Straight to the Pros – Alex Lyle & Willie Duke

Welcome to Good GMC Isuzu’s Straight to the Pros, a weekly article that compares the stars of High School basketball in West Michigan to the past and present stars of the NBA, based on their playing style, skill (relative to their competition), appearance or anything else that warrants a comparison.

In this week’s edition West Michigan All Star takes a look at Wayland Union’s standout wing, Alex Lyle, and Ottawa Hills’ dynamo sixth-man, Willie Duke.

Alex Lyle (Wayland Union)  -  Michael Redd

Alex Lyle has been ranked among the area’s best wings for much of his high school career, and rightfully so.  His complete offensive game makes him extremely difficult to guard.

As with Milwaukee Buck’s guard Michael Redd, Lyle’s game starts with his jumpshot.  Whether he’s facing his man down and pulling up for the jumper or catching and shooting the corner three pointer, Lyle’s jumper is as pure as they come.  On top of that, he releases his shot so quickly that a defender is lucky to get a hand in his face, much less block the shot.

But you don’t average 19.0 points per game in high school basketball, as Lyle did in his senior season for the Wayland Wildcats, if you stay on the perimeter shooting jump shots.  To compliment his shooting stroke, Lyle has a lightning-quick first step.  Just like Redd, Lyle uses the threat of his deadly jumper to enable him to take the ball to the hoop for the layup or dunk.

Lyle has massive amounts of talent and athleticism, which is part of the package that had Northland University drooling in anticipation of his eventual commitment.  When his jumper is falling he is nearly impossible to stop — he is among the most aggressive players on the court, and he is fully capable of carrying a team on his back.

The issue, at least at this point in Lyle’s career, is that when his jumper is not falling (as it wasn’t in the district semifinals against Ottawa Hills) it effects every other aspect of his game.

Regardless, in looking ahead to next year, there are very few players who have a skill-set equal to Lyle.  And once he learns to maintain his aggressiveness, whether he’s making shots or not, he will be a very dangerous player at the college level.

Willie Duke (Ottawa Hills)  -  Antonio McDyess

They say it doesn’t matter as much who starts the game, as it does who finishes it.  Ottawa Hills senior forward Willie Duke hasn’t started every game for the surprising Bengals, but he has certainly made a habit of finishing them.

In the same role that Antonio McDyess fills for the Detroit Pistons, Duke’s job is to come in as the first man off the bench and simply make things happen.  Never mind that he leads his team in scoring at just under 10 points per game, Duke’s value to Ottawa Hills extends way, way beyond scoring.

He’s an absolute monster on the glass.  Standing at a relatively small 6′2″, Duke’s freakish athleticism allows him to jump above much taller opponents to grab rebounds, which he does on a regular basis.  He’s also strong enough to battle with bigger post players in the paint, utilizing leverage and veteran guile to get better position down low.

Duke is also a lockdown defender, as he demonstrated in containing Wayland’s Alex Lyle to a mere 12 points on 4/17 shooting in the district semifinals — holding Lyle scoreless in the fourth quarter.  His combination of size, strength and speed equips him to effectively guard any position on the court.

If Duke has an Achilles’ heel, it is his inconsistency.  Going against the best in the area, Duke regularly plays with his intensity dialed up to 11, but against weaker opponents he can fall victim to overconfidence.  Since the effect he has on the game is predicated entirely on his non-stop motor, if he puts forth anything but his best effort he can be easily neutralized.

Like McDyess, Duke’s contributions go largely unnoticed by many casual observers.  But, like McDyess, Duke’s contributions can easily be the difference between a win and a loss against any opponent.

Think another player would be a better comparison?  Email your Straight to the Pros comparison of any player in West Michigan and his NBA equivalent to ryan.h.vaughn@gmail.com.  It may be your article we choose to be published in an upcoming Straight to the Pros on WestMichiganAllStar.com!