The Expo: First Thought Top Ten Names

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Who are the ten names that I thought really played well when I was able to see them? Here are those names and it includes a load of Pirates. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1574223' first='CJ' last='Armstrong'] of Richfield (Sr). We spoke about this in headlines but CJ is simply unstoppable in this setting. It was as if other players were too scared to get in his way out of some "new age" respect. Armstrong went at the rim for constant scores and I really hope he gets the opportunity to play at the next level somewhere next year on scholarship as he's earned it. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1617786' first='Nigel' last='Caldwell'] of Park Center (Sr). Nigel is so explosive. I feel like he's one of these young men that have matured a lot physically plus he is more confident in himself and we are seeing him explode to the rim in a way that may not have been as visual in the past. He's been flying up the floor all summer and fall building expectations for a quality senior year. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1874863' first='Izayah' last='Cook'] of Sauk Rapids-Rice (Soph). Yesterday Cook was explosive as I have seen him. He was finishing high above the rim with a dribble or two and it definitely caught attention. He also led the break many times allowing teammates to score and rebounded in bulk in the game I watched. When he gains the experience of knowing when and where to shoot/attack, and he uses those physical gifts to board and defend more consistently, Izayah has a chance to be an outstanding prospect. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1560824' first='Deangelo' last='Dungey'] of Breck (Jr). I get the feeling that Dungey is starting to emerge in a combo guard way similar to CJ and Azayah. At Breck, Dungey will not get those type of scoring chances because Breck has more balance but his explosiveness and developing combo guard skills has me thinking his stock is about to rise. I believe Dungey was a basketballguest at the Gopher football game this past weekend. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1574215' first='Abu' last='Keita'] of Park Center (Sr). The last two/three months we've been talking about Abu's added strength and explosiveness leading to a big time basket attack and this was another example. I'm not sure what has changed with his approach - maybe confidence, maybe maturation both physically and mentally - but whatever it is, it's made Abu a much better player possession to possession. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1560744' first='Evan' last='Miller'] of DeLaSalle (Jr). As we said in headlines, Evan is playing his best basketball right now as we are seeing more of that skill on display. Miller's touch on the move, with feet set, or dribbling into a shot looked very good at the Expo and he seems like he can give the Islanders even more this season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1560870' first='Elvis' last='Neckles'] of Park Center (Jr). Another Pirate? Yep. Neckles was one of the few kids that actually pressured the basketball yesterday, and he was one of the few kids that vocally talked to players on offense moving the basketball. Neckles led his team of pretty much new names to Minnesota to an easy win over the team with over Cook and Temi because he had his team playing team basketball. In that game Elvis has 21 points including three threes. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1574214' first='Temi' last='Omotoyinbo'] of Park Center (Sr). Temi came off the bench in the second rotation of the game I saw and instantly went to the rim. And he never stopped. Temi is stronger and quicker off his feet than nearly everybody at the event and he used that over and over and over the way he should have. Omotoyinbo scored 30 points on 14 of 22 shooting in that game. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2115657' first='Gavin' last='Roderick'] of Alexandria (Jr). I think the best performance I saw all day came from Gavin. He opened the game getting to the rim to score, then he hit two threes and then had a dunk. It was maybe the quickest dozen points I have seen since Reggie was in the Garden. Roderick combined perimeter shooting with rim finishing both at the cup with dunks and contested scores. In that game Gavin was 12 of 13 from the floor for 26 points with nine boards. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1574216' first='Azayah' last='Washington'] of St Cloud Apollo (Sr). There was nothing anybody could do, or was willing to do, to stop Washington from using his outstanding ball handling skills to get to the cup. It was fun, constant highlight show for Washington who was either the MVP of the event or the co-MVP. Washington has D2 options it looks like and that's great to hear as he's earned them. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->