Player Profile: Mike Scott

Mike Scott      6’8” 233lbs

Power Forward

Chesapeake, Virginia

Strengths:  Determination, Rebounding, Intensity, Leadership

Needs to Improve: Post Moves

                Mike Scott is an extremely athletic strong young player that is beginning to play with the maturity of an emerging team leader. The sophomore from Chesapeake, Virginia is averaging 10.6 points and 7.3 boards per game even in a new 6^th man role that he has been given of late. Scott has shown great maturity in accepting his new role on the team and has begun to excel in it. Scott plays with a fire inside him that is impressive to witness. When he wants a rebound there are few in the league that are strong enough to take it away from him. That intensity extends itself to the defensive end of the floor as well. Scott is 4^th on the team in both blocks and steals and his hustle on defense is undeniable. When paired with either Jamil Tucker of Assane Sene the Cavaliers have one of the youngest and most talented defensive frontcourts in the ACC.

                While Scott excels on the offensive end of the court his post skills have room to grow. At this point in his career Scott relies heavily on his athletic abilities to score. The majority of Scott’s points come from put backs of missed shots by other Cavaliers which Scott has the ability to out hustle other players for. This may be a byproduct of Scott not getting looks in the post because opposing defenses are packed in in order to stop the slashing attack of the UVA guards. As those players develop a more consistent outside game the defense will be forced to loosen up allowing Scott to excel. Scott has all the tools to become a good ACC post player, but the current offensive make up is not conducive to his success in becoming one, which makes the majority of his points “hustle points.” Meaning he out worked the other players to get them, which is extremely impressive to me.  My favorite part of watching Scott play is seeing him run the floor. Scott’s athletic abilities allow him to get out on the fast break quickly and run with the other players which will allow the Hoos to become a more up-tempo and exciting team in the future.

                Scott has also emerged as a real leader of this team. Over the last few games you can see that his intensity has increased and he’s even dunking on people and glaring at the camera. This mentality has extended to the entire team in the Hoos last 4 games in which they won their only 2 ACC games this calendar season. If Scott continues to inspire and lead this team to become an aggressive, fast paced team that will put it all on the line every night I think there are great days to come at JPJ.