Breaking Down Derik Queen's Defense Against Marquette
Maryland big man Derik Queen is known for his smooth offensive game, but in a marquee matchup against a veteran Marquette team, scouts got to see what he can offer on defense.
The college basketball season is young, but Maryland freshman Derik Queen has already given us two standout performances. In Queen’s debut, he threw up a cool 22 points while adding a light 20 rebounds. Now I wouldn’t, but one could justifiably argue that this performance should be taken with a slight grain of salt, given that it occurred against Manhattan. However, there was nothing flukey about his 24-point, seven-rebound performance against a ranked Marquette squad.
After watching the Marquette game, it’d be reasonable to begin the Queen dialogue by breaking down all of the interesting wrinkles within Queen’s offensive game. There’s lots to like on that end of the floor. Queen has a polished post game, is light on his feet attacking downhill, and can really pass the rock. Queen already possesses all the requisite skills to operate as a DHO hub. He isn’t without fault on that end. There are legitimate questions within Queen’s offense, questions that mostly lie with his outside shooting. Queen has yet to connect on a three through four games. The good news is that he’s actually taking them, though! I’m personally a believer that he will shoot the three adequately enough as he develops in the NBA. He’s been a high 70s percent free throw shooter going back to his high school career, and he’s shooting 75% from the line early on this season.
The other lingering questions within his game that are perhaps more pertinent to his NBA evaluation? Defense and conditioning.
Both are noteworthy and legitimate concerns given that quarterbacking a defense is a requisite skill for any big that intends to play at the NBA level and Mr.Queen is almost assuredly going to be a center once he gets there.
So what do we make of Queen as a defensive prospect? The Marquette game may have given us the answer.