point guards
Left: Harrison [Clay Jackson]. Center: [Fuller]. Right: Ennis and Jordan [Nate Shron/Getty]
Just about the most closely watched thing of this basketball season, right after McGary's clinical charts and forwards moving backwards on contact, has been the play of Derrick Walton. Reasons: here played Trey Burke, a couple of disappointing performances in the late non-conf schedule, Trey Burke used to play that spot, and because we read his recruiting profile and thought hey, freshman Trey Burke!
This weekend we got a chance to see Walton play against another of the highly rated point guards from his class. Granted, Bronson Koenig was on the floor for all of four minutes on Saturday, but that's 240 unheard-of seconds on a Bo Ryan team. It was also excuse enough to compare Walton's learning curve so far to the other 2013-14 freshman PGs.
Here's the class:
| NAME | Sch | Ht | Wt | Stars* | Rk** | ORtg | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andrew Harrison | Kentucky | 6'5" | 205 | 5-5-5 | 1 | 109.1 | Been improving lately. |
| Kasey Hill | Florida | 6'1" | 160 | 5-5-5 | 2 | 99.7 | Splits PG time with sr PG/SG |
| Terry Rozier | L'ville | 6'0" | 170 | 5-4-5 | 3 | 116.3 | Playing SG |
| Tyler Ennis | Syracuse | 6'2" | 180 | 5-5-5 | 5 | 122.4 | Is good at basketball |
| Rysheed Jordan | St.Johns | 6'4" | 185 | 5-5-4 | 5 | 93.5 | In and out of the lineup |
| Anthony Barber | NC St | 6'2" | 165 | 4-4-5 | 5 | 99.0 | Starter since 5th game |
| Demetrius Jackson | ND | 6'1" | 185 | 4-4-4 | 7 | 115.1 | Playing SG |
| N. Williams-Goss | Wash | 6'4" | 180 | 5-4-4 | 7 | 100.9 | 12/3 A/TO last 2 games. |
| Derrick Walton | Mich | 6'0" | 170 | 4-4-4 | 8 | 101.6 | Not Trey Burke. |
| Conner Frankamp | Kansas | 6'0" | 160 | 4-4-4 | 9 | 97.1 | Backup to Naari Tharpe |
| Roddy Peters | Md. | 6'4" | 180 | 4-4-4 | 10 | 90.5 | Splits time with Seth Allen |
| Zach LaVine | UCLA | 6'4" | 170 | 4-4-5 | 11 | 120.0 | Now 6'5, Playing SF |
| Duane Wilson | Marqu. | 6'3" | 175 | 4-4-4 | 12 | n/a | Redshirting |
| Stevie Clark | OklaSt | 5'10" | 163 | 4-4-4 | 13 | 109.0 | Backup to Marcus Smart |
| Nick Emery | BYU | 6'1" | 180 | 4-4-4 | 14 | n/a | Redshirting |
| Tim Quarterman | LSU | 6'5" | 180 | 4-4-4 | 15 | 82.0 | Backup SG |
| Wesley Clark | Mizzou | 6'0" | 175 | 4-4-4 | 15 | 93.4 | Sixth man |
| Bryson Scott | Purdue | 6'1" | 170 | 3-4-4 | 16 | 102.1 | Backup to Ronnie Johnson |
| Monte Morris | IowaSt | 6'1" | 175 | 4-4-4 | 18 | 125.6 | Playing SG |
| Rashawn Powell | Memphis | 6'1" | 160 | 4-4-4 | 19 | n/a | Redshirting |
| Billy Garrett | Depaul | 6'3" | 160 | 4-4-4 | 21 | 103.0 | Starter since 6th game. |
| Nate Britt | N.C. | 6'2" | 180 | 4-4-3 | 22 | 84.6 | Recently benched. |
| E.C. Matthews | R.I. | 6'4" | 180 | 4-4-4 | 23 | 97.5 | Playing SF |
| Kendal Yancy | Texas | 6'4" | 195 | 4-4-3 | 23 | 98.9 | Buried on the bench |
| Bronson Koenig | Wisc. | 6'3" | 180 | 3-4-4 | 25 | 116.0 | Backup to Traevon Jackson. |
*star ratings from ESPN, Rivals, and Scout, respectively
**average national positional ranking from sites that ranked as a PG
The sites were in agreement that Walton belonged at the top of the consensus 4-stars; nobody threatened to add a fifth. I see one real standout above who isn't Just a Shooter™ at this stage. The closest comparisons around him are either riding bench or nearly a half-foot taller. Here's a closer look at those from above who've started at least a third of their team's games at PG:
| Player | School | TmGm | Start | Mins | ORtg | Ast/TO | %pos | Stl |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyler Ennis | Syracuse | 18 | 18 | 605 | 122.4 | 4.13 | 20.8 | 48 |
| Andrew Harrison | Kentucky | 17 | 17 | 512 | 109.1 | 1.44 | 21.4 | 6 |
| Billy Garrett | DePaul | 19 | 14 | 560 | 103.0 | 1.57 | 22.9 | 17 |
| N. Williams-Goss | Washington | 19 | 19 | 627 | 100.9 | 1.65 | 22.6 | 25 |
| Derrick Walton | Michigan | 17 | 17 | 447 | 101.6 | 1.42 | 19.4 | 7 |
| Kasey Hill | Florida | 17 | 7 | 319 | 99.7 | 2.05 | 19.8 | 18 |
| Anthony Barber | NCState | 18 | 14 | 522 | 99.0 | 1.88 | 25.1 | 12 |
| Rysheed Jordan | St.John's | 18 | 11 | 334 | 93.5 | 1.45 | 25.6 | 14 |
| Roddy Peters | Maryland | 18 | 10 | 354 | 90.5 | 1.24 | 22.9 | 15 |
| Nate Britt | UNC | 17 | 16 | 394 | 84.6 | 1.32 | 17.6 | 23 |
I don't know how to read that except Tyler Ennis (NTTE) is pretty good, and 1.42 assists for every turnover isn't good but at least it's in line with two (Harrison and Jordan) of the four consensus 5-stars in his class. Mock drafts have Ennis from the end of the lottery to near the end of the first round. It is not freshman Trey Burke, nor does that show a guy whose role is dishing it to an array of sophomore scorers. Part of that is not having McGary to flip to inside for an easy two-from-the-elbow, part of that is the Stauskas-LeVert pick-and-roll game only asks Derrick to be a viable three-pointer threat on the opposite perimeter. But I can't hide my own disappointment that Walton has yet to find the keys to engage Lottery Pick Glenn Robinson.
Let's dig deeper into those things after…
[The Jump]
17