Battle At The Lakes: Max’s Day 1 Standouts

If Will catches anywhere near the block, you might as well just put two points on the board for Wisconsin Blizzard. He’s that efficient with the ball inside. At 6’8 he has a strong frame with some mobility at his size, combined with good footwork that allowed him to go to work in isolation. He can either power right through contact, or put the ball on the floor and beat his man off the dribble. Showcased a smooth spin-move that allowed him to attack and open up shots out of the high post area. Capped off his last bucket of the game with an explosive dunk on the baseline to finish with 22 points in a win.

Whether it’s with Wayzata or Real Phenom, Ben just makes winning plays on the basketball court. His team was trailing by 10 with roughly 12 minutes to play, and Ben helped spark a run that had his team up by 20 with just over two minutes left. Defensively he fits in well with the high pressure style that Real Phenom plays, pressuring the ball hard and taking risks jumping passing lanes to pick up steals. With that he was able to get out in transition often for easy finishes. In the half-court he always looked poised on the ball, and even when trailing by double-figures he stayed poised to help lead his team back. Shaffer was knocking down threes both off the catch and dribble, and was utilizing shot fakes to get by his man and get into the paint.

Fresh off of his first high major offers, Isaiah impressed in a win over Sanford Sports with his ability to smoothly create off the dribble at 6’7. He used his long and physical frame to get into the paint off the dribble and finish with touch over the top of a big frontcourt. He’s tough to matchup with because most players won’t have the combination of size and quickness to stick with him off the dribble. After some tough buckets off the drive in the first half, he added in a step-back jumper and a pair of high flying dunks in the second. Finished with 15 points on 7-8 shooting in the win for D1 Minnesota.

Although his team came up short, Nolan put on a show in the opening game Friday. He was dunking just about everything, utilizing backdoor cuts and rolling hard off screens to get a clear path to the rim. With his long and explosive frame at 6’5 he’s already difficult to matchup with, but he makes it even more difficult with how active he constantly is off the ball. Most of his looks are created with that off-ball movement and his speed running his lane in transition. Walking highlight reel type of player who can produce at a high level within the flow of the offense.

Chase’s ability to stretch the floor at around 6’7 helped open up a lot for D1 Minnesota. He was often being guarded by one of Wisconsin Blizzard’s bigs, so he helped clear out a shot blocker as he has to be defender at all times out on the perimeter. When he got into pockets of space Chase was able to make the defense pay by knocking down five threes on his way to 15 points. Such a smooth stroke at 6’7 and he gets into his shot so quickly for a player his size.

I’ve seen Real Phenom a handful of times this spring, and last night was the best performance I’ve seen out of Billy. Playing up a year, he came off the bench and instantly made an impact for a team getting off to a slow start. He hit a three and then came back down and finished off a left-handed lay-up for five quick points. Used his long frame to tip a handful of passes as Real Phenom began to speed up the opposing team’s guards. 6’3 guard that can stretch the floor from three, but also showed he can attack a bad closeout and get into the paint to make plays at the rim.

Isaiah came in off the bench ready to shoot, and that’s exactly what he did for D1 Minnesota. He showcased a lighting quick release from three, and no shortage of confidence in his shooting ability. As soon as the ball hit his hands, if he had a bit of space a shot was going up, and last night it was more than likely dropping for three points. He knocked down shot after shot from deep, but also had a crafty reverse lay-up in the second half to help cap off his 20 point performance in a win over Sanford Sports.