Top Guards #DuelStatesAllStarGames 8th Grade Division pt 1

I’m going to break this down into two parts, just on the guards because after looking at my notes, there are close to 30 players. So many times player are signed up at one position however I’m an expert, that’s been proven and I have to reevaluate based on what I saw, hopefully, that makes sense and this isn’t to say there’s a spot for 5’8 POST in some dimension at the next level, I’m just trying to keep it simple with the first 16

Raniyah Hunt (Atlanta Dream) handles the ball very well under pressure, gets wherever she wants, and makes crisp passes in traffic but she also creates her shot, mid to long, and does a good job attacking while finishing with contact. Hadn’t seen her in a couple of years, growth spurt has added to her game on both ends

Vivian Franklin (Atlanta Dream) one of the most explosive players in her class, she attacks the rim relentlessly, yet under control and finishes after contact consistently. Her stop and pop jumper gives her options in transition but she also can create her shot in the half-court set and drop the mid to long-range jumper with ease

McKenzie Mathurin (Dallas Wings) #BCSLock is an understatement as she has “offers on the table” as I type but it’s going to get deeper for her as she just took it to yet another level. I knew she could score multiple ways, mid to long and off the dribble, yet her “mindset” of “you won’t stop me” her poise under pressure and that desire just stood out

Destiny Graves (Dallas Wings) starting to get a hashtag attached to her name, #CLUTCH because she relishes being in that position to take “the shot” and with her quick and accurate release, you better know where she is, especially with it’s crunch time. The mid to long-range, well she does a good job creating it but she also looked good with the “catch and shoot)

Milania Jordan (Fever) right team name because she kept defenders sweating as her ability to get her shot off whenever she wants continues to create problems. Her jumper is smooth, the release is fluid yet that first step dictates everything because if you play her too close, she’s gone if you give her room, the ball is gone, it’s just that simple and it’s going to get worse, for defenders

Dasia Cain (Fever) she’s long and very athletic, attacks the rim from every angle imaginable, finishes after contact, acrobatically at times but her first step is explosive, so is her pull-up jumper and with her wingspan, she also creates problems while defending so, so it was also refreshing watching her play the passing lane, which led to baskets

Arianna Jennings (Fever) one more time, long and athletic but her TIMING was really nice, both to rebound as well as block, deflect or alter shots. Her upside is scary because of the L/A tag I’ve attacked, the jumper is nice she elevates with ease over defenders and releases it at the height of her jump but she also showed some body control

Zhi Williams (LA Sparks) one of those “never takes a play off” type of players that energy level trickles to her teammates and yes, she’s athletic and defends baseline to baseline, came up with steals because of her good hands and anticipation but she also flipped the switch and showed she could score, off the dribble or with a strong jumper

Daedreanna Frost (LA Sparks) I wrote COP and you better call the law because that CHANGE OF PACE is going to create problems, so is her step back and when you add she can shoot the mid to long range, dropped some step back threes as well, and showed she could hit the pull-up in transition so playing the passing lane was icing on the cake

Ruke Ogbevire (Las Vegas Aces) named MVP of her division, she took it to another level on Championship Sunday as her ability to score off the dribble, the midrange, the long range or just setting teammates up for gimmes, she did it all but the “all” included pressure defense, rebounding and just not being denied as she set the tone

Shiloh Kimpson (Las Vegas Aces) no notes needed as I continue to just watch the progression. She falls into that “scorer” label because she finds ways to put the ball in the basket yet she can also run the 1 because of her ballhandling and seeing the floor but creating her shot for the mid to long or blowing by defenders just keeps my eyes glued to what’s next

Kameron Chambers (Las Vegas Aces) heady young guards are a plus, decision making, especially down the stretch will win a lot of games so she shows that but her ability to attack and finish, under control and after contact just grabbed me, so did her dropping the long ball while defenders were grabbing her and she did a good job rebounding

Janiyah Williams (Mystics) I tweeted she put on one of the best individual performances of the event, she was a “nightmare to defend” and I don’t scare easily yet I didn’t have to guard her. She elevated on the mid to long-range, as well as going to the rim where she glided and was an “and one waiting to happen” but the numerous hit she took and “bounced back” was something else

Lily DelaRosa (Mystics) attacked so frequently, especially in transition but her zig-zagging by defenders was nice, very nice as well as her finishing strongly but watching her create her shot under pressure as well as dropping the stop and pop from long range in transition had me scratching my head because she’s going to be hard to handle

Alaysia Gude (Mystics) Lay Lay wouldn’t share the Lays because of my HBP yet my pressure was up anyway watching her blazing down the court. She’s explosive in transition, strides are long and she finishes after the lick yet I like the coming off the pick 3 ball, as well as just elevating on her jumper to score, and with her length, she has some tools

Meranda Switch (Storm) not a lot of players can shoot the pull-up 3 at this stage yet she definitely can and she also understands how to create her shot under pressure. She goes hard, on both ends yet she also did a good job playing the passing lane, as well as rebounding so her upside is looking pretty good