[ NCAA - Basketball ] | March Madness

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For the most devout NBA partisans, one of the unsung joys of March Madness is the opportunity to see celebrated players perform in pressure situations against high-quality teams. Two of the college game's most highlighted All-Americans are J.J. Redick from Duke, and Adam Morrison from Gonzaga, both of whom led their respective teams into the Sweet 16.

As significant and dramatic as the rest of the NCAA tournament might be, the true-blue NBA aficionados are less interested in which team emerges as the champion, as they are in how guys like Redick and Morrison might fare in the next level of competition. So, then, based upon the evidence presented in Thursday's games — LSU's 62-54 besting of Duke, and UCLA's dramatic 73-71 win over Gonzaga — here's an evaluation of just how NBA-ready Redick and Morrison are, and are not.

J.J. Redick
Can do: Bury wide open shots (emphasis on "wide open"). Gravitate to unguarded areas in early offense. Use screens fairly well. Set sturdy screens himself when he has to. Make good passes on the move. Play with great intelligence. Box out (with the costly exception of ignoring Glen Davis on the free-throw line in the closing seconds). Switch well on defense. Make admirable attempts to deny his man on defense.

Can't do: Put the ball on the floor against quick defenders — that's because his dribble is much too high. Show any trickery or deception near the basket (he had three layups blocked). Execute convincing ball-fakes. Play in any other gear but slow-motion. Create his own shot. Play defense with intensity. Avoid turning his head on defense.

Must do: Get quicker, faster, stronger — and, above all, get his dribble down to at least mid-thigh level. Quicken his crossover. Develop stylish moves in the paint. Somehow get some liveliness in his body. Learn to get over, around or under screens. Defend.

Prognosis: He's basically a plodder who excelled on a smart team that could take fullest advantage of his minimal skills. At best, Redick is a marginal NBA player, and, indeed, might not even be able to survive in the CBA.

Adam Morrison

Can do: Pull and shoot going both ways, but is more comfortable looking for a shot while moving left. Release his jumpers quickly, with good hand mechanics, and accurately from mid-range as well as long distance. Get his shots away from a puzzling variety of release points. Slither his way through narrow alleys on the baselines. Use his off-arm to effectively protect his dribble. Demonstrate a knack for passing. Finesse his way all around the attack zone, knowing when and where to make his cuts. Make dynamic one-footed changes of direction without the ball. Catch incoming passes with strong, sure hands.

Can't do: Rebound. Play with power. Stretch out and run the court (he runs like his knees are loosely tied together). Even though he jumps around and waves his hand when playing the wing in a zone, he can't guard anybody. Make good decisions on defense. Gain any ground with his patty-cake cross-over dribble.

Must do: Spend the off-season in the weight room until he's tough enough to welcome body contact, especially on defense. Develop an explosive cross-over move and some kind of spin move. Put some more dipsy-doo in his offense, especially in the paint. Play with as much intensity off the ball as he does with the ball. Do his crying in the postgame locker room.

Prognosis: His high shoulders translate into an extended reach and an ability to get his shots away against taller opponents. And he certainly has the athleticism to develop into a mediocre defender. But even players who are much smoother than he is can't survive in The League without a modicum of strength. Lacking the zippity quickness of, say, a George Gervin, Morrison won't be able to avoid getting blasted when he takes the ball into the lane — so he must at least develop enough muscle mass to take a hit and survive. If he works hard on his flaws, Morrison might some day become a double-digit scorer in the NBA. But to compare him with Larry Bird is heresy.


In conclusion ...
Against fellow collegians, Redick was able to motor around screens, fan and receive inside-out passes from his bigs and his point guard and make his straight-line, straight-up-and-down drives hoopward with considerable success. However, against NBA competition, his smarts will be rendered superfluous by his high handle and his astounding lack of foot speed.

The quick, springy and long-armed defensive rotations of the NBA's bigs will instantly erase any shots that Redick might attempt in the lane. Even the worst NBA defenders will contain him, and the league's most impotent scorers will have career games against Redick's pitiful defense.

Congratulations to J.J. for a super-duper career against immature undergraduates whose coaches were easily outmaneuvered by Coach K. Here's hoping that Redick majored in an academic subject that will provide him and his with a viable livelihood.

Like Redick, Morrison had enough stuff to excel in a boys' game, but the NBA is for men only (except for an occasional man-child like LeBron). Like Redick, Morrison's off-the-ball movement and bull's-eye shooting versus largely inferior and dull-witted opponents was sufficient to make him an "all-everything."

Morrison certainly has more NBA-level skills than Redick, but his lack of power, quickness and adjustability are serious obstacles that will be ruthlessly exploited. He does have the size (and the shoulders!), the athleticism and the quick-release shots to eventually find a niche on some downtrodden team that can give him on-the-job training. But his trickless game translates into a long and arduous apprenticeship.