NBA Comparison: Jose Juan Barea

Strengths: A fearless point guard who can beat you with the pass or shot … Extremely quick first step … Has the extra gear to turn the corner or change direction even against top level defenders … Has superior ball handling and a variety of moves off the dribble … His wiry strength and aggressive approach allow him to make plays in the driving lanes against much bigger defenders … Creative finisher around the basket, uses angles and his soft touch to convert … Uses a nice floater and teardrop to make shots before the defense rotates … Extremely efficient shooter (he has had tremendous shooting percentages in all three categories the last two seasons) … Has terrific range and is comfortable stepping out to the NBA three … His release is extremely quick and he is able to make difficult shots under duress … Very dangerous attacking in transition where his quickness, savvy handle and ability to shoot off the dribble make him a very tough guy to stop … Great pick&roll player – keeps his dribble alive, makes good reads and attacks the openings …  Looks to make plays for his teammates … Has solid court vision and can deliver precise passes …

Weaknesses: Lacks the prototypical PG size which hurts him significantly against bigger opponents … His height makes it difficult for him to finish at the basket, especially against the helpside defense … He is a hard working and tough defender, but with his size he will be undersized on a nightly basis … His light frame makes it difficult for him to keep more physical guards out of the lane (as they can body him all the way to the hoop) … For such a quick player, he surprisingly doesn’t have elite level open court speed (his short strides don’t allow him to cover a lot of ground when going full speed) … Has a tendency to take shots early in the shot clock and out of the offense too often … Can become to scoring oriented at times … Over penetrates and gets in trouble by attacking into traffic, forcing him to make tough plays which usually lead to turnovers …

Borko Popic – 04/12/2010

Borko Popic is a lead scout/contributor to NBADraft.net. Please check out his premium website / scouting service hooprospects.com, an essential tool for Pro teams from around the world.

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