Midwest Live: Friday Defensive Performances

<p>Generally speaking, there was some sloppy offensive play from a lot of the teams I watched on the opening night of the Midwest Live tournament. Questionable decision-making, sloppy finishing, and a load of turnovers, even from the winning teams. A lot of that can be attributed to the performances of the five players below, especially the inconsistent finishing. The players below altered shots, eliminated driving lanes, and ended possessions with great rebounding.</p> <p><strong>Christian Melessa | Lincoln Supreme National II 16U</strong></p> <p>The Lincoln East forward was a stalwart defending the rim Friday night. He maintained verticality whether he was meeting the shooter from an angle, head-on, or on the run. Opponents challenged him with limited success, and late in the second half they finally caught on and began passing out whenever he slid over to help. He had a few blocks and several more altered shots. Rebounding was another strong area for Melessa. He ripped down several with one hand, and in traffic. I was impressed with the controlled physicality he played with.</p> <p><strong>Ta’ndre Perkins | Sal Elite 16U </strong></p> <p>Perkins is a complete player, but this was not his best offensive day in terms of finishing and taking care of the ball. He refused to let that impact his energy on the other end of the floor, though. He is one of the more switchable players in Nebraska, which he showed at the opening night of Midwest Live. He moved his feet well, cutting off drives consistently when he was at the point of attack. Sal Elite played a little loose with the ball, giving the opposition several transition opportunities. Ta’ndre hustled back and swallowed up the ball-handler when they tried to finish the 1v1 break. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1049314" first="Jack" last="Mundorf"] | Nebraska Select - West 17U</strong></p> <p>Mundorf had a decent day shooting the ball, too, but he was impactful on the defensive end. He played free safety at times, venturing off his man to sneak up behind unsuspecting ball-handlers to poke the ball away. He played solid help defense at the nail, forcing ball-handlers to pick up their dribble a step or two before they would have liked, effectively ending the threat of a drive. </p> <p><strong>Luke Davis | OSA National Padilla </strong></p> <p>OSA National Padilla had a big second half come back, ultimately winning by 2 in overtime in their first game of the weekend. Davis was solid at the point of attack, mirroring his man for most of the game, and cutting off drive after drive. Late in the second half, Davis was fouled and went to the free throw line with a chance to put his team up three or four. He missed the front end of the one-and-one wide left, and as the ball was bouncing towards the corner he hustled from his spot to recover the ball and throw it off the opponent, earning his team the ball back in a close game. That play was emblematic of the night Davis had.</p> <p><strong>Caleb Pyfrom | Sal Elite 17U</strong></p> <p>The 2024 Omaha Central center played up with the big boys on Friday, and his presence was felt immediately. In Sal Elite’s first game, Pyfrom had five or six rebounds in the first five minutes of the game, ending possessions and quickly passing it to his guards to start the break. He wore down near the end, as young bigs tend to do, but I was impressed with his performance against a higher level of competition.</p>