Want to watch NBA players in their element? Hardly any cameras, hardly any media, just pick-up ball and drills? I got the chance earlier this week when I was invited up to Reebok Headquarters in Canton, Mass. to spend the day with John Wall, Jason Terry, Jameer Nelson, Ramon Sessions and Isaiah Thomas. These pros were obviously the highlights of the day, and the ones drawing the most attention. But the high school kids, the standouts from Reebok’s Philadelphia Breakout Challenge earlier this summer, brought their games as well.
During the Breakout Challenge earlier this summer, Wall was involved in many of the games, especially the ones that his nephew was in. At one point, a player on the opposing team saved a ball off Wall’s nephew’s “tender” section, and the Wizard went crazy. He saw the campers. He watched them play. So when he handpicked these five kids – Rysheed Jordan, Jonathan Milligan, Darrick Wood, Daiquan Walker and Seth Allen – to come work out and train with Reebok’s NBA roster in Canton, you knew they could all play.
Not only did the teenagers hold their own for a few full-court games when it was pros vs. high schoolers, they even won a couple. All day long, the four of them (Jordan was sick and couldn’t make the trip) weren’t scared or shy, and took advantage of everything the pros could teach them.
You can find my full Q&As with all of the high school standouts – Jonathan Milligan, Daiquan Walker, Darrick Wood and Seth Allen – over at High School Hoop. Here are some highlights from each player:
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Jonathan Milligan– 6-1 PG, Casa Grande Union High School, Casa Grande, AZ
-Pac-10 schools are looking at him
Milligan had virtually no hype behind him and yet impressed everyone. Some guys would be happy to be in this position. Milligan’s smile showed he was ecstatic. He told me Wall saw a lot of himself in Milligan, and sure enough the two played one-on-one at the beginning of the morning session. Later on, Wall started talking smack to his understudy: “I know every move your gonna make” and starting calling out Milligan’s moves before he did them.
It was done all to help the speedy point guard. In one particular break, Wall and trainer Drew Hanlen helped show Milligan how he could better utilize the spin move. Wall pushes off his inside foot; They wanted the high schooler to do it with his outside foot.
You can see the potential in Milligan (he sort of looks like a mini-Wall). Now that he’s had a taste of all this, who knows how much he’ll improve.
On the publicity:
“It’s been a blessing. Ever since the Reebok Breakout Challenge in Philly, the publicity has just skyrocketed. Coaches calling the phone every day, it’s opened up a lot of opportunities for me. I’m just grateful to get the chance to work out with these NBA guys and for them to share their knowledge with me.”
On what Wall was teaching him:
“He was saying that his game was similar to mine when he was smaller like me and how to setup your footwork when you’re trying to make certain moves easier when you don’t have those pounds on you.”
On what he’s working on this summer:
“Getting stronger man. My frame isn’t really that big, but if I add some muscle to it, I could be really dangerous. That’s what I’m really trying to do, just get bigger and become a smarter basketball player at the end of the day.”
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Daiquan Walker– 6-1 PG, Constitution High School, Philadelphia, PA
-Big East schools are looking at him
I told you Milligan was smiling all day long, but Walker was obviously really hyped to be chilling with NBA guys. At times during the full-court games, he was guarding his man full-court and you never had to worry about him taking stupid shots or forcing anything.
He’s a little unassuming when he’s playing, but then out of nowhere, he’ll put a nasty move on someone and have everyone ooooh-ing. Walker told me he has a little flair to his game, and at one point, he used Rajon Rondo‘s ball fake at the rim to completely lose his defender. Out of all the kids there, he looked like he was most ready to physically compete with anyone.
On his game:
“I like to get out into the open court. I’ve got a little flair to my game. I can pass. I got good court vision. I like to get my teammates involved and I can also shoot so I can get mine when I want to…get to the rim and finish.”
On his typical workout:
“Probably wake up around 8 maybe. That’s probably if I wake up late (laughs). That’s probably around 8. I’ll call my trainer or he’ll call me or I will already have like two missed calls from like “Wake up!” (laughs) And then I will just walk down to the gym, maybe get something to eat before or after. It depends, and then we will get up some shots. We work on different footwork drills, shooting drills, defensive stuff. Everything we do he breaks it down in pieces so it’s really good for you. Usually when you work out, people will say “Do this move” and “Do that move,” but he actually tells you why you’re doing it. He brings up different situations. He shows you how to get open off the ball and it’s just a lot of stuff that I wasn’t really exposed to coming up until this year. I was just happy to do that.”
On John Wall & changing speeds:
“Nah. I don’t think you can practice that. Like John was saying, I have a herky, herky game. I can change speeds, but I think he can do it real good. I watch him and I try to put that into my game. One time you will see him, especially if you’re backpedaling, you’ll see him running full speed at you and you trying to go left, trying to go right, trying to cut him off, but at the same time he’s playing with you. He already knows what he wants to do, and he just goes out and does it.”
Seth Allen– 6-2 point guard, Fredericksburg Christian School, Fredericksburg, VA
-committed to Maryland
Allen certainly acted like a seasoned player. In the ballhandling drills, he was smooth, rarely screwed up or lost the ball, and always had perfect balance. Then out of nowhere, he started finishing the drills at the rim with some easy flushes.
In the afternoon, he went at Wall a few times in a three-on-three game, and even put the Shammgod on the rookie on one possession. The lefty can really shoot, and has the total package on offense. In the full-court game, he hit multiple threes on nearly every NBA player. For someone still only in high school, he was very confident and sure of himself. Some of that probably comes from all of the pickup runs at Maryland he plays at.
On his game:
“I look and learn so if I see somebody do a nice move, I’ll learn off of that and just practice it. So when Drew was teaching us the move, I was just looking at it. I see people going to fast or too slow, and I just try to do it to my ability and try to perfect it.”
On his idols:
“I like John. I like Derrick Rose. Very explosive, and I’m explosive too. The way he is so explosive at the rim, I kinda pattern my game after him. So Derrick Rose, John, those are the two I really pattern my game after.
I’m more of a scoring point guard. That’s why I like Derrick Rose so much because he’s more of a scoring, attack guard.”
On what he studies in John Wall:
“Just like the way he changes direction, he stops his feet a lot. I will notice that. That’s what I love about John. He can change direction and he’s so explosive and fast to the rim. I just try to play like that, but I like to put it more smooth. I like to control it more.”
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Darrick Wood– 6-3 combo guard, Bridgton Academy, from Washington, D.C.
-committed to St. John’s
At first, I wasn’t sure what to make of Wood. In the ballhandling and shooting drills, his shot was off, missing in all types of directions. But you could see the bounce and the fluidity. By the third or fourth full-court game, Wood was dunking, grabbing rebounds over the NBA guys and going right at them.
That continued in the afternoon when he and Wall went at each other hard. Wood more than held his own, actually scoring on a few isos against the pro, and continued to show off his hops. He has such a long wingspan and is so skinny that you get the feeling he’s just scratching the surface. Being that he’s from D.C. – in his eyes, the area that has the most basketball talent in the country – he gets a lot of opportunities to show and prove, often playing in the Goodman League.
On friendship with John Wall:
“Yeah, that’s my homie man. At the end of the day, it’s gonna be the best for me. Basically, he’s trying to look out for me and show me how it’s gonna be. Nothing comes easy, everything’s hard. I really appreciate it.”
On his wingspan:
“I mean these arms get rebounds and sometimes even post up over the defender, not strength-wise but being able to shoot over the top of them. Also with defense, I can guard a lot of positions because of my long arms. I can stay in front of the little guys better.”
On what he learns from pros:
“When I’m guarding them? Just like their motives and how they feel about the game, you know what I’m saying? Their edge and their competitiveness, that’s what put them in the position they’re in now because they wanted to be the best, and clearly they are.”
What do you think?
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