Joe TreutleinHeading into his senior season,
Durand Scott has had a very flat trajectory in his development in his three years at Miami, posting very similar stat lines every season. On the court, Scott also remains largely the same player as the one who stepped foot on campus as a freshman, and will likely need to show some growth this year to put himself more firmly into NBA discussions.
On the offensive end, Scott's dribble-drive game remains his hallmark, and he possesses the same strengths as the last time we profiled him. Showing a very strong handle with either hand and nice creativity, Scott has no problem breaking down the defense in a variety of situations, being equally effective in transition, isolations, and pick-and-rolls.
At the basket, Scott is a good but not great finisher, using a solid combination of power and finesse depending on the situation, while probably being most impressive with his ability to competently score with either hand around the rim. He does show some issues scoring consistently when facing frontcourt weak side help, however, which could only become more of an issue at the next level. For this reason as much as any other, it's likely critical Scott improve in another area of his game to diversify what he brings to the table.
Scott's shooting is the most obvious issue he could improve to get him more firmly on the radar, but he hasn't shown much progress thus far. Scott hasn't averaged more than 2.0 three-point attempts per game in any of his three seasons, and despite an impressive bump in his shooting to 39.1% as a sophomore, he fell back to earth as a junior when he shot 31.1%. Scott would help himself greatly to see a strong improvement in both his attempts and efficiency this season, but at this late stage in his development it might not be that likely.
The other area Scott can help himself with is developing into more of a traditional point guard, but this is another area where he hasn't seen much growth since his freshman season. Despite his strong ability to break a defense down and the flashes of nice drive-and-dish passes he makes, he doesn't really seem to have a true point guard's feel for managing an offense and balancing his own scoring and passing. Scott's 4.9 assists per 40 minutes pace adjusted as a freshman were actually the best of his career, as he posted just 3.7 by the same metric as a junior.
Defensively, Scott continues to be a strong asset to his team with his solid combination of size, athletic ability, fundamentals, and tenacity, making him effective in both isolations and pick-and-rolls. He can show troubles consistently staying in front of some of the quicker lead guards in the NCAA, however, and may be a bit between positions on the defensive end projecting to the NBA, being small for a shooting guard and not quite quick enough for a point.
Looking forward, Scott has had a solid college career and brings a well-defined set of skills to the table, but doesn't really overwhelm in any one area and may be caught between positions on both ends of the floor. His lack of growth in every facet of his game over his three seasons isn't encouraging, but he still has time to take his game to the next level as a senior.
With his solid size and ability to create his own shot--and the premium that is placed on this skill--Scott will have a plethora of opportunities to play professionally and continue to improve his game, which could lead to a shot in the NBA down the road if he isn't able to get one immediately following his collegiate career.
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