Bouk 'Em, Danno: The James Bouknight Thread

[tondi123]

Reminds me of Hendo with his long windup and elevation.

That was unnecessary. Lol

[wilson115]

Rating this a B (instead of a C) thanks to this guy's take. Made me rethink several assumptions. Really worth the read.

https://www.indycornrows.com/2021/6/8/22451227/james-bouknight-and-the-art-of-off-ball-movement

I’m not really a big time comps person, and I make no assumption or assertion that a prospect will have a Ray Allen or Rip Hamilton level career: that would be unfair to put those expectations on someone. However, in watching another UCONN Husky, James Bouknight, it’s difficult to not draw some comparisons and strike similarities. Bouknight is a fantastic off-ball mover, among the best in college basketball, and to me, it’s his major swing skill in translating to the NBA. He is a highly skilled player, but the movement skills are his elite tool that he’ll leverage at the next level to unlock other aspects of his game.

You don’t need the ball to put pressure on a defense and the potential for Bouknight to bend NBA defenses with flowing off-ball movement is tantalizing.

It’s one thing to be quick and agile, but defenses know that. One of my favorite aspects of Bouknight’s game is that he knows that the defense knows, and he sells his cuts and movements incredibly well to give himself as much of an advantage as possible.

Ballhandling, tl:dr: this guy isn't quite the alpha "make something out of nothing" scorer a lot have made him out to be.

I was surprised initially when I found out that Bouknight didn’t normally bring up the ball after inbounds. However, when I got to games and possessions when he did, it was a light bulb moment.

Without an open lane or screen to get that first bit of separation, he routinely struggled to keep his dribble alive to get across halfcourt, and it felt like opposing teams were aware of this and would actively seek to press him if he received the inbounds.

A full season and off-season with an NBA strength training plan and player development staff will be absolutely huge for him. Most of his struggles with his handle come off to me more as an issue in balance.

These are the sorts of things that could pockmark Bouknight’s offensive game without improvement in his ballhandling ability. Bouknight shot a sizable number of pull-up twos this past season and hit on 33% of them, which tends to draw the “he takes bad shots” branding. And yes, it’s not a great shot and not very efficient! But, it’s pretty clear in watching that this aspect of his shot distribution is more about current hindrances in his game rather than choice.

While the movement skills are the traits that have helped Bouknight in reaching the professional level, how his handle develops will largely be the determining factor in what sort of role he has in the NBA.

Shooting:

In his freshman season at UCONN, he shot 36.3% from three after factoring out the two pull-ups he took all year and missed per InStat. He shot just 29.3% from three on much higher volume this season. However, there are a couple factors that need to be thrown in before taking those numbers at face value.

As just mentioned, almost all of Bouknight’s looks were off the catch his freshman season. This past year, 45% of his threes were off the dribble. Those shots are significantly harder and Bouknight shouldered a much heavier creation load than his first year. On top of that, he suffered an elbow injury that required surgery in the middle of the season, limiting him to 15 total games. Prior to the game in which he was injured (Marquette) he was shooting 33.3% from three and over 80% from the line: after returning from injury, 26.8% from three and 75.6% from the line. So there was a ton of variability in a short amount of time.

Much like was discussed with his handle in the previous section, his jumper really seems to be impacted by his lack of core strength. It seems like there is very little energy created from his core in his shooting form. A lot of work is done by his arms and upper body to get the ball to the rim and that’s something I’d really like to see change. But, as mentioned with the handle, I think that’s something that will change regardless of team fit as he gets to work with a professional training staff.

Oddly enough, he was better shooting on pull-ups than off the catch this year: 26.8% on C and S and 32% on pull-ups.

[wilson115]

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Coach Spin does a good job (at 8:46) pointing out some flaws, and the tape from pre-draft workouts seem to bear him out. Like we don't see him leaning to one side when he fires away like in the upload.

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The thing is, this is shooting from a standstill. The flaws with his C&S form involve getting his feet under him after movement. It's at least encouraging to see him working on exactly that (strength and balance) pre-draft.

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[wilson115]

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[wilson115]

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[BigSlam]

I assume this is footage from when he worked out with us pre-draft:

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[UNCNYC]

Wanna know Bouknights impact so far...? If I had to pick a Hornets jersey as of now his is the one I would pick.

[SWedd523]

I need somebody to photoshop a Batman mask on the BouKnight

[geraldwallace]

Tons of people have reported he’s tweaked his shot a bit and been shooting lights out at pretty much every workout he’s been at.

He’s also an 80% free throw shooter which is a great indicator he’ll be a good NBA shooter

I’m not too worried about his shooting, maybe it won’t be great season one but I’m guessing it’ll develop quickly

[Hornet Mania]

Tons of people have reported he’s tweaked his shot a bit and been shooting lights out at pretty much every workout he’s been at.

He’s also an 80% free throw shooter which is a great indicator he’ll be a good NBA shooter

I’m not too worried about his shooting, maybe it won’t be great season one but I’m guessing it’ll develop quickly

I agree. I think his shooting will work itself out, I'm more concerned about him improving as a playmaker, finishing through contact and whether he can eventually defend.

[amcoolio]

The same people that hate this pick on the NBA Draft board are the same ones that hated LaMelo last year

I think we should give Mitch the benefit of the doubt here, he hasn't busted yet on a draft pick, and even his LAL picks were pretty good

[BigSlam]

Tons of people have reported he’s tweaked his shot a bit and been shooting lights out at pretty much every workout he’s been at.

He’s also an 80% free throw shooter which is a great indicator he’ll be a good NBA shooter

I’m not too worried about his shooting, maybe it won’t be great season one but I’m guessing it’ll develop quickly

I agree. I think his shooting will work itself out, I'm more concerned about him improving as a playmaker, finishing through contact and whether he can eventually defend.

Agreed.

We don't need a ball stopper/blackhole at the SG position. We need a bucket getter like Bouk, but someone who also buys into the team play/ball movement concept.

[UNCNYC]

You will like Bouknight, especially in summer league play. What you will see is he is NOT a chucker. He has a good jumper but it will stop falling for some reason. It usually happens towards the middle of the game. I don't know if he loses interest, becomes tired, lack of concentration or what... He will start off like 4/4 shooting then miss the next 4. Overall he is a good shooter and is capable of being a catch and shoot guy but he is such an assassin that he doesn't rely on the jump shot and often tries to drive in.

[BigSlam]

You will like Bouknight, especially in summer league play. What you will see is he is NOT a chucker. He has a good jumper but it will stop falling for some reason. It usually happens towards the middle of the game. I don't know if he loses interest, becomes tired, lack of concentration or what... He will start off like 4/4 shooting then miss the next 4. Overall he is a good shooter and is capable of being a catch and shoot guy but he is such an assassin that he doesn't rely on the jump shot and often tries to drive in.

If there is ever a time for a player like Bouk to chuck it’s during SL play - with how isolation guard orientated it is.

[JMAC3]

Get Shook 2night: James Bouknight thread

[yosemiteben]

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Box Office: The James Bouknight Thread

[BigSlam]

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Box Office: The James Bouknight Thread

Like it.

[SWedd523]

Seconded. Let it be written

[GiggitySmalls]

Likewise, what is his ceiling?

If he gets it all together and is able to start knocking down 3's, continue his iso scoring (love those hesi moves I have seen on YouTube), put up some big scores and be a legit secondary playmaker - how good could he be?

He seems to be really athletic and there is a smoothness to his game.

He seems have the same body type and game style as Zach Lavine. Is that a good comparison?

Yes they make certain moves that are pretty hard look effortless. LaVine is probably the best comparison I've seen so far.

[yosemiteben]

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