Portsmouth enjoyed yet another excellent day of attendance from both NBA scouts and GMs and the local crowd (the evening session was especially packed), much more than we can remember from last year. Those who aren't here but are providing analysis based on boxscores should really bother coming out to watch the action for a day or two before they decide to write it off completely. It goes beyond saying that anyone who considers themselves an NBA draft expert that isn't here (George Rodecker of Hoopville.net excluded) should make an effort to attend such a large gathering of NBA personnel and college stars as Portsmouth. But to call this tournament irrelevant from afar is just not fair, especially when you forget to mention to your readers that you arent even here. If you're here and don't like what you see then that's fine, but to knock it without being here isn't fair to the players that attended or the people that organized the event. For the record, the talent level here is actually excellent, and there are at least a dozen players if not more that will get a chance to play in the NBA with just a little bit of luck that goes into the draft process. Last year only one player was drafted, but there are a half dozen players who are in the league right now. If you look at the years before, you find countless others. This year will be no different.
Portsmouth Invitational Tournament: Day One
Day Three
Day Four
The Rumor Mill:
-DraftExpress has learned from NBA sources at Portsmouth that 7-foot Bradley center Patrick O'Bryant will be putting his name in the NBA Draft. OBryant will be testing the waters for now and not hire an agent, but this source mentioned that he is not considered a particularly enthusiastic college student and will be hiring an agent in the Tri-State area if hes considered a lock for the 1st round.
-One intriguing international player who has been getting some nice buzz lately is Bosnian combo forward Mirza Teletovic of Oostende. Teletovic is leaning towards staying in Europe for another year to continue to develop his perimeter skills and according to sources will do it next year playing for one of the best talent developers in the world in the ACB league in Spain. He is close to signing so look for it to be announced soon.
Beach Barton Ford 101 - Tidewater Sealants 93
Jose Juan Barea, 5'11, Point Guard, Northeastern
14 points, 12 assists, 8 rebounds, 3 turnovers, 1 steal, 5-12 FG, 2-6 3P, 30 minutes
Jonathan Givony
Barea wasnt quite as spectacular as he was in the first game, but still had himself another excellent showing and a near triple double that again had him mentioned by everyone in attendance as one of the top players in the camp so far. He looked for his offense a bit less and instead focused on continuing to show his excellent point guard skills, maybe to excess, finishing off the day with 12 assists, but being robbed of another 6-7 by teammates that could not finish shots he created for them. Barea again got to the basket almost whenever he pleased; using a wide variety of hesitation moves and head/body fakes complimented by his outstanding strength and tenacity. He plays much bigger than his size is something you hear people here saying about Barea again and again, and the way he finished around the hoop, rebounded with purpose, found the open man and defended backed this up. His excellent pressure defense on Chris Quinn made things very tough on him in setting up his offense, and when he decided to foul someone, he tried to take his entire arm off. Barea is leaving fewer and fewer people doubting that hell be able to make an NBA team with every game that goes by despite his size, and he remains a strong candidate for best overall player at the tournament so far. After watching him play here, there is little doubt that Barea could have been a star on any team or in any conference in America.