Virginia Basketball: Ty Jerome declares for 2019 NBA Draft

Virginia Basketball lost its first member of its championship-winning squad after guard Ty Jerome declared for the NBA draft. What kind of player will the NBA be getting?

Ty Jerome declared today for the NBA Draft. He’s 6’5 and 195 pounds and played for three years at the University of Virginia Basketball at point guard, shooting guard, and small forward. Last year, he produced 13.6 points, 5.5 assists, and 4.2 rebounds per game in UVA‘s extremely slow-tempo offense. He was an integral part of UVA’s national championship team. He’s most known for being a big shot-taker. Jerome loves playing the villain on the road and thrives in clutch situations. Two seasons ago at Duke, he hit the game-winning three.

ESPN ranks him as the 29th-highest rated NBA prospect. Here’s a breakdown of Jerome’s on-court identity.

Off-Ball Movement

Jerome proved comfortable finding open space from which to attempt an uncontested shot. He also did a lot of catch-and-shooting after off-ball movement, which is a huge requirement in Virginia’s blocker-mover and continuity ball screen offense. The sophisticated aspect of Jerome’s role was that he had to read the defender, while moving without the ball.

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For example, see what he does against Maryland. Keep your eye on Jerome in the background. He uses a screen to get a step on his defender, acts as if he is going to drift behind the perimeter, then shakes off his defender and finds himself open under the rim.

Part of the reason why his fake-drift behind the perimeter was so effective is that every defender knows to respect his shooting ability. Jerome attempted more threes every year. He finished last season making 39.9% of them and he made 39.2% of his threes in his career.

Off The Dribble

He also created shots for himself off the dribble, but his handle isn’t spectacular. He isn’t very speedy or athletic, either. These limitations will lower his ceiling in the NBA. In college, they often forced him to settle for deep threes, which he is not afraid to attempt.

These limitations kept him to attempting 18.8% of his shots at the rim, a percentage which is barely higher than that of teammate Kyle Guy, who has the reputation of being more strictly a catch-and-shoot type player. Plus, much of that 18.8% was Jerome bullying smaller, shorter, and weaker players in front of the basket.

When Jerome was able to penetrate in the lane, he showed spectacular touch in front of the rim. His characteristic move is the running tear-drop.

Distribution

Three positive traits that Jerome showed were craftiness, decision-making, and court vision. He could dribble penetrate in order to find a man behind the arc, to attract defenders and dish it to a big down low, and to stop in front of the basket and head-fake the defender in order to create space for a shot or a pass.

Jerome consistently found players who didn’t look to be open or found players on the dribble who could make themselves open.

His high IQ helps compensate for his physical and athletic shortcomings, especially if he finds a group of teammates that he can develop chemistry with. Last season, Jerome ranked fifth in assist-to-turnover ratio.

On-Ball Pressure

Jerome was a key part of UVA’s pack-line defense, annually one of college basketball’s best defenses in terms of efficiency. A typical characteristic of that defensive style is that its guards apply good ball pressure behind the arc.

Jerome consistently tracks his man, while barking orders at his teammates as they get back on defense. He also stays in front of his man. He got to match up against higher-ranked NBA prospect RJ Barrett from Duke where he repeatedly cut off his drive to the basket.

He was a handsy defender, which helped him achieve one of the highest steal rates in the past couple years. He coupled this aggressiveness with more evidence of his high IQ. Jerome demonstrated his capacity to anticipate what an opponent will do, disrupt a passing lane, and use his long arms to intercept a pass.

Summary

Ty Jerome is not going to wow anybody with this athletic ability. But you don’t need to appear regularly on highlight reels in order to find some success in the NBA where he’ll be a good teammate in the right system. He has a high IQ on both sides of the ball.

He’s crafty inside the lane where he can locate hard-to-find teammates or execute his running teardrop. He’s also able to find space for himself in order to attempt an open shot and he’s a very efficient three-point shooter who doesn’t shy away from the big moment.

On defense, I worry about whether he has the lateral quickness to stay in front of a smaller guard like Orlando’s DJ Augustin. But overall, he’s disruptive in his ability to apply strong on-ball pressure and disrupt driving and passing lanes.