Shooting form: Although Plumlee rarely shoots outside jumpers and his free throws are line drives, there is hope for a brighter day as it relates to shooting. For a 7-footer, his mechanics and form could be a lot worse. He has the ball in proper position; now he needs to focus on shooting up instead of out while also incorporating his legs into his shot a bit more. Getting in the gym and getting reps with proper form is the only way this will improve.
Off-the-dribble ability: For a 7-footer, Plumlee understands and executes the concept of straight line drives quite well. Thanks to his ability to pass, he uses ball fakes before his long strides to glide to the rim, where he can finish with power or draw a foul.
WEAKER POINTS:
Over-reliant on position/size/athleticism: As we mentioned above, establishing post position is a major strength, so much so that oftentimes when Plumlee catches the ball, he is in such good position to score, he doesn’t have to worry about making a move at the NCAA level. He’s a legit 7-footer with wiry strength and the ability to make smaller players look weak, so it’s easy for him to take advantage of these gifts. There were a few times where he caught the ball and went to make a power move but was stopped because he went up with his right hand on the left side or didn’t have a counter move in his arsenal. Plumlee has developed consistently over the last few years and there isn’t any reason to think he can’t create counter moves, but they aren’t a strength of his right now.
Free throws: He has improved his free throws drastically since just last season, which is a result of Coach K telling him to step to the line, not bounce the ball and shoot it when he’s comfortable to shoot it (usually about 3 seconds). The reason Krzyzewski has him doing this is to minimize the up-and-down motions that big men (and many poor free throw shooters, in general) have in their shot thanks to bouncing their body as they bounce the ball at the line. However, I think that if Plumlee took a deep breath, took one dribble, found the air hole of the ball and then shot – without rocking his body at all – he’d be even better than he is now. He is shooting 73 percent on a solid 8.7 attempts per game, which is awesome for someone who shot in the 40’s and 50’s during his first three years. For Plumlee to take yet another step forward toward real consistency at the charity stripe, he will have to get more arc on his line-drive shot while relaxing a little more.
Left hand: He was swatted twice in a row by smaller defenders on drop-step finishes on the left side of the hoop. Why? Because he thought he could get away with going up with his right hand. He will need to develop more confidence in his left hand to be effective against players who are his size or who happen to be athletic, both for this season and his future.
Touch around the rim: Plumlee has to get used to having to make plays more quickly, currently as a result of double-teams and at the NBA level as a result of the quick pace, size, length and athleticism of defenders. Once again, via Zoubek: “His touch around the rim, it’ll come to him a little bit. He’s just gotta finish through contact. He’s gotta realize that everyone is going to be double- and triple-teaming him at this point, especially with the success he’s had this year so far. So he’s just gotta play through contact and he’s not going to get all the calls he wants. But he’s just got to make sure he finishes and doesn’t have to go to the free throw line with two shots; he can go with one.”
Motor as a rebounder: Plumlee had six rebounds in the first half and eight in the second, but it was like night and day as far as boxing out, being aggressive about making something happen when the ball was in the air. In the first half, he wasn’t working as hard as Coach K wanted, but in the second half, he showed why scouts are beginning to peg him as a potential lottery pick. If Plumlee keeps his motor running high at all times, Duke’s going to be pretty tough to beat, and Plumlee’s stock will stay high.
Jeremy Bauman is a 2011 Indiana University alum who is an aspiring scout and shooting coach. After covering last June’s NBA finals for this site, he’ll be blogging for SheridanHoops.com weekday mornings during the 2012-13 basketball season. Follow him on Twitter.
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