Pooh Jeter

Sailboat video blog with Pooh Jeter.



Part One:



Part two:

One of the more consistently productive point guards in recent Summer League history, Pooh Jeter's performance with the Cleveland Cavaliers earned him a guaranteed contract with the Sacramento Kings, the first NBA contract of his career. Jeter started his professional career in the NBADL before stints in the Ukraine and the ACB that included EuroCup and EuroLeague appearances. He most recently played for Hapoel Jerusalem in Israel. The University of Portland product has produced in each of the stops along his basketball odyssey and, obviously, made a considerable impression in Las Vegas.

Over the course of five games, Jeter showed the ability to position himself to score the ball and set up his teammates using his tremendous quickness. Jeter was outstanding on the pick and roll, turning the corner with ease and making good decisions with the ball once he distorted the defense. His quick release makes him a threat off the bounce despite the height he gives up to many defenders, and he was opportunistic with his chances around the basket. Defensively, Jeter will have his mettle tested at the NBA level due to his lack of size, but his quickness allows him to pressure the ball the length of the floor. Jeter's best quality may be his intangibles, though, as he brings tremendous leadership skills to the floor and has always been considered an outstanding teammate.

Jeter is settling in nicely into a feature role with Hapoel Jerusalem after starting off the season coming off the bench for Euroleague team Unicaja Malaga. We may be a bit biased in this case, but in our mind there is no reason not to think that he's right on the cusp of the NBA with his terrific quickness and creativity. He proved as much by being one of the best point guards in summer league playing for Portland. His improved perimeter shooting ability is a major plus, as are his strong intangibles, and his size may not be as much of an issue these days considering the success that many sub-six-foot point guards are having in the NBA right now.

After an average outing to open the summer league, Jeter came up big today and was a huge reason why Minnesota had a chance to win late in the game. Early in the game, the guard focused more on getting his teammates involved, and showed very impressive vision in both transition and the half-court offense. With the ball, he displayed very good creativity, and probably should have received more assists in the final box than he was credited for. Late in the game when the Timberwolves offense went stagnant, Jeter started to put his offensive abilities on display. He hit a difficult floater in the paint followed by a 20 foot jumper, and then made a difficult lay-up in the lane against two defenders while earning a free throw attempt in the process. Jeter is generously listed at 5'11" and lacks the ideal size for an NBA point guard, but does just about everything well on the court, and could potentially make an NBA roster.

Although he didn’t have a very good game here against Benetton (15 points aside), Jeter deserves a lot of credit for the excellent season he’s having so far. After an outstanding year in the D-League where he led his team all the way to the championship game of the playoffs--and in the process went from complete unknown to legitimate NBA prospect-- Jeter is continuing make steady progress in his rookie season in Europe, averaging 15 points and 4 assists per game on the year.

Still the same waterbug point guard who is nearly impossible to stay in front of, Jeter is learning valuable lessons of how to play in a much slower tempo than he was used to in the D-League. His coaches here are working with him every single day on the importance of maintaining his focus throughout the game and improving his ability to read defenses, and Jeter is rewarding them and garnering invaluable experience in the process. We could see some situations where he pulled back making a pass that had a 50/50 chance of either ending up on a highlight reel or ending up in a turnover, which is a sure-fire sign of a point guard in the process of maturing.

Jeter is probably the most important player on this team, the only one without a backup, and sometimes going the full 40 minutes for Kyiv. He’s working hard on improving the consistency of his perimeter jumper, and has had some nice results so far this season (he was shooting 35% from behind the arc up until the Benetton game). His pull-up jumper from mid-range looked like an excellent weapon in the Benetton game, even if he did not do a great job putting pressure on the defense by utilizing his terrific slashing game early in the game. Later on when his team was down by a considerable margin, he started playing with much more urgency (what his entire was lacking essentially the entire game), taking the ball to the rack strong and finishing acrobatically in impressive fashion.

Jeter’s height is always going to be a hindrance as far as NBA decision makers are going to be concerned, particularly on the defensive end. This is an area that he’s going to have to work the hardest on in order to convince them otherwise, and is clearly something he realizes. The Sports Director here, Vitaliy Lebedintsev, has taken that a step further actually, jokingly offering him an unofficial bonus clause as motivation to get bigger: 10,000 dollars for every centimeter he grows. That seems to be one of the seasons Jeter is letting his hair grow out, hoping his new afro lands him some good cash.

Becoming a true floor general and a vocal leader on the court is something that Kyiv’s coaching staff is really preaching to Jeter. To his credit, he seems to be putting in more work in his free time than anyone on the team, both from what we could tell as well as what the team told us. Every day he reportedly puts in extra time on his ball-handling and perimeter shooting.

Jeter will surely be one of the top point guards to be seen in this year’s summer league. Playing in the NBA is definitely a dream of his from what he told us, but is not something he will chase illogically if serious interest just isn’t there. He’s enjoying playing in Europe under coach Mahoric and isn’t willing to take the non-guaranteed contract route. There are only a handful of point guards with his speed, smarts, intangibles and playmaking ability outside the NBA, and European teams will surely be lining up to compete for his services if no NBA team steps up with guaranteed money.

Not even given a sniff from the NBA as far as an invite to Portsmouth or the NBA pre-draft camp goes, Pooh Jeter has gone from an off the radar 5-11 combo guard at Portland to possibly the best point guard in the D-league. Seeing the transition he’s made from 3 assists per game compared with 2.5 turnovers at a mid-major school tells us everything we need to know about how important it is for a player to be placed in the right situation to maximize his skill-set, and warns us about how dangerous it is to jump to conclusions on players like him in the future. Jeter is ranked 3rd in the league with 7.2 assists per game, and is posting a stellar 3.7 to 1 assist to turnover ratio. He’s gone from a guy who was garnering 50-60 thousand dollars offers overseas this summer to a player that will be considered one of the most coveted American free agent point guards on the Euroleague market this summer, if he indeed decides to take that route.

Jeter is a lightning quick guard with an outstanding sense for running a team and finding the open man. He controls the entire floor like a true playmaker should, but is also capable of putting the ball in the net when the situation calls for it. His ball-handling skills are exquisite and he changes gears with superb body control. Despite his ability to blow by players at will, he rarely forces the issue, always making good decisions and rarely getting out of control. What was most enjoyable to take in from Jeter’s performance was just how much fun he was having despite everything that was at stake for him. He had a permanent smile on his face the entire time and did an awesome job making everyone around him look good. In terms of his NBA future, it seems like he has a place as a backup or 3rd guard for some NBA team. He doesn’t have great size, which hurts him a bit on the defensive end, and could probably improve his shooting range (he’s only 5-16 on the year, despite shooting the ball well in college), but he has a flair and feel for the game that can’t be taught. He’ll be a very interesting player to track in summer league if he doesn’t get called up this year.

Jeter is not extremely tall, but he makes up for this to some degree with his excellent quickness and sturdy frame. Jeter has a strong build for a point guard and displayed good core strength to go along with excellent conditioning. During the drill work the day before competitive play, Jeter showed his ability to finish nicely on a number of acrobatic shots that were indicative of his body control. For a smaller player, Jeter showed plenty of speed and quickness, which are essential for someone his size. Jeter gets up of the ground quickly enough to create space for his shot, though he’s not going to be able to just drive at will into the lane against larger competition.

Jeter has some good point guard skills to work with. He has excellent control of the ball with his dribble, using both his left and right hand equally as well. His handle allows him to use change of direction dribbles with decisive speed into the move, which is how he’s able to get free for making plays. Jeter’s footwork is also good. He uses the combination of dribble and switch-stance footwork to keep his defender guessing. Going against a larger and faster opponent in Guillermo Diaz, Jeter still got into position to make some shots. Although he didn’t have much success converting his bucket opportunities, Jeter was absolutely lights out during the intense drill work the day before. Considering that his form was the same during drill work and competitive play it doesn’t seem to be a concern that he can make shots.

Overall there are some weaknesses that Jeter will have to overcome. For one, his size is something that will be a concern for any team who works him out. While there are plenty of successful examples of players who overcome height disadvantages, it is still going to be something he will be measured by at first site. Also, while Jeter is quick, he doesn’t posses blazing speed or amazing explosive lift like Earl Boykins or Nate Robinson. So, Jeter will have to rely more on technique to make things happen. But, Jeter shows a great work ethic and tremendous heart when competing on the floor and will push himself to the limit of his endurance without complaint. His conditioning is top-notch as well. Many point guards like Jeter have gone overseas and realized tremendous success at high levels. Some players benefit from the experience and improve their games enough to come back and have an impact in the NBA. Regardless of what path Jeter chooses to go, he will be paid to play this game and should be a developing asset for whomever he plays for.