Lance Stephenson (right) has led Brooklyn's Lincoln High to three consecutive New York City championships. AP Seth Davis's Mailbag Seth Davis will periodically answer questions from SI.com users in his Hoop Thoughts column. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- On Tuesday evening, 18 of the top teenage basketball players in America gathered on the Washington Wizards' practice court at the Verizon Center. The players had been invited by USA Basketball to try out for the team that will compete at the FIBA Americas Under-18 Championship tournament in Argentina later this month.

When it came time for full-court scrimmaging, Lance Stephenson, the much-heralded guard who has led Brooklyn's Lincoln High to three consecutive New York City championships, tried taking over the point guard duties. Stephenson wanted to show off the skills he picked up at Nike's Steve Nash camp last month, but he turned in an awful performance. He dribbled into traffic and committed sloppy turnovers. He fired no-look passes that sailed out of bounds. He drove to the basket and heedlessly forced up bad shots.

Even worse, after every mistake he acted like it was someone else's fault. He barked at his teammates. He whined to the refs. He rolled his eyes and slapped his thighs. He shook his head and muttered to himself.

In other words, he acted like what he is: a 17-year-old kid.

This may come as a surprise to those who have already proclaimed Stephenson to be the next big thing. We're told he's the next Stephon Marbury or Sebastian Telfair, just because he plays for Lincoln like they did. We're told he's the next O.J. Mayo, whom he once challenged at a recruiting camp when Stephenson was a high school freshman. (I was there; Mayo schooled him) Lance is supposed to be the next LeBron, the next Kobe, the next Carmelo.

It's a safe bet nobody would say those things about Stephenson if he were from, say, Phoenix instead of New York. At any rate, Stephenson demonstrated quite clearly at the Team USA trials that he is none of those things -- not yet, anyway. To be sure, he deserves to considered among the best 10 or 15 high school seniors in America, which is where most scouting services rank him. At 6-foot-5, 202 pounds, Stephenson was the most physically developed player at the trials. When the coaches made the players run the length of the court and back within 10 seconds, Stephenson completed the sprints way ahead of the pack. He also displayed a fierce will, which, combined with his speed and strength, enabled him to score a ton of baskets around the rim.

But the immaturity evinced in his body language was enough of a concern that Tom Konchalski, the longtime high school talent scout based in Queens, N.Y., pulled Stephenson aside before the evening session on Wednesday to give him a pep talk. Earlier that day, Konchalski had eaten lunch with Davidson coach Bob McKillop, the U.S. team's head coach, and Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, who was chairing the committee that will select the team. Konchalski told Lance that the coaches were, in Tom's words, "down on him" because of the way he had been acting. Stephenson apparently took that counsel to heart, because he was considerably more effective and even-keeled during Wednesday evening's practice. Like all teenagers, Lance has a lot of growing up to do, if only the world will give him a little breathing room to do it.

"Just because he has the body of a man doesn't mean we should expect him to have the maturity of a man," Konchalski said. "He's the result of our warped basketball culture. He's never faced adversity. He's always been the golden child. Believe me, he's not a bad kid and he has a world of talent, but he has to learn how to deal with frustration."

During the first two days of practice, McKillop made a point several times to pull Stephenson aside and gently give him encouragement and advice. On Thursday morning, however, McKillop told Stephenson's father, Lance Sr., that he was going to "bust [Lance's] butt" for the next two weeks. Lance Sr. told McKillop that was what they came for. Sure enough, McKillop jumped in young Lance's face during the ensuing practice and ripped him for not paying close enough attention during a drill. (McKillop had gotten hot at other players previously, but that was the first time all week he dropped an f-bomb.) To Lance's credit, he didn't pout or withdraw after McKillop's mini tirade. He simply dove into the next drill as hard as he could.

"A lot of times someone with his talent doesn't have the competitive fire that he has," McKillop said. "But that competitive fire can burn other ways, too. If he can channel that properly, he has a chance to be a superb player."

When I asked Stephenson about the concerns the coaches had expressed about his body language, he acknowledged that it was an issue but didn't think it was a big deal. "That's my eagerness to win," he said. "I just want to win so bad that I might show a lot of anger, but I really don't mean it in a negative way. I'm just trying to get my teammates to play harder."

I also asked Lance about the perils of being overhyped at such a young age. Consider that the person who first introduced him to Konchalski told Konchalski that Lance was ranked the fourth-best fourth grader in New York City. Stephenson seemed genuinely perplexed that anyone would suggest there is a downside to that kind of fame and expectation. "I like the attention," he said. "I think I earned it and I play hard for it. If people pick you to be the next great player, you've got to live up to it."

When Boeheim's committee winnowed the pool from 18 players to 14 on Wednesday night, Stephenson was among those who remained. It's a safe bet he'll still be there when the 12-man roster is finalized in a few days. As for his recruitment, Stephenson has narrowed his list of choices to five schools: USC, UCLA, Kansas, Memphis and St. John's.

Wherever he goes, he has a chance to be a very good player, maybe even a great one -- eventually. He also has a chance to play in the NBA -- someday. But that type of excellence is a long, long way off. The question in the short term is whether Stephenson believes his own hype. Because if he does, he'll have no chance at living up to it.

Other notes from the USA trials

• The player who raised his profile the most this week is Ryan Kelly, a 6-9 forward from Raleigh, N.C. Kelly is a little on the thin side, but he moves well and is remarkably skilled for a player his size. He has lots of different moves around the basket and made a lot of deft passes both on the break and in the high post. He is also a great student who has a 4.3 grade-point average and scored 2,150 on his SAT. His list of 10 potential schools includes Stanford, Kansas, North Carolina and Notre Dame.

• Here's why you can't form too strong an opinion based on one or two days of watching high school players. At the NBA Players Association camp last week in Virginia, I made a point to check out David and Travis Wear, the 6-9 identical twins from greater Los Angeles who are headed to North Carolina. I didn't think they were bad, but they weren't all that impressive. Then I saw them at the Under-18 trials. And they were all that impressive. They're big, strong, graceful and extremely skilled. They also have that "twin thing" going when they play on the same team, where they always seem to know exactly where the other one was on the court. Carolina fans have plenty of reason to be excited about their arrival in the fall of '09.

• It was fun watching two soon-to-be Big East point guards going head to head: Maalik Wayns, who will play for Villanova in 2009 and UConn-bound Kemba Walker. I have to say, Walker got the better of that dual. He reminds me a little of another Big East point guard, Syracuse's Jonny Flynn, though Flynn was probably more advanced as a scorer coming out of high school. Walker, however, is strong and quick, and he has the commanding floor presence you want in a lead guard. He'll make a great pairing next season with A.J. Price.

• I'm not sure how many college hoops fans are hip to JaMychal Green, but remember his name. Green is a strong, 6-8 jumping jack who loves to attack the offensive glass. He will play next season for Alabama, where he will help fill the void created by Richard Hendrix's departure to the NBA.

• Three other players who were invited to the trials canceled at the last minute due to injuries: Kenny Boynton, a 6-2 guard from Florida; Dexter Strickland, a 6-foot-3 guard from New Jersey who has committed to North Carolina; and Drew Gordon, a 6-9 forward who will be a freshman at UCLA next season.