Hoop Hall Classic: Local Standouts

New readers: Use code Proia30   Every year the NBA Hall of Fame hosts several scholastic events, drawing crowds and teams from all over the country. But none is bigger than the Hoop Hall Classic played at Springfield College in front of college coaches and NBA scouts. Let's dive in to the local DMV prospects that stood out to me!    16p 10a 8r 3s vs Rainier Beach   -The senior captain for McNamara continued his torrid play with a near triple-double in a narrow loss to Rainier Beach. Moody started things off by grabbing his own miss and hitting a corner shooter with a beautiful crosscourt skip pass, forced two TOs along the sideline by beating his man to the spot, pushed the pace well in transition after grabbing defensive rebounds, hit two big 3s off the bounce, and raced past his man off the cross screen at the elbow before angling sharply downhill to score the tying basket to send the game to overtime. His competitive fire and 2-way play has buoyed his team in some big national matchups in a season where key pieces have missed time with various injuries.     13p 5r 1a 2s 1b 6/7 FG in 21 min   -The explosive wing prospect ended up sitting for most of the 1H with foul trouble but made his re-entrance into the game known with several aerial attacks at the rim. Woodard started the 2H off by poking out a steal from behind along the baseline before detonating at the rim on the other end, threw down two 1-handed dunks off the short roll on the side PnR, and hit his matchup with a double crossover at the top of the key before taking one power dribble and 2-hand posterizing his defender at the basket. The athletic junior wing is starting to see opportunities to use his lateral mobility to become more disruptive defensively and is starting to take the right shots within his team's offensive scheme on a group that is loaded with offensive talent. Encouraging signs in Springfield this weekend.     21p 3r 2a 8/13 FG 5/7 3P   -Duran put on a shooting clinic in this one, getting back to his sharp-shooting ways in this one as a threat both in transition and in the halfcourt. Duran started things off with a 1-dribble pull from the midrange off the baseline stagger, hit a C+S 3 off the hop in transition, hit a teammate in the middle of the zone to collect the hockey assist to the big, hit Woodard on the short roll for the afore-mentioned dunks at the rim with beautiful pocket passes, and ducked under closeouts to hit 1-dribble pull-ups going either direction. His ability to shoot will unlock his ability to play-make for others in the halfcourt, a necessary effect that will be crucial to help McNamara's offense the rest of the season.     19p 3r 3a 2s 8/10 FG 1/2 3P 2/3 FT vs Rainier Beach   -By far the most well-rounded performance that I've seen out of Phillips as a dynamic 2-way wing that guarded the #1 player in the country for most of the night. It was his offense, however, that was crucial in keeping McNamara in the game as the sophomore wing made his first 7 baskets of the game. Phillips was cutting along the baseline to create a passing target for easy layups at the rim, moved the ball well in the halfcourt to find his shooters, knocked down a corner 3 to stop a Rainier Beach run, and made life difficult for his matchup both on the perimeter and inside the arc by poking out the ball or getting a good contest on his shots. His 2-way impact     34p 8a 6r 1s vs St. Mary's   -With all five of the consensus top 5 in the class playing in this event, Smith won his primetime duel with Williams in a nice team win for the Panthers with his stellar 2-way play. Even while playing through an ankle injury Smith put a ton of pressure on the rim throughout the afternoon, finding shooters on the wing or finishing at the rim through contact. That impact really shone through at the charity stripe, where he went a near-perfect 12/13 from the line after making his first 11 of the game. The unsigned senior also showed his defensive versatility on the game, matching up with the smallest guards, switching onto bigs in the post, and guarding the 6'9 Cam Williams on the perimeter and inside the key.     12p 3r 1s 4/4 3P   -Harsanyi is putting together consistent performances at the defensive end as a physical guard that fights to stay in front, earning him ample time to show his shooting ability. A knockdown shooter with a quick, compact shooting form- he effectively spaced the floor for his team while mixing in some ball reversals and 1 or 2-dribble drives to space to find passing angles to keep the defense honest.     20p 7r 5a 1s 1b 8/15 FG 3/7 3P 1/1 FT vs Blair   -Not a local DMV prospect, but I had to write about this guard from Texas. Loved the way that Flemons battled at both ends of the court in a game where his team was a little overmatched missing their star player. Flemons started things off with a tough bump and spin floater off glass, hit a pull up 3 off the bounce, hit a 1-dribble middie then raced back to block a 3, splashed a smooth pull-up J going left, knocked down a quick three from the corner, then cashed out a 3 from halfcourt just before the 1H buzzer. His pace with the ball in his hands always seemed to throw off his defender and give him a decent cushion on pull-up jumpers off the bounce. Definitely a scholarship-level player for college coaches to track out of San Antonio.

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