Yahoo Sports senior NBA analyst Kevin O’Connor is joined by James Barlowe to discuss the BYU star’s recent play and why he is looking better than advertised. Check out the full conversation on “The Kevin O’Connor Show” and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen.
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Video Transcript
He is such a better playmaker than probably what he was advertised as coming out of high School comes off the AU circuit.
And, uh, he showed you exactly what I think he can become at the next level.
Especially like initiating the offense and the pick and roll.
I want to say, in the first half, he got off to a slow start.
Kind of struggled to create space, create separation, and then they lifted him up.
The midpost, and then he started to see the floor, and then that’s when he got downhill, And then the second half, he had a monster game.
Uh, he controls the pace of the game.
Almost like, its not LeBron level, but you can see that hes very comfortable, like dictating.
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Um, if you send somebody to double-team him, he’s going to find the open guys.
But he threw a number of left-hand passes last night, and the numbers were crazy.
He outscored and out-assisted Clemson alone in the second half.
Like, that’s the tape they’re gonna show on draft night when hes selected 12 Or three, but he was amazing.
I think he’s growing as a playmaker.
And if he gets to that spot on the low block, he’s gonna get to the middle, He’s gonna elevate or he’s gonna draw a foul, and then, if you don’t, He can find guys, like he has college basketball figured out already.
And he’s not even 19 yet.
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He’s not even 19 yet, and I feel like the handle is still loose sometimes.
Like the handle isnt what it will be in 3 years, 4 years, Five years when he’s nearing the prime of his career.
Like he’s gonna get better in those areas and, like, the, The offhand passing, as you mentioned, you know, a right-handed player in the, In the final 5 minutes of the game, you know, he found Kada, BYU’s big forward.
You know, two lob dunks, uh, two lob passes that he made.
Then he had that lefty dish off the isolation on the right side of the floor, Uh, for a dunk, for him.
And dude, I just feel like with AJD Bounce Up, he’s been dominant, scoring so far out of pick and roll.
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He’s 19 of 34 on pick-and-rolls, getting to the rim at will.
He’s dominating from the post, 12 of 20.
So far in post-ups, you can kind of, you know, ISOs and post-ups can be in the same category, but in these tough cases, You know, pick-and-roll and ISO post-ups, the dude looks very, Very comfortable creating in the half-court.
And what’s the hardest thing?
Like you can find guys who dominate in transition on the open floor in college.
But Debo is doing it in half-court play against a set defense in tough games.
Oftentimes down.
I would love for him to be my #1.
I really would, James.
I want him to end up my No.
1.
I don’t know if he will.
Um, but I think he’s checking a lot.
Those boxes.