Wildly Unnecessarily Lengthy 2014 NBA Draft Board, Part 2: NCAA Shooting Guards
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| Maybe so, but what's he done lately? |
Travis Bader, Oakland, Senior, 6'5 191lbs
2013/14 stats: 37.6 mpg, 20.6 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.4 apg, 0.9 spg, 0.1 bpg, 3.0 fpg, 1.3 TOpg, 38.9% FG, 40.8% 3PT, 94.3% FT
2013/14 stats: 37.6 mpg, 20.6 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.4 apg, 0.9 spg, 0.1 bpg, 3.0 fpg, 1.3 TOpg, 38.9% FG, 40.8% 3PT, 94.3% FT
Famously, Bader set the record this year for the most made three pointers in NCAA history. He did this partly on account of taking about 336 of them every game, yet he also did so legitimately (as opposed to Marshall Hendersonly).
Bader is a very good shooter with a quick release, plenty of action off of screens, and the ability to go straight up, quickly. He is of course conscienceless from three, willing to take any look he is given, yet he does not take poor ones often, always willing until he has a little bit of space. And he only needs a little bit of space. Bader is a very hardy sole, playing almost every minutes of every game, and is in constant motion in that time, trying to get free. Should he not get entirely free, he can hit when contested, and can shoot off the move with a decent change of speed. Bader is not entirely limited to the three, either - he can step in for a two, step back for a tough two, and very occasionally barrel into the trees off a curl if the defense overplays for the jump shot.
Scoring, though, is all Bader does. He does not rebound, he rarely handles, and as much as he tries on defense, he is not big or fast and has no great gifts with his hands. He only gets to the line the decent amount that he does because he is the team's designated foul shooter, so even the ridiculously good free throw percentage does not add much value as he rarely takes then. He looks to have little passing vision, and is not one to try and defend much. He is in only to score, and even that is almost always a jump shot. Said jump shots come around screens and off catches, not off the bounce, and he is only as good as the looks he is given. If they are not there, nor is he. Bader, then, is very very one dimensional. He's not Ethan Wragge out there, yet there's not as much in it as you might hope. And Wragge is at least bigger.
Is it enough to get to the next level anyway? Yes, possibly. But this is not a Kyle Korver level of shooter right here. Not yet, at least.