Robert Hubbs: Scouting Profile

Every year there is a recruit that suddenly sees his stock go up quickly and rapidly at one point or another over his high school tenure. In this class, that player was guard Robert Hubbs. The Newbern, Tennessee native found himself as a five star recruit by virtually every scouting outlet in the country after leading his Dyer County High School to a 31-4 record.

During his senior season, he averaged 25 points per game while taking his high flying act to gyms across the state and leaving his imprint on each win. For his college career, he chose to play in his home state with the Tennessee Volunteers. Thanks to the fact that a lot of the team’s core will be returning, Hubbs will have the chance to learn from the upperclassmen and develop at his own pace.

Here are some highlights of Hubbs’ career so far.

Strengths:

When it comes to shooting guards, they tend to be either really accurate from three point range or super athletic freaks that attack the rim with reckless abandon. Hubbs is part of the latter group. His ability to explode to the rim is second to none in his draft class and he throws down some incredibly entertaining dunks. If anything, Hubbs will definitely be a crowd pleaser early on in his career.

In transition, Hubbs almost looks like a hockey player with the way he gets down the court. His strides are smooth, well executed and he is graceful as well as powerful in his technique. When he does get on the fast break with a point guard to feed him the ball, it’s all over for the opposition because he will put the ball in the bucket one way or another. In terms of his physical attributes, Hubbs was built to be a basketball powerhouse.

That isn’t to say that Hubbs doesn’t have any basketball skills. Though a lot of his points come off the dribble and on the break, Hubbs is quite a competent shooter. His shooting stroke looks very nice and natural and it is fairly consistent. Hubbs can stretch it out all the way to the college three point line and if defenders dare him to shoot, he isn’t afraid to take them up on the challenge.

When defenders really focus on stopping him from attacking the rim, Hubbs is also comfortable taking mid range jumpers off the dribble, whether it be a step-back jumper or a tear drop in traffic, Hubbs has plenty of offensive tools to ensure that he won’t be a one dimensional player for the Volunteers.

While he is not a stud defensively, he has the tools to become a great stopper. Hubbs’ long arms are already getting in the way of passing lanes and he comes up with steals on a consistent basis. His lateral movement is also excellent which makes Hubbs a good perimeter defender because he is hard to get by when he is committed.

From a mental aspect, Hubbs seems like a really hard and focused worker. By all accounts, since he has arrived on campus at Tennessee, Hubbs has been in the weight room every day, looking to get stronger and add edges to his game. On the court, that mentality shines through because he is always in attack mode, looking for ways to score and make his team better.

Weaknesses:

Currently, Hubbs’ biggest flaw is his shot management. He has been playing in a summer league since his arrival at Tennessee and in six games, while he has averaged 22 points, he has taken 50 three point attempts. That’s a little over eight attempts per game which is a ridiculous ammount. This is especially true because even though Hubbs can make threes, it is easily his weakest part of his offensive game. If Hubbs can’t dial down his shot taking, he will spend a lot of time on the Vols bench because coaches will not tolerate mindless gunning.

Another area that Hubbs needs to work on is his ball handling. While he can attack his man one one one in isolation, it is not an ideal situation for him. As a guard, Hubbs should be able to attack defenders with both hands and not have to worry about committing silly turnovers by getting stripped.

As mentioned above, Hubbs will have to work on his defense. That is not something that is rare for high school players as it seems that it is not focused on as much as offense. The part Hubbs needs the most work on defensively is his understanding of concepts and knowing how to defend things like the pick and roll. He is already good enough as a natural defender and can keep up with guys on the perimeter, he will just need help knowing how to play within a defensive system.

From a general standpoint, there are some worries that Hubbs may not have a high ceiling and that what you see is what you will get ten years down the road. While that is possible, Hubbs is still young, it is unlikely that he will make absolutely no progress while at Tennessee.

What to expect at Tennessee:

As I said in my opening, there are a lot of upperclassmen returning this year which means that Hubbs will not have to worry about carrying the team. In fact it is unlikely that he will start at all this year.

That should be fine by him, given the chance to develop off the bench and in practice, there will be less attention on his flaws and his athleticism will be more appreciated. As Hubbs rounds himself out into a more complete basketball player, his responsibilities will grow. Eventually, like in a year, he should become a starter and has the chance to become a lethal scorer for his team.

One thing is for certain, he will have some show stopping dunks over the course of his career and should hopefully end up in a dunk contest or two.