Dajuan Gordon, let's take a look

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pulitzerdave
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Dajuan Gordon, let's take a look

Post by pulitzerdave » December 31st, 2019, 11:19 am

Who is Dajuan Gordon? That's the question of the season, IMO. Before the season started we knew what we had with our veterans Sneed, Diarra, Mawien and McGuirl. Prize recruit Dajuan Gordon was expected to be an impact player who would add to the mix of experienced players. Some even thought that he was a certain starter. Let's take a look at his season so far through 12 games.


G M FG FGA FG%. 3FG 3FGA 3FG% FT FTA FT% OR DR RPG AST TO STL
2019-20 KSU 12 21 2.5 5.8 43.5 0.8 2.4 34.5 0.5 0.7 75.0 1.5 1.6 3.1 0.6 1.7 1.2
BLK PPG
0.3 6.3

Not bad for a fill-in 20 minutes per game player. But this falls short for a guy who was a 4-star player and Chicago MVP. That's my opinion. Some may differ, but numbers tell part of the story.

The rest of the story has to do with impact, growth and potential.

I've watched every video I could find from Gordon's senior season in high school, with the purpose of trying to understand his game, and why he was highly recruited. What I saw was a player, slight of build, who could do a lot of things on the high school level that would be difficult to do in his first year playing at a D-1 school. His obvious strengths were his athleticism, his relentless activity and his versatility. He plays hard, and plays to win. No doubt about that. But his lack of strength shows up in numerous ways on this level.

Getting to the rim was easy for Gordon a year ago. Not so much now. Currently he lacks the strength and ball handling skills to be an inside scorer like he was in high school. That should improve in a year or two. But how much improvement will be up to Gordon, and what he does in the off season.

Here's what I've noticed about his shot.

The further away from the basket he is, the lower he releases the ball, and the less he jumps. In other words, his 3-point shot is more of a set shot than a jump shot. That's OK if he has the space to shoot, but there are times when a player needs to fire away from that distance when a defender is near, especially when the shot clock is winding down or at the end of a game. Sneed is the best we have at doing that with his high release, and impeccable form. Gordon needs to get stronger, get his release point higher and jump higher on his shots from distance. That too should come with strength and work.

Gordon is shooting 75% from the free throw line, which is good, but here's the weakest stat of all. He's only been to the line 8 times in 12 games. That shows a lack of aggressiveness on the offensive end and probably a lack of confidence in his ability to go inside (a point I've already made). That should also get better by next season.

His 3-point shooting percentage is decent, at 34.5%, but he's relying too much on this part of his game. He's way too athletic to play "spot up shooter" for this team, and have that he his strength.

Gordon's positives are his hustle, his quick hands and his instinct for offensive rebounds. Those things are important contributions and help energize a team. But not enough for a 4-star recruit.

In the videos I watched, he was a get to the rim player who also liked to shoot the three ball. I saw very little of a mid-range game, which I think would be his strength in the coming years. I wish that we could see more of that from him as a college freshman, because that is an area that he could begin to develop and even excel at this year.

I believe that there is a chance he could become a special player, but I'm not sure yet, and I don't think we'll even know the answer to that until next year.

He'll continue to defer to older players, and play a role as an energy guy who can make steals, tip in offensive rebounds and make an occasional 3-pointer, but I don't think he's ready to do much more than that. Maybe that's enough for his freshman year. But I was expecting more.

Puffdad
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Post by Puffdad » December 31st, 2019, 12:05 pm

I think your observations are pretty much spot on Pdave. Can he make the adjustments to D1 basketball? That’s the question. I do think he has the desire, ability, and mental aptitude to do so....But it’s not easy and will take a ton of work. I’m sure he’s pretty shocked at the change in athleticism of everybody at this level.

If you talk to guys who have moved up and played at increasingly higher levels this is what you hear from all of them: The better the level of play the smaller and shorter that the windows of opportunity to do something (like score) become.

IStillLikeHarv
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Post by IStillLikeHarv » December 31st, 2019, 12:18 pm

There are two major factors to his resume as a recruit, and they are not necessarily consistent. Yeah, he was a "four-star" recruit, but that actually meant a Rivals four-star, not a consensus (RSCI) four-star recruit (see link below). The other major factor in his resume was being named the Chicago Sun-Times Player of the Year. That is a prestigious award when you look at the names of the recipients. It was only after that award that Gordon was boosted into the Rivals Top 100, all the way up to #71. Gordon was the absolutely best player on the (undefeated) team that dominated the Chicago Public League, so his award was results-based, but also based on the potential for what he could become down the road due to his athleticism and motor.

One unusual aspect to Gordon as a player is that even in high school he was very much a team player in spite of being head and shoulders better than anyone else playing for Chicago Currie, leading them to a 35-2 record and an undefeated Chicago Public League Championship. He is a guy who doesn't have to score to be effective, and we have seen that already.

One big factor in his playing time at KSU so far is that he is not a point guard, so unless Sneed moves to the four (small ball), Gordon is fighting Sneed and Cartier for minutes at the 2 / 3 spots when a point guard is on the court. McGuirl brings some of the same contributions that Gordon does, so those two compete for minutes as well due to McGuirl's experience edge. There is no doubt that Gordon is still learning the game and developing physically, so I expect him to continue to improve. As for his ceiling, we'll just have to wait and see.

https://sites.google.com/site/rscihoops/home/2019-final

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Post by WichitaCat » December 31st, 2019, 12:43 pm

I was thinking the same about 4* Rodney McGruder as a Freshman in 2009-10. He was fighting for minutes behind JR Dominique Sutton and SR Chris Merriweather. There were times he never even got in the game. His Freshman season averaged 12 mpg 3.9 ppg 2.8 rpg. But that was also on a 29-8 Elite 8 team with Pullen JR and Clemente SR.

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Post by xtrawildcat » December 31st, 2019, 1:28 pm

1. He shoots with the ball in front of the left side of his face and elbow not under the ball. Causes the ball to come off the left side of his hand. I have been surprised how well he has shot it so far. He could be really good when and if his form is corrected.
2. Low release does not bother me as we are seeing that more from guys like s curry. D Gordon has a fairly quick release that will let him get shots off when open.
3. He needs to learn how to finish at the rim as guys like Barry brown did his junior year.
Last edited by xtrawildcat on December 31st, 2019, 2:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by Gorhoops » December 31st, 2019, 1:32 pm

I agree with all of this. And you know what guys, Coach Weber tried to tell us this, but sometimes our optimism might get in the way. If you go back and re-listen to Coach's preseason presser after a few weeks of practice, he basically said DaJuan was workigng hard, but he said every day was new for him and it was just really hard because they aren't used to the workouts and the practices, etc. and his body hurts and aches and he has never done it before. I remember Weber just continually saying "its hard."

On the positive side, from everything I have read/heard, DaJuan wants to be good. I think he will put in the work, both on his body and with his shooting, etc.

One thing is for certain, it is not an effort thing, and honestly, with most young players, I would rather have a high effort kid that needs some polish with his skills than a lazy kid that can stroke it against air.

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Post by Highway26north » December 31st, 2019, 1:42 pm

He doesn't have an attitude and gets constant praise from the coaches for his work ethic. Best of all he has a Motor and that seems to be something that's hard to instill by mere coaching.

Not many guys come out of HS not needing a year or 2 in the weight room. I hadn't picked up on the hand placement on his shots, but that obviously needs attention. That's a little more troubling IMHO as it seems like some guys have a really hard time breaking the shooting form they've thrived on since 3rd grade.

All in all a mixed bag, but far far more positive than negative. We could use 4 or 5 problems like this every year! As Harv points out, in addition to his anticipated development there will probably be more room and minutes for his role next year after Sneed and Diarra are graduated.

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Pick 'Em

Post by tmcats » December 31st, 2019, 2:32 pm

d'gordon's last game was his best. he keeps getting better. hell of an athlete. he'll star here. those who say otherwise bitch about espn plus for a good reason, they're not in the gym watching.
Why is there something rather than nothing?

KsJoey
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Post by KsJoey » December 31st, 2019, 3:04 pm

He reminds me a bit of McGruder as a freshman. Took until his sophmore year for him to start taking some initiative. Definitely didn't happen his freshman year. But I really think Gordon will be an impact guy for us eventually. Most of us can see the potential and are frustrated that we are rarely seeing it on display(offensively). Still glad to have him. Just comes to show why most freshman aren't impact guys in their 1st year, even if they are higher regarded.

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Post by xtrawildcat » December 31st, 2019, 3:22 pm

Also. There is no difference between a high 3 star and a 4 star. Those guys are all good enough to be good to great players. Coaching evaluation and then development has to sort out who is a star and who isn't.

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