RealGM: From The Rafters - Draft Report: JR Giddens Of New Mexico

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Draft Report: JR Giddens Of New Mexico

Authored by Christopher Reina - 20th June, 2008 - 11:17 am

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JR Giddens is one of the best athletes in this draft and uses that athleticism not just on dunks, but to make very pure basketball moves.

He has great confidence with the dribble, and I believe he will be able to create his own shot in the NBA.

He has a great crossover dribble to get himself into the paint. He creates space for himself by being able to stop as quickly as he can start.

Giddens is also very good at using pre-dribble jab steps to get himself an extra edge into the lane. His jab step is not a token show move, and if the defender doesn’t budge, he’ll simply take what is given and beat him off the dribble.

He has immaculate body control in the air, finishing mid-range jumpers off the glass.

When he does get into the paint, he is very conscious of the kick out and sets up his teammates with wide-open 3’s. Giddens has great court vision and will spot and deliver the ball to his teammates from across the floor, or he’ll thread the needle on a drive and dish.

His post entry passes are superb as well as his passes out of the pick and roll.

If you could tilt the scale on assists to the passer or shooter based off who creates it, the vast majority of his assists are full tilt his way.

He makes great decisions in the air, and his assist/turniover ratio went from .87 as a junior to 1.41 as a senior.

He is one of the best non-point guard distributors in this draft, right up there with Kevin Love in terms of both impact and talent.

The mechanics of his own shot are flawed but passable. He has a high release and a good follow though; he also has an extremely wide stance, with his feet wider than his shoulders, but he gets good lift. There is a little hitch in his shot when he brings it to the top, but that can be ironed out.

He also seems to shoot better off the dribble because he doesn’t get the cleanest catch when he spots up, and I honestly can’t figure out why that is.

But Giddens does move well without the ball, almost always moving and comes off screens hard.

Giddens might be the very best finisher in this entire draft. He is absurdly powerful in the air and will attack defenders and dunk on them with ease.

He is athletic enough to be a true stopper defensively. Giddens does a great job of staying in a defensive stance during the entire possession.

He uses his long arms to make life extremely difficult for his man whether it’s in the triple threat position or when he puts it on the floor. He defends against the pass extremely well, both on-ball and getting his arms into the passing lanes in help defense.

He also led the entire Mountain West Conference in rebounding with 8.3 per game. He elevates extremely well and has incredible reach with his arms. Giddens has a tremendous motor and innate desire to get after the ball.

He has a great work ethic, getting onto the floor for loose balls and always giving maximum effort.

Giddens is not the knock ‘em dead spot-up shooter you’d ideally like from a wing, but he is plenty athletic enough as a slasher and defender to make an immediate impact while his shot comes along.

- Click here to see our full list of 2008 Draft Reports which has new additions daily

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