Despite what most are considering to be a “rebuilding” year
for the Big East, this year’s Tournament was filled with a heightened sense of
intrigue. While the final result – a third consecutive title for the reigning
National Champion Villanova Wildcats – was hardly surprising given the team’s regular
season accolades, Seton Hall never backed down and posed a formidable threat
until the final buzzer sounded. Beyond Saturday’s matchup, though, other
storylines, such as the ongoing St. John’s reclamation project, as well as the
intriguing individual matchups (Markus Howard vs. Myles Powell), really captivated
the Garden and kept decibel levels at a perpetual ‘roar’ throughout the
tournament. Amidst all the hoopla, two players quietly differentiated themselves
from the pack and boasted their NBA draft stock.
Phil Booth – The Big East Tournament MVP earned his award
with clutch play throughout the event. While Booth remains the definition of a
combo guard at the next level, his diversified skillset should garner some
looks during the NBA draft process. Standing at a solid 6’3, Booth is one of
the more deadly one on one scorers in college basketball. While his first step
is not exceptionally quick, Booth often beats defenders with his second gear,
changing pace and accelerating past his man. This is particularly evident in
transition, where Booth is extremely allusive, finding openings and ‘Euro
stepping’ past defenders. Although Booth’s handle is exceptionally effective,
he could stand to implement more crossovers and head fakes before putting the ball
on the deck. Ultimately, when he decides to attack the rim, Booth is one of the
more dynamic finishers in college basketball, with an array of finger rolls and
floaters in his arsenal. He has an excellent feel for anticipating contact, and
his combination of upper body strength and world class body control enable him
to finish against any big man at the college level. This is supported by his 5.0
fouls drawn per 40 minutes, which ranked 8th in the Big East this
season. Booth is fundamentally sound, though, and does not always take it all
the way to the rim. He often stops, shot fakes, and gathers himself before
shooting turnaround jumpers in close.
If defenders slack off him in order to prevent the drive,
Booth will make them pay with a balanced jump shot. In terms of his form, Booth
gets solid lift on his jump shot and is able to alter his motion or kick out
his feet in order to draw contact. While he was mostly a rhythm shooter early
in his career, Phil Booth has made considerable strides in his senior season.
He is capable shooting off the catch, but is most effective shooting a balanced
jumper off the bounce. Phil can shoot off one foot in the lane or two. Ultimately,
Booth does a nice job squaring to the rim and shooting over his opponent. His
36.7% 3 point % this season is about even with his shooting percentage a year
ago, but the degree of difficulty and range evinced on many of his three point
shots has increased considerably in 2018-19. Booth has extended his range well past
the NBA line, and he nailed countless NBA three pointers at critical junctures throughout
the Big East Tournament. Finally, though he is a wing, Booth is an extremely
effective ‘post up’ option. Due to his considerable strength, he regularly backs
his man down on the block and either nails a turnaround jumper or finishes
through contact at the rim.
In addition to his diversified offensive skillset, Booth has
made strides as a passer in his senior season. While he is not a true point
guard by any stretch, Booth makes the right plays, creating for his teammates
when he draws considerable defensive attention. He frequently moves the ball on
the perimeter, and does a nice job targeting open shooters. His Assist Rate
climbed to 24.7 this season, good for 7th in the Big East, and up
from 16.6 a year ago. With that said, he must improve his decision making on out
of bounds plays, where he is considerably turnover prone. All in all, despite
shouldering a much more considerable portion of the offensive burden – taking 28.7%
of his team’s shots compared to 18.0% the year before – and increasing the degree of
difficulty on his shot attempts, Phil Booth has largely retained his offensive
efficiency from a year ago. He has grown as a facilitator and his one on one
basket drives account for a substantial portion of Villanova’s offensive output
this year.
On the defensive end, Booth is as fundamentally sound as
they come. He is a gritty, physical defender with a solid stance and a penchant
for changing shots without fouling. While he does have good hands, Booth more
often opts to move his feet rather than reaching, committing only 2.2 fouls per
40 minutes, 4th best in the Big East this season. In terms of his
lateral quickness, Booth is about average, but he compensates for this by
driving his offensive assignment into the help defense, where he is effective
trapping the ball. Besides being undersized, Booth’s one glaring weakness on
this end of the floor is his tendency to over-help down on the post, which
often leads to kick out threes. Booth is also effective defending the post on
switches, and possesses the lower body strength to ‘chest’ his man outside the
block or force him into a tough shot. He has nice anticipation in the passing
lanes as well, and possesses excellent ‘team defensive’ awareness, habitually
informing teammates where they should be on the floor.
Overall, Phil Booth is a savvy defensive wing that boasts one
of the more improved, diversified offensive games in college basketball. He should
receive plenty of looks come draft time and has a real shot to do some damage
once again in the NCAA tournament.
Myles Powell – The only player who has seen a higher degree
of difficulty on his shot attempts than Phil Booth this season is Seton Hall’s
do-it-all lead guard Myles Powell. At 6’2, Powell is a dynamic scoring threat
with excellent screen and roll fundamentals and an even deadlier three point
shot. In the same vein as former Seton Hall great Jeremy Hazell, Powell is a streaky
shooter, who is extremely difficult to contain once he finds a shooting rhythm.
While Powell shot a respectable 36.3% from long range this season, this number vastly
understates how effective he is with his feet set in rhythm. Much like league-mate
Markus Howard, Powell regularly catches fire from long distance and is
difficult to contain. He possesses virtually unlimited range and needs very
little room to get his shot off. Powell does an excellent job squaring his body
to the basket and excels shooting quickly off the dribble. The threat of Powell’s
long range shot opens up the rest of his game.
As a result of his shooting prowess, Powell is also dynamic
attacking the basket, regularly creating contact and getting to the line. His 5.5
fouls drawn per 40 minutes, good for 5th in the Big East this season,
supports this notion. In order to effectively slash to the hoop, Powell sports
a solid handle. In addition to his quick first step, Powell employs an
effective crossover and change-of-direction spin moves to attack the basket. Much
like Booth, Powell possesses good body control at the rim and can finish
through contact when met at the summit. His quick righty floater in the lane is
extremely effective as well. Additionally, in keeping with his strong pick and
roll fundamentals, Myles Powell is effective moving without the ball. He
regularly frees himself for open jumpers coming off of screens and will cut to
the hoop for easy lay-ins if he is overplayed.
Unlike Booth, Powell is more of a threat facilitating for
teammates, particularly in pick-and-roll scenarios, a quality which will intrigue
scouts at the next level. He regularly finds cutters and is also effective
kicking the ball out to three point shooters. This is supported by his 18.3
Assist Rate, 19th best in the Big East and up from 15.8 a year ago.
Importantly, the entire Seton Hall offense has run through Powell all season
long, and he is responsible for 31.0% of the team’s shots (54th highest
usage by a single player in the country). His solid 54.5% effective field goal
% (16th best in the Big East) is thus rather remarkable.
On the defensive side of the ball, Myles Powell had some of
the quickest hands in the Big East this season and is also effective at staying
in front of his man without fouling. Powell’s 3.22% steals % was 3rd
best in the Big East and his 2.53 fouls committed per 40 minutes ranked 11th
best in the conference. He sports a low stance and is effective at poking the
ball away and deflecting it. With that said, Powell does not have the length to
be much of a threat in passing lanes at the next level, but his decent
anticipation and fundamentals should enable him to hold his own. All in all,
Myles Powell is one of the Big East’s most dynamic offensive weapons and he will
eventually get NBA looks when he is eligible for the draft a year from now.
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