Scouting and Highlights: Josh Palo (2019)
Josh Palo is a 6’1″ guard who plays his high school ball with Howell and his AAU ball with the Lansing Prospectors. While he had some promising moments in AAU, he has broken out this year as a standout, posting a plethora of 20 point games. He even had a 37-point game earlier in the season. While Palo hasn’t received a flood of college interest yet, it would be worth D3 and NAIA coaches to keep an eye out on Palo’s play heading into crunch time of the season.
Here is my take on Palo’s game:
Strengths:
Ball handling – Palo excels at handling the ball anywhere on the court. He has a variety of moves that allow him to break a defender down 1-on-1 and create a play. His ability to handle the ball not only helps him score, but also helps him as a facilitator.
Scoring – Palo has shown me in multiple games that he’s comfortable and capable scoring at all three levels. While his midrange game is definitely his best, he’s still a threat to get to the rack or hit from beyond the arc. This season, Palo has consistently scored in the 20s, despite being the only true scoring threat on his team.
Facilitating – While Palo may not be a Chris-Paul type dime dropper, he does a good job of getting his teammates involved on the offensive end. He excels at finding the open man after penetrating and drawing helpside. Because Palo is always a threat to score, defenses are forced to help on him in most cases.
Attacking out of triple threat – It’s not often that you find a high-schooler who has a refined triple-threat game. Palo excels at using jab steps and ball fakes to throw a defender off balance before he even takes a dribble. It’s evident that he’s spent some time in the gym working on this part of his game, which is a positive sign to potential coaches.
Areas For Development:
Athleticism – This is the biggest area of Palo’s game that needs developing. While he is a junior and still has another year of development, Palo will need to get quicker and more explosive if he wants to be effective at the college level. Increasing his foot speed, bounce and overall athleticism could transform Palo’s game and take him to the next level.
Defense – A lot of this has to do with his athleticism, however, there are certain defensive skills such as positioning and discipline that he can improve without high-level athleticism. Most games, Palo’s ability to score the ball offsets any defensive lapses. With this being said, improving his defense will further increase his chances of being an effective college player.