Noel has had the classic symptom of thinking too much when he's out there. You can see him almost in real time thinking about where he's supposed to be, where he's supposed to go next after setting a pick, who he's supposed to be boxing out.  He got called for a lot of feet shuffling travels for the same reason and often got blocked because his post moves were so deliberate; you knew exactly what he was going to do with the ball.

Mezie had the same problem when he was with GW and seemed to play more freely once he got to MSM in his 3rd year.  My hope is that Noel's 3rd year continues on the same path and he can finally start playing with a bit more "flow."  Like jf just said, you can't teach his size.

Last edited by GW0509 (7/24/2022 1:03 pm)

I am lovin Max Edwards

Very much enjoyed being at the games today.   I liked what I saw from Noel Brown, especially going up against a center who looked about the same size.  The best way I can describe Noel's improvement is like this...remember all his close in shots/missed layups  that he was unable to finish those first 2 seasons?  He is finishied them today.  Not sure of his shooting numbers, but he had to have close to 20 points and did not miss more than 3 or 4 shots.  Otherwise, his offensive game is the same, namely set a screen at the high post and then break for the basket looking for the ball.   These past 2 seasons, GW rarely got the ball to him, so he may make his first shot then finish with maybe 4 points for the game.   He appears more confident.  He remains strictly a low post favor, as his range was maybe no more than 6  feet.  He seemed to be the best player on Higher Level.   The only down part was he missed 7 of 8 free throws.  As for Max, he showed a very versatile offensive game, scoring down low, driving to the basket.  He also seems to have very good court vision and had a handful of assists in a game and league where assists are a rare commodity.   When I referred to him as a "mixed bag" after the first half, I was referring to his having missed his first 2 shots and throwing a couple of ill advised passes that were picked off.  During the second half, hs shot selection was much better and I do not recall his having turned the ball over.   My disclaimer on the game would be that Higher Level was only playing with 6, so everyone on the Court had more opportunities.  Without knowing the scoring, I would guess that Noel and Max had close to half the points for Higher Level.  The only other mention is that Higher Level did get blown out, so the nice numbers were in a losing cause.

Nothing to say about Ricky Lindo other than he looked good in the first half (I left at halftime).   He likewise seemed like he could be the best player on his team, which was being blown out that first half.   He hit his only 3 pointer and had a couple of other baskets.   He seemed far superior to the player who was guarding him...unfortunately for his team, the mismatch went the other way for the rest of the players.  I think we are very fortunate to have what appears to be a healthy Lindo returning.

    I spoke very briefly with Noel after the game.  Seems like a genuinely nice kid.  Max too.

I left feeling good, but Kenner will do that to you.  I looked at Ricky, Max and Noel and at least on this one day I saw 3 players that I believed could help the team in the upcoming season.

Gwmayhem wrote:

Thomas wrote:

Noel Brown(and possibly Maximus Edwards) will face Clyde's today, Clyde's features Qudus Wahab, he was teammates with N.Brown at Georgetown Prep. I'm sure both are looking forward to battling against each today. That should be a good test for N.Brown as Q.Wahab was highly rated coming out of Georgetown Prep and was a very good player at Georgetown until transferring to Maryland last season, he has now transferred back to Georgetown. I understand that it's just Kenner, but it's good that a developing player like N.Brown gets the opportunity to go up against a strong low post player like Wahab. That matchup is something to watch closely for those of you going today. 

Catching a Thomas mistake is a lot like getting Wordle right on the first try.  Pretty rare stuff.  Wahab and Noel were high school teammates but not at Georgetown Prep.  They played together for Flint Hill in Oakton, VA.
 

I knew they went to a non-WCAC local, big-name private school, Georgetown Prep came to mind for whatever reason. I actually caught the mistake when the guy who coached them at Flint Hill(Rico Reed) posted a twitter pic of them guarding each other during the game. It must have been a proud moment for him to see 2 of his former players matching up against each other. Down below is the pic. Is Max Edwards the player on the far right?





 

Max Edwards posterizing the competition courtesy of Kenner’s Instagram

I'll pick up for LSF and then he can come back and either validate my comments or more likely, point out how crazy I am.

There was indeed a lot to like about Max's game (and he was referred to as Max and not Maximus by the PA announcer).  He began the game on the bench and when he first came in, he was a more than willing passer.  He hit several 3's throughout the contest.  He is a left hander (will be interesting watching teams defend a pair of active left handers in Max and James) and the form on the outside shot is not ideal.  The shot does not have much arc and he tends to be falling away from the basket upon his release.  The age-old question will apply here; namely, do you attempt to fix what's not necessarily broken?  If he's an effective shooter and he's comfortable shooting this way, do you try to tinker with this to hopefully make him an even more effective shooter? Beyond the shooting, what I really liked about Max's game was his decision-making.  He rarely made the wrong decision with respect to what he should do with the ball.  His instincts for the game are very strong.  You may have read about his "self alley oop" on Twitter but what really set this up was that Max was seemingly nonchalantly jogging back on defense after his team made a basket.   When he saw that the inbounds pass was being made towards midcourt, he immediately turned around and intercepted the pass much like a cornerback might bait a quarterback to throw towards his area.  Once Max stole the ball, he had no defenders in sight.  From the foul line, he tossed the ball against the backboard, caught it in mid-air, and laid down a very ordinary, unspectacular dunk.  He had already made the spectacular play by making the steal and tossing the ball against the backboard; the rest was child's play (granted the child has to be able to dunk a basketball).  In a sense, Max reminded me a bit of Chris Monroe.  Chris was never the fastest guy out there but he knew how to play under control, conserve energy, and still make great plays seem routine.  He just had a sense for the game.  I see that same quality in Max.

As for Noel, I think this is going to boil down to what your expectations are going to be.  Let's not forget that players like Justin Williams and Miles Beatty have lit up Kenner in the past.  I think if you see Noel as a legitimate backup center (or starter who consistently plays less minutes than the other starters) and who will land an impact on some days and not so much on others, then I think you'll be pleased with his progress.  He is certainly more active in these Kenner games than what we've seen over two seasons.  However, if you totally buy into the Kenner hype machine, who seem to perceive Noel's contributions quite differently than I do, and feel this will translate towards his becoming one of the better centers in the A10, then I think you will be disappointed.  He is doing more and looking better, but is nowhere near the level of some of the better GW centers.

Last edited by Gwmayhem (8/01/2022 10:30 am)

Noel has not gotten any faster and to me, his movements on the court, especially offensively, seem more mechanical than fluid, tut as I said previously...the shots we were asking "how did he miss that" his first 2 seasons were falloing in the Kenner.   . To me, he very much outplayed the opposite center in the 2 games I saw him play, each one his size or bigger.  (Mayhem...do  you know who was guardin ghim  yesterday?   He seemed about an inch or two taller but about 25 pounds lighter).   I do see him  holding his own against your traditional 5, however he may have some difficulty defensively against a more mobile center, especially one with three point shooting range.  My hope is that Brown and Hunter Dean can combine for a double/double at the center spot, but god help us on defense, especially against that mobile bie man.

As for Max, he is definitely a versatile shooter who, at least during my two games, did not seem shy about shooting.    Both games I witnessed yesterday were blowouts in which there was no semblence of defense or team playin the 2nd half.  As a result, anyone who dribbled the ball up the court was going to shoot, mostly from beyond 3.   Therefore, I will not hold Max' shot selection or for that matter his defense against him.   One play that particularly impressed me was Max dribbled the ball  up the Court, fairly closely guarded, and pulled up and he buried a three pointer, with a hand in his face6, from where the PA ammouncer described as "from the logo".   It wasn't but it was NBA range.  Unlkike Mayhem,   I am not astute enough to analyze his shooting form so I can't comment, but I can say he hit anyhwere from 40-50% from the 3 in the two games, a couple of which were closely guarded, and the derfenders will need to give him that respect.   As for his handle, I would say that it is good enough for him to play any position but not necessarily the point, and he wasn't called upon to be a point guard in the Kenner.   He is coming to GW with 4 years of eligibility (we now how much that means these days) and high school credentials good enough to have been signed by K State.   Yes, it is the Kenner League, but hie showed me skills, confidence, and based upon his Oscar Willmington like dunk (those following the team less than 40 years will have to ask someone about that reference), a degree of confidence and self confidence.   Remember also, that even if  it is summer league, there were some very good players out there from some of the highest levels of basketball, and he more than held his own.  I am excited about him and expect he will be getting serious minutes his first season.

Thanks for the recaps/insight LSF and Gwmayhem!! Kenner maybe considered glorified pick-up ball to some, but I feel that it can be useful/valuable for newcomers or returning players who didn't get a lot of playing time. Both Noel Brown and Max Edwards fall into that category, so it's good to hear that they are holding their own/playing well!! Down below is a link to the Kenner League schedule. Hoya Blue(Lindo) plays A.Wash & Associates on Thursday at 9:15 and Higher Level plays Tombs on Friday at 9:15. 

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57719d6cd1758e97105a474b/t/62e5fd4a8b3184307a7b18e2/1659239754622/Nike+Pro+City+College-Pro+Summer+League+2022+Playoff+Bracket+-+July+31.pdf

Congrats to Noel!
Look forward to seeing these skills in the upcoming season.

The Kenner Awards.  Kind of like the sports equivalent to what the MTV Video Movie Awards are to the entertainment industry.

Well, they started keeping stats so good for them.

Good thing they didn't ask for my input.  I would have suggested awards like:

Least likely to get back on defense
Player who was closest to taking a charge
And the most coveted of all Kenner awards, the prestigious "Ball-Hog" of the Year

(Just to be clear, this is not me taking a shot at the Kenner league.  If you've been to Kenner, you hopefully see some humor and a little truth in my suggestions.  In reality, this is a glorified pickup league.  Players should be treating it entirely differently than their college and in some cases, pro seasons.)