St. Louis Spring Showdown: Friday Standouts (Forwards)
Prep Hoops Missouri was at Pattonville High on Friday night to take in the first day of action at the St. Louis Spring Showcase. Here is a look at some of the top forwards:
Ivan Mikhleiev 6’5″ St. Louis Cougars: An excellent all-around talent who played just about every position on the floor. He handled the ball well and did a nice job of facilitating the offense and getting his teammates easy scoring opportunities. His size enabled him to see over the defense to find the open man. Ivan can also knock down open 3-pointers and score on driving layups.
Rokuids Opalevs 6’6″ St. Louis Cougars: A tough post player who was very productive around the basket. He scored and rebounded at a high rate and also ran the court well and scored buckets in transition. His activity was very impressive and he showcased some athleticism in the second game with a couple of transition dunks.
Hayden Moore 6’3″ IL Fire: A beefy post player who really knew how to operate around the basket. He did an excellent job of getting post position and he used his body to bump and keep defenders off balance as he made his post moves. Very impressive. He also showed the ability to score with both hands. He also boxed out well and got his share of rebounds. Very fundamentally should.
Travis Hogan 6’5″ IL Fire: A Class of 2020 Stretch 4 who is long and played without an fear at all. He is a very capable 3-point shooter off the catch. In the second half of the game I watched, he started to attack the basket and got some nice buckets through contact. He is very thin, but he didn’t shy away from any physical play. He even made a couple of impressive blocks.
Alan Esse 6’5″ St. Louis Cougars: An athletic combo forward who looked very comfortable on the perimeter. He utilized a very quick first step to get to the basket from the wing and finish at the rim. He also had a very solid stroke from the perimeter to compliment his slashing ability.