BMaze 16u Evaluations

Andrew Force July 20, 2022 @ 08:52 PM

BMaze 16u Starters [player_tooltip player_id="1240336" first="Amari" last="Allen"] [player_tooltip player_id="1273551" first="Deondrea" last="Lindsey"] Jasheem Felton (SC-CA) [player_tooltip player_id="1140784" first="Kyle" last="Cloninger"] [player_tooltip player_id="982146" first="Aries" last="Hull"] (NC)   Colleges evaluating on-site: Texas A&M, Illinois State, Belmont. [player_tooltip player_id="1240336" first="Amari" last="Allen"] is a dream prospect. He stands about 6-foot-5 or 6-foot-6, and can score in a variety of ways already, as a ’25. He will compete for the #1 spot in the class for as long as Tennessee can keep him home. He hit his man with a fading spin-around high-banking bucket. The fluidity was crazy. Think Kobe’s low block work. The play sincerely resembled that Kobe move of so much success. Amari tried it again a couple of minutes later, but the defender guessed just right and altered it greatly.   Jasheem Felton, now a Californian, played like a killer, tall point guard. He is as strong physically as anybody in his grade. More lead guard than the combo he once was, Felton elected to probe and pass and it worked wonders. His success earned him multiple looks at the free throw line too. Felton was all over the floor. He was just quicker than most, but also very comfortable creating and dominating. When Felton did need to do it all himself, like on a fastbreak alone or against a pair of players. Felton’s burst in the open floor is elite and he routinely finished against a rising defender. His ceiling is not certain, but this much is certain. He will start multiple seasons for an ACC-level program. The Illinois Wolves guards showed no ability to keep him out of the lane, though he did not zero in on that option until the critical second half.   [player_tooltip player_id="1140784" first="Kyle" last="Cloninger"] expertly carved out his tiny shooting pockets and capitalized. Repeatedly. Kyle was always a poised as a young guard, more than his peers, but he was smallish. Taller now, he has more formed and formidable shoulders. He looks more like a high school guard size-wise than a year ago. The skill is high and he did not take any low-percentage shots, all while making the shots he elected to attempt.   Alex Doerger did not play much at all Thursday morning. The 6-foot-7 forward is rumored to be an excellent shooter, obviously tall. BMaze did not use him, electing instead to go with [player_tooltip player_id="1273551" first="Deondrea" last="Lindsey"], [player_tooltip player_id="1240336" first="Amari" last="Allen"], and NIck. He did find the floor late third quarter. The team cleared him out from the lane a bit. They elected to use him as a perimeter shooting threat, it appeared. BMaze found a lot of success with the high-low or subtle post feed, so implanting a third big in the lane would have been obtrusive. He did secure a strong defensive rebound in the latter stages.   [player_tooltip player_id="1273551" first="Deondrea" last="Lindsey"] played incredible. It was a dramatic evolution from his high school season. Now, Lindsey shows an extraordinary slashing capability for a young big man. He will forever be a post defender instead of a tall wing, but his new talent for scoring off his slashing dribble is noteworthy. He can now pull the big away and get by with a nice, comfortable drive. During his second game of Thursday, Lindsey earned his way back to the free throw line consistently.   17u   [player_tooltip player_id="1273550" first="Shane" last="Cherry"] put together an up-and-down Thursday game against Canada Elite. His performance included elite quickness, visionary passes, inconsistent transition defense, and overly casual passes. Cherry looked the part of an elite point guard for long stretches, but his game was hardly flawless. Nobody has quicker hands and he is months from being a fastbreak dunker at 5-foot-10. Though his outside shot appeared ok off the hand, it was not falling. Ideally, he will mature into a Raymond Felton-type, faster than all, exceptional composure, decent outside shooting. He projects as a speedy, unflappable point guard.