Rumble in the Rapids: Top Guards from the Weekend

At this past weekend's Rumble in the Rapids, we saw a lot of great guard play out of the 27 teams involved. Let's run through some of the top performing guards (both PG and SG) in no particular order.    Zander is the kind of player who likely would have a great +/- ratio, if those stats were tracked during AAU tournaments. He's such a dynamic player that most of his team's scoring is happening while he's on the court.   Zander has great ball control; he's patient on a fast break and waits for open shots to come to him. He's also incredibly shifty in the open court; he'll appear locked up by his defender, and somehow finds his way out of it.   Elite ball control allows him to toy with the defense, and he's got a quick release on his 3-point shot.   Zander's teammates also seem to have great trust in him. Leading by one late in the game, they made sure the ball was in his hands.     Jonathan set the pace early on the second day of the Rumble in the Rapids. He hit a nice runner right out of the gate, and always looked comfortable with the ball in his hands.   Snowden plays with a lot of defensive intensity, and really puts the screws to whomever he's matched up with.   Offensively he has great ball control and strong footwork. He didn't have a lot of actual assists in the game I watched, but plenty of could-be-assists that just weren't converted.   He's also such a physical player that he goes really hard to the hoop, and draws lots of defensive pressure-along with a lot of foul calls.   Jonathan also takes instruction well. During dead balls, he was often seen getting advice from his coach.     Zander is a part of a very talented Indiana Impact team that went undefeated in its last two tournaments. And he plays an important role in their starting lineup.   Zander plays well in transition, and defenses would be wise not to give him any open looks, because will always convert.   He's good when faced with pressure. In his game against [program_tooltip program_id='2077010' first='Common' last='Bond'], he showed his capacity to beat double-teams and triple-teams. He also showed no hesitation in laying it off the glass with both his right and left hand.   His entire time is elite on defense, and Zander in particular is an elite ball-defender.     Broden's team was on a tear this weekend, and Sunday's game showed why Broden is such a critical part of their lineup.   Broden is an absolute terror when he's in transition. His team forces a turnover, and in the blink of an eye he's already driving for a wide open layup.   In [program_tooltip program_id='2539820' first='The' last='Academy']'s final game of the weekend, Broden scored 24 points on 12 field goals. He believed that maybe all but two of his field goals were converted on fast break layups.   But he's more than just a fast-break-layup-factory. The kid has ridiculous handles, and loves to show off with a behind-the-back pass or a no-look delivery to an open teammate.   He said after his final game that he was pleased with his performance during the weekend, but is hopeful to show off more of his 3-point shooting in the future.     William is turning into a lethal 3-point shooter for his WM Quest team, which was only playing in its second tournament as a program.   In his first game of the weekend on Friday night, William scored four field goals: all of which were 3-pointers. Then during one of his games on Sunday, he made five field goals-again, all of which were 3-pointers.   He says that 3-point shooting is his main focus, but he's also good at getting down low and kicking it out to a teammate.   He also has supreme skill in his ability to read the defense.     A lefty with length, Steven is able to sky for rebounds-which puts him in position to pile up a lot of points off of putbacks.   This is a kid who has a good nose for the ball on offense-always finding his way to get to the glass and secure a rebound.   He's a player you can't leave open because he's a deadly shooter. In his final game of the weekend, he scored 17 points on 8 field goals.     Tate is the son of the coach for Lakers Elite, and his lifelong basketball IQ is evident in the way he plays.   Tate is a left-handed shooter who has a really nice stroke from behind the arc. He's a skilled ball-handler, who goes strong to the hoop in traffic. His evasive nature makes him a difficult matchup, even against players who are bigger than him.   Tate is also an unselfish player, who likes to distribute to his teammates, and he can get after it on defense.   He's a kid you can't let get hot. I saw him make a coast-to-coast layup late in the half, and just moments later-off a turnover, he drilled a 3-pointer that got his team hyped.

At this past weekend's Rumble in the Rapids, we saw a lot of great guard play out of the 27 teams involved. Let's run through some of the top performing guards (both PG and SG) in no particular order.