June 16, 2014

"Guys and dooooolllllls......"

It took a while for John Bohannon to find his place at UTEP. Historically, he was a poor decision maker who didn't always play as hard as he needed to, especially since his coach was Tim Floyd. As a senior, however, Bohannon pieced it together and became an effective two-way player.

A good athlete with wiry strength, Bohannon was at one point last season UTEP's leader in assists, a testament to both his skill level (and, if we're honest, their season-undermining lack of guard depth). He led them in blocks, rebounds and efficiency, whilst third in points, a rare shining light in a senior season full of turmoil, and perhaps a surprising one given the frustrations and inconsistencies earlier in his career. His length and lateral quickness help him stay in front of guards on switches or on perimeter orientated big men, one of the more agile big men on this list. The trade-off is of course being a bit thin and not having the frame to do much about this, which inevitably leads to him being pushed around at times. Nevertheless, Bohannon's athleticism is often a mismatch against opposing centres, one he has learnt how to exploit.

Bohannon's offense is based around the jumpshot, a mid range jumpshot with a decent release that is available to his team every time down. For some reason this is not mirrored in his free throw stroke, which is rather mediocre, yet for Bohannon to shoot the best part of 58% whilst being primarily a jumpshooter speaks to its effectiveness. He is a mismatch, face-up de facto five, much too slight to be a banger but with the fluidity to drive to the rim from the foul line area. Bohannon will also spot up from three if left open, although the 4-25 he shot in his career from there speaks to his lack of consistency from that range, for which he seems to lack the legs. When nearer the perimeter, Bohannon is a good face-up passer that can hit a cutter. And when in the post, Bohannon will take a turnaround pretty much every time, and finishes well in transition and off drop-off passes, an athlete and finesse player rather than a powerful one.

Those same athletic traits benefit Bohannon on the defensive end, where he does a very good job of using his lateral quickness to stay in front of guards on switches or when in a zone. He keeps the ball alive and steps out to defend the perimeter well, whilst also using his length to defend the rim and deflect all around the arc. The downside is that his lack of strength is an eminently attackable problem, and Bohannon just cannot bang back. He will try, yet it means little, and he can be gone through with relative ease. Bohannon does not back down all that often and will try to counter it by flopping, yet by the very nature of his body type, it is always going to be a problem.

Ideally, Bohannon would be the power forward alongside a big strong genuine centre. He was at times last year alongside Vince Hunter and Matt Wilms. However, in a small ball lineup. Bohannon has much to offer as a mismatch five, and hopefully he continues the development he showed as an upper classman. It was not a big statistical improvement, but it was there.

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