Baynes to play in Portsmouth Invitational Tournament

by johnnycougar on Apr 3, 2009 4:42 PM PDT Comment 18 comments

Aron Baynes will be one of five Pac 10 players to compete in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, April 8th - 11th. This presumably is Aron's last chance to impress scouts before (hopefully) working out for individual NBA teams before & after the draft. I think we all would be pleasantly surprised if he gets drafted but the nice thing about the P.I.T is that many international teams send scouts as well.

From the official website:

Each year for 56 years the P.I.T has invited 64 of the best college basketball players (seniors) from across the nation to participate in a four-day, twelve game tournament in front of representatives from every NBA team...scouts from numerous international leagues have joined in on the annual April pilgrimage to Portsmouth. Over the years the P.I.T. has been a showcase for five of the 50 greatest players in NBA History (Rick Barry, Earl "The Pearl" Monroe, Dave Cowens, John Stockton, Scottie Pippen) and for many others who have gone on to NBA stardom.

Basically, the P.I.T is a tournament for graduating seniors. It doesn't look like it will be televised live, but apparently NBA TV usually does extended highlights / recaps. Also I guess this tournament is sort of important, although I don't know if the "executives" who watch the kids play actually have much say in their respective organizations. It also sounds like a pretty cool tournament in that it gives a bunch of scholarships to local high schoolers, funded by the money it gets from ticket sales and TV rights.

Eight teams play a minimum of two games each, with one consolation game for the four first-round losers. After the initial round it is single elimination. Aron will team up with Robert Dozier (Memphis), Jimmy Baron (Rhode Island), Ronald Steele (Alabama), and Byron Eaton (OK state) (and a couple other guys I've never heard of). Aron's the only listed center on his team so hopefully he'll get a lot of minutes to impress. He's also the only player on his team to shoot 100% from 3 this year!

Other notable players in the tournament: Brockman, Levance Fields, Ben Woodside, Marcus Landry, BJ Raymond, AJ Price, Curtis Jerrells, Lawrence Hill, John Bryant, Josh Akognon, Sam Young, Pendergraph, Diamon Simpson, Kyle McAlarney, Alfred Aboya, and Micah Downs.

Aron will get another battle with Pendergraph and Simpson in his first game, April 8th at 7pm EST.

HT: Bob Condotta

Note: Portsmouth is only a 3 hour drive from Tony's new digs, I wonder if he'll show up to support Aron...

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Note: Portsmouth is only a 3 hour drive from Tony’s new digs, I wonder if he’ll show up to support Aron…

Yeah… I really doubt it…

by GoCougs on Apr 3, 2009 4:59 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I dunno

I really think Rochestie, Baynes and Harmeling were a big part of why he stuck around this year.

by johnnycougar on Apr 3, 2009 8:45 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Don't get me wrong

I hope he does. I just think that Tony would think it’s a conflict of interest.

by GoCougs on Apr 3, 2009 10:52 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I actually think he would show up

I know he isn’t really the guy we thought he was, but he was very supportive of his players.

by displacedcoug on Apr 3, 2009 11:57 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

3 hours is 3 hours...

and 6 hours round trip.

Tony’s time is worth more money than ours is apparently. I don’ t think there is any chance that he goes. Even if TB was still at WSU and the tournament was in Seattle… I don’t think Tony would go.

by cfred on Apr 4, 2009 12:50 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

How is that possibly a conflict of interest?

He coached the kid for four years and he’s used up his eligibility.

The only reason I’d think he wouldn’t show up would be because he’ll be very busy with re-recruiting and putting his staff together.

by Coug Friendly Canuck on Apr 5, 2009 8:49 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

UPDATE

Baynes scored 8 points (50% shooting), grabbed 11 rebounds, and notched a couple assists in 21 minutes of play in Round 1. Unfortunately he fouled out and his team lost by 7. Possibly a bigger reason why they lost is that Jimmy Baron decided to shoot 14 three pointers, making only 4.

In Round 2 (consolation bracket) Baynes was a little more reserved, scoring 6 points on 3-5 shooting, with 8 rebounds and only 2 fouls, all coming in 20 minutes. The team won 70-68, and the two teams combined to score exactly one point in the last three minutes.

Round 3 will be on Saturday, and either way it is the last game of the consolation bracket, and the last game of Aron’s college career.

by johnnycougar on Apr 9, 2009 2:19 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

If he's going to make it in the NBA, it'll be on defense and rebounding

So it’s a good sign that he’s cleaning up boards. Nineteen rebounds in 41 minutes has to be a pretty huge rebounding percentage, so good on Aron.

CougCenter

by Jeff Nusser on Apr 9, 2009 5:46 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

They said James Donaldson wouldn't make it in the NBA....

He was just as much of a project as Aron is. I think Aron eventually sticks and makes a very good career of it in the NBA.

by SW WA Coug on Apr 9, 2009 6:57 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Can't teach tall.

CougCenter

by Jeff Nusser on Apr 9, 2009 9:19 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

And strong.

CougCenter

by Jeff Nusser on Apr 9, 2009 9:19 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

You may not be able to teach strong

But you can teach weight training

by GoCougs on Apr 9, 2009 10:02 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

How many stiffs did the Sonics draft....

that will never make an impact whatsoever? Aron is a far better athlete than all of them combined, imo. Didn’t Seattle draft projects three years in a row? Can’t even remember their names, that’s how good they were (are). Just saying….

And one more point. I’d easily take Aron over Jon Brockman. I’m not trying to say anything bad about Jon, whose an absolutely terrific player, but I think Aron has just as much heart and athletic ability. He just needs more time to really develop. Aron is an immovable object and he’s a stud defender. They are both good kids and I hope both make it in the NBA.

by SW WA Coug on Apr 10, 2009 7:36 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

whose = who's

by SW WA Coug on Apr 10, 2009 7:37 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Aron's body is a better fit for the NBA

Brockman’s a better fit for college.

Oh, and it was Robert Swift, Johan Petro and Saer Sene. Memorable players, those three …

CougCenter

by Jeff Nusser on Apr 10, 2009 8:08 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don't think Aron would be worse than any of those guys

But at this point, his best offensive moves are his baby hook and his little shot-fake-pivot-under-layup, both of which would get blocked often in the NBA. I think his size is actually a downside – he’s too short to play a big center ala Mutumbo (sp?) or Zo Mourning, and not quick enough to keep up with the mobile centers like KG, Gasol, that Cleveland guy whose name I can’t spell, or Chandler. He’s more athletic now than any other time in college but I still don’t see him playing much in the NBA.

That said, I hope that a couple teams take a flyer on him and he at least gets to play in the D League a little. I think his career ceiling at this point is eventually being a backup center, put in for good defense and rebounding maybe 15 minutes a game. And if he’s happy with that, and the several year wait it will probably take, then good for him. I personally see him heading back down under to play in the league there and try to make a name for himself on the Australian national team.

by johnnycougar on Apr 10, 2009 10:21 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

UPDATE x2

Apparently since a bunch of prima donna players were too busy to play in the tournament, several roster spots opened up and our very own Taylor Rochestie is also playing in the tournament.

In his game last night he posted a stat line of 2 points (1-5 shooting, ouch), 4 assists to 2 turnovers, a steal and a block (!!), all while guarding Ben Woodside (aka the unstoppable force from North Dakota) for 23 minutes. He helped hold Woodside to 8 points on 2-9 shooting, but Taylor’s team lost big because Lawrence Hill tried and failed to contain Jon Brockman (who put up an absurd 24 points and 21 rebounds in 30 minutes, all on ~50% shooting and 4-4 free throws). As a team, Taylor’s men were outrebounded 71 to 44, and probably that’s the whole game right there.

Taylor plays again tonight, this time facing up against AJ Abrams (Texas) and Tyrese Rice (Boston College). If he wins, his team will face Aron’s team in the consolation bracket. If not, he’ll get one more game, this time against a team with guards I’ve never heard of.

ALSO, draftexpress.com has a nice article about the tournament in general here, with focus on the NBA draft prospects (as you’d expect).

by johnnycougar on Apr 10, 2009 10:52 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Baynes vs. Rochestie

In their final Portsmouth Invitational game, Baynes’ team dominated Rochestie’s team 92 – 70. Both Cougs had great games:

Baynes: 4-7 shooting for 8 points, 11 rebounds (6 offensive), 1 assist, 4 blocks and 3 steals, all with only 1 turnover in 31 minutes!

Rochestie: 4-11 shooting for 12 points (2-4 from 3, 2-2 ft), 3 boards, 8 assists to only 2 turnovers, and 3 steals, all in 34 minutes.

Considering that a large number of international scouts come to this tournament (as well as NBA people), I think both our guys increased their international profiles. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them both have chances to play somewhere.

by johnnycougar on Apr 13, 2009 9:40 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs