Harrison Ingram and the Stanford Cardinal were in town to play Kendall Brown and the Baylor Bears, so I made the drive south to Waco to see the first round matchup in person, along with some good secondary players facing off. Here were my takeaways surrounding each key area:
- Harrison Ingram
- Ingram’s passing and defensive prowess stood out, making advanced passes, sticking with guys on defense, and getting to the basket. He lacks explosion, which may limit some of his scoring upside. He also wasn’t looking to shoot jumpers and only took 7 shots, 6 of which were 2s. Baylor’s defense suffocated Stanford in the second half, and Ingram suffered because of it.
- Spencer Jones
- A likely late second round prospect, Spencer jones showed off his basketball IQ and motor. He needs to prove he can shoot consistently, but will need to smoothen out his jump shot form to stick at the next level.
- Kendall Brown
- Kendall Brown is elite at mastering the little things on the court, and it is reflected in the box score. 15 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists, 3 steals, and 1 block might just be close to the norm of what we can expect Brown to produce night in and night out this season. He’s a stat sheet stuffer with great passing, a high motor, and a high basketball IQ. He needs to become a more willing and better shooter to fully hit his upside.
- Matthew Mayer
- Mayer didn’t do much in this one, going 1-7 for 4 points, with his only basket being an uncontested breakaway layup. I expected more from the senior shot creator with good size, but ultimately there won’t be many games like this the rest of the year for him.
- Jeremy Sochan
- Sochan has been an impressive freshman early in the year, showing off slashing, and defense, but lacking a smooth or consistent jump shot. The 18 year old 6’9 swingman will be 18 for all of the college season, and almost all the way up to the draft, making him one of the younger players in the draft. Sochan could sneak into the top 40 as an upside play.
- Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua
- There’s a reason Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua has earned the nickname “Every Day Jon” as an energy big, and it showed in this one, recording 9 points and 7 rebounds on 100% shooting in 18 minutes. Despite being undersized as a big at 6’8, he is athletic and plays above the rim, and he knows how to use his size and length to his advantage. Every Day Jon could find himself as a useful undrafted free agent down the road.
- Baylor’s defense and dominance
- Yet again, we learned that Baylor is an absolute force to be reckoned with. They are now 4-0 with every win being double digits, and their defense showed up hard in the 2nd half, allowing just 20 points. This program will continue to produce NBA talent that simply works harder than everyone else, and they should return to being a #1 seed come March. Baylor’s first true test comes next week at the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in Nassau.
