Beantown Slam Quarterfinals: guards who impressed

This past weekend, I watched the Beantown Slam Fall League quarterfinals. The league, which plays its games at the Quincy YMCA, has both prep and public programs in it, with tons of talent across the board.   With that being said, here are some guards who stood out from the quarterfinals games.    Cruz ran the show for Nobles against an aggressive Boston Latin Academy point of attack defense, and he never once looked rush or out of control. He handles the ball very well and has solid quickness, and he's a special one-handed live-dribble passer, which makes him a great floor general. He also makes the three ball and uses his strength and density quite effectively—he's a 6-foot-2 and VERY strong. Defensively, he's always in the passing lane and has very active hands, so he does a good job as a team defender. He should be an excellent piece for Nobles this season and will likely start at the PG position.     Hurd is only a sophomore but looked quite comfortable against a pesky Boston Latin Academy defense. The 6-foot guard is very quick off the dribble, and he's an excellent pull up jump shooter in the mid range. He consistently got into the paint and elevated over his defender, and he looked very smooth shooting the basketball. Hurd also locks up on the defensive end; he slides his feet quite well and has super active hands, so he gets lots of steals. He could certainly earn himself a starting position for Nobles this year and should see a jump in his recruitment following this season.     Olinto is the main cog for Boston Latin Academy and he has some pretty special conditioning ability. He played virtually the entire game but was always in attack mode and playing hard on the defensive end. The lefty guard has a great first step and always gets into the paint at will, and he has some great athleticism and craftiness once he gets to the hoop. He's a lot stronger than he looks, too, so he's able to keep his line on drives and takes contact very well. He will be a star for Boston Latin Academy this season and projects to be an awesome college player, probably at the D3 level (but it's very early).     Sanchez is a pretty electric offensive player. Against a CATS Academy defense that was pressuring him for 32 minutes, he showcased some special ball handling ability and quickness. He's a one-man press break and makes excellent one-handed passes off the live dribble, so he can be both a facilitator and scorer. The scoring comes when the defense goes under screens or doesn't send enough help on drives, which happens often. He will be Beaver's best player this season and should be looked at by tons of D3 and maybe even some D2 schools. He's super underrated.     Valters is a lefty point guard who has a clear European flavor to his game. He's awesome in the pick and roll and is a pretty special spray out passer once he gets into the paint; he has excellent vision and can make on time, on target passes with his eyes closed. He also knows when to keep it and get to his floater or all the way into the lane, or when to step back and hit the three ball. Defensively, Valters plays very hard and uses his length to get in the passing lanes. I could see him being the starting point guard for CATS this season.

This past weekend, I watched the Beantown Slam Fall League quarterfinals. The league, which plays its games at the Quincy YMCA, has both prep and public programs in it, with tons of talent across the board.