Ben McLemore
Position: SG
Hgt: 6'5"
Wgt: 189
Age: 20
Projected Draft Number: #1 NBADraft.net/#2 Draftexpress.com
College: Kansas
College Stats 2012-13: 32.2min 15.9pts (.495FG% .420TPt% 870FT%) 5.2reb 2.0ast 1.0stl 0.7blk 2.1TO
Baja's Review: McLemore, a sophmore that actually played only one year of college basketball due to being academically ineligible his freshman year, played in 37 games, averaged 32.2 MPG, 15.9 PPG, while shooting 49.5% overall, and 42.0% from the three. He's an excellent freethrow shooter averaging 87% from the line. He also averaged 5.2 RPG and 1 steal a game. It should be pointed out that McLemore played PF in highschool, which hardly prepared him for the SG position he was to play at Kansas. He comes from a dirt poor family where he often shared a bed with 3 other family members. He's also had his share of troubles, getting dismissed from Oak Hill for violating team rules, and being arrested for missing a court appearance. He's an amazing athlete with great end to end court speed. At times he appears to be effortlessly floatiing across the floor. He has explosive leaping ability as validated by his 42 inch vertical he posted at the combiine. He has a picture perfect jumpshot that has been compared to Ray Allen's. As a spot up shooter, he's deadly, but coming off screens, or shooting off the dribble leaves much to be desired. His ballhandling, while not terrible, is still a work in progress, and he seldom gets to the basket off the dribble. His stop and pop did improve as the year went along, and one has to believe that once in the NBA where he can constantly work on his game he'll become a much more versatile player on the offensive side of the ball. Defensively, when he applied himself, he was very good. He has excellent lateral quickness and the ability to keep just about anyone in front of him. He lacks experience on the defensive side of the ball on the perimeter. That should come with good coaching. He has a good, but not great wingspan that should help him defensively. In a normal year he wouldn't be considered for the number one pick in the draft, but its possible that some team falls in love with his potential, which is large, and picks him. One final note! McLemore tends to disappear at times during the game. Some scouts question his heart and desire. I admit, that there were times I was screaming at my TV. He has so much potential, and one has to wonder if he has the fire to reach it. Of all the players in this draft, McLemore has the most potential to be a star.
Capt.'s Review: Has been a consensus top-2 pick since early in the season. McLemore is an incredible athlete with good but not great size for the SG position and a good outside shot. Because of his shooting, he is often compared with Ray Allen. However, he has a disturbing tendency to get completely lost in games and an annoying habit of going into the corner and staying there for the entire offensive possession while the other four guys on his team try to score. McLemore does not have a good handle, is not great at driving to the basket, and didn't show much on defense. I'm quietly concerned about his potential and curious whether I'm not seeing it or whether it's all hype.
Gilles's Review: Redshirt freshman. Is 6'5" tall with 6'8" wingspan. Great run and jump athlete but lacks agility somewhat. Excellent shooter (.420 from 3, .870 from FT line), knows how to move without the ball and get open. Doesn't have good handle, which makes him a bit TO prone (14.2 TOV%, when off-the-ball players usually have something around 9-11%). From time to time suffers from "Peja syndrome" - if you stick quicker player on him and deny the ball, McLemore becomes invisible as he can't punish smaller guys with strong drives or in the post. Average rebounder. Good finisher. Wasn't a good defender in college (Travis Releford always drew tougher assignment), but might have been instructed to play like that due to energy taxing offensive role. Average rebounder at best. Was a redshirt freshman so had a chance to learn how his team plays for a year, and Bill Self had a year to design a tailor-made role for him. Will be a SG only and have to rely on others to facilitate his offense, defense might never get above average.
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