Thursday, March 21, 2019

The Big East's Trending Prospects


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.

   
(photos courtesy of si.com and Myles Powell Twitter)