D.J. Haley

Haley's wingspan measurement must account for the fact he has three arms.

As much as USC struggled this year, they did have two seven footers between the aforementioned Omar Oraby and VCU transfer Haley. It was a limited duo, however, especially Haley, whose size is rather undermined by an asthma condition that limits his stamina to the point he operates in about four minute stretches.

In those four minute stretches, Haley's job is to be big and get in the way. Slow to the point of being largely immobile, unathletic to the point of not even being that sure of a dunker, and with not even all that strong of a base, Haley is nonetheless a very big player whose job it is to get in the way. He is quite good at this, a willing (if not always entirely legal) screener and a player always willing to stop up in the lane to clog it with a little bit of a shotblocking presence to boot. Haley is an obstacle, which is something half of this could stand to emulate.

Haley is also, however, largely unskilled. With bad hands, no range, no passing vision and one of the worst free throw strokes around, Haley contributes little on the offensive end, and, due to inconsistent boxing out, is not even that good of a rebounder either. He keeps turnovers low, but mainly because he never touches it outside of the occasional pick and roll play. When asked to create in the post, Haley is generally an upcoming turnover. And there is no jumpshot range to speak of.

For a few minutes, then, you will get a defensive presence that ultimately isn't as fearsome as it looks. And yet just like Riley above, this has value.

[...] Most of the ball handling is done by 5'10 senior Joey Rodriguez, who ranks 58th in the country with 4.8 assists per game, with a decent 2.1:1 assist/turnover ratio. Working on Rodriguez's favour there is that missed shots don't count as turnovers - a decent three point shooter, Rodriguez undermines that with occasionally terrible shot selection, and, due to his lack of size, he is little threat inside of the arc save for an inefficient floater. Nevertheless, he moves the ball and runs a good pick-and-roll game, has good hands and energy on the defensive end, serving as the team's unquestioned, hugely confident, perhaps over-confident leader. Alongside him, 6'2 guards Brandon Rozzell (senior) and Rob Brandenberg (freshman) do most of the jumpshooting, while sophomore backup point guard Darris Theus (not related to Reggie) can push the tempo, although he can't make a shot himself. VCU are also integrating two freshman big men, 6'9 athlete Juvonte Reddic and 7'0 D.J. Haley, both athletic for their size yet also both very raw at this juncture.