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Authored by Christopher Reina - 7th June, 2008 - 1:47 pm
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Javale McGee is a rare American 7-footer who is able to play like a guard offensively, almost like those European bigs.
He has a very good face-up game and can get past his man even though his first step isn’t terribly quick. He will beat his man baseline and come back around for a one-handed reverse dunk.
He should have a better motor in the halfcourt, whether it is cutting to the elbow, moving from block to block, or fighting for position in the post. He doesn’t work that hard without the ball and, therefore, must do more to score when he does get it.
Getting the ball in the left block, McGee will take a dribble with his right hand and give a little shoulder shake like he’s going middle but pivots towards the baseline for a floating jumper off the glass.
On the next possession, he will use that prior move and go middle for a high arching jumper.
McGee has a superb right-handed hook shot that is typically attempted going middle from the left block. He also has a nice spin move into a fadeaway jumper.
He is mostly a finesse player in the block although he can sometimes get physical and pivot into the defender for a power shot. He also has an up and under, but he doesn’t use it nearly enough.
He is acrobatic in the air like a shooting guard even though he occasionally allows himself to get out of control. His shot selection can become frustrating and comes from making his mind up to shoot and not being adaptable if help defenders collapse, or he’s simply unable to beat his man. This is when he looks really bad and raw offensively; he needs to have a better real time sense of the situation.
A perfect example of how he makes his mind up and can’t improvise on the fly well was in a game at Boise State when he got a nice steal in the post and began dribbling down the floor for a fastbreak (has good handle with both hands), even making a nifty behind the back dribble, but he awkwardly runs over the defenders going for the layup on the 2-on-1 instead of dishing to his teammates for an easy bucket.
His lack of imagination as a passer largely comes from that lack of quick thinking and also bad vision. He rarely kicks the ball back out for a re-post or an open three when the defense collapses, and he gets an embarrassingly low number of assists despite how frequently the ball is in his hands.
McGee also tries for circus finishes, both on bad pass lobs and on his runners. He would instantly become a far more polished product if he let himself comedown to the floor and gather himself for a dunk or layup rather than chuck up an improbable finish.
On the second point, his runner is good and is setup based on how good of a handle he has, but he should add an occasional jumpstop, which would allow him take better advantage of what is a really good shot.
He is a really good shooter all over the floor, including the perimeter although his mechanics are a little flawed. He has a little natural fade to his jumper and needs to work on going straight up and down with it. He has really solid range from the college 3-point line, but the difference in his shooting percentage between an open shot and a contested one is as substantial as any player I’ve seen.
McGee is skilled on the pick and pop, not because of his footwork (that needs work), but because of how well he instinctively fades into space and the quality of his shot.
He is active on the offensive glass and works for tip-ins and second chance put-backs; he won’t get an offensive rebound and reset the offense, though. His length and frame allows him to slip into space.
McGee will be one of the worst defenders in the NBA initially and be the bane of his coach’s existence on that side of the ball.
His knees are too locked with his defensive stance, and he gets lower by crouching over instead of merely bending his knees.
He doesn’t work hard to deny the post and doesn’t really care about giving up points, wanting to get back to the offensive side.
Categorically, he is a lazy defender at the moment, is slow on help defense, and doesn’t get all the way back sometimes, and lets penetrating guards get to the basket.
He enjoys blocking shots and is long enough to be effective, but he won’t be able to pad his block totals like he did playing against 6-5 power forwards from Idaho. He also buys on average shot fakes, leaving his feet and opening lanes to the basket.
Perhaps most importantly in terms of shotblocking is that he doesn’t protect the rim. He doesn’t take pride in owning the rim he defends, where he should outright refuse to allow easy buckets.
- 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 |
