Battle in Bullhead: Top Wings
Battle in Bullhead was this past weekend and showcased some high quality players. Here are the top wings from the event:
Dominic Gonzalez (Ironwood 2020): Camp MVP
Gonzalez was head and shoulders the best player of the event. His all around game puts him near the top 2020’s in the state. Offensively, he is a knock down shooter from three and mid-range, he uses his length and strength to his advantage when getting to the basket, and is able to finish around the rim. Defensively, he is a great defender both on ball and off ball. I think he is best in off ball defense due to his IQ and always being in the right spot in help side defense and proper rotations.
Cenk Esinquy (Orme School 2019):
Cenk has great size and great ball handling to match. He is the prototype Ben Simmons player, big wing that has the ball handling of a point guard. Cenk is extremely good at getting to the basket due to how incredibly strong he is and his very quick first step. He is from Turkey and plays with a very Euro league style of play. He could improve as a shooter and finishing around the rim, if he can make those improvements, he should be a 15-20 point scorer.
JJ White (Ironwood 2021):
JJ is typically a guard but has the size for a wing. The team he was placed on had a lot of small guards so he was pushed into the 3 spot and he handled it fine. He was once again a terror on defense, mostly because of how much effort and commitment he puts on that side of the ball. Offensively, I have seen him shoot better, the event definitely was not one of his best shooting displays but he was able to adjust his game and get to the basket with ease. He scored around 12-15 points per game in this showcase, which I think is solid especially since his shot was not falling as usual.
Jaedyn Eastman (Mohave 2019):
If I had to describe Eastman with two words it would be freak athlete. Eastman does not look like a great athlete and definitely does not look like he is capable of highlight dunks and then he steps on the court and shatters your expectations. He scored most of his points off of dunks, which made it hard to assess his overall offensive game but it was still impressive. He is a great rebounder due to how high he jumps, his head was near the rim ever time he got up.
Jacob Leslie (MALC 2020):
Jacob has a lot of potential, I think he is in the wrong position first off. I think he should he looked at as a wing because 6’4-6’5 height is not a big in my opinion. He could be forced to play that role due to lack of height in his program. Nevertheless, Leslie should be a wing and needs to develop his skill set more of a wing than big man. He did show flashes here and there that were good enough to land him on the top wings list. I personally coached one of his games and put him in as the 3 to see what he would do and he did so much better in that spot than in the post. He’s got length, size, and great finishing ability. He needs to develop his ball handling and get better as an athlete if he wants to play wing at the next level.
Malik Smith (Ironwood 2019):
Malik played in two games before suffering a minor injury that sidelined him for the rest of the event. It was more of a precautionary decision to pull him out rather than the injury being that severe. However, in the two games he played he performed well enough to make the list. Without injury, he would have been a lock in the all-star game and would have competed for Camp MVP. Malik’s combination of size, speed, athleticism, and strength make him a nightmare on both sides of the ball.