By Avi Tyagi
Shoots the three well, is capable of shooting off the dribble, a work in progress offensively in the league. Keeps the ball moving, not a particularly exceptional passer. He has a very stout build, which concealed his actual height for me for a while. Up until the combine, I believed his listed measurement of 6 foot 2. There were a few moments that made me question his height, but he handles contact so well for a freshman that there is a bit of an optical illusion when he’s crashing into other players and they’re perhaps folding a little bit more than he is.
Loves zoom actions where he starts at the right corner and then gets attacked with his left hand. Because almost everything he does isn’t attack with his left hand. It’s fair to say he doesn’t really have a right hand at the rim. his right is functional in setting up his dribble as a perimeter scorer, but for finishing at the rim, his right hand is notably absent. In college, he was creative and decisive enough that he could get a lot of great layups on the left side of the basket. Shot right around 70% within 4 feet of the hoop, Jase knew where his bread was buttered. That’s despite chucking some absolute no-hoper layups with his left when he could have gotten an easier floater or scoop if he brought his right hand into the mix. I enjoy his feel for scoring ball screen situations. Very shifty for his age, great at putting defenders in jail. He hit a few pull-ups going right, not enough for teams to stop “ice”ing him to the right side of the floor, but enough that he can keep them honest from time to time if they’re overplaying too far. Will pull some moves from his bag (snatch-backs, swing steps, stride stop pivots, for instance). Can bounce off one or two feet. Deploys euros or two-footed jump stops in traffic with comfort. Keeps the ball moving most of the time, resists taking bad shots (other than at the rim at times). Hasn’t shown flashes of high-level anticipatory point guard passing, but will keep the gears churning on an offense.
Even though Jace is going to be short for the position, I actually think he couldn’t become an average or slightly above average defender as your smallest guard in lineups. He’s pretty aware and competitive for a freshman, teams cannot pick on him and he can absorb contact very well for that age. He could do with being a little bit more communicative, defensively at times, but I mean, he has some hops to him, too. He can block some shots with rear-view contests.
Ultimately, I watch Jace and I see a ball mover and a good shooter who might just be able to parlay his effectiveness with his frame and his competitiveness into being a starter. If he can unlock that right hand, he can make his bread going to the line and developing more of his pull-up shooting game. That would at least make him a proper 2 1/2 level scorer (3s, FTs, and sometimes at the rim). If not, he’s probably just a very solid bench guard that teams would love to have.
