OTR Hoops: Shaquan Worthy’s Battleground Finals Evals 6th – April 25, 2024
Shaquan Worthy’s Battleground Finals Evals 6th
By: Bilal Benjamin
Messiah Lancaster | Decatur Blazers (Pictured)
Lancaster is a combo guard with strength and size that showed his unique ability to score the ball from all three levels. Off the bounce, Lancaster displayed a strong attack while properly using his body to play through contact and draw foul. He also showed off his court vision when it was time to dish the rock off to his teammates. When the ball wasn’t in Lancaster’s hands, he showed a nice shooting stroke from the outside where he buried four triples in a big win over a tough Atlanta Celtics squad.
Keisean Roberts | Decatur Blazers
Roberts is the kind of guard that coaches live for being that he’s like a coach on the court. He had a few teaching moments when things got tough but handled them well. He set his teammates up well, handled the ball with the best of them, got from point A to point B and was a team player. Roberts often noticed mismatches for himself and others and made sure to attack them. In isolation situations, he used his quick and shifty ball handling to blow by and get to the cup for his layup or smooth floater. When the defenders stepped up, Roberts made the right read. Defensively, he was all over the place getting steals and doing a good job of getting up under the ball. His ability to control a game turned heads.
Josiah Dempsey | Decatur Blazers
Dempsey was easily one of the best shooters if not the best shooter in attendance at the Battleground Session lll. The southpaw guard displayed some pretty consistent shooting mechanics, exceptional footwork, and patience to read the defense when getting to his spots with or without the basketball. With such a quick trigger, Dempsey showed no hesitation in getting his shot off even while attracting a ton of attention. He scored a game high 20pts while knocking down five threes in his team’s championship victory over Alabama Fusion. A major thing that stood out about Dempsey’s game at a young age was his patience when allowing the game to come to him rather than forcing action.
Makhi Nsuk | Team Huncho
Nsuk is a lanky young forward that started the game off with back-to-back steals and finishes that will in due time be flushed home. Nsuk used his long arms to his advantage to and found success. He totaled five steals in the first half alone just by moving on the flight of passes, being his team’s middle piece during their press and making sure he was always alert. Nsuk has what it takes to be special as he keeps adding to his game.
Zay Robinson | Team Huncho
Robinson is a very poised guard that ran the show for his squad. Always dribbling with his head up ensuring he sees the entire floor, he made timely accurate passes to his teammates, created paint touches consistently, and was big time finisher at the rim. On the other end, he was defensively alert, sliding his feet to stay in front of the ball, he remained discipline by allowing steals to come to him rather than reaching and was a good example for his teammates on opening day of the Battleground Session lll.
Jakobe Cowans | Team SC
Cowans was in complete scoring mode against a tough defensive minded FEA team. As Cowans looked to put his team on his back, the southpaw guard scored the ball well at all three levels while being an unselfish teammate. Going on a personal run of his own, he aggressively attacked the basket, wasn’t easily sped up by his opponents, showed a nice soft touch floater and took high quality shots. Cowans also wasn’t afraid of sticking his nose in on the defensive or offensive end for rebounds. Despite falling short, Cowans put on a showed until fatigue checked in late.
Cairo Baldwin | FEA
Baldwin is a two-way combo guard that caused complete havoc in both the backcourt as he was picking pockets left and right. He showed a good understanding of defensive help and used his active hands for steals and deflections. Offensively, when Baldwin wasn’t toying with the basketball, he showed good use of the body when driving to the basket. He also noticed and took advantage of mismatches from all over. Baldwin willed his team to victory as he had half of his team’s 46 points in a 46-43 victory over Team South Carolina.
Jeremiah Stevens | Alabama Fusion
Stevens is a forward that has very good size and the athleticism to be able to guard multiple positions with his speed and agility. He did an outstanding job of staying in front of the ball when defending guards and stepped his game up even more when defending bigger players. Stevens used his athleticism to be a big-time rim protector for his team and even denied a few jump shots from the outside as well. Stevens was also a high-level rebounder for his Alabama Fusion squad as he helped lead them to victory over AE5.
Khiyon Jones | Alabama Fusion
Jones is a tough guard that knows how to score the basketball. He used a very tight handle to break down defenders and his craftiness to finish around the rim. Jones did a good job at putting nonstop pressure on defenses as he was able to get paint touch after paint touch, read the defenses well to make the right play, he has a solid floater that he used and when defenders went under screens, he made them pay as well. On the defensive end, Jones was one of the most solid defenders when it came to just staying in front of the ball, not reaching, and allowing the opposing team to just make a bad read. Very rare to find strict defenders like himself.
