Putnam City West Practice Report

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy!</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As we head towards the end of January, most of the state's attention right now is focused on the final tournament week of the season. One team that is not playing this week is Putnam City West. The Patriots are currently 7-8 and ranked #13 in Class 6A. Despite a losing record and a ranking outside of the top ten, we think that the Patriots are one of the most dangerous teams in Class 6A. What's interesting is the Patriots are going to have to earn their way into the state tournament because the path back to state is not going to be an easy one. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Patriots had a stretch where they lost seven of eight games, including going winless in four games out in Las Vegas. But the Patriots have a good record against in-state competition and it should only get better from here. In their last two games, they beat a good Lawton team who was in the top five at the time in Class 6A. Then last week they would hand rival Putnam City North their first loss of the season. The biggest difference has been the return of senior guard [player_tooltip player_id='1068573' first='O'rian' last='Scales'] to the lineup. With Scales back, to go along with stars [player_tooltip player_id='1367215' first='Chiante' last='Tramble'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1391440' first='Kaidon' last='Rayfield'], along with breakout star [player_tooltip player_id='1757905' first='Jaden' last='Constant'], the Patriots feel like a team that is about to go on a roll. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There's no doubt that the Patriots are playing some good basketball now and it should only get better from here now that they are back to full strength. The problem is, they don't have much time left before the playoff seeds get locked in. According to the PC West schedule on the OSSAA Rankings website, the Patriots only have three more games until the final rankings are submitted. They'll play Midwest City and Ponca City next week before traveling to Choctaw on the final day of January. Then they won't play again until February 10th. By then, the final playoff rankings will be in and the seedings will be announced.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>But we'll say this right now and you should remember this when the playoffs roll around. Putnam City West will be the most mysterious team heading into the playoffs for any class. The Patriots are not only going to have a bad record, they will have only played two times in the month of February. They play at Putnam City North on February 10th before finishing off the regular season against Midwest City on February 17th. The rest of the month, they'll be in the gym, working on their craft and getting ready for a state tournament push. They will more than likely be going on the road for regionals and they might be considered an underdog based on their seed, but overlooking them would be a big mistake. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Below, we take a look at four players that are going to be critical in PC West's attempt at not only making it back to the state tournament, but making a run at the gold ball. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1367215"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"Coming into this season, we thought that not only was Moore move in [player_tooltip player_id='1367215' first='Chiante' last='Tramble'] one of the best prospects in the state's 2024 class, we thought that his arrow was continuing to point up. The potential with Tramble is absolutely through the roof and he got out to a fantastic start to his junior season back in November and December. We're interested to see how the Patriots continue to run on offense with Tramble and senior [player_tooltip player_id='1068573' first='O'rian' last='Scales'] now sharing the backcourt. The Patriots have several players that can handle the ball and make things happen offensively and Tramble might be the best of the bunch. He's quickly turned into a truly elite prospect in this 2024 class.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_1_player":["1757905"],"_player_evaluations_1_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_1_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_1_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_1_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_1_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"One of the biggest breakout stars from this season has to be Putnam City West junior guard [player_tooltip player_id='1757905' first='Jaden' last='Constant']. Coming into the season, Constant was known more for being a role player but he's been one of PC West's top scorers game in and game out. And we've heard about it from a few people already this month. Our prospect rankings have not been updated since September and constant was not on the 2024 rankings. They will get updated next month and when they are, Constant is going to be fairly high, going from unranked to soaring up the rankings. Constant has been one of the more reliable players for the Patriots on the offensive end of the floor with his scoring ability from just about anywhere.","_player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_2_player":["1391440"],"_player_evaluations_2_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_2_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_2_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_2_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_2_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_2_evaluation":"Coming into this season, we knew that Putnam City West big man [player_tooltip player_id='1391440' first='Kaidon' last='Rayfield'] had a chance to be one of the best prospects in his class but he has really solidified that this season and has to be the best big man in the class at this point. Rayfield has flirted with triple doubles multiple times this season and we're talking points, rebounds and blocked shots. Rayfield is one of the absolute best prospects in the state at protecting the rim and he's going to be a big part of how far the Patriots go when the playoffs roll around. And what's scary is it also feels like Rayfield is just scratching the surface. Most big men take a while to develop but Rayfield appears to be ahead of the schedule.","_player_evaluations_2_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_3_player":["1068573"],"_player_evaluations_3_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_3_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_3_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_3_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_3_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_3_evaluation":"We mentioned how senior guard [player_tooltip player_id='1068573' first='O'rian' last='Scales'] returning to the Putnam City West lineup turns the Patriots into a true state championship contender. It's a two-game sample but look at what the Patriots have been since he's returned. This team has some absolute stars, there's no doubt about it. Tramble is a star, Rayfield is a star. Both are new to Putnam City West but Scales has been a big part of this program for a while now. Having that senior leadership, along with all of the playmaking and skills that Scales possess is a big reason why we think PC West is a serious team to look out for when March rolls around. As Scales goes, this PC West team will go when the playoffs get cranked up.","_player_evaluations_3_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":4,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-63cb6e9b42295"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->