KS Top 250 Expo: Do It All Guards 2022
Having the ability to play hard, guard, rebound, score, and make plays for others is a tough task on the basketball court. With the immense amount of guard talent and the high level of play, this group of guards showed…
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Continue ReadingHaving the ability to play hard, guard, rebound, score, and make plays for others is a tough task on the basketball court. With the immense amount of guard talent and the high level of play, this group of guards showed that they have a multiple pieces to the puzzle and have an all around well rounded game.
Howard Johnson, 6’ Guard, Junction City, 2022
The Junction City High School, and Centennial League Newcomer of the Year is continuing to build momentum in the state of Kansas as an all around tough guard and player to keep tabs on. This Saturday was a great showing of his skill set on the court from the guard spot. Something he has improved a lot on is looking up the floor and kicking the ball ahead to start breaks and put teammates in great positions to score. He showed a quick burst of the bounce to get into the lanes and is a great two foot finisher off of drives which keeps him on balance and great at absorbing contact and still finishing. He is a bunches scorer, capable of putting together quick flurries of buckets, highlighted in his third game of the game where he scored 7 quick points off of two right handed drives and a corner 3 on consecutive possessions. At the Expo, Johnson shot it well from the perimeter hitting multiple threes in a variety of fashion in each game. His defense has really improved on the ball as he has been tasked constantly since July on guarding some of the best guards in Kansas, and he backs up his on ball defense with an ability to rebound and box out from the guard spot at a high level.
Damare Smith, 6’ Guard, Shawnee Mission Northwest, 2022
Smith is someone who I have begun watching this summer and he is someone that impresses me more and more on each viewing. He has a great frame for a lead guard and he uses his body well both off the ball and with the ball in his hands. He has very solid court vision, and he showed it off at the Expo with a couple of great skip passes to open shooters as well as dump off passes to cutters or bigs diving. He was paired with other great players Devan McEwen and Alex Littejohn this weekend and he helped get them some quality looks from both the perimeter and in transition, it was a fun group to watch. Smith is extremely quick and paired with his strength, he is someone who is very difficult to keep in front while he is on offense and when he is guarding you, he is tough to get around. On both ends of the floor, Smith is a kid who imposes his will using his combination of strength and speed.
Zaid Dajani Zaid Dajani 6'4" | CG Olathe Northwest | 2022 State KS , 6’3 Guard, Olathe Northwest, 2022
The Olathe Northwest guard was in attack mode for every minute he was in the game during the KS Top 250 Expo on Saturday. He put tremendous pressure on his opponents, from being constantly attacking the rim on offense to being in passing lanes leading to run outs, and all over the ball on defense. He has great length on the perimeter which makes him someone tough to guard as well as someone who can be a lockdown defender in the half court. I liked his ability to attack on both sides of the basket off of the bounce and he was someone who played very efficiently while in transition whether it was being the beneficiary of kick ahead passes to him or bringing the ball up himself.
Darius Mall, 5’11 Guard, St Thomas Aquinas, 2022
Probably the overall top guard defender on the day, Mall has a chance to be a real key player to an Aquinas squad that will have high aspirations this season. Mall was a pest all day for opposing offensive players, constantly beating his guy to spots, getting deflections, rebounding long rebounds, and being a great help defender. Sitting at only 5’11, his other athletic traits like his springy bounce and quick lateral movements erase of what he may lack in height for the guards he guarded on Saturday. He had a great chase down play in transition in one of the earl games on the day and just overall, he stuck out to me on that end. His offensive game, when kept simple, was effective and he thrived more in transition where his athletic ability could shine and get him easy shots at the rim. He hit a couple of jump shots on the day so the capability to expand on offense is there.
Alex Watts, 5’10 Guard, Lawrence, 2022
In watching Watts over the last couple of weeks he has shown his versatility and ability to be a guard who can do so many things a coach would want from that spot. Saturday at the Expo, he flashed bits and pieces of the overall game throughout the day. Along with Howard Johnson who was mentioned earlier, Watts was another guard who scored multiple times driving and finishing off of two feet which quite frankly, is a lost skill for a lot of guards today, so to see Watts use it as a go to in traffic on Saturday was great to see. On the day he was consistently running the wings and getting down the floor on offense and made plays over and over again in transition. His ability to run the floor put a lot of pressure on defenses Saturday, and his balance and solid play made him efficient at the rim. Watts is a capable 3 point shooter who hit threes throughout the day mainly by the kick out from the post, and drive and kick type of shot. He is another guard who compliments his offensive solid play by keeping guys in front on defense, and rebounding from the guard spot.