Willie Warren one of the top guards road towards the NBA Draft
Willie Warren has encountered lots of ups and downs in his road towards the 2010 NBA Draft.
He has met some awful losses in the early stage of the season; he was benched for one whole game without valid reasons, was once tagged as immature by his coach, and has also incurred an irritating ankle injury. Last season was indeed a very frustrating one for the very talented sophomore.
Warren’s performance on the court was really affected by these unfortunate events. He has dropped his numbers in almost all categories. His percentage from the perimeter has gone down by 5%, his percentage from beyond the arc has slipped by 6%, and his turnover rate has virtually doubled.
Undoubtedly, Warren’s role in Oklahoma’s offense has evolved tremendously. Last season, he was just a secondary source of the team’s offense; but this season, he became an instant go-to-guy of his team. He became one of the focal sources of his team’s offense.
Despite of this, he has still showed some weaknesses in his game that includes his jump-shot; he is having difficulties in knocking down the ball and converting jumpers in contrast to how he performed last season. Warren also has poor shot selection which proved to be one of his greatest disadvantages in his bid in the upcoming NBA draft.
Although he is an average shooter, he needs to improve in selecting right shots for himself and his teammates. He must not force the issue to orchestrate a decent play for his team’s favor.
On a positive note, Warren has definitely showed some improvement in his ability to convert shots off the dribble, which he needs to get used to because of his new found role to the team. His percentage from his pull-up jumpers is not bad at 44%.
This is one aspect of his game that NBA scouts could score as an advantage for him. This will absolutely bring excitement to the type of play of whichever team that will pick him.
There is no denying that Willie Warren has great potential as an offense threat. Despite all of his weaknesses, his skills put him ahead of the pack, reminding the scouts on how well he could play if he would be able to train and gain experience.
To add to his list of strengths, Warren possesses a fantastic first step, and is greatly strong with the ball; he also has adequate body control and agility that enables him to find easy baskets across any busy lane.
He also makes contact absolutely well around the rim, drawing fouls at a concrete rate, and completing athletically with marvelous strokes and instincts.
In here, there is no doubt that he has absolute high-skill rate; he just needs to work on the consistency of his game to be a more competent player. If he would be able to work out all these things, and complete the puzzle of his inconsistencies, there is no doubt that he will not just be an average player; he would be a big threat to this team’s opponents.
The 2010 NBA draft is just around the corner, and NBA scouts would definitely weigh both strengths and weaknesses of an apprentice like Warren.
As for the NBA draft scenario for Warren, the best thing that could happen to him is to be picked by a reputable team and equally reputable coach who can bring out the best in him.
There is no doubt that Warren ranks as one of the top guards in this year’s draft roster. He has great talents and scouts just need to take some time in training him should they pick him.
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