Summer League Insight: Wednesday Night
On Wednesday night, summer league basketball went down in Tampa.
Four schools played four different one hour games at Wharton. Bloomingdale, Newsome and Sickles all joined in on the action.
Here is what I took away from the night.
Workman has improved his game even more (Sickles)
The Class 8A state champions graduated two senior leaders in Marcus Cohen and Bryce Beamer. Lengthy and powerful forward Bryce Workman was a key part of the state run last season. He looks even better in the post with his interior moves and his outside jump shot looked deadly on Wednesday.
2018 point guard Tahj Lalanne, 2018 forward Denari Garrett (out with a foot injury), 2018 guard Garner Wade and 2019 forward Chase Barrs are going to be a huge part of the Gryphons offense this season. Workman is the centerpiece and with a nice cast around him, Sickles has a chance to make another run.
Green Jr. and Henderson are true leaders (Wharton)
2019 guard Darin Green Jr. is a deadly outside shooter and he showed that off on Wednesday night. He isn’t afraid to knock down an open look and get his teammates involved in transition. 2018 forward D.J. Henderson lit the gym up with a two-handed slam to end the first quarter of game No. 3 on the night against Newsome.
2018 forwards Ryan Anders and Nate Barnes, 2020 guard Car Thiam and 2020 forward Gabe Del Valle are all going to see increased roles with three seniors graduating (Tray Gildon, Reggie Jennings, Dae’Son Barnes) and 2018 guard Isaiah Thomas transferring to Brooks DeBartolo.
Islam and Brazinski are a good combo (Newsome)
2018 guard Isaiah Islam played second fiddle to now graduated guard Nick Stuck the last few seasons. With Stuck gone, this is now Islam’s offense. He ran the floor early and often and looked smooth with the ball in his hands. It took him a little to get going, but once he works inside and attacks that’s when he is at his best.
Joining Islam in the backcourt is 2020 guard Jake Brazinski. The rising sophomore hit some big shots off the bench a season ago. He did so again on Wednesday and will see his role increased to a starter. 2018 guard Conor Baird, 2019 guard Nathan Ahl, 2019 forward Logan Ortiz and 2019 forward Tyler McKenna are going to be asked to do a bit more this season for the Wolves.
Moran is dependable (Bloomingdale)
2018 guard Connor Moran carried the load for Bloomingdale throughout the night. He was in command of the offense and saw the floor well. The undersized Bulls earned nice performances from 2018 guards Mikey Kusz and Jeremie Santana-Jones.
2018 forward Luke Gazzo has a nice set of moves inside and a solid mid-range game. He’ll be asked to do a lot inside for the Bulls this season. Bloomingdale is a young group, but they played competitive games on the night.