Brian Oliver

Brian Oliver suffers ill-timed upset stomach.

Fuquan Edwin's wing partner at Seton Hall became a fairly one dimensional player as he progressed through his college career. When at Georgia Tech, Oliver tried more off the dribble, and was a bit reckless with it. He was highly inefficient and took more shots than he merited. Yet as an upper classman, Oliver mostly limited himself to the three pointer, and took a big leap forward in doing so.

Oliver takes almost always three point shots these days, yet has developed his shot over the years and is now a very efficient shooter. He hits off screens and off the catch, and has much improved his shot selection, playing to this strength and abandoning the forays off the dribble. Oliver can and will still occasionally turn a three pointer into a two pointer off the closeout, yet he has a very basic handle on the ball and thus rarely gets to the rim or the line. His release is quick, he flashes the occasional nice pass off the curl in a Pat Connaughton-esque way, and he has cut down on the turnover rate that used to be markedly high for a player who didn't dribble. As limited as Oliver is by his lack of handle and shot creating abilities, he has made up for by improving at the two or three things he does do, the most important of which is his jumpshot.

Defensively, Oliver played power forward at times, especially with the Yellow Jackets, which helped no one. He is not the most rugged defender, despite his decent upper body strength, and is only a decent athlete without the best explosion or lateral quickness. Nevertheless, Oliver competes at whatever position and in whichever matchup he draws, and he will also do his best to attack the glass.

In light of his underwhelming physical tools, Oliver is not the best candidate for a three and D specialist. Regardless of this, if the jumpshot sustains, he will put in some good European years as a floor spacing role player.