anderson scored more points, but handed out a mediocre 3.2 assists per game:
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Kyle Anderson EYBL Los Angeles
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Points
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OReb
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DReb
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TReb
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Asts
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TO
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Stls
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FG%
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14.4
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2.0
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9.4
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11.4
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3.2
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3.0
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2.0
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46.9%
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He still rebounds the defensive end very well. Can he do that in college, against wider and stronger forwards? I hope to hear more about Anderson's weekend, and will update this post with comments on his game - whether he was trying to show his scoring versatility or some other change in his game.
These are his averages over all the EYBL sessions:
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Kyle Anderson EYBL All Sessions
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Points
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OReb
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DReb
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TReb
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Asts
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TO
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Stls
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FG%
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13.5
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1.5
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6.5
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7.9
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6.0
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2.0
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2.3
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54.4%
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In earlier sessions, he shot less and shot better, handed out more assists, but also rebounded the defensive end less. One wonders if Anderson was showing his game at forward, playing a different position?
Besides the passing and the defensive rebounding (and the field goal percentage), the rest of Anderson's numbers are in line with what he did at the EYBL sessions. The tempo-neutral look (if the headers are unfamiliar, read our tempo-neutral terminology primer):
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Kyle Anderson, tempo neutral stats, all EYBL sessions
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Min%
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eFG%
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2p%
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3p%
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FTR
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ft%
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poss
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ast%
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to%
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stl%
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or%
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dr%
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86.6%
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57.1%
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58.1%
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34.8%
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33.3%
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69.4%
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19.3%
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33.5%
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16.8%
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4.4%
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5.7%
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22.0%
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He doesn't take up a lot of possessions... hands out assists like candy at Halloween... and can rebound the defensive end pretty solidly. He doesn't shoot many threes. 23 of his 147 shots have been from beyond the arc, about 15% of his attempts; that's an area he could improve on to give him more versatility. But other than that, Anderson's been fantastic in these sessions.
Anderson's interesting to see at the top of recruiting rankings, and I see different recruiting outlets have him slotted anywhere from fouth to twentieth - he's not the athletic/ dunking/ flashy/ power player type that makes the pros wonder if the rules on not taking high school players are misguided. But this kid is skilled like very few seem to be, and steady, a great pickup for any program.
(For more links to the weekend's AAU action, check out Rucker to Rupp's list of links.)
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