Analyzing the Worst Games from Top Prospects
A look at some smart coaching tactics and lessons learned from watching the worst games from GG Jackson, Cason Wallace, and Keyonte George
Throughout the last few years, I get a lot of people asking about my scouting process and how many full games of film I need to watch before feeling comfortable in an evaluation. While the short answer is about a half-dozen (at least), the variety in those games is what is important. I want to see a few games where the player is firing away and impacting the game to the best of their abilities, which gives me an idea for their ceiling and where they are most comfortable.
I also want to see them at their worst. Conversely, seeing some of their biggest challenges illuminates their areas in the direst need of improvement. We get a feel for their body language, their fit within the scheme, and which defensive styles give them fits.
As we approach March and the tail end of this college basketball season, I thought it would be appropriate to dive into the film on some top college players’ worst games to see what opponents did to cause their struggles and what it might illuminate about their long-term upside.
GG Jackson vs. Rick Barnes & Tennessee
Stat Line in 22 minutes: 0 PTS (0-8 FG, 0-4 3FG), 1 REB, 0 AST, 4 TOs
As we’ve talked about on the Game Theory Podcast with Sam Vecenie, South Carolina’s offense is one that leaves a lot to be desired. There’s very little off-ball movement, a ton of standing around and isolation touches for GG Jackson, and few other creators around him to ease the burden. The result is a system where Jackson stands on the perimeter and ball-begs until he gets a touch. He loves to screen for the purpose of forcing a switch that he can take advantage of, not to create an advantage or scoring opportunity for his teammate.
Tennessee is too good of a defensive group for that style to work. They pressure the basketball, have good length and strength on their front line, and are pristine positionally. Early in the game, Jackson couldn’t get traction in switches or isolation situations. He wasn’t forcing the switch aggressively enough, and the Volunteers defenders were strong, holding their ground and forcing really tough step-backs.
The problem with Jackson came as the Gamecocks found themselves in a major hole early. He began to fire really bad ones, lamenting the lack of touches he got organically in the flow of the offense. When guards wouldn’t get him the ball, he’d stand there and wait for it or walk to exchange positions off-ball with no urgency. When he’d get it, he’d just make a move for himself.
There were a few defensive areas that the Vols could take advantage of, but Jackson’s poor performance was a masterclass in what not to do from a body language standpoint. He tried to hero the Gamecocks to points, and that simply doesn’t happen against good defensive teams. His turnovers came from being predictably aggressive or just making lazy decisions, like dribbling right into a trap and picking up his dribble.
Most disheartening was to see his body language and how he acted when he didn’t get the ball when he wanted it. He gave up late in the game on defense one possession after not getting a catch-and-shoot look from a teammate. Everything about Jackson’s poor showing came off as selfish. Nothing was created for him at the rim, he got nothing for himself at the rim because he couldn’t bully strong Tennessee wings, and he did nothing to create for others. It was a whole bunch of nothing in a trainwreck of an offense.
Jackson has shown that he’s a better shooter than we ever anticipated coming into the season. There are some high-level scoring flashes at play. But when the jumper doesn’t fall, what is he going to bring to the table? This matchup against Tennessee quickly showed that, right now, the answer is nothing. As much as Jackson has to work on from a skill perspective, the body language and willingness to make others better has to change.
Cason Wallace — Also against Tennessee
Stat Line in 22 minutes: 0 PTS (0-3 FG), 6 AST, 5 TOs, 2 STL
Look, a huge part of Cason’s struggles against the Volunteers is injury-related. Cason has been experiencing back spasms for the last few weeks; they have limited his minutes and he tried to gut it out on the road against Tennessee.