Opening Week Underrated Senior Guards

Here are some new names who stood out in this opening week of games. These guards played key roles and should continue to be names to watch as the season progresses.    Seattle Academy came up short against Ballard but Tade showed a lot to like with his ability to run an offense and create off the bounce. He has a quick crossover and put together some solid dribble combos to lose his man and get to space. He was able to knock down some midrange shots in space and also did well to shift the defense with the dribble and set up passes. He has some quick reactions and is a sneaky playmaker for the Cardinals.     Busse and Nathan Zettle formed a pretty solid backcourt for West Valley, and complimented each other well. Zettle shot the ball at a good rate and Busse did a great job getting penetration and deep position with his drives and movement off the ball. He played controlled, did well to get to two feet and use his pivots/fakes to find space, and showed some decent scoring ability around the paint.     Del Mese is a strong guard who really shot the ball well from behind the arc during their games at the Central Valley Jamboree. He can set up the offense and space the floor, but he also has some slashing ability with his strength to shrug off defenders and drive through contact. He'll be a key guard for them throughout the winter if he continues to play at this level.     Christensen didn't make any big waves in their first game of the day at the Central Valley Jamboree but went 5-for-5 from 3PT in their second game. He hit all of his threes off spot-ups, mainly from the corner and a couple from the wings. He's a bigger guard at 6-foot-4 who has the length to shoot over contests and was able to swing the game in their favor early on with his 3-point shooting.     Bernhart is another kid who has some size and can shoot the rock. He was pretty effective cashing in from behind the arc but also made enough drives, attacking bigger gaps, to keep his defender honest. He did a great job shooting off the catch out of different pockets in order to get it released quickly. He even showed some midrange game, stopping and turning off a baseline drive to hit a little turnaround jumper.     Arthur had an active game and played with some good urgency on both ends. He was super active and involved defensively, getting up on ballhandlers, cutting down drives, and frustrating ballhandlers with active hands. On the other end, he was able to take advantage of some space behind the arc to sink a few threes an showed some ability to attack space in the midrange.

Here are some new names who stood out in this opening week of games. These guards played key roles and should continue to be names to watch as the season progresses.