Hoophall Classic: Monday
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SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- The 2015 HoopHall Classic wrapped up with a terrific slate of games on Monday. The nation's top player Ben Simmons, performed as expected, as did the nation's No. 2 player Jaylen Brown. Dwayne Bacon continued his huge senior season while five-star juniors Jayson Tatum and V.J. King dueled. Simmons dominates The nation's No. 1 player, Ben Simmons, led Montverde (Fla.) Academy to the floor against Las Vegas (Nev.) Bishop Gorman in a game that featured a ridiculous amount of size along each team's front line. A senior power forward, Simmons was dominant while leading Montverde to the 76-57 win over Gorman.
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Ben Simmons backed up his No. 1 ranking on Monday. |
More about that size, though. Accompanying the 6-foot-9 Simmons in the Montverde starting lineup was near seven-foot tall four-star Wake Forest signee Doral Moore and 6-foot-8 four-star Florida signee Noah Dickerson. Adding to the size off the bench were 7-foot-4 Florida State bound senior Jean Marc Koumadje and 6-foot-9 freshman E.J. Montgomery. Not to be outdone, Gorman countered with top ten seniors Stephen Zimmerman and Chase Jeter plus top 60 junior Zach Collins, all of whom stand at least 6-foot-10. In the end, though, it didn't matter because the LSU bound Simmons was clearly the best player on the floor. He didn't hit any of his jumpers, but he didn't really have to. Stronger and quicker off the floor, Simmons was a monster at the rim getting one dunk or close-in finish after another. Add in his ability to handle the ball, finish with either hand, and pass and it is pretty apparent why he ranks No. 1 in the class. While he scored 36 points and grabbed nine rebounds, the Gorman front line of Jeter, Zimmerman and Collins combined for just 16 points and 15 rebounds. Brown and Rabb go largeMany of Monday's games were televised nationally on ESPNU. The first of the televised game was a battle between Marietta (Ga.) Wheeler and Oakland (Calif.) Bishop O'Dowd. Headlining things for Wheeler was the nation's No. 2 player in the class of 2015, Jaylen Brown, while O'Dowd countered with the senior class's No. 7 player, Ivan Rabb. Neither disappointed in O'Dowd's 79-70 win.
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Five-star Jaylen Brown was dynamic on Monday. |
While his team took the loss, Brown was absolutely spectacular. A 6-foot-7 small forward, Brown showed off his athleticism, skill, power and grace, oftentimes in the same move. Whether he was elevating for slams, attacking off the dribble or hitting tough jumpers, the O'Dowd defense simply had to sit back and hope Brown missed as he racked up 31 points and 12 rebounds before fouling out. Brown's hard charging style does result in some turnovers (he had five) but the way he combines explosiveness and power is like a young Isaiah "J.R." Rider used to. If anybody is going to challenge Simmons for the No. 1 spot in the country, it is Brown. After a recent visit to North Carolina, Brown will next visit Michigan officially. The plan wa to head to Ann Arbor this weekend but the trip will be postponed and a new date will be set. Kentucky (John Calipari watched), UCLA (assistant on hand), Georgia, Kansas and Georgia Tech remain in the mix. On the other side, it looked for a while like Rabb's sluggish play in Springfield, Mo. at the Bass Pro Tournament of Champions might have followed him to Springfield, Mass. But as it turned out, that wasn't the case. The 6-foot-9 (maybe 6-foot-10) power forward put together a massive second half of 16 points, nine rebounds and three blocks to finish the game with 24, 12 and five. It was as fine a half as the No. 7 player in the class of 2015 has ever turned in. He hit elbow jumpers, spun for dunks, controlled the glass and was a menace on defense. Afterwards, Rabb reiterated what he told Rivals.com on Thursday night about taking official visits to Kansas, UCLA and California before making his decision. Tatum and King duel The final game of the night was a battle of Catholic schools as St. Louis (Mo.) Chaminade and 2016's No. 4 player Jayson Tatum took out Fairfax (Va.) Paul VI and 2016's No. 18 player V.J. King 88-78.
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2016 five-star Jayson Tatum was at his best on Monday. |
A 6-foot-8 small forward and five-star prospect, Tatum filled the stat sheet as expected with 25 points, 14 rebounds and three assists. However, it wasn't his gaudy numbers that were most impressive. It was the way he tapped into his teammates and got them to play at a higher level. Many other times when Rivals.com has seen Tatum, his teammates have had a tendency to stand around and watch him play. It was almost as if he was playing a one man NBA isolation game in a high school setting. On Monday, Tatum had his teammates moving and getting involved and communicating with each other, which took a significant load off Tatum's back and made him a better player at the same time. There will be times down the road where Tatum will have to take over on offense but it wasn't needed on Monday. Seeing him recognize that, and the manner in which his teammates fed off his leadership, was something else. He's scored more points, grabbed more rebounds and dished out more assists before, but for our money Tatum's performance Monday was as solid as Rivals.com has ever seen him. On the other side, King picked up exactly where he left off when we saw him on Thursday at the Bass Pro Tournament of Champions. Actually, King took his game to a new level going off for 38 points and five rebounds. The 6-foot-7 five-star wing looked great attacking the rim and pulling up for his patented mid-range jumper. He also stuck some threes and got to the free throw line. Here's a kid who admitted that he wasn't playing well earlier in the season. Rather than pout about it, he looked in the mirror and changed some things with his game. King still needs to add some strength, but this version of him where he's offensively aggressive without taking questionable shots is one that is an awful lot of fun to watch. It could have him moving back up in the rankings. Final Monday notes

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FSU commit Dwayne Bacon continued his strong senior season. |
Ohio State post commit Daniel Giddens also had a nice afternoon for Oak Hill. After having what could best be described as a "quiet" senior season, Giddens put forth the best effort Rivals.com has seen from him this year by scoring 12 points, grabbing seven rebounds and blocking four shots. Oak Hill is a pretty jump shot happy team and he did a good job of scoring where he could and helping to erase defensive mistakes at the rim.





