NY2LA Next Level Invitational: Sunday
The NY2LA Next Level Invitational is regularly a hotspot for Minnesota teams and this year was no different. Grassroots Minnesota and Minnesota Select Altenhofen were two of the teams that made strong Sunday runs. Grassroots Takes Second The Grassroots Minnesota…
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Continue ReadingThe NY2LA Next Level Invitational is regularly a hotspot for Minnesota teams and this year was no different. Grassroots Minnesota and Minnesota Select Altenhofen were two of the teams that made strong Sunday runs.
Grassroots Takes Second
The Grassroots Minnesota squad took second place in the second tournament of the Next Level Invitational with impressive wins over quality teams from Playground Elite, TAW, and SYF Players before losing in the final. Xavier Johnson exploded for 17 straight points in that championship while Jalen Suggs had 16. Steffon Mitchell helped get them there with 20 against Playground Elite in the championship and fellow big Max Curran grabbed the attention of many with his standout play.
Max Curran. The 6-foot-9 bouncy talent from Notre Dame Prep and Stillwater High School before that is a 2016 looking for a school this fall. Based on what we saw he should have zero problems locating one. College coaches were buzzing about a lot of what Max could including: his ability to get up and down the floor with long strides, his quick bounce (just missed a reverse alley-oop), his ability to handle some as a face-up four, the load of rebounds he grabbed, and several explosive finishes. Definitely remember that name as he will be a D1 kid either this year or in future years.
Xavier Johnson. The 2016 guard is always, and I repeat always on the verge of a scoring explosion. Even if he’s cold he is a guy that needs to keep getting some shots as he missed his first seven and then exploded to get a lay-up and five straight treys that changed the game. He’s dynamic pushing the pace in the open floor and of course he has one of the most explosive shooting strokes we’ve seen. I think back to the NBA Jam game when the ball would be on fire and the guys would make whatever shot when hot, that is Xavier. Truly.
Jalen Suggs. There is a lot about the 2020 to marvel at considering how talented he is at this age. You can talk about his handles, his ability to produce against older and more experienced players, the explosive finishes that have hit the social networks hard, and the results he’s had at the high school level in two years as a middle school student. But to me it’s his body control going to the rim. It’s amazing to think that a 6-foot-2 14 year old young man can attack, take contact, contort his body and still softly finish attempts while keeping his body in balance to finish. It’s not just going at the rim, Jalen has such an incredible athletic feel to him that he can move through sticky situations and create consistently.
Big Run for Select
Minnesota Select took out the Playground 16U club and earned a spot in the final four Sunday. Overall for the weekend they won seven of nine games bringing their record to 18-2 on the year with Beijan Newbern in the line-up. Newbern, Mike Coble, and Alex Rasmussen made some huge plays to help this team when NHR was present and as a whole this club plays some of the best team defense at the 16U level in the Midwest.
Beijan Newbern. The Robbinsdale Cooper talent showed some late game finishing that needs to be noted. In that Playground game he took over late with a coast to coast finish, a putback score of his own miss quick bouncing to the carom before the competition, a d-board in traffic, and clutch foul shooting. He’s a smooth attack wing that lulls a guy to sleep, gets the corner with a quick first step and then can touch the ball in on the move while taking contact. Long arm guard at 6-foot-2.
Alex Rasmussen. When we arrived in Milwaukee we were aware that Alex had just put up 15 points in a key Saturday night game and then we saw the Northfield 6-foot-3 fighter knock out some key treys in the corner in the final game of the weekend. Alex showed his perimeter touch but what we liked better was his fight on defense to beat athletes to a spot and we liked his loose ball chase off the rim and when the ball was on the floor.
Mike Coble. The 6-foot-3 wide shouldered wing from Byron is a player who has the ability to get in space in the open floor and stay on balance with a contesting defender and still rise to finish. That attacking completion has been known as has Mike’s athletic ability. What really grabbed our attention in the game and a half that we watched was the way Mike was shooting the ball. He made three treys in the second half as Select nearly took out a quality Swing Team.
Irsfeld Shines
The Minnesota Comets won six of eight games this weekend making the final four of the NY2LA league tournament and the elite eight of the Next Level Invitational Tournament. And along the way Bryce Irsfeld played some of his best basketball.
Bryce Irsfeld. We kept hearing from all directions that Bryce was on fire all week and then Sunday morning we saw Bryce confidently stroke four jumpers in during the first half of play including two at the arc. Irsfeld’s touch with feet set or off the bounce into a pull-up were equally as good all week in Milwaukee. But do you know what we liked more? The way Bryce battled against athletes on defense. He used his strong frame, his quick lateral steps, and his heart to get over the top of ball screens and then cut off athletic Chicago division one guards. He also trapped corners with a fight that only warriors could love.
Ryan Lindberg. The Wayata shooter is showing that he’s a game changer more and more. Every day he gets more comfortable with the Comet sets and motion and every game he has more space to fire and complete. A game changer in the second half when Ryan hit two treys and an 18 footer. He’s the type of guy teams screen for and he’s so good at curling tight, getting feet set with hands up, catching, and making.
Simon Wright. We watched Simon have a tough shooting game but a fantastic rebounding game battling for nine boards against the Chicago squad that won the event. Simon played well enough through the week to earn offers from American, Wright State, and UW-Milwaukee giving him double figure D1 offers now. South Dakota, North Dakota State, Drake, Duquesne, Yale, UWGB, and UW-Milwaukee were in the crowd watching.
Other Minnesota Standouts.
Owen King. His vision and the way he passes the ball has really grabbed our attention after watching Wisconsin Playmakers 16U twice this year. His handles are not notch as is vision. How about his ability to finish? He made a game winner to put the Playmakers through to the next round as he brought the ball up, attacked right, and pulled up to win the game.
Dalton Kubista. The Owatonna wing had 24 points as nobody could stop him from getting to his pull-up and finishing. Kubista has been so good in our viewings we have been forced to come to the following conclusions: 1) Owatonna has a chance to get back where they were very soon, 2) Kubista is one of the biggest stock risers in the state and a likely top 25-30 kid at least, 3) I haven’t seen anybody stop him in any of my viewings. Very talented.
Brandon Collins. Loved the way this Prior Lake 2018 defended for WOTN. King had to work extremely hard to get into space to score his 15 and that was because Brandon hounded him laterally with a never quit defensive effort. Collins also hit a late game clutch trey that tied the game before the King game winter.
Rob McClain. Before getting his face smashed by the ground on a basket attack McClain attacked an Indiana athletic defense and got to the rim for three And1s in the late Sunday game. He was just too long and too good with his first step for wing defenders to do anything with at 6-foot-4 and then he touched in shots at the rim while getting hammered.
Chandler Wellman. The Zimmerman 6-foot-4 forward plays bigger than his size at power forward because he has one of the quickest vertical bounces in the class. Wellman may be the guy with the best vertical bounce that people don’t know about in this class. Loved the way he quickly bounced to boards and finishes and his effort was high level.