Dribbling and shooting a basketball are not just the stuff of And1 videos. It is the foundation on which every basketball player's game is built. Show us a girl who cannot dribble or shoot a ball, and we're seeing a player who spends most of her time on a court hiding.

And, if you're hiding, you're certainly not open to building your game. Dribbling and shooting is the stuff of confidence - and therefore also the stuff of championships.

HANDLES

1. Samantha Prahalis
2. Krystall Parnell
3. China Crosby
4. D'Frantz Smart
5. April Sykes
6. Nikki Speed
7. Odyssey Sims
8. Michelle Kurowski

New York City is the center of the crazy-handled ballers of the summer. The first name that will come to mind is the oft-discussed, covered and commented Samantha "paralysis" Prahalis. Her highlight reel breakdown moves draw all the oohs and ahhs the common fan just yearns for. She's got change of direction, change of pace, machine-gun funk, skipping hopping hip hoppedness, shoulder shifting swagger - all the things that earned her a spot on the entertainers list. Her abilities dribbling a basketball and even passing it seem endless. Prahalis will hit the defender with some inside-out "v" dribbles with a rat-tat-tat-tat that freezes their feet like the sound of unexpected gun fire, then while their feet are stuck to the hardwood she'll shift her shoulders and almost pause in front of them until their feet just begin to work again so she can cross them up, reminding them that this is her world and she's kind enough to let you be a part of her show. All the flash disguises the fact that Prahalis is very skilled. She executes a lot of difficult and basic moves with precision and uses her handle to get to spots on the floor to open up passing lanes or create better angles or get into the seams for scoring opportunites.

Krystall Parnell

And do not let Prahalis' abilities take away from her club team backcourt mate and fellow New Yorker, Krystal Parnell, whose compact and explosive handles have plenty of flare. The drawback would be her speed which often makes it a blur to the naked eye and the great ball control and change of direction are overlooked. Another New Yorker, China Crosby brings that super shiftiness in her game and when she's got the ball in her hands and is determined to get something done she can get there. She has striking similarities with the ball to 2007 stand out Italee Lucas the way she commands the ball and attacks. She may just come at you with three consecutive crossovers and then fire right by you. She is also skilled at using her shiftiness to create space against a defender trying to pressure her into doing something she doesn't necessarily want to do.

Then there's D'Frantz Smart from Chicago, who is not only the best 5-1 point guard in the country, but she handles the ball at speed on the break as well as anyone. Most players can't move as fast as Smart let alone stay on balance while trying to handle basketball but she make it look easy. She can cross over in an instant at open throttle. Yes she is one of the shorter players out there but she takes advantage of it by keeping the ball extremely low and because she is confident in her handle and knows she's protecting it her eyes are always up court.

April Sykes of Crawford, Miss., is not overlooked, but her ballhandling is. Being a good ballhandler isn't always about ankle-breaking crossovers, but controlling the basketball, having the ability to get the ball where you want it on the court, and keeping control under extreme pressure. Where some players do it with quickness, Sykes does it by protecting the ball with her body and keeping it low. At 5-11 she has an extremely low crossover; she does a great job of transferring the ball as low as possible, over the shoe tops, and keeping her legs bent to explode out of it. She also has a great inside-out dribble and is capable of dissecting full-court pressure because of her great handles.

Nikki Speed as a lot of speed in her game but her ability to create scoring opportunities and break people down starts with her ball handling. One of her most impressive attributes is that she knows how to threaten the defender with each dribble move she makes. She uses the ball and her footwork to force the defender to open up and from there she's in control. She has a dynamite go-to move with a kick-out dribble into a lightning quick crossover. She also goes to a spin move in traffic. Another ballhandling gem.

Just a 2010 point guard, Odyssey Sims stays low to the ground, turns the corner with authority off picks and has just sick change-of-speed moves. Appropriately, we end this category with another New Yorker, as well as Long Islander, Michelle Kurowski of Hicksville. She can handle and finish with either hand and was one of the top clutch perfomers on the club circuit. Kurowski led the Long Island Lightning to the title game of the Blue Chip USA Invitational, as well as the biggest upset of the summer, over Boo Williams on July 11.

1. Candace Wood
2. Brittany Rayburn
3. Caroline Doty
4. Kristi Kingma
5. Lindy LaRoque
6. Alicia Manning
7. Katie Rutan
8. Janine Aldrige

She's been coined Miss Clutch this summer already, but when you think of Candace Wood, the first thing that comes to mind is that sweet shooting stroke. At 5-11, and with a longer wing span, the North Carolina commit has a smooth and high release and she gets her shot off very quickly. She can rattle off five or six in a row. She has the hot streak in her that makes her not only a great shooter but a game changer because of it. Another one of the summer's big-time shooters who can fill it up in bunches was Purdue-bound Brittany Rayburn who battled the altitude in Colorado Springs, found her stroke and spurred some big runs for her USA Basketball Youth Developmental Festival team. Much like Wood, she knows she can impact a game and prepares for her shot long before the pass gets there. She's also one of the best at coming off screens and getting rid of it quickly.

Caroline Doty is another of the summer's top shooters and she has the full package of mid-range and long-range shooting and she can shoot it off the dribble or catch and shoot. Doty is a great athlete to boot which allows her to shoot more of a true jump shot than most others. She'll knock down a few threes on you and then use it against you the next two possession by showing you the ball with a nice shot fake and going by you for a mid-range pull-up. She comes off screens well too and doesn't get fixated on the three point arc either, she has one of the best mid range shots around. Speaking of mid-range pull-ups there is none prettier than Kristi Kingma's. Off the bounce she is one of the top shooters around. She also has range to three point range but she makes our list here for that picture perfect pull-up that she can execute from all angles from baseline to the wing angles and from the top.

Seeing Stanford-bound Lindy LaRocque pull from 30 feet out is not uncommon. She can make those shots and she knows it changes the game. That's because it forces the defense to close out on her so far from the basket, it opens up things for everyone else. Of this group she probably has the most unorthodox shooting form but the old adage of "if it ain't broke don't fix it" applies here. Alicia Manning, who is headed to Tennessee, can hit the pull-up, 16-foot jumper going left and right (it is not often that you see girls hit the pull-up J going right). A great athlete, Manning also has shown a love for the baseline corner.

All sniper Katie Rutan of the Philly Belles needs is just a few inches of space and she can nail the trey from 20 to 23 feet. She shoots so well, if she missed a shot you were surprised. Janine Aldridge, who is committed to William and Mary, can hit from hit from three-point land with consistency, coming off of screen and rolls, and she can stick 15-footers, curling off a baseline screen.

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