Russ Blake's ABCD Notes

Scout.com's New York High School site reporter Russ Blake from the ABCD camp in Teaneck, New Jersey on the Reebok sponsored event. Blake has several updates on some of the top performers in this story ...

The much anticipated match up between O.J. Mayo and Derrick Rose never materialized on Friday night at the Reebok ABCD Camp.

Rose sat out of both of his team's Friday games due to a severely sprained ankle. Mayo and his Hawks squad pulled away late for a 89-77 victory, but the story of the game was Alex Legion.

Without Rose, Legion put his 76ers squad on his back, erupting for 17 points and swinging between both backcourt positions. A projected two guard at the major Division I level, Legion will enroll at basketball powerhouse Oak Hill Academy this Fall.

Tom Konchalski of the HSBI Report was encouraged to see Legion play with such passion and purpose. Back at the Spiece Tournament in early May, Konchalski felt Legion didn't play up to his potential.

"He was much more active tonight," Konchalski said. "Today, he really competed -- he was active, involved and he dove on the floor for loose balls."

It's unclear if Rose will play the rest of the camp. He was one of three injured players on the 76ers squad. Rose's high school teammate Tim Flowers, also did not play. Ditto British import Shane Walker of Bishop Ireton H.S. in Virginia.

With only seven bodies available, DeMatha's promising 6-8 junior power forward Chris Braswell was added to the 76ers team. Duke recruit Taylor King helped bridge the numbers gap by playing in all four quarters against Mayo's Hawks, tallying 12 points and nine rebounds in the loss.

While Mayo has deservedly gotten much of the kudos for the 4-0 Hawks, 6-5 leaper deluxe Billy Walker has been equally impressive. In addition to finishing everything within 10 feet of the rim, Walker has been consistently knocking down the midrange jumper off the bounce.

Renardo Sidney, the 6-8 rising sophomore power forward from Mississippi, sat out Friday night's game at the ABCD Camp. Playing for the Lakers squad, Sidney has averaged nine points and four rebounds per game.

After a slow start, 6-7 power forward Alex Tyus played well down the stretch and knocked down the game winning shot in overtime as the Mavs dumped the Bulls, 67-63.

If Tyus would just embrace the fact that he is an athletic power forward first, and anything else second, he could be one of the more dominant players in the camp.

He spent the first half chucking up and missing several jumpers. When he went down in the paint and started to convert high percentage looks (mainly stickbacks), it opened up the other parts of his game.