June 23, 2011

Damian Saunders - Damian Saunders plays like Shawn Marion, if anyone can ever be said to play like the very unique Marion. He drew some attention on some underwhelming Duquesne teams, but as Duquesne merely trundled averagely through the weakened Atlantic 10, Saunders drew less attention than his peers. He also seemed to suffer from stagnated growth - his points dropped from 15.0 to 12.6, and his rebounds made an alarming tumble from 11.3 to 7.9. That's still a big number of course, and the 2.3 steals and 2.7 blocks numbers are huge. But they, too, were down on the previous season, despite the minutes going up.

Saunders is a good sized 6'7 with a long wingspan and athleticism, and projects well as a defender, able to cover both wing positions and the occasional face-up four. He has all the physical tools, save for perhaps a bit more strength, and plays hard on that end of the floor, making himself a very disruptive defender whose location on the play must always be noted. He plays hard on offense, too, but far less well - he is not a ball handler, nor a shooter, nor a post-up threat. Saunders will run the court, get put backs, and occasionally lunge wildly at the basket - even more occasionally, he'll hit the jumpshot. He is certainly trending upwards in that latter regard. But there's a long way still to go, even with just the catch-and-shoot, let alone the shot off the dribble.

If that also sounded like a description of Shawn Marion, it was supposed to. Marion was, of course, better at everything. And still is. By a long way. But the style of play is highly similar.

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