The Tune Up: Mike's Sunday Afternoon Standouts

The Tune Up was a great opportunity for local grassroots teams to compete ahead of the live period weekends with massive tournaments the next two weekends. In this article I'll break down five afternoon standouts from the action I caught.    Johnson found success as a downhill slasher who played off two feet in the paint and scored at the rim. Able to finish through contact thanks to his balance, Johnson was a step quicker than the defense and was living in the paint. A prospect who has already made a splash to be in the Illinois 2027 rankings, Johnson proved his talents this weekend with a big effort on Sunday morning.     In grassroots basketball a lot of teams rely on guards dribbling the air out of the basketball to create shots and it makes for a very individualized experience watching the game. That couldn't be more false for Pure Hoops who rely on passing and off ball movement to create offense in the half-court. Odeh impacted the game with some passing, cutting and dribbling to beat pressure. On a team that worked to get the open shot, Odeh made his teammates better and also benefited from unselfish teammates himself.     Another member of the Pure Hoops squad, White had an early and-1 layup and had a sweet reverse layup to show off his interior scoring as a play finisher. His most success came in a two man game with [player_tooltip player_id='2853760' first='Jack' last='Cunnea'], a big who could move his feet and catch entry passes thrown to him. White didn't force the issue and was a nice piece of the puzzle for his group.     Physically I didn't see many more impressive players than Retic this weekend as his frame is next level. Still a work in progress offensively, Retic showed flashes as a play finisher and perimeter shooter. With Retic's physical tools, his defensive upside is huge and again he showed flashes on that end of the court. If Retic can make the impact plays I see occasionally at a consistent level, he could be one of the most dominant players on the Prep Hoops Circuit.     A guard who used either hand to dribble and pass, Blair isn't a player you can shade to one side defensively. A confident shot-maker with the ability to attack a closeout if you overplay his shot, Blair had some nice moments as a slasher after he started the game with a couple of perimeter buckets. The opposition noticed Blair's offensive talents, starting to deny him the ball by getting up into the passing lanes to prevent Blair from touching the rock.

The Tune Up was a great opportunity for local grassroots teams to compete ahead of the live period weekends with massive tournaments the next two weekends. In this article I'll break down five afternoon standouts from the action I caught.