Central Cali Hoops: Standout Forwards of the Week

Now that the tournament portion of the season, or the preseason, has come to an end and teams have started league play, with some non-league match-ups now occurring in one-day showcases or one-offs, I will focus on the top performers by position that I was able to see live. I will do this weekly, for the remainder of the regular season, starting with games over the week of January 2nd to January 10th. This article takes a look at 7 standout forwards that I was able to see in the 6 games I covered over that 8-day span, all of them stand alone games. The final article from Week 1 of league and post-tournament play will look at the standout wing/guards. In this article you will find the following information: player's information, relevant statistics, and a brief description of each player's skill sets and how they performed in the games I watched. The players are listed in alphabetical order, not ranked order, and we begin with Keshawn Black.    The 6-foot-4 wing/forward crashes the boards on both ends, can score in the paint, as well as from the perimeter, and makes good reads from the post-position. Black had a strong showing in a win against South Bakersfield, as he would lead the Drillers with 11 points and 7 rebounds respectively. Black has soft hands to receive entry passes, good interior moves to score around the basket, with the spin-move, up-and-under, reverse lay-up, and putbacks off the glass, uses the crossover to create off the dribble, with the strong frame to get by his initial defender, and score through contact driving to the basket. Black finds the dunker spot routinely, sets quality screens to get switched match-ups, and scores on timely dives off the pick and roll action. Black is active on the boards, releases the ball quickly to get up the court, and can spread the floor with the jumper from the mid-range to the 3-point line. Versatile wing/forward that adapts to what the Drillers need to have success.     The 6-foot-7 forward has impressive length and size, runs the floor for easy points in the open court, alter shots, crashes the glass, and finds the open spots on the court to receive passes to score the ball. Brown displayed his shot blocking ability and scoring versatility in a blowout win against South Bakersfield, scoring 9 points, snagging 5 rebounds, and 2 blocked shots. Brown uses his length and wingspan to alter/block shots in the paint, has the strides and timing to alter shots with perimeter closeouts, does a solid job staying in front of perimeter players on switches, with the length and timing to deflect entry passes, jump passing lanes, or poke the ball out from opposing players. Brown has nice touch on shots around the basket, has good touch on the floater from the baseline, is effective with the mid-post or short porch jumper, excels in the open court as the trailer to get lobs off the backboard or bounce passes to score in transition. Brown does a great job of finding the dunker spot to receive drop off passes, and has a ton of upside for any JUCO that takes him on next year.     The 6-foot-8 power forward is an elite athlete, physically gifted with strength and bounce, an elite rim protector and rebounder, and has been putting up double-doubles most of the season. Daramola went up against another elite junior big man in [player_tooltip player_id='2436298' first='Mahamadou' last='Diop'] from San Gabriel Academy, and both delivered an impressive showing of interior play on both ends, as Daramola would have a monster stat line of 12 points, 13 rebounds, and 4 blocks. Daramola has good footwork in the paint, relentlessly crashes the boards to get putback opportunities, or limit the opposition to single shot possessions, outlets the ball to his guards and gets up the court to be available for transition dunks, has a long wingspan with great timing and instincts to block/alter shots in the paint, with the strides and timing to alter shots on the perimeter. Daramola has good court awareness, gets open in the dunker spot, the middle of the key, or diving to the basket off the pick and roll action to be available for the passes off the catch, has enough handle to attack from the top of the key, is effective with the mid-post jumper, and looks to hammer down the ball as soon as he is close to the basket. Daramola is agile and has the lateral quickness to stay in front of smaller players on switches, has active hands to deflect entry passes, as well as jump cross court passes and get out into transition.     The 6-foot-11 forward/center has a massive wingspan, is an elite shot blocker, dominates the glass, and has great timing on putback dunks or lob dunks. Diop, in a match-up of two of the premier junior forwards on the West Coast with [player_tooltip player_id='2646533' first='Taiwo' last='Daramola'], showed to have the more effective shot mechanics and more polished post-moves to score within 15-feet of the basket, as he would go for 13 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocks in San Gabriel Academy's win over host Bakersfield Christian, 58 to 45. Diop does a nice job of sealing off his defender, extends his lengthy arms to make himself available for the entry pass, has good back-to-the-basket moves using the shoulder fake to get by his defender, has enough handle to attack from the mid-post, has touch on the hook/floater, and can open up the court with the face-up jumper. Diop had several impressive blocks on Daramola, as he went to his signature short-porch jumper, and Diop fully palmed the ball to reject the shot. He has great timing on weakside, chase-down, and trailer blocks, deflects entry passes into the post, jumps cross court passes, and runs the floor well in the open court to get easy transition buckets/dunks.     The 6-foot-5 forward plays with a relentless motor, is a good athlete with a physical build, dominates the paint on both ends, plays taller than his listed height, and has good touch around the basket. Niles asserted himself early in the Drillers win over South Bakersfield, going for 7 points, 6 rebounds, and one steal. Niles gets off the floor quickly, is active on the boards, with putback opportunities off the offensive glass, and limits opponents to single shot opportunities, outlets the ball quickly, and runs the floor well to get ahead of the defense for passes up the court and easy buckets. Niles seals off his defender to get open for entry passes to the post, sets good screens with timely dives to the basket off the pick and roll action, is developing a more consistent mid-range jumper off the dribble, and has the strength to score through contact on shots at the basket. Versatile defender that can lock-up on the perimeter on smaller players, and hold up against taller players in the paint.     The 6-foot-6 wing/forward is a true floor spacer from beyond the arc, is active on the glass, has the handles to attack off the perimeter, and is becoming a high-level rim protector. Shaw had a strong showing in the G-Hawks win over Santa Paula with 12 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 blocks. He followed that up the next day in a win over Hanford with a huge scoring game of 27 points connecting on 6 threes, along with 8 rebounds. Shaw has solid moves to score in the post, uses the shoulder fake, the up-and-under, or the face-up jumper to score within 15-20 feet from the basket, has enough handle to put the ball on the deck and attack from the top of the key, has the Euro-step and reverse lay-ups in his arsenal to score around height, and is accurate with the 3-ball off the catch or the dribble to open up the court and create driving lanes. Defensively, Shaw has great instincts and timing to block or deflect shots, makes guards attacking the basket think twice before going at the rim, can step out and alter perimeter shots, and deflects entry passes to the post or can jump passing lanes to get out in the open court.     The 6-foot-9 UC Irvine commit is a swiss army knife power forward that impacts both ends of the court at a high-level. Spees had an impressive outing against Garces Memorial of Bakersfield, as he put up 14 points, 7 rebounds, and most impressive, 6 assists. Spees has nice touch on the turn-around hook/floater, makes great reads from the top of the key to open teammates cutting off the ball, from the low blocks to open teammates cross court, and up the court off the defensive rebound. Spees has a smooth jumper he connects on with frequency, from the mid-range to the 3-point line off the catch or the dribble, has the handle to push the pace of play, or attack from the perimeter, has the timing and length to block/alter shots in the paint, and is a duel scoring threat off the pick and roll or pop action, as he makes timely dives to the basket with good hands to receive the entry pass, or square up off the flair action for shots off the pop. Spees uses his length and instincts to deflect entry passes, jump passing lanes, and turn defense to offense.

Now that the tournament portion of the season, or the preseason, has come to an end and teams have started league play, with some non-league match-ups now occurring in one-day showcases or one-offs, I will focus on the top performers by position that I was able to see live. I will do this weekly, for the remainder of the regular season, starting with games over the week of January 2nd to January 10th. This article takes a look at 7 standout forwards that I was able to see in the 6 games I covered over that 8-day span, all of them stand alone games. The final article from Week 1 of league and post-tournament play will look at the standout wing/guards. In this article you will find the following information: player's information, relevant statistics, and a brief description of each player's skill sets and how they performed in the games I watched. The players are listed in alphabetical order, not ranked order, and we begin with Keshawn Black.