Evaluating Tyus Battle, Ray Spalding, and Oshae Brissett

February 6, 2018

I took the time to watch a ACC basketball game that was played between Syracuse and Louisville, as this featured numerous prospects that could end up being drafted in 2018. It was a highly competitive match that went back and forth, but the Orangemen were able to hold on to get the win, as they received strong guard play from Tyus Battle and Frank Howard, and Oshae Brissett also played fairly well, while Louisville’s big men, Ray Spalding and Anas Mahmoud had solid performances in their team’s loss to Syracuse.

Syracuse’s 6-6 sophomore swingman, Tyus Battle had a solid showing to help lead his team to a close win over Louisville. He made numerous shots to help his team on offense, and he ended up having a very good all-around game on this day. He did a very good job of scoring on strong drives to the basket. Battle is an agile player that has a solid first step off the dribble, and he has the strength to consistently finish plays around the hoop. He can score on floaters, and he also managed to score on a reverse layup as well as on a one-handed scoop shot in traffic.

Also, he showed an adequate ability to knock down mid-range jumpers to space the floor for his team. Battle had a knack for scoring on pull-up jump shots from all over the court, but sometimes he would tend to overdo it, as that would occasionally lead to misses. He did take a couple of three-point attempts, but he was not able to get those to go in.

He also displayed decent playmaking skills. Battle did a good job of throwing accurate passes off the dribble, and he generally threw good interior passes when he was on the floor. He only committed one turnover as he generally passed and handled the ball well, but that came when he attempted to throw a dump off pass off of a drive that ended up getting intercepted by a defender. Plus, Battle was able to collect his fair share of boards when he was on the floor.

He also played good defense. Battle managed to jump a pass to get a steal, and he managed to poke a ball away but it went back to an opponent to almost collect another. Also, he would contest threes to force misses, but sometimes, he would not make timely rotations, as that would occasionally lead to scores for the other team. In general, Tyus Battle played very well, and he scored 25 points to help lift his team to a victory over Louisville. He had a strong showing to get Syracuse the win in this game, and he could end up being a solid pick for an NBA team in the late first to the second round range of the upcoming draft.

Louisville’s 6-10 junior big man, Ray Spalding played very well in his team’s loss to Syracuse. He played well in virtually every facet of the game, and he excelled at making plays on both ends of the floor when he was on the court. He did a good job of getting scores in the post. He can score on jump hooks, and he also went up strong another time to score around the basket, as he also drew an extra free throw on that play afterwards. Plus, he also excelled at scoring on hustle plays. Spalding would score off of tip ins, off of a cut to the hoop, and he also threw down a thunderous dunk after being left open underneath the hoop.

Spalding also showed off good playmaking skills. He did a good job of hitting cutters from the high post to notch assists, and he also managed to throw a behind the back pass from the post to find a teammate to set up another scoring chance. Plus, he did not turn the ball over often, but he was called for setting a moving screen once on offense that led him to both commit an offensive foul and a turnover that time. He also rebounded the ball very well. Spalding was quite active on the glass, and he would leap up to haul in numerous boards when he was on the floor. But he ended up committing over the back foul when going for an offensive board once, as that led him to commit his third foul of the game.

Also, he exhibited fairly average defensive skills. Spalding managed to jump a pass to get a steal once. He also displayed nice footwork on a ball handler when defending out on the perimeter, as that led his opponent to pass the ball that also led to a shot clock violation shortly afterwards. Also, Spalding managed to rotate to contest a shot on a drive to force another miss, but he also tended to be late on his rotations, as that would cause him to commit a foul and allow scores on other times. Another time, he and another teammate trapped an opponent, but he ended up committing a foul on an opposing ball handler due to over-aggressiveness.

In summary, Ray Spalding had a solid showing in his team’s loss to Syracuse. He is a very athletic, energetic big man that plays with a high motor, and he could project to be a rim protector at the next level. With his skill set, he could end up being a good value pick in the second round for an NBA team in the upcoming draft.

Syracuse’s 6-8 freshman forward, Oshae Brissett played fairly well in his team’s win over Louisville. He excelled as a shooter and scorer when he was on the floor, but he also ended up fouling out due to running into constant foul trouble in the second half. Brissett excelled at knocking down threes from beyond the arc as he did a good job of helping his team space the floor on offense. He did a very good job of knocking down quick spot-up threes off the catch, and he also used a step-back move to draw free throws on a pull-up three. Plus, he also used a nifty pump fake off the dribble to draw free throws on a pull-up, mid-range jump shot.

He also showed a decent ability to score on drives to the basket. He used a pump fake move to score on a powerful dunk off of a high post drive, but he also would be prone to taking questionable shots at times, as he missed on a tough, switch of hands layup in traffic after driving in from the baseline another time. He also managed to draw a non-shooting foul when posting up, but he had his shot blocked another time when he looked to score from the block.

Also, he exhibited adequate playmaking skills when he was on the court. On one play, Brissett used a spin move off the dribble before finding an open teammate on the break to set up a dunk in transition to get an assist. Plus, he also generally did a good job of throwing interior passes, but he did commit a turnover once, as one of his passes ended up being intercepted by a defender. Brissett also did a very good job of rebounding the basketball, as he would frequently leap up to collect defensive boards when he was on the floor.

However, he did not play very good defense in this game. For a positive, he managed to deflect a long pass out of bounds to almost come away with a steal. On the other hand, Brissett tended to be out of position, as he would end up committing too many fouls defensively. Sometimes he would fall asleep on cuts to the hoop, as that would lead him to commit fouls and allow scores simultaneously, other times he would foul due to not moving his feet well enough on this end of the floor. Generally, he did not do a good job of making timely rotations on the defensive end.

In general, Oshae Brissett played well on offense, and he also excelled as a rebounder to help get his team the victory over Louisville. He struggled with foul trouble throughout the second half, but he was still able to be an effective floor spacer and rebounder for Syracuse. He’s an athletic combo forward that can score the basketball in a variety of ways. On the season, he has not shot the ball nearly as well, but if he can make more shots consistently and improve his shot selection, Brissett could end up being a potential first round pick in the future.

Louisville’s 7-0 senior center, Anas Mahmoud had a decent game in his team’s loss to Syracuse. He started off playing well, as he showed off some low post scoring and passing skills, and he was also active as a shot blocker in the paint defensively. He did struggle to score consistently throughout the contest and he did not rebound very well, but he was able to show off more offensive skills than was anticipated from him.

Mahmoud showed a fairly average ability to score in the post. He can score on jump hooks, and he also scored on a turnaround, drop step move. He also moves fairly well off the ball on offense, as he was able to get the ball off of a cut once to score from the high post. But sometimes, Mahmoud may not always display a great shooting touch, as he would also miss on jump hooks despite getting good elevation on his shots.

He also excelled on hustle plays. Mahmoud did a good job of scoring on cuts to the basket, and on one play, he managed to score and get an extra free throw afterwards. He also managed to draw a non-shooting foul off of a high post drive once, but on another play, he missed on a tough, acrobatic layup after using an up and under move in traffic.

Plus, Mahmoud also displayed good playmaking skills when he was on the court. Mahmoud showed a good ability to hit cutters, and he generally excelled at making passes from the post, but sometimes, he would struggle to protect the basketball, and he doesn’t always have great balance when he has the ball in the post. He did not rebound the ball very well in this game, but Mahmoud did come away with his fair share of defensive boards when he was on the floor.

Also, Mahmoud played good defense against Syracuse. He did a good job of blocking shots when defending in the post due to possessing good length, agility, and timing to do so. He also managed to catch a pass thrown right to him when defending a drive to obtain a steal. Plus, he would also contest a variety of shots in the paint to force misses. However, sometimes he would be late on his rotations, as this would lead his team to allow scores. Another time, he was too aggressive in trying to block a shot, as he ended up committing a foul as the other team also ended up scoring on that play.

In general, Anas Mahmoud had his ups and downs, but he was able to show off a fairly diverse skill set in his team’s loss to Syracuse. He showed off a budding repertoire as a low post scorer as well as solid passing skills, and he continued to excel as an interior defender for his team. With his skill set, he could end up being a second round pick in the 2018 draft.

Louisville’s 6-7 junior swingman, Deng Adel had an uneven performance in his team’s loss to Syracuse. While he played quite well in most categories in this game, he did not shoot the ball very well, as he ended up missing all six of his three-point shots from beyond the arc. In this game, Adel showed a good ability to score on quick drives to the basket, especially when he would get out in transition. On one play, he managed to score on a double pump, reverse layup on the break. Plus, he excelled at drawing fouls when looking to score in transition, and he used a Euro-step move once to get to the hoop. But on one play, he missed on a floater after using a pump fake to get to the basket.

Also, Adel excelled at scoring on hustle plays, as he managed to score on a tip in off of an offensive rebound. However, he struggled to knock down jumpers when he was on the floor. Adel missed all six of his three-point shots, but he did manage to draw three free throws after attempting a deep three from beyond the arc.

Adel showed off good playmaking skills in this game. He is an unselfish player that possesses solid court vision. Adel would find open teammates of the dribble, and he would get the ball to shooters to set up scores for them, but he also ended up committing several turnovers, as he was called for traveling once, and he also had a ball knocked out of his hands another time. On a separate play, he threw an interior pass, but it was dropped by a teammate, as that ended up going to the other team. Also, Adel did a very good job of rebounding the basketball. He was active at crashing the glass on both ends of the floor, and he also managed to score on a tip in once.

He also displayed decent defensive skills. Adel would catch deflected passes to help get his team steals, as he would push the ball up the floor to create transition scoring opportunities for his team. He also managed to quickly close out on a shooter to force his opponent to travel due to possessing good footwork and agility to do so. On the other hand, he also tended to commit fouls due to over-aggressiveness, and he once bit on a pump fake that led him to foul an opponent on a mid-range jump shot.

In general, Adel had his ups and downs, but his inability to knock down jumpers put a dent on his otherwise solid showing in his team’s loss to Syracuse. He is an athletic swingman that can help a team in many different ways, but he simply struggled to make shots in this game. Still, with his skill set, he could end up being an intriguing option for NBA teams in the second round range on draft day.

Others:

Syracuse’s 6-5 junior guard, Frank Howard had a solid showing to help get his team a close win over their ACC rival, Louisville. He is a quick, agile combo guard that excelled at making pull-up threes, and he generally did a very good job of getting scores off the dribble, as he managed to score on a one-handed floater once.

However, he struggled with his position defense. In this game, he especially struggled to guard shooters, and he committed two fouls on jump shooters when defending three-point shots, as he would generally be too undisciplined defensively. Still, Howard excelled as a shooter and scorer when he was on the floor, as he ended up scoring 22 points in his team’s victory on this day, and he could be a potential second round pick whenever he decides to enter the NBA draft.

Louisville’s 6-6 sophomore swingman, V.J. King did not have a noticeable impact in this game. While he was very efficient as a scorer, he also only took one shot the whole way despite having started against Syracuse. He did make a three-point shot off the catch, as that was his lone field goal that he made. King also made a nice cut to the hoop, as he managed to draw free throws on a dunk attempt.

However, he had trouble handling the basketball, as he was called for traveling on a couple of possessions. Overall, he’s had a rather disappointing sophomore year so far, as he has not shot the ball as well as anticipated, but if he plays well down the stretch, he could see his draft stock rise later on this season.

Louisville’s 6-2 senior point guard, Quentin Snider did not play very well, as he really struggled to make shots, and he was also prone to committing careless turnovers in this game. He also ended up allowing a pull-up mid-range score, as on that play, he grabbed a jersey, and he ended up giving up too much space when his opponent stopped to take the shot. In this game, Snider was very ineffective when he was on the floor against Louisville, but his ability to make jump shots in other games could enable him to make an NBA summer league roster sometime down the road.