Jonathan Givony
The leading scorer on the championship team at Portsmouth, Texas A&M combo guard Donald Sloan did a very nice job of capping off his college career.
A fairly quick, aggressive and scoring minded guard, Sloan created his own shot effectively, got to the basket at will, and also showed his potential as a shot-maker at the same time.
Much more of a scorer than a pure playmaker, Sloan played on and off the ball in college in a system that was largely geared to maximizing his strengths. He has good speed in the open floor and finishes creatively around the basket, even if hes clearly undersized for the shooting guard position. Although his 2-point percentages werent particularly high in college, he got to the free throw line at a good rate and shows nice instincts in this area, particularly in terms of the strength and aggressiveness he brings to the table.
While hes able to make plays for others, particularly off the drive and dish, Sloan looks a lot more comfortable looking for his own shot than he does creating for others. Hes prone to over-dribbling and has just average court visionthe fact that he committed slightly more turnovers than assists probably isnt a coincidence.
Capable of making 3-pointers as well, Sloans shot-selection hampered his percentages at Texas A&M this season (36% 3P), as did the fact that hes just an average marksman in catch and shoot situations. Hes a bit of a volume shooter, being relied on very heavily for scoring production at the collegiate level, and will probably need to tone his game down at his next stop, be it the NBA or Europe.
Defensively, Sloan has the tools to be effective in this area at the collegiate level thanks to his strength, but probably cant be described as being anything more than average as far as the NBA is concerned at the moment, as he lacks great size and length and doesnt make up for that with outstanding athleticism or effort. Relied on very heavily for scoring, Sloan didnt always seem all that interested in what goes on on this end of the floor.
All in all, Sloan is an excellent college scoring guard who probably will need to ply his trade in the D-League or Europe initially. If hes able to improve his playmaking ability, perimeter shooting and defense he will surely improve his chances of making an NBA roster down the road.
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