NBA Comparison: Brandon Jennings

Strengths: Flashy point with explosiveness and confidence … A capable defender with decent size for the position … Capable of rotating and fighting through screens … Has the quickness to guard NBA point guards … Can disrupt passing lanes and force turnovers (1.0 steals per game.) Doesn’t overreach … Good rebounder for a lead guard. Not afraid to crash the offensive boards and absorb some contact … Does a good job rebounding, especially on defense (3.4 defensive rebounds per game) … Very good at pushing the ball in transition … Uses his quickness effectively to shake defenders and get to the rim … Good shooter with NBA range … Has a fluid motion and a confident stroke … Plays a fearless brand of basketball. Not afraid to take high pressure shots with a hand in his face (37.4% from 3-point range and 73.8% from the foul line) … Very comfortable shooting off the dribble … Can get hot and catch fire quickly …

Weaknesses: While he has all the pieces to be a good defender, his alertness on defense could improve … He sometimes has the tendency to lose his man at times … Should look to get stronger in order to handle contact and finish drives, better utilize his leaping ability … Ball handling is solid, but it needs to improve for the NBA level as he tends to get sloppy and careless … Ball sometimes slips out of his hands when he is attacking the rim … His handle needs to tighten and passing and decision making must improve (1.8 turnovers per game). His distributing and focus on getting teammates open looks needs to improve (2.6 assists per game) … Sometimes he is a bit too eager to shoot before exploring all of his options … Has a tendency to get tunnel vision sometimes … Could stand to improve upon his floater in the lane …

In his own words:  Jaylen Hands talked about his strengths and weaknesses at Pac-12 media day.

“My strength is speed. Transition, I’m really good. I get teammates involved. I shoot it off the dribble, off the catch and I can get in the paint. So just making up plays happen, I think I’m a really good playmaker. And this year I’ll take a step forward in the process of really showing that as well.” –On his strengths

“I watched a lot of film and things that I’ve seen for me is decision making. I wasn’t as good of a decision maker as I could be last year. Strength and shooting. The NBA game is really simple and fast and is a lot of good decision making, so I watched a lot of film to improve my assist-to-turnover ratio. I improved my shot. Just moving off the dribble. More catch and shoots because that’s more helps team do better. So probably strength, shooting, and decision making is my biggest points.”-On areas for growth

Notes: Measured 6’0.25 without shoes, 6’1.25 with shoes, 157 lbs, with a 6’3.5 wingspan and 8’1 standing reach at the 2014 USA Junior National Team Mini Camp … Participated at the 2016 adidas Eurocamp for Team USA, where he had the dunk of the camp …

Ben Parker 11/12/18

Strengths: 6’2 athletic point guard … Good quickness and speed burst. Changes and plays well at different speeds. Effectively uses hesitations … Plays with good energy and activity. Gives his best effort each game … Solid explosive ability, can play above the rim. Good body control, hangs in the air and instinctively reacts to the defense. Quick first step … Plays with unshakable confidence … Fearless driver. Will consistently attack the rim and challenge any defender. Draws a lot of fouls … Good touch on floater … Creates space fairly easily. Only needs a small opening to get by the defense. Drives well going to either his right or left … Good ballhandling ability, can break down the defense and get to the rim off the dribble. Sells crossover well. Plays well in isolation and can control his defender with his dribble. Splits double teams and avoids traps … Good quickness and activity as a perimeter defender … Good court vision. Leads in transition …

Weaknesses: Although he can see the floor well, he’s more of a scoring point guard than a traditional floor general … Doesn’t have great size or physical profile at 6’2 with a 6’4 wingspan and 8’2 standing reach … Right now, he’s a bit light around 175 pounds. Handling contact with his playing style will be an adjustment in college … Takes a lot of contested jump shots. Very poor three-point shooter and isn’t the ideal perimeter threat yet. Only made one three-pointer over six games at adidas Nations. Free throw shooting can improve … Forces offense at times. Can be turnover prone trying to do too much … Plays with passion and energy but wears his emotions a bit …

Outlook: UCLA freshman and is a big piece to their talented recruiting class … McDonald’s All-American … Earned MVP of the championship game at adidas Nations scoring 18 points in 16 minutes while shooting 70% …

Evan Tomes 8/4/17