[OutletPass]

Thanks Uber...sorry...I mean WF3...those were kind words also.

I am a proud father...no question about that...but since I DO coach a Select AAU team, I can be more circumspect...

SO many of my old friends here always ask me about the Sock...they've followed him for a while now, so, I guess for the newer members, I'll have to back up and tell you about him:

In 6th and 7th grade, he was the pg. He didn't shoot much or rebound much or block any shots. But what HE DID DO was to send laser passes to two 6' footers; steal everything in sight; and have 18 assists for every turnover. But he was growing and we knew that he was going to grow out of the 1 spot. We spent a lot of time on his rebounding, FT's and his strength.

In 8th grade, he'd gone from 5'5" to 5'10"...and he had to play the 5. Under a horrible coach. It was a little bit of a lost year...even though he was the 2nd best 8th grader in the Dallas area; the best was a 6'6" kid who looks and plays like Dirk...a kid from Colleyville Heritage who's supposed to end up at 7 ft +. Ro teaches both of them.

I know that this sounds like an incredible jump. From a 5'5" PG to a 5'10" C in 8th grade..but it really wasn't that short. He put in hours and hours of hard work. He's just a gym rat and has had the good fortune to have been mentored by RO and all of the HS guys here in Coppell; their 7' footer, Stuart Creason, and their 6'5" guard Bryan Gaston and their 6' PG, Ryan Wall, helped mentor him. So, the Sock has had to play against everything; guys who were much taller; guys who were much faster; and that's how he learned.

Last summer, we divided time between the MLK center in Denton and the Coppell gym...and I think that's what really made a big difference. He learned to play both black and white...in musical terms, he learned to play improvisational jazz and Mozart.

Ok MF3, now to what you asked.....

What he does well:
1) He defends ONTHE BALL...and all of his blocked shots are on his man. Not from the help side.
2) He sees the court FLUIDLY. And can hit his man under the basket, from the perimeter, with a laser pass. Or he can drive and dump pass into his man under the basket.
3) He can shoot from anywhere...really tough down law; really soft from outside. He can create his own shot or just take a pass and shoot.
4) He's a hellacious rebounder....he's got a 36" vertical and is just instinctive. He knows the angles and his teammtes shot tendencies.
5) He'll rebound...take the ball up court like a PG, then take it to the hole like a PF. AND finish with an "And One"
6) He's extremely smart and can figure out, in the first quarter, what the referees are calling and which guys on the other team can actually play.
7) He doesn't take bad shots or make bad decisions.
7) He wants to WIN. Actually, that's his best virtue.

What he doesn't do well:
1) He can be taken out of the game, for a quarter or a half, by his own frustration. THIS was REALLY a problem 2 years ago. But it's still his achilles heel. If he doesn't hit EVERY SHOT or if the referees are inconsistent, he DOES have a tendency to lose focus. He'll keep blocking shots and he'll still rebound...but he won't play much "O".
2) He's too unselfish. And that's just his old PG mentality. He'd still love to hit a great pass rather than score himself.
3) He doesn't understand what he can do....I've seen him hit so many game winners, time after time, in tournaments or in a camp, and it's still that PG mentality...not like Nash (because Nash can shoot)..,but he'll give the ball up.
4) Taller, stronger players can beat on him. He's almost 6'2" and he weighs 170. But at the 5, he's always going against bigger players. He's a 2 or a 3, who depend on quickness and leaping ability. But we're going to get him stronger; no doubt about that.


Hawaii is still Sock's first choice; but he's getting a lot of attention from UT because of the recruiters who are in Denton for Austin Jackson....if you don't know who Austin is...he's a 2 sport All-American....punch up that name on "GToogle".