2024 Play Creators
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Which players are the best at maximizing the talent around them and creating plays for others? It requires anticipation, feel for the game, and the physical skills to match the IQ. I picked five sophomores who have proven they have…
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Continue ReadingWhich players are the best at maximizing the talent around them and creating plays for others? It requires anticipation, feel for the game, and the physical skills to match the IQ. I picked five sophomores who have proven they have those traits in some capacity.
Neal Mosser Neal Mosser 6'2" | SG Millard North | 2024 State NE | Millard North
I’ve written about Mosser’s play creation several times so I don’t need to go too deep on it. Simply put, he sees the floor as well as anyone in this class. He operates one or two beats ahead of everyone else on the floor, and that applies to the defensive end, too. Mosser can dime you up with either hand from a variety of angles, and is an excellent live-dribble passer. He is a deadeye shooter, so helping off him can be a death sentence. This opens driving lanes and creates space for his teammates to operate just by standing behind the line.
Eldon Turner | Bellevue West
Turner is extremely shifty at the point guard position. He almost always draws some amount of help when he drives, and from there he usually makes the right play. As solid as he is on offense, where I think he makes the most impact right now is defensively. He is incredibly active on defense and has the awareness to pair with it. He has a few steals a game which are a direct result of him seeing the play early. My biggest knock on him right now is that he could and should be more “selfish” on offense. Sometimes he is too quick to pass it off to the next guy, when the best option for the team is for him to attack his man and create from there.
Rickey Loftin Rickey Loftin 6'0" | SG Westside | 2024 State NE | Omaha South (pictured)
Loftin’s focus and engagement possession to possession waxes and wanes, but his playmaking ability is undeniable. JoJo Foard has locked up the starting point guard position for Omaha South. Even so, Loftin does not need to dominate the ball to make plays for teammates. He makes those quick swing passes when the defense is in rotation and attacks closeouts well to create advantages. When JoJo hits the bench, Loftin is more than capable of stepping in and taking on a more ball-dominant role.
Landon Pokorski Landon Pokorski 6'2" | PG Gretna | 2024 State NE | Gretna
He could put up higher point totals if he wanted to with his ability to score from deep and at the rim, but Pokorski chooses to leverage that threat to create shots for teammates. What drives his success, in my eyes, is his ability to process information and react to it with urgency. He doesn’t dribble unnecessarily, and the ball does not stick in his hands despite having the ball so often. If there is an advantage, he reacts quickly to exploit it.
Elijah Gaeth | Millard North
With his length and speed, Gaeth forces defenses to make tough decisions when he gets downhill. He does not require a screen to get past his man, and when he gets into the heart of the defense he forces help. Sometimes he gets there so quickly that defenses panic and send multiple help defenders, giving him multiple options to pass to. His length allows him to pull off some passes that other good passers do not have the ability to make. Periodically, he can get himself into trouble by leaving his feet without a plan, but it works out for him more than it should because he can hang in the air and figure it out before he lands.