Prephoopsnext Middle School Camp- Indiana: Floor Generals

The point guard position is the most vital in the game of basketball. The skills of these young men exemplified why they're great floor generals.    Gage played like a prototypical pass-first point guard Saturday afternoon. He's a very unselfish player who always looked to get teammates involved offensively. Gage is a great passer who always managed to hit players cutting to the basket. The majority of his assists lead to positive plays for his team. He's an excellent ball handler who excelled at breaking down opposing defenders and getting into the lane. When he attacked the paint, his shot of choice was the floater over taller opponents. He was very successful as a play-maker during the full-court camp sessions. In the three-on-threes, Gage was able to show more of his offensive firepower. He constantly drove around his opponent and scored at the basket. Next, Gage showed off his shooting skills by nailing short perimeter shots and long three-pointers. In isolated situations, he was great at creating space. This made, getting his shot off over defenders much easier. Keep it up Gage!!     Cam's an excellent ball handler, play-maker and scorer of the basketball. He was great at breaking down opponents off the dribble and making plays. In most circumstances, he attacked the paint and scored on a variety of shots. He excelled at converting floaters, reverse lay-ups and kicking out assists to open players. Once the defense collapsed on him, finding open teammates was easy. Many of his dimes lead to positive outcomes for his team. During the full-court sessions, Cam was able to score many of his baskets in transition. He's also a great shooter who made a high percentage of his mid-range shots. Cam showed off his ability to knock down threes as well. During all the full-court sessions, he was able to nail five of them. Defensively, Cam was great at stealing the ball when he attacked passing lanes. Most of his steals lead to many of the teams fast-break scores. Keep balling Cam!!     Brayden is a shifty point guard who excelled at making his teammates better. He plays the game with an unselfish attitude and pass first mentality. In the full court sessions, Brayden lead his squad in assists. Many of his flashy dimes came whenever the team was running the court in transition. He always managed to find someone cutting to the basket for easy lay-ins. I can honestly say, " Brayden was the best facilitator at the camp." He's a great ball handler who can beat full or half-court presses. Beating defenders in one-on-one situations was easy for him also. Brayden was a little to unselfish at times. He has the ball handling and foot speed to blow-by his opponent. In the full-court games, he chose not to take advantage of it. Brayden was more effective scoring during the three-on-threes. He was able to score on a couple of runners in the lane and nail shots from the perimeter. If he works on becoming more aggressive on offense, he'll become a special player in the future. Keep working Brayden!!     This young guy was one of the toughest guards on the court Saturday afternoon. Gideon showed a great shooting touch, along with having the skills of a legit play-maker. I watched a player who played aggressive on both ends of the court. Gideon was great at bringing the ball up-court and being the primary facilitator of the offense. He's an excellent passer who always looked to find his teammates for easy shots. Gideon is not only a play-maker, he's also a deadly shooter from behind the arc. I watched him call for the ball numerous times. Once he received it, Gideon shot the ball with no hesitation. He nailed four threes in one of the full-court sessions. In my opinion, Gideon was one of the best shooters at the camp. On defense, he gave maximum effort by staying with opposing guards and constantly poking at the ball. He made ball handling difficult for the opposition. Keep it up Gideon!!     RJ is a deceptively quick point guard! He has a way of handling the ball and being effective on offense. He's great at using his handles to beat opposing guards off the dribble, while getting to the basket. RJ was excellent in regards to scoring during the three-on-three camp sessions. This is where he did most of his damage offensively. I watched RJ nail perimeter shots and three-pointers at a higher level than he did in the full-court runs. In the full-court games, he became more of a play-maker. He showed off his skills as a "floor general" by passing the rock and being a great vocal leader. Even though the teams weren't running plays, I still had the impression that RJ was the leader for his squad. I really saw his leadership come up to the surface. This young man has a bright future in the game of basketball. Keep it up RJ!!     In my opinion, Marcus was the best overall point guard in camp. This young guy has elite ball handling skills. There were a number of occasions, where I saw him make defenders look silly as they attempted to guard him. He has a variety of dribble moves he used to be effective. Whether it was the cross-over, in-and-out, behind the back or step backs; Marcus was hard to stay in front of for the opposition. He has an excellent pull-up game from both mid or long range. During the full-court runs, he brought the ball up-court, used a step-back dribble move and calmly drained a three-pointer. In the mid-range he was able to use cross-overs and in-and-out moves to either get to the basket for lay-ups or nail perimeter shots by creating space. Marcus is a flashy player who plays the game with style. Many of his assists were the kind of passes that are crowd pleasers. These type of dimes get a reaction from the crowd because of their flash and difficulty. Marcus was great at pushing the pace for his team. They scored a ton of points in transition by running the other team off the court. On defense, Marcus applied great on-ball pressure and forced multiple steals with his quick hands and footwork. Keep balling Marcus!!

The point guard position is the most vital in the game of basketball. The skills of these young men exemplified why they're great floor generals.