IL Rockets 17U Red: Team Review

I was able to watch two games IL Rockets 17u Red team played at the Nike TOC session 2. This opportunity was fun for me as these girls are all from northern Illinois where Jacob Wohlwend usually covers. I was familiar with some of this group because of seeing them at the PGH Top 250 camp last fall. So, with Jacob working on other duties this weekend I took the opportunity to watch and take notes on each player on the squad. So, the following info was based on the two games I watched with some additional input from stats the Nike TOC kept for all games played. <ul> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="123412" first="Talia" last="Pellegrini"] 5’9 2021 Guard from St. Charles North. Talia is a very fundamentally sound player. I really like that she is always in proper position on defense. Her help defense led to a few steals due to her having good vision and instincts to anticipate the play. Talia was very good in the open floor both as a passer and a scorer. The closest game they had became a pressing and running game in the second half and Talia excelled in that type of a game. She made good decisions with the ball and was working hard without the ball to find spots to advance the ball and score.</li> <li>Kelsey Dwyer 6’0 2021 Wing from Stagg. Kelsey is a very long wing that can help the team in many ways. She hit some nice shots during the games I watched. Kelsey is another player that is very smart defensively. She did a good job of jumping the ball handler a few times on the dribble hand off to create a double team and she is consistently boxing out and trying to secure rebounds. Kelsey plays well on the move. She hit a nice three stepping into it off the secondary break and can handle the ball in the open floor to push the pace on the break.</li> <li>Haley Stocklosa 6’0 2021 Wing from Lincoln Way Central. Haley was hosting her own personal block party this week. She was getting her hands on shots all game long in the one game I watched. I had her for 6 blocks, I saw on twitter there was discussion of 7, either way she was controlling the lane. Haley is very long and moves well. She has the potential to be an elite defender. She has very good speed and can also score the ball. Haley had a nice sweep and drive to the rim, another nice drive off her dribble and hit a three off a pin down screen. She was definitely upping her stock in my eyes.</li> <li>Amaya Rufus 5’9 2021 Guard from York. Amaya is very fast with the ball and can change direction very well which allows her to create openings to get into the lane. Once she is in the lane Amaya can use her length and creativity to score. Amaya uses a nice cross over that gets her opponent leaning one way which allows her to quickly move the opposite direction to beat her to the rim. She is very fast without the ball and works well in the 2 guard spot if you need to play her with another ball handler. Amaya did what you want your point guard to do, she passed when that was the better option as she had 4 assists in the win I watched.</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="123566" first="Lauren" last="Huber"] 5’9 2021 Guard from Glenbard East. Lauren showed a toughness and grit that most college coaches would love to see out of a talented player like her. She was working hard on the boards and got a little scrappy when fighting for position. Lauren can score on all 3 levels, which she showed in this game. She did a very nice job being a big part of the press break where she did a good job of hitting the open player and finishing herself off and open chance. Lauren did a little bit of everything with 12 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals in the main  game I watched.</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="123414" first="Ellie" last="Wisner"] 5’10 Guard from Nequa Valley. Ellie is a long and smooth shooter that shows a nice and easy shooting stroke that can be repeated. She has a quick release and can get shots off in small windows. Ellie has deep range so she has to be guarded a step or two outside the line. When she has a little space and can hold her follow through off the catch and shoot Ellie is deadly. She just has to fight being in too much of a hurry or settling for the 3. Defensively, she uses her length very well. Ellie can cause havoc when on the ball as they just cannot see around or over her long frame to get a good pass.</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="124881" first="Cheri" last="Michalek"] 5’5 Point Guard from Lockport. Cheri is a player that I first saw at the PGH Top 250. I was very impressed with her point guard skills based on her ability to handle it and see the floor. She plays like the general or manager of the team and keeps the ball moving. Cheri can shoot the 3 when she has space and is accurate. In the 3 games I watched all or parts, she was 3/6 from behind the arc. Being a shorter point guard can sometimes be challenging. The other team in their close game that I watched started running players at Cheri to attempt to trap and rattle her. Cheri did a good job adjusting to the strategy and finding the open player to pass to and beat the defense. I think Cheri is a player a D3/NAIA team would be lucky to have in their point guard rotation for 4 years.</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="123417" first="Stephanie" last="Dasbach"] 6’1 Forward from Willowbrook. Stephanie is a long and agile big. She can run the floor and moves around within the half court fairly well. As anyone knows, the AAU world is a tough place for back to the basket post players to get their chances to shine. Stephanie had a very nice drop step move and finished through the chest of her defender and finished off a nice offensive rebound in the game I was watching closely. On the defensive end she uses her length well to defend and works hard to box out on the boards. Stephanie has the body to turn into a nice 4/5 at the next level.</li> </ul> As mentioned previously, I am very glad I got this chance. These 8 girls are all college players. It is fun seeing them working well together on defense and playing the game the right way. They are blessed to have everything except height/rebounding. This team makes it work with mostly wings and guards but the effort and desire if there. &nbsp; &nbsp;