Dereon Seabron | Rim Pressure GOD
Dereon Seabron | Rim Pressure GOD
Dereon Seabron is a relentless driver of the basketball and wreaks havoc on opposing defenses with his amazing ability to get to the rim. Let's dive into that very skill of the 6'7" NC State guard.
Dereon Seabron is a name that was unknown to me, and probably many others, coming into this year. But he’s a guy I have grown very fond of after watching him play.
The 6’7” guard for NC State has been lighting it up this season averaging 19.8 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 3.4 steals per game through 17 games. Aside from having the coolest name amongst his peers, he is also the rim pressure GOD of this draft class.
Thus far, 77.9% of his half court shot attempts come around the rim (excluding post-ups), translating to 141 rim attempts, which leads the country, per Synergy. That’s over 8 rim attempts per game, just in the half court! Many of which are self created as well, which is even more impressive. While I am going to focus on the half court, Seabron also puts immense pressure on the rim in transition as well, scoring 1.222 PPP (77th percentile) in the open court, per Synergy.
Seabron is a tremendous rebounder and is always looking to push the pace. He is incredibly comfortable with the ball in his hands and his agility and size allow him to go coast to coast with ease. While there are definitely question marks to his game, primarily on the defensive end and shooting, there is no denying that Seabron is one of, if not, the best drivers of the basketball in this draft class. Let’s go to the tape!
PNR
NC State runs PNR with Seabron a ton and while I still think he’s getting comfortable in that role, he still has shown good ability to get to the rim in these situations. While the finishing numbers need to improve, shooting just 43.1% in PNR per Synergy, I still fully buy him as a guy who can put pressure on defenses enough to warrant some secondary PNR responsibilities at the NBA level.
Nice job setting up the defender here with a cross over into the screen before gliding his way to the rim. Seabron covers so much ground thanks to his long legs and he has such great body control that allows him to slice and split defenses with ease. That is all on full display in this clip as he gets by the entire FSU defense AFTER picking up his dribble.
Similar set up into the screen here vs Purdue but the defender does a good job getting above the screen and sticking to Seabron. Guess what? It doesn’t matter, one dribble inside the arc is all he needs in order to snake his way around the defense and make the finish look easy.
Here’s a good example of Seabron using his left the entire way. He still just glides through the defense and uses those long strides to get all the way to the rim. Some…not so great help defense, but can’t fault Seabron for that.
Last one here as the initial screen is unsuccessful so Seabron takes a dribble behind the back and remains patient and waits for the second screen to hit before getting downhill and finishing through contact.
Attacking Closeouts
Even though Seabron lacks an outside shot, he still is able to attack closeouts at a high level. When driving to the basket off of spot ups, he scores 1.188 PPP, good for 70th, per Synergy.
This one starts with him slowly fading to the corner away from his initial defender so when the pass comes, the help defender is almost forced to close out hard. One dribble to the baseline, another to gather and he easily finishes over the helpless defender trying to draw the charge instead of actually defending. Quick and decisive moves by Seabron make him lethal.
This one is less of a hard closeout but he’s still able to beat his man with a nice between the legs crossover and hesitation move before exploding to the basket, forcing the help defender to foul Seabron hard so he didn’t get dunked on.
Iso Drives
While a lot of his offense is self-created, not too many come out of straight Isolation (just 6.6% of possessions, per Synergy) but he is efficient scoring the basketball off of these play types, scoring 0.955 PPP, good for 71st percentile, per Synergy.
This play is extremely impressive to me. Late in the game, down 1, he’s able to go from outside the arc to the rim with a nice jump stop across the paint into a made righty contested layup pretty seamlessly. Even with the compact FSU defense, he’s able to avoid help defenders and bully his man all the way to the basket and finish. Very nice.
Another example here late in a close game. Takes a few dribbles near half court to set up the cross over and even with his defender playing the angle really well, Seabron is able to finish right through him as if he wasn’t even there. Bully. Ball.
Cutting
Cutting also isn’t a huge part of Seabron’s game (just 5.7% of possessions, per Synergy) but just like cutting he is also efficient scoring the basketball off of cuts, scoring 1.368 PPP, good for 75th percentile, per Synergy.
Here is a nice example of Seabron reading his defender eyeing and ultimately committing to the ball so he makes a nice back cut for the easy dunk.
I’m not sure if this technically counts as a “cut” but I wanted to include it here because it highlights his ability to get downhill almost immediately. He catches the ball off movement, takes two dribbles and is at the rim in the matter of two seconds. Really impressive use of getting his body ready to attack the basket prior to having the ball.
Passing
It wouldn’t be a Draft Film School piece without me talking about passing. This is probably the most underrated aspect of Seabron’s game. Given his immense ability to put pressure on the rim, the defense is always aware of where he is and how quickly he can get to the basket. This causes help defenders to cheat over a little more than they would normally, which opens up more passing opportunities. Primarily, most of Seabron’s passes are straight kick outs off his drives but he also has shown the ability to pass out of PNR and hit skip passes as well. A few examples below:
Here’s a nice find in the PNR to the roller. Doesn’t get credit for an assist here but just a nice simple and quick find.
Another play out of PNR, this time a bit more advanced as he finds the skip pass to the corner. This is all created because of how dangerous he is as a driver. Sasha Stefanovic (#55) from Purdue is so worried that Seabron is going to attack the basket that he’s two passes away and still has to help over into the paint.
Another example of his driving ability opening up shots for teammates. Comes off the double drag screen and continues to drive which completely turns around the help defender, leaving Terquavion Smith wide open in the corner.