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Authored by Christopher Reina - 5th June, 2008 - 1:57 pm
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With Kevin Durant off to Seattle, the 07-08 Texas Longhorns were decidedly D.J. Augustin’s team (even though he was co-MVP as a freshman with Durant). They were an interestingly constructed team that received improved play from A.J. Abrams and Damion James with Augustin the do-everything ringleader.
Augustin is preposterously quick and nimble with the dribble, maintaining it effectively to create shots for himself and teammates with his gunslinger mentality. He constantly makes something out of nothing, especially on broken plays. It was evidenced as much as ever when he threw a buzzer beater alley-oop to Damion James to beat UCLA in Westwood early in the season.
In the structured halfcourt, Augustin passes one-handed with either hand off the dribble exceptionally well which is something that he can also do in the open floor. His vision is superb, and he sets up his teammates with ease to handle passes. He also effectively uses on-ball screens, invites double-teams, and anticipates from where the help rotation will come.
He would have struggled in the Derek Harper hand-check era, but he should be an effective NBA point guard in the way Tony Parker and Chris Paul have become All-Stars. His small frame lets him sliver into cracks, something he’ll be able to also do in the NBA. Augustin changes pace and spins with incredible balance and is able to freeze in the air while deciding whether to shoot or pass. He is excellent at floating away for those high degree of difficulty jumpers, which he shoots with a very pure, and quiet shooting form.
Despite being so short, Augustin is able to get shots over taller defenders and also has a superior perimeter shot at this age than the two similar bodied NBA point guards just mentioned. He already can shoot the NBA 3-pointer and shoot a good percentage from the college line.
For his size, he is actually an effective rebounder, particularly because he is so quick to the ball and runs down long misses.
Defending bigger point guards like Baron Davis and Chauncey Billups will clearly be a problem, but he is a crafty player and should be able to use his quickness to disrupt said players before and after they catch the ball in the post. Despite being so slight, he is well-built and can withstand physical play.
His fundamentals as a help defender are highly refined, and he is very pesky and will steal a ball or two every game.
Augustin’s intangibles are phenomenal and, clearly, he is a great lad. The son of a schoolteacher, he finished the fall semester with a 4.0 grade point average. He is fearless in the air and is never reluctant to make a big play in clutch situations.
- Click here to see our full list of 2008 Draft Prospect Reports
Christopher Reina is the executive editor of RealGM. He can be reached at Chris.Reina@RealGM.com where he may use your draft questions in a future mailbag edition |
