McDonald's AA Game: Game night prediction six-pack

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ATLANTA – High school basketball's most prestigious event is here as the East and West will square off in Atlanta's Phillips Arena on Wednesday night for the 2018 McDonald's All-American Game.

National Analyst and McDonald's All-American Game selection committee member Eric Bossi has been in attendance for all three practice sessions plus a closed scrimmage, and offers up a six-pack of game predictions.

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He might not be ranked No. 1, but when it comes to fan interest, nobody tops Duke-bound forward Zion Williamson.

A powerful high flyer who is unlike nearly anybody that I have seen, Williamson is a freakish and crowd-pleasing athlete who always seems to send his fans home smiling. Given this is the McDonald's Game with a big crowd and national television audience, I fully expect him to do something crazy in the open floor.

Between the legs dunk, 360 windmill – really anything is possible for the slam dunk champ. It's simply a matter of which trick he decides to pull out of his arsenal on a breakaway.

Each year it seems as if there is an unexpected duel that materializes. If the matchups work out, I can see the West's Devon Dotson and the East's Darius Garland waging an entertaining point guard battle.

Both the Kansas-bound Dotson and Vanderbilt-bound Garland ooze with confidence and there's something else that factors in. Both have been reading and hearing about how the West's Tre Jones is the best point guard in the class and they are going to want to show that they belong in the mix.

For most of the week, the nation's two highest-ranked players and future Duke teammates R.J. Barrett and Cameron Reddish have been pretty quiet. I'm expecting that to change once the bright lights are on.

The pride of Canada, Barrett has always been a gamer and I know too much about his competitive spirit to think he's going to bring anything other than his very best effort. Because he's on the East and Reddish is on the West, I know that Barrett will go right after Reddish and I'm betting that Reddish responds big himself.

Future teammates battling for the top spot in the 2018 class and high school basketball's biggest stage, they've got to come up big, right?

With each passing day of the week, the nation's top unsigned player, Romeo Langford, has been getting a little better and a little more comfortable.

If it plays out like I feel it should, the practices and scrimmage have been nothing but a lead up to a game night explosion.

Down to Indiana, Kansas and Vanderbilt, look for Langford to go off for 20 points or more and to showcase his effortlessly explosive wing game to the viewing audience. If it's not Langford, my second pick for East MVP heading into the game would be R.J. Barrett.

In contrast to the East practices, the West didn't really do a ton of scrimmaging. But when it did, Nassir Little established himself as an Alpha Dog who can fire away from deep or play well above the rim in traffic.

Because of his ability to flourish inside and out, the expected up-and-down pace of the game and his aggressive nature, I'm looking for the future North Carolina stud to possibly lead the West in both scoring and rebounding while taking his team's MVP honors. If not Little, then don't be surprised if Kentucky-bound scorer Keldon Johnson comes up big enough in the scoring column to take MVP honors for the West.

All week, the East team has looked like the stronger group and they beat the West in Tuesday's closed – yet nationally televised – scrimmage on the floor of Phillips Arena. The East practices have been more lively and it may have a few more weapons.

The biggest difference is in the frontcourt where the West could be facing a serious size deficit. Neither 7-footer Bol Bol or 6-foot-10 Simisola Shittu is expected to play on Wednesday night and that leaves the West squad at a serious disadvantage. With 7-footer Moses Brown, tough Nazreon Reid, face-up ace E.J. Montgomery, strong man David McCormack and mobile Jalen Smith, the East has five players listed at 6-foot-10 or bigger in comparison to just Jordan Brown on the West side.

I'm expecting that size difference in the paint along with the presence of Zion Williamson to allow the East to pound the West on the glass. In a game that doesn't feature a bunch of shooters to open the floor, that's a big problem.

Don't be surprised if the West tries to turn it into a track meet to compensate for the size but I'm taking the East, 114-104.