JUCO 1st team All American guard Daryl Macon committed to the Hogs today, so I thought I'd give my analysis from the game footage and stats I've seen ...
* Basketball IQ, court awareness and confidence are very impressive, and not surprising given his Parkview / Flanagan pedigree. This guy is not a plus-athlete, but he plays the game the right way. At 6-foot-3, he's a shooting guard with decent enough handles to slide over to PG in a pinch. He's not going to blow by anyone, or jump over them either, but he's going to play smart at both ends, and he creates his offense without the ball as well as anyone I've seen at his age ...
* Scoring ... this is the guy's strength. His scoring (23 points per game) was 6th nationally in juco last year, but when you watch him on film, he gets his offense much like Scotty Thurman did -- by moving smartly with AND without the ball, then having a willing/confident/consistent trigger off the catch or bounce. I'm not saying he shoots with the same form or confidence as Scotty, and he's 2 inches shorter, but there are similarities in how they don't seem to get in a hurry while burying you in a hurry. When I watch him on film, he's not running from baseline to baseline, or circling out to the wings like Rotnei and Bell seem to be constantly doing trying to get free. No, he cleverly lulls a defender to sleep while ball-watching, then he creates a nice passing lane/angle for himself by timing when and choosing where to offset behind the 3-point line, then catches-and-shoots with feet set and shoulders square. And, like Scotty, he knows how to run to the soft spots in the mid-range against a zone or a defender's blind side, then does not hesitate to go up with feet and shoulders square off the catch. Scotty did similar, subtle things all the time with footwork and timing to create open looks for himself before he ever got the ball, and I see the same instincts when I watch Macon. In an age where so much offense is created by guys off the bounce, it's nice to see guys who can work the defense off the ball to be ready to squeeze it off the catch.
* Shooting efficiency ... goes hand-in-hand with the "scoring" summary above, because this guy does not force shots, and when he takes them, he looks like he's been doing it the same way every time his whole life. Explains why he shot 88.5% on FTs (4th nationally in juco), but he did that making 230 of 260 attempts, which was 2nd nationally in attempts. That's 8-plus attempts per game, which tells you he's active and not just a perimeter shooter. Almost half his shots are 3s, but his overall FG% was solid at 46.5%, as was his 3-point shooting at 37%. When I watch him, I see a smooth operator, not a guy forcing too much to get his.
* Overall game ... again, this guy is not going to wow you all over the floor, but I bring up the Scotty comparison again, because Thurman was sneaky good at stuffing a stat sheet without you really noticing it. Macon averaged 4.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.1 steals. He's deceptively active, because he does not force the issue at either end, yet the production is there -- has great anticipation while letting the game come to him. When I watch him on film, he gets to the right spots without a ton of effort -- it's not lack of hustle, he just doesn't exert unnecessary movement -- and that says a lot to me in terms of his court/situation awareness and Bball IQ.
* Weaknesses ... his movement will need to be more proactive/faster for the next level . At 6-3, he's going to have it tough shooting over some of the perimeter players in the SEC, who are going to be bigger, longer, and more athletic than what he has seen in juco, and they will close out on his shots like he has not seen consistently, so he's going to have to be a little more in a hurry when he moves off the ball to beat defenders to his preferred shooting spots. Handles could be tighter/stronger for the step up in competition. Tracks his man well defensively, but sometimes is slow rotating in help situations.
* Value / fit with the Hogs: No way to see this guy as anything less than a 4-star recruit. 1st-team juco AA as a freshman (one of only two in the nation to nab that honor), and a guy when you watch him on film seems to be playing on a higher level than the jucos out on the floor with him. Stats are one thing, but it's easy to see his Bball IQ, court awareness, and confidence bubble to the top against the competition. This guy is a nice fit for a backcourt that seems to be getting better and better with each class under MA. Pair him with Beard and Whitt, and you've really got something. A guy like Jalen Fisher (keeping my fingers crossed) probably makes him even better because of the work he does off the ball, and you know Fisher would recognize that and feed him at the right times/places to facilitate his shooting/scoring. This is an important piece to the puzzle, could be a big-time get, IMO, with the right facilitator in place to complement him.
* Basketball IQ, court awareness and confidence are very impressive, and not surprising given his Parkview / Flanagan pedigree. This guy is not a plus-athlete, but he plays the game the right way. At 6-foot-3, he's a shooting guard with decent enough handles to slide over to PG in a pinch. He's not going to blow by anyone, or jump over them either, but he's going to play smart at both ends, and he creates his offense without the ball as well as anyone I've seen at his age ...
* Scoring ... this is the guy's strength. His scoring (23 points per game) was 6th nationally in juco last year, but when you watch him on film, he gets his offense much like Scotty Thurman did -- by moving smartly with AND without the ball, then having a willing/confident/consistent trigger off the catch or bounce. I'm not saying he shoots with the same form or confidence as Scotty, and he's 2 inches shorter, but there are similarities in how they don't seem to get in a hurry while burying you in a hurry. When I watch him on film, he's not running from baseline to baseline, or circling out to the wings like Rotnei and Bell seem to be constantly doing trying to get free. No, he cleverly lulls a defender to sleep while ball-watching, then he creates a nice passing lane/angle for himself by timing when and choosing where to offset behind the 3-point line, then catches-and-shoots with feet set and shoulders square. And, like Scotty, he knows how to run to the soft spots in the mid-range against a zone or a defender's blind side, then does not hesitate to go up with feet and shoulders square off the catch. Scotty did similar, subtle things all the time with footwork and timing to create open looks for himself before he ever got the ball, and I see the same instincts when I watch Macon. In an age where so much offense is created by guys off the bounce, it's nice to see guys who can work the defense off the ball to be ready to squeeze it off the catch.
* Shooting efficiency ... goes hand-in-hand with the "scoring" summary above, because this guy does not force shots, and when he takes them, he looks like he's been doing it the same way every time his whole life. Explains why he shot 88.5% on FTs (4th nationally in juco), but he did that making 230 of 260 attempts, which was 2nd nationally in attempts. That's 8-plus attempts per game, which tells you he's active and not just a perimeter shooter. Almost half his shots are 3s, but his overall FG% was solid at 46.5%, as was his 3-point shooting at 37%. When I watch him, I see a smooth operator, not a guy forcing too much to get his.
* Overall game ... again, this guy is not going to wow you all over the floor, but I bring up the Scotty comparison again, because Thurman was sneaky good at stuffing a stat sheet without you really noticing it. Macon averaged 4.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.1 steals. He's deceptively active, because he does not force the issue at either end, yet the production is there -- has great anticipation while letting the game come to him. When I watch him on film, he gets to the right spots without a ton of effort -- it's not lack of hustle, he just doesn't exert unnecessary movement -- and that says a lot to me in terms of his court/situation awareness and Bball IQ.
* Weaknesses ... his movement will need to be more proactive/faster for the next level . At 6-3, he's going to have it tough shooting over some of the perimeter players in the SEC, who are going to be bigger, longer, and more athletic than what he has seen in juco, and they will close out on his shots like he has not seen consistently, so he's going to have to be a little more in a hurry when he moves off the ball to beat defenders to his preferred shooting spots. Handles could be tighter/stronger for the step up in competition. Tracks his man well defensively, but sometimes is slow rotating in help situations.
* Value / fit with the Hogs: No way to see this guy as anything less than a 4-star recruit. 1st-team juco AA as a freshman (one of only two in the nation to nab that honor), and a guy when you watch him on film seems to be playing on a higher level than the jucos out on the floor with him. Stats are one thing, but it's easy to see his Bball IQ, court awareness, and confidence bubble to the top against the competition. This guy is a nice fit for a backcourt that seems to be getting better and better with each class under MA. Pair him with Beard and Whitt, and you've really got something. A guy like Jalen Fisher (keeping my fingers crossed) probably makes him even better because of the work he does off the ball, and you know Fisher would recognize that and feed him at the right times/places to facilitate his shooting/scoring. This is an important piece to the puzzle, could be a big-time get, IMO, with the right facilitator in place to complement him.
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