Inside Scoop

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amenchorus said...

First, Jay Williams makes a good point that Alex does not get low enough to establish position, and gets pushed too far out by physical players.

Second, Alex desperately needs a drop step. Everybody knows that when he has the ball and is not doubled, he is coming across the lane, and the refs tend to let the defender bump him. A drop step would be a killer because there is generally no defender there. When he posts up on the left side, and he drops to the right, he will need to get more comfortable with his left hand, although (as against Duke) I have seen him finish with the left. He has the skills but the skills are not second nature, and he does not trust them.

Third, he does a mix of things wrong when either he tries going baseline or gets an offensive rebound. He has no ball fake; he goes up soft; and he shoots right handed even when turning left or shooting from the left. But that is why the athletic and quick leapers like Okaro White and Eddie Odio and James McAdoo have a field day blocking his shot. When you turn left and shoot right, you are serving the ball up on a platter to a shot blocker. You may not think a 7-1 guy needs a ball fake, but when he is trying to elevate against contact and the weakside guys are stepping into the jump he loses his advantage. If the guy has to come down, with his natural good hops Len regains the edge if both he and the defender are flatfooted. So either ball fake or just try to cram it down on the defender.

TV commentators fault the Terps for not feeding Len in the post, but (outside of Duke and Kentucky) his conversion rate is probably like 20%. We aren't going to see that skill development this year. But I do credit Alex for giving us energy on the boards and in the paint the last 5 minutes or so to help seal the game.

We all know he is going pro even though I think he needs another year in college (he needs to learn to win against game competition as well as master moves; the former will come in college, although the latter he will do better when he is a fulltime baller in the NBA matching up guys his size). If I am an NBA GM, I still draft him top 5 or 10. He is mostly there physically; just needs some lower body strength. All he needs is repetitive practice of post move fundamentals and constant work on technique. He has the work ethic and competitive desire, and I don't think you risk have an Eddie Curry flop.

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tagterp said...

I think this is good annalysis.

Does Len sound like an NBA lottery pick to anyone? Len has the height, but neither the skill set nor the heart. For his sake I hope some foolhearty NBA team pays him well, because he is going into the draft, ready ot not. As far as his time here, it falls under the 'woulda, coulda, shoulda' area. And that is too bad for both him, his team mates and us!

He has literally played himself out of the big guaranteed contract. Sure someone will pay him because 7'1" players have length.

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DirtyTerp34 said...

I really think he should stay in college for 1 more year. But i'm not one to say he shouldn't make $$ if it's there

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