Eugene Spates?

[clover]

I'm wondering what anyone can tell me about Eugene Spates.  I just noticed him as a 6'8" forward from Northeastern playing for the Red Claws.

He's doing pretty well so far:

http://www.nba.com/dleague/maine/statistics/

Looks like shooting is his calling card, as it at least got him off to a good start in Luxembourg last year:

http://thehuskiesinsider.blogspot.com/2009/11/catching-up-with-eugene-spates.html

Any thoughts on his defense or other skills?  NBA prospects?  I ask of course because we've only Daniels behind Pierce and Wafer isn't doing much.

[Bahku]

I actually like Paul Harris with respect to moving someone up from the 'Claws, especially with his defensive skills. Really love what I've seen of this kid, despite his injury last season ... he's healthy now, and I think has definite NBA potential.

[clover]

I actually like Paul Harris with respect to moving someone up from the 'Claws, especially with his defensive skills. Really love what I've seen of this kid, despite his injury last season ... he's healthy now, and I think has definite NBA potential.

For someone who is 6'5" with shoes to average 12 rebounds a game says something as well.  I see Draft Express compared him with TA on defense.

[clover]

Oh, and I also see that Harris has even had a TA-ish brush with the law.

[Fan from VT]

ESPN's Paul Harris Draft Bio:

Projection   Second round to undrafted

Positives   
Strong, physical player with excellent athleticism
Long arms
Can defend three or four positions on the floor
Good ball handler, can play the point in a pinch
Excellent motor
Very good rebounder for his size

Negatives   
Lack of size at the position is a concern
Still not a big-time scorer yet
Lack of a reliable jump shot
Doesn't create a lot of offense for himself
Still raw, a little bit older than most prospects

interesting.

Gallon looks intriguing too, with a 14/6.5 so far. But we'll see if Harris's and Gallon's TOs go down; they're both at 5 per game.

If jamar smith keeps up his 14/4/5 he may get a call soon.

[Fan from VT]

I also keep wishing we had an SF spot to try out Othyus Jeffers.

[fairweatherfan]

I watched probably 80% of Harris' games at Syracuse...he's got a bit of an attitude problem but he is a phenomenal rebounder for a wing, and a solid defender.  He works very hard, too, although he can lose focus like TA used to. 

But his jumper is streaky on a good day and he tends to take it up too much in the paint, where bigger guys block him frequently.  And as mentioned, very TA-like in terms of mental mistakes.  It'd be interesting to see him fit in with this unit but I'm not sure if his positives would outweigh his negatives.