DMV Live II: Scoring Guards

New readers: Use code Proia30     I spent all day Friday at the second session of DMV Live at DeMatha Catholic and Seton HS to get a look at a varied group of high school teams competing in the second scholastic session. There was some additions and subtractions to rosters of teams in between the two scholastic live periods sprinkled in with a new wave of different teams-- mainly from the Northeast. In this article we'll break down some of the scoring guards that stood out to me on Friday! Let's dive in!    22p 4r 1s (8/15 FG 3/4 3P 3/3 FT) vs MSJ   -Logan's speed and understanding of angles in transition really stood out as a dynamic guard who understands the important of spacing and pace in the open floor. Love the way that he changes directions and accelerates to the rim as a guard that is wired to score. The development of his shooting off the catch has come along nicely as he has improved the transfer of the ball from his hips to above his head to let jumpers go with a much smoother and more consistent arc.     22p 3r 3a 2s (50/50/80) vs Riverdale Baptist   -Early is a shifty guard that could create space in a phone booth with some advancing footwork and scoring craft as he maneuvered to his spots in the halfcourt. He knocked down a 3 off the catch, hit several pull-ups going to his left off the bounce, utilized his pivot well to create clean looks to score or facilitate from vulnerable spots in the middle of the defense, and does a good job of keeping his dribble alive when processing offensive options or when blitzed with double teams in ball screens. His shooting touch and unorthodox change of pace in transition makes him a difficult cover despite different defenders that RBS threw his way throughout the game.     18p 3r 2a 2s vs Academy of Central Florida   -Minor looked good in new threads with PGCA as a scoring guard whose midrange scoring onslaught kept the game close as his teammates struggled to get anything going with several injuries hamstringing the roster. Minor knocked down multiple stop n pop jumpers with and without a middle ball screen to get to either elbow, broke his matchup down with a double crossover into a pull-up long 2, hit his opponent with a nasty stepback after the spin move in transition to knock down an 18-footer, and got his opponent in the air to kick to a teammate and relocate to open space for a C+S jumper. Loved his willingness to go right at different defenders thrown his way, scoring at will against an athletic backcourt that had some nice size to try to slow him down.     17p 5r 2a 6/8 FG vs Highland   -An absolute blur in transition, loved the pressure that he put on Highland's transition defense as a speedy downhill driver that finished well at the rim and earned several trips to the free throw line. McLinton swooped in for defensive rebounds to push the pace in transition and consistently made the right read. Love the way that he froze his matchup at the top of the key or at the free throw line before explosively changing direction to attack the top foot of his defender to get the blow-by and finish at the rim. If he can continue to improve the handle to keep up with his speed in transition and navigate through tight spaces in the paint to score or pass-- I would expect his recruitment to really take off. But he has made some promising strides and will need to step up as a leader for a young Bullis group that is both welcoming and replacing some new pieces in the rotation.     22p 5r 2a 4s vs Spalding   -Love the pace that McKenzie played with in ball screens to get to his pull-up midrange jumper from either side of the nail. Both his jumper and his handle are compact, keeping the ball close to his body as he executed pull-up jumpers and high dribble pick-ups to navigate through the defense to get to his spots to score. McKenzie anticipates defensive stunts well and uses his defender's momentum against them to get them on their back foot and force them to gamble on a direction before he shoots the opposite way. He hit several key jumpers--often after snagging steals in TA's fullcourt ball pressure schemes-- late to make this a close game all the way down to the wire.     22p 4r 1a 6s (50/50/82 shooting) vs Takoma   -The gridiron standout's ability to impact the game on both sides of the ball extends to the basketball court as a dynamic guard that plays winning basketball both on and off the ball. "LB" knocked down a big 3 late in the game, uses a quick set of hands to swipe away steals both on and off the ball, and came up with a massive pair of offensive rebounds late in the game to sink four FTs to give his team the lead then seal the win. The Cavaliers are replacing four graduating guards in their rotation and really needed the late FTs (9/11 from the charity stripe) to stabilize momentum and carry the offense in a hotly-contested game that saw the Cavaliers fight back from 7 down to win the game by 4.

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