West Coast Xtreme Purple 17u Competes In SoCal: Player Notes
Daniel Anderson is the Head Coach and Director of West Coast Xtreme, a grass roots organization out of San Jose, Ca. Coach Daniel wanted his team to play against tough competition before heading to Las Vegas to play in the Bigfoot Classic July 25-29 so he entered his team in two top events in Southern California this past weekend. These were the West Coast Elite Summer Classic July 18-20th in Pomona, Ca and The Pangos Cream of the Crop Tourney July 20-21, in Anaheim, Ca.
West Coast Xtreme’s record in the 8 games was 2 wins and 6 losses. Coach Daniel knew it would be tough going since his team didn’t have a lot of experience playing in the top tourneys in Los Angeles, but he thought it was more important for them to compete against quality opponents before Vegas. Here are my thoughts on 7 players for West Coast Xtreme this past weekend.
Devin Baddo 5’9 guard 2019. Devin was a little intimidated the first few games as were all the Xtreme Players. Devin settled down, made some adjustments, and began to run the offense with confidence, getting the ball to team-mates for good shots, and driving to the basket when the opportunity presented itself. Devin started pushing the ball in transition, and hitting his open 3-point shots.
Fuad Alemu 6’0 guard 2019. Fuad started the first game with too much excitement that didn’t translate into good basketball. Fuad is a good prospect when he lets the game come to him and his focus is on defense. He has long arms to deflect passes, is a good on-ball defender with good foot speed, and moves well when going lateral to stay with quicker guards. When he made these adjustments his overall play improved; he got a few deflections which led to uncontested layups and he started getting out on the wings in transition and finishing. In the half court offense he was able to slow down, spot up, and hit 3-point shots which helped the team stay close in some games.
Ryan Payne 6’3 forward 2019. Ryan doesn’t start, yet he’s definitely the hustle guy on this team as he dives for loose balls, trying to block shots. Being physical on defense and getting tangled up while going for rebounds and loose balls allows him to usually get the ball because he’s the first one to the floor. Ryan plays with a lot of energy which tends to get him banged up and into foul trouble, especially since he often has to guard guys taller than he is. He’s a slashing type player that is improving around the basket. Ryan hustles in transition either filling lanes or getting rebounds with put-backs. In the last game he started and played quality minutes scoring 12 points.
Drew Hooks 5’9 shooting guard 2020. Drew is a shooter first. He likes to spot up on the wings and in the corner and shoot 3-point shots when he can . This weekend he had to spend some time playing point-guard. Although his ball handling skills weren’t great, they were good enough to get his team into the half court. Even though his mid-range game needs some work, Drew has the ability to push the ball in transition and he makes good decisions on the court. He’s an unselfish player with good passing ability. If he doesn’t get taller soon, he’s going to have to put more focus on the point-guard position. Drew found out how difficult it is to guard So-Cal point-guards, but with some minor adjustments to his on-ball defense, lateral movement, and overall commitment to defending the point-guard position, he improved.
Jakharee Cooper 6’3 wing 2020. This prospect has spent a lot of time this summer doing agility work and strengthening his body. It looks like it’s working. Jakharee played solid all weekend for this Xtreme Team. He’s a physical type of player who is willing to mix it up. He made big shots when his team needed them, like a mid-range shot jump shot, or a strong driving lay-up from the base line. Additionally, he added some strong finishes at the rim in transition. He showed some toughness guarding taller players in the post area, and his strength in getting rebounds over taller players.
Ignacio Bettinelli 6’4 forward 2020. The Staple Guy on this team, he doesn’t make many mistakes and he tries to do everything asked of him. He plays the post area, has good foot work, executes a nice pump-fake, and successfully attacks with his up and under move around the basket. Ignacio added a fade-way for taller defenders, he regularly makes shots from the elbow, and passes well. He’s also a nice trail guy in transition. Defensively he’s undersized, having to guard the other teams big. Yet he makes up for this when he uses his long arms and good foot work on defense, boxes out, and plays good team-defense. He also makes a good outlet pass to start a transition break after a rebound.
Noah Yang 6’4 wing 2020. Noah found out the hard way about having patience on offense. In one game he took an ill-advised 3-point shot. His team was leading by 6 points with 1:30 to go in the game. (they won). To his credit, he didn’t let that one mistake effect his overall play. Noah is a slasher and finishes well around the basket, he gets out on the wings in transition, has a nice pull-up jumper and will take and make the 3-point shot if he’s out there. Noah helped bring the ball up the court and found the open team-mate when the other team pressed. He plays good off-the ball defense and is often in good position to help.