The 2023 NBA Draft is now simply days away. And to arrange for the NBA’s model of a midsummer traditional, we sat down with NBA draft prospect Ricky Council IV to interrupt down some tape and be taught extra in regards to the soon-to-be rookie’s psychological course of.
After incomes American Athletic Convention (AAC) Sixth Man of the Yr (6MOY) honors in 2021-22, Council joined forces with head coach Eric Musselman and the Arkansas Razorbacks in 2022-23. Since then, Council produced a monster junior yr that has seen him soar up the ranks of NBA draft boards (at present rating thirty seventh on Swap Idea’s 2023 NBA Draft Large Board).
Some of the noticeable areas of enchancment for Council between his sophomore and junior marketing campaign was the advance in his drive sport. As Stephen Shea famous in his e-book, “Basketball Analytics: Spatial Monitoring,” group driving effectivity is likely one of the most essential indicators for team-wide offensive effectivity. So, this aspect of the sport must be an integral a part of the calculus when projecting a prospect’s NBA success.
As a sophomore, Council was sturdy, however not but sturdy sufficient to at all times be capable to transfer defenders as he was going downhill. And his steadiness and management whereas navigating by means of site visitors within the lane left one thing to be desired. Because of this (as you will notice within the first two clips of the montage under), a lot of his drives ended with pilfers or off-balance finishes.
Nonetheless, regardless of spacing situations worsening at Arkansas (they have been 317th out of 358 groups in 3-point proportion this previous season), Council managed to considerably degree up his drive sport by including energy and bettering the reactivity of his deal with.
“We labored quite a bit on excessive and low pick-ups this yr,” Council defined in an interview with SB Nation. “That basically helped me quite a bit. Plus, I received stronger, even stronger than I used to be at Wichita State. I knew I needed to work on the abilities of a excessive and low pickup as a result of I knew I used to be the group’s main scorer, and there was going to be loads of defenses collapsing on my drives. I needed to work on these expertise, or else I used to be going to get ripped a ton or referred to as for lots of prices.”
In that final clip within the montage above, you actually get a way of how a lot the sport is slowing down in Council’s thoughts and the way he’s capable of adapt his conduct to his particular opponent.
“I attempted doing a straight line drive early on this sport, however Texas A&M does a extremely good job of collapsing within the paint on drives,” Council defined. “So, this time, I simply tried my finest to get to the center as a result of I’m actually snug from that a part of the ground. I used my left-to-right crossover to get to the center. From there, I knew the low man was going to step up for the cost – Texas A&M likes to attempt to draw a ton of prices – so the dump-off to Jordan [Walsh] was wide-open.”
Talking of driving, one other important a part of the sport of basketball is the power to increase/capitalize on offensive benefits. This typically comes within the type of driving closeouts. And this previous season, Council was one of many main specialists within the nation on this apply.
“After I get the ball, the ground seems fairly wide-open. The spacing can be even higher if Walsh was within the dunker spot on the alternative nook. In my head, I’m considering, ‘I do know I’ve a one-dribble pull-up if I need it. I may snake-dribble and get into my floater. I may drive straight into the empty area and assault.’”
Council continued, “I find yourself driving the ball. I used to be capable of drop the ball off to Makhel [Mitchell], however I observed two folks working to Mitchell and Davonte Davis wide-open out of the nook of my eye. So, I simply kicked it to him and hoped for the perfect.”
Council credit his means to make these split-second choices to 2 issues: 1) the leap cross (keep in mind, these are cool!) and a pair of) understanding the place everyone seems to be on the ground always.
“I’ve at all times heard that leap passing is unhealthy,” Council mentioned throughout a Zoom interview with SB Nation. “And to be trustworthy, early in my profession, it was unhealthy for me. I had loads of turnovers from attempting to leap cross. Nevertheless it’s one thing I’ve labored on, and as unhealthy as some folks say it may be, it is extremely useful for occasions like this. On this scenario, if I didn’t leap cross, I most likely would have traveled.”
“It’s additionally about protecting my eyes open whereas I drive and ensuring I do know the place all my teammates are on the ground always, even when our spacing was unhealthy at occasions. On this scenario, I simply learn the place all people was. Two defenders ran to at least one man, so I simply kicked the ball to the man who was wide-open.”
Together with attacking within the halfcourt, Council is a drive in transition (each as a scorer and facilitator).
“I like these sorts of conditions the place I see an open ground and I do know I can assault the rim and make some sort of play. That’s my boy Bobby [Pettiford] standing in entrance of me, so I needed to assault him,” Council joked. “I observed that the left aspect was utterly empty in entrance of me and that there have been solely two smaller guys again in transition for Kansas, so I knew I needed to make a play.”
As we’ve established, Council is an avid leap cross fanatic, and he couldn’t cross up the chance to level out how useful that instrument was throughout this sequence.
“This play is one other instance of why leap passing might be good. It provides you time to see what the protection goes to do. Right here, I used my in-and-out behind-the-back dribble to govern the protection. If [Joseph] Yesufu would have slid in to assist on Walsh, I’d have kicked the ball over to [Anthony] Black within the nook for the wide-open three. However he didn’t. So as an alternative, Walsh was wide-open beneath the rim. He was so wide-open he most likely may have simply stood there a second earlier than dunking it. Like I mentioned, leap passing – not all coaches prefer it – however it actually helps at occasions!”
On the NBA Draft Mix, Council measured in with a 6’9 wingspan and posted a 37-inch max vertical leap. His mixture of size and verticality, coupled along with his sturdy understanding of defensive positioning, makes him an impactful rim protector/off-ball presence for his place.
“[In the first clip,] I knew I used to be guarding McCullar – who’s a fairly good shooter, however not Gradey Dick degree. So, I used to be decided to assist all the best way on the rim. Plus, I trusted that Black was going to rotate to McCullar within the nook if the cross got here there. I overhelped as a result of I knew it was an organized scramble scenario, which is one thing we work on on a regular basis in apply.”
“[In the second clip,] if I used to be guarding a much bigger man, I most likely wouldn’t have dedicated a lot to overhelping as a result of that leaves me weak to the dump-off cross beneath the rim. However I knew that [Dajuan] Harris – who’s such a wise/clever level guard – knew that dumping the ball off to Yesufu – who’s six foot – wouldn’t have been an excellent scenario within the paint for them. So, I absolutely dedicated to serving to there, utilizing my size to trouble a possible layup or cross to the nook.”
With the ability to get some paint safety out of your non-centers is a large worth add for any group, particularly those that subject a beginning large man who doesn’t present a lot vertical resistance on their very own. It’s additionally a beautiful signal for his group protection transferring ahead that he’s snug trusting his teammates to make the right rotations behind him. Nonetheless, the true hallmark of Council’s protection is his knack for protecting the ball in entrance of him.
Together with the bodily instruments we’ve already highlighted, Council is supplied with fluid hips and fast ft, which allows him to tango with most perimeter gamers. The final clip we checked out with him is the proper illustration of these options, in addition to a declaration of the fearlessness he possesses when defending the purpose of assault.
“Tristen Newton was their finest participant. I believe he was their main scorer final yr. He was on the prime of our scouting report. I by no means actually had the prospect to protect the opposite group’s finest participant as a result of Dexter Dennis – 2021-22 American Athletic Convention DPOY – was our greatest defender. So, I simply needed to point out I may guard him. I noticed my coach over there [Isaac Brown], and I believe he was sort of nervous like, ‘Don’t choose up a foul. Don’t choose up a foul.’ I simply needed to point out him I may do it.”
Council certainly confirmed him what he was able to along with his protection on that possession. And he intends to do the identical factor on the subsequent degree, with no matter group finally ends up choosing him this Thursday.
