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Bracey Wright NBA Draft Scouting Report

Bracey Wright NBA Draft Scouting Report
Mar 29, 2005, 06:03 am
Strengths
Wright is an extremely talented offensive player at the college level. He has had some absolute monster games against some very good competition over the course of his career. When his jump shot is going for him, he can put up 30 points easily on any given night. He is not only a three-point shooter, he also has a nice mid range game as well. He can get to the line and use pump fakes and a nice handle with either hand to work his way to the rim.

Wright has been a consistent scorer in college for a long time and has proven he can put up numbers on offense on a semi-consistent basis. He is a good ball-handler and has become better at creating shots off the dribble since he was a freshman. He has a sneaky quickness about his game and because players have to respect his jump shot and play him close on defense, he can use that to his advantage to get around them at get to the basket.

When he is in rhythm and has his jump shot going, it is a beautiful thing to watch. The ball won't even graze the rim. With his ability to hit jump shots from all areas of the court, it is very hard to stop him when he is on. He shoots the ball with very good rotation and he has a nice release on his shot. His shooting form is picture perfect and he can get it off in many different ways, including off the dribble. He already has some NBA moves to his game, baiting his defender into thinking he is going to the rim and then stepping back and elevating for the pull-up jumper off the dribble, using pump fakes, jab-steps and body fakes to his advantage and getting his man off-balance, and just showing off his talent and elegance in many different ways.

He is also a decent rebounder for his size and has put up good rebounding numbers throughout his career. Part of the reason he rebounds so well is because he has a good wingspan and large hands for a 6-3 guard and he can palm a basketball relatively easy.


Weaknesses
Bracey Wright has some serious weaknesses he will have to overcome despite the fact that he has been a very productive college player. Wright's biggest problem is his lack of size, he is a 6-3 SG, the definition of a tweener. He starts at the two for Indiana, even though their PG Marshall Strickland is not the type of playmaker you would write home about. He also lacks outstanding athletic ability; he is not very quick nor does he possess an outstanding first step to make up for his lack of size or be able to play a Cuttino Mobley type role in the NBA.

His shot selection can be extremely questionable at times, he shows no conscious when it comes to jacking up ill advised shots out of the context of the offense, and because of his skill (he can make some extremely tough shots) he has not learned the difference between a good and bad shot.

Wright is a very streaky three-point shooter, he has an average percentage from behind the arc this year (33%) and he has actually gotten worse statistically each year. When he is on the road his shooting ability becomes downright horrendous, getting dangerously close to single digits (11%) when his team leaves their homecourt. He has good form on his shot, but mentally is where he struggles the most. It is also a concern that he has to put up so many shots to be an effective scorer, because in the NBA he will not be the
main player on offense and will have to hit shots without being the #1 option. When the ball isn't in his hands he isn't a very active player at all, not making much effort in his off the ball movement and not really putting in a lot of effort to help his team out in other ways. If Wright misses his first couple of shots he has the tendency to get down on himself and just coast.

Despite being the best player on his team and one of the oldest players who actually gets playing time, he has shown absolutely nothing in terms of leadership ability and has the tendency to fade for long periods of time. His team had a very disappointing season this year, missing the NCAA tournament for the 2nd year in a row and getting knocked out at home in the 1st round of the NIT, and a large part of the blame has to fall on Wright's shoulders. He is a very quiet player and you have to wonder if he has the mentality to make it in such a tough league as the NBA, as many wonder whether he has the heart to overcome his many weaknesses and take his game to the next level. After an excellent freshman year he has not improved much in the past two years, although injury problems and playing on a bad team have played a role here.

Wright is also a poor defender, and there are serious concerns regarding his ability to guard PG's in the NBA. He does not play hard on defense at all and basically looks to conserve energy on that side of the ball, because he is his team's #1 option and they need him scoring to win. Guarding much taller SG's is not really an option for him either.

There are injury concerns as well. Wright had back surgery two years ago and struggled to regain his form and faded as his sophomore season came to a close. He was supposed to be 100% this year and due for a breakout year, but that never really materialized and his numbers stayed the same or even got worse.


Competition
Wright has played some tough competition in his junior season. He put up 18 points against UNC, 28 points at UCONN and 31 points at Kentucky. Then he had 30 against Wisconsin and also 32 against Michigan State also. As a sophomore, he had 27 against Xavier, 27 at Wake Forest, 23 against Kentucky and 39 points against weak competition in North Texas.


Played on the USA U-21 Men's basketball team in the WC qualifiers in Halifax. Averaged 16 minutes per game for 5.5 points and 2.8 rebounds.


Outlook
Wright is a tough player to predict at the next level because outside of scoring points he does not do many things well. He is a poor defender, has size issues, and is not incredibly athletic to make up for it. He also does not have many of the intangibles most look for, he does not seem to be a great teammate that you would love have playing next to you, he has been known to be somewhat selfish with the basketball at times and the college teams he has been a part of have not really had that much success. That hasn't stopped him from openly talking about the NBA for most of the last three years, though, and the media in Indiana has for some reason supported this. You have to wonder how many people would even know his name if he didn't play for a team that garners as much attention in the media (deservingly or not) as his. Somewhere Ed McCants is reading this and wondering what he would have to do to get a similar amount of words written on him in the national media, because obviously taking his team to the Sweet 16 isn't enough.

It would be best for Wright to come back for his senior year, as there appears to be no real reason to leave this year unless he is desperate to get his European career started. He's at best a mid-2nd rounder if he is even selected in the draft. Maybe next year he can work on his PG skills, show that he is a tougher player mentally, make his teammates better and win basketball games with and without just putting up points on bad percentages.

Comments
Last year I thought of Bracey Wright as one of the best shooters in college basketball. I loved his shooting stroke and when he got on fire there was almost no one that could stop him on the offensive end. However, he is a streaky shooter that is great when he is on but also struggles miserably when his shot is off. If he can prove he can become a more consistent shooter, along with maybe showing some type of PG skills and prove that he is not just a one-dimensional player, he'd have a better chance at finding a spot in the league.

Facts
In high school, Wright played alongside Illinois guard Deron Williams.

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