Jalen Williams Is The Steal Of The 2022 Draft | 18 PPG 51.3 FG% 39.6 3P% & 4.2 APG
31.8 هزار بار بازدید -
20 ساعت پیش
-
Pre-Draft Analysis
January 26, 2022:
Pre-Draft Analysis
January 26, 2022: (Stock Watch) -- Williams made a strong impression on the 40-plus scouts and handful of NBA decision makers gathered in Las Vegas for the West Coast Conference tournament on Monday night as the junior capped off his breakout season with 15 points and six assists in a narrow loss to Saint Mary's, making several NBA reads in the process. At 6-6 with a 7-0 wingspan, an NBA frame, ball skills, passing feel, a projectable shooting stroke and defensive potential, Williams is the type of prospect who could surely improve his stock throughout the pre-draft process should he opt to enter.
Williams is a late bloomer in the truest sense of the term. The Phoenix native stood no taller than 5-11 his junior year of high school before ultimately sprouting to 6-3, 180 pounds as a senior, eventually signing with Santa Clara as the Broncos staff coveted his feel, skill level and physical upside as a combo guard. He shot up to 6-5 and functioned as an energy athlete on the wing during his freshman season, eventually catching our eye at the WCC tournament in 2020 while looking like a potential three-and-done prospect given his combination of defense, passing feel, and shooting potential.
Two years later and Williams just put a bow on one of the more complete college basketball seasons finishing the year averaging 18.0 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 4.1 assists while shooting 56% from 2 and 41% from 3. For reference, no other player in the country reached those marks with at least that level of efficiency. Now with wing tools at his disposal, Williams has tapped back into the handle, passing feel and skill that he honed as an undersized guard at Perry High School in Arizona. Among players to use at least 300 pick-and-roll possessions both as a scorer and passer, Williams generated the second-most efficient offense in the country. With guards fighting over screens because of the threat of his pull-up 3, Williams is excellent at putting his defender in jail, toying with the dropping big defender before either pulling up for a floater, bouncing out for a mid-range jumper, or hitting the big in stride. He's proven more than capable of hitting the roller off a live dribble from all different angles, a skill that should come to light even more with NBA talent around him.
Williams isn't overly quick or shifty with the ball, and he can be a bit too finesse at times, relying on touch shots rather than striding it out to the rim. He's also had stretches during the season where he's simply not aggressive enough, blending in too often. Defensively, he's regularly taken on the challenge of slowing opposing WCC guards, using his length and smarts to keep the ball in front, contest jumpers, and blow-up handoffs. With that said, he's very ball-oriented in those situations, and isn't nearly the rebounder or off-ball playmaker he could be. Sitting next to Santa Clara's bench in Vegas, you could overhear coach Herb Sendek shout, "Hey Jalen, you've gotta guard. No excuses."
But even if he gets hit on too many screens and has his occasional lapses, the footwork, strength, length and ticker are there to be a plus on that end of the floor while functioning as a spot shooter and secondary ball handler offensively. As we're seeing with Chicago Bulls rookie Ayo Dosunmu -- an excellent prototype for Williams to follow -- there's clear value in long-armed perimeter players who can hold their own defensively, make heady pick-and-roll reads, and make enough spot 3s to keep the defense honest. Although he was more of a sharpshooter than Williams in college, Shake Milton is another player who comes to mind when projecting the Santa Clara star, as neither is overly dynamic with the ball yet both are big, long and skilled enough to add value on and off the ball. With most NBA decision makers are just now familiarizing themselves with Williams, he's far from a lock in 2022, and there's certainly another jump for him to make should he return for his senior season. Yet, a strong pre-draft process and a stellar combine performance against the type of high-major defenders he doesn't face in the WCC could help vault him into the first-round conversation. -- Mike Schmitz
Follow Us On Insta📷 : tinyurl.com/ens47x34
Business Inquiries☎️ : [email protected]
20 ساعت پیش
در تاریخ 1403/07/16 منتشر شده
است.
31,884
بـار بازدید شده