Coleman Collins

Coleman Collins continues to be one of the most surprising players here at the camp, looking very confident with his scoring game and contributing in other ways on the court. Collins didn’t show much new here today, doing what he’s done all camp long, but being a bit more efficient with his shooting, picking his spots better and not shooting pretty much every time he touched the ball. Collins scored on spot-up shots from the 15-18 foot range, hit on turnaround and fadeaway jumpers from the 5-10 foot range, and got some easy scores around the hoop. He also made two assists on the game, kicking the ball out of the post when he didn’t have a good shot attempt and saw an open man on the perimeter.

Defensively, Collins was pretty active, making a few deflections and playing very nice man-to-man defense on Kyle Visser. Collins may not be an NBA player, as his size certainly puts him at a disadvantage, but he improved his stock here at Orlando for sure, and he can always try and improve his game in the D-League for a little while to see if he can ever make the jump.

Coleman Collins didn’t play as well here as he did in his monstrous Day One performance, but he still had a solid game, even with his poor shooting percentage from the field. Collins took a very high volume of shots, looking for his own shot the vast majority of times he touched the ball, but all of his shots came from within 15 feet of the basket, and he didn’t really take many bad shots, even though his field-goal percentage might suggest it.

Collins started the game very strong, hitting on a contested jumper from 15 feet and another from 15 feet out, pulling up off of two dribbles, but he also missed a 10-footer and a scoop shot off a dropstep early. Later in the game he missed pull-up jumpers from 12, 18, and 18 feet on separate occasions, also getting blocked on a dunk attempt down low and missing on a left-handed lay-up off a left-handed drive. He got to the free-throw line by drawing fouls on face-up drives from very close to the basket and in transition, but he hit on just five of his eight free-throw attempts. Collins’ offensive game reminds a bit of Mikki Moore in terms of style, playing almost exclusively within 15 feet, but rarely posting up, rather using face-up moves off of just one or two dribbles, from very close range. The problem is that Collins is about three inches shorter than Moore, and not as athletic, so it’s tough to say how far that will take him.

Collins also made a good impact on the boards, roaming all over the floor to track down rebounds, showing an excellent eye for following the ball off the rim. On the defensive end, Collins wasn’t credited with any blocked shots, but he made a perfect block from behind on one possession that was called a foul, and he also had another block on his man going for a reverse lay-up, showing off his athleticism in reaching out to make the rejection. Collins also made three steals in transition, all of which looked fortuitous in that he happened to be in just the right position, but at some point you can’t chalk these things up to just luck. Collins did show some struggles in man-to-man defense, though, being scored on by Ali Traore on jumpers from the perimeter, and not showing very good lateral quickness on a few occasions.

Collins likely won’t be drafted, but strong performances here definitely are helping his stock, especially with his underwhelming senior season at Virginia Tech hanging over his head. As mentioned above, his game compares to Mikki Moore in terms of style in most aspects of the game, but the three inches he gives up in comparison are not easy to overcome, though a good measured wingspan and standing reach at the combine would help make his projection to the NBA a bit easier. He should have a chance to catch on somewhere in summer league, but he’ll likely be headed to the D-League at least initially.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of day one also happened to be the best statistical performer. Coming off a disappointing senior season at Virginia Tech, Collins took the bull by the horns early in this one and never let up. He started off the contest hot from the outside, showing range out to 20 feet and the confidence to shoot contested perimeter shots. Collins would then start to make his presence felt closer to the basket, finding holes in the defense and finishing strong around the basket. It appears Collins has done some serious work on his body since the season ended, as even in the open night drills the former Hokie was making plays with surprising brand of power and athleticism.

Collins legitimately held his own against bigger, more accomplished post players. He had just enough perimeter skill to get opposing bigs away from the basket, and generally did a good job as a slasher. There were several occasions where he may have forced the issue a bit, but Collins still managed to make a handful of plays by passing the ball.

Collins didn’t do anything that screams “NBA” here, but certainly made a big impact on this game and did it in a way that is sure to catch the attention of the scouts. If he can keep up the intensity level and continue to make plays from the perimeter, this camp will have ended up doing wonders for his stock.