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2nd Part of the Draft Report |
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| Here is the second part of the draft report and this one is about the point and shooting guards in the draft. The players that are mentioned here will probably be taken around Utah�s pick so no �Jay� Williams or DaJuan Wagner but only players that the Jazz actually can draft. |
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| The guard position is one of the positions the Jazz could draft, especially the shooting guard position. But it looks like the future of the Jazz on the guard positions already have been decided with the Jazz drafting Spanish point guard Raul Lopez last year and shooting guard DeShawn Stevenson the year before. But Stevenson isn�t really convincing and Raul Lopez, who had a knee injury this year and played for the first time since his injury one month ago, has a long time contract with his club Real Madrid and it is still uncertain whether or not he will come any time soon, although the Jazz are trying to get him before draft day. The Jazz lack of a good shooting guard has cost them some games and maybe there are a few shooting guards who can immediately contribute for the Jazz so we look at that. Another possibility is a three-guard rotation in the future in which Lopez will be the point guard, this years draft pick the shooting guard and Stevenson a combo guard who will get enough minutes. So a shooting guard is a very real possibility while a point guard isn�t that logical to draft but it could be so that they will decide to draft a point guard if Lopez isn�t coming this year. So I will look at 7 guards in the draft. |
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| Those seven guards are, in alphabetical order: Dan Dickau, Casey Jacobsen, Roger Mason, Elvin Mims, Kareem Rush, Jiri Welsch and Frank Williams. |
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The Introduction |
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First some general information. Only two of the players, Elvin Mims and Dan Dickau, are seniors. Jiri Welsch is born in the Czech Republic and has been playing for Olimpija Ljubljana. All the others are juniors. That�s a remarkable difference with the power forwards/centers who, for a large part, are seniors. There�s not much general information of real importance so we will continue with the first player we are going to look at.
Lets start with the two seniors. Elvin Mims has averaged 18.7 ppg and 7.7 rpg, which is remarkable for a shooting guard. He runs of screens pretty well and has a reasonable jump shot. He only hits 44% of his shots and 33% from beyond the arc. I want to warn everyone that you shouldn�t compare a guards shooting percentage with that of a power forward/center because it is always lower. He is a good passer and he has a good understanding on the game. But his defense should get better and he also has to improve his ball handling. He plays in a pretty small conference, which makes his stats, which weren�t too impressive, even less convincing. I wouldn�t take him with the nineteenth pick. I wouldn�t even pick him late in the first round. |
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Dan Dickau is the other senior. He is a small, white point guard from Gonzaga. Sounds familiar? Stockton went to Gonzaga and he has played with Dan Dickau and Dickau is a great admirer of Stockton. But that isn�t enough to get picked by the Jazz. His stats on the other hand would do the trick since he averages 20.6 ppg and 4.9 apg and he shoots a better percentage from beyond the arc than from within the three-point line. He shoots 45% from the field and a stunning 48% from beyond the arc while connecting on 88% of his free throws. He has a quick first step and he is a great shooter from long range. And, something that also sounds familiar, he is fearless. He also penetrates very well and is a great scorer. But because of the way Gonzaga leads there offense some scouts doubt he could run an NBA team. The coach doesn�t let Dickau have the ball continuously but he must pass or shoot it. Some say that�s not because of Gonzaga�s offensive but because Dickau can�t do it. So it is a bit of a risk but if he can run a team then the team that drafts him as a good point guard, I�m sure of that.
Jiri to Kiri for the slam! Wouldn�t that be amazing to hear? Jiri Welsch can run the |
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point and he can play shooting guard so that�s a big advantage. He is 6-6 and from the Czech Republic and with the upcoming invasion of European players it could be that some of the European players are hyped up. But I don�t think that�s the case with Welsch because he is a good shooter and a great passer while not giving up anything on the defensive end. He handles the ball extremely well under pressure and he is a good penetrator. His decision making is questioned as he always seems to take the most difficult solution and he may get away with it in Europe but it isn�t sure if he can get away with it in the NBA. His mid range jumper is deadly.
Talking about deadly shots, Casey Jacobsen has without a doubt the best looking shot in college basketball. He also is a good passer and averages 3.5 apg which isn�t that bad for a shooting guard. That doesn�t take anything away from his scoring since he scores 22.6 ppg and he adds 4.3 rpg. He shoots 45% from the field and 39% from the arc, which doesn�t mean he is weak from beyond the arc, because he probably has the greatest range in college basketball. Give him some space and he will knock down a shot from a range some shooting guards |
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wouldn�t even dare to think of trying to shoot. He isn�t athletic and he definitely lacks speed and he isn�t much of a jumper either but he will finish it with one-handed swooping tosses. He makes great decisions but he will need to improve on defense and he probably won�t be able to contain most of the starting shooting guards. The most athletic players in the NBA man the shooting guard position and he won�t be able to defend a lot of them. He must learn a lot on the defensive end and he needs to out-smarten his opponents to cover up his lack of quickness and athleticism.
Another combo guard who won�t be the most athletic player in the NBA is Roger Mason. Mason has a sweet shot and hits 41% of his shots from the field and 37% from beyond the arc. He does hit 89% from the free throw line. He isn�t the most spectacular player and won�t be a big mean dunking machine but he does have a great pass. He has great vision and he more often than not gets the ball to a teammate. He also is a very good ball handler so it isn�t a surprise that he averages 4.2 apg and 18.8 ppg. He will probably play the two spot in his rookie season but he could develop to a full-time point guard. |
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Frank Williams is a full-time point guard and almost single handedly brought his team to the Elite Eight, which you can see in his stats. He averages 16 ppg and 4 apg while adding 4.6 rpg but he only shoots 38% from the field and 31% from beyond the arc while he isn�t a bad shooter. He is a good ball handler and a good passer even under pressure. He can create his own shot but he can also shoot over his opponents. He gets his share of steals and is a pesky defender. He is a good floor general, great vision, and he releases the pass at exactly the right moment. Could be troubled by the NBA point guards since he isn�t very quick and while he won some games on toughness it is doubtful that he will be able to do that in the NBA. He is also a very streaky shooter, which you probably already realized when you saw the stats.
The last guard of the seven is shooting guard Kareem Rush. He is a great shooter, shoots 43% from the field and 42% from beyond the arc, and he will find the net. One of the better jump shooters in college. He is very quick and he is a smooth athlete. He averages 20 ppg and 5.1 rpg but only 2.2 apg. He needs to work on his ball handling and passing. He can�t only shoot but he is also able to go to the basket and if he is hot he is hot and can�t be stopped. Maybe the best thing about him is that he has no real weaknesses although he should, as said before, work on his ball handling skills.
With that said it is time for me to come to a conclusion. If all seven players were available at the nineteenth pick, which probably won�t be the case, then I would draft them in this order. |
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1. Kareem Rush
2. Jiri Welsch
3. Dan Dickau
4. Casey Jacobsen
5. Roger Mason
6. Frank Williams
7. Elvin Mims |
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| I wouldn�t take Elvin Mims in the first round. He isn�t good enough to be taken there. I don�t doubt that Williams has a lot of skills and abilities but someone who shoots below the 40 percent from the field and is a streaky shooter automatically falls in my draft. We have enough streaky shooters so we won�t need another one. Mason is a reasonable shooter and a very good passer but he isn�t more than reasonable overall in my opinion. And the Jazz probably want more than a reasonable player with the nineteenth pick. The Jazz also need shooters and although he is a reasonable shooter there will be better shooters who will be still in the draft. Casey Jacobsen reminds me a lot of Jeff Hornacek. Every time I read something about this kid I immediately see Jeff Hornacek. He is a great shooter and his biggest weakness, his athleticism, is underrated (so his athleticism is underrated. I thought I would clarify it a bit before someone misinterprets it). I�m not sure if he really is worth the nineteenth pick but if we had the 25th pick or something I wouldn�t hesitate to pick him because he does fill our needs of a good shooter and the Jazz invited him to a workout so we will know more after the workout. He would be a great |
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fit despite the lack of speed and athleticism. Dan Dickau is a great shooter and a good passer but if there are doubts whether or not he is able to run the team than it definitely hurts his stock in my mock draft. He is a nightmare for a defender and a real competitor but with Lopez I wouldn�t take someone who only can play the point. If Lopez wasn�t drafted he would probably be second but he and Welsch are very close and Welsch is able to play the shooting guard position. Welsch is a great defender and good shooter, although I heard he needs to work on his outside shot. He is a great passer and has great court vision and that are the skills I want the future shooting guard of the Jazz to have. He has played in Europe but he won�t have contract problems like Raul Lopez has. Welsch will probably be able to make an immediate impact as he has played in Europe and has learned a lot there. Number one without a doubt is Kareem Rush. If he is available at that point in the draft I wouldn�t hesitate to take him. I really like him. He is a great shooter and could be a very good shooting guard for the Jazz. But unfortunately he probably will already be taken. But if he isn�t the Jazz must draft him. He is worth it and he will be a very good player in the Jazz system. |
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