Landon’s Week 11 Player Evaluations: 2022’s and 2023s

Landon’s Week 11 Player Evaluations: 2022&#8217;s and 2023s

Landon Bundy

February 8, 2021 @ 02:24 AM

This week was full of great games that had lots of great players in them. I saw some exciting prospects and look forward to giving you my evaluations each and every Sunday throughout the season. It is time to recap this week and look at what our exciting prospects did.   Ben Davis @ Franklin Central - 2/2/2021 Airrion Boyd (Franklin Central) (2022) – 6’6″ SF: Boyd has struggled to put points on the board this year, but he reached double figures with a 10-point performance in the loss. The junior is a big, bruising forward, and he uses his physicality on both ends of the floor. He is a good finisher inside, and he has good court vision so he doesn’t force anything inside. He is always looking for the open man. On the defensive end of the floor, he uses his physicality in the post and he is never afraid to take a charge. Boyd isn’t the most talented player, but his heart and his work ethic were on full display in this game. If Boyd continues to play at this level, he could help the Flashes in a major way down the stretch. [player_tooltip player_id="1042497" first="Zane" last="Doughty"] (Ben Davis) (2023) – 6’7″ PF: Doughty is a bigger player that is still extremely young with a good amount of potential. He is extremely aggressive on the glass and he can finish through contact inside. He needs to bulk up in the future, and he needs to learn to go up strong with the ball rather than falling away from the rim. He also seems to rush at times. Nonetheless, Doughty is a big man with a vast amount of potential. He is going to have to put the work in to improve, but I can see him being a player to watch for Ben Davis in the years to come.   Indianapolis Metropolitan @ Greenwood Christian - 2/5/2021 David Merriweather (Indianapolis Metropolitan) (2023) – 6’10″ C: Merriweather is huge, and this is naturally going to cause problems for almost every 1A team in the state of Indiana. However, he is not the most mobile player, and he does nearly all of his damage on the offensive glass. Despite his slow feet, he has a knack for knowing exactly where he needs to be on the glass on both ends of the floor. Another part of his game that I loved was his passing ability. A lot of big men get the ball inside and try to score every time, but Merriweather knew exactly what to do with the ball. He had his eyes up and never tried to do too much. He knows exactly what his game is, and he sticks to this. He has two years to continue to grow, but if he can improve his athleticism and touch around the rim, he is going to be even tougher to defend. Blake Shewmaker (Greenwood Christian) (2023) – 6’2″ SG: Shewmaker tallied a career-high 19 points in the Cougars win, and the young sophomore showed several bright spots in his overall game. He is a very good three-point shooter, 43% on the season, and he was 3-6 in this one. He also has good touch around the rim and a nice floater to score the ball. In addition to this, he also added 4 assists. Shewmaker basically never forced anything in this one. He had his eyes up and was always looking for an open man that had a better look than he did. Young players are going to make some mistakes, but Shewmaker definitely has a lot of potential in the years to come. [player_tooltip player_id="774740" first="Isaiah" last="Davis"] (Greenwood Christian) (2022) – 6’9″ PF: Davis transferred to GCA this season, and he is making a major impact for the Cougars. Davis is a very physical player, and he uses his physicality on both the glass and in his post defense. On the offensive end of the floor, he loves the baseline mid-range jumper. If he has an opening with this shot, he will not hesitate to take it. He also has the three-point shot in his arsenal as he has been a 33% shooter from beyond the arc this season. Davis has 10 offers already, and he is going to continue to be heavily recruited over the next year of his career.   Fort Wayne Bishop Luers @ Fort Wayne Northrop - 2/6/2021 Jayden Schmenk (Fort Wayne Northrop) (2023) – 6’0″ PG: Schmenk showed several bright spots in his game for a sophomore, but he also made several mistakes that you would expect from a younger player. He had 4 turnovers and seemed to get out of control most of the time that he had the ball. However, he also had many successes in the game. He can knock shots down from the outside, he can break the press by himself with his speed, and he reads passing lanes really well. He struggled shooting the ball overall as he seemed to rush some of is attempts, but he has a lot of potential if he can figure out a way to slow his game down which will come with his experience. [player_tooltip player_id="1049189" first="James" last="Mallory"] (Fort Wayne Northrop) (2023) – 6’4″ SF: Mallory is still young, but his rebounding skill is fully developed. He knows where to position himself on the glass, and he uses his size and physicality to grab the boards. On the offensive end, he did most of his damage on putbacks, but he also has good touch around the rim and can finish through contact. The one obvious blunder in his game was his 1-5 performance from the free throw line. This is going to have to improve over the years as those missed opportunities are enough to cost his team some games down the stretch. Nonetheless, Mallory will be the guy once Smith leaves, and we will have a chance to see how good he can be. [player_tooltip player_id="868235" first="Nicholas" last="Thompson"] (Fort Wayne Bishop Luers) (2023) – 6’1″ PG: Thompson, the younger brother of Naylon, has a very similar game to his older brother. He is smaller but should continue to grow. He has good court vision and plays more of a true point guard role which fits his game well. He is quick with the ball and always hustling,but he can get out of control at times. He had a solid performance with 6 points, 6 boards, and 4 assists. Once Naylon leaves, it will be Nick’s team, and he should be on a lot of school’s radars in the coming years.