Recap: O.J. Mayo vs Michael Beasley

Now usually I hate to concentrate on two players when I talk about a game. I mean basketball is a team sport and there are definitely more important stories to the Tournament than individuals. Anyways, we most likely got a close look at two of the top five picks in the upcoming NBA Draft, O.J. Mayo from the USC Trojans and Kansas State's Michael Beasley. So let's judge their performance from last night and take a look at their potential in the future.

The game: Kansas State won 80:67 behind a balanced attack, yet the deciding factors were definitely Michael Beasley (23 points, 11 rebounds) and his fellow freshman Bill Walker (22 points). The Wildcats opened up an early lead against a struggling Trojans who had no answer for K-State on the boards. Both teams had to fight through foul trouble the entire night and overall I thought the refs did a terrible job of destroying the flow of the game. Sometimes you just have to let the players play and not call every ticky tack contact. Awful officiating job yesterday! The Trojans' offense was a complete mess, partly due to the stifling Wildcats' defense but also because of the stubborness of head coach Tim Floyd. He limits his impressive athletes to slow und predictable halfcourt sets (counter screen after counter screen) and he rarely opens up the offense. No wonder that USC looked the best when O.J. Mayo started to take the ball to the hole and dish to open teammates. Overall Mayo finished with 20 points and 5 assists, but outside of Davon Jefferson (15 points) he got little help from his buddies.

O.J. Mayo: Mayo had an up and down game last night. At times he looks as impressive as they come and in other situations he just seems to be far away from anything special. Yet you can't deny the unlimited potential this guy has. When he even gets the smallest daylight his outside jumper is as automatic as they come. Very quick release, high arch and good elevation. On top of that his shot looks extremely effortless. His outstanding longrange jumper will already make him a good pro.
His ballhandling is solid, yet he hasn't really shown a second gear. Mayo rarely looks to operate outside of the offensive sets which can be seen as a positive or negative. Yesterday he should have taken over when his team was struggling, but again, I blame nobody who is part of a Tim Floyd offense. His body is NBA ready and he can take the ball to the hole. As of now, he often pulls up for the outside shot, something he has to change in the future. He also has to learn how to set up his drive with his jumper as defenders guard him really close. At times he just puts his head down and rams to the hole, something that you often see with physical impressive players and which clearly can be corrected.

His court awareness is good (especially in the open court) despite some stupid turnovers when he tried to make a spectacular play instead of a solid one. That approach clearly changes on defense where Mayo rarely gambles and handles himself very well. He has long arms, quick feet and the strength to be an even better defender than he already is.
Overall, Mayo is a very good NBA prospect as he will be even more effective with the court opening up. I see him as a shooting guard on the next level. He has the size for the position but can also bring the ball up and man the point from time to time. This versatility and his mental toughness will bode well on any team. He has to work on his quickness (it seems he put more emphasis on weight lifting early in his career) and on his midrange game. You would also like to see a little more emotion from him, yet you only hear positive things about him from teammates and coaches at USC.

Michael Beasley: Beasley struggled early yesterday because of foul trouble but didn't miss out on the chance to show his impressive skillset to a national audience. At 19 years of age, he is very strong and athletic. Despite only being a generous 6-9, he is a tremendous presence in the paint where he always presents himself as a target and almost never gets pushed off the block. That might change in the NBA when he faces taller and stronger competition.
Beasley really doesn't impress as much with his physical ability but with the skillset he possesses. As a lefty he does a great job attacking the basket from all angles and even finishes well with the right hand on occasion. For a big man (which he clearly is in college) he handles the ball extremely well and can easily step out to knock down a jumper or take bigger opponents off the dribble. His hand coordination is outstanding as he catches everything. He is a matchup nightmare on the college level and if he further develops his perimeter skills, he should be in the NBA, too. He is a prolific scorer who has a knack for getting his shot off and for developing offense where there is none. In college he is mainly double or even triple teamed, which makes it hard at times to evaluate his talents. But it also tells you how dominant he is even without looking at his numbers.
The most dominant part about Beasley's game might be his rebounding. With long arms and a great timing, there isn't a board out there he won't be able to get. Especially on the offensive end it's hard to keep the crafty forward from getting a putback. On defense he is willing to challenge shots but has quite a few mental lapses. Not many guys challenge him in college but in the post he gives up ground a bit easy and doesn't really realize his potential in that area of the game.

As it happens with O.J. Mayo, there are discussions about his position on the next level. Is he a power forward or a small forward? He clearly has the talent to be either one but does he also have the size or the quickness to play inside or outside? No matter where he will end up, you won't find as many naturally gifted players with the variety of talent that Beasley brings to the table. And guys like him shouldn't be limited to one position. I'm not sure how much of a team player he is as he is a willing passer but he also tends to be in his own world at times. His coach really lets him do what he wants and I never like that during the education as a basketball player. But anyways, Beasley is an outstanding prospect and he should easily be the top overall pick in the NBA Draft 2008.

Overall: Now I don't want anyone to judge these players just because of the game yesterday. A player is almost never as good or as bad as he looks in one single game. I've watched plenty of these two guys over the course of the season and my conclusion is that any team that gets either Mayo or Beasley, will have a lot of fun with them and a great cornerstone for the future of their franchise.