The West Wins The Jordan Brand Classic; Diallo Dominates
The East
(Saed Hindash | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
After dominating the McDonalds all-American game a little over a month ago, Cheick Diallo was once again the best player on the court as he went for 26 points and 11 rebounds. 17 of those points came in the first half as the West couldn’t find a way to stop the big man. Diallo just out-efforted his opponents for most of the game, bringing energy to nab rebounds and keep his team alive in the early goings.
The MVP, Cheick, could be exactly what Kentucky needs next season on the block. Can the Cats steal him away from our old assistant, Slice?
Skal Labissiere
Not hard to see why Skal Labissiere is possibly the early favorite for 2016 No. 1 pick. Length, smooth release, adding muscle, blocks shots.
– Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) April 18, 2015
The Big Haitian wasn’t as dominant as he was in the Hoop Summit. He worked his way to a relatively quiet 10 points, 12 rebounds.
Isaiah Briscoe
East’s Isaiah Briscoe (11) dishes the ball off to Malachi Richardson (23) (Saed Hindash | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
Diallo may have scored a bunch of points but it was Isaiah Briscoe who took over the game late. Showing out in front of his home state crowd Briscoe was knocking down step-back threes, finding open teammates in the lane, and leading the East back into the game after falling behind. The point guard finished with 22 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists to nearly win it for his team.
Briscoe is looking like an excellent compliment to Tyler Ulis. Add a couple of more players from this game and watch out.
Charles Matthews
After suffering an injury earlier this week Matthews was somewhat limited in tonight’s game. Still he showed flashes of what can make him special next season. A nice drive for an and-1 and some solid defense, even in an all-star game.
Jaylen Brown
Did not play tonight due to injury.
The West
Future Teammates? (Saed Hindash | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
The West won the game but they didn’t get much out of Malik Newman. Newman finished with 8 points, all in the first half. He didn’t get to showcase all that he’s capable of.
Who impressed you most tonight at the Jordan Brand Classic?
5 Comments for The West Wins The Jordan Brand Classic; Diallo Dominates
I think I changes my top 3 UK needs of who is left from this high school class. It was 1. Newman, 1A. Diallo, 3. Brown….. It is now 1. Diallo, 2. Newman, 3. Brown gaining as #2. Not because of Newmans play but we need bodies inside and Diallo is the most ready now. Brown is so strong and physical he may move to #2 but doubt it as Newman can score in many ways. In a perfect world we will just take all 3. Still think we add sg Mulder, who can play, and the C Thorne.
I know Slice is visiting Diallo Saturday and hopefully the young man will see through it. Slice has spent the last year telling Diallo how great UK is for him and all the things UK and Diallo could do. Now at last minute he is going to try to tell him how great St Johns is for him, hopefully Diallo will look at the best situation for him and not what Slice will try to sell.
Diallo should be the consensus player for us to get. Hands down. A motor like Kidd-Gilchrest. He makes you think about taking that shot. Get him along with the transfer from Charlotte and the JuCo player and I’ll be happy. And finally seeing a bit of what Matthews could bring makes our team pretty exciting to watch again next year even though he was limited tonight. But I believe if we get those players then we will be fine.
This year’s McDonalds game was played 18 days ago, on April 1, not “a little over a month ago”.
I saw the game and agree that Malik Newman was just so so.
However, I’ve seen him numerous times with Team USA and he’s an absolute stud – a real game changer with NBA 3 point range.
The only thing about playing with UK is that he likes the ball in his hands way more than Cal is ever going to allow. Think he signs with LSU and is 1 and done…