Chaundee Brown and DeVante' Jones made huge shots down the stretch to lead their team over Hunter Dickinson and Mike Smith's Sunday at the NBA G-League Elite Camp in Chicago. All represented the Michigan program well in improving their stocks.
Jones was the leading scorer for Team 2, and he was impressive. He scored 15 points, all within the lane on a variety of midrange finishes and floaters, some of them against Smith. The two went head-to-head quite a bit — in an exclusive with TheWolverine.com, Smith said he was impressed with Jones' game and expects big things from him in Ann Arbor ... if he makes it to campus.
RELATED: Four-Star PG Dug McDaniel Commits To Michigan Basketball
Jones admitted his goal was to earn an NBA Combine invite for next week and work his way into the NBA Draft. If that were to happen, the Coastal Carolina transfer would likely forego his final two years of eligibility. Michigan head coach Juwan Howard told him he understood and reached out to him this week via text to encourage him.
Jones hit two big buckets down the stretch, a floater that brought his team all the way back from seven down and then a jumper off one foot from 14 feet over Smith that proved to be one of the game's biggest buckets. He also scored on a nice cut and finish on a pass from Brown fro his first two points, one of many impressive plays from U-M's one-year transfer from Wake Forest.
Jones isn't a burner with the ball, but he's got a solid handle (he was stripped once) and uses his strength to get to the rim rather than speed to turn the corner. He didn't attempt a jumper outside of 10 feet but has a knack for finishing with added arch on his shot in the lane, looking to score first ... at least he was Sunday.
Brown finished with 12 points, including a pair of triples on four attempts and one from the corner down the stretch that proved huge in the comeback. He was outstanding throughout, notching an offensive rebound and outback late, corralling about seven rebounds, driving to the rim and finishing through two defenders (also late in the game) and showing off his outstanding jumper.
Brown made his first shot, a 16-footer off the dribble, and it looked pure throughout. He also hit the floor to dive for the ball a few times and showed off all the attributes that made him a fan favorite in Ann Arbor. He played as many minutes as anyone for his team, too valuable to keep off the floor, and he and Jones (interviewed together) said it was a lot of fun to play with one another and represent U-M.
They also gave Dickinson and Smith a bit of grief before the duo replaced them in the interview room. Their team was the underdog, but the two Wolverines willed the win at the end of the game.
Dickinson was typical Dickinson, though he did try to expand his range a bit. He's 10 pounds lighter — he needed to slim down to prove he could guard big men off the dribble and show better lateral movement, he noted — but he looked exactly like he did in most of his good Michigan games in his short career.
He opened his scoring with a roll to the rim and lefty finish, and one, had another lefty finish, a short jumper in the lane and a couple offensive rebound and putbacks. He turned it over four times, fumbling a couple balls that got on him quickly, but blocked a couple shots and grabbed a handful of rebounds.
The play by play announcers spoke of his "robotic" movements and strongly suggested he'd return to Michigan next year barring something unforeseen, but he scored 10 points, has already interviewed with several teams with more on the way and will have an opportunity to make the Combine, too. He still didn't show a right hand, however, and he was 0-for-3 on his shot, including two triple attempts.
Finally, Smith's shot was a bit off — he made one of four, a triple on a pick from Dickinson ("It was like old times," they both said when interviewed together) — but be also had a handful of assists. His most impressive was a backdoor alley-oop to athletic Texas Tech guard Mac McClung, right on the mark.
Smith said he'd rather play in the G-League than Europe, but he's determined to play for a few years before entering the private sector, where he admitted he's already gotten some offers. He's got the chip on his shoulder to prove that his size isn't the detriment many expected it to be, and while he wasn't extremely happy with how he played, he did have the best agility drill time the day prior and knows he'll have more opportunities to prove himself.
Watch for more from the Elite Camp in the hours and days to come ...
---
• Talk about this article inside The Fort
• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel
• Listen and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolverine
• Sign up for our daily newsletter and breaking news alerts
• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolverineMag, @Balas_Wolverine, @EJHolland_TW, @AustinFox42, @JB_ Wolverine, Clayton Sayfie and @DrewCHallett
• Like us on Facebook
