The 63rd annual Portsmouth Invitational Tournament is taking place at the Churchland High School Sports Complex. We’ll be reviewing the top performers of the event. After the first two days here are the players who have impressed us.
Traveon Graham (VCU) – Graham was solid and reinforced our belief that he is the top NBA prospect at the PIT. He is a good but not a great athlete. He has superior strength for a 2 or 3. He is a good three point shooter with a nice quick release. Graham can put the ball on the floor and is strong enough to finish at the rim. He has the strength to post up most defenders and is solid defensively. He must improve his free throw shooting and distribute the ball as he did tonight on a consistent basis.
Traevon Graham
D.J. Newbill (Penn State) – Newbill is a quick player who can score in a variety of ways. The question concerning Newbill is if he can he play the point. At 6’4″ it is possible that he could be a secondary point guard while playing the two. He is not very long but can put points on the board in a hurry. He is strong and physical and does possess good court vision. He shot 37% from distance and he would enhance his chances of playing at the NBA level if he can raise that percentage into the low to mid forties.
Marcus Thornton (William and Mary) – Thornton is another player who has to prove he can play the point. He has good court vision and can get into the lane and kick the ball out to spot up shooters or make interior passes to bigs in the paint. Thornton is a scorer. He can create separation with his quickness and his ability to change speeds and has a nice step back jumper. He must get stronger to finish consistently at the hoop and work harder on the defensive end. Thornton is a superb free throw shooter.
LaDontae Henton (Providence) – The effort and hustle he exhibits is what makes Henton one of our favorite players to watch. He has a great nose for the ball, is a very good rebounder for his size and can score in the paint. However, Henton is only 6’6″, is a 34 percent shooter from beyond the arc and averages less than one assist per game. He did not try to do things he is incapable of tonight which you often see players do. We believe that he will play internationally at a fairly high level.
LaDontae Henton
Richaun Holmes (Bowling Green) – Holmes is a superior athlete. He runs the court well, is very quick off his feet and moves well laterally to alter or block shots. He is a good on-ball defender and help defender. He must still improve his ball handling however he has shown marked improvement in his face up game from his junior season. He shot 42% from beyond the arc on 43 attempts. He has the potential to play in the league if he can show more confidence from three point range in the form of more attempts or just become a consistent 18-20 foot jump shooter.
Matt Stainbrook (Xavier) – Big men are hard to judge at the PIT. Stainbrook is a large man who would benefit from toning his body by hitting the weight room and increasing his endurance. He is not an elite athlete by any means. However, he possesses soft hands and good foot work. He has a face up game out to 15 feet and if he can extend that to 20 feet he has a chance to stick with a team.
Pat Connaughton (Notre Dame) has a very fluid shot. He is tough and a good defender. However it would appear he has more high level potential as a baseball player.
Le’Bryan Nash (Oklahoma State) has NBA athleticism but has not shown great improvement over his college career after being a top recruit. He must greatly improve his face up game. Nash can finish at the basket but he must be able to do what a three can do in the league. His game does not project well overseas but his athleticism could be the great equalizer.
We will also be keeping an eye on K.T. Harrell of Auburn, Kendall Gray of Delaware State and Darion Atkins of Virginia to see if there is something we might have missed over their college careers.
Dave Maron is the lead College Scout for NetScouts Basketball. You can subscribe to our RSS feed from the upper right corner of our home page, follow us on Facebook, or on twitter.
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