2009 Draft Profile - Eric Mayor

Eric Maynor is a senior from Virginia Commonwealth and probably the most complete point guard in the draft. He averaged 22.4 points, 6.2 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game last year, and projects as being drafted anywhere from 14-23.

He is a true leader, an essential quality for a point guard, but is also a tremendous competitor, who never backs down and plays his heart out. After winning the State Championship for Westover High School, he wasn’t highly recruited by ACC teams, as they all said he had an ugly jump shot. This is a work on progress for Maynor, but he's miles ahead of Shawn Marion right now.

What you’re getting from Maynor is a point guard in the Brevin Knight tradition, but a little bigger. He does a great job on the pick and roll, where he makes solid decisions with the ball. His ability to change speeds and keep teams off balance is excellent. He plays like a coach’s son, in that he knows when to take it to the defense and when to run clock.

Technically, he does a good job of turning his shoulder and giving a slight hook to get by his opponent. He has an assortment of floaters, baby hooks and scoops when he’s within 10 feet of the hoop that he can convert with reasonable accuracy. What you don’t see from him is the blow-by followed by a dunk. He doesn’t possess that type of electricity in his game, and sometimes gets bogged down on his drives a little because he’s light and gets pushed off the ball by bigger players. But he definitely has a solid middle or in-between game.

His greatest attribute is his passing. His ability to feed post players is exceptional, and he delivers and recognizes ally-oops with the best of them. Eric Maynor can make all of the necessary passes a NBA point has to, and he plays the game like a seasoned pro. He technically can make the post passes, shovel passes, alleys oops, skip passes, and no-look passes, with confidence and accuracy. He is a pass first point guard that should be able to effectively run any pro offense. He is adept on a fast break and in the half court; the guy just flat out makes plays.

Eric Maynor was also the primary ball handler for VCU, but has never had a problem with turnovers. His ability to run a set offense and get the right people the ball, at the right places, and at the right time is what makes him a great pro prospect. He displays a maturity on the court, rarely seen in a college player. He also has a very high basketball IQ, and makes sure his team gets a good shot every time down the court. Eric also had a 2-1 assist to turnover ratio his senior year, and a scintillating 3-1 his sophomore year.

One major concern about Eric Maynor, was his performance in the big games. Against Oklahoma and UCLA, he shot a combined 10-34. At times he looked good, but at other times over matched. Otherwise, he would be picked a lot higher in the draft. What will inevitably make him a career back up, is his lack of explosive athleticism. I also am real curious as to how tall he’ll measure at pre-draft camp. He’s listed at 6’3 and unless he slouches he might be closer to 6 feet. We’ll see as the draft approaches. What would make a world of difference for Eric Maynor would be if he could mature into the same player but 25 pounds heavier, with the same quickness and athleticism. That coupled with an improved perimeter game could make him an NBA starter at some point in the future.
Draft Profile provided by Ed Ziti of SportsPolyMath.com

Would you like to write a player profile for any prospect that may be entering the 2009 NBA Draft? Email profiles of any player (even player’s not on our list) to our Webmaster. Credit will be given to the author of the profile.

Eric Maynor Stats
Season	GP	MPG	PPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	APG	RPG	BPG	SPG
2008-2009	34	35.5	22.4	46.3	36.1	81.5	6.2	3.6	0.2	1.7
2007-2008	32	34.8	17.9	45.9	39.4	76.2	5.5	4.2	0.2	1.3
2006-2007	35	34.7	13.9	42.4	39.0	77.8	6.4	4.2	0.2	1.4
2005-2006	29	15.7	4.7	43.0	20.0	82.9	2.2	1.3	0.0	0.8
Career	130	30.7	15.0	44.8	36.9	79.0	5.2	3.4	0.2	1.3

Click here to return