With his college career coming to a close in about two weeks, this is probably as good a time as any to offer up a progress report on
Kentrell Gransberrys senior season. South Florida went through a coaching change this past summer, and although they werent all that much more competitive in the Big East, Gransberry seemed to improve to a certain extent on an individual basis under Stan Heath.
Gransberry was relied on very heavily by South Florida offensively, quite a bit more than hell be expected to at the next level. Over 50% of his offense came on post-up situations, with the rest coming primarily from offensive rebounds and cuts to the basket. Gransberry was not terribly efficient finishing his post-up moves, as hes mostly a below the rim player, but he did get to the free at an excellent rate (7.5 attempts per game). He doesnt have anything resembling an outside jumper, as you can probably guess by the 53% he shoots from the free throw line.
Gransberry does a good job using his strength to establish position down low, backing players down, and being fairly patient waiting for plays to develop. He lacks any real quickness to go around defenders or the explosiveness to go up and finish strong at the rim, but possesses a solid jump-hook and drop-step he can go to, and is extremely aggressive trying to make his presence felt, initiating contact and using his body well. Almost everything he does comes with his right hand. Hes also a solid passer out of the post, which is nice considering how big of a role he had in this offense.
Gransberrys best attribute as far as the NBA is concerned has to be his rebounding ability. He is averaging 11 rebounds per game this season, and his 13.9 per-40 minutes pace-adjusted
ranks him 8th in that category amongst all players in our database. He was actually better in this category last year, at 16 rebounds per-40 minutes pace adjusted.
Regardless, he does a phenomenal job getting a body on players and boxing out down low. He has terrific timing and anticipation skills, and his excellent hands and strength let him do the rest. What Gransberry lacks in explosiveness he makes up for with sheer tenacity, going after every rebound with the type of ferociousness that epitomizes all great glass-cleaners.
Defensively, Gransberry cant be considered anything more than average at best for a potential NBA power forward. His lack of quickness is very obvious both in the post and especially on the perimeter, where he struggles to move his feet and stay in front of players. Gransberry would be well served to shed a good 20 pounds leading into the pre-draft process, as hes clearly carrying a great deal of extra weight that he just wont need at the next level. His conditioning obviously isnt the best, and this has hurt South Florida on a couple of occasions this season in close games, as their star player just wasnt able to perform up to his maximum potential due to fatigue.
Gransberry is going to have to endear himself to scouts at the pre-draft camps, starting at Portsmouth and continuing in Orlando. He has the type of five on five game that doesnt translate all that well to private workouts, so he would be well served to take advantage of any opportunity he gets to show himself in front of NBA executives in a team setting. There is a spot in the NBA for players like Gransberry who can get after it, generate extra possessions for his team, and play within himself offensively, but hes not a sure bet to make it at this point. He should definitely take advantage of the extra time he has compared with others to prepare for the draft, and get himself in the best shape possible.
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