Shooting results from the NBA Draft Combine have been published by the wonderful fellows over at NBADraft.net and, well, it is rather difficult to say how much stock should be put into the numbers.
Still, I'm going to give it a shot anyway because it's Monday and I'm working on a new mock draft for tomorrow.
The results published consist of college three-pointers, NBA three-pointers, mid-range off-the-dribble (all untimed) and then three different sets of timed mid-range jumpers (right elbow to baseline, left elbow to baseline and elbow to elbow).
I'm not going to look at the college three-point attempts simply because, in my opinion, there isn't any reason to shoot the college three-pointer - either back up a couple steps or take it to the rack, champ.
Even though it was a set shot without any defense, the NBA three-point attempts tell the same story everyone already knew going into the combine.
- Jordan Crawford has range! After watching him come up clutch for Xavier in this year's NCAA Tournament, most people knew Crawford could shoot the lights out when it mattered. NBA GM's saw that skill in action again at the Combine as Crawford hit 20 of his 25 NBA three-point attempts to finish at the top of the class.
- Andy Rautins has one very good NBA transferable skill - shooting. (yet he was still invited over a guy like Latavious Williams, a player that hardly anyone had ever seen play live, apparently) Rautins made 19 of his 25 attempts from beyond the arc.
- Luke Babbitt might deserve the hype. Babbitt shot just as well as Rautins in hitting 19 of his 25 attempts. A tough shooting combine could have hurt his stock as most of the decision makers weren't watching him all season and leaving here with a sour taste in their mouth would have more than likely stewed for the next month.
- James Anderson, college three-point shooting extraordinaire? Yes. NBA? Maybe not. Anderson hit just nine of his 25 attempts from NBA distance at the Combine. Actually, he didn't fare much better from the college line - just 13 of 25 - so I'm guessing it might have just been an off day for the career 38% shooter from distance in college. That, or he's worse without defense (though his NCAA Tournament collapse would suggest otherwise - What up, Iman Shumpert?!).
- Lance Stephenson is a scorer, not a shooter. I haven't been particularly keen on Stephenson for a long while (maybe it's because he should have went to the D-League but didn't), but the guy didn't help his stock with his performance in Chicago as he made just nine of his 25 attempts.
- Devin Ebanks and Charles Garcia are who we thought they were. What'd we think they were, you ask? Not three-point shooters. I'm not sure why they took part in this drill (I assume it was optional), but they did - and didn't impress. Ebanks and Garcia each made just eight of their 25 attempts,
The timed shooting drills are something I like to put a little more stock into simply because guys aren't just standing around shooting, but rather doing something basketball related and then shooting.
- Is Babbitt as athletic as we think (or were told by his athletic measurements, rather) he is? Babbitt shot fine (31-of-41), but also had one of the lowest total attempts in the drill. Maybe he was living with the mantra slow and steady wins this race, or maybe he's just slow when it comes to functional athleticism. We'll never know, probably.
- Paul George didn't help himself. George hit just 23 of his 41 attempts which is pretty bad. I guess it still ranks better than his 42% field goal percentage he had at Fresno State last season, but for a guy that seems to be everyone's sleeper he sure didn't do much to justify that if they want to talk about his low shooting percentages being just due to shot selection.
- Lazar Hayward did his thing. Well, actually it probably isn't 'his thing' since the Marquette senior shot just 43% from the field last season. Hayward got the most attempts up (52) and hit a reasonable 37 of them. While the shooting percentage probably didn't blow anyone away, it at least proves he has the terrific motor he's touted to carry with him and isn't as bad at putting the ball in the hole as percentages suggest.
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Mikhail Torrance is a guy we might want to keep an eye on. He did well at the Portsmouth Invitational and seems to have done the best in the functional mid-range drill as he hit 39 of his 42 attempts. I probably don't need to tell you this, but that's awesome - and he can play the point.
- Willie Warren is still intriguing. He did very well in this drill (36-of-46) and is more than likely doing well in his individual workouts as well. If he had a time machine to go back a year, he more than likely would. Luckily, if he's performing as well as he did in this drill, he'll probably end up on a better team and thus have less of a chance to flop in the NBA (or fight with his coach).
Last, but not least, remember our veterans today.
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