Jalen Hood-Schifino - Philadelphia 76ers

[Hovadipo]

 

[Hovadipo]

Some light reading for your Wednesday morning. Sam Vecenie's scouting report from The Athletic NBA draft guide:

15. Jalen Hood-Schifino G/W | Indiana

Birthdate: June 19, 2003 (Age: 20)

6-4 | 215 LBS | Hometown: Pittsburgh

BACKGROUND Parents are Angel and Glenn. Hood-Schifino was born in Pittsburgh and lived there until he was in middle school, when the family moved to Charlotte. He quickly became a sought-after prospect as a high school player, largely due to his frame and affinity for playing on both ends of the court. He was well-traveled. He started his high school career at Northside Christian Academy in Charlotte, then moved to Combine Academy in Lincolnton, N.C. During that season, he committed to Pitt under coach Jeff Capel III but decided to go through a more robust recruiting process after blowing up as an elite recruit in the summer between his sophomore and junior seasons. Transferred following that year to his final landing spot, Florida powerhouse Montverde Academy. Was consistently among the best players at Montverde, playing with fellow terrific recruits such as Dariq Whitehead, Malik Reneau and Dillon Mitchell. The previous year, he played with draft picks Jalen Duren and Caleb Houstan. Came off the bench as a junior but played a critical role. Started at point guard as a senior and was integral to the team’s success. During both seasons, the team won the GEICO national tournament. Because of all the talent around him, Hood-Schifino’s impact on the game has always gone a bit underrated. He was passed over for the McDonald’s All-American game and Nike Hoop Summit, although he was a Jordan Brand Classic invitee. Many schools didn’t think he was a point guard. Ultimately, Hood-Schifino was considered a consensus top-30 recruit and was a borderline five-star player. He committed to Indiana over Florida, Memphis, Texas and Tennessee and chose Indiana in part because the Hoosiers saw him as a point guard. After Xavier Johnson’s injury, Hood-Schifino got his chance to play point and thrived. He won the Big Ten Conference Rookie of the Year award and was named third-team All-Big Ten. He helped lead Indiana to a top-four seed in the NCAA Tournament, where the Hoosiers eventually lost in the second round to Miami. Hood-Schifino declared for the 2023 NBA Draft after the season, as he was considered one of the bigger risers of the college basketball campaign. He was invited to the 2023 NBA Draft Combine.

STRENGTHS Hood-Schifino has terrific size for whatever role he ends up playing, be it at point or on the wing as a secondary ballhandler. He’s a strong, physical 6-foot-4 without shoes with a great plus-six wingspan and a 215-pound frame. The key to Hood-Schifino’s game is his versatility and overall feel. There are very few holes in what he brings to the table, and he’s smart enough as a processor to think things through on the court.

Offensively, it all starts out of ball screens. Hood-Schifino is a tremendous pick-and-roll player who thrives taking a screen and making plays. Plays with a terrific tempo and pace, plus has great feel for how to take (or reject) screens. Changes gears well and has high-level footwork to get separation. Knows how to snake dribble and get his man onto his hip but can also hit the brakes with hang dribbles and hesitations to get free from bigs in drop or guards recovering. Goes slow to fast well. Has a bit more burst here than initially meets the eye. Love the way he strings out bigs and forces them to engage with him. Handles ball pressure well by making early passing reads. Very poised for the most part.

As a scorer, Hood-Schifino loves to try to get into the midrange. Loves the elbow jumper and loves to get to his right and pull-up. Was good at taking a screen or a dribble handoff from Trayce Jackson-Davis in the middle of the floor, getting downhill to his right, then stopping and popping. If you play drop coverage against him, it’s going to be a struggle. He’s one of those guys who doesn’t really need to be aligned with his feet toward the rim when rising but can align himself in midair to get a clean, balanced look. Also, good going to his left. Tends to get a bit more penetration to the right than the left, so his percentages are a bit worse from the left side of the floor. In total, Hood-Schifino made 42.3 percent of his midrange pull-up jumpers this past season, per Synergy, a very good number for a teenager. From the middle, he has a potential floater game too, which could help with some of his issues at the rim. Can take them off one foot or two. Made 41 percent of those, per Synergy. But he can also pull up from 3 at times. He typically takes a couple of those per game and shows real potential because he’s always on balance. If guys go under, he’s unafraid to stop behind the 3-point line and go for it. It’s not the most polished skill, but he can be very good in time. He took nearly two of those per game and made them at a 37 percent clip, per Synergy. He has a well-rounded skill set as a scorer out of screening actions, and it’s easy to buy him as a high-level scorer in these situations as he gets older.

He also pairs this with strong feel as a passer. Averaged 4.4 assists per game. Hood-Schifino’s terrific at finding his teammates once he gets into the middle of the court. Always has his head up and is ready to find teammates as soon as he comes off the screen. Legitimately can manipulate defenders with his vision and with his driving as he takes up space to engage defenders. That ability to play at pace, slow down and draw defenders toward him or keep them hostage on his back and hip works wonders. Consistently reads the backside help defenders to find open targets. In terms of execution, he can hit live-dribble kickouts with either hand and the cross-corner pass to wide-open 3-point shooters. Finds smart angles on jump stops to hit open spotup shooters, like a Villanova-style guard such as Jalen Brunson. Also had great chemistry with Jackson-Davis as a roller, often finding him on sharp little pocket passes. Their synergy together this past season was the lifeblood of Indiana’s offense.

Hood-Schifino pairs a terrific offensive ball screen game with being an awesome defender. Great pressure on the ball at the point of attack. Gets into defenders’ space and has terrific lateral ability to stay in front of his man. Very technically sound. Drops his hips well to cut off angles. Then, when someone tries to body him up, he has real strength through his chest that doesn’t allow people to push him backward. Plus, he has really good hands to disrupt what the opposing man wants to do. Gets in there and causes issues. Against screens, he’s sharp at getting through them. Does a great job getting skinny and over the top then fights back to get attached in recovery. Will be excellent in a drop-coverage scheme, using his strength to get around screens and using his length in recovery.

Great attention to detail off the ball too. Hood-Schifino stays very attached getting through off-ball screening actions. Great rotationally and always knows where to be. Seems to communicate well within switches when they become necessary. Slid up and down the lineup occasionally depending on who was on the court with him, although Indiana generally played much bigger this past season due to its size across the wing positions. Hood-Schifino should have no problems against offensive players one through three.

WEAKNESSES Athletically, Hood-Schifino isn’t all that impressive. Will be a below-average athlete by the standards of an NBA guard in terms of explosiveness. Has the functional stuff like lateral quickness and hip flexibility. Doesn’t have an awesome first step. Not a powerful leaper. He generally needs a ball screen to get any sort of penetration. Has great footwork out of ball screens but can’t really break down defenders in isolation situations. Doesn’t have a particularly shifty handle. Ball can get a little bit loose in his hands and end up farther away from his body than you’d like to see. Doesn’t have great shake. Will limit him a bit as a scorer and will likely be more of a secondary ballhandler because of it. Hood-Schifino is very unlikely to be an end-of-shot-clock weapon in the NBA and likely will not be a primary scoring option. But he could be a legitimate bigger point guard if the passing and playmaking continues developing.

Outside of that pull-up game, there are real questions about how he scores at the next level. That starts with the shooting, and it’s why there are some questions about his off-ball potential. Hood-Schifino made just 30.4 percent from 3 off the catch this past season. His shot prep isn’t awesome, likely due to playing mostly on the ball throughout his life. Really needs to be stationary and spotting up. Off any sort of movement, he struggles to set himself and maintain balance. Has a bit of a pause off the one-two to load into the shot. Never takes them off the hop. Mechanically, he has a significant ball dip. A lot of misses to the left or right. Doesn’t look all that comfortable. Needs to spend the offseason really becoming more comfortable getting into rhythm and flow as a shooter off the catch given that he’ll have to play off the ball more often. Clearly has touch given his pull-up game, so there is a shooting base to work with.

Hood-Schifino also really struggles to score at the rim and doesn’t get there often, in part due to that lack of first step. Only got 1.5 shots per game at the rim in half-court settings, per Synergy. But it’s also partly because of his lack of leaping ability as a finisher when he gets there. He made just 46 percent at the rim this past season in half-court settings, per Synergy, one of the worst marks among potential first-round picks this year. He put up a lot of wild ones at the basket. Generally, doesn’t use his frame to its utmost advantage. Doesn’t really try to attack rim protectors’ bodies and instead tries to throw up wild touch finishes with finger rolls. The open space of the NBA might help him, but he will really need to work on his craft here.

Struggles with turnovers a bit more than you’d think for someone who has solid feel for the game. Can be flat-out inaccurate as a passer at times and throws some wild ones you don’t like to see. These are largely born out of aggressiveness, but he can be a bit over-the-top with it. A lot of mistimed lobs or balls thrown at players’ feet accidentally. He has great vision but needs to focus on completing the job in terms of skill level. I think his handle could stand to tighten up a bit. Heavy pressure on-ball defenders might give him trouble. Averaged 3.4 turnovers per game, which was way too high for his usage level.

SUMMARY The question with Hood-Schifino is the offensive role. Will he be good enough as a midrange/3-point pull-up scorer to keep defenses honest to open passing lanes? And if he’s not, can he improve as a shooter off the catch enough to become an offball player? If he can do any of that, he’s immediately a valuable role player in today’s NBA because of how well he projects on defense. If he can just knock down a spot 3 consistently, that would be enough given his defense, passing and playmaking ability. Hood-Schifino has a lot of potential avenues he could go down to become a valuable rotation player, but it might be a bit rough early while he tries to find that role due to his scoring inefficiency and lack of explosiveness. I’m a believer in his game eventually translating, because guys who are 6-foot-6 lead guards with solid basketball IQ and terrific defense tend to have a lot of outs. And if Hood-Schifino does become a real spot-up 3-point shooter paired with continuing to improve as a pull-up ball screen weapon when mixed with his passing, then he has real starter potential for a long while. Given how well developed his pull-up game is already, I think it’s a worthwhile investment. He’ll take some development, but I’m a buyer in him figuring it out. That’s why I have him in my top 15.

[Hovadipo]

LCS' buddy Sam Vecenie agrees with Givony, Fino at 13 to Toronto:

13. Toronto Raptors

Jalen Hood-Schifino | 6-4 wing | 20 years old | Indiana

The Scout: Hood-Schifino is a well-rounded, young prospect who won the Big Ten’s Rookie of the Year award this past season while averaging 13 points, four rebounds and four assists. He’s also a very strong on-ball defender with real size at nearly 6-6 in shoes. He’s shown great unselfishness and comfort in ball screens, with a penchant for knocking down midrange jumpers. However, he’s not a particularly adept shooter off the catch yet and will need some fine-tuning in that regard. If he can improve that and some decision-making questions, Hood-Schifino could get on the court a touch earlier than most one-and-dones. But the shooting needs to improve, as he made just 33.3 percent from 3.

The Fit: The Raptors have a lot of questions forthcoming in the backcourt. Fred VanVleet has said he’ll become a free agent, and Gary Trent Jr. can become one too. There is precious little depth behind them. The team needs to find more answers, even if it envisions Scottie Barnes as a potential primary creator. Hood-Schifino can play a bit on and off the ball, and I think he’s the rare one-and-done who could play early because of how impactful he is as a defender. He would give the Raptors some further flexibility in terms of their offseason decision-making. More of the names I’ve heard involved with the Raptors reside in the backcourt than the frontcourt, although they don’t seem to be expressly looking for guards either.

The Range: No. 10 to 20

[Demo]

https://www.noceilingsnba.com/p/the-journey-of-jalen-hood-schifino
 

Haven’t read it yet, so no idea of the quality. But, it’s certainly long.

[Hovadipo]

Anonymous NBA scout intel on Fino:

Jalen Hood-Schifino, 6-6 freshman point guard, Indiana. “Mature and physical. One of the best ball screen guards in the draft. Streaky 3-point shooter. I worry about his ability to get by people. He needs a ball screen to create an advantage. Not the best athlete, but he plays at a good pace and has a good feel for the game. I love his toughness and character. He’s going to have to improve on his decision making. He predetermines a lot of his decisions, especially coming off ball screens. When he gets around the rim he doesn’t have that pop to him.”

[WayneFleekHoosier]

Anonymous NBA scout intel on Fino:
Jalen Hood-Schifino, 6-6 freshman point guard, Indiana. “Mature and physical. One of the best ball screen guards in the draft. Streaky 3-point shooter. I worry about his ability to get by people. He needs a ball screen to create an advantage. Not the best athlete, but he plays at a good pace and has a good feel for the game. I love his toughness and character. He’s going to have to improve on his decision making. He predetermines a lot of his decisions, especially coming off ball screens. When he gets around the rim he doesn’t have that pop to him.”

Accurate


Sent from my iPad using BtownBanners mobile app

[HoosierHoopster]

General range now at 10-20. The Toronto picks are pretty solid imo unless they want shooting. JHS’s size, strength, and maturity to go with his on-ball skills have moved him into possible lottery, and with the green room invite. Going to enjoy watching him grow his game further in the League

[Loaded Chicken Sandwich]

12 hours ago, Hovadipo said:

Anonymous NBA scout intel on Fino:

Jalen Hood-Schifino, 6-6 freshman point guard, Indiana. “Mature and physical. One of the best ball screen guards in the draft. Streaky 3-point shooter. I worry about his ability to get by people. He needs a ball screen to create an advantage. Not the best athlete, but he plays at a good pace and has a good feel for the game. I love his toughness and character. He’s going to have to improve on his decision making. He predetermines a lot of his decisions, especially coming off ball screens. When he gets around the rim he doesn’t have that pop to him.”

"I worry about his ability to get around people." The same thing was said about Luka. I don't think JHS will be on Lukas level, but scouts get way too caught up in athleticism over ability.

[Hovadipo]

Hollinger on Fino. Brutal scouting report (and ranked well below TJD in his prospect rankings) :

40. Jalen Hood-Schifino, 20, 6-4 freshman PG/SG, Indiana

I’m scratching my head trying to figure out how Hood-Schifino is projected as a late lottery pick. He wasn’t notably good as a nearly 20-year-old freshman — 13.0 PER with 49.2 percent true shooting, although it improved to 14.4 in Big Ten play. He isn’t a great athlete, is a below-average shooter and didn’t have any of the statistical markers that might signify a draft sleeper. Of the 2003-born prospects in my top 70, only Howard (just above) and Hood-Schifino failed to post a PER in conference games above 18.0.

Even Hood-Schifino’s best attribute, making tough pull-ups and floaters, is something of a red flag in disguise: Most pro-caliber players don’t need to rely on these shots because they can get all the way to the rim. College players who rely on tough shot making, from Adam Morrison to Johnny Juzang to Johnny Davis, have found it incredibly tough to eat on those same shots against pros.

Maybe he makes it anyway. He has great size for a guard, he’s a decent passer, if a bit turnover-prone, and he looks like he’ll be able to defend the position. On that end, he was willing to get into the ball and has good size, but there is very little in the way of dynamism — just 1.1 steals and 0.3 blocks per 100 possessions. He’s fine at this point in the draft, but the lottery hype blows my mind.

[Loaded Chicken Sandwich]

14 minutes ago, Hovadipo said:

Hollinger on Fino. Brutal scouting report (and ranked well below TJD in his prospect rankings) :

40. Jalen Hood-Schifino, 20, 6-4 freshman PG/SG, Indiana

I’m scratching my head trying to figure out how Hood-Schifino is projected as a late lottery pick. He wasn’t notably good as a nearly 20-year-old freshman — 13.0 PER with 49.2 percent true shooting, although it improved to 14.4 in Big Ten play. He isn’t a great athlete, is a below-average shooter and didn’t have any of the statistical markers that might signify a draft sleeper. Of the 2003-born prospects in my top 70, only Howard (just above) and Hood-Schifino failed to post a PER in conference games above 18.0.

Even Hood-Schifino’s best attribute, making tough pull-ups and floaters, is something of a red flag in disguise: Most pro-caliber players don’t need to rely on these shots because they can get all the way to the rim. College players who rely on tough shot making, from Adam Morrison to Johnny Juzang to Johnny Davis, have found it incredibly tough to eat on those same shots against pros.

Maybe he makes it anyway. He has great size for a guard, he’s a decent passer, if a bit turnover-prone, and he looks like he’ll be able to defend the position. On that end, he was willing to get into the ball and has good size, but there is very little in the way of dynamism — just 1.1 steals and 0.3 blocks per 100 possessions. He’s fine at this point in the draft, but the lottery hype blows my mind.

There is a reason John Hollinger is no longer in NBA front offices.. just saying...

 

Also hilarious how he wants to focus so much on PER... The thing he created.

[Hovadipo]

Coaching confidential provides a much rosier outlook. I'm *pretty* sure "College Head Coach 3" is Juwan:

Jalen Hood-Schifino

College Assistant Coach 3 (his team played Indiana): We love this kid. … He is a midrange nightmare. If he beats you to the elbows, he’s got the size to raise and shoot over you. (He’s ) 6-6, about 215. Played point guard for them after Xavier Johnson got hurt, and they were better with him because he was more dynamic with the ball. He is a little bit turnover-prone. But he loves the screen-roll dribble into his own shot, as long as he’s going right. If he’s going right, he’s deadly. You can’t let him get downhill; you’ve got to get the ball out of his hands. If they did that, they had Trayce Jackson-Davis on the short roll. But he is a really dynamic player. He’s not as good defensively as he was offensively, but he’s such a good player. …

That’s about all (Indiana coach Mike Woodson) does, simple pro stuff: turnouts, floppy, get the ball back to him on a high screen-roll to the right elbow. I know Woody is a fairly demanding defensive coach. I think he is just young, being a freshman. He reminds me a little bit of Chauncey Billups. He’s got similar size — I don’t know if he’s the leader Chauncey is, because they had Trayce there, and this kid’s a freshman. But, a really good player.

College Head Coach 3 (his team played Indiana): I think he could be one of those guys you look up and he’s an All-Star. Because at his size, with his ability, and his IQ, he’s one of those guys that can make the game easy for himself and easy for other people. When we played them, he was the difference. He won the game. … We led most of the game … (but) when it came down to winning time, Hood-Schifino took it to another level. I was like, ‘Man, that’s pretty good.’ As he continues to grow in his game and grow just in his craft, he’s going to be one of those guys that you look up, and it’s not going to be a surprise that he’s an All-Star. I don’t know his work ethic, things like that. If he works, it’s scary how good he can be.

At that guard spot, he has size, but he also has skill. He would have been one of those guys that, back in the day, like Eric Snow played with (Allen) Iverson. He would have been one of those big point guards that can guard a two, to allow the smaller two guard to guard the point guard. I look at his ability not only to create for himself but to create for others. That’s what makes him really intriguing.

The other part is he has that ‘big play’ type of ability. He’s not afraid of the moment. I think you can play him on the ball, you can play him off the ball. I think with more time, depending on where he goes, but every NBA team, for the most part, does a great job with player development, I think he can, his shooting is only going to improve too. I think he has a chance to be really, really good.

College Assistant Coach 4 (his team played Indiana): Super talented. He’s one of the guys, he’ll be a pro for a while.  One of the very few guys that, he actually improved his shooting in the course of the season. Came into the season as a non-shooter. But he made a lot of big baskets for them, played with a lot of composure. Very big for them down the stretch of the season. Their season sort of when, if he played well, the team usually played well. Great size and handle, good feel for the game, made plays out of the pick-and-roll. I think he’s going to be a solid pro.

I think he played well with Trayce. He probably deferred more when Trayce was playing because Trayce was who he was for that team. When Trayce was out, it really opened up the floor for him more, made him more of a scorer and driver, as opposed to playing with Trayce, who is a guy that was always around the basket. I don’t see him having a problem making the transition. He is a complete problem in transition. I think he’ll be a better pro than he was in college. He was solid with dribble handoffs, pick-and-rolls, had a good feel, made good reads, made the right plays. I think he’s going to be really good. And because of his size, he’s a point guard for sure, but he can guard multiple positions because he’s got good size, has a strong body.

[sweetpain]

Gary Parrish say what, mock #8.

Sent from my SM-S918U using Tapatalk

[Hovadipo]

Another mock draft, another John Hollinger take that matches absolutely nothing else coming out right now:

20. Houston — Jalen Hood-Schifino, 20, PG, Indiana

The odds of this pick getting traded are extremely high, given that Houston already has too many young players on rookie contracts and that the Rockets are actually trying to win this year. Unlike the pick at No. 4, Houston is likelier to get what would be considered fair value here, so I’ll be surprised if the Rockets end up making this pick themselves.

Thus, consider this one a placeholder: Hood-Schifino is likely the highest-rated player left on most draft boards whom I haven’t found a home for yet, so some team might trade a future first to the Rockets on the clock with the intent of grabbing him here. I don’t think Hood-Schifino is a first-round talent, so I’m really interested to see where the league values him.

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

 

[Hovadipo]

Wish he went almost anywhere else, but…….Finooooo!

[Hovadipo]

 

[reconmkd]

Lakers Booo! Hissss! Congrats Jalen I was a wonderful time while you were here!

[LIHoosier]

2 hours ago, Class of '66 Old Fart said:

 

Wearing Celtic green probably wasn't the best decision...

[Demo]

Forgot about this. 

[Golfman25]

12 hours ago, LIHoosier said:

Wearing Celtic green probably wasn't the best decision...

Better than the freaking candy apple Taylor Swift sequined red that Grady Dick was wearing.  :)