June 19, 2014

Jahii Carson - Carson plays big minutes of every game and dominates the ball throughout. He plays a lot of pick and roll action, and succeeds in it, even though he cannot drive left and even though he is usually using the screen to try and score. He is a committed and fearless driver who uses his hardiness, toughness, speed and tight low dribble to get into the paint, whereby he will use his body control to get a look around the basket, compensated with floaters and runners should he be smothered at the rim. Although Carson at a mere 5'11 does not take contact very well, he will take the contact anyway and try to finish, getting to the line a huge number of times per game, and is adept at jinking his body around anyone in his path. He often has to resort to contested runners, but he makes enough of them for this to be a weapon in the halfcourt. Also, given the opportunity, he can really get up.

Underpinning all this however is a poor jumpshot, one born out of bad mechanics. Carson has improved his three point stroke to the point it can just about be classified as mediocre, but the mid-range shot is still absent, and the form is inconsistent. Carson tries to play like a shooter anyway, be it through step-backs and the like, but it is a weakness in his game, so much so that he is also a poor foul shooter (not helped by an unnecessarily leaning back on the release). He takes some bad shots, particularly bad jumpshots, and tries to play too much isolation ball, particularly down the stretch. The dribble is always alive with Jahii Carson, and he can drive right into and right out of the trees in a manner reminiscent of Kirk Hinrich's younger days, but he primarily looks to score, drives into trouble, has no left hand, has not the greatest floor awareness (missing, or perhaps ignoring, better matchups elsewhere) and is not a good catch-and-shoot player off the ball. And defensively, he is just too small, bumped off the spot too easily and not seeing as committed on that end as on offense.

As a point guard, Carson is always attacking and pushing the pace, but is nonetheless primarily a scorer. Give him a poorly communicated defense, and he will attack it. He too should love summer league, then. But going forward, while the athleticism and aggression are nice, there are too many question marks for the NBA.

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