One of the more highly touted big men here at the National Prep Showcase, Florida commit DeShawn Painter (#52 Scout, #85 Rivals, #36 ESPN) showed nice physical tools and upside, but did very little in terms of actual productivity. He scored a total of just 9 points and grabbed 9 rebounds in the two games we saw here in Rhode Island.
It's not hard to see why Painter is considered an intriguing long-term prospect. Standing somewhere between 6-8 and 6-9, he has a great body and frame, and is also an excellent athlete, which puts him in a rare category of big men in this class.
Painter is almost strictly a rebounder and interior defender at the moment, as he does a good job going out of his area crashing the glass (even if he rarely boxes out) and looks fairly intense on this side of the ball. He is explosive inside the paint, which makes him a solid shot-blocking threat and allows him to make a big impact thanks to his size and physical tools. Stepping out onto the perimeter, which he needed to do playing quite a few minutes at the power forward position, he seemed to struggle, looking quite a bit more comfortable playing inside the paint.
Offensively, we find a similar story. Painter is very limited inside, showing raw footwork and little ability to create offense for himself. He is even rawer on the perimeter, very prone to unforced errors such as travels, bad passes, unnecessary fouls and such.
Considering the stage of development Painter is currently at, these things aren't all that surprising. Big men usually take longer to develop, and he will be able to help out somewhat at the college level somewhat with his size, length and athleticism—things that are all in short supply. He plays hard and is very competitive on top of that, which is a good sign regarding his future. Other than that, we'll have to wait and see how he looks after a couple of years in college at the very least.
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