Pangos Best of the West Shootout: Sleepers

<p class="p1"><span class="s1" style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>Pangos Best of the West Shootout: Sleepers</b></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1">LONG BEACH, Ca—The spring is in full gear now that the high school playoffs are finished and it was time to take a short drive up to McBride Middle School for the Pangos Best of the West Shootout directed by grassroots guru Dinos Trigonis.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1">There were a plethora of fine performances that caught my eye including the following: 2022 <b>[player_tooltip player_id="1409409" first="Isaiah" last="Lewis"] </b>(Pangos Select), 2024 <b>Styles Phipps </b>(Belmont Shore), 2023 <b>Will Smith </b>(Belmont Shore Blue), 2025 <b>[player_tooltip player_id="1417368" first="EJ" last="Vernon"]</b> (21 Elite 16u), and 2024 <b>[player_tooltip player_id="1114374" first="Malick" last="Diallo"] </b>(Utah Mountain Stars.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"><b>Will Brennen (Belmont Shore Blue /Bishop Montgomery)</b></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"><b>2023, C, 6-foot-8, 220 pounds</b></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"><b>Joel’s Take</b>: Brennen has a nice frame with good length, broad shoulders, and solid hands. He isn’t a quick leaper and he needs to improve his foot speed, but he shows solid fundamentals while carving out space to rebound and he is good for a few put-backs while attacking the offensive glass. He can finish through contact and can convert from the elbow with his touch.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"><b>Saadiq Moore (LA Rockfish / Muir)</b></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"><b>2023, PG, 6-foot-3, 170 pounds</b></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"><b>Joel’s take:</b> Moore is a rangy combo-guard who possesses solid quickness and speed. While attacking the defense he always has his head up and he has the allusiveness to finish in traffic. In addition, he handed out some nifty assists while in transition. Defensively, he shows solid instincts playing in the lanes.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"><b>Isaiah Labot (CABC / The Drew / Villa Park)</b></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"><b>2024, WF, 6-foot-6, 170 pounds</b></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"><b>Joel’s Take:</b> The willowy wing-type, whose father played at Ocean View back in the day, has an evolving game of his own. Labot has long arms and exhibited a nice feel for the game at the offensive end. He rarely forces the issue and always appeared to be on balance while releasing his shot. Once he gains strength and continues to improve his ball skills against pressure, his game should take off.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"><b>[player_tooltip player_id="934036" first="Chudi" last="Anosike"] (Utah Mtn. Stars / Murray)</b></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"><b>2023, G, 6-foot-4, 180</b> <b>pounds</b></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"><b>Joel’s Take</b>: Anosike plays at a fast pace at both ends of the floor. He excels in transition where he can burst to the rim and finish. In the half-court set, he displayed a quick 1st step where he got by his defender consistently and his ability to slash his way to the rim was impressive. However, he needs to implement a jump stop and play more on balance as he had a tendency to force the issue.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p>