RTC NBA Draft Profiles: Terrence Ross

Posted by AMurawa on June 6th, 2012

The 2012 NBA Draft is scheduled for Thursday, June 28, in New York City. As we have done for the last several years, RTC’s team of writers (including Andrew Murawa, Kevin Doyle, Evan Jacoby, Matt Patton, and Danny Spewak) will provide comprehensive breakdowns of each of the 35 collegians most likely to hear his name called by David Stern in the first round on draft night. We’ll work backwards, starting with players who are projected near the end of the first round before getting into the lottery as June progresses. As an added bonus, we’ll also bring you a scouting take from NBADraft.net’s Aran Smith at the bottom of each player evaluation.

Note: Click here for all published 2012 NBA Draft profiles.

Player Name: Terrence Ross

School: Washington

Height/Weight: 6’7”, 200 lbs.

NBA Position: Shooting Guard

Projected Draft Range: Mid-First Round

Terrence Ross, Washington

Terrence Ross Can Be Spectacular(Getty Images)

Overview: At times in Terrence Ross’ sophomore season in Seattle, he was not only the best player on the floor, but clearly the best player in the Pac-12 and on the short list of best shooting guards in the country. Unfortunately for the Huskies, while Ross was fairly consistent the whole season long (he scored in double figures in 32 of his team’s 35 games), there were times when Ross was all too willing to just coast along, disappearing in losses that likely doomed the Huskies to the NIT. For every game like his 26-point second half against Washington State, there was a head scratcher like his six-point performance on just four field goal attempts in a home loss to South Dakota State. Still, he clearly made significant strides in his second season with the Huskies. After struggling to get minutes at a crowded wing spot as a freshman, Ross was second on the team in minutes as a sophomore and his sparkling offensive efficiency numbers dipped only slightly in his increased role. His offensive game is built around a beautiful jump shot, but he’s got the defensive mettle to match his silky smooth offensive game. With good size at the wing, a good frame and the athleticism to guard the two or the three at the next level, Ross looks for all the world to be a guy with a long future in the NBA ahead of him.

Will Translate to the NBA: At its heart, basketball isn’t really all that complicated of a game. You’ve got to have guys who are capable of putting the ball in the hoop in an efficient manner, and Ross has that ability in spades. As a sophomore, over 40% of his field goal attempts came from behind the three-point line, and he made 37.1% of those attempts, often in the face of a defender. With his size, athleticism and quick release, Ross has the ability to shoot over defenders and is excellent at getting clean looks by arcing off screens and drilling catch-and-shoot jumpers. He’s also got a potent pull-up jumper. This ability coupled with his excellent defensive game likely means Ross will never want for work in the NBA. He’s got a skill set that will always be in high demand.

Needs Work: Ross really doesn’t have a whole lot of game off the bounce. While he is capable of finishing in and around the key as a result of transition offense or well-timed cuts, he’s not the kind of player who is often going to beat a defender to the hoop in an isolation play. He may work his way into a pull-up jumper off a couple quick dribbles, but thus far his ball-handling is limited and very much a work in progress. His game isn’t necessarily reliant on a super-tight handle, but if he can develop a game off the bounce, it will make his jumper that much more deadly.

Comparison Players: Former Kansas wing Brandon Rush is a good example of the type of career that Ross could have ahead of him. In his four seasons in the NBA, Rush has shot 42% of his field goal attempts from behind the arc. On his career, Rush is hitting 41.3% of those three-point attempts, and in every season in the league his percentage has increased, to a peak of 45.2% last year. Rush’s reliable stroked couple with his size, athleticism and defensive intensity have earned him at least 24 minutes per game in each of his four seasons. Ross could certainly stand to bulk up a little as Rush has done, but even as he goes through that process, he should be ready to step into a consistent role from the start of his NBA career.

Best Case Scenario: Ross doesn’t have the game off the dribble that would allow us to predict all-star games in his future, but I can easily see Ross lasting more than a decade in the NBA, sometimes starting, sometimes acting as a scorer/shooter off the pine. His ability to run off of screens to find open shots could be invaluable, allowing teams to actually run plays for him a la Reggie Miller or Rip Hamilton, but he’s also the type of guy that could spot up in the corner for catch-and-shoot threes off of his teammates’ dribble penetration. Pencil Ross in for 12 NBA seasons and a career scoring average right around double figures.

Best NBA Fit: The Houston Rockets have two picks (#14 and #16) right in the area where Ross could be drafted. And, with only Kevin Martin and Courtney Lee on the roster at shooting guard, and both of those guys heading into contract years (Lee will actually be a restricted free agent this offseason), there is definitely a need in Houston. The Rockets are also somewhat thin at the three (Chase Budinger, Chandler Parsons and Terrence Williams spent time there this year, but Williams is a free agent), meaning Ross could chip in there. And, for a Rocket team that features balanced scoring (the team had 10 players average seven or more points), Ross would have a chance to pitch in offensively from day one.

Scout’s Take (from NBADraft.net): “Could ultimately be the best shooting guard to come out of this draft. Has major talent but gets luke warm reviews from many scouts. A lottery talent who could end up being slept on on draft night.”

*This post was contributed by RTC’s Drew Murawa. He can be found on Twitter @amurawa.

AMurawa (999 Posts)

Andrew Murawa Likes Basketball.


Share this story

2 responses to “RTC NBA Draft Profiles: Terrence Ross”

  1. EJacoby says:

    This is a really thorough review of T. Ross….. As someone who didn’t get to watch him play that often, (and he often underperformed when I got to see him), I’ve always been out of the loop on how this guy is a potential top 10 pick. But with the full analysis here it definitely helps — well done wrap-up

  2. AMurawa says:

    Thanks Evan. Yeah, there were times last year (that WSU game, the last Arizona game, even some of those NIT games) where Ross was just spectacular, but I can see how if you caught him on the wrong night he might be underwhelming.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *