Bayou Ballers
The sweltering sun had nothing on the heated competition taking place inside the gym at the Basketball on the Bayou event. Guard Jeanne Kenney leads our standouts.WESTWEGO, La. -- Situated in the middle of the South, albeit on the sultry Gulf Coast, the Basketball on the Bayou tends to attract much of the top talent in the basketball-rich region -- across sneaker lines, no less. This makes the tournament, in its sixth year, a good place to see players one might not ordinarily see, playing against other players with which they might not ordinarily match up against.
Auburn-commit Peyton Davis, of Mortimer, Ala., and the Alabama RoadRunners, is 6 feet 5 with a more-or-less finesse game that can be effective in the SEC because of her fundamentals. She can move up and down the court, is not physical but blocks out and pursues the ball. Davis also has nice form and accuracy on mid-range and short-corner jumpers, plus she can pass out of the high post. She finishes under duress, but could use a more forceful drop-step move and needs more upper- and lower-body strength to shoot through contact. Upping the degree of difficulty on short-range attempts, she opens up on both layups and her jump hook, allowing shorter players to defend. On the move, she tends to shoot righty on the left side, though she can finish left on straight layups. She has the length and mobility to be an effective defensive deterrent, if more aware when defending the weak side.
When viewing more heralded players, there sometimes is another, unintended target who catches your eye with her panache. Jessica Escorza, of South Riding, Va., and the Carolina Rise, is such a player. At 5-11, she is communicative, positive and unflappable -- a glue type of player. More than that, Escorza makes a difference on defense with her length, can handle the ball effectively in transition and shoots a jumper, though a little flat, off the bounce. She is the kind of player every team can use.
You almost don't have to have your eyes open to know that Jeanne Kenney, of Baton Rouge, La., and the Domino's club team, is on the floor. She is one of the game's great communicators, at both ends of the court. The 5-8 lefty can deliver from the point or score. She plays as hard and smart as anyone in her class. Sometimes, watching her is like watching a backcourt clinic. She covers the ball with both hands on defensive closeouts. She automatically rips down court in transition situations, always making herself available for the basketball. She is an often-spectacular passer who never telegraphs her intentions. She can drill catch-and-shoot 3-pointers, using great setup footwork and preparation. She can score on postups, finishing with nice, high bank shots over surprised defenders. Offensively, Kenney can heat up in no time. One game, she scored nine points, including a pair of threes, during the first 2 minutes, 15 seconds. As a guard, she has the complete package, lacking only a little length to defend athletic 2 guards on the next level.
A smallish, but broad-shouldered 5-7, Taryn Gregory, of the Houston Insiders, is a quick combo guard with a nice, easy 3-point stroke. When she engages on defense, Gregory can be extremely disruptive. We'd like to see her penetrate the lane more to draw defenders off teammates. Also, she can go left, but should strengthen the hand to avoid having defenders sit on it at the next level.
Combo guards who are 5-8 are almost commodities at this level, so they have to show a little something extra. Clara McLee, of Converse, Texas, and Team Xpress Blue, is one who does. She is long and athletic, aggressive to the rim off the bounce and excellent in transition, with either the finish or dish. She also has nice form on her shot, which is a bit flat from distance, making her more accurate from the top of the key than from the wings or corners.
Julie Manning, of Spring, Texas, and the HBA Blazers, has post size at 6-4, but more of a forward's mentality and frame. It may bother some that, offensively, she seldom ventures into the painted area, but others will like her at the high post --where she has nice form, a high release and accuracy on 14-to-16-foot jump shots. Manning does put her length to good use at the defensive end as a shot-blocker and will rebound there as well.
A 5-9 guard, Siarra Soliz, of League City, Texas, and the CyFair Premier, is a bouncy threat off the dribble and, when on a roll, threes seem for her to be an easy toss into a large ocean. She communicates, sees and makes enough plays to entice coaches into trying her at the point, though she does not frequently use her left, begging the question of how effective it is.
When we last saw Meghan Keough of Land O'Lakes, Fla., she was a feisty freshman point guard playing with her older sister, Kayli, who now is at Florida State. The younger Keough now is a rising junior, but feisty as ever. She plays more of a shooting guard with her club team, the Florida Wildcats, but brings a point guard's sensibility to the position. She is smooth and heady with a nice, easy three-point stroke. She knows how to attack the rim, either from the wings or along the baseline and goes hard, especially with her left. Keough can be an effective scorer, but at 5 feet 8 may have more options at point guard at the next level.
Fast and compact, ChaKecia Miller, of Marietta, Ga., and the Georgia Hoopstars, gets low on her dribble moves and is adept at snaking through a defense to attack the cup. She also has a nice hesitation move to freeze the on-ball defender and set up opportunities into the lane, where her strong upper body helps make her an effective finisher. Her jumper is a little one-armed, but effective. Her accuracy would also be improved by better shot selection.
Though a bit on the small side at 5-7, Reagan Miller of Sanger, Texas, exhibits the kind of command on the floor that you want from your point guard. She also is dependable with the ball, shoots the three and anticipates the passing lanes on defense.
Ka'Diedre Simmons, of East Orange, N.J., and Ring City Elite, plays bigger than her listed height of 5-6 because of her strength and explosiveness. This makes her more effective than most point guards her size. Simmons has a lot to offer at the point because she doesn't over-dribble and has nice touch on her passes. She also gets nice and low for her quick, unexaggerated dribble moves and attacks her defender's hips to get into the lane with frequency.
Because Emani White of the Kenner Angels is just 5-2, she will require a college coach who can commit to using a small point guard. In White's case, the payoffs can be large. She is a fearless penetrator who can go on a dead sprint with her left hand. White really can turn the corner on a defender and, once in a crowd, can finish in spite of her size by adjusting her shot in the air or use a jump stop, ball fake to freeze the defense and step around it for baskets. At either end, she is just a whirlwind on the court, instilling energy into her team and, presumably on the next level, into any crowd.
The Florida Wildcats obviously are trying to groom a point guard with size in Camille Crooks and one can see her fitting the bill in time, if properly coached. At 5-11, the Maitland, Fla., sophomore makes a different level of passing lanes available for her team. As of now, she is a competent ballhandler but not yet exceedingly smooth with the ball. She also doesn't penetrate in a conventional manner, with dribble moves and by attacking a defender's hips, but by bullying or backing her way in. Such methodology is more conducive to a scorer than a point guard who needs to maintain vision of her teammates. There's no question Crooks belongs on the basketball court, but we just hope she doesn't miss her calling because of a forced fit. We see plenty of guards who run the point, forwards who play wing and wings who play posts, and all of them suffer some level of blunted development.
This is the second event in which we've seen Moriah Jefferson since she gamely limped through the USA Basketball U16 trials with a left calf injury and we have to say a healthy Jefferson is a sight to behold. First of all, calling her fast is a complete understatement. Moreover, she is a spectacular ballhandler, who does things like inside-out moves on the dead sprint, with an expanded imagination. In one game here, she zipped into a corner for a loose ball, performed a wraparound dribble and tossed a three-quarter court pass on the money. Physically, the Glen Heights, Texas, guard is explosive with uncanny balance and cutting abilities. She does not save her energy for the offensive end, using feints and other tricks to set up ballhandlers for rips. One usually wants to approach evaluations of younger players with more restraint, but in the case of Jefferson, it's difficult not to gush and envision an extremely rosy future.
If not for the brace on her right knee, you wouldn't know that Allison Ulfers, of Melairie, La., and the Kenner Angels, recently injured her medial-collateral ligament (MCL). She continues to show good speed and quickness, is light on her feet and shifty with the basketball. She plays all out, even showing a willingness to split trapping defenders. The 5-7 point guard doesn't panic and is a good passer with very good court vision. She exhibits evidence of a good shot from range, though doesn't use her legs enough to develop power from beyond the arc.
DFW Elite has three tremendous 2012 guard prospects and, of the three, Courtney Walker is the worker bee. At 5-8, she has good size and flies around the court. She also likes to roam on defense and create havoc. Walker, of Edmond, Okla., is a master at maneuvering through defenses for inside finishes, often acrobatic. She can score the ball with both hands, though her left is a little inconsistent. But, hey, she and her teammates are so good, you forget they're young and have plenty of time to shore up any deficiencies, however few, in their games.
The idea of giant point guards is appealing and, apparently, the Houston Elite has such plans for Courtney Williams, a 6-footer who acquitted herself well at the USA Basketball U16 trials. Williams plays a little erect with the ball and makes the kind of plays that taller point guards can make, but it comes at the price of traditional, penetrate-and-pitch setups and rim attacks. With her size, athleticism and skill set, Williams seems to be a player a team would want to get the ball in areas from which she can do damage on her own. Her shot is good enough, and she likely would be more effective attacking defenders her size, whom she could out-quick, rather than smaller, quicker defenders who can impede her path.
