Centennial State Grandstand—Sunday’s Guards
The Centennial Grandstand opened up the live period portion with head-to-head games with some of the best talent in Colorado and various other states going at it in a showcase. On the final day we got the opportunity to check…
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Continue ReadingThe Centennial Grandstand opened up the live period portion with head-to-head games with some of the best talent in Colorado and various other states going at it in a showcase. On the final day we got the opportunity to check out a few players that we did not on Saturday. Some of the usual floor generals appeared but I also saw a new name or two. Here are five players who ran their unit.
Landon Wallace – Conifer
Wallace is the true definition of a floor general. He is one of the most unselfish players in the state with great court vision and while he is playing you can literally see the wheels turning. Wallace is a high IQ guard that is looking to create for others the moment he gets the ball. He makes great outlet passes, hits guys in motion and when he is on the court his teammates tend to run a bit faster as they understand if they are open they are most likely going to get the ball. In the showcase, it was no different as he made sure everyone got involved.
Garrett Arnold – Thunder Ridge
It was interesting to see Arnold and Wallace on the same team as there is much of the same styles when they on the court. They are looking to set guys up. With Arnold you are confident that he is going to run his unit but he is capable of scoring it from the guard spot. He also has the ability to play a bit more off ball as he is an active cutter that finds the holes in the defense. With Arnold there is always a big play capability as he is willing to take risks that other guards are not. I would like to see Arnold take over and score a bit more this year. He has moves in his bag that frees himself up and the defense already adjusts to his playmaking abilities, now being a triple threat to pass, shoot it and score off of the dribble will make him an even more dangerous guard. I liked what I seen at the showcase from him.
Zion Ruckard – Eaglecrest
Ruckard is a guard that is growing on me as he is one of the better two-way guards in the state. He is playing stout man-to-man defense where he makes the offensive player work for every single basket and on the offensive end he is a guard that a coach will feel safe with as he does not force much and gets into the half-court set and will run a play. Although it was a showcase he was one of the only guards that would stop at half-court, ask for a screen and then try and attack off of the screen. In a game setting, this is where Ruckard makes his bread and butter and those are the small things that you look for as a coach. He brings toughness on both ends of the floor and is a hard worker that makes plays on the court. He had another solid day at the showcase, this time offensively.
Nathan Arroyos—Deming High School (NM)
Arroyos was one of the out of state prospects that came out. He worked extremely hard on both ends of the court and his hard-nosed defense turned into offense. He showcased a bit of everything at the event as he ran the floor both with and without the ball. Drew countless fouls, knocked down shots from beyond the arc and ran the floor with a bunch of guys he had never even seen before. His play was contagious as he had other guys diving for loose balls and also picking up full court on defense and stood out with his poise on the court that made impacting plays.
Grant Shaw—Prosper High School (TX)
Shaw was another out of state guard that came to the event with a chip on his shoulder. He was aggressive offensively as he attacked the rim relentlessly on Sunday morning picking up fouls and also finishing on a few lay ups. He started out slow but made positive things happen for his team in other ways which got himself into a rhythm, from there he started scoring at will as he used the screen and hit the corner to explode to the rim. He was also tenacious on defense as he picked up at half court and used his body to keep the guards at bay. Shaw had a very solid showing on Sunday.