Above all, there are two things that we look for at every position: shooting and quickness. Shooting is the key to anything you’re trying to put together. It’s the great equalizer. I try to impress upon my assistants not to talk to me about a kid who has great hang time or can really take it to the hole if he’s a lousy shooter. In the end, if a guy can’t shoot he’s going to keep you from getting where you want to go.
We don’t want a non-shooter. You can help people with their shooting but if they’re not shooters there’s only so much that can be done. Sometimes a bad shooter can improve to a fair shooter, fair shooters to decent shooters, but you are not going to see guys go from bad shooters to great shooters.
Quickness is critical at the three perimeter spots, especially in regards to defense. You can teach a lot of guys defense but if they don’t’ have good feet they’re always going to be limited in how good they can be defensively.
Specifically, with a point guard, we’re looking for the kind of quickness that can break down defenses. We like a point guard who can shoot because it opens up so many other opportunities. A point guard must also possess strong character traits. For instance, is he the kind of guy who’s going to lead by example as well as being vocal?
When we look at wing players we want guys who can run the floor. The same is true for the interior players we recruit.
With big guys it comes down to how well they run the floor. Also, an inside player needs to have good hands. Does he have soft hands? Does he catch the ball well? In my experience in dealing with inside guys, if they don’t’ catch the ball well you’re going to have restrictions on how good you can become. We want the kids with the best hands we can find. Aggressiveness is also an important qualification for our inside guys. Are they aggressive to the ball? Are they quick to the ball? There may be some guys who can jump real high but they have to gather themselves. By the time they do, the quick jumper has the ball.
