Basketball Colorado-Mountain Hoops Showcase: Top Performers

<p>The Basketball Colorado-Mountain Hoops showcase at the new Fieldhouse USA at Aurora Mall (which was very nice), brought a ton of talent and some breakout performances for guys. Through the showcase, we got to see players in a lot of different situations with drills, 3 on 3, and 5 on 5 play. From this, we picked out the top five performers from the event.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1139528" first="Mostapha" last="Elmoutaouakkil"]- 2022 6’5 G, Eaglecrest</strong></p> <p>Mostapha Elmotaouakkil may just be the most unguardable player in the state of Colorado. Mostapha has great size for a guard (he might be 6’6 now) and has a great handle on the ball that he uses to get past defenders. When going downhill not much seems to stop him from scoring at the basket. Mostapha uses contact to his advantage, creating contact with defenders first to create space for him to score. While he thrives around the rim, he was also able to space the floor hitting a few three-pointers. Then on fastbreaks, Mostapha could either score with ease or make flashy passes to allow teammates to score at the rim. Mostapha is easily one of, if not the best scorer in the state, I am excited to keep tracking his game.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1284414" first="Brock" last="Mishak"]- 2022 6’3 CG, Fossil Ridge</strong></p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1284414" first="Brock" last="Mishak"] is a player who proved once again he can score the ball with ease. From beyond the three-point arc, Brock was on fire, he was pulling on and off of the dribble and hit a bunch of tough contested three-pointers. His deadly three-point game opened lanes to drive where he finishes great at the rim. Brock is also a player who crashes the boards, he was one of the best rebounders if not the best on the offensive end as a guard. He uses the attention he gets from scoring to find open cutters around him. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1284528" first="Gavin" last="Hershberger"]- 2023 5’10 PG, Rock Canyon</strong></p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1284528" first="Gavin" last="Hershberger"] was one of the best true point guards at the event. Gavin’s guard skills alone are impressive, he then proved himself to be the best shooter at the event scoring the best in the shooting drills. He showed those shooting skills in-game hitting multiple threes with ease. Near the rim, he also had some very impressive finishes through contact, showing off his elevation over bigger defenders. Gavin is also a very patient guard who when stuck down low uses ball fakes and his pivot foot to create space for layups or fade-away jumpers. Gavin is a high IQ guard to keep an eye out for.</p> <p><strong>Tristan Jackson- 2023 6’7 F, Salida</strong></p> <p>Tristan Jackson was the surprise on the day, as he was not on the roster due to late registration but had everyone in the gym asking "who is that?" Tristan was great around the rim on the offensive end, he threw down multiple dunks, finished with layups, and had a ton of floater and hook-type shots. Then on the defensive end, he was able to block multiple shots and scared players away from the rim. This was the first time I had seen Tristan and his dominance inside and willingness to take over the game was something that pleasantly surprised me. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1284436" first="Carey" last="Booth"]- 2023 6’9 F, Cherry Creek</strong></p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1284436" first="Carey" last="Booth"] in the past has been an interesting prospect, now all of that interesting potential is starting to turn into production. Carey was the tallest player at the event and he used that to his advantage, he scored inside well and pulled down a bunch of rebounds. As Carey gets more confident he will finish more and more of his attacks towards the rim with big dunks, as we saw a few big dunks at the event and finished well above the rim. On the defensive end, he has good footwork which allows him to switch on pick and, then near the rim he uses his long arms to affect shots and scare players away from the rim. Then Carey’s best attribute is his shooting from three-point land, as a 6’9 big man the ability to stretch the floor is a very valuable thing to have, he proved his shooting stroke is legit by being one of the top performers in the shooting drills.</p>