What has been most impressive about Sykes is her ability to impact the game without scoring. Her club team was one of the best in the country this summer by virtue of her ability to use her talent to make her teammates better. Tiffany Hayes' stock soared this summer and playing along side April had a lot to do with it.
Sykes is best suited in college to be an off guard but her basketball IQ, footwork and passing skills are so strong she could be an effective lead guard. The only thing she lacks from the prototype for elite point guards is foot speed. She isn't an end-to-end burner but gets so much done with her passing ability and being a constant scoring threat that she is incredibly effective.
Sykes three-point range was also a pleasant surprise. She's always been able to hit from out there but the consistency of it was much improved. Her form just looks effortless now and the shot even to a step behind the arc looks comfortable. This is in large part due to her strength but her hand injury got her used to not having her thumb involved as much in the release which is common of players not strong enough to shoot from that range. It was probably a habit from her younger days.
April Sykes
You can't say enough about her ability to score off the dribble either. She has deceptive quickness and she uses her body so well that once you're beat, you're done. She is never off balance and has good lift. She gets in on the defender's body, eliminates their ability to bother her shot by creating contact and then raises up to score. She has the mid range pull-up, the ability to get to the cup and finish with both hands, gets to the foul line - she's a handful. She could probably be more selfish as an elite player but with the weapons on her club team the formula for victory was to take advantage of all her tools.
We've seen some lapses defensively where we've questioned her intensity but that improved this summer compared to last summer. When challenged she is the type to step up. Her strength and basketball IQ are her most noteable assets on defense. She can cover a lot of ground with her length and is strong enough to hold her position where weaker players may open up the lane or foul. She has quick hands and by and large gets to the right spots on the floor. Some of her knowledge of where to be off the ball comes form playing inside for her high school team. She sees what happens on the floor and anticipates well.
She was one of the best in the country a year ago and showed improvement and maturity on her last year out on the club circuit. The only thing that slowed her down was injury and even that didn't stop her from making an impact. She's truly one of the gems of this elite class of 2008.
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Chris Hansen is the National Director of Scouting for Women’s Basketball at HoopGurlz.com. He leads the panel that evaluates and ranks girl's basketball prospects nationally for HoopGurlz. Chris has been involved in the women’s basketball community since 1998 as a coach, trainer, evaluator and reporter. He can be reached at chris@hoopgurlz.com [2].
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