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Who are Mario Chalmers and Darnell Jackson?
Drafted 34th and 52nd overall, respectively, both members of the national champion Jayhawks will be heading to Miami to start their professional careers. And they do have chemistry and history:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAIZ5cYkYv4
But who are they?
Darnell Jackson
Let’s start with Jackson. Looking over his college stats, there doesn’t seem to be any numbers that jump out at you. But you can start analyzing the senior where his stats start to shine – his last season. Jackson saw his minutes increase from 15.4 to 24.3. He also saw his scoring increase from 5.5 to 11.2 – that is pretty significant. More importantly, his FGA went up (3.4 to 6.8) but even more impressive was he became even more efficient. Jackson shot 62.6% from the field – increasing from the 55% of the previous season!
Jackson is an athletic, strong finisher. His shot, however, needs more work. His release mechanics tended to be inconsistent and his shot usually came from his chin area. It seems he has improved his mid-range game and even showed range out to the college three point line at times. In the Heat’s system, he will have to learn to get comfortable coming off of screens and nailing the mid-range jumper, which Udonis Haslem now does with great efficiency.
Jackson has the raw skills to be a solid contributor off the bench. It seems he can play PF as well as SF but will most likely earn his bread at PF in the NBA. With Spoelstra on board, expect the Heat to work extensively on refining his shot mechanics. Maybe will have more of an impact than Alexander Johnson.
UPDATE: Heat traded Jackson to the Cavaliers.
Mario Chalmers
Now let’s look at Mario Chalmers. The Heat need a point guard that essentially can handle the ball when needed, set up the offense, stick open shots and defend. Most of the time, the priority is going to fall to Dwyane Wade, and the point guard for the Heat is going to have to learn to defer and play off the ball. Chalmers can do just that and do it well.
Let’s start with his defensive presence. At 6′1″ 190, Chalmers is not going to be a dense force on the court. Yet, he has a reach of 7′10″ and a wingspan of 6′6″. Those two factors give him the ability to defend larger players, which he will be doing. He also has quick hands and feet, generating 2.6 steals a game for his college career. His ability to stay in front of his man is key, as this will be one area the Heat are looking to shore up in regards to their defense. Chalmers offers the Heat a PG that can defend and create turnovers.
Offensively, Chalmers is pretty efficient. He dropped his AST to TO ratio in his final season down to 4.3 to 1.9. He also has shown an ability to shoot the ball very well from anywhere on the floor, shooting 51.6 from the field on 8.2 attempts per game (14.1% of the team’s total FGA/g) and 46.8 from three point range.
The most famous of which tied the game and sent it into overtime, extending the Jayhawk’s comeback and essentially helping them win it all.
Yet, Chalmer’s weaknesses could actually be easily overlooked with the Heat. He is not a strong finisher and has average athleticism and average handles. He does not have much of a mid-range game either. Yet, with Dwyane Wade, Chalmers is going to be asked to defer, set up the offense and look to find his spot on the floor to shoot from. Basically, think of a much more athletic Damon Jones, with the ability defend a lot better and could actually defend taller players. Seems almost like a perfect match to play with Wade or even with Daequan Cook, who can shoot lights out himself.
All in all, the Heat acquired two strong pieces to help round out the roster for the 2008-2009 season.
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