3SSB Session I: 17U DMV Prospect Observations

The first session of 3SSB Circuit play took place this weekend in California and as usual here at Prep Hoops Maryland & Virginia, we have prospect notes from the action. Below are observations from the standouts of New World, Team Loaded and Washington Warriors    Hunter was the bell cow for Team Loaded, who finished the weekend 3-1 overall. If there's anything that he showed dating back to last summer, it's that he's a relentless downhill threat that not many defenders can keep at bay for consecutive possessions. Not only does that create opportunities for him to make plays around the rim, but also force the defense to collapse and find looks for those around him. Making the transition as a point guard has a focal point since the start of his junior season and he's taken significant strides in comparison to his sophomore showing. He's still wired to score and made over 45 percent of his attempts from the field while converting a perfect 100 percent from the charity stripe. Hunter's high-scoring performance came behind 21 points in a win over Washington Warriors, but his best overall stat line came in the win over Midwest Basketball Club where he accounted for 14 points, 8 assists and 4 rebounds. On the weekend, he averaged 14.5 points, 4.3 assists and 3.8 rebounds.     The Warriors had a tough trip out west that resulted in an 0-4 showing, but three of those games were lost by a combined 12 point. One bright spot from the showing was [player_tooltip player_id='2458579' first='Jacoby' last='Briscoe']'s ability to shoulder the load offensively as a primary guy. A jumbo playmaker that can initiate offense at 6-foot-6, this group features a slew of new faces that will take some time to iron out chemistry, but it helps having a player like Briscoe who can generate offense when the situation seems bleek. He averaged and impressive 17.5 points per game, which ranks top five in 3SSB play through the first session. Even with a higher usage, he kept the efficiency numbers respectable at 46.7 from the field and 36.4 percent from three. He also hauled in over a handful of rebounds per game.     When you give a scoring guard like Graves the green light, it only fuels his confidence and betters the chances of breakout games like he did in S1, most notably in his 25-point outburst against Atlanta Celtics when New World made a statement to the rest of the circuit coming out with the win. Graves led the charge in this game and ultimately throughout the weekend as New World went 4-0. He was much more than a tunnel vision scorer and while he'll always remain aggressive in that aspect, did a nice job of leaving his fingerprints on the game as a rebounder and playmaker as well. To go with the 25 points against the Celtics, Graves also pulled in seven boards and dished out six assists. For the weekend, he boasted averages of 15.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 50 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from deep.     Carter provides further positional versatility for this New World team given his size and length to play either forward spot. He's skilled enough to bring opposing bigs out on the perimeter and expose them off the bounce and can use his length to shoot over some wings when needed. He forms a forms a formidable trio alongside Graves and Smith-Bey and when he's hitting shots from outside like he was in a couple of games in California this weekend, he provides valuable floor spacing. He reached double-digits in the scoring column twice, one of which came in their big win over Atlanta Celtics where he put 16 points to round out his weekend averages of 11.3 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. A prospect with his size and skill, seeing Carter be more of a presence on the glass and showing off some distribution skills will help his stock rise quickly this summer. A bright spot though, was his shooting percentage from deep, which he converting at a 44.4 percent clip.     We've reached the point in Smith-Bey's development where he flashes new layers of his game in each updated viewing. The skill set is coming along quickly and as he typically does, the 6-foot-5 wing did a little bit of everything to further flaunt his versatility. While Graves is the primary playmaker for this New World group, Smith-Bey and Carter are next as a 2A/2B pecking order to lead in grab-and-go's, act as playmakers on the secondary side of the floor and will operate in ball screens occasionally. The benefit to Smith-Bey and Carter not having the primary role means they still hunt for opportunities without the ball. Smith-Bey had some nice, timely putback dunks, effective cuts baseline as others operated at the top of the key or in the paint and was able to cash in on some catch-and-shoot opportunities. He'd finish the weekend averaging 8.9 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game. His best game came Friday night in the win over Wildcat Select where he tallied 15 points and eight boards. Continuing to hone in on efficiency as a shooter will be key moving forward.

The first session of 3SSB Circuit play took place this weekend in California and as usual here at Prep Hoops Maryland & Virginia, we have prospect notes from the action. Below are observations from the standouts of New World, Team Loaded and Washington Warriors