June 17, 2014

"D'oh!"

Not handling the ball much alongside the potent dual ball-dominant offensive threats of Devon Saddler and Jarvis Threatt, Usher has nonetheless been quite the scorer for Delaware. The lefty is a very talented shotmaker, from both inside and out.

Usher is overly left hand dominant, and has a high dribble that makes it difficult to change direction. He is largely a straight line driver, does not create in isolation or drive with his feet set, does not look to pass much at all, does not shoot well off the dribble, and takes bad jump shots at times as if unaware of that. Nonetheless, Usher's ability to hit shots should not be understressed. He is a very good finisher with his left hand around the basket, and can hit contested jump shots fairly regularly. His limitations in his offensive game do not prevent him being a quality offensive player.

With good length and speed, and a long first step, Usher gets to the rim off of curls and motion plays, and uses screens well. A good athlete, Usher likes to run and always pushes the ball, able to crash the glass and go coast to coast for a layup. There are the few bad shots along the way, but for the most part, Usher floats around, picks spots, attacks hard, and gets buckets.

Defensively, Usher has had to defend the post often at Delaware, which is ill-suited to his thin frame, and also spends a lot of time chasing around opposing wing shooters. Given a variety of tough assignments, then, Usher does quite well, competing, boxing out, and slapping/deflecting the ball to good effect. He is hardy and competitive, although he does get lost at times.

Having never had a good platform to show off his abilities - Delaware was the best team the much-travelled Usher has played on, and he spent only one tourney-less season there - Usher might have to start at lower standard European leagues and work his way up. But there is talent to be found here.

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