Malik Newman has committed to play for the Kansas Jayhawks, but it’ll be a full year before fans get to see him back on the court. We asked an AAU coach from the Nike EYBL circuit for his thoughts on Newman’s game.
Because this coach still actively coaches, trains, and recruits kids for his program, has asked to remain anonymous. We’ll just refer to him as coach for the remainder of the article.
We did a Q&A session with Coach to see if we could get a better feel for Newman’s strengths and weaknesses.
Q: What is Newman’s biggest strength as a player?
A: His unwavering confidence in his shot. At the AAU level, he had the ability to set himself up for a shot at anytime off the dribble. He seemed to always get separation against our defenders, no matter what we threw at him. We had a long athletic wing and some smaller, quicker guards, but none of it really seemed to affect his ability to get that shot off.
Q: What is his biggest weakness?
A: One of the things we noticed when trying to stop him is that even though he can get that shot off, it takes a lot of effort on his part. What I mean is that he needed more than one move to get a shot up, and he needed a lot of lift from his legs. He tended to wear out a bit, because of the amount of effort it takes him to generate those shots. I also think his athleticism got a bit overblown as a prep kid. He was pretty quick, but nothing too great there. He struggles to defend because of it.
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Q: How do you think he fits into the Kansas system?
A: I’m pretty familiar with the system Coach Self runs, and I think Malik can have success there. He’s a very strong attacker off the dribble, similar to how Frank (Mason) attacks. They both like to get to the rim off screens. I think he struggles to finish, like Frank does too, though. Coach Self always likes to have that one guard that can take over late in a possession, and Malik is that kind of guy. He can make something out of a broken play.
Q: A lot is made of his shooting ability. How do you rate it?
A: He’s a good shooter, but not a great one. He really struggled with shot selection prior to Mississippi State, and I don’t think it got any better there. I always thought he was a better long-range guy than he was at shooting closer in.
Q: Can he play as a point guard?
A: I don’t think that’s his strength, or plays to his strengths. He’s an ok passer, not a particularly good one. He’s also never been a real willing passer. Ideally, Kansas will pair him with a steady hand like Devonte Graham. Someone that doesn’t turn it over as much and is less prone to wild plays. Obviously, his pro future is as a point guard, so maybe the Kansas staff can turn him into one while he sits out this season.
Q: How does he pair with someone like Trae Young, from the 2017 class?
A: I’ve seen a lot of Trae over the past two years. Love him. Newman is a good pairing for him, mainly because Trae’s shooting offers up so much space for the rest of the offense. Getting Trae would also allow Newman to function more as a scorer and less as a facilitator, which would probably benefit the Kansas offense the most.
Next: Malik Newman commits to Kansas
As we move forward in 2017, we’ll try to get more scouting reports like this from various coaches and trainers of kids that commit to Kansas.
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