Central Cali Prospects Next Up Showcase: Standout Guards

Last Saturday, August 23rd, Central Cali Prospects hosted its 5th Annual Next Up Showcase, which has been the event where the next wave of high school hoop talent from the Central Section shows growth in their game or jumps on the radar. The showcase was held at Central Valley Christian High School in Visalia, CA, and featured 60 players from various areas throughout the Section, such as Santa Maria, Bakersfield, Fresno, Hanford, Visalia, Reedley, Kingsburg, and Madera. Players were placed on preset rosters and made up five teams, using college team names as follows: CSU Bakersfield, Cal Poly, Fresno State, CSU Northridge, and UC Santa Barbara. Each team, or player, played in two showcase games, which was set up in a 5 game format. The event also featured a recruitment discussion with JUCO players, to provide participants with information and knowledge of what the current recruiting environment is like. This article looks at 8 standout guards (scoring, lead, and point) from the Next Up Showcase, and provides their scoring and rebound statistics, as well as a brief summary of their skill sets. This is the final article from the Next Up Showcase. The players are listed in alphabetical order, not ranked order. I begin with a player that surprised as one of the better scorers at the event in Saheb Dhatt.    Dhatt is a tough minded and crafty combo guard that displayed a knack for scoring the ball at the Next Up Showcase. Dhatt scored 14 points in his first game at the showcase, followed by 20 points in his second game, and was an under the radar scorer that emerged from the event. Dhatt has good handles, uses the crossover to get by his initial defender, is a crafty finisher around the basket, has touch on the floater, and runs the lanes well in the open court to get open for passes up the court for transition buckets. Dhatt moves well off the ball to get open for looks off the catch, is accurate with the 3-ball, has active hands on defense to pressure perimeter players, and turns defense to offense with his defensive pressure. He is a great example of the Clovis North basketball culture: tough, skilled, high basketball IQ, and can shoot the three.     Hobab is an active and scrappy wing/guard that showed he can impact the game in various ways at the Next Up Showcase. Hobab found ways to put points on the board, playing on a team with two of the event's top scorers, as he would score 8 and 9 points respectively in his two games. Hobab is a good positional rebounder, knows to outlet the ball to the primary ball handler, and gets up the court quickly and in position to be the recipient of passes up the court. Hobab moves well off the ball, gets to the open spot for catch and shoot opportunities, and is effective with the 3-ball. Hobab has nice touch on putbacks, uses the back-cut to get open around the basket, and plays with good energy and focus.     Johnson is a skilled and shifty lead guard that gets others involved on the offensive end, as well as capable of getting his own buckets. Johnson had games of 7 points and 5 points respectively, and showed he is accurate with the 3-ball on a pair of threes in his first game at the Next Up Showcase. Johnson has active hands on defense, with good foot speed and quickness to apply tough on-ball pressure to opposing guards, and displayed good instincts to jump passing lanes to create turnovers. Johnson has solid handles, the moves to create off the dribble, good court vision to find open players when on the attack, and is accurate from beyond the arc off the bounce or off the catch.     Laurente is a gritty and skilled combo guard that is pesky on defense, and able to find scoring opportunities on the offensive end. Laurente was a facilitator and defensive ball-hawk in his opening game, and followed that up with a 7 point and 6 rebound game at the Next Up Showcase. Laurente moves fluidly off the ball, with good court awareness, and is accurate with the 3-ball off the catch. Laurente has solid handles, uses the crossover and hesitation move to get by his defender, has good touch on the floater, and has active hands and foot speed to lock-up perimeter players and turn defense to offense. Laurente plays fast but controlled and leaves it all on the court.     McLean is a lead guard that brings a tough edge to both sides of the court, and showed he can be a facilitator or score the ball at the Next Up Showcase. McLean had 8 points in his first game, and followed that with a near double-double of 9 points and 8 rebounds. McLean keeps the dribble alive to probe the defense, has the court vision to make good reads to open teammates off the dribble drive and kick pass, and is a crafty shot maker around the basket, over size in the paint. McLean uses the crossover and the hesitation to get his defender off balance, keeps his body low to the ground on the attack, has nice touch on the floater, and can space the floor with the 3-ball off the dribble or the catch. He is a lock-up on-ball defender, with active hands to get into his opponent's dribbling space, and looks to poke the ball out to create steals and get the ball out in the open court. Gritty mindset and great motor.     Perez is a shifty and skilled lead guard that controls the pace of play, with the ability to get others involved or create his own scoring opportunities. Perez did not light it up from the perimeter, but his shooting form and squaring of shoulders for the jumper was all I needed to see to know he is a good shooter. What impressed me most about Perez's game at the Next Up Showcase was his ability to impact the game in multiple ways, and ensuring he displayed all facets of the game, despite the shots not falling at a rate he is used to. Perez keeps the ball on a string to survey the court, has the court vision and precision passing to find open teammates moving off the ball, is a good positional rebounder, which allows him to advance the ball up the court, and showed he can knock down the 3-ball off the dribble or the catch, as was evident with a pair of threes he connected on in his first game. Perez will likely be on varsity this coming season, and will see valuable time for the Vikings, as he is a player to watch over the next 4 years.     Timmons is a sharp shooting combo guard that displayed his ability to space the floor from beyond the arc at the Next Up Showcase. Timmons had 9 points in his opening game, connecting on 3 threes, followed by 8 points in his second game. Timmons moves fluidly off the ball to get open looks off the catch, with emphasis on the corner jumper, he has enough handle to attack off the perimeter after using the pump fake to get his defender off the ground, and has good touch on shots around the basket. Timmons has good handles, understands floor spacing, and makes good passes to open players. Definitely a player that caught my attention with his smooth shooting form and will be a player that will impact the Cavalier program for the next 4 years.     West was a late addition to the Next Up Showcase, and he made the most of his opportunity, as he would score 20 points in his first game, displaying his scoring versatility, followed by 10 points in his second game. West keeps the dribble alive to survey the court, makes good use of the crossover, the toss cross, the hesitation, and between cross to get his defender off balance, is accurate with the 3-ball off the bounce or the catch, and has good touch on the floater, with crafty finishes around the basket. West has the court vision and precision passes to find open players from the top of the key, or when attacking off the dribble drive, has active hands on defense, looks to poke the ball out to create turnovers, and keeps the pressure on his opponent to turn defense to offense. West was one of the bigger surprises of the showcase, and displayed quality lead guard play and the ability to score in volume.

Last Saturday, August 23rd, Central Cali Prospects hosted its 5th Annual Next Up Showcase, which has been the event where the next wave of high school hoop talent from the Central Section shows growth in their game or jumps on the radar. The showcase was held at Central Valley Christian High School in Visalia, CA, and featured 60 players from various areas throughout the Section, such as Santa Maria, Bakersfield, Fresno, Hanford, Visalia, Reedley, Kingsburg, and Madera. Players were placed on preset rosters and made up five teams, using college team names as follows: CSU Bakersfield, Cal Poly, Fresno State, CSU Northridge, and UC Santa Barbara. Each team, or player, played in two showcase games, which was set up in a 5 game format. The event also featured a recruitment discussion with JUCO players, to provide participants with information and knowledge of what the current recruiting environment is like. This article looks at 8 standout guards (scoring, lead, and point) from the Next Up Showcase, and provides their scoring and rebound statistics, as well as a brief summary of their skill sets. This is the final article from the Next Up Showcase. The players are listed in alphabetical order, not ranked order. I begin with a player that surprised as one of the better scorers at the event in Saheb Dhatt.