Prime Time Top 40 Showcase: Best of the Rest
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We already went over the Top Performers from the showcase but those guys weren’t the only ones that impressed. These next players stood out with unique skills and hard work and are high-level players to watch in the coming season.…
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Continue ReadingWe already went over the Top Performers from the showcase but those guys weren’t the only ones that impressed. These next players stood out with unique skills and hard work and are high-level players to watch in the coming season. They each brought something different to the court, here are the Best of the Rest from the event.
Hiatt was another player who wasn’t quite hitting from the field like he normally does, but the Kings guard fought through the shooting struggles and showed why he is such a dynamic playmaker. He has great strength that helps him shield the ball and buy time while he draws defenders and waits for cutting lanes to open up. Hiatt distributed the ball with class and displayed a high awareness that resulted in lots of easy buckets for teammates. He hustled in transition to finish off scoring opportunities and was relentless in his defensive effort. Hiatt has unique potential as an athletic and strong point guard, or a playmaking off-guard.
Highlights
Najera played a super-controlled game, manipulating and dictating action to defenses with his combination of quickness, handles, and ball fakes. He operates with varied speeds, rocking defenders then turning on the boosters to get around them and into the heart of the defense. He really excelled at using pass and shot fakes, along with leading defenders with his eyes to open up looks. Najera was efficient from three and in the paint and showed great ability as a pass-first guard who still poses the threat of getting a bucket from anywhere on the court.
Ervin continues to develop, grow stronger, and improve his finishing ability. He is a rim-to-rim player who can easily put-up double figures in points and rebounds, as well as defend the rim at a high rate. He was finishing lobs in transition, getting the angle on bigs off the dribble and finishing at the hoop, and used his great length to rip down boards. Ervin is still working on adding a three-point shot, going 1/3 from 3PT Saturday, but he’s a super-efficient player in the paint hitting 6/8 FGs in close. There aren’t many players like him in the state and he provides a unique ability to be an imposing rim presence on both ends of the floor.
Another standout big man at the showcase was Luke Westerfield Luke Westerfield 6’10” | PF Richland | 2024 State WA . He also has clearly been working on his three-point shot, and though he didn’t get any to fall, the shot form looked good and like something he can incorporate at a higher rate down the road. What caught my eye with Westerfield was his outlet passes. He is another rim-to-rim player that is a big contributor on the boards, but he showed off great awareness getting the board and quickly slinging the ball up the court to push the pace and create transition buckets. In the half court, he showed more spatial awareness sitting down in space on the pick and roll or rolling hard to the rim when both defenders got stuck with the ball. He has a lot to offer as a frontcourt player and displayed a lot of nuances in his game on Saturday.