In the Spotlight: Robert Vaden

Robert Vaden
Position: 2-Guard / Small Forward
Ht: 6-5, Wt: 210
Hometown: Indianapolis, IN
College: UAB
Class: Senior
Age: 3/3/85

Strengths:

• Very complete, poised player who does a little bit of everything.
• Heady player who can fill many roles on the offensive end – play 1, 2, 3
• Great range on his jump shot
• Does a great job using screens to get free… can knock it down on a catch-and-shoot, or off the bounce.
• Crafty player with good court vision… Has the ability to get into the paint and find the open man.
• Strong build – can hold his own physically
• Understands how to play team defense - Not the best on the ball defender, but does a great job rotating from the weakside to help out defensively
  

Weaknesses:

• Settles for 3’s way too much rather than taking the ball to the bucket.
• Not very athletic… Lacks NBA level leaping ability / explosiveness
• Limited quickness – going to struggle taking his man off the dribble at the next level
• More of a streak shooter, that could improve his consistency from 3 point range… Robert would benefit from taking some mid-range jumpers to keep the defense honest.
• Heavily favors dribbling with his right hand… needs to improve his ball handling with his left.
• Doesn’t have the hang-time to finish consistently in traffic.
• He’s already 23, so there isn’t going to be much growth in his game (sat out 1 yr to transfer).

Overall:

Robert is a very complete player, who does everything well, but nothing spectacular. He won’t blow you away with his speed, quickness, or athletic ability, but he has a ton of skills that make him a very efficient player. He has good range, court vision, he hits the glass inside and he has the ability to get hot in a hurry.

On the defensive side of the ball, because Robert has limited lateral quickness, he’s not a terrific on the ball defender. He does however, do a nice job rotating over from the weakside, to play solid team defense.

Robert’s really at his best with the ball in his hands, playing a point forward role, which allows him to make the decisions and control the offensive flow. He’s used to being the best player on whatever team he’s played, which clearly won’t be the case as his game matures to the next level.

In order for Robert to find a niche in the NBA, I’d like to see him become a more consistent jump shooter (right now he’s more of a streak shooter), improve his penetration abilities (work on his left hand dribble), and even improve his on the ball defense.

Right now, Robert’s worth a look in the mid 2nd round, but I think he’ll have trouble sticking, unless a team lacks depth at the 2/3 position.