Grassroots Glimpse: Assessing Donnie Freeman's EYBL Opening Weekend
Team Takeover is and has long been one of the premier grassroots programs in the country. Filled with talent from top to bottom, Donnie Freeman (2024) is amongst the many future Division I players that are coveted by college coaches and have drawn the eye of professional evaluators.
In the opening weekend of Nike’s Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL), Freeman averaged 10.5 points, 6 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 20 minutes per game. Per Cerebro Sports, his performance earned him a 7.6 C-RAM (context metric that measures a player’s performance within an event), making him a bronze level performer in their three tiered system (bronze, silver and gold). These are my three major takeaways from his performance.
Projectable Shooting and Shotmaking
Freeman’s glimpses of shotmaking and touch was on display throughout, furthering his case as a projectable big wing shotmaker/shooter in what could be the start of a big summer for him.
He knocked down two out of his seven attempted threes (28%) and multiple mid-range jumpers while shooting 48% from the field and eight-of-ten (80%) from the free-throw line alongside some beautiful self-creation attempts that will have rightfully have evaluators enamored with his bucket getting potential as a 6-foot-8 (possibly taller) wing.
Equipped with a smooth and repeatable shooting stroke, it’s a jumper that no doubt passes the eye test and is backed by a 33% mark (51 attempts) on threes over the 47 games tracked by Cerebro Sports.
Defensive Playmaking and Versatility
There’s no question that Freeman was one of the better defenders of the weekend. He leveraged his length, movement skills and athleticism into a weekend high tying eight blocks and two steals across four games. It’s easy to see him developing into a switchable, multi-positional defender and disrupter because of his tools and desire to defend.
Below, you can really see some of his tools in space. He fights through the first on ball screen, blowing it up a bit. Then, switches on the second and nearly gets the stop with a recovery contest, but commits the foul. The end result wasn't ideal, but the effort and tools are what really matters here.
Connective Passing
There is plenty of value in Freeman’s connective passing. He was a consistent ball mover, looked opposite on catches, made quick touch passes and was trusted as a decision maker operating in the middle of the zone against Team United. His 11 assists to three turnovers across four games match the indicators of vision and effective processing shown on the floor.
It might not be all just connective passing with him though. I loved this live dribble find to one of the best shooters in the country, Darren Harris, after drawing help and reading the defense. Freeman could be just scratching the surface of what type of playmaker that he can become.
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