NBA Comparison: Marcus Thornton

Strengths: Lefty off-guard with a nice shooting stroke … Good scorer that can put points on the board in a variety of ways … Confident in isolation situations … No hesitation before pulling up for a jumper off the dribble … Not the best ball-handler, but has an explosive first step that he uses to get to the rim … Looks for contact … Gets to the free throw line a lot (5.5 FTA per game in 2010-2011) and is pretty efficient once he gets there (81.1%) … Great outside shooter with NBA range … Good form if he gets himself squared up to the basket … Is active off the ball … Skilled at coming off of screens and setting himself up for an open shot … Has the potential to be a solid catch-and-shoot player at the next level …

Weaknesses: Poor decision maker … Turnover-prone … Takes a high number of ill-advised shots … Forces a lot of off-balances shot-attempts, usually while being heavily guarded … Only an average passer … Coaches will not be asking him to play the point guard position and rightfully so … Not an effective defender … Doesn’t put up a whole lot of resistance, even against the weaker Conference USA … Hasn’t really had the chance to prove himself against strong competition …

Overall: Hurtt is a solid scorer at the college level, but he’ll have a lot of trouble translating to the NBA … His best bet is to find a niche as a spot-up shooter for a team that could use instant offense off the bench …

Tyler Ingle 6/20/11