IMO Eli Wright will be the #1 player ever in the State when it is all said and done... He has similarities to Russell but has a better post game, he is a better defender, and more athletic....

IMO Eli Wright will be the #1 player ever in the State when it is all said and done... He has similarities to Russell but has a better post game, he is a better defender, and more athletic....

 

Wouldn't bother me at all. I love watching Ky talent flourish.

Wouldn't bother me at all. I love watching Ky talent flourish.

Not familiar with Eli Wright's game. Could you share some info?

Rondo in high school was phenomenal. I haven't ever seen Russell, so I'm not sure how he compares, but if he is close to Rondo he is amazing.

 

Don't care where Rondo was ranked coming out of high school because I saw him play as a junior and as a senior. As a junior at Eastern he scored 46 points against us (and no, he didn't have a great outside shot then), but we won 88-83 in the 5th 3rd at LexCath. The following season we played Oak Hill when they had him, Josh Smith (the one who went directly to the NBA) and several other high school greats and were down by only single digits at halftime, but the second half they put on a show. Rondo would fly down the court and throw the ball up against the backboard so Smith could follow in with a slam dunk. As badly as I wanted our team to beat Rondo's team I could not help but admire and be astounded at his skills as they rolled to a 94-60 win (we were 28-5 that season and ranked in the top ten).

 

I could see that Rondo was something special and as a UK fan prayed he would go to UK, but knew he preferred UL because of Pitino's style of play. Fortunately for UK Pitino was sure he was going to get Sebastian Telfair (didn't-he went pro) so Tubby got him.

 

While I was happy (then) both Rondo, his family & supporters and I were extremely unhappy thereafter as Tubby wasn't having any of what Rondo had to offer. He wanted Rondo to cut his game back to 5/10 speed instead of 10/10 speed and so Rondo went pro after two years of that foolishness (more testimony as to why Tubby disliked recruiting and coaching blue chip players and UK made the Final Four under him only once).

 

Was he a great shooter in high school? No. But I have seen very few who could control and handle the ball and his team like him. When he left for the NBA I told my closest friend that he would be a star there and they didn't believe it because Tubby had mishandled him so badly that many misjudged his abilities and felt he would flop in the pros.

 

I can't speak to Russell's abilities, but I can tell you that Rondo was a unique player who had unique skills and was SMART about how to play the game - in high school. I've seen nothing else like him at the high school level.

Not familiar with Eli Wright's game. Could you share some info?

 

On Russell I can. I've haven't seen Wright play yet.

6'5 SF/SG plays above the rim, great mid range game, slasher that can also handle the ball against the press.... Several D1 offers on the table with moreto come.... #1 player in the State regardless of class IMO.... Honestly, should be ranked Nationally.

6'5 SF/SG plays above the rim, great mid range game, slasher that can also handle the ball against the press.... Several D1 offers on the table with moreto come.... #1 player in the State regardless of class IMO.... Honestly, should be ranked Nationally.

 

I hope I can stumble upon him this summer. I am super intrigued at this point.

Don't care where Rondo was ranked coming out of high school because I saw him play as a junior and as a senior. As a junior at Eastern he scored 46 points against us (and no, he didn't have a great outside shot then), but we won 88-83 in the 5th 3rd at LexCath. The following season we played Oak Hill when they had him, Josh Smith (the one who went directly to the NBA) and several other high school greats and were down by only single digits at halftime, but the second half they put on a show. Rondo would fly down the court and throw the ball up against the backboard so Smith could follow in with a slam dunk. As badly as I wanted our team to beat Rondo's team I could not help but admire and be astounded at his skills as they rolled to a 94-60 win (we were 28-5 that season and ranked in the top ten).

 

I could see that Rondo was something special and as a UK fan prayed he would go to UK, but knew he preferred UL because of Pitino's style of play. Fortunately for UK Pitino was sure he was going to get Sebastian Telfair (didn't-he went pro) so Tubby got him.

 

While I was happy (then) both Rondo, his family & supporters and I were extremely unhappy thereafter as Tubby wasn't having any of what Rondo had to offer. He wanted Rondo to cut his game back to 5/10 speed instead of 10/10 speed and so Rondo went pro after two years of that foolishness (more testimony as to why Tubby disliked recruiting and coaching blue chip players and UK made the Final Four under him only once).

 

Was he a great shooter in high school? No. But I have seen very few who could control and handle the ball and his team like him. When he left for the NBA I told my closest friend that he would be a star there and they didn't believe it because Tubby had mishandled him so badly that many misjudged his abilities and felt he would flop in the pros.

 

I can't speak to Russell's abilities, but I can tell you that Rondo was a unique player who had unique skills and was SMART about how to play the game - in high school. I've seen nothing else like him at the high school level.

Appreciate your 1st hand insight. I'm just an old-timer that can't overlook locker room baggage and a dysfunctional contributor to team chemistry. Despite all his talents, the negatives continue to play an uncomfortable level at each of his stops.

I hope I can stumble upon him this summer. I am super intrigued at this point.

 

I believe he plays for the KY Elite Kings.

Have you seen him play?

 

I don't remember Rondo being as good as Russell when Rondo was in high school. Russell is already a better shooter than Rondo. By the end of this month Russe will have started and played in the McDonald's All American game. He's currently got. 16 points in the 3rd quarter of the Dick's Sporting Goods National Tournament final game which will be back to back titles for Montverde and he started on both of those teams. He's in the Nike Hoops Summit next week. Jordan Brand game the week after that.

 

I don't remember Rondo being on that level in high school.

 

Rondo had some high school games of 27, 27, and 31 assists, as well as a 55 point game while at Oak Hill. He also sat the single season record for assists at Oak Hill.

 

If we're only talking about his time at Eastern, he was still good enough there to get the invitation to end up at Oak Hill.

Got to believe Pitino never thought Rondo would fit his style because he never could shoot in high school, couldn't shoot in college, and is a marginal shooter in the pros. When you are fundamentally not sound as a shooter and too hard-headed to change, you won't be a comfortable fit with a lot of coaches. Not to mention the locker room baggage He carried.

 

Given all that, Russell might not be up to Rondo's floor game; but I will guarantee you,Thad Motta is going to enjoy coaching him more than Tubby did Rondo!

 

Ironic, because there was a sizable portion of UK fans who thought Tubby played too slow to showcase what Rondo could really do.

Not familiar with Eli Wright's game. Could you share some info?

 

Big kid with good size for his position as far as his age and how he'll probably project on the next level. Looks developed already, but has a nice frame that will probably be able to add some muscle mass once he's in a college strength and conditioning program.

 

I've seen him play a limited number of times, but I would say that, fundamentally, there aren't a lot of obvious, glaring holes in his skill set. Left handed, but he'll generally finish with either hand. Nice set shot, but, when I saw him, I thought his biggest strength seemed to be catching on the wing and getting to the spot he wanted to go and pulling up. Really nice moves going to the goal, getting his defender backpedaling, then stopping, and pulling up from around 12-18. At the high school level, you take a lefty with his size and athleticism, it's really tough to stop his pull-ups, short floaters, and even hooks when he gets around the rim.

 

Athletic, but never seems to play out of control. Has what I think is the best attribute for a kid when you are projecting him to the next level: he makes difficult plays look easy. When you have a kid at his point in development who "makes it look easy", I think you are onto something.

 

With what little I've seen of him, I don't know how well he finishes at the rim against the kind of kids he'll have to do it against at the next level (especially through contact), so I'll reserve judgment there. Same, but to a lesser extent, on his ability to handle the ball against intense pressure like he'll see at the next level.

 

As far as the "making it look easy" goes (in general and not specific to Wright), I think people describe it in a number of ways. It's what some people might call "smooth"; others might call it "effortless"; others might even see them making difficult plays look routine and misinterpret it as them not playing hard all the time.

 

 

 

If you are really interested in seeing Wright, I can send you a link to some of his games at the Lexington Catholic Christmas tournament. The videos should be on IHigh.

 

Here's a couple of highlight mixes on YouTube, but I didn't think either really showed any of what I thought was his best attribute in the lefty/mid-range/pull up game. The second one does have a couple of dunks that he gets down with relative ease:

 

Eli Wright Apollo Basketball Highlights - YouTube

 

Eli Wright Early Season Highlights - YouTube

 

 

The best dunk of his that I found:

 

Hopson was ranked #5 in the country coming out of high school. That's the highest ranked player out of Kentucky in the rivals era.

D'Angelo had 33 in a scrimmage against WVU.

I went to see Telfair play against PRP (and Terrence Farley) at the Gardens. And I also went to see Rondo and Oak Hill play Ballard in the Garden. Supposedly Telfair was nursing a leg injury but IMO it wasn't a question who the better player was between him and Rondo. Rondo did whatever he wanted on the court. I knew then Pitino had made a huge mistake. Anyway I remember reading about Rondo scoring like 44 on PRP as a JR and I was thinking he has to be a big time talent. Not many people drop 44 on PRP. But he was still really under recruited nationally until going to Oak Hill. DeAngelo Russell has always been one of the top kids in his class nationally. Going to FL kept him from dropping in the rankings IMO. Nice topic.