CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Cavaliers were 2-4 in the “regular season” of the 22nd National Basketball Players Association Top 100 Camp that was held in the University of Virginia’s John Paul Jones Arena.
But the team turned things around in dandy fashion during the playoffs to come away with the team championship, knocking off the Rockets, 78-75, in the title game Saturday night.
The Cavaliers, coached by NBA veterans Mike James and Trevor Booker and high school coach Derrick Taylor (Taft High in Woodland Hills, CA), went into the playoffs needing to edge and 2-4 team, the Bulls, in order to get into the bracket as the No. 8 seed.
It did so – in a six-minute “mini game” – early Saturday morning then stunned the top-seed Warriors, 76-70, despite trailing by as many as 12 points after intermission.
With junior-to-be guard Trevon Duval (Newark, NJ, St. Benedict’s) dropping in a camp’s best 30 points (on 11 of 14 shooting from the field, as well as five assists and four rebounds), the Cavaliers toppled the Wizards, 90-75, Saturday afternoon.
They then took the lead in the second quarter of the championship game and held off a couple of Rockets’ rallies to come away with what would have seemed like a very unlikely scenario for a title run on Friday night.
Duval, with 16 points, five rebounds, five assists and a couple of steals in the title game, was my choice as the Most Outstanding Player for the camp, although 7-foot-1 Thon Maker (Orangeville, Ontario, Athletes Institute) was the choice for the honor by camp administrators after leading the camp in scoring (15.8 points per game) and rebounding (7.9 per game) during the week.
Maker (21 points and 10 rebounds) and point guard Xavier Simpson (Lima, OH, Central Catholic; 15 points, five rebounds and three assists) did their part in keeping the Rockets within arm’s reach of the Cavaliers in the final.
The Cavaliers got impressive as forwards Sam Cunliffe (Seattle Rainier Beach) and Mario Kegler (Jacksonville, FL, Arlington Country Day) added 12 points apiece while guard Markelle Fultz (Hyattsville, MD, DeMatha) chipped in with 11.
Junior-to-be forward P.J. Washington (Henderson, NV, Findlay Prep) led the Cavaliers with seven rebounds while adding nine points in his best overall performance of the week.
Full disclosure: I’m a member of John Lucas’ Player Selection Committee for the NBPA Top 100 Camp.
My choices for the 20 athletes who most impressed me with the consistency of quality of performances over the week – and not necessarily just “potential for success beyond high school” – are as follows.
If I were selecting the “Top best prospects” in the camp, fellows such as 2017 class members DeAndre Ayton (San Diego Balboa School), Trae Young (Norman, OK, North), Gary Trent Jr. (Apple Valley, MN) and Jarred Vanderbilt (Houston Victory Prep) would have almost certainly would have been on the list.
But I don’t think any of the four played nearly as well, consistently over the week, as I’ve seen them perform on numerous other occasions.
TOP 20 (alphabetically)
Class of 2016
Edrice Adebayo (6-9/Pinetown, NC, Northside)
Bryce Aiken (5-10/Elizabeth, NJ, Patrick School)
Udoka Azubuike (6-11/Jacksonville, FL, Potter’s House Christian)
Bruce Brown (6-3/Saxton’s River, VT, Vermont Academy)
Markelle Fultz (6-5/Hyattsville, MD, DeMatha)
Temple Gibbs (6-3/West Orange, NJ, Seton Hall Prep)
Kyle Guy (6-2/Indianapolis Lawrence Central)
Frank Jackson (6-3/Highland, UT, Lone Peak)
De’Riante Jenkins (6-6/Orlando, FL, West Oak)
Thon Maker (7-1/Orangeville, ON, Orangeville)
Shamorie Ponds (6-1/Brooklyn Jefferson)
Payton Pritchard (6-2/West Linn, OR)
Xavier Simpson (6-0/Lima, OH, Central Catholic)
Omari Spellman (6-9/Granby, MA, MacDuffie School)
Jethro Tshiumpa (6-9/Grundy, VA, Mountain Mission)
Class of 2017
DeAnde Ayton (6-11/San Diego, Balboa School)
Mohamed Bamba (6-11/Westview, PA, West Town School)
Trevon Duval (6-2/Newark, NJ, St. Benedict’s)
D.J. Harvey (6-6/Hyattsville, MD, DeMatha)
Billy Preston (6-9/DeSoto, TX)
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