NBA Draft 2011: Top 10 Prospects with the Craziest Shot Selection
This may be the first draft in recent history where an NCAA player has had their shooting range coined and all other players shots measured in comparison to them. Even though the three-point line was pushed back a foot a couple seasons ago to 20’9”, it doesn’t seem to have impacted three-point percentages too drastically, or prevent some players from launching well beyond that distance. While it may seem crazy to traditional basketball onlookers, to those respective players, its just another shot they practice and can pull out when they need.
Others have a habit of being very confident in their shooting abilities, relying on their muscle memory to overcome a hand in their face, pressure from a defender, or having to contort their body in traffic to get a reasonable shot. Every player has a unique style, and this list might be one of the more unique list of NBA prospects who don’t mind pressure or distance when it comes to shooting, as long as it goes in.
That said, SwishScout.com presents “Top 10 Prospects with the Craziest Shot Selection.”
Note: On every player, you can click their name or country to take you to a more detailed profile for an extensive scouting report and highlights on the respective prospect.
Honorable Mention: Brandon Knight (Kentucky), Josh Selby (Kansas)
10. Davis Bertans (Latvia)
1 of 10What makes his shots crazy?
Bertans is a fearless shooter who will take a shot with a foot of space just because he has great confidence in his stroke thinks he can make just about anything. Sometimes it’s a deadly weapon in his game to bury a team, other times it can bury his own if they are wayward attempt. When I got to see him play in the 2011 Nike Hoop Summit, the majority of his shots tend to come from half court ball rotation or coming off ball screens, often a good 24 feet away from the hoop.
He was taking attempts close to the NBA three-point line, and with that range, he has convinced many that the professional distance is well within his range. Doesn’t matter if there is pressure in his grill either, as the youngster is supremely confident in his ability to get a shot off with his high release point at 6’10”.
9. Norris Cole (Cleveland State)
2 of 10What makes his shots crazy?
Cole is a blur on the court who can seemingly get whatever shot he needed in the Horizon league to give the Viking the best shot at victory, Cole hit a number of big shots during his Cleveland State career and is a supremely confident shooter with deep range. The 6’1” scoring guard was unfazed by pressure and tight defense all season, using his quickness to create space and get off a quick shot before the D could recover on him.
The highlight below doesn’t do justice to how big and difficult the shots he hit during his career were, but it is indicative of the ice water that was in his veins during big stretches of the game, and enabled him to hit shots he normally wouldn’t have any business knocking down.
8. LaceDarius Dunn (Baylor)
3 of 10What makes his shots crazy?
While more of a pure scorer than shooter, LaceDarius won’t hesitate to take any look that comes his way. As the predominant focal point of the Baylor offense, Dunn was counted on to be the shot taker and maker during the entire game, and that gave him the green light to put up any shot he thought was makeable.
He’s a streaky shooter who can get hot an go unconscious, but the flip side is that he can go cold and make the rim look like it has a covering over it. Had a few games in his NCAA career where he took over contests late with his pure competitiveness and knocked down a string of clutch shots down the stretch to carry Baylor to victory.
7. Kemba Walker (Connecticut)
4 of 10Kemba Walker (Connecticut)
What makes his shots crazy?
No one in college basketball this past season had a better season than Kemba Walker, who absolutely came out of nowhere for a UConn team that overachieved during the postseason play. Walker fueled the Husky’s charge with his breakneck speed and crisp jumper that killed defenses on the way to bringing home the NCAA title.
Not a great shooter, but an unmatched gamer at the NCAA level who raised his play when the game was on the line and willed his team to victory. Pressured or not, when it was crunch time, you could count on just about any look from Walker going in with great certainty.
6. Marshon Brooks (Providence)
5 of 10What makes his shots crazy?
One of the hot names that is seeing his stock raise heading into June, Brooks is a volume scorer that was the heart and soul of the Friars scoring charge. The lanky scoring guard took a number of shots his senior year with a high degree of difficulty, often having to isolate and breakdown the other teams best defender or a double team to get his during the course of the game.
With his length, solid athleticism, and unparalleled confidence shooting the ball, Brooks killed Big East defenses with his shot making ability. Whether it was on the run, with a hand up in his face, or a difficult contested turnaround jumper, Brooks was money as a scorer regardless of the shots he was given.
5. Demetri McCamey (Illinois)
6 of 10Demetri McCamey (Illinois)
What makes his shots crazy?
McCamey got off to a hot start in his senior season, draining multiple threes and shooting the ball better than he ever had in his NCAA career. Despite having his production taper off in the latter half of the season, he still managed to shoot 45.1 percent from three-point range. The compact guard managed to pull off multiple game winners through his career, often contested looks under duress that made his shot making ability look immaculate during crunch time.
For someone who has unimpressive strength (unable to lift the 185-lb. bench press bar once during the NBA Draft combine), he sure has incredibly deep range that stretches out to a good 25 feet from the basket.
4. Shelvin Mack (Butler)
7 of 10What makes his shots crazy?
Mack was a gutsy shot maker during the Bulldogs run to their second consecutive NCAA Championship Game. His sweet spot was a dead on three-pointer from the top of the arc from about 21’ to 26’, and he made a lot of them. Shelvin was an indispensable piece to Butlers inspired run and knocked down countless big shots on their way to history, usually from that range.
Mack loves to come off the high pick and roll to take the first available look he has, and did he ever make it count. The highlights below doesn’t do justice to his body of work during the NCAA postseason, but it gives you an idea of how big and difficult the shots he hit down the stretch were, especially against Pittsburgh, Florida and VCU.
3. Jordan Hamilton (Texas)
8 of 10What makes his shots crazy?
Probably the takes home the title in this draft in terms of being able to take and make widely considered ‘poor’ shots more than any other prospect. Hamilton is a very confident scorer in the mold of Ricky Davis and has taken few shots that he didn’t like. Really raised his game and production during the past NCAA season, but some of his shots would have made JR Smith cringe. Hamilton can get hot after seeing the ball go through the basket and tends to ‘heat check’ more than he should, feeling that there is little difference whether or not he’s pressured.
Unfortunate that highlights or mixes from Texas are unavailable on YouTube, but if you check out some of the Texas games front his past season, you will understand the shot selection issue. He makes very difficult shots with good defender contesting his shot, but the flip side of that is it just encourages him to take even more outlandish looks in the flow of a game.
2. Jimmer Fredette (BYU)
9 of 10What makes his shots crazy?
When you have ‘Jimmer Range’, you know that you have some serious depth on your jumper that extends well beyond the 23’9” mark of the NBA arc. Fredette became ‘America’s Boyfriend’ during the NCAA basketball season with his ability to nail uncanny looks from the midcourt decals. Multiple teams got ‘Jimmered’ by the BYU star's scoring outbursts and insane displays of deadeye shooting from the parking lot. Easily one of the best shooters in the Draft, but everyone is curious to see if he can get away with the deep shooting antics in the NBA. Since he revolutionized ‘deep range’ and ‘crazy shots’ during his high profile senior year, shouldn’t he be number one on this list? Oh Contraire.
1. Andrew Goudelock (Charleston)
10 of 10What makes his shots crazy?
As I have been hearing from many Charleston fans via Twitter after having profiled his game recently, ‘Jimmer wishes he had Goudelock range.’ The senior star from the Southern Conference is the reigning NCAA three-point champion during the end of season festivities, and he finished his career second in 3-point makes in the SoCon behind only Stephen Curry.
Goudelock made 116 three-point field goals his senior year, which was second in the NCAA by a single three-pointer and finished four ahead of Jimmer. Perhaps even more impressive, he shot better than Jimmer beyond the arc, making 40.6 percent of his looks. You could make the argument that Fredette did it against tougher competition in the Mountain West, but looking at what Stephen Curry did during his NCAA career to that conference and how it translated to NBA success leaves a good precedent for the Charleston star.
The attention grabber when you watched the Cougars play during the season (and not just in these highlights) was how ‘deep,’ ‘contested,’ and ‘bizarre’ the shots Goudelock attempted, but perhaps even crazier was the fact that he could routinely knock down shots from 30 feet or further. Jimmer was king of NBA range and beyond (23’9" to about 29"), but Goudelock owned the absurd range of 30’ to half court during the NCAA season. For that, Goudelock has the craziest shot selection of any player in the 2011 NBA Draft in my mind.
