I don’t think enough people understand how impactful Padden has been this season for a really solid Marshfield team. In an overtime thriller against Cambridge, he got to the front of the rim at will and consistently used slow steps and euro-steps to finish with contact. He’s a lot stronger and more athletic than he looks, and he’s the best player on a Marshfield team that has a chance to shock the world by beating Andover tonight.

Padden is an athletic scoring guard who does an excellent job taking contact and finishing against the trees. Despite his size—only 6-foot—he’s able to get his body into bigger players and has very solid finishing touch and body control. His threat to shoot from the outside helps him get to the rim, too, and he’s able to make dump down passes to the bigs if the defense collapses. Padden is Marshfield’s key to a first round upset win over Camridge.

Padden, a guard out of Marshfield High School in Massachusetts, makes an appearance on the Watch List for the first time this winter. Padden is an aggressive guard that has some creativity around the rim as a driver, burst when getting downhill off the bounce, and impressive floor vision as a passer. His speed, particularly in transition, is noticable and allows him to get to his spots off the bounce both as a creator and scorer. Defensively, he uses his quickness to create steals both on the ball and in passing lanes.

Padden does a really nice job running the show at the PG position for Breakout Basketball and has the ability to play both on and off the ball. On the ball, he gets his shoulders low on drives to the rim and attacks the paint with ferocity and strength. Off the ball, he moves well and can knock down shots when the ball gets swung to him. Some added strength and quickness would really help his chances at playing D3 ball, so we’ll see how he improves in the next couple seasons. If it’s not basketball, I wouldn’t be surprised if Padden is playing another sport in college — he’s an athlete.

This Junior put in solid minutes, 1 of 4 underclassmen on this Marshfield team that played significant minutes. I truly believe he will be a captain next year. He carries himself with a quiet but confident aggressive nature. Intelligent player knowing to run the baseline after made hoops to create space. On the defensive side, anticipates the ball well and plays a tight, aggressive on the ball defense. Shot the ball well in transition, finished with acrobatic touches and sheds the defender well to finish at the rim.

Padden really impressed with his vision and high IQ play offensively. He handled pressure well – whether it was against a man-to-man or zone press –  and he showcased some excellent vision once he got into the open floor in transition and into the paint. One-handed no-look passes, post feeds, pocket passes in the pick-and-roll… you name it, he can make the pass. He can also knock down the open three ball. Some added muscle would do Padden wonders and definitely help his chances of earning a D3 spot somewhere. We’ll see if he can do so in the next couple years.