ATLANTA โ After the nationโs best high school basketball players finished a dunk contest during McDonaldโs All-American Game week, they were treated to a fitting late-night spread.
Yes, McDonaldโs.
But Gilbert Christian coach Kurt Keener, who directed UA signees Josh Green and Nico Mannion on the West squad last week, noticed that the two UA signees navigated the fast-food buffet carefully.
They ate salad, too.
โIโm not gonna say that guys donโt grab some fries,โ Keener said. โBut the kids I have back at Gilbert Christian, if I put a salad out as part of our pregame meal, two people might touch it.โ
Because he has coached in Arizona, and with a club-ball organization that Green once played for, Keener knew Green and Mannion had some serious talent even before the West team started practicing for last Wednesdayโs McDonaldโs game.
But Keener didnโt know how serious their approach was until they were faced with actual McDonaldโs that night and during lunch the next day, when Keener said both โfollowed up with a lot of saladโ when offered a spread that included cold cuts, bread and bags of chips.
โItโs funny the things you look at, but you watch a group of high school kids go through a food line and if you see them eat a lot of salad, that means somebody talked to them about nutrition and things like that,โ Keener said. โAnd both of those guys are like that. They take care of their bodies. They understand rest, taking an ice bath, and doing things like that.โ
After Mannion and Green each scored eight points in the high school showcase, they made their approach clear in another way: They both spoke not just about the big stage they had played on, but about how difficult it was to find a rhythm in a game featuring frequent substitutions.
Mannion even said the practices were the best part.
โWhen we were practicing we were playing almost the whole time, so it was easy to get a feel for the game,โ Mannion said. โThe game was cool because there were a lot of people here and there were a lot of oohs and aahs, but the practices were probably the most fun.โ
ESPNโs Mike Schmitz says Mannion is improving as a shooter. โAnd heโs not afraid โ thatโs what I like about him most.โ
As it turned out, the game really didnโt mean much to basketball people, anyway. The NBA scouts who closely watched the McDonaldโs players during three practices and a scrimmage last week were mostly gone before the actual game even began.
While NBA personnel arenโt allowed to publicly discuss players before they enter the draft, ESPN analyst Mike Schmitz said both Mannion and Green have a lot to keep an eye on after he watched the practices last week.
Even if Mannion is sometimes underestimated because of his red hair and relatively normal physique.
โNo question,โ Schmitz said. โInitially, thatโs something people look at. They see that heโs not super long. Heโs not this and that. But when you really break down his game, I mean, the kid is a big time player, and heโs going to win a lot of basketball games in his career.โ
While combo guard Cole Anthony received the McDonaldโs game MVP, Schmitz said beforehand that he could make an argument that Mannion is the best point guard in the class of 2019 because of his feel for the game and a number of other reasons.
โHeโs improved a ton as a shooter,โ Schmitz said. โI think heโs sped up his release, and heโs tough. He has great instincts. And heโs not afraid โ thatโs what I like about him most, is that no matter the level of competition, he acts like he belongs. I think he does not have all the measureables that maybe pop off the screen, but heโs a really, really good basketball player.โ
Quick and fluid at 6-foot-5 and 205 pounds, Green has plenty of those measureables, although Schmitz said his outside shooting needs to start progressing.
โHeโs obviously very physically gifted,โ Schmitz said. โHeโs got a great frame, long arms. Heโs a good athlete, aggressive, straight-line driver type. Heโs gonna look really good in the open court.โ
The Wildcats didnโt always play on an open court last season. They ran at a below-average tempo, just the 226th fastest in Kenpom calculations, but Greenโs presence could change that significantly.
Keener wouldnโt be surprised to see it happen.
Having coached players such as Chris Webber and Shane Battier at Michiganโs Country Day school before relocating to Gilbert six years ago, Keener said heโs known Miller and his system since Miller was at Xavier a decade ago.
โNico will fit in very well. He has a super high basketball IQ,โ Keener said. โAs a point guard, he can score, he can facilitate. He can do everything that you want as a point guard. Heโs a natural.
โAnd Josh is just a really good athlete. I know Sean, when heโs had those kind of elite players, he gives them the space and the freedom within their offense and defense to operate.
โI see both of them as guys who can come in and make significant contributions right away.โ
