Midwest Showdown 16U Top Defenders

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I had the opportunity to watch the Midwest Showdown, at The Champion Center, specifically the 16U division. My apologies for the delay, but I spent last week tracking down accurate rosters. With that being said, Here are a handful of players that stood out to me defensively.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Beckham Lull</strong>-[program_tooltip program_id='2075749' first='Northern' last='Lakers'] (Superior)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lull, a bouncy athletic guard played well all weekend standing out on the defensive end causing havoc in every game I watched. With a good feel for the passing lanes, Lull picked off several passes resulting in layups both for himself and his teammates. On a couple of occasions he hustled back and swatted away easy fast break layups and was an effective rim protector blocking two or more shots per game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Mustafe Ahmendnour</strong>-[program_tooltip program_id='2075425' first='CRCTB' last=''] (Cooper, MN)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Probably one of, if not the, top rim protector that I watched. 6'5" with long arms and great timing resulted in three blocks in the Friday night game. When not clogging the lane, he was changing shots causing frustration for the opponents all weekend.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2852070' first='Jack' last='Genke']</strong>-[program_tooltip program_id='2078394' first='Team' last='1848']-2 (Wrightstown)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Genke, a 6-1 guard out of Wrightstown, was one of the peskier defenders all weekend in Appleton. Playing well above his frame, Genke used great athleticism to block or alter several shots and moved his feet well shutting down dribble drives. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2814304' first='Gavin' last='Wegwerth']</strong>-[program_tooltip program_id='2075749' first='Northern' last='Lakers'] (Grand Rapids)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Overall one of the more impressive players that I had the opportunity to watch especially on the defensive end. Established good angles, with his weakside defense, effectively cutting the floor in half and jumped the passing lane, on several occasions resulting in easy buckets on the other end. Very athletic player who used his size, and timing well, to block multiple shots in each game. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Karl Wycklendt</strong>-[program_tooltip program_id='2224082' first='Milwaukee' last='Trail Blazers'] (Marquette)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I came away very impressed by Wycklendt's on-ball defense. Showing very active hands to go along with top-tier athleticism, the 6-2 Marquette guard was a nightmare tallying several steals and blocks in each game that I watched.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->