JJ Starling and How He Compares to Judah Mintz, Joe Girard, and All-ACC Guards
Welcome to the 'Cuse, JJ!
I’ve been meaning to get to a post looking at JJ Starling and what he potentially brings to Syracuse but…just like SU’s offseason…I’ve been pretty busy.
Here is a look at what Syracuse is getting from the Notre Dame transfer in video fashion.
Now, don’t forget…these are highlight tapes.
Yes, he looks absolutely unstoppable and like a surefire All-American next season, but you don’t see the whole picture with these clips.
However, it’s undeniable that Starling has a TON of talent. Some of the things he does in these highlight tapes makes that very, very evident.
A few things I noticed:
he’s very tough off the bounce in pick-and-roll situations…especially when he gets bigs switched on to him
speaking of pick-and-roll, it was kind of surprising to me that his assists number were so slow since he was featured in so many of them
there’s a lot of Judah Mintz in his game - craftiness with finishes, getting into the paint and pivoting around defenders, hitting tough/off-balance shots in the paint, etc.
he does have some zone experience (ND played some this season)
he loves that inside hand finish when going to his left; he gets it up quick enough to score against bigger players/before help arrives
Notre Dame didn’t run a ton, but Starling is very hard to guard in transition with open space in front of him
he seemed to have a knack for late clock shot-making
Before we dive into the numbers, consider a few things:
The list below includes Judah Mintz and Joe Girard (because SU fans are most familiar with them) as well as every All-ACC/All-ACC Rookie guard from this past season
These statistics are based on a 100-possession average - that’s about as level as you can get when comparing players statistically
The statistics are for ACC conference games only
Quick Observations:
this is obviously a tough crowd to compare anyone to, but Starling ranked lower in a few areas last year (namely 3P%, FT%, assists, and overall offensive rating)
he did, however, take great care of the ball
he was noticeably behind both Mintz and Girard in most categories
for a team losing the second best three point shooter in ACC…they’re replacing him with Starling who was the second worst three point shooter on this list
I’m surprised at how little Starling got to the free throw line considering how hard he drives the ball
POSITIVES = not afraid of the amount, aggressive off the bounce, great finisher, takes care of the ball
NEGATIVES = doesn’t shoot well from 3 (or the FT line) yet, doesn’t get to the line much, assist-making/getting teammates open looks
Obviously, JJ Starling is a major talent and a huge get for Syracuse.
How he fits into Coach Autry’s scheme and how he’ll be used is up in the air until the season begins.
Much like Judah Mintz, if his 3 point shooting improves, he will be a SERIOUS problem matchup-wise for a lot of teams.
His freshman numbers are pretty solid and, as I’ve said 100 times, the jump from freshman year to sophomore year for college basketball players is usually a very positive one. I expect it to be no different for Starling.
Time will tell, but I’m excited to see JJ in Orange next season.