Fury Shootout 17U Standouts: Forwards
The Fury Shootout took over the Southeast Metro last weekend. With many of the state’s top AAU programs in attendance, it didn’t take long to find a competitive game or a batch of high-quality players.
Here are some of the forwards who stood out over the weekend:
The big boys carried their teams to a lot of wins last weekend and the teams with the best hosts of forwards were Comets Servaty and Fury Wilde. Fury Wilde took home the tournament title thanks in large part to excellent play from combo forwards Eric Tiedman of Jordan and Aidan Doherty of St. Louis Park.
Tiedman makes everything on the court look easy. He’s a relentless worker but he’s also smooth with his attacks and with his cuts off the ball. He’s got a strong drive game from the high post and he showed a great ability to finish in transition. He’s also got more explosiveness in the tank than I was expecting as he threw down several impressive dunks in the semifinal and championship games of the tournament.
Doherty might’ve been the most impressive player for Fury Wilde and his ability to rebound, defend multiple positions and score efficiently allowed him to dominate in the championship game against Comets Servaty. He’s extremely quick both with the ball on drives and off the ball in pursuit of rebounds. He carved up bigger defenders throughout the tournament and was impressive as a cutter and finisher.
Anoka’s Jake Phipps was impressive especially on Sunday for Fury Wilde. Spencer Rolland left the semifinal game against MN Eagles with an ankle injury, meaning Phipps played extended minutes and he more than held down the fort inside. At 6-foot-9, Phipps has enough length and mobility to not only defend inside but also contest and compete against ball-scree actions. He controlled the boards against a Comets Servaty team that had won thanks to the ability to dominate the paint and he excelled on the offensive end as a rim-runner, screener and finisher on drop-offs.
Comets Servaty rode its deep frontcourt to a second-place finish, getting great play from just about every big man in a different game.
Rogers forward Jordan Belka looks like one of the most improved players in the 2018 class. He’s been a good player for a while and certainly isn’t coming out of nowhere but his game has developed to the point that he can handle the ball, pass, make plays for teammates and shoot. He was a weapon for Comets all weekend thanks to his ability to rebound and initiate transition offense. He’s lethal as a screen because he can pop and shoot or he can slip and if the primary ball handler is doubled, Belka can make plays off that by either finishing or finding teammates in a 4-on-3 situation.
Justin Balcome has been one of headliners for Servaty’s club all AAU season and he had his share of moments as well.He was outstanding in the team’s win over Fury Antl, feasting on the offensive glass. He’s got the ability to handle the ball and shoot on the perimeter as well as score in the post and while he didn’t get a lot of opportunity to do that in that particular game, he showed he can make a big impact without getting an offense run through him.
His defense is a major weapon too because not only does he defend the rim at a high level, he’s got quickness you don’t normally see in 6-foot-10 kids.
Totino-Grace forward Tyler Kittleson was a standout especially on Saturday simply due to his activity level and athleticism inside. At 6-foot-5ish, Kittelson is bouncy and strong and he flashed nice touch on his jump shot.
A guy who continues to catch my eye the more I watch him play is Southeast Minnesota Lightning and Lake City forward Zach Bremer. Bremer was a super role player for the Tigers in the high school season and he’s been more of the same for the Lightning but he’s also been extremely productive. The 6-foot-5 combo-forward averaged a double-double over the weekend and while he might not necessarily wow anybody with athleticism or incredible skill, he’s a guy who seems capable of doing whatever is asked of him and when good things happen for his team, he’s usually involved. He’s a good defender, rebounder and plays effectively without the ball in his hands. He’s a good screener and is an improving 3-point shooter.
Another team with tremendous size was the Magic Elite and they rode that size to a fair amount of success.
Edina 2017 big man Matt Hofrenning was outstanding offensively over the weekend, showing the ability to do just about everything. He knocked down 3-pointers, he scored in transition and on the post. He even showed the ability to put the ball down and attack from the wing against closeouts. His defense could use a little work at times as he has a tendency to get caught ball-watching but he certainly showed over the weekend that he’s got a lot of offensive potential.
Mankato West center Mike Sathoff was another guy who did nice things for Magic Elite. He’s a true center who isn’t going to step outside his comfort zone a whole lot during the game but he’s effective as a screener and interior defender. He worked hard on the offensive glass and did a great job creating second chances by either securing a rebound or fighting to create loose ball opportunities.
One of my favorite players in the entire 2018 class is Fury Antl and St. Thomas Academy forward Sam Vascellaro. I don’t see a hole in his game. At 6-foot-4, Vascellaro can score from all levels on the floor, he’s a very good passer and shot-creator for himself and his teammates. I knew he could do just about anything you asked of him on the offensive end but I didn’t realize how tenacious he can be defensively. He’s got the ability to defend three positions at a high level when he’s engaged and he can not only be a very good on-ball defender but a terrific help defender. He’s got a lot of bounce and can contest shots at the rim that you might not expect him to get to and his basketball IQ allows him to stay in great position almost all of the time.