By Brian Crownover

{mosImage}The final portion of the crazy opening week of the July “live” period got underway at Rider on Wednesday for the Reebok Summer Classic. Many of the top AAU teams from the region took part as well as some out of area teams who had players in Philadelphia for Reebok U. Here is a look at some of the performers.

Connecticut Select

Allan Chaney (2008, 6-9 215 SF/PF)
Fresh off a very good week at Reebok U, Allan continued his strong play here. He’s a very skilled player. He displayed a nice jump hook from the 5-7 foot range. He battled a lot underneath the basket. Allan had a nice reverse dunk on the break. The long armed post can also put the ball on the floor. He attempted a three pointer from the perimeter as well. His form looked okay, but he couldn’t convert. Allan also rebounded well. He has a pretty good frame. He does need to work on getting up and down the court more quickly. Allan is a talented player who is really starting to see his stock rise. 

B.J. Monteiro (2008, 6-5 SG)
B.J. came back from Reebok U with a solid outing for Connecticut Select. He moves well without the ball and scored several lay-ups because of it. He has good size and used that too get to the line quite frequently. B.J. isn’t super explosive with the ball in his hands, but still is a solid dribbler. He can drive with either hand and get to the bucket.

Westchester Hawks

Mookie Jones (2008, 6-6 SG/SF)
Mookie was very impressive from the perimeter. I haven’t seen the lanky wing shoot this well since the Metro Classic last fall. He has a very smooth stroke and drained pull up three after pull up three. He also threw in a nice pass and block just for good measure. Mookie has played pretty well as of late, but not at this level.

Ra' Shad James (2008, 6-1 PG/SG)
Ra’ Shad really stood out a couple weeks back at the High School Basketball Championship with his athleticism. That continued on this day. He’s an explosive dunker who can jump through the roof. Ra’ Shad can attack the basket off the dribble. He also had a nice offensive rebound follow up. 

Kevin Drew (2008, 6-3 SG)
Kevin showed very nice ball handling ability. The skilled dribbler can get to the hoop fairly quickly. He absorbed contact on one play and still converted. He also threw a nice pass to one of his teammates.

Brandon Webb (2008, 6-8 PF)
Brandon is a very athletic forward. He had two powerful eye opening dunks in the contest. One of them was a one handed throw down. Brandon is very powerful. He also runs the floor well and possesses nice hands. He mixed in a nice touch pass. Brandon did miss the one jumper that we noticed him take.

Team Takeover

Scott Machado (2008, 6-1 PG)
I like Scott’s game more and more every time I see him. He’s not a kid that stands out right away, but is a very solid and steady player each time out. He is a true point guard who has good vision and can really distribute the ball. Scott is also a crafty ball handler. He used a fake pass to freeze the defense and then score on one fast break opportunity. He also had a nice drive to the left before finishing with the right hand. Scott does a very good job of mixing in passing and scoring and making good decisions with the basketball. He does turn it over from time to time, but it's often because he's overly aggressive.

Quasim Pugh (2008, 5-10 160 PG)
Quasim opened with a nice floater in the lane. The quick ball handling guard ran the floor very well. He showed a nice stop and go move. He was relatively quiet from the perimeter though.

Latiq Agard (2008, 6-4 SG)
Latiq opened with an impressive left handed finish and a foul. He’s an athletic guard who is quick off of the bounce. Latiq finishes well around the hoop and used a finger roll on one such occasion. 

Roberto Colonette (2008, 6-6 SF)
Roberto is long and athletic. He had a very impressed dunk. The play that stood out the most though was a block of super talented Wally Judge (see below).

DC Assault

Wally Judge (2009, 6-8 210 SF/PF)
Wally is so long and athletic. He’s also very versatile so that creates a lot of match up problems for the defense. During this game he scored on the inside several times and also stepped outside to bury a three. He did try to get his teammates involved, but struggled with a couple of turnovers.

Ron Anderson (2008, 6-8 PF/C) 
Ron was pretty steady at the Southern Invitational. That fine play continued here. He’s a big bodied interior player who can really rebound. He has nice hands and good touch around the basket. Because of his size, he’s also able to get deep positioning. Ron had a nice short catch and finish with the left hand. He was also fouled on the play. He doesn’t get a lot of touches, but is pretty effective when he does get the ball down low.

Augustus Gilchrist (2008, 6-10 C)
After decommitting from Virginia Tech Augustus is now back on the AAU circuit. He is a massive interior player who can really rebound the ball. He was rather quiet on the offensive end though. He also got ejected for fighting.

Cecil Kirk

Anthony Anderson (2008, 6-8 PF/C)
Anthony caught the attention of several people with his play at Eastern. The big man possesses very long arms. He’s a player with very fluid motion in everything he does on the court. He just looks really good with the ball in his hands and while he's in motion. Anthony can certainly play too. He showed a nice short jump hook shot. He owns a good set of hands. He likes to post up and then turn and face the hoop. Anthony knocked down a 7 foot jumper in this fashion. He did miss on another occasion from about 10 feet. Anthony wasn’t dominant, but pretty efficient when he did get his touches. He rebounded well in this game. He is thin and definitely does need to get stronger. He’s really oozing with potential and could develop into a fantastic player. 

Brandon Herbert (2007, 5-11 PG)
Brandon made most of his impact scoring with the pull up jumper from the mid range area. He hit that shot several times. Brandon can also handle the ball too.

Team Breakdown

Eloy Vargas (2008, 6-10 210 PF)
Eloy still hasn't put together a great game when we’ve viewed him. That doesn’t really matter too much because the talent and potential is clearly there. He had a nice dunk and a blocked shot on the defensive end. Eloy has an incredible wingspan and can play on the perimeter some. He’s not shy about taking the three point shot. He can handle some, although he won’t consistently beat you off the dribble. Eloy does need to get stronger though to really further his development and make him a better interior player against better competition. 

Reebok All-Stars (14 U)

Trevor Cooney (2011, 6-3 SG)
Trevor was drawing rave reviews at the Eastern Invitational. It’s now easy to see why. The rising freshman is already a very heady player. He’s a very smooth shooter who can score from anywhere on the floor. Trevor hit a three, a short drop off runner and a mid range jumper (all against older kids). He’s a fundamentally sound ball handler too and makes good decisions with the ball in his hands.

Aaron Brown (2011, 6-5 PF) 
Aaron is an impressive youngster. The lanky lefty showed a nice little hook shot in the post. He looks like he has a lot of potential, but already appears to be a solid player.

Team Adidas

Kyle Randall (2009, 6-0 PG)
Kyle is a solid scoring point guard. He has a very nice pull up jump shot. He can hit out to three as well. He also possesses a good crossover move as well as a stop and go move. Kyle can get to the rim, but did have trouble finishing. He also would benefit by showing more passing skills.