B.J. Raymond impressing at Portsmouth

Xavier senior B.J. Raymond was invited to the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament this week. The tournament is meant to celebrate the nation's top collegiate senior talent, and serves as an adequate showcase for the NBA Draft scouts in attendance. Here is a take on how Raymond is performing from NBADraftExpress.com:

B.J. Raymond had yet another outstanding showing, knocking down another four 3-pointers (bringing him to 8 so far, on just 11 attempts) for an efficient 16 points. Raymond is one of the most vocal players you’ll find here on the defensive end, acting as somewhat of a captain for his team on this end of the floor, and really setting the tone for his teammates himself with the work he puts in. Despite not showing great lateral quickness, Raymond moves his feet exceptionally well and can really anticipate, playing a solid, fundamental brand of perimeter defense, and pretty much shutting down whoever he’s been asked to guard. His ball-handling appears to be average at best, and he seems to have problems finishing around the basket when driving in traffic, although he was able to finish nicely through contact in a few transition situations. Sitting right next to his team’s bench, you could constantly hear his voice during timeouts. It’s no surprise that his team is in the finals despite having likely the tournament’s worst “point guard” (the ultra selfish and constant showoff David Holston) running the show for them. It’s becoming more and more obvious why Raymond was such a winner as a college player in his time at Xavier.

I still think that it is a long shot for Raymond to make an NBA roster, simply because of his limitations on defense and in driving to the basket. But with the strong shooting performances that he has put on in front of the scouts in Portsmouth and at the NABC All-Star game in Detroit he has positioned himself to be a second round draft choice--Xavier's first since Romain Sato in 2004. Ultimately, Raymond's athleticism, scoring ability and leadership qualities should provide him with a similarly successful career to Sato.