Memorial Weekend Recap: Top Bigs
Memorial Day has always been a huge basketball weekend. After the events of last year, the pent-up demand for basketball in Sin City was real. Several organizations hosted events around the city, including West Coast Elite’s, Vegas Memorial Day Classic,…
Access all of Prep Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingMemorial Day has always been a huge basketball weekend. After the events of last year, the pent-up demand for basketball in Sin City was real. Several organizations hosted events around the city, including West Coast Elite’s, Vegas Memorial Day Classic, and Cal Elite Basketball’s West Coast Smoke. The event featured several talented big men. In this article, we take a look at some of the top Bigs from the event.
Kyle Lemke Kyle Lemke 6'9" | C Dixie | 2024 State UT 6’7 C Team Flight 2024 (featured image) – Lemke was highly productive. He’s one of my favorite basketball players because that’s exactly what he is. The 6’7 post man isn’t overly athletic or fast, yet he somehow always manages to score over opponents and to beat them down the floor. He has old-school fundamentals, including good footwork and keeping the ball high on his rebounds and finishes.
Mike Davis 6’6 PF WCE 2023 – Loved the energy and effort Davis played with. He sprinted the floor well and showed good hands catching the ball in traffic. His 2nd jump was brilliant, and he used it to snag rebounds at a high rate.
Javion Cooper 6’8 C Nor Cal Ducks 2021 – Cooper played like a young Willie Cauley Stein this weekend. He was the Anchor on defense for the Open division champs. The gangly forward protected the rim well, altering and blocking nearly everything close to the rim. He also was one of the top rebounders both in traffic and out of area, at the event.
Andrew Fielder 6’9 C DIB 2023 – Fielder falls under my skilled 4 category. The low post master also showed the ability to deliver the basketball to teammates well, both from the high post and when he was doubled in post-up situations. He has above-average athletic ability as well, and he used it to grab offensive rebounds for put-backs.
Petia Dogale 6’6 C Dreams Become Reality 2021 – I have to show some love to Dogale. You could argue that he was the unsung hero of DBR’s run to the Championship game. For much of the tournament, he was key in battling opposing bigs and grabbing defensive rebounds. It was in the Championship game, where he really showed his value, knocking down a 3 and scoring around the basket. He was easily one of the top high-energy players from the event.