He's got a beautiful release. Way up high, fluid, mechanically sound.
****Official Class of 2022 Recruiting Thread****
- Thread starter LLCoolCY
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He looks smooth and has quick hops. 6'7? He looks pretty long too. Looks like he knows how to create his own shot as well. If he can hit 3's? Yes please.
So you think at least 7 new guys (not including Tre King)? Wow, that seems like alot. So far we have Eli King, Lipsey, Watson, (Tre King/sit out). So four new faces. Assume Grill, Hunter, Jones and hopefully Kunc back for sure. Am I missing anyone coming in? You are RIGHT, that still leaves 5 spots depending what seniors and juniors return. Wow, we will have a lot of new faces! Should be plenty of room to find at least that outside 'shooter' that can bring points off the bench. Transfer portal needs to be awfully kind to us. Or that diamond in the rough.
I think we're going to see classes of 3 or 4 HS kids moving forward and for the time being fill open scholarships with transfers.
Anyone know what Watson shoots from deep? Seems like he scores a good number of 3s, but these tapes obviously only show the makes 
Our two Minnesota kids got a good shot at their Mr. Basketball as well
This will date me, but every time I see the full length white leggings it reminds me of the Ron Falencek/Dean Uthoff days when they looked like the walking wounded with entire legs wrapped.
I know it is against meager competition, but he put on a show. I think of the 3 incoming FR he will have a shot at making the rotation/playing the most minutes of the 3. He needs to put on a little muscle, but that should be no problem with a few months training with the S/C staff. With his size and position he plays, should give him a leg up on Lipsey who will be behind Hunter, and King who will be behind whoever we bring in via transfer.
As always it is tough to truly know if Watson will translate to with that HS competition, but from the clips you can see Watson is a higher level athlete than the opponents. Bigger, longer and feels in control.
I really liked the ability to use his length to get his shot high and disrupt opponents shots. Modern basketball demands 3/D wings with length and Watson has a lot of promise there.
Does anybody have concerns about Lipsey being able to compete in the Big 12? He is obviously very talented, but given his size I wonder about his ability to dribble drive and get his shot off against bigger and much more athletic competition. Tyrese Hunter was quite a bit more highly ranked as a recruit, seems to be considerably more athletic and 'bouncy' and we have seen him struggle to get to the rim and finish this year. I don't want to make it sound like I am ragging on the kid, because I do think he can compete at this level and be at least a role player on a good Big 12 team by the time it's all said and done, but when I watch him play and take his size into consideration, I don't know what makes a guy like Lipsey a no brainer and a guy like Bowen Born an MVC guy. There doesn't seem to be a lot of difference in their game IMO, and if anything Born is a much better shooter.
No more concern than any other 3* HS recruit.
Lol comparing him to Bowen Born. Bowen is listed at a generous 5'11" 170lbs. He is a great shooter but I'd have much more concern with him translating to the Big 12. Can you imagine him trying to get his shot off or trying to defend the guards in the Big 12?
Lipsey does not have the pure vertical jump of Tyrese and wont be an "above the rim" guard like Hunter but make no mistake he is a freak athlete. Baseline to baseline or in a 40 yard dash I could be wrong but Id take Tamin over Tyrese. Lipsey can fly. Go watch some of his football highlights. It might give you a better understanding of his pure athleticism. Keep in mind he is still coming back from a serious knee injury as well. Tamin is also well put together and strong for his age. Like Tyrese, he needs to continue to improve his jumper. Im excited to see the two of them playing in the backcourt together the next several seasons.
Ive said it before I will say it again Aaron Craft from Ohio State is a great comparison. Nasty competitor, great athlete, plus defender. Tamin will be better and more explosive in the open court than Craft ever was.
I appreciate the thoughtful response. I have not seen a ton of his tape, none of his football, just what's been shared on here for basketball. I don't have doubts that Tamin can contribute, I guess I am just concerned that the ceiling might be a bit low. But, if we have an Aaron Craft on our hands, or even say a Dean Oliver, we will really come to like him I'm sure.
Valid concerns on Lipsey but keep in mind that a Vance Downs team significantly handicaps a players offensive potential.
He is an above average PG defender on day 1. Jump shooting is his weakness but Ames didn't ask him to score 30/game.
He is a better dribbler and defender than Tre Jackson right now. Not near the shooter, but Tre only has 25 made three's on the year. So it's not like he matters to our offense
He is an above average PG defender on day 1. Jump shooting is his weakness but Ames didn't ask him to score 30/game.
He is a better dribbler and defender than Tre Jackson right now. Not near the shooter, but Tre only has 25 made three's on the year. So it's not like he matters to our offense
I know they've at least played a few really good teams this year, and there's a like, high school basketball/recruiting TikTok I follow that has reported on a few of their games. From what I've seen from some of their more high-profile games, Watson has really played well in the big games. I really like his potential, he's got a lot of length, appears to be a good athlete, and a good stroke especially from the corner.
Gun to my head, I'd probably predict Watson to really crack the rotation first. Lipsey easily slots in at backup PG, and that will fill a hole, but not sure how often you can be playing both Lipsey and Hunter at the same time unless one of them becomes a better shooter. (Maybe I'm wrong but it does feel like Hunter has started shooting better over the back half of the season?)
Obviously though this is all subject to who leaves and who TJ and his staff bring in. If the roster stays close to how it's currently constructed, I actually think all three guys can play. King is the big wildcard to me, given the level he's played at. Seems like he does basically everything for that team though, and IIRC from what I saw of his team against Watson's, King was even defending in the post.
What grudge do you hold on Vance Downs? Tremendous coach and an even better man. Head coach of arguably the two best Iowa HS teams ever.
Lowest floor: Watson (Bad AAU season and not challenged at his high school level)
Highest floor: Eli King (Mr Basketball of Minnesota likely)
Lowest ceiling: Lipsey (mostly do to size)
Highest ceiling: Watson (6'8", guard abilities and at least a 7' wingspan to guard 1-5 in small ball. Could be a HIGH level 3 and D player).
Highest floor: Eli King (Mr Basketball of Minnesota likely)
Lowest ceiling: Lipsey (mostly do to size)
Highest ceiling: Watson (6'8", guard abilities and at least a 7' wingspan to guard 1-5 in small ball. Could be a HIGH level 3 and D player).
I don't know him personally so I can't speak to his character. Being an AHS grad, I have watch a fair amount of Ames High basketball over the years. It was painful to watch him ask Bubu, Mike Weber and Tamin Lipsey to slow the ball down and run a half court set with a Wooden Award winner, First Team All-American, #1 HS recruit and multiple pro basketball players not get out and run and gun.
2008-2010 Ames should have set every scoring record in the state. Downs was adamant on grinding out possessions and running a half-court set with multiple Ferrari's.
Again, he may be a great man but I think he finds more joy winning 45-30 games than 75-50.
