One of Duke Basketball’s primary recruiting target for the Class of 2012 is talented combo guard Rasheed Sulaimon. Last night Rasheed and his Strake Jesuit team won the Father George Jesuit Hoops Christmas Classic and the junior won the MVP award. A loyal reader of the site, Chris Heery, was in attendance for Rasheed’s award-winning performance and below are some of his impressions and a short highlight video from the game.
Rasheed Sulaimon
I went to see Rasheed play last night after hearing a lot about him through various Duke channels. He seems like a great kid from everything I have heard and I was excited to see his game in person. I said this to the friend I was with multiple times during the game, but I have a new found respect for scouts and basketball coaches who sit through high school games to watch prospects. I say that because Rasheed was clearly the only player on the court who had any business being pursued by a high level D1 school. There were other players who had similar physical attributes, but none of them had the skills he did. Mostly, the skilled players were small or slow or both. In that way, Rasheed was clearly the man to be watched on the court, and I was confused how a coach could watch him and know how good or not good he would be in college, where all the players are of equal size and have a minimum level of skill required.
With all that said, Rasheed was head and shoulders the best player in the gym. In the first 2 minutes, he made a layup on a break, hit a pull-up three, and then hit another three in the flow of the game. He plays the bottom of a 2-3 zone most of the game, which allows him to get a lot of rebounds. Despite being 6’3” he was easily the best rebounder on his team. Immediately following the flurry of points to start the game, Georgetown Prep began face guarding him the entire length of the court. Despite that, Sheed scored 34 points and finished with 11 boards (both by my count).
The comparisons to Daniel Ewing are probably very accurate. He has a scorer’s mentality, no question. He did not have an assist that I recorded (though he had at least 3 passes that should have been assists if his teammates had finished). It would be nice to see him develop into a playmaker for others a bit more. He could use his ability to draw double teams on drives to set others up. He sees the court well, but he does not take the best angle to force defenders to choose between stopping him and leaving his teammate with a good shot. This skill would serve him well at the next level and make him very efficient. At 6t’3”, he may need to be more of a scoring point than a scorer alone. A significant difference between Sheed and Ewing is body type. Sheed appears noticeably stockier and well built. Lower center of gravity, perhaps not a quick a leaper as a result.
Impressive aspects of his game:
- On two occasions, Sheed hit pull up threes after driving directly at his man, getting him off balance, and rising up quickly.
- He had 3-4 drives to the basket that put pressure on the defense and resulted in a made basket, a foul, or both.
- Very mature, good teammate. Despite having teammates who are not at his level, he did not force shots or over dribble. He allowed his teammates to play 4 on 4 at times, which often resulted in a good shot.
- Hits open shots consistently. He did not have many, but he hit two relocation threes on kick outs from offensive boards.
- Excellent rebounder for his size.
Things to work on:
- The other side of the good teammate coin. He might have stepped up, demanded the ball at times, and forced double teams. He actually did this at the end of the game and shot 8 FTs in the final 4 minutes as a result.
- Using his drive to affect the defense, not just to score. Detailed above.
- Ball handling under duress. He may need to become more comfortable handling the ball against pressure at the college level, but he is only a junior and should make this a focus for the next season and half.
Overall, I love this kid. I think he is very talented and has the build to be a very good college player. I hope he uses the next 1.5 years of his high school career to work on the things that will make him ready to perform immediately, because it is already clear he can score a ton of points. I am not sure any college he chooses will need him to score that much. Instead, he should be a threat to score at all times but bring to the table excellent ball handling and the ability to create for others. In that way, he reminds me a bit of freshman Nolan Smith as well. I think we all love the progression of Nolan’s game. Now he can score at will, create for others, and handle against pressure. Rasheed could learn a lot from Nolan’s early struggles and the things he has improved on to be a complete player who certainly should play at the next level.
