Braggin Rights: Bruce’s Saturday Night Notebook

<p>Bragging Rights is Here! The event, hosted by the Las Vegas Knicks features teams from the border states of Nevada including, Utah, California, and Arizona. The event runs from Friday, May 20th, and concludes Sunday, May 22nd. The Showcase event featured over 60 teams. Saturday saw games throughout the day. Let’s recap some of the top performers from Saturday’s action. </p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1020436" first="Graydon" last="Lemke"] <em>6’8 SF West Coast Select 2024</em> <em>(#14PHN 2024)</em> - One of the more unknown stretch 4’s on the West Coast. Lemke was a sniper from both wings and corners. Didn’t see him play much out of P&amp;P situations, but he was accurate in catch-and-shoot situations. Big-time floor spacer from the frontcourt spot. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1334781" first="Aleksandar" last="Aleks Baletic"]</strong> <em>6’7 PF Las Vegas Knicks 2025</em> - This was my first look at Baletic, and he looks like a promising prospect. He’s still very raw, however, he moves fluidly and I was impressed with his ability to rebound the ball. He’ll have to improve his overall strength, including his hands, however, the Knicks have had a ton of success developing players just like him. </p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1253133" first="Mark" last="Beeten"] <em>5’9 PG Las Vegas Knicks 2025 (#33PHN 2025)</em> - I always admired Beeten’s competitiveness and shooting ability. Sometimes I questioned his shot selection and willingness to play when his shot wasn’t falling. I questioned neither this weekend. I thought Beeten was unselfish, making plays for teammates and showed a willingness to defend, regardless of the accuracy of his shots. It wasn’t as if he had a lot of practice, as he did display the ability to shoot it, knocking down a couple threes in the game I watched. </p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1461814" first="Tajon" last="Perkins"] <em>5’9 PG Desert Valley Prep 2023</em> - Perkins was a dawg on the defensive end of the court today. The jitterbug PG impacted the game with his ablity to hound opposing ballhandlers forcing them into turnovers. </p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1057907" first="Andre" last="Porter"] <em>6’0 SG West Coast Select 2024 (#45PHN 2024)</em> <em>(featured image)</em> - Can we please put some respect on [player_tooltip player_id="1057907" first="Andre" last="Porter"]’s name? Yes, he had his first in-game dunk, but he played all day with an aggression that I hadn’t seen from him. His missed dunk was nearly as good as his made one, as Porter tried some unsuspecting defender. When he wasn’t out in transition trying to catch bodies, he slashed and finished at the rack. </p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1336295" first="Gerald" last="Patterson"] <em>6’1 PF Las Vegas Knicks 2025 (#46PHN 2025)</em> - Patterson showed what I remembered watching him during the JV season. The lefty used good feet and a strong upper body to bang and bounce defenders off him down low. He showed a good touch, completing his moves around the rim. </p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/bruceprephoops/?hl=en">For Exclusive Content With Top Prospects</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/3TfapbfBwKU?t=2s" width="560" height="314" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>