Landon’s Week 12 Player Evaluations: 2021s

Landon Bundy

February 15, 2021 @ 12:53 PM

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.   Noblesville @ Marion - 2/9/2021 Josh Durham (Noblesville) (2021) – 6’3″ SG: Durham is a bigger senior guard who provides the Millers with energy and toughness that can’t be shown in the stats. His defense that he played on [player_tooltip player_id="874110" first="Jalen" last="Blackmon"] was outstanding. Even allowing a monster performance by Blackmon, Durham had him frustrated and forcing shots throughout the game. In addition, he also tallied a career-high 11 points in just his second double figures game of his career. He got inside and finished around the rim. Durham provides the leadership that the Millers are going to need down the stretch this season. Noah Harris (Noblesville) (2021) – 6’6″ PF: Harris is a big, physical body, and he had one of his best performances of his career on Tuesday night. He is incredibly aggressive on the glass, especially on the offensive end, and he works hard for many second-chance points. His post moves have developed, but he much prefers to face up against the defender. In addition to his post offense, he also has enough ball-handling ability to drive past the bigger defender and finish at the rim, and he hit a mid-range jumper that keeps the defense honest. This 21 point performance was a career-high, and if he can play like this, he is going to be very good at the next level. [player_tooltip player_id="874110" first="Jalen" last="Blackmon"] (Marion) (2021) – 6’3″ SG: Blackmon may be one of the best shooters in the state of Indiana, and he showed that on Tuesday with a 7-10 performance from behind the arc and a 38 point performance. Jalen is a natural scorer who can get to the rim with ease or bury a shot from the logo. He has a parking lot range from deep, and he also isn’t going to hesitate to set up his teammates if they are open. These types of performances by Blackmon make you wonder why he wasn’t more heavily recruited, but Grand Canyon is getting an absolute stud of a player for next season. Blackmon finished the night with 1,999 career points, but a 26 point performance on Friday night made him a 2,000 point scorer for his career. Marion will have a tough time beating Lafayette Jeff in the Sectional, but if Blackmon shoots like this, anything is possible. [player_tooltip player_id="783181" first="Jermaine" last="Woods"] (Marion) (2021) – 6’5″ SF: Woods is a bigger player who usually uses his physicality to his advantage. I’m not sure why, but he seemed to play a completely different type of game than usual on Tuesday. Woods was 4-5 from behind the arc in this one after being just 33% on the year before that. He loves the catch-and-shoot corner three, as he was 4-4 on this shot. I was hoping he would be more aggressive rebounding, but he played the game more as a guard which was new to see. This game showed us that he has more parts to his game, but I think he is better suited to play inside and grab boards while drifting out for that corner three on some of Blackmon’s drives to the hoop. Nonetheless, this was Woods’ first double-digit scoring output of the year, so if he can get hot, the Giants will be a much tougher team to beat.   Valparaiso @ Crown Point - 2/12/2021 [player_tooltip player_id="647244" first="Clayton" last="Maclagan"] (Valparaiso) (2021) – 6’6″ SF: Maclagan tweaked his ankle earlier in the week, and he seemed to favor his other ankle a little bit. Despite this, he played outstanding in the win. He has a great shot stroke and is great off of the catch and shoot. He also showed off a nice little pull-up jumper. Maclagan has signed to play at Goshen next season, and he should be a solid player for the Maple Leafs. [player_tooltip player_id="963925" first="Ty" last="Smith"] (Crown Point) (2021) – 6’1″ SG: Smith is a smaller guard that does a lot for this Bulldogs ball club. He has nice vision and makes some good passes to set up his teammates, but his best work is done while scoring the basketball. He is a rhythm shooter who can knock down shots from both deep and from the mid-range. In addition, he takes the ball strong to the hole and can finish over the taller defenders. Ty did struggle down the stretch as he seemed to force some things, but he will make a solid player at the Division 3 level next year. Jake Oostman (Crown Point) (2021) – 6’6″ PF: Oostman is a bigger man down low who makes plays in the post. He runs the floor well, and he knows how to position himself inside. With the good passing abilities of his teammates, he is set up with so many easy buckets inside. Oostman is a talented big man that is really the key to success for Crown Point.