Under-The-Radar 2024 Wings
Check out my analysis on some prospects who need to be on your radar with how they produced during the live period. These ladies really were turning heads every time they were in the gym! Fia Filoialii 2024 5’11 James…
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Continue ReadingCheck out my analysis on some prospects who need to be on your radar with how they produced during the live period. These ladies really were turning heads every time they were in the gym!
Fia Filoialii 2024 5’11 James E. Taylor High School, TX (Texas Cagers Select 2024)
Fia is a dynamic point forward with some real size who reads the game and sees the floor like a point guard, yet finishes in the paint like a forward. She is good out of the triple threat, but truly thrives in the full court when she is able to get a full head of steam and get into the paint. She has the ability to snatch a rebound off the glass and go coast to coast and make the right lead pass to a streaking teammate or a dump off pass after she has drawn the last defender. I was very impressed with her handle in the full court, she dominated her defenders in the open court and finished at the rim at will.
She is able to play outside-in, and dance around her defender to get into the paint or play inside-out and work from the mid post or on the block. I was very impressed with her natural forward like control in the post, and her ability to move without the basketball. She flashed to the high post or the paint for easy looks and always seemed to be in the right spot for a dump off pass for a teammate who was in trouble. Her ability to truly do it all allows her to play alongside another big due to her ability to find space seemingly anywhere on the floor. I was very impressed with her poise and maturity with the basketball and her ability to make something out of nothing.
Alina Martin 2024 5’7 Flower Mound Marcus High School, TX (AE Black 2023)
Alina is a special slasher who can get to the rim at will, with and without the basketball. Her off-ball movement creates space for her time after time, and she was great at sealing off her opponent deep in the paint. In the paint, she is a patient finisher who has the ability to use post moves to catch her opponent off guard. Even after flashing quickly to the restricted area, she calmly uses an up fake and send her opponent into the help defender and then spins around to finish on the other side of the rim. Martin also makes good reads when handling the ball in the full court, she routinely found teammates that were streaking to the rim. She also never seemed to over dribble the ball, she always made the right decisions in the half and full court to set up her teammates for an even better shot opportunity. I would like to see her get more aggressive with hunting her shot off the dribble from the midrange. As she continues to stretch the floor, her ability to consistently score in the lane will become even easier.
Cameron Belcher 2024 Windthorst High School, TX (West Texas Shockers 2024)
Cameron is a skilled slasher through her ability to create space with a live dribble and getting into the paint. She routinely got into the lane, and had a very affective dribble drive penetration during the entire tournament. Her ability to consistently get into the teeth of the defense created more space for her teammates on the perimeter. However her ability to defend on the ball is where she will continue to excel at a very high level. Her scrappiness and tenacity on this end of the floor was a real difference maker and she really left a mark on the defensive end of the court. I was very impressed with her ability to find shooters on the backside of the defense, or a slick dump off pass to her big man after drawing a second defender.
Kennedy Smith Kennedy Smith 5'11" | PF Glenda Dawson | 2024 TX 2024 5’10 Dawson High School, TX (Houston Queens Elite 2024 Purple)
Kennedy is an aggressive player on both ends of the floor who really stood out due to her constant motor and willingness to fight on the interior. I loved watching her compete on the defensive end of the floor where her tenacity and motor really stood out. Her aggressiveness will bring her far in this game, based on how she competes and is unafraid of the competition standing in front of her. It did not matter if it was a skilled wing, or a forward she was up for the challenge on the defensive end. She moved her feet at a high level and worked hard on defending the rim and the interior of her team’s defense.
Tierra Fields 2024 Lady Storm Breaker’s Silver
Tierra is a tall wing who runs the floor with purpose, she always seemed to be putting pressure on the defense by running in the full court and finishing at the rim. Her consistency to finish at the rim put real pressure on the interior of her opponent’s defense. I would like to see her work on becoming a better help defender and be more willing to reject shots and protect the paint. There were a few instances where she could have slid over as a help defender to help a teammate who was beat off the dribble.Under-The-Radar 2024 Forwards