Enigmatic Bigmen: Renardo Sidney & Jeremy TylerBy: Alex Kaftan

By Alex Kaftan

On Friday, January 23rd, San Diego High played Fairfax. San Diego features Jeremy
Tyler, one of the best juniors in the country who’s already a Louisville commit,
while Fairfax has the enigmatic Renardo Sidney, an uncommitted senior. The game
was a blowout early on, as San Diego had a subpar and disorganized supporting
cast, while Fairfax was well-coached, had a solid rotation and, in addition to
Sidney, had Solomon Hill, a valuable 6’6" combo forward who’ll play at Southern
California next season. Tyler finished the game with 29 points and eight
rebounds, while Sidney had 28 points and eleven boards. The final score was 86-47
for Fairfax. It should be noted that these two teams played last season, and,
while the result was yet another blowout win for Fairfax, Tyler had scored zero
points to Sidney’s 32.

Renardo
Sidney, 6’10 270

PHYSICAL–The story of Sidney’s physical build is as long as
his wingspan. He started high school as a 6’9" 210 lbs. combo forward, then
he added a fat-muscle mix of about forty pounds by his sophomore year, as a junior
he lost much of that and got down to around 230 pounds, and now he seems to have
added about forty pounds. As his weight fluctuated, he also found time to grow
an inch. Furthermore, he has enormous hands and a solid wingspan, probably somewhere
in the 7’2" to 7’4" range.

As of now, Sidney’s about 6’10" 270. He looked much heavier than the 250
that the announcers listed him at, sporting about thirty pounds of sheddable weight.
His pudgy physique stunts his leaping ability, hampers his quickness, slows his
straight-line speed, and makes his endurance laughable. Overweight athletes have
always been a pet peeve of mine and are indicative of a myriad of red-flags. I
have no idea how a star athlete can let his weight fluctuate, especially one with
the long and short term incentives that Sidney has. It tends to show a lack of
maturity, an absence of work-ethic, and oftentimes a deficiency in intelligence.
While as skilled as high school posts get, Sidney doesn’t seem to possess elite
leaping ability, quickness, or speed, and his extra weight makes this aspect of
his game even more insufficient.

Despite this, Sidney does have many promising characteristics. If he ever got
into shape, he would be a very good, not great run-jump athlete. Even at his weight,
his quickness off the ground was good. His leaping ability overall wasn’t adequate,
but the bounce in the first foot or so of his jump was impressive. He used this
ability in grabbing rebounds and dunking a few times. Even though he is overweight,
he still showed a sneaky agility, much like Zach
Randolph or a late 90’s Antoine Walker,
particularly on a number of spin-moves, where he used his fantastic body control
to finish even after contact, or in taking his man off the dribble. He is exceptionally
strong for a high schooler, but would benefit greatly by turning those lipids
into protein as he looks to play against men, not boys. Sidney owns broad shoulders,
and it appears like he can lose thirty pounds of fat while gaining that back in
muscle without losing much quickness.

OFFENSE–Sidney’s skill-level on offense is absolutely jaw-dropping. The single
most impressive play of the game was watching Sidney deftly take the ball coast-to-coast
as a guard and finish around Tyler with a gorgeous spin move. Similarly, on a
fast-break, Sidney drew a San Diego player to him and dished a beautiful no-look
pass to a teammate. He exibited many characteristics of a point-forward, except
he is even more unique because of his massive size. His handle with both hands
is low to the ground and near his body, which enables him to drive through traffic.
His court vision, which is that of a point guard’s, and his legitimate 6’10"
height would give a coach the opportunity to run the offense through Sidney in
the high-post. His post-moves are exceptionally advanced for a high schooler.
His repertoire–spin-moves, pump fakes, jabs–is reminiscent of Zach Randolph.

Sidney’s uncanny body control and terrific hand-eye coordination–he has some
of the best hands I’ve ever seen in a big–helped him greatly against the strong
Tyler, especially after contact. He effortlessly finished with a vast array of
moves, whether baby-hooks, one handed shots falling away, short jumpers. His versatility
both in the post and in finishing reminded me most of Tim
Duncan, who’s another player that lacks topshelf run-jump athleticism.
He also passed crisply from the post to his teammates, from the perimeter to the
post, and when he swung the ball around the 3-point line.

Although Sidney’s offensive talent is undeniable, he did show some red-flags.
He attempted about four or five threes, and while he has hit them in the past,
his post offense was so effective that he should have stayed on the low block,
working on Tyler to get him into foul trouble. His ability to combat strong double
teams is not known after this game. While Sidney was defended by a player of roughly
equivalent size and strength, San Diego’s next tallest player was at best 6’2".
To maximize his abilities in college and the pros, he’ll have to recognize what’s
working for him quicker, and how to play against two tall and athletic pivots
at once.

DEFENSE–This area is where Sidney’s physical and psychological shortcomings are
rather evident. If he got into optimal shape and had a solid head on his shoulders,
he would shine on defense as well. His great timing and reflexes suggest that
he could become a master rebounder and great shotblocker, despite his lack of
elite leaping ability. His combination of having both a large body and quickness
would let him effectively cover both power forwards
and centers, as he would have the strength and size to check fives, and the agility
to guard fours.

As he is now from a physical standpoint, Sidney would have trouble defending most
power forwards and some centers. His brute force is excellent in high school,
but he desperately needs to change his eating and exercise habits or else he’ll
be bumped in the post and burnt on the perimeter. He over-relies on his height
and strength, not bodying his man up, not looking very intense, and not hustling
back on defense. His fitness hampered his effort as well. Defensive effort suffers
the most once the legs start feeling heavy. If he doesn’t dedicate himself to
conditioning, the best offensive posts in three or four years–Dwight Howard,
Amaré Stoudemire, Blake
Griffin, Chris Bosh, ect–will eat him
alive.

INTANGIBLE–Saint Augustine sums up Sidney’s intangibles better than I can–"By
servitude to passion, habit is formed, and habit to which
there is no (little) resistance becomes necessity." Right now, Sidney’s
habits are poor as his body is out of shape. If he continues down this path, he
will be awfully disappointed in his basketball career. There’s a reason for which
Derrick Caracter dominated Oden early on in
high school, but Caracter’s weak will led to his rapid downfall.

I have compared him to Tim Duncan, who not
only has been one of the best players in the past eleven seasons, but is also
one of the brightest, most articulate, and hardest working players in the game.
While it’s clear he has Duncan-like talent, Sidney will never match it. He desperately
needs to undergo a metanoia, or else his limitless potential will go to waste.
It’s in this area, much like in Tyler’s case, Sidney appeared and has appeared
most deficient. Other hazardous signs include the fact that he turned nineteen
in December, so he’s a full year older than most people in his grade. His age
and his imposing physically makes me wonder if he has peaked a little earlier
than most.

Jeremy Tyler, 6’10"
245 lbs.

	Jeremy Tyler

PHYSICAL–Jeremy Tyler is as physically imposing as they come
in high school. He exhibited his tremendous strength and athleticism best around
the basket, especially on offense. He shuffles his feet quickly, he possesses
a long and elegant stride that would make most guards jealous, has tremendous
explosiveness off the ground, features broad shoulders with impressively toned
arms and legs, and a pterodactyl-like wingspan.

These features were used to convert five or six thunderous dunks–many of which
were in traffic–with Amare Stoudemire-like power and speed, albeit with less
fluidity. His strength also allowed him to convert a few layups with defenders
intentionally hacking his arms. The announcers claimed that he is 6’11" and
245 pounds with a 7’5" wingspan. I can buy the 7’5" wingspan and the
245 pounds, but the height appeared to be inflated by an inch. He seemed a little
shorter than Sidney, who’s listed at 6’10", although this could be due to
Tyler’s hunched back.

Regardless, I’d estimate him to be no shorter than 6’9", and possibly 6’10".
Ignoring this small discrepency of height, Tyler’s physical profile is as of now
by far the most promising aspect of his game. His frame seems capable of adding
twenty pounds without losing his outstanding athleticism. If he’ll fill out to
be 6’10" 260, Tyler would have the length, strength, and athleticism to play
center in the NBA. That may even be his best bet, since skill-wise he seemed very
lacking.

OFFENSE–For all his physical prowess, Tyler lacks offensive skill. Despite his
quick feet, he didn’t know how to use them, as his post moves were mechanical
and predictable. He would often get the ball on the low block and not know how
to operate an initial move, much less an essential counter-move that so often
dictate success in the NBA. He over-relied on his strength and athleticism, and
did not show much touch around the basket, exhibiting poor hands that had a hard
time grabbing the ball from a perimeter-to-post feed. He finished a few plays
weakly, although to his credit he usually went up for rim-rattling jams when he
could, even taking off five feet from the rim.

Tyler’s one "move" in this game that he showed a modest mastery of is
a pump fake. Once the defenders were off the ground, he used his strength to bump
them and finish. His effort on the offensive glass could’ve improved, as he didn’t
fight boxouts, and didn’t seem to know when to retreat back on defense and when
to go after loose balls. In the Fairfax game, Tyler would try to take Sidney one-on-one
off the dribble, sometimes from twelve to fifteen feet away, others at the top
of the three-point arc. This could be a most effective weapon, since very few
post players have Tyler’s footspeed, strength, and leaping ability, but his ball-handling
was far too high and far away from his body. He got away with that more than he
should have during this game, but defenders in college and especially the pros
will pick him clean.

DEFENSE–Tyler did not seem very reactive on the defensive
end. He lacked great reflexes going up for blocks, rebounds, and didn’t anticipate
moves very well, although that could be expected from a high school junior. His
effort was mostly decent–although to come close to maximizing his talent he must
exert more–especially before he got winded, but, much like his offense, he severely
lacks fundamentals on defense.

When guarding Sidney on the perimeter, Tyler’s defensive stance was far too high
and he was flat-footed, which enabled Sidney to drive past him despite being less
quick and fast, and he didn’t stick his butt into players to box out. His lack
of effort on the defensive glass was most evident on one possession late in the
game, when Fairfax grabbed three of four consecutive offensive rebounds in Tyler’s
area. Most frustrating for a scout, Sidney boarded none of these, which means
that players that were at least four inches shorter and far less talented outhustled
Tyler to the ball. This could be attributed to being winded (which means that
he must improve his physical shape, since high school games are only thirty two
minutes), but the lack of effort was nonetheless alarming. On a team severely
lacking in height, the very fact that he only got eight rebounds shows his unwillingness
to board.

He also is a bit foul-prone, as he fouled out with about two minutes remaining
in the game, although I counted at least three other times that he hacked egregiously
and the whistle was not blown. When defending Sidney in the post, he did not deny
him the ball, nor did he stick his leg into Sidney’s thigh to make it harder to
maneuver, rather he let the amazingly skilled Sidney catch and move. He was reactive
on defense, not proactive. Elite defenders are not always the most physically
imposing, they can anticipate moves the best.

Despite this, he did exert a good effort when guarding his Los Angeles rival,
both close and away from the basket, although this could be due to the feud-like
nature of the game. It’s pretty clear though, that Tyler has lacked coaching on
the defensive end (on the offensive end as well). He has the strength, athleticism,
and wingspan to at least become adequate in this department, if not very good,
despite his inability to time. This will largely depend on how he gets coached
in the future. Regardless, this one game is not enough to judge his defensive
instincts, although they do not seem all that overwhelming.

INTANGIBLES–Here is where Tyler suffers a great deal. He was amped to go up against
Sidney, and went at him from the beginning. He took bad shots, especially from
deep, froze out his teammates with his drives to the basket, didn’t rebound as
he should’ve, expected super-star calls from the refs, and, when they did not
come, he threw up his hands in disgust. On the other hand, his statistical output
was so much greater than last years that it would suggest that he improved (I
did not watch the game last year to give a skill-set analysis ). Furthermore,
from reading reports on last year’s game, it seems that Tyler’s outrageous antics,
to refs and teammates, have subsided a bit. This gives me hope that Tyler will
continue to mature under the watchful eyes of Father Time.

CONCLUSION–While any conclusions deduced from one night of basketball must be
taken with a grain of salt, this game, coupled with the known history of these
two players, leads me to draw some conclusions. Sidney, with his size, promising
strength and athleticism, and outstanding skill-set has a higher ceiling potential.
Tyler, who has less red flags, has improved rapidly, and almost has an NBA-ready
body at age seventeen, has the higher floor potential. Both players, despite their
prep rankings, are far from certain to even make the NBA. Want proof? Hardly anyone
in Derrick Caracter’s junior season would’ve predicted that he would flame out
as quickly as he has. There is a reason for which Caracter dominated Greg Oden
up until the summer before their junior years of high school, as well as players
that are currently far superior, such as the Lopez twins and Brandan
Wright. Part of it was the physical advantage that he enjoyed early in
his career wore off, but it mostly had to do with his lack of work-ethic. He became
prone to destructive decisions, and his will to improve became irrevocably broken.
It would be a pity if that would befall Jeremy Tyler and/or Renardo
Sidney.