Los Angeles Lakers fans are buzzing about the team's selection of Michigan point guard Darius Morris with the 41st pick of the 2011 NBA Draft, but the real steal for the Lakers may have been selected five picks later.
At 6'4" Morris has great size, he was fourth in the nation in triple-doubles last season and his 6.7 assists per game was good enough to rank in the top five of all division one players.
But point guard Andrew Goudelock of College of Charleston has numbers that are just as impressive, and depsite his small school resume Goudelock has proved that he is more than talented enough to run with the big dogs.
Unlike Morris, Goudelock played four seasons in Charleston so his maturity should be a big plus for new Lakers coach Mike brown, but more importantly, man can he score.
Goudelock averaged 23.7 points per game in his final college season while shooting 45.7 percent from the field and 40.7 percent from the three point line.
That 40.7 from three point range is impressive, and even more so when you consider that Goudelock's lowest average from beyond the arc during his college years was 39.8 percent.
Those numbers suggest that Goudelock has the ability to light it up from the perimeter and although his 4.2 assists per game are not as shiny as Morris' 6.7, he has still shown the ability to be a capable distributor.
Morris has plenty of potential for a lead guard, but he also has numerous areas of his game that need work.
Morris' size makes him a natural fit for the shooting guard position, but coaches at Michigan realized that he was a good enough ball-handler to play point, and his height created natural mismatches against opponents.
But that still didn't hide the fact that Morris has almost no use of his left hand, he is cursed with poor footwork, and Morris shot an abysmal 22 percent from the three-point line in his final season at Michigan.
Morris' long wing span should have made him a terror in the passing lanes, but it wasn't reflected in his steal' totals, and his offense is mostly non-existent if he is unable to create a shot off the dribble.
The worst thing I have heard any analysts say about Goudelock is that playing for a small Southern Conference school like Charleston may have hurt his draft stock.
For those of you who don't remember the Southern Conference is the same one that introduced former Davidson College star Stephen Curry to the NBA, and although it would be crazy to compare Goudelock to Curry they both have the same scorer's mentality.
And if recent history is any indication Goudelock may be a better fit for Brown's schemes since he seems to prefer point guards who are capable of creating their own offense, distributing to others and are deadly from beyond the arc.
Goudelock earns high marks in each category and he may have the maturity to contribute right away.
Lakers fans are excited about Morris because he is a testament to the team's vision to improve at point guard, he has great size and he also happens to be a California native.
Goudelock does not have California roots and he is two inches shorter than Morris but he is also an example of the Lakers' strategy to upgrade the point guard position.
And by the time NBA Summer League kicks off it will probably be apparent that he is also the better pick to lead the Lakers into the future.
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