At the end of the first part of the July live period guard/ forward/ hybrid/ PROBLEM Kyle Anderson killed at Nike's Eliite Youth Basketball (EYBL) League for the New Jersey-based Playaz Basketball Club.
The finals are tonight, and televised, but the Playaz lost to the Oakland Soldiers last night in the quarterfinals, finishing the EYBL at 4-1. Anderson almost averaged a triple-double. Unlike Ricardo Gathers' five games at Peach Jam, though, there were few warts to be seen in Anderson's game - except for his free throw shooting.
But everything else was spectacular.
Targeted by St. John's, Seton Hall, Georgetown, and Florida, Kyle Anderson averaged 18.8 points per game. And 8.2 assists per game. AND 9.2 rebounds. That's almost a triple double, an elite facilitator who also dominated defensive rebounding, allowing him to take the board and handle the game from end to end - a la Jason Kidd. His turnovers (1.7 per game, or 10% of his possessions) was off-the-charts, though it is AAU basketball - not the spirit of tough defense or anything.
Anderson also shot 4 for 6 from outside the arc, and 57% inside the arc, continuing his sharp play from Anderson's first day at Peach Jam.
The only quibble is the 56% shooting on free throws (27 of 48). He shot 69% in the first set of EYBL sessions; perhaps this is just a hiccup. But those are a lot of free throw attempts to miss. Fatigue from so many events? Or an actual hitch?
Anderson is dominant enough that that's no reason to hate on the 2012 prospect. Rivals' Jerry Meyer sums it up succinctly:
A lot has been written about Anderson’s unique abilities and rightfully so. He processes the game on a higher level than the rest and has the skill level and length to capitalize on his high basketball IQ.
And from NBE Basketball:
What more can be said about Kyle Anderson that hasn’t been said already? He was brilliant against every defender on the Soldiers roster. They threw bigger guys at him and he used his deadly crossover to get into the paint. They threw shorter, quicker defenders at him and he went down to the right block and went to work. It seemed like every player on the Oakland Soldiers got a chance at stopping Kyle Anderson and every one came away shaking their head. Scouts can critique Anderson’s foot speed all they want. He is a winning basketball player who with excel at any college he chooses thanks to his toughness, basketball IQ, and leadership.
The recruitniks love Anderson, and St. John's fans should hope Anderson loves Steve Lavin and the staff's ability to train him for the NBA just as much.
Basic stats from Anderson's five games at the 2011 Nike Peach Jam:
|
MIN
|
TP
|
FG
|
FGA
|
fg%
|
FG
|
FGA
|
FT
|
FTA
|
OF
|
DE
|
TOT
|
PF
|
A
|
TO
|
BLK
|
S
|
|
29.3
|
18.8
|
6.8
|
12.0
|
56.9%
|
0.7
|
1.0
|
4.5
|
8.0
|
0.8
|
8.3
|
9.2
|
2.7
|
8.2
|
1.7
|
1.3
|
1.0
|
Tempo neutral stats (explanations of terms), from Peach Jam box scores, with the highlights in bold and green, the lowlights in red and italics:
|
min%
|
eFG%
|
2p
|
3p
|
FTR
|
ft%
|
sh%
|
poss
|
apg
|
to%
|
stl%
|
or%
|
dr%
|
ppp
|
|
91.5%
|
59.7%
|
56.9%
|
66.7%
|
66.7%
|
56.3%
|
28.5%
|
29.4%
|
27.2%
|
10.0%
|
1.9%
|
3.6%
|
32.7%
|
1.132
|
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