Bruce’s Best: Top Tweeners

Bruce Williams

March 17, 2020 @ 11:23 PM

If you follow Prephoops Nevada you have heard me use the term Tweener a lot. It describes players that are undersized and playing outside of their natural position. This takes nothing away from their ability and several "Tweeners" have gone on to have terrific careers, Charles Barkley comes to mind. At the high school level, Tweeners are much more common as many teams only have a handful of bigs, and players who otherwise would be playing on the perimeter are forced to play inside out of necessity. In this article, PH takes a look at some of the top "Tweeners" in Nevada. [player_tooltip player_id="927128" first="Coleman" last="Lemke"] 6’7 Faith Lutheran 2021 (#30PHN 2021) - Plays (5) At 6’7 Lemke is usually the tallest player on the floor. His matchups look odd at times as the rail-thin Lemke can sometimes be found banging against much more physical post. Natural Pos (3) Lemke is one of the rare players playing two spots out of his natural position. What he is, is a guy that was a 6’3 guard until about 16 months ago. He still has a lot of those guards skills, but his challenge is transitioning those skills into his new frame. He wants to catch and shoot, show the ball and lift defenders all perfect skills for a 3. [player_tooltip player_id="856674" first="Kendrick" last="Gilbert"] 6’5 Durango 2020 (#15PHN 2020) (featured image) - Plays: (5) If you saw Durango play this season, then you saw Gilbert mainly playing the 5. He scored most of his points around the rim. "The Human Mikan Drill" I like to call him. Natural Pos: (4) In reality, Gilbert should be playing the 4. If you put him next to a true 5 of 6’8 or better, it would make it much easier for him to overpower his matchup. He would have to improve his ability to stretch the floor, but his strengths, defensive versatility, and hedging ball screens fit right into the skills of a 4. [player_tooltip player_id="797132" first="Anthony" last="Hunter"] 5’11 Durango 2020 (#6PNN 2020) - Plays: (1) Hunter is one of the rare tweeners that are better upsizing vs playing down. He played the 1 a lot this year, and while he does have good PG skills.... Natural Pos: (2) He is explosive at the 2. His run and jump athletic ability make it possible for him to be effective at that position. He’s cat-quick and can shoot it from 3. In a perfect situation, he would play next to a taller PG like a [player_tooltip player_id="533062" first="Keshon" last="Gilbert"], to offset any potential defensive mismatches. [player_tooltip player_id="859645" first="Michael" last="Klekas"] 6’3 Elko 2022 (#10PHN 2022) - Plays: (4) In fairness to Klekas he plays all over the court for Elko. You can find him in the post, or making plays on the perimeter. One of those guys that is forced into a position for team needs, Klekas is productive at the 4 but... Natural Pos: (3) His mannerisms and game remind me a lot of former Gonzaga star Adam Morrison. Not exceptionally fast, or athletic, Klekas simply understands how to play the game. If he was playing alongside a true 4 and 5 I could easily see him being a nightmare matchup for high school 3’s. He’s simply too strong for them on the block, and he has the perimeter skills to create space and raise up over them on the perimeter. [player_tooltip player_id="858149" first="Drake" last="Booker"] Foothill 2021 (#13PHN 2021) - Plays (1) Booker is more of a combo guard than a pure PG. He has some of the abilities of a PG but.. Natural Pos: (2) With his explosion and run and jump ability, he is much more productive at the 2. Getting him moving off the ball and forcing defenders to chase him off screens makes him much more effective once he gets a catch. Much like Hunter, his athletic ability should make up for any height disadvantage when guarding taller 2’s. <a href="https://twitter.com/7outzbballclub1">Follow Prep Hoops Nevada</a>