The ACC Tournament has come up to the Big Apple to display the greatest assortment of player talent and coaching in any conference in the NCAA this season. Likely 2017 NBA Draft picks will be on the court in every matchup over the next five-day stretch. We here at The Step Back want you to feel like you are watching it courtside right along with us so we’ll have these game-by-game diaries for each day with scouting notes on the players involved.
The notes for each game are presented chronologically. Read Day 1’s notes here and Day 2’s notes here.
Game 1: North Carolina vs Miami (Noon EST)
-After his big game against them earlier in conference play, the Tar Heels made sure to pay attention to Miami guard Bruce Brown, putting Theo Pinson on him from the tip. However, Brown did a great job of getting into the paint and scored the Hurricanes’ first four points. Brown is a heady guard that knows how to knife his way through the crevices of a defense. He followed up his less than stellar showing on night two of the tournament with a game-high 21 points on 69 percent shooting. Brown was the only player for the Hurricanes to crack double-digits in the game. Brown seems to have a knack for showing up in his team’s biggest games and today certainly backed that up. The clock is up against Brown in terms of entering the NBA draft. Though he is only a freshman, he will turn 21 in August. The time might be now for Brown to get into the NBA and. If he can keep having big nights on the brightest stages he could push himself into first-round consideration this summer.
-Miami is a team that plays five-out offensively and that left them with obvious mismatches on the other end of the floor against UNC bigs. However, for the early stretch of the game, none of the Carolina big men could get it going in the post. That all changed once Isaiah Hicks got going. He was able to draw fouls on Miami and getting easy points from the free throw line (he finished 9-of-9 on the day), which helped him get the rest of his game going. He led the Tar Heels with 19 points. Hicks is a skilled and versatile player. He’ll definitely find a role as a rotation big, likely a seventh or eighth man at the next level. He made some nice interior passes and hit a jumper near the free throw line both of which bode well for his prospects in the NBA.
-Freshman Tony Bradley also kept hold of my attention when he was on the floor. Though he finished with just 6 points and 4 rebounds in 16 minutes there were flashes of play that should make the Carolina faithful very happy about his future. Bradley is already the most athletic of the four big men that UNC plays and once he can translate all of the potential he possesses into skill, he’ll be a handful for ACC defenders. Depending on how quickly he develops Bradley could end his time in Chapel Hill as one of the best players in program history.
-Justin Jackson was the best prospect on either team, but an off shooting game really puts a damper on the momentum that the ACC Player of the Year had been riding coming into this game. It’s easy to see that he’s worked on speeding up his release and quickening his footwork in order to make his shot more efficient. However, in today’s game, he was unable to get many of his shots to drop as he finished 2-of-7 on 3-pointers. A lot of his misses spun in and out and he left a couple short. Though he did knock down his patented floater and scorched the net on a wide-open 3-pointer. If Jackson can show that today was just a bad shooting day as Carolina plays deeper into March he could cement himself as a first rounder, even moving up as high as the late lottery.
GAME 2: Louisville vs. Duke (2:30 p.m. EST)
-Today offered a first live look at Louisville. Their pressure and in your face defense definitely gave Duke something to worry about. The man making the most noise for the Cardinals most of the season has been Donovan Mitchell, an undersized shooting guard at 6-foot-3, but truly a world-class athlete. He was always one of the first to the ball in the air and he used his quickness to disrupt Duke’s offense and jump passing lanes whenever he saw the opportunity. Besides the elite athleticism, Mitchell didn’t have the greatest of showings. Some poor calls kept him on the sideline for a better part of the game. When he was on the court he couldn’t find the timing or the rhythm to get his shot going. He finished the night 3-of-14 from the field.
-The most impressive player for the Cardinals was another sophomore. Australian import Deng Adel is a wiry strong athlete with the size and strength to make an impact on both ends of the floor. He drew the task of slowing down Duke’s Luke Kennard and for the better part of the game he was doing just that. He was able to trail Kennard off screens, but use his length to still contest shots. He was also able to apply pressure and close off lanes to the paint while being able to keep a hand in the face of perimeter shooters. On the other end, he was quietly doing a lot of damage to the Blue Devils. None of the Amile Jefferson, Harry Giles or Marques Bolden trio were worthy adversaries at the rim. Adel even made a nice and-1 layup right in Giles’ chest late in the game. Adel would end the game with 21 points on 50 percent shooting. He definitely deserves looks as a potential 3-and-D wing in the NBA.
-Kennard once again made up for a poor first half by taking over the game late. He would finish the day with 24 points after scoring just six points in the first half. Back-to-back 18-point second halves are impressive, but this one as even more so when you add in the fact that Kennard had not made a single dent in any areas of the stat sheet (points, rebounds, assists) in the first six minutes of the second half. It hit the lowest point when Kennard missed three consecutive 3-pointers on the same possession. However, thanks to a Grayson Allen skirmish, the energy seemed to return to the team and Kennard drained clutch 3-pointer after clutch 3-pointer later on. A third matchup against North Carolina is coming tomorrow it’ll be worth keeping note of whether or not Kennard can find his shot early.
-For the second straight game, it was the play of freshmen Jayson Tatum and Frank Jackson that paced the Blue Devils early. Unlike Kennard, Tatum seemingly was still hot from his impressive performance yesterday. When Lousiville put a bigger player on him, he isolated and attacked. If the Cardinals switched and went small, he would go right down to the block and work out of the post (has a very-well developed spin into a one-legged fadeaway over his right shoulder). Tatum was the man all day and he would finish with a game-high 25 points. He took a note from Kennard and hit a huge 3-pointer at the end of the game as well. Tatum is only confirming what many scouts and front office executives thought of him heading into the tournament and that confirmation will lead to his name being called early on draft night in June. Jackson wasn’t able to build off a strong first half, but it’s clear that Mike Krzyzewski is trusting the freshman in tight situations more and more.
-Giles didn’t post the same type of numbers as Tatum or Kennard or even Allen, but this was easily the best game that the freshman has had all season. Coach K even said after the game that Giles’ play allowed him to rest Jefferson for a longer than usual stretch in the second half. If Duke can get the best that Giles has to offer for the remainder of the season they are a serious threat to cut down the nets twice in the next month.
GAME 3: Florida State vs Virginia Tech (7 p.m. EST)
-Florida State’s size immediately stands out when they are on the floor. There aren’t many teams in the country that have the same staple of players 6-foot-10 and taller. Just in comparison to what Virginia Tech had on the floor (just one player above 6-foot-8 in their rotation) it was the definition of a mismatch.
-Despite the size difference — or maybe because of it — Zach LeDay attacked full-on like a bull in a china shop. He had zero fear or reservations about attacking Michael Ojo in the paint and even had success against the 7-footer. LeDay’s ability to make space where there doesn’t look to be any is definitely a skill that will help him wherever he ends up playing basketball next. LeDay would finish the game with 22 points and 9 rebounds, but while he was aggressive and attacking constantly, foul trouble kept him from taking over the game like he did against Wake Forest.
-The other member of the Hokies’ bench mob, Seth Allen, was hot to start off the game, sinking two 3-pointers and putting Virginia Tech ahead early. Allen would continue to score on his way to 11 first half points. However, in the second half, he was nowhere to be found. He finished the night with 17 points, but the Seminoles stuck Jonathan Isaac on him all second half and Allen would score four of his six second-half points from the free-throw line. Allen’s ability to get where he wanted was not the same going against a player almost a foot taller than him. Isaac could play off, but still be a disturbance to Allen.
-Isaac wasn’t making many of his shots, none of the Florida State players really were, but he effected the game in just about every other way you could think of. As mentioned above he became the Seth Allen stopper in the second half and he even switched onto LeDay for a play and stuffed him at the rim. The biggest draw for Isaac on the next level is his versatility. He has the ability to play spots two through five on offense and can guard all five spots on defense. He is as skinny as the day is long (I’d say he’s only slightly more muscular than Brandon Ingram) so he will definitely need to add some strength to his frame if he wants to have any sustained success in the NBA. His shot looks decent enough, but it remains shaky. He’s a streaky shooter and once he does find the touch he can knock down a few in a row before you know it. His 11-point, 12-rebound double-double performance definitely lived up to the lottery hype.
-Dwayne Bacon was off all night from everywhere except the free throw line (he finished the game 9-of-10 from the charity stripe). In the first half, he had a wrap on his right hand and he played the second half without it. However, it didn’t make much of a difference. Once Bacon stopped settling for jumpers and started to attack the rim he and Florida State had a lot more success. Bacon’s defense really stood out as he has a knack for getting steals, tips, and deflections. He ended the game with three steals and was a constant thorn in the side of Virginia Tech on defense. Likely a late first round pick, Bacon has the skill and basketball IQ to be an immediate help to a contending team if he ends up on one.
GAME 4: Notre Dame vs Virginia (9:45 p.m. EST)
-Bonzie Colson started this game on fire and never looked back. Much like LeDay yesterday, Colson had complete control of this game from the moment he set foot on the gym floor. Unlike LeDay, it was his outside shooting that got him going. Colson’s first two baskets were jumpers (a 17 footer and a corner 3-pointer) and with Virginia having to respect him from outside the paint the lane became his to do with as he wished. Colson has some Draymond Green-ish traits to his game and if he could ever put it all together like Green has done in Golden State than there just may be a shot for him at the NBA.
-The rest of the Fighting Irish is comprised of players that will likely fill out the back end of rosters for the foreseeable future. Steve Vasturia and Rex Pflueger are both lethal shooters who can work their way to the rim if the defense gives them the lane or can penetrate and find the open man if the opponent over helps towards them. V.J. Beachem was once regarded as the next great 3-and-D prospect, but his defense has really not shown much improvement since he first popped up on NBA scouts radar. He still has the shot and size and length to make some team take a flier on him, but he’s as likely to go undrafted as he is to get selected in the second round at this point.
-The kid that really stood out was Matt Farrell. He doesn’t have size or athleticism to wow evaluators, but man does he get it. If the Sixers are still trusting the process when Farrell graduates he would make sense in Philadelphia. He’s almost like a T.J. McConnell clone. He has the grit and awareness to hound players defensively. Farrell sees the floor well and can make all of the passes necessary of an NBA point guard. Last, but not least, he’s a great shooter. If the right team brings him in for training camp he’ll be a very tough cut to make. The longer Notre Dame plays this postseason, the more money Farrell will be making for himself in the future.
-Kyle Guy and Ty Jerome combined to go 3-of-15 from the field — Jerome responsible for all three makes — and failed to reproduce the magic that had the Cavaliers looking like a threat to topple an UNC or Duke in an ACC championship game Saturday night. Guy was getting the same looks that he got against Pittsburgh, but the ones today just weren’t able to find the bottom of the net. Jerome kept his pace, but he too was unable to get numbers on the board. The two will have time to regroup before the NCAA Tournament and are very likely to have a game or two where they catch fire. Virginia will be a very dangerous team in March Madness.
Next: Scouting NBA Draft prospects at the ACC Tournament: Day 2
-London Perrantes was his usual solid self. No matter the outcome of any Virginia game you can always count on Perrantes to give you similar production. He was one of the few Cavaliers to have it going tonight, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Fighting Irish from getting to the semifinals tomorrow. Perrantes will likely make a bigger name for himself overseas than domestically. His lack of size and athleticism would hinder him from being anything more than a third point guard on any roster in the league.