I LOVE him but I feel that he'll bust if someone tries to force him to play point. He's unselfish, smart (really high BB-IQ), has great handles, has a great feel for the game, understands mismatches and has solid court vision...He's defi...
I LOVE him but I feel that he'll bust if someone tries to force him to play point. He's unselfish, smart (really high BB-IQ), has great handles, has a great feel for the game, understands mismatches and has solid court vision...He's definitely smart and unselfish enough to hit open shooters but I just don't think he has that natural feel for the game (as a PG) that Nash has, he doesn't have elite court vision and I don't think he'll ever be a good enough passer to make highlight dimes like Nash/Rondo/Paul/Dragic and he doesn't have the athleticism to compensate. He can hit open guys and wide open guys but doesn't have more advanced PG skills and I don't think he can make really difficult passes, in this way he reminds me of Sebastian Telfair. He's more a second/third string PG (i.e. Barbosa). He's not the classic idea of a combo guard because he plays below the rim, I'll come back to this idea later. On the PnR he can shoot over the screen or get to the paint but he doesn't seem to know when/where to pass. He had a lot of turnovers but he was also asked to do a lot. He should benefit from better teammates, better spacing and faster pace that we get in the NBA.
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One of the knocks on him is that he DEFINITELY doesn't have that electric Westbrook/Rose/Lillard athleticism; he doesn't even have great athleticism. He's a below-the-rim player; his athleticism is more similar to Michael Carter-Williams (not as tall or long though). He's fast but not really fast and he's doesn't have the strength (or length) to play in the paint like Westbrook does. Quicker/faster/stronger/taller/longer players will give him trouble in the NBA. He'll be fine on the perimeter with his ball handling, craftiness and shooting but inside it'll be tough for anything that isn't an open layup.
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Now what he DOES do well is that he's smart, unselfish, has a great feel for the game, solid court vision, incredible rebounder for his position (7.9/8.9 REBs in SO/JR years), understands mismatches, high character, hard worker, has okay to good athleticism, has a smooth handle... but the reason he's being talked about top 10 is because this guy can SHOOT! Set, moving, pullup, off the dribble, spot-up, off screens, threes... absolutely a dead-eye shooter (a la JJ Reddick, Ray Allen, Curry-ish). It also seems like he's the only guy in this class that has a really good handle (great crossover and brilliant hesitation) and can create his own shot (ISO). He also knows when he has to take big shots. McCollum is also a beast in transition (20.6% of his total offense). He's not a great finisher but he hustles and outruns the defense, pushes the ball up court, gets easy layups, gets wide-open shots (one of those guys that makes those shots everytime), pulls up when appropriate...he absolutely shreds defenses himself and with his passing when they aren't set. He plays crafty, good at getting fouls, knows when players aren't watching him, good first step (but not great) and like I said earlier he can hit the open man and knows when to feed mismatches (bigs on littles inside or littles on bigs outside). He's not great athletically so quicker, faster players can get around him and tall/strong players can get their shot over him/in his face. He has a lot to learn on defense but I think he will improve in time.
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Offensively and defensively he's a fantastic off-ball player. He does the little things: chases rebounds, chases his shots when he thinks they're bad, putbacks, box-out (pretty good for a wing), understands the offense, knows to go to set up plays, knows where everyone else needs be also, knows when to cut to the basket, always ready to receive passes, in the 7SOL Era our offense needed players to be able to "pass or shoot" (understand the offense and where everyone is + anticipate what's going to happen and what you need to do then be able to "pass or shoot" before you even get the ball), McCollum can do that. Defensively he's knows when to get in passing lanes,