Virginia’s Justin Anderson Shines At NBA Combine

By: Kris Wright |
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Justin Anderson refined his jumper before his junior season and it’s still paying off. ~ Kris Wright

Apparently Chicago is Justin Anderson’s kind of town.

Anderson, who bypassed his finally year of eligibility at Virginia to enter the NBA Draft, lit up the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago on Thursday. By late afternoon, Anderson was a trending topic on Twitter and creating significant buzz among the media covering the event. Jason McIntyre, a Yahoo Sports Radio show host and writer for TheBigLead.com, even suggested that Anderson was getting some consideration for a spot late in the lottery (the top 14 picks). Anderson widely has been projected as a later first round pick or a second round pick among draft analysts.

https://twitter.com/jasonrmcintyre/status/598960891271323648

Anderson posted the top standing vertical leap measurement (off two feet with no step) at 38″, which matched the combine record for that drill. He finished second to Notre Dame’s Pat Connaughton in the max vertical leap (with a run up); Connaughton hit 44″, while Anderson checked in at 43″. Anderson also recorded strong showings in lane agility time (11.1 seconds) and the three-quarter court sprint (3.22 seconds). In terms of physical measurements, Anderson logged in with 5% body fat at 230 pounds. He checked in at 6’6.25″ in shoes with a 6’11.75″ wing span. Anderson’s standing reach measured 8’5″.

Of course, Anderson’s athletic ability never has been in question and it’s one reason he is considered a potential first round talent. The questions for Anderson are around his 3-point shooting and ballhandling in order to play the wing. NBA analysts currently project Anderson as a “3 and D” prospect as he enters the league. To fill that role, he’ll have to shoot the ball in a similar fashion to his junior season at Virginia when he made 45.2% of his 3-pointers, a massive jump from his first two years with the Hoos when he shot 30.3% and 29.4% respectively. Anderson spent a lot of the summer refining his shooting tools and building a groove for his jumper, including some work with shooting specialist Steve Pratt in Chicago.

On Thursday, Anderson showed that his improved jumper last season – prior to breaking the pinky on his shooting hand in February – is still intact.

For spot-up shooting, he made 100% of his shots from the college corner left side, 80% of his shots from the college corner right side and the college break right side, and 60% of his shots from the NBA break left side, the NBA corner left side, and the NBA top of the key. He made 40% of his shots from the college break left side and 20% from the college top of the key.

For off-the-dribble shooting, Anderson made 87.5% of his shots from 15 feet on the left break and 75% of his shots from 15 feet on the right break. He also made 75% of his shots from 15 feet at the top of the key. For on-the-move shooting from 15 feet, Anderson made 66.7% of his shots.

Anderson told ESPN’s Andy Katz in this interview that continuing to prove and improve his shooting ability was the biggest key for him at the combine.

“In the drill aspect, I needed to show that I can prove that I’m still a knock-down shooter,” Anderson said. “A lot of adversity came with me and my team this year with me breaking my finger. A lot of people may be questioning what made the jump from sophomore to junior year different and I wanted to come out here and show why I’m still a better shooter than I have been in the past and that I’m just continuing to get better every day.”

There’s still a long way to go before the NBA Draft on June 25, but Thursday’s showing was a good step for Anderson. After the combine wraps up, Anderson already has workouts scheduled with Boston and Chicago. He interviewed with Celtics coach Brad Stevens at the combine is the Bucks have planned to interview him there Friday as well.

It makes sense that Anderson and Stevens hit it off. As detailed in this Boston Globe article from 2013, Stevens’ roots at Butler included principles rooted in Dick and Tony Bennett’s five pillars of humility, passion, servanthood, thankfulness, and unity. In 1995, then Butler coach Barry Collier had sat down with Dick Bennett and he kept a laminated version of the pillars. He applied the themes to his Butler program. That carried forward into ‘The Butler Way’ with Todd Lickliter and then assistant Stevens in 2001.