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Strengths: Great athlete capable of jumping with the best of them … Owns a great motor, constantly moves without the ball in his hands … Underrated passer who possesses good court vision and the willingness to pass to open teammates … Has a solid looking turnaround jumper that he can make with some regularity … Shows the ability to catch and shoot from mid-range 16 feet from the basket … Solid shooting mechanics demonstrate good elevation and a high release … Does a great job of creating contact in the post to earn free throw opportunities … A solid free throw shooter … Uses his body control and soft touch to create in traffic around the basket … Has shown the ability to hit the occasional three point shot … Defensively, Alexander shows the promise to develop into a competent defender with his quick hands and shot blocking presence … Owns a great work ethic and appears very coachable, as he has responded in a big way in his first season with respected Head Coach Bob Huggins … Doesn’t back down under pressure and wants the ball in hands in crucial moments … Athleticism enables him to finish with flash in transition or around the basket … Possesses quality upper body strength to absorb contact and finish … Uses his length and decently quick first step to drive past slower-footed defenders … Has a tremendous amount of growth to develop - despite being a junior he has yet to scratch the ceiling of his potential …
Weaknesses: Ball handling ability still requires a good deal of improvement and is mediocre for the small forward position … While he shows promise in putting together solid looking crossovers, he still lacks the ability to consistently create shots for himself … Too often settles for turnaround jumpers or mid-range shots instead of taking the ball to the basket … Has three point range, but remains a streaky and unreliable shooter at best … Must improve moving lateral on defense as he often gets beat off the dribble by opposing forwards … Some question his commitment to defense … With his explosive leaping ability he gets boxed out at times and outworked on the glass … Back to the basket moves are undeveloped, which prevent him from takinge advantage of mismatches … Struggles to match the physicality of opposing defenders, but this only seems to occur when he has to defend power forwards … A tweener on some levels, as his defensive ability is more suited for the power forward and his offense is better suited for the small forward position … Can be foul prone at times, especially on the defensive end, as he tends to bite on pump fakes when going for the block … At this point it seems as though he is relying too much on his athleticism instead of fundamentals or thinking the game through … Still learning what he can do on the floor offensively and doesn’t have a great deal of variety when it comes to scoring … Is an unknown on many levels and will be a high risk high reward pick that could take a little time to payoff in the NBA …
Matthew Maurer - 6/10/08
| Statistics |
|
SEASONS
|
GP
|
FG%
|
3PT%
|
FT%
|
SPG
|
BPG
|
RPG
|
APG
|
PPG
|
|
2005-06 West Virginia
|
10
|
50.0
|
00.0
|
62.5
|
0.1
|
0.7
|
0.7
|
0.2
|
1.3
|
|
2006-07 West Virginia
|
36
|
42.5
|
30.5
|
63.6
|
0.6
|
1.1
|
4.3
|
1.9
|
10.3
|
|
2007-08 West Virginia
|
36
|
46.2
|
26.8
|
81.4
|
0.7
|
1.5
|
6.4
|
2.4
|
16.9
|
|
DIV I Totals
|
82
|
45.0
|
25.2
|
71.3
|
0.6
|
1.2
|
4.8
|
1.9
|
12.1
|
|