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Daniel Gibson

Daniel Gibson profile
Drafted #42 in the 2006 NBA Draft by the Cavaliers
RCSI: 20 (2004)
Height: 6'2" (188 cm)
Weight: 190 lbs (86 kg)
Position: SG
High School: Jones High School (Texas)
Hometown: Houston, TX
College: Texas
Current Team: Texas
Win - Loss: 21 - 13

Articles

NBA Scouting Reports: Filling in the Blanks- the Shooting Guards

Matt Williams
Matt Williams
Sep 13, 2009, 11:57 pm
Overview:Essentially a shooting specialist who is capable of spending time at both guard spots, but is naturally better as a scorer. Has solid size for a point guard, but remains undersized for a shooting guard. Not a great athlete, but passable. Doesn’t play the point much at this juncture. Was a dominant high school player, winning a state championship with Jones HS (TX) and playing in the McDonald’s All-American game. Proved to be a capable scorer during his two seasons at Texas. Won the Big 12 Freshman of the Year Award. Took a step back in some areas as a sophomore, and ultimately fell into the second round. Garnered a selection in the second round, but received a guaranteed deal and played a major role in Cleveland’s playoff success as a rookie. Had an outstanding season shooting the ball in 2008. Appeared to be a legitimate steal considering where he was drafted. Was knocked out of the 2008 playoffs with a separated shoulder, which coupled with an offseason ankle surgery and a toe injury, prevented him from rebounding with a strong regular season. Playing under a highly affordable deal.

Offense: A quality spot up shooter who fell into a bit of slump when he wasn’t healthy. Gets almost half of all of his shots up from catch and shoot situations from three. Deadly accurate from three point range for stretches early in his career. Gets good elevation on his shot and is not a liability with a hand in his face. Capable of making shots with consistency off the dribble when healthy, but proves inconsistent for stretches. Will make and take some off balance jumpers when he gets hot. Prefers to pull up when driving left and tends to attack the basket when driving right. Does very little damage at the rim due to his lack of physical strength. Size and frame hurt him in one-on-one situations as well. Displays a decent floater, but needs to improve its consistency. Looks solid handling the ball, but will struggle against full court pressure, and simply doesn’t offer the playmaking ability you look for from a point guard. Not very turnover prone, which helps make up for his lack of creativity and passing. Looks for his own shot when running the pick and roll. Has had his moments as a scorer in the past. Really an asset when he’s healthy and shooting up to his potential, regardless of his ability to play the point.

Defense:Not an ideal option defensively. Lacks the lateral quickness to keep up with the elite point guards in the NBA and the physical strength to effectively defend bigger guards. Shows a willingness to get down in a stance and move his feet, but struggles with screens and allows quite a bit of penetration. Will get a little too aggressive when closing out shooters, but gets a hand up when he can. Doesn’t force many turnovers out on the perimeter, but has a real knack for stripping the ball when he digs into the post. Quick hands and smarts allow him to make an occasional play, but that doesn’t compensate for his other shortcomings.

Daniel Gibson NBA Draft Scouting Report

Jun 24, 2006, 01:46 am
Strengths
In terms of physical attributes, Gibson passes the test for a modern day point guard or combo guard. He has decent size at 6-2, aided by his above average wingspan and excellent athleticism. Gibson is a shifty athlete, possessing very good quickness and overall footspeed, along with a nice first step, which allows him to move fluidly on the court and get by his man in half-court sets. His lateral quickness is excellent, which allows him to play good defense out on the perimeter.

Offensively, Gibson is a deadly threat on the catch and shoot, with range out to the NBA 3-point line, although he can get streaky depending on the flow of the game. He is excellent moving off the ball and possesses very nice shooting mechanics and an extremely quick release which makes him an excellent option to bring off screens and knock down shots in half-court sets or off the drive and kick. He elevates high off the floor and gets his shot off instantaneously even with a hand in his face. His physical attributes lead you to believe that he has the potential to develop into a bit more than just a spot-up shooter, though, mainly in terms of getting his man to overcommit to his shot and then blow by him for an easier mid-range shot or layup at the hoop.

Defensively, Gibson puts pride into this part of his game and was known as one of the top perimeter defenders in the Big 12. He gets low to the ground and has excellent lateral quickness and the smarts to know how to stay in front of his man. Gibson is also an accomplished ball-thief, with good length and excellent hands to get in the passing lanes and ignite the fast break.

In terms of intangibles, Gibson is a coach’s son and is never one to cause problems off the court. He is quiet, a very good student, and has an excellent attitude towards the game, with a solid work ethic and an overall good court demeanor.

Being only a college sophomore, he still has a considerable upside to continue to improve considering the intriguing tools he brings to the table. He was a very highly touted high school player, and many penciled him in for the lottery in 2006 before he failed to live up to expectations in his sophomore year after regressing significantly in his point guard skills.

Weaknesses
Gibson is a 6-2 shooting guard and has proven time after time that he cannot be trusted to run an offense at the college level. His ball-handling skills are average and he lacks great vision (some would say tunnel vision) to find open teammates when putting the ball on the floor. When asked to play a lead ball-handling role or when pressured excessively bringing the ball up the court, he can be quite turnover prone and has a tendency to overdribble aimlessly.

His decision making often leaves something to be desired, as he’s either too aggressive and forces the issue excessively or gets very passive and is not a factor in his team’s offense. At this point in his career he is still learning when and how to slow down or speed up and play at the tempo that the game dictates. He has a tendency to float around aimlessly on the court at times and will struggle to make his presence felt. He was extremely inconsistent throughout the season, with huge highs like scoring 37 points against Baylor to extreme lows like his 3 point game against West Virginia in the NCAA Tournament. His shot-selection in particular needs work.

As a slasher, Gibson still has a ways to go to be able to fully utilize his excellent tools. His ball-handling, as noted, is sloppy, and he does not look fully comfortable putting the ball on the floor going all the way to the basket. When he does get there, he is not a great finisher, as his lack of size and strength hinders him from finishing strong at the hoop in traffic. He would be well served to add polish to his floater and a better pull-up jumper to his game.

Gibson regressed from his freshman to sophomore season, and his team was often just as good with him off the court as they were with him. He had yet to establish himself as a great college player before entering the draft for good, and doesn’t have a wealth of experience under his belt to rely on when things get tough.

Competition
Gibson was one of the most highly touted players in the country and was named a McDonald’s All-American for his efforts. He came into Texas as a freshman and made a name for himself very quickly, being forced to take the team on his back midway through the season when PJ Tucker was named academically ineligible and LaMarcus Aldridge finished the year with a hip injury. Gibson was voted Big 12 freshman of the year and helped his team reach the NCAA tournament, where a poor game on his part saw his team lose to Nevada in the first round. He averaged 14.2 points a game with 3.9 assists, shooting 40% from behind the arc. There was some thought that Gibson would declare for the draft after his freshman season, and many considered him a top 20 pick or even a lottery pick before he announced he’ll be staying another year.

Coming into his sophomore season, expectations were sky high both for Gibson and the Texas Longhorns, considered possibly the most talented team in the country. Gibson started off the season as the team’s point guard, but was quickly moved off the ball when it became obvious that he doesn’t have the ball-handling skills under pressure or playmaking ability to effectively run a team. Gibson still struggled with inconsistency throughout the season and had to take a bit of a backseat offensively to players like PJ Tucker, LaMarcus Aldridge and Kenton Paulino. He was used mostly as a catch and shoot threat coming off screens, where he actually excelled due to his superior perimeter shooting ability. He finished the year averaging 13.2 points and 3.1 assists, shooting 38% from behind the arc.

Outlook
Gibson never regained the starting point guard spot at Texas and there were major questions whether he would be given the chance to work on his point guard skills in his junior year after the recruitment of McDonald’s All-American point guard DJ Augustin and the emergence of rising sophomore AJ Abrams. Gibson announced he’ll be staying in the draft at the pullout deadline and is widely believed to have a promise after conducting only two workouts (with Cleveland and Houston) and withdrawing from the Orlando pre-draft camp at the last minute.

Gibson’s eventual success in the NBA will largely be determined by the team he lands on. If asked to play the role of a true floor general who sets up his team’s offense and is expected to make everyone around him better, he will likely struggle. If he’s allowed to focus on his strengths—perimeter defense and shooting—playing next to a more traditional playmaker, he could certainly play a role in the NBA.

NCAA Tournament: NBA Draft Stock Watch (Elite Eight, Saturday Games)

Jonathan Givony
Jonathan Givony
Mike Schmidt
Mike Schmidt
Mar 26, 2006, 12:19 am
Against LSU Daniel Gibson once again showed us why he doesn’t need to just go back to school, he needs to fly back. His shot selection throughout the entire game was shaky, and his decision making looked as bad as ever when in the rare instance that he would put the ball on the floor. Gibson again showed that he lacks the point guard skills to play the position at the NCAA level, which is the main reason he needs to return to college. Gibson sometimes displays good passing ability and has awesome penetration ability, but appears totally lost when trying to run a half court set, the reason he was moved off the ball earlier in the season. He has good scoring ability and nice athleticism, and has all the physical attributes necessary for a point guard at the next level, but has yet to put anything together on the mental side of the game. If Daniel Gibson can return to Texas and show some kind of point guard skills in his junior year, he might have a chance to start thinking about the NBA again next season.

NCAA Tournament: NBA Draft Stock Watch (round of 32, Sunday games)

Jonathan Givony
Jonathan Givony
Mike Schmidt
Mike Schmidt
Joseph Treutlein
Joseph Treutlein
Jonathan Watters
Jonathan Watters
Mar 20, 2006, 02:55 am
Daniel Gibson started off hot from the field against NC State, hitting 2 three pointers in the first 6 minutes of the game. He continued his excellent play by using his ability to get to the hoop in both half court and transition to penetrate and dish the ball out to open teammates. As Texas made their run at the beginning of the second half to take the lead, Gibson played very unselfishly, as the Longhorns worked the ball through their half-court offense and knocked down most of their open looks. Gibson finished the game 3-8 from the three point line, with all but a few of those shots being uncontested.

Throughout this season, Gibson has built up the reputation of being a shoot first point guard who takes bad shots, and doesn’t involve his teammates much. Though he still didn’t look like the best floor general against NC State, he didn’t force any shots either, and made some nice passes on drives to the hoop. This time he was burned on defense more than we’ve been accustomed to seeing from him, though he did get his hands in the passing lanes on a couple occasions. It doesn’t appear that Gibson will ever be a pass first point guard, or somebody who’s great at running a half court set. But if he continues to take good shots, and pass the ball inside more during the rest of the NCAA Tournament, Daniel Gibson could really help his draft stock which might have reached rock bottom leading up to March.

In Case You Missed It...the Top Weekly Performers, 1/16-1/23

Jonathan Givony
Jonathan Givony
Jonathan Watters
Jonathan Watters
Jan 24, 2006, 02:14 am
One of the best personnel changes made by a coach so far this season has to be Rick Barnes moving Daniel Gibson from the point guard spot to a more natural role for him off the ball. Early on in the year we saw Gibson and Texas struggle to get into a rhythm in their half-court offense and be extremely turnover prone, with many of them being unforced. Two back to back blowout losses to Duke and Tennessee were in large part due to Texas’ inability to handle the full-court pressure that was unleashed on them as well as extremely poor shot selection and defense from the perimeter. Since taking the ball out of Gibson’s hands and not burdening him with the responsibility of having to find the open man and execute half-court sets, as well as look for his own offense at the same time, Texas has reeled off 8 straight wins and is back in the top 5 of the national rankings.

Against Baylor this past weekend Gibson made his coach look especially smart, knocking down 9 of his 12 shots from behind the arc and scoring 37 points to go along with just 1 turnover. His defense (as well as the entire team’s) has picked up considerably as well, holding Aaron Bruce to just 2 points on 1-7 shooting. In one particular stretch where the Bears cut a substantial lead to just 6 points, Gibson responded by reeling off 20 straight points to put the game firmly back in Texas’ favor. He did it in a variety of ways in this game, using his phenomenal stroke to knock down contested shots from the perimeter showing a super quick release, putting the ball on the floor and finishing creatively around the basket in athletic fashion, using his shifty speed to get by his man in transition, and even pulling up for a mid-range shot or floater from the middle of the lane. Gibson looks extremely comfortable in his new role as Texas’ J.J. Redick, and even though it might not be the best thing for his personal draft stock considering his lack of size at the shooting guard position, it’s definitely better than letting him tank it completely like he was early on. What we’ve learned in the past few years anyway is that there is definitely a place in the NBA for scoring guards like a Ben Gordon or Eddie House. What was a bit more concerning in this particular game (as well as in the entire season so far) was once again the way he ignored his talented front-court, seeing LaMarcus Aldridge in particular post up and seal off his man time after time by being unable to find a way to get him the ball with a simple post-entry pass. As long as his shot is falling then all will be well in Longhorn nation, but you have to wonder what they are going to do in an NCAA tournament game if it isn’t…

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