June 18, 2014

"It's not enough. I need a tie and some shades. And I need them now."

Kyle Casey was Harvard's best player, but he could only be their best player for half the game, because he just cannot stop fouling. His foul rates are awful and simply never got better. It is frustrating, and it is also confusing, because outside of the fouls, Casey is a high IQ player.

Casey has a pro body, with a good frame, upper body strength and a long wingspan, added to a tremendous vertical leap. He runs in a rather loafing way that belies this athleticism, but it is there when he needs it, and he makes highlight reel routine plays fairly regularly. He is a fairly versatile offensive player, lacking true three point range at the moment but with a decent two point jumpshot (both set and pull-up) that he should be able to extend out, one on which he jumps extremely high and one on which he will fare much better once he stops occasionally shooting on the way down. Casey can also take the ball in the post for a right handed hook, and with his athleticism can shoot over any other wing matchup. With his springiness, he can get to the basket from mid-range and be a lob threat back door, and while handling the ball very rarely, he nevertheless gets so many touches facing the basket that he has become a good feeder of the post and cutter hitter.

Defensively, Casey defends the post and paint quite a lot at this level, which likely will not stay the case, yet he does so to decent effect, using his mobility and length to be a pest even when undersized. Ultimately, though, Casey's problem is that he just grabs everyone. He bumps. He gets in the way, hits cutters, and is just waiting to be attacked defensively. It is a glaring hole that remains a glaring hole, moreso than the skillset, which is fairly well rounded if unspectacular. And it's frustrating. But then no one ever left college completely ready, so it's a workable problem.

(Ignore the cheating scandal. Not even relevant.)

Read full article