NBA Comparison: Zabian Dowdell

Strengths: Jeremy is deceptively quick and athletic … Noticeably has a quick first step … Has nice touch around basket, he’s very crafty with the ball, excellent at changing direction … He sees a lane and takes it, and he’s not afraid to get fouled …  Can adjust his body and shot in mid air, absorbs contact well …  Uses on-ball screens very well with an ability to explode to the hoop, solid handle, above average crossover and shows the ability to split double teams with ease …  Can get in the paint and make plays for others …  Plays solid off-ball defense, ability to see man and ball … Great awareness and reaction time … Very effective in transition … Good lateral movement when playing man to man perimeter defense and high awareness when playing help defense … Has decent strength with long, solidly built arms … Works hard at his game … Has shown the ability to step up in big games and make clutch plays (hit a game winner to open the season) …

Weakness:  Lacks a true position … Is not a natural playmaker but plays the position out of necessity at times for Harvard … Not a true point guard, and plays off the ball more effectively and often … His dribble is too high making it easy for opponents to strip the ball away … More of a SF in a 6-4 body … Doesn’t seem to have much of a mid-range game, has ability to shoot the 3 but definitely not a strength … Not a pure shooter …  Does not seem confident at all when taking a jump shot, passes on wide open shots at times which he won’t be able to do at the next level … Really needs to develop a pull-up or step back jumper, also has an unorthodox form on his shot … His ISO skills are just average despite a quick first step … Much more effective spotting up than creating shots off the dribble … When fatigued tends to force the issue, turn the ball over, and take questionable shots … Plays in a very weak conference so his lack of competition and experience on a big stage is a hurdle …

Notes: As one of the most successful Asian Americans in Division 1 basketball history, there is a lot of interest in him … Has been featured in Time magazine and numerous publications … Intrigue from NBA teams could become enhanced due to his marketing capacity … And scouts don’t rule out the possibility that he will be drafted …

Jonathan Wasserman 2/19/10

NBADraft.net Interview