Strengths: Versatile guard with a lot of moxie … Steps up his level of play in big games and wants to take the big shot … Has a very good midrange game using runners and ball fakes and has solid touch on his shot … Excellent off the dribble creating shots for himself or others. A very good ball handler. … Very crafty around the basket … Spent time playing point guard in high school and early in his college career … He handles the ball very well for a 2-guard … Also has solid vision and passing skills … A decent athlete with good leaping ability but nothing extraordinary … Good quickness. Runs the floor well … Solid defender who doesn’t gamble much for steals and stays in front of his man, using his long arms to limit open looks … Shows solid toughness to play through pain when injured … Smart player who shows good leadership ability …

Weaknesses: Very weak physically. There’s a lot of question marks about whether he can successfully add weight to his frame. (There’s a reason some guys wear t-shirts under their jerseys) … He appears to be one of those types who was meant to be skinny and added weight could limit his mobility to some degree (Richard Hamilton has made it work, but Rip is on another level athleticially) … His lack of bodystrength hurts his ability to absorb contact and fully utilize his athletic ability … Stronger players are able to knock him off balance and push him around … He’s not a great outside shooter, despite shooting at a high percentage halfway through his junior year (20/40) from three, he takes a low volume of shots and gets a lot of open looks thanks to playing with one of the top point guards in college (Derrick Rose) … His a/to ratio has fallen off (1.5/2.3) since he has focused more attention on scoring … Needs to do a better job of protecting the ball on drives and make better decisions passing the ball …