Scouting Report: Isaiah Whitehead

Name: Isaiah Whitehead DOB: 3/8/1995 (21) School: Seton Hall

Height: 6’4.5 Weight: 210 Projected Position: PG/SG

Wingspan: 6’8.75 Standing Reach: 8’4

2015-16 Stats:

18.2 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 5.1 apg, 1.2 spg, 3.5 tpg, 1.4 bpg, (36.8 mpg)

37.9 FG%, 76.0 FT%, 36.5 3FG%, 51.1 TS%, 45.8 eFG%

31.6 USG%, 33.0 AST%, 16.4 TOV%, 2.1 STL%, 4.5 BLK%, 1.45:1 A/TO

SKILLS & ATHLETIC BREAKDOWN

Offense

Ballhandling/Penetration/Passing

Whitehead is a very good ballhandler, with the ability to use both hands well, and able to attack the basket, or create space for his shot, in either direction. Whitehead uses his strong body well when driving to the basket, as well as showing very good crossover and hesitation dribbles. Though he doesn’t have great speed in getting to the rim, he has a very good first step, and once he gets some momentum, he barrels towards the basket. Though his physical play as its advantages, Whitehead can lose control at times, putting him in tough situations, often resulting in a turnover. For the most part though, he shows good control as he weaves through the defense, and strong footwork, including a very good spin move. Whitehead can be a good finisher around the basket, able to use either hand around the rim, and using his body well to absorb contact, but he can be a bit nonchalant about finishing, often just flipping up shots and hoping they go in. He has developed the beginning of a good floater/runner in the lane, though like his other finishing attempts, can be a bit haphazard in how he goes about it.

Whitehead works well out of the pick-and-roll, with the ability to find, or create, his own shots or set up his teammates, either rolling to the rim or spotting up on the perimeter. While he is patient at times, he also has a very quick trigger when shooting the jumper, often not even clearing the screen well before he shoots. With that, Whitehead has to do a better job using the screens set for him, and work on coming off them tight enough that he runs his defender into at least a part of the screen to get some space. When looking to get to the basket off the screen, he shows a steady pace, not relying on accelerating, and keeping his head up well to see his options. Whitehead’s decision making can be very iffy once he gets into the lane, but he does have great instincts as a passer; he just needs to do a better job with the pass itself. Discussed more below, Whitehead has the shooting ability to be effective in both the mid- and long-range areas, but his shot selection, plus a few other factors, prevent him from being efficient. Also, he needs to choose carefully when to go away from a screen, as he doesn’t have the acceleration off the dribble to often beat his man clean.

Perimeter Shooting

Whitehead can be a good long-range shooter, though his shot selection has left a lot to be desired. He has a fairly consistent motion and release, and he can get his shot off quickly, though at times, he rushes his shot so much that he abbreviates his motion, leading to a flat shot. Whitehead can be an effective shooter off the catch or dribble, and he is very good with clearing space using screens or his dribble, especially as a pick-and-roll ballhandler, though, as I said earlier, he still needs to work on doing a better job running his defender into the screen. He has shown NBA three-point range, though not consistently, and as said above, his shot selection could be really poor at times, though to be fair, Seton Hall did count on him for a lot of scoring. Whitehead can also be an effective mid-range shooter off the dribble, though you can see a big difference in his shot when he goes straight up and down after stopping, and doesn’t let his body fade in any direction. Whitehead can play off the ball also, and he has improved his ability to use screens to get open, though he has to work on coming off them tighter and ready to shoot off the catch.

Free Throw Shooting

Whitehead is a good free throw shooter, hitting 76 percent on the year, though with a few minor tweaks, he could be even better. Whitehead has a consistent routine and motion, with good follow-through, but there is very little use of his legs on the shot, so it can come off flat sometimes, and when he misses, it is mostly because he is short. He has a good free throw rate, 38.3 percent, especially when he is looking to attack the basket, as his aggressiveness can pay off. Whitehead is a ball-dominant guard who shoots a lot of jumpers, so getting to the line as often as he does bodes well for his ability to get to the line at the next level.

More from Hoops Habit

Defense

Perimeter Defense (On/Off Ball)

Whitehead is a very capable defender, on and off the ball, though some lapses cause him from having the consistency needed to be very good. He positions himself well on the ball, and he shows average-to-above-average lateral movement, even showing the ability to pick up the ball full-court, at times. Whitehead reacts well to changes in direction, though his footwork can be a bit smoother, as he can get his feet crossed when switching directions. He is a physical defender, and likes to use his body as much as he can without fouling. Whitehead stays active when on the ball, keeping his arms out and his feet moving, and even if the doesn’t take a lot of chances going for steals, his reach allows him to make players think twice about getting cute with the ball in front of him. Whitehead can have trouble as a pick-and-roll defender, and he needs to work on getting over screens instead of going under, as he usually does, or waiting for a switch. Whitehead does a great job closing on shooters, but he closes so hard all the time, a simple shot fake will get him flying by the shooter, so he does need to find a way to temper this tendency.

Off the ball, Whitehead positions himself well and shows good movement, including showing an ability to deny passing lanes effectively. He is active off the ball, moving between help position and his man. Whitehead has good awareness, but he needs to watch a tendency to turn his back completely on his man when looking to help, as he has no chance to recover if the ball is kicked out to his man. Also, he can get caught cheating too much towards help position, which is often what leads to him having to close hard on perimeter shooters, as noted above. He has good instincts about when to try and jump passing lanes, and he is one of those players who seems to have a knack for being around the ball, and he will not hesitate to go hard after a loose ball on the floor or heading towards the sidelines. Whitehead is also a good shot-blocker for his size, using his reach and quick hands well to make a play, on and off the ball.

Rebounding

While Whitehead isn’t much of a rebounder, even for his size, he seems to have a knack for being around the ball, so always there to snatch a rebound that is being tipped around or bounce to the perimeter. It is useful when Whitehead does get a rebound, as he starts the team in transition, without hesitation. Whitehead is rarely involved on the offensive boards, usually long rebounds, often off his own missed jumpers.

Transition

You can see the best and worst of Whitehead when he is in transition. As discussed, he doesn’t have great speed, but he pushes the ball at a steady pace, weaving through defenders. When Whitehead chooses to go to the basket, he can be strong finisher, and even has a smooth Euro step already which he uses to dodge the last defenders. However, he will sometimes just choose to launch pull-up threes, even when there are teammates in better spots, or he even has a lane to the basket. Also, his passing ability in the open floor varies from fantastic to terrible, and he can tend to overestimate his ability to sneak the ball through tight passing lanes.

Intangibles/Summary

Whitehead had a somewhat disappointing freshman season, and the first half of his sophomore year seemed to show a lot of the same inconsistencies, but things finally clicked for him from January onward, and he was a major reason why Seton Hall won the Big East Tournament. Whitehead fits the description well of a ball-dominant scoring guard, but he showed some chops as a passer this season, especially in pick-and-roll situations. Solidly built, he uses his body well when attacking the basket, and he has the scoring instincts to create opportunities when there doesn’t seem to be much there. Whitehead is also a capable perimeter shooter, showing close to NBA three-point range, but his shot selection can border on terrible, even if his team was relying on him putting up a lot of points. While adept as a pick-and-roll ballhandler, and with good vision, Whitehead still needs to work on his decision making and passing skills for the next level. The same goes in transition, where Whitehead seems to know what he should be doing, but then for every spectacular play he makes, a bad one may not be far behind. Defensively, Whitehead is a lot more skilled than he’s probably getting credit for, showing good instincts and movement, but the same mental lapses he has on offense also seem to plague him on the defensive end. Simple things like turning his back on his man, or letting player charge in for rebounds from the perimeter, often lead to easy opposition points. With an almost 6’9 wingspan, Whitehead can use his length well to make plays on the ball or deny passing lanes, and he has a knack for always being around a ball when it comes loose, showing that he will do whatever he needs to get the ball for his team. He will still need to learn how to defend the pick-and-roll better, and his physical nature on defense may hurt him at times against the quicker NBA guards, though it will help at times. Whitehead showed a lot of competitiveness in Seton Hall’s run in the second half of the season, and when he can pair that with his skills and his instincts, he can be a very good player, but there is still a lot of areas he needs to work on, including making smart decisions, and if he is willing to be coached, he will make his mark at the next level.

Draft Value: Late 1^st – #21-30

Whitehead will probably be an enigma for some teams, as his decision making can be baffling, but there is a lot of talent here, and with the right coaches and mindset, he can eventually be an impact player at the NBA level. Whitehead does offer some versatility, as you can play him on or off the ball, and he has the scoring ability to find his shots in a variety of ways. Towards the end of the first round, he is certainly worth a risk for a team that has a plan on how to get the best out of him.

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