Week 1 Underrated Defenders: Guards
Defense is one of the most underappreciated facets of a basketball player’s game. This is due to defensive statistics not being eye-popping as points scored or assists. Many great defensive efforts will not show up on the stat sheet, but…
Access all of Prep Girls Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingDefense is one of the most underappreciated facets of a basketball player’s game. This is due to defensive statistics not being eye-popping as points scored or assists. Many great defensive efforts will not show up on the stat sheet, but an altered shot, deflected pass, or a timely defensive rotation can sometimes be the difference between a win or a loss. Many notable defenders at the guard position might fly under the radar but played massive roles in their team’s success this week.
Olivia Found – Bishop Fenwick – G – JR
Stats: 15.5 ppg, 3.5 apg, 7 spg, Team record: 2-0
How can a player be underrated when they average 7 steals? Steals do not paint the full picture of how great a defender is. Found will tally a lot of steals, but it’s impressive how she creates these theft opportunities. She forces a lot of turnovers by making the ball handler uncomfortable. Her aggressive on-ball defense is ferocious, and she’s so quick sliding her feet east to west that the offensive player tends to cough up the ball. An exceptional ballhawk, Found makes a living stealing the inbounds pass. She reads the passer’s eyes and intercepts the ball leading to her scoring or assisting a trailing teammate. Her non-stop activity on defense ignites the team’s offense and has led to early success this year.
Lydia Mordarski – Bishop Feehan – G – JR
Stats: 14.5 ppg, 2 spg, Team record: 2-0
Mordarkski is an excellent two-way player. The 5’9 guard is known more for her offense, but her off-ball defense has been vital to Bishop Feehan’s victories thus far. She’s so athletic and long that she can cover a lot of ground on the defensive side of the ball. Even on plays where she might get face cut, she can use her athleticism to recover and disrupt the passing lane. She is very active in halfcourt sets as well. She always seems to be in the right position on the weak-side and has great anticipation skills to pick-off passes. Mordarski is another player who uses her defensive activity to spark points in transition.
Danielle Bergeron – Marshfield – G – JR
Stats: 2 pts, 7 asts, 4 stls, Team record:1-0
Bergeron is an absolute lightning rod on defense! She can get lost in the shuffle because Marshfield has some potent scorers on the roster, but the Marshfield point guard is the team’s glue. A tone-setter on defense, she has tremendous instincts hunting down loose balls and uses her blinding speed after creating a turnover to score on the fastbreak. A lockdown on-ball defender, Bergeron makes it difficult for the opposing team to get into their halfcourt offensive sets due to her quick lateral movements and giving the ball handler no air space to create separation.
Tatum Reis – New Bedford – G – SO
Stats 14 pts, 4 rebs, 2 stls, Team record 1-0
The sophomore guard is an incredible half-court defender. Reis has a high defensive I.Q., and when the ball enters the post, she is always aware that she needs to dig down and provide discomfort to the offensive player. She has a lot of value when New Bedford switches their defense to a 2-3 zone. Reis has the awareness to take away the pass to the high post and muck up the opposing team’s offensive flow. New Bedford is a team that likes to push tempo and score on the fast break; when Reis comes in the game, they depend on her to be the defensive catalyst and jumpstart the offense using her endless activity on defense.