Joseph Treutlein Steadily improving his production and playing an expanding role his first three seasons on campus,
Alex Young has established himself as a very good scorer at the college level, and will look to capitalize on that as a senior.
Standing 6-6 with a well-built frame and good length,
Alex Young is a good overall athlete with a knack for putting the ball in the basket, but still has room to develop his skills in a variety of areas.
On the offensive end, Young does most of his damage attacking the basket, mostly operating with the ball in his hands. His scoring attempts are about evenly split up between isolations, pick-and-rolls, and spot-up catch-and-drives, with him being comfortable in all three situations against the level of competition he faces.
As a ball-handler, the left-handed Young is very reliant on his dominant hand with both dribbling and finishing, often going left on drives to the basket, and usually finding a way to get back to his left hand on the occasions he goes right. Against the level of competition he faces, with his size and athletic abilities, this isn't very problematic, but obviously poses concerns projecting to higher levels. His ball-handling overall is not especially polished, as he doesn't utilize much in terms of advanced moves and his control is lacking at times, but he does a good job taking advantage of his physical tools and also utilizing subtle changes of direction to get around his man.
Young is definitely at his best on spot-up drives where he already has a half step on his man, showing solid instincts in this regard and doing a good job finding the quickest route to the basket, where he's a capable finisher and isn't afraid to draw contact. Young scores in a variety of ways at the rim, utilizing both lay-ups and an array of floaters and runners, but shows problems on the rare occasions his opponents have a formidable help-side defender in the lane, where Young can get very erratic with his finishing.
In isolations, Young isn't quite as comfortable, not always being able to take advantage of his physical tools, as despite his good first step, his average ball-handling skills don't always allow him to utilize it. Young's ability to pull up for jumpers off the dribble is also still a work in progress, as despite him relying on it often, he's very inefficient on these attempts, scoring 0.61 points per possession on pull-up shots according to Synergy.
As a spot-up jump shooter, Young shows potential and has excelled in prior seasons (39.6% three-point shooting on 5.1 attempts per game as a sophomore), but didn't really stand out in this area as a junior, shooting just 33.3% from three on 3.6 attempts per game. Young has solid form with a high and quick release along with flashes of deep range, but he can get sloppy at times and isn't consistent with keeping his legs under him. Really improving in this area would be very helpful to his stock, as spot-up three-point shooting is a highly coveted skill in the NBA among role-playing wings.
In terms of the rest of his offense, Young does a good job throwing his frame around to compete on put-backs around the rim and is also occasionally featured on cuts, two things that he'd likely be asked to do more of if he makes it in the NBA. It's tough to really get a feel for Young's ability on off-ball cuts given the role he plays, and that makes it somewhat difficult to project him to the next level, where he wouldn't be asked to play the go-to scorer role he plays for IUPUI.
On the defensive end, Young shows decent tools with his size and length, while also looking capable in terms of lateral quickness, but his commitment and fundamentals can be inconsistent. Young is prone to letting out of his stance early in isolations and not doing the best he can to contest shots both on the perimeter in the lane, not fully applying himself on this end like he does on offense. Really buckling down here should be a priority for Young this season, and will likely be very important for his stock.
Looking forward, Young appears to be an ideal candidate for the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament in April, and should get his share of due diligence looks from NBA teams throughout the year. Improving his perimeter shooting, ability to finish against help defense in the lane, and his overall defensive abilities and commitment would all be very helpful to his stock, as would a strong season for his team. The Jaguars have early season matchups against Georgetown and Louisville, and Young shouldn't miss out on those opportunities to catch the attention of scouts.
Comments