Sorry it’s late (almost 2 a.m. Memphis time!) but I just got in from watching games, then a late dinner. Observations:

- I went to watch Lance Stephenson. First time I’ve seen him. I was so personally offended by his play, I had to leave at halftime. I just couldn’t take it anymore. It was like when you walk into a bad movie and 30 minutes into it, you know this thing is going nowhere. Folks, he’s a complete circus. A walking debacle. The pouting, the bad body language, the lazy play, the throwing elbows when he gets frustrated. And he’s not even really that good. Certainly not worth the trouble. I have it on very good authority that Memphis is NOT recruiting him. By the way, when I left his team was down 15 to some suburban Chicago kids.

- I got another look at the Atlanta Celtics. Once again, Derrick Favors did not impress me, relative to the expectations and ranking. If he’s the best player in this class, this class is crap. He’ll be a very good college player, but he’s no one-and-done. Not even close. He gets rebounds against guys that aren’t as talented or physically gifted as him, but the rest of his game leaves me ambivalent. Once again, Terrance Shannon played very well until he got hurt early in the second half. What I like is that every move he makes is a strong move; nothing weak. He rebounds everything with two hands, and when he doesn’t get the rebound, he’s sprinting back the other way. And he knows exactly what he is. I talked to him afterwards, and he described himself as an energy guy. On a very good team with some serious talent, he will be very effective, a guy you win with. He won’t be as good if he has to be the best player on a mediocre team.

- The kid I loved in that game on the other team, the Texas Ambassadors, is Daniel Alexander. He’s a 2010 kid who can really, really stroke it from deep and competes hard. He’s 6-8 and will be a big time player for somebody down the line.

- Karron Johnson is a talent, but he’s got some issues. He admitted to me that he likes to talk on the court, but he probably does it a little too much. He’s got a lot of the Shawn Taggart mannerisms and body language, which isn’t a surprise since he and Taggart are very close friends (both from Richmond, Va.) The Tigers could certainly do worse than Johnson as their 4 man for this class. Seton Hall is on him hard, and Bobby Gonzalez was there watching today. Johnson has nice skills and can play a physical game.

- Another kid to watch in the future is Davonte Grace, a 2011 guard who plays on Johnson’s team. He’s got a chance to be real nice.

- Nolan Dennis played better today than yesterday, when he had a migrane. He’s got long arms and just a nice feel for the game and where people are on the court. They’ll have to surround him with some tough, physical guys, but he’ll be a good player at Memphis. He’s a little more skilled than some of the guards Memphis recruited in the past.

- Yesterday, Avery Bradley was the man for the Northwest Panthers. Today, it was Abdul Gaddy. I didn’t pick up a stat sheet, but rest assured he was a monster. Really like both of those kids, and they play off each other so well. I don’t get the sense, however, that they’re going to go to the same college.

- After some digging around today, let me reiterate a point I made in this morning’s blog. I have no idea whether or not DeMarcus Cousins is ultimately going to de-commit from UAB, but he is indeed calling some major programs and expressing interest. Let me repeat. Schools are not tampering with this commitment and trying to recruit him; Cousins is calling them. It’s obvious to me he’s not completely solid on UAB at this time.

- By the way, I did not know this until tonight, but Derrick Rose came over on Tuesday to watch John Wall. Rose was in town anyway and made an appearance, which is good for the Tigers since Wall basically idolizes Rose.