Summary

July 2020

• Highly skilled, score-first combo guard who excels at attacking the basket off the bounce.  Uses a sharp, compact handle to maneuver and slice through the defense; outstanding in transition. 

• Excellent body control and footwork that allow him to avoid defenders or draw contact, driving his efficiency as a scorer.  Difficult to keep out of the lane. 

• Athletic with a quick first step and good acceleration/speed with the ball.  Possesses potential as a playmaker, but specializes in buckets.  Limited impact on the game without the ball in his hands; will need to add to his game as a lead guard for the next level.

• Puts consistent pressure on the defense with his drive to score.  Utilizes effective dribble moves with good wiggle to create space.  Must improve consistency as an outside shooter.

• Solid on-ball defender with potential to be a disruptor; plays with anticipation when active.  Exhibits a calm, poised demeanor.  Smart, heady with the ball in his hands. 

Physical/Athleticism

• Undersized as a combo guard

• Quick laterally with fluid hips

• Tremendous body control and footwork

• Very good balance and agility

• Quick first step

• Decent strength – his low center of gravity contributes to his strength

  • Not afraid of contact and absorbs it rather well for his size

• Sharp, crisp movements

• Nice burst of acceleration; nice speed in the open court (with and without the ball)

• Great hand-eye coordination

• Good anticipation and timing

• Plays under the rim

Offensive Qualities

• A highly skilled scoring combo guard who is almost always in attack mode

• Puts pressure on the defense; aggressive with a clear preference to get to the basket

  • Difficult to keep from penetrating and getting into the lane

  • Does not settle for jumpers often

    • Takes what the defense gives him

    • Can force it at times and run out of options

      • Has a tendency to be too quick to drive

  • Can drive left or right, but prefers to go right and finish right

• Terrific in the open court

  • Extremely effective when he gets the defender backpedaling

    • Superb footwork and body control in these situations

  • Good finisher and adept at drawing contact to get to the line

  • Tight handle while staying low to the ground

    • Keeps eyes up

  • Effective dribble moves to maneuver through defenders at various stages of advancing the ball up the floor

• Excels off the bounce with a number of dribble moves, single and double

  • Shifty; changes gears and paces well and often

• Understands how to use his body and proper angles to:

  • 1st: get his head and shoulders by the defender

  • 2nd: slice into the lane

  • 3rd: draw contact to get to the line

    • Very effective in this regard

• Space creation

  • Has a variety of ways to get to his spots on the floor, which include all around the basket/paint and a variety of mid-range spots.  Operates from the top of the key, but will attack from the wings, as well.

    • Virtually all off the dribble

      • Iso

      • Catch at the top of the key

      • Pick and Roll

    • When he is unable to get to his spots, he is able to default to a nice step-back

  • Again, great footwork – utilizes skip steps, jump stops, euro steps (semi-euro steps)

  • Uses his shoulders well to create last minute space

  • Can struggle to secure quality shots against length and athleticism

    • As said above, he possesses a nice step back move that creates good space.  He will really benefit from continuing to develop his shot off this move.

• Decent pick and roll player

  • Looking to score, but will still attempt to take time to survey the defense as he takes on the help defender/hedge

  • Displays good body control and ball control; protects the ball well

  • Sets up the screen and uses the screen well

    • Takes good angles

  • Uses a nice semi-snake dribble to maintain his body between the ball and his man

  • Tends to hold on to the ball too long and not get off it

  • Developing a consistent 3-point shot will greatly increase his effectiveness

• Possesses a good feel for the on-ball defender, as well as help-side defenders

  • Adept at beating the initial defender and reacting quickly to the supporting defender to find his way to the basket

• Generally needs the ball in his hands to impact the game

  • Does not move/operate much without the ball

    • Will benefit from moving with purpose off the ball to increase the number of quality looks

• Playmaking

  • Would like to see him make more plays for his teammates using his ability to penetrate and draw the defense

  • Certainly capable

    • Adept at drawing bigs up into the lane for easy drop offs to the blocks

    • Able to locate shooters on the wings and in the corners after drawing the defense off the dribble

• Strong fundamentals

• Can struggle with ball security at times

• Remains in triple threat position throughout the duration of his time with the ball in his hands

• Will be watching the development of his ability to fully run point and improve his ball security, and how it will transfer into guard play at the next level

Shooting

• Improving but inconsistent jump shooter

  • Needs to improve percentage from 3

  • Mid-range continues to improve.  Shoots a really nice shot from 15-17 feet.

    • Gets good lift on the shot; fluid mechanics

    • Consistency drops when shooting off the dribble, but is capable of shooting going to the left or the right

      • Prefers pulling up when going left, while favoring driving to the basket when going right

• Shoots a jump shot off the dribble and a set shot on the catch and shoot

  • Generally, shoots a jumper from mid-range

  • Generally, shoots a set shot from 3

• More on Form/Mechanics:

  • Sets his feet well, but can get off balance off the dribble

  • Keeps elbow up just above 90 degrees

  • Release is from the right of his brow

  • Good concentration

  • Solid follow through

  • Fluid mechanics overall

  • Speeds up his set shot release when necessary, but would like to see the shot taken a half second quicker, especially when playing against length and athleticism

The images above are consistent with Fauntleroy’s form.  The improvement in his shooting will be a lead indicator of success in college.

• Finishing

  • Crafty, heady, and uses a nice touch to convert

  • Maintains good concentration on the basket when he is taking on a contest at the rim

    • Stays composed when taking on the defender in mid-air

  • Does a very good job of controlling his body and using it to protect the ball

    •  Body control on full display

  • Draws good contact to get to the line

  • Capable of finishing with the left, but prefers to finish with his strong hand

    • Right hand dominant around the rim

  • Strong finisher in the open court

  • May struggle at times against true rim protection, length, and athleticism

• Steady free throw shooter who consistently gets to the line

Dribbling

• Quick, compact handle in space, under pressure, and in transition

  • Can get where he wants to go

• Smoothly transitions directions with the dribble from right-to-left and vice versa

  • Maneuvers through the defense effectively

  • Capable of performing dribble moves going full speed with the ball, even if it is a combo move

• Uses an assortment of effective dribble moves to create space

  • Again, he is shifty and creates spacing and opportunity off the dribble

• Lots of poise with the ball in his hand

• Nice wiggle to move the defender laterally

• Stays low with the ball – helps him to stay on balance and protect the ball

  • Low center of gravity absorbs the contact, preventing defenders from knocking him off the ball easily

• Good ball control; keeps his eyes up

• Handles 1-on-1 full court pressure well

• His rhythm may cause him to play around with it a bit too much, using too many dribbles.  As a result, his teammates will stand around watching.  It is the current iso effect we saw all-too-often.  Will benefit from being more purposeful with his dribbles.

• Has good speed with the ball in the open court; shows good acceleration leading into a finish while maintaining control of the ball and his body

Passing

• Overall, he shows promise in this area of the game.  He sees the game and possesses the skillset of a passer.  His mentality as a scorer tends to lead to inconsistencies in playmaking.

• Has a nice dump-off to the block game, as stated above

  • Puts a nice touch on the pass so that it is easy for the big on the block to handle

• Has the tools to be a strong drive and kicker, and easily displays capabilities

• Good passer off the dribble; accurate

• Has a tendency to leave his feet on the drive

• Good zip on the pass when necessary

Defense

• On-ball

  • Knows the tricks of the trade and will pick your pocket

  • Capable of pressing up

    • Can either be an active disruptor who gets a hand on the ball or will play at an arm’s length distance

    • Good lateral movement; can really play with his feet and stay in front of the ball handler without fouling

  • Mirrors the ball with his extended hand

• Tends to stand straight up and down off the ball

• Good anticipation and has good hands

• Quick to long rebounds and loose balls

Basketball IQ

• Smart player overall, especially with the ball in hands; very heady

• Does not let you speed him up for the most part; deliberate, but there is no hesitation

  • Shows good patience with the ball as he surveys the defense and lulls the defender

  • Capable of letting the pieces on the floor develop; improving at reading the defense

    • There are periods of the game where it really slows down for him

• Understands different defensive looks, and knows when to take advantage of mismatches based on the positioning of the rest of the defense

• Makes great usage of angles all over the court

• Strong court awareness; capable of anticipating the play

• Adept at reading the movement, momentum, and tendencies of the defender

• Strong understanding of space and time (as timing relates to spacing)

Disposition/Presence

• High aggression on the offensive end

  • Slightly less aggression on the defensive end (inconsistent aggression)

  • Less aggression without the ball

  • His motor follows suit

• Poised and composed

• Calm demeanor, even under pressure

• Confident in his abilities

• Not afraid of the moment