Strengths: A very solid and heady point guard, does what is asked of him by his coach...Above average ballhandler, very reliable dribbling and weaving around defenders and in and out of traffic...Plays a paced game. Never seems to lose control of the ball, and never overreacts. Very patient, sometimes to a fault...Solid playmaker. Can see holes in the defense around him and find the open man after one or two dribbles or in static fashion...Tough defender. Stays with his man extremely well, with solid lateral quickness and a pest mentality. Gets into a crouching defensive stance well and rotates well off-the-ball; gets above screens rather than behind them...Has a ballhawk mentality and plays to limit the opponent's shooting percentages rather than gamble for steals...Smart basketball IQ with good basketball IQ, turnovers are extremely rare for him. Never really makes a costly decision...On offense, prefers to utilize a jumpshot from 14-feet which is his forte....

 

Weaknesses: Plays like a role player and simply isn't that impressive at any aspect of the game...Plays very paced, but that hasn't helped Syracuse's rather pitiful record this season (15-19) and Syracuse ended the season with a losing streak. Part of the blame falls on the PG...Doesn't seem like the NBA prototype. Not a very fastbreak player, prefers the half-court set, and his smallish physical set along with average athleticism doesn't fit today's breed of NBA players...His average athleticism, limited first step and lack of creativity off the dribble has rendered him somewhat ineffective at attacking the basket. Has trouble getting his layups off at times over bigger defenders as well...Has good ballhandling skills but rarely uses them to generate offense for himself or others...Only averaged 3.1 apg as a starting PG for Syracuse last year, mostly because of his inability to draw defenders and create for others, rendering his court vision less effective...Lacks range on his jumpshot, even college three-point range. This can be a huge detriment to his game. Range only extends to about 17-feet at most, a bit of a one-dimensional mid-range jumpshooter offensively with his inability to slash or shoot from range...Others have to create shot opportunities for him, not much of a scorer....May be closer to 5'11" than 6', has a really small frame...Limited potential...

 

Notes: Another comparison? Aaron Miles. Grunnyan, Jr. does have a chance to make it to the league, but he needs to adapt his game to the NBA style. If he makes it, his defense and heady play should be his calling card.

 

--Sevri Taramond  10/14