Forwards and Big Men
Essa Abu-Kaleel: He’s making great progress and is definitely on pace to take Wendon’s spot on the roster but he stills needs to work a bit on his overall game. He’s still not quite as versatile as I’d like, but if there’s an injury I wouldn’t hesitate to call him up to the national team. In the intersquad game he was a great compliment for Maja on both sides of the ball. He also used his impressive finishing inside to throw down some big dunks off of passes from Forest and Milot.
Momar Maja: He definitely impressed me more than anyone else this weekend. His shooting range and his basketball IQ are off the charts for a big man. Watching him battle TSA today was fantastic to watch, but Smith and TSA really bullied him around a bit at times. He still needs to add some upper body strength before he can play at this level, but with his work ethic I wouldn’t be shocked to see him wearing a Canadian jersey before the end of the season.
Christopher Moran: What a shame. That guy has so much natural talent but has squandered it ever since Aston Midhurst went bankrupt and he moved to Europe. He was so out of shape he wasn’t even able to play in intersquad game and spent much of the afternoon throwing up in the locker room.
Daniel Spencer: He’s a solid, blue collar player and definitely still in the mix if we need an emergency call up but his long term prospects on the team are more or less done.
Lester Griffith: He wasn’t really on my radar before this weekend, but after Moran was forced to retire to the latrines, Griffith did an impressive job. He’s definitely gunning for Spencer’s job right now and Ryerson (Blekinsop) is going to have to look over his shoulder. Along with Kaleel and Maja, Giffith is a a player to watch.
Gines Beato: While he is a beast down low, he remains too much of a one dimensional rebounder/post defender to be a real difference maker on the NT. He has the physical tools but lacks any sort of skill. He’s the kind of one dimensional beast that used to be desireable but is now kind of obsolete. He does have lots of potential and a new owner so there is hope that he will improve in the future. He gave Mahmoud all he could handle down low, though and despite his lack of skill could find his way onto the team as an emergency call up.
(Before anyone asks - NT coaches don't have access to any special simulator. I totally just made up a scrimmage and invented the score. I jsut decided to rank players this way instead of Mogul's list format)