McDermott's 45 point game on March 8th against Providence is available on youtube so I watched its entirety to break down one of his greatest games. Those interested can watch it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQYAlQguFwYOverall totals:
45 pts
17-25 FG, 5-7 from 3
6-9 FT
7 RB
2 assist
3 TO
Of his 12 makes from 2-point range, all were at the rim. All 18 of his 2-point FGAs were from 2 feet and in. He had one transition dunk and three post up finishes. Everything else was drives to the rim. He is capable of driving with either hand but seems to favor his left. He is the human embodiment of the Houston Rockets' offensive philosophy realized in its purest form.
As impressive as his game was, he was guarded by bigs about 95 percent of the time, bigs who were too slow to stay in front of him off the dribble and way out of their depth to prevent an open look from three. The rarely seen big on big screen and roll resulted in Providence's bigs screwing up monumentally a few times and leaving one of the greatest college shooters of all time with acres of open space from three.
One of the definitive takeaways was already known: McDermott is a dynamite shooter with a lightning quick release and NBA range (he had several threes from NBA range). His release is as quick as Ray's or Korver's. He's not an one-note three point shooter either. He had a few threes in transition that were reminiscent of Pierce's three point barrage in game 1 of the 2008 Finals in addition to a three off a nice crossover and small step back.
As impressive as his numbers were, it's questionable just how much of his driving game will translate. To his credit, he's good at keeping his defender on his shoulder and continuing to the rim, where he shows nice touch. However, he barely gets any lift and the help defense by Providence was laughable. Not only is the help defense in the NBA exponentially better but a driver of McDermott's speed is going to give bigs time to rotate and contest at the rim as well as smalls to set up for potential charges. I wouldn't bet on him finishing with anywhere near the same proficiency.
His handle is actually pretty good. Again it was mostly against bigs who couldn't defend dribble penetration but against one overmatched 7 footer, he sequenced several moves together with several nifty dribble moves that was impressive regardless of the defender. He did however get picked cleanly on one of the few occasions a guard defended him. Against the same defender later in the game, he did manage to drive by him and get to the line but I question how effective the combination of his quickness and handle is going to be against NBA perimeter defenders.
On defense, he mostly defended non-threats on offense so he was rarely attacked but on the two occasions players attempted to take him off the dribble, they succeeded pretty easily. He did not show a lot of lateral quickness. If he's going to be a small forward, I don't see any way he's not a defensive sieve.
Overall, my impressions didn't change. He's very enjoyable to watch and I admire how relentlessly he attacks the rim even with his otherworldly shooting touch. I'm still skeptical his inside the arc game will translate.
Topic: If Mcdermott is available by our 2nd 1st pick (Read 58358 times)