June 17, 2014

This gesture works better on good three point shooters.

Despite the tattoo, Denson is not a creator for others on his team. He will occasionally handle the ball in a lead guard role, but he does so to score. And while he defends on the ball with the same heart as he scores, he tends to lapses off of it. He is instead a scorer, and an effective one, if highly limited.

Denson is actually very one dimensional. That one dimension is left handed layups. That one dimension is coming almost every trip down. And yet it works so very well for him. Denson is all about the runners and the bankers, and tries to drive into the basket to take them whenever he can. When he does drive, he always always always drives left. And when he drives left, he finishes left. He's going left, and everyone knows it. And yet it works.

Small but quick, Denson is able to pull this off with good body control, agility, and great touch. He has runners, up-and-unders and a very high giant killer of a floater. His size should be a big problem around the rim, but Denson will go as high off the glass as he needs to. He has a mostly good handle in traffic, with step-overs and the splitting of double teams and the like, and although he can lose the handle at times, his turnover numbers are very acceptable for a 6'2 scorer and offensive focal point. The aggression is relentless, the heart big, the skills big.

Unfortunately, Denson really lacks for a jumpshot. He really needs a pull-up in his driving game, but he hasn't got one. He hasn't a catch and shoot jumpshot, a shot off the dribble, three point range, or two point range. It's just not there, and while it doesn't stop him scoring, it does stop him reaching his potential. As good as Denson is at what he does, he is still a scoring guard in a point guard's body who can't shoot.

Denson plays big, plays hard, plays tough, plays like he cares. Denson is very likeable. But he needs that shot.

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