Friday “Dagger” Sheet: Frontcourt Superlatives Dec 6-12 Part 1

We’ve passed by Week 3 of the season here in GA, and things are heating up, perhaps not temperature wise in the Peach State, but certainly on the hardwoods, and we look at some top frontcourt play from the opening week of December. [player_tooltip player_id="820311" first="Nathan" last="Rodriguez"], 6-3, Sophomore, PF, North Paulding (pictured above) It’s so refreshing as an old-school guy to watch Rodriguez do his Georgi Mikan-thing in the low block, picking up off of an outstanding summer for a very solid North Metro Elite 15U team, the undersized but highly skilled postman was a pain in the rear to the smaller Campbell frontliners in a road win as he ducked, dove and snuck his way to key baskets and timely rebounds, he teams well with the more explosive senior Daylen Thrower up front for the Wolfpack and gets his way by simply understanding positioning, combines that with deceptive foot speed and sneaky athletic ability to outsmart and outmaneuver his opponents, should he add any more size to his burgeoning game he could really become something interesting to next-level coaches. Tre Chatman, 6-4, Junior, PF, North Cobb Christian <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/12/20201211_201056-rotated.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-1102985 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/12/20201211_201056-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="300" /></a>Having just returned from a stint at national power Oak Hill Academy in VA, Chatman in his 2nd game back with the Eagles was an absolute beast in a double OT road triumph at solid Paulding County, in racking up 29 points he showed a full array of power and finesse in backing defenders down, taking them off the bounce from the wing or elbow, and getting work done on the glass at both ends, with the body of a D1 linebacker he was even more potent when defenders backed off as he stepped back beyond the arc and connected on four 3’s as well, the home Patriots simply didn’t have a post presence able to handle the wide range of skills and it resulted in a monster performance in what was an exciting and tight and back and forth game. [player_tooltip player_id="1047099" first="Umar" last="Rashid"], 6-5, Senior, SF, Creekview<a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/12/20201212_100446-rotated.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-1102986 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/12/20201212_100446-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="300" /></a> My 2nd looks at Creekview on the year was the early tip at the Cherokee/Forsyth Classic at Cherokee HS, and although it took the Grizz more than a half to awaken from their slumber, they mounted a solid 2nd half comeback in the loss to Denmark in part behind the constantly improving and pleasantly surprising play of Rashid, long and lean but still strong he took on a good-sized Dane frontline in getting all of his 14 points in the 2nd half and again showed off a deadly long-range stroke from 3, making him a classic stretch-4 prospect for college teams seeking versatility, smarts and scoring acumen. [player_tooltip player_id="870203" first="Braden" last="Pierce"] (6-11) and [player_tooltip player_id="870150" first="Jared" last="Russo"] (6-9), both juniors, River Ridge The development and breakout status of Pierce has been one of the late summer’s and early regular season storylines in the state as his game continues to take shape in a more wide-ranging and attention-grabbing fashion, displayed in perfect detail as he knocked down two late 3’s (including the game-winner with 14 secs left) to stun West Forsyth at the Cherokee/Forsyth Classic, stepping out past the arc is yet one in the myriad of pros Pierce has been building since he busted out with GA Legacy this summer, his shot-blocking and overall defense are already at a D1 level, and his scoring arsenal of of baby hooks and soft 10-footers has caught the attention of large and small D1 programs across the southeast, it’s an an enticing package that has so much room still to grow meaning both his email inbox and outside mailbox will be filled with enthusiastic inquiries ... Russo to me was one of the summer’s great enigmas, hampered by lingering injuries he never quite got his footing on the circuit but would always display something fascinating several times a game leaving scouts hoping and wanting for more, healthy and now teaming with Pierce in what’s an often-devastating advantage for RR, we saw some of that fascination last week as he showed a pumped-up energy-level and aggressive offensive mojo in taking the game to WFHS getting 9 of his 10 points in that 2nd half run, Russo showed confident touch from 15 feet while also stepping out past the arc to keep defenses guessing, his work manning the rim at the defensive end was also something we saw previously and his timing off the floor was exceptional even recovering from as far out as the foul line, all this being the kind of small dose performance any good scout would leave wanting to see more.