Pt. 2 City of Basketball Lobe exposure camp for current Juniors and Seniors:
Dominick Borzacchiello 6'6' '20 Council Rock North HS (Newtown, PA) ' Being that I did not see CR North last season Borzacchiello was pretty much an unknown to me so I was pleasantly surprised with how he performed today and I definitely want to catch him in a game this season. He did a solid job on the boards in the one game I watched and he was tough inside scoring against his opponents at the rim and with a nice looking jump shot from the FT line and in. He threw several crisp kick out passes to open shooters and was quick to roll off those dishes to get position for a return feed. He did a credible job on defense bodying up his man and was especially effective on help situations getting a couple blocks in thr process. He was intriguing for sure and absolutely deserves further scrutiny.
Allen Powell 6'1' '19 LaSalle College HS (Wyndmoor, PA) ' Technically Powell is a senior but it's widely known that he will do a prep year next season unless some D-1 institution steps up to offer him and make no mistake Powell is that caliber of player. He has nice range on his smooth looking jump shot and he hit several in the one game I caught exclusively and with his tight handle where the ball looks to be on a string he got to the basket for tough finishes. He also dished out the dimes hitting guys in stride for easy buckets and was especially good driving the lane and pulling up only to zip one to a backdoor cutter for the deuce. In the past he over dribbled a lot and over penetrated compounding the problem but he has cleaned all that up and is poised for a huge senior year. Defensively he has gotten tougher and improved his technique to guard his opposite number and he was very good today getting a few steals and causing a bunch of turnovers and he'll need to continue to show out in this his o called Sr, year.
Jaymes Savage 6'3' '19 Sankofa Freedom Academy Charter HS (Philadelphia, PA) ' Savage has long been a defensive demon using his long arms to wreak havoc on opposing ball handlers and unsuspecting bigs who are foolish enough to bring the ball down to his level. Well he had all that working today from getting steals or deflections to causing turnovers with his quick reaction movements. He also was effective on the boards setting up in excellent position and using his athleticism to beat the opposition to the ball and he did this on both ends of the court. While in the one game I viewed he didn't get many touches he took advantage of the ones he got hitting a right wing trey and a couple of downhill drives to the basket which he finished through a combination of grit and body control. His shot is steadily improving and he no longer is hesitant to take one from the perimeter and he is continuing to gain confidence on that front as well as his handle. Another overlooked aspect of his game has been his passing and he made a few nice feeds to his teammates in this contest that lead to scores. His upside may not be any higher than it is but he can play college basketball for sure most likely at the D-III level.
Chris Anderson 6'7' '19 West Chester, PA East HS ' Talk about rapid improvement and Anderson comes to mind and today he was sensational in his play especially in the game I viewed in it's entirety. He made plays on both ends but offensively he was on fire with a sweet hook shot that he knocked down time and time again to his attacks on the basket that resulted in put back buckets or off the catch slam bam jams. He followed up his own miss on three different occasions for put backs and his use of the window to knock in some around the basket jump shots harkened back to the days when the bank was a staple of big men everywhere. He was solid rebounding the ball and he kept it high to avoid those pesky guards from slapping it away. I was also impressed with his willingness to run the floor and on several occasions he was rewarded with a pass on his way to the hole and he also made several nice passes to avoid a double team entrapment. He wasn't bad defensively but he played as a finesse type player so he lacked the physicality to really body up his opposition preferring to use precise timing to go for blocks or altered shots. I don't know what kind of interest he has college wise but I was told he scored a 31 on his ACT which would suggest maybe he's looking for an academic fit.
David Cross 5'11' '20 Bishop Eustace Prep School (Pennsauken, NJ) ' One of my favorite players to watch Cross has that bundle of energy feel as he darts around the court disrupting opposition ball handlers and big men who have the foolishness to bring the ball within reach of his quick active hands. He has a tight handle and is super quick with the ball in his hands and he has laser like focus and court vision to set up his teammates with crisp and crafty passes. He can penetrate the lane and either get to the hoop for a quick strike basket or pull up in the paint for the short jumper or a pass if the defender closes out. On the defensive end of the floor his almost manic determination to frustrate and sometimes demoralize his opposite number is something he takes pride in being the cause of their grief for sure. As I mentioned at the top of this piece he is the scourge of big men who carelessly bring the ball down after a rebound. Today he was doing all of that but I really liked him feeding a streaking Chris Anderson as he ran the court for perfectly timed feeds that led to baskets and I really can't wait to catch that extremely talented Eustace team this season.