Adidas Summer Championships: Best Shooters
Ladera Ranch, Ca. — The second live viewing period of July began Wednesday, and with three events in Southern California within a 60 mile radius, you have to pick your spots wisely.
We spent Wednesday night at the Adidas Summer Championships at the Ladera Sports center where many of the shoe company’s top teams gathered for its final tournament of the summer.
Here are some of the best shooters from Wednesday night’s action:
Mattia Acunzo, ITPS Wildcats
Acuzno, a 6-foot-8, 200 pound wing out of Kennedy Catholic (PA) had some of the tighter shooting mechanics we saw on the evening. The rising senior has a good base that allows him to stay on balance and no dip from his shooting pocket to his release in catch-and-shoot situations. Acunzo connected on a couple of 3-pointers against Game Elite, but was able to shot fake and go by poor close-outs and hit mid-range pull-up jumpers, as well.
Jalen Bridges, ITPS Wildcats
Bridges was not one bit shy about letting the 3-pointer fly. The rangy 6-foot-7 wing has fluid shot mechanics off the catch and deep range on his 3-point shot. He definitely prefers to shoot off-the-catch as opposed to on the move, but does move well without the basketball and can stop and pop on a dime. Bridges went 5-for-12 from 3-point range in a win against Game Elite.
Daniel Buie, Mass Rivals Gold
Buie was not only efficient in his shooting percentages from 3-point range (4 of 6) and overall (6 of 10), but the Gould Academy (ME) product scored 16 points in just 15 minutes of floor time. The 6-foot-2, 160 pound scoring guard showed impressive lift on his shots from both the mid-range and 3-point levels in Mass Rivals’ win over EBO.
Mattia Acunzo connected on jump shots from both the 3-point and mid-range levels Wednesday night at the adidas Summer Championships.Dallion Johnson, Mass Rivals Gold
Johnson got into the shooting flow just like Buie, his teammate mentioned above. The 6-foot-2 rising junior out of Andover Academy (MA) uses pin down screens nicely, rubbing his defender off the shoulder of the screener to pop free behind the arc. Johnson also showed a high IQ on whether to curl or flair off of screens depending on how the defender played it. Johnson went 4 of 5 from deep and scored 16 points as Mass Rivals beat EBO.
Jarod Lucas, Compton Magic
Lucas has been lightning up Southern California nets for quite some time now. The 6-foot-2 Compton Magic and Los Altos high school star continued his aerial assault, canning all five of his 3-point attempts in a blowout of Ohio Basketball Club. Lucas finished 6-for-6 from the field overall, scoring 17 points in 25 minutes.
Julian Rishwain, Pump-N-Run
Rishwain, who previously played for West Coast Elite’s Under Armour team, did exactly what Pump-N-Run brought him in to do: Make open shots. The 6-foot-4 wing has no conscious from deep and uses that confidence, along with a quick release and deep range, to really nullify any type of close-out attempt. Rishwain went 3-for-7 from distance as the Pumps beat out Team Bradley.