Malik Monk (5) dribbles the ball against Mac Irvin Fire guard Luwane Pipkins (3) during The 8 tournament final at Rancho High School in Las Vegas. (Photo: Stephen Sylvanie).
In Las Vegas, where Rebels run and spirits float free, Malik Monk made himself at home. He ran wild, scoring inside and outside and every which way, and his Arkansas Wings revved and rolled to a title in The 8 tournament.
On Saturday night, Monk scored 34 points, Jayson Tatum added 13 and Tyrik Dixon had 12 to lead the Wings past Mac Irvin Fire 84-78 at Rancho High School. The game capped a three-day tournament for an eight-team U-17 field in The 8, part of the Las Vegas Classic, an AAU event. The Wings thrived on speed, running out in transition and creating fast break baskets.
Miles Bridges scored 33 and Charles Moore added 22 for the Fire in the loss.
Monk, a 6-foot-3 shooting guard from Bentonville, Ark., mixed six three-pointers, including three in the first half, with several thunderous dunks for a dazzling display. He even made one of the game’s best defensive plays, running the court end to end to slap away the ball from the Fire’s Jamal Burton and extinguish a breakaway.
Monk and Tatum combined for a crowd-awing, bound-for-YouTube moment late in the second half. Tatum grabbed an outlet pass and whipped the ball behind his back to Monk, who stuffed it home.
Monk, who’ll graduate from high school in 2016 and ranks No. 5 in his class according to ESPN, said his outside shooting spurred offensive opportunities.
“My shot was falling and that opened things up for my teammates,” said Monk. “We got out in transition and it opened things up for my teammates and they started knocking down shots.”
Although the gym was half full of college coaches, Monk said he felt no extra performance anxiety. He said his favorite play of the game wasn’t anything he’d done, but a dunk by teammate Payton Willis.
“There is no pressure,” said Monk, who has been recruited by Kentucky, Indiana, Florida and his home-state school, Arkansas, among others. “I’m playing basketball. I play every game the same.”
Tatum, a 6-foot-8 small forward from St. Louis who committed to Duke on July 12, said he and Monk complement each other well. In Friday’s game, he said, his shots were falling, which helped lift the team with Monk in foul trouble. On Saturday, the scenario was reversed; Tatum was in foul trouble and Monk was hitting shots.
“Malik is definitely excellent; we play off each other,” Tatum said. “But this team is stocked with great athletes. We played well and got the job done.”
Wings Elite player Malik Monk (5) takes a jump shot during The 8 tournament final against Mac Irvin Fire at Rancho High School in Las Vegas. (Photo: Stephen Sylvanie).
Carlos Lambert, a Wings coach, said his team wanted to improve from its performance in the Nike EYBL Peach Jam tournament earlier this month in Augusta, Ga., where they finished 3-2 and missed the quarterfinals.
“We wanted to advance the ball quickly and get quick buckets,” he said. “We didn’t want to box our players in, we didn’t want to make them a handful of robots, we wanted them to play free.”
Lambert said Monk and Tatum form an elite core that elevates teammates.
“Those two great players help give other players great looks (at the basket),” he said. “They open the whole floor. When we get out in transition like that and we’re knocking our shots down, I don’t think there’s anyone in the country that can play us.”
The Fire’s Bridges, a 6-foot-7 small forward from Flint, Mich., whose college suitors include Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina and Michigan, said the Wings’ threes made the difference and that Monk was formidable.
“He can shoot, he’s athletic, he can dribble,” Bridges said of Monk. “He’s hard to guard.”
With the trophy in hand and the tournament won, Monk said he planned to bask in some neon.
“In Vegas there’s always something to do after the game,” he said. “I think we’re going to go see the Strip.”