Who Is?: Andrew Goudelock
The 2011 offseason is finally here and the first step to winning the 2012 title is the NBA Draft. With a week left, Orlando Magic Daily will profile some players the Magic might be looking at.
It seems silly that Orlando might be in the market for another score-first point guard. Andrew Goudelock of College of Charleston is definitely in that category. He is a great scorer who has been a double-digit producer throughout his college career. And when you are picking in the 50s of the draft, you take who you can get.
Goudelock very well could be the best player on the board when Orlando’s turn comes up. I have seen mock drafts that have him going in the late first round and I have seen mock drafts that have him falling past Orlando. He is really all over the map in this draft.
Whether he can actually make a roster might be largely dependent on how his true point guard skills develop as he is not an elite scorer per se and his size should keep him from being a shooting guard at the next level. This is why I do not see him making the first round. He might have the talent scoring-wise to play in the NBA, but role he can play is still an uncertainty.
And College of Charleston does not exactly ring in the ears of the general public as a college basketball powerhouse — except when we talk about Anthony Johnson.
Goudelock averaged 23.7 points per game last year on 45.5 percent field goal shooting and a 40.7 percent 3-point shooting — good for a 54.8 percent effective field goal percentage. He averaged a career high 4.2 assists per game his senior year. He has shown improvement throughout his career too. His scoring average increased each of his four years from 13.2 to 23.7 in his four years. That kind of improvement is something scouts surely like to see.
He even improved his passing and play-making ability despite the low assist number. He had a 26.4 percent assist rate his senior year. This is where Goudelock will have to show improvement to make an NBA roster.
The Good: Goudelock is a scorer. There is no doubt about it. He averaged 19.4 points per game his junior year and upped it to 23.7 points per game his senior year. Much like Jameer Nelson or Gilbert Arenas (for Magic comparisons), he is primarily a scorer and when he put his mind to it, in college at least, he could put up some big numbers. He topped 30 points seven times this season including a 39-point effort against Dayton in the first round of the NIT.
Coming up big in a tournament setting is certainly a good sign for NBA scouts. Goudelock was also named the Southern Conference’s Male Athlete of the Year.
Goudelock is also not afraid to let it fly from deep, something the Magic would surely like. Goudelock was second in the nation with 322 attempts from three this year and finished first in the Southern Conference by shooting 40.7 percent from long range. His junior year was the only season he did not shoot better than 40 percent from distance. More impressively, he did that while ranking in the top 100 in the nation in 3-point field goal attempts.
Offense is going to be the easy part with Goudelock.
The Bad: At 6-foot-2 though, Goudelock is going to have to show a little bit more than an ability to put the ball in the basket. He is going to have to show that he is either quick and strong enough to play against shooting guards or that he has the passing ability to be a point guard. It does not feel like either of those may happen and that is why he may slip down to Orlando.
He is not a particularly strong rebounder and is not particularly athletic either. That almost throws out the idea of him being a shooting guard in the NBA. Maybe a team is willing to take a risk on him playing a J.J. Barea role alongside a veteran point guard. That is a very specific situation though and Dallas is not in the market for another one of those.
Goudelock is going to have to improve his skills on the ball and his point guard abilities. He turns the ball over at a pretty high rate — increased from 11.9 percent his junior year to 16.3 percent his senior year — and averaged 3.2 per game last year. It does not feel like he is a point guard yet, but more of a small shooting guard. Those have their place in the NBA, but you better be an elite scorer.
Goudelock is close to that level, close enough that someone will take a chance on him.
Draft Sites Say:
NBADraft.net: “Quick combo-guard with a deadly shooting stroke … One of the best scorers in the nation (23.7 PPG) … Very energetic offensively … Undersized for a shooting guard at the next level … Not very skilled in the paint, due to his below average athleticism and size … Most of his offense comes from the perimeter.”
DraftExpress: “Amongst the most intriguing prospects slated to compete in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, Andrew Goudelock made a strong impression on one end of the floor, but struggled for stretches on the other. He’s still one of the most interesting small-school prospects in the draft, and did little to turn scouts off to his ability to space the floor.”
Andrew Melnick, Howard The Dunk: “Goudelock was a fantastic college basketball player and especially big time scorer. Goudelock’s shooting percentages are excellent. He has an excellent effective field goal percentage of 54.9% and can really knock down the three-pointer. One big problem I can see Goudelock’s offensive game is his inability to get to the free throw – his free throw rate is extremely poor. When Goudelock does get to the charity stripe, he does a pretty good job of knocking his free throws down.”
Justin Rogers, MLive.com: “Playing for the Cougars, Goudelock went under the radar, but that didn’t stop him from lighting up scoreboards across the Southern Conference. As a senior, he finished fifth in the nation, averaging 23.5 points per game. Goudelock isn’t the type of player to rely on the free throw line to pad his scoring numbers. He does most of his damage from the floor, particularly from the perimeter. Last season he attempted over eight three-pointers per game, converting on 41 percent of his attempts.”
Final Thoughts: Goudelock is a scorer and that is not likely to change. It should be enough to get him a chance with some team. How much of one will be important for the Magic to watch if they want to get this kid. If there is a team earlier in the second round that believes Goudelock’s scoring ability can translate to the NBA, they will take him and he will be off the board.
Questions about his size and his point guard skills will be questioned early in his career. They will likely persist unless he shows a lot of improvement. He is going to have to work on becoming a true point guard and improve his defensive skills.
But being able to put the ball in the basket is a good thing to be able to do. If Goudelock can continue to do that, he will have a chance at making a roster and staying in the NBA.
Also Meet: David Lighty
Photo via DayLife.com.