I saw on the other site that Nelson was leading scorer in one of his teams games...reason for optimism!  If anyone goes to the games, please share what you see.

Jameer Nelson Jr. has played well in the Kenner League, he's been a revelation to me because I wasn't sure of how good he was because of his unconventional(son of a St.Joe's great who was destined for St.Joe's as soon as he was born!!!) recruitment. It looks like he can play both guard spots too. It also looks like Mezie Offorum is ready to make that "Sophomore Leap" this year.

Kenner links:
https://twitter.com/KennerLeague   
https://www.instagram.com/kennerleague/ 
http://www.kennerleague.com/schedule-scores-full 

 

I went to a Kenner game for  the first time in several years last weekend (the 14th, I think). 

Saw Jameer Jr. and Mezzie take on Chase Paar and Shawn Walker.   

Walker didn't get much PT (he looked thin, but with some skill and probably faster than any guard we had on the team last year), and Paar did his best inside.   

But really the matchup was Jameer Jr. vs Ant Cowan, Maryland's starting PG and best returning player. 

The good news is Jameer more than held his own.  Jameer was like 0-7 from the field in the first half, but all good looks and he seemed to be an impressive, under-control, solid guard who belonged. But in the second half, Jameer absolutely took over and looked like the best player on the floor (against not only Ant Cowan, but also Aaron Wiggins from Maryland, and Frank Howard, a starting guard for Syracuse).   Nelson Jr. had something like 20 points on 8 of 9 shooting in the second half.  He also seemed to be the leader on the court and was making smart plays.  

I know it's summer league and there wasn't much defense, but he looked like the real deal to me, and someone who will probably become the team's leader in short time.  

Mezzie had a bad game, shooting poorly and making some questionable decisions, like missing Jameer Jr wide open when Jameer was dominating and instead shooting a contested 17 footer that he badly missed (though Mezzie did cross over Wiggins and put a spin move on him for a layup that could have made ESPN highlights).    But the real story for me was that Jameer is very good. 

Let the hype train roll, we have our next great point guard. 

BM posted the link to the rosters, I wanted to show the players for each team
Higher Level: Mezie Offurum & Jameer Nelson Jr.
On Point: Maceo Jack & Jamison Battle
Darren McClinton All-Stars: Chase Paar & Shawn Walker Jr.
Hoop Magic All-Stars: Javier Langarica

Anthony Cowan got ejected and may have been slightly injured, after he collided with a player or got tripped and yelled at the ref for not calling anything in last Saturday's game, so he may not play this weekend for Darren McClinton All-Stars, which could mean more time for Shawn Walker. Chase Paar will get a lot of playing time if Virginia's Jay Huff doesn't show up. He was a no-show on Saturday, and may have left the area due to Virginia's summer session ending. 

PKGW wrote:

Anyone know why Potter or Mazzulla not playing?

There used to be a rule about out of area college players not being able to participate in Kenner if they're not enrolled in summer school.  Not sure if that's still in effect.

Here are highlights from a few of the games from Kenner's first weekend that had GW players. Some decent highlights of Jameer and Chase.

I'm not at tonight's(7/26) Kenner League games, but they have posted a couple tweets about the strong play of Javier(Hoop Magic) tonight. Virginia PF/C Jay Huff is playing for Darren McClinton All-Stars tonight, so Chase Paar may not get a lot of playing time tonight or over the weekend. They just tweeted about Paar, so he may be playing well right now. 

https://twitter.com/KennerLeague/status/1154932074920468480  tweet about Javi

When I read that Jay Huff was playing for Darren McClinton All-Stars, I didn't think Paar was going to get an opportunity to do much, it's good that he was still able to play well with Huff there. It will be interesting to see if Paar and Javi were guarding each other tonight. I somehow forgot that Paar and Shawn Walker were playing for Darren McClinton All-Stars against Javi, I would have bumped this thread before the game started to remind everyone. 

DCSportsfan is a site that covers local(mostly high school) sports, they have been covering Kenner League games this year, and posted photos of last night's Hoop Magic-Darren McClinton All-Stars game. From the photos, it looks like McClinton All-Stars only had 6 players, so Paar played a lot of minutes alongside Virginia Jay Huff, Paar looks to be a few inches shorter than Huff who may be a legit 7-1 or 7-2. Paar is #13 and Shawn Walker is #22 

http://www.dcsportsfan.com/posts/703018-kenner-league-basketball-photos-darren-mclinton-all-stars-vs-hoop-magic/  

On Point won 95-93, but overall it was a very unremarkable game that neither team seemed interested in winning (probably trying to avoid injuries). 

There were no real standouts in the game besides Jay Huff from UVA.

Maceo didn't play and the standout from the trio of GW players that did play was Jamison Battle. He had a nice three and could have easily had more if he got more shots (I think he went 1-3 from 3) as well as a couple of nice finishes around the basket. I think he will be able to contribute on day one.

Shawn Walker has length and athleticism which helped him on defense, but was playing out of position at SG so I didn't see much of him on the ball. He like most of the players on the court seemed uninterested most of the game, but showed flashes with a couple good finishes.

Chase Paar only had one notable moment in the game and that was a strong two handed dunk midway through the first half, but other then that he was nonexistent. Most players weren't going all out so I would like to see more from him in a competitive game.

Overall, nothing too notable, but nothing too concerning either. It was the last game of summer league between two bad teams so we will be able to tell much more once November comes around.