Liam McNeeley's commitment has brought about a lot of questions about what he will bring to the team. In my eyes, one of the best ways to do that is by providing an NBA player comparison.
Gordon Hayward
Not only are Hayward and McNeeley the same height at 6-foot-7, but there are a lot of parallels between their playstyles.
More so similar to young Hayward, McNeeley excels at attacking the basket and making contested looks. Attacking the rim is where Hayward earned a lot of his points in the early years of his career.
In the same way, McNeeley's athleticism and body control around the rim afforded him the ability to challenge almost any player in the country during his high school career. That said, he will be challenged by bigger, faster, and just better defenders in college. He will undoubtedly need to lean on another skill that he and Hayward share: the outside shot.
McNeeley is one of the best pure shooters in the country. This is due, in part, to how difficult it is for opposing players to guard him. With his big frame and lanky wingspan, he possesses a high release point which opposing defenders could struggle to contest.
This heavily influenced his ability to shoot 37.5% from deep. Hayward is a 36.9% three point shooter for his career.
That said, as I mentioned earlier the perimeter defenders will be much better than anybody McNeeley has faced yet. This is when he will have to rely on his creativity in the mid range to provide him with open looks. I mean, why break a sweat on an escalator? When you can hit a mid range shot at the rate that McNeeley can, the three point shot is just another feather in his cap.
The two wings also stuff the stat sheet in similar ways. Wrapping up his high school career, McNeeley averaged 16.8 points, 5.1 assists, and 2.1 rebounds.
Hayward has played 12 seasons of professional basketball, and in all but three seasons he has averaged 14-20 points, between three and seven rebounds, and fewer than six assists per game
Something you will notice with McNeeley is the intention behind each step. What I mean by that is that he does not waste any movement. He approaches the game from a very cerebral place, and is able to do almost anything in rhythm.
This next similarity is a bit tougher for fans to digest. Like Hayward in the league, McNeeley will need some time at the college level to hit his peak. Hayward steadily increased his scoring until he reached his peak in his seventh season, in which he averaged a career high 21.9 points per game. What fans need to hear is that even instant ramen takes a minute.
As polished as McNeeley's game may look, his transition will still take a little time. He has all the potential to be a great player for the Hoosiers, and his existing talent will help speed up that transition, but it will need to happen nonetheless.
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