RealGM: From The Rafters - Draft Report: Chris Douglas-Roberts Of Memphis

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Draft Report: Chris Douglas-Roberts Of Memphis

Authored by Christopher Reina - 17th June, 2008 - 1:20 pm

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Chris Douglas-Roberts is a prime example of an excellent college swingman with questions about whether or not he has enough tools to succeed on the NBA level.

He needs to become stronger and is also far from being spectacular in the air athletically although instances like a reverse dunk on a fastbreak against Gonzaga certainly helps dispel that notion. He has good in-air body control on finishes when he gets some space and was more confident with his athleticism during his junior season, but he loses that when he gets bumped.

The lack of strength in his core causes him to not be as balanced as he needs to be since his center of gravity is too far out in front of him.

What he does do well, of course, is score. He has improved his perimeter shot dramatically this season and became a good 3-point shooter. The increase, in no small part, was due to how well Derrick Rose frees up everyone on the floor allowing very few of those 3-point attempts to be tightly contested.

The mechanics of his perimeter shot could certainly improve. His misses often look really bad and are left/right as much as short/long. He doesn’t extend his follow through very well, allows his left hand too much impact, and his balance issues also affect his accuracy although he does consistently elevate well.

Unless his results are there immediately, his mechanics will need to be reshaped.

His mid-range game is very good as he works well without the ball, almost always moving around whether on the perimeter or in the middle of the paint. Douglas-Roberts will cut strong baseline for backdoors and also curls up to the elbow well.

He has an awkward looking push shot; when he gets inside 15-feet, he uses that religiously although it is effective.

There are a whole host of skills he exhibits once he gets the ball in the mid-range.

He can beat his man off the dribble and get himself into the lane for pull-up jumpers and runners. He also goes well to the baseline before shooting soft teardrops.

But his post game and perimeter non-catch-and-shoot work is mostly based on dribbling in place and then making a sudden move. He rarely makes any pre-dribble jab steps or shot fakes, which is something he’ll be unable to get away with in the NBA.

He is a below-average passer, showing little imagination or crispness evidenced by a bad assist to turnover ratio.

Defensively, he should have been better on-ball against the ordinary competition he faced in Conference-USA. He gets beat off the dribble because of those balance issues and is clearly not as quick laterally as he needs to be to guard top NBA shooting guards.

Furthermore, he is frequently prone to getting backdoored. What he does do well defensively is utilizing his long arms to get his hands on passes.

He should have a decent pro career, but his liabilities defensively will likely offset what he delivers offensively.

- 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