Re: Best shooter in the draft?

[jwt2@lehigh.edu (jwt2@lehigh.edu)]

>Assuming we keep our pick, a big if considering RP's recent posturing,
>along with the lack of certain depth at the #10 pick, who is the best
>shooter at the projected 7 spot or lower?  Monter's info/projection on the
>ESPN site, might include:
>
>Carter - N. Carolina
>Hughes - Saint Louis
>Garrity - Notre Dame
>Wells - Ball State
>Benjamin - Oregon State
>
>
>My inclination, with the lack of serious talent at the PF/C position, to go
>with a SG/SF, best athlete/shooter available.  For size maybe Garrity, pure
>shooter Benjamin looks very good.
>
>Any draft pros out there want to comment on the shooting abilities of these
>or other players in the draft?

Are you talking about a "shooter", or a "scorer"?  In my opinion there's a
definite difference.  Carter has always been a good "scorer", and his shooting
has improved tremendously over his three years at UNC.  However, i still don't
think he's a great "shooter" yet.  One thing i like about him over the other
guys is that having played in the ACC and going to the final 4 twice, Carter
has been in some big games, whereas the other's havent been in games nearly
the size that Carter has been in.  And also he's obviously the most athletic
player in this bunch.  The bottom line is that he won't be around for the 10th
pick so we don't need to worry too much about it anyway.

Now that i think about it, there's very few guys who i would consider great
shooters in this draft, and the ones that are don't have the other qualities
that would make them top 10 picks.  As a pure "shooter", Shammond Williams is
absolutely sensational, however he's a guy that we'd be looking at for our
second round pick, not our first.

The problem is that there's not as much of an emphasis for todays players to
be good shooters.  College coaches look for athleticism and other skills
besides shooting, figuring that the players will turn into good shooters by
practicing during the season and over the summer.  That's okay if the player
spends time at it, but if he doesn't, and then he comes out early, then the
burden to teach these guys how to shoot suddenly falls upon the NBA teams that
draft them.

Jeff