NEXT Midwest Melee: Producing At A High Rate (14U)

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Production is one of those things that you can't fake. Either you produce or you don't. Over the past few days I saw several players that did a great job at producing in their own special ways. In this article we highlight five of those individuals and their efforts this weekend on the hardwood. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Thanks for tuning in and enjoy!</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["2381650"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"[player_tooltip player_id='2381650' first='Josiah' last='Vargas'] has the potential and a ceiling on the basketball court that is higher than most at his age level right now. Vargas is a PG with smooth movements and quick thinking head on his shoulders. This weekend at this Midwest Melee event, Vargas was doing a little bit of everything to help his team but where he stood out the most was on the defensive end. If you can guard your position, you can play in a lot of systems and Vargas showed that he can do really well while guard the basketball. He is one of those athletes that can stick with you in the full court moving side to side or he can sit back at half and wait for you to bring the ball to him. Either way, you can tell that he takes his matchups personally. He is someone that I would categorize as a Dawg in several aspects of the game and defense is definitely one of them. His defense all weekend long was on point and it helped his team win some games in the long run. If I had to pick out my starting five for this event, Vargas would be included in that at the 14U age level because of his heart and tenacity, not to mention that he is pretty skilled in those aspects of the game as well.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_1_player":["2438562"],"_player_evaluations_1_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_1_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_1_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_1_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_1_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"[player_tooltip player_id='2438562' first='Isaac' last='Sato'] seems to be someone that is inevitable. He always shows up for his [program_tooltip program_id='2076267' first='Powerhouse' last='Sports'] 2028 Squad when they need it throughout a contest and that was something that we saw all weekend long in Chicago. Sato is a fast moving PG, that can light it up in a hurry. He may not come out and hit a ton of three pointers to start or beat the defense with a flashy pass but he is constant. He gets to his spots, he makes open shots near and far away from the hoop, and he keeps a positive attitude on both sides of the ball. This is one of those prospects that can have a double-double by halftime if you don't tag him early on in a ball game and that was a full display this past few days on the hardwood.","_player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_2_not_in_database":["not_in_db"],"_player_evaluations_2_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_2_player_details_selected_featured_image":"","_player_evaluations_2_player_details_selected_featured_image":"field_62cca28ffa4e7","player_evaluations_2_player_details_player_name":"Landon Wiersma","_player_evaluations_2_player_details_player_name":"field_62aba4c9ecf2f","player_evaluations_2_player_details_graduating_class":"2028","_player_evaluations_2_player_details_graduating_class":"field_62aba4ddecf30","player_evaluations_2_player_details_height":"6'4u0022","_player_evaluations_2_player_details_height":"field_62aba4e8ecf31","player_evaluations_2_player_details_position":"77245","_player_evaluations_2_player_details_position":"field_62aba4f0ecf32","player_evaluations_2_player_details_school":"[program_tooltip program_id='2076023' first='Wisconsin' last='Academy'] ","_player_evaluations_2_player_details_school":"field_62aba4fdecf33","player_evaluations_2_player_details_club_team":"","_player_evaluations_2_player_details_club_team":"field_62d20e723441a","player_evaluations_2_player_details":"","_player_evaluations_2_player_details":"field_62aba4afecf2e","player_evaluations_2_evaluation":"Whenever I see [program_tooltip program_id='2076023' first='Wisconsin' last='Academy'] compete, they are always one of the best ran programs in the event. No matter the age level and that was no different with their 2028 squad at the Midwest Meleee. They were running a tight ship with several different high end prospects on their squad. Someone that did a great job of standing out from this group is Forward, Landon Wiersma. Wiersma stands at 6'4, he crashed the glass hard on both sides of the ball, and he is relentless in his pursuit for perfection. He is someone that has size, he communicates well, and he has great movement to pair along with his natural size. When he is being used in the right ways within his team's offense, he looks like a next level player. He consistently produces in one way to or another when he takes the floor and that is something you love to see from an outside point-of-view. As long as he keeps working on his game moving into the future, he is going to be putting up big numbers on whatever court he is playing on in the future.","_player_evaluations_2_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_3_not_in_database":["not_in_db"],"_player_evaluations_3_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_3_player_details_selected_featured_image":"","_player_evaluations_3_player_details_selected_featured_image":"field_62cca28ffa4e7","player_evaluations_3_player_details_player_name":"[player_tooltip player_id='2487653' first='Vinnie' last='Walker']","_player_evaluations_3_player_details_player_name":"field_62aba4c9ecf2f","player_evaluations_3_player_details_graduating_class":"2028","_player_evaluations_3_player_details_graduating_class":"field_62aba4ddecf30","player_evaluations_3_player_details_height":"null","_player_evaluations_3_player_details_height":"field_62aba4e8ecf31","player_evaluations_3_player_details_position":"77246","_player_evaluations_3_player_details_position":"field_62aba4f0ecf32","player_evaluations_3_player_details_school":"","_player_evaluations_3_player_details_school":"field_62aba4fdecf33","player_evaluations_3_player_details_club_team":"Wisconsin Lakers ","_player_evaluations_3_player_details_club_team":"field_62d20e723441a","player_evaluations_3_player_details":"","_player_evaluations_3_player_details":"field_62aba4afecf2e","player_evaluations_3_evaluation":"On a Wisconsin Lakers 14U team that put together a weekend to remember, one of their underrated stars, who showed out in most of his contests throughout this weekend was PG, [player_tooltip player_id='2487653' first='Vinnie' last='Walker']. Walker is someone that has the ball on a string. He is a guard that loves to look for contact when he is attacking off the dribble and he can pass with some of the best of them down the floor. There were a lot of things he did to standout in his own right the past few days but his mixture of vision and his ability to get his teammates the ball in optimal spots is what stood out the most. He demonstrated that he can pass with either hand off of the catch or dribble, he can hit his teammate with a bounce pas in stride, and he can step others up for success off of the dribble while he is attacking the defense. As it pertains to some of the best and most accurate passers of this event, Walker is in the conversation. He stood out in several different games for this ability and I'm hoping he can take this momentum, riding it into his high school career in the near future.","_player_evaluations_3_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_4_player":["2404414"],"_player_evaluations_4_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_4_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_4_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_4_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_4_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_4_evaluation":"I had a chance to step in and see [program_tooltip program_id='2075314' first='Big' last='3 Basketball'] 2028 do some work Saturday morning. In this contest they had a handful of players standout for their future potential but one of their best was in my mind was [player_tooltip player_id='2404414' first='AJ' last='Haywood']. Haywood would be described as a solid Point Guard, that can finish through contact. He has a scrappy demeanor/play-style on both sides of the ball whenever he can and that translates to a lot of steals/deflections created by him throughout the duration of a contest. He is also one of those prospects that is first on the floor or into the stands for loose balls, if the opportunity ever presents itself. I had a chance to see a lot of guards getting after it the past two days and Haywood was one of the most active. He let his game do the talking and it was speaking volumes to anyone that was watching.","_player_evaluations_4_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":5,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-664b8ad88e745"} /-->