RASHEER FLEMING ; A MODERN FORWARD
article by Jaspaire
From unknown rookie to player on every NBA board, Rasheer Fleming has had a rather atypical career.
Rasheer Fleming is a difficult type of prospect to evaluate for a number of reasons, the first of which is competitiveness. Saint Joseph's isn't a team that plays in a big conference and therefore competes against the best teams.
The second is his role, Fleming is in his 3rd season and while he's managed to take up so many scoring positions, he doesn't have a much more “defined” role than in previous seasons (I mean, few sets are designated for him).
That's why Fleming's performances against Villanova, Texas or Texas Tech have been closely scrutinized for the St Joseph's Hawks forwards.
OFFENSE
Rasheer is in his 3rd NCAA season. The 3rd at the same college, this season here are his stats (it's December 15):
This season, Fleming plays at the Center in a five-out with Haskins, Finkley on the frontcourt, or in PF with Solano or Ajogbor on the pitch.
What's interesting in his evaluation is his ability to play two positions and two configurations that are often found in the NBA.
When he plays forward, he plays almost exclusively on the wings, with spot-up shooting and cutting. Involved only in spaceing the floor or adding movement through backdoor cuts, Fleming's NBA role can easily be projected as an end-of-the-chain and/or stationary shooter more than a player involved fairly “directly” in team systems.
When he plays as a small ball 5, he is more often involved in the top of the key with screens to force the switch or the PnP (Pick and Pop).
Erik Reynolds II is located in the paint (in blue), the other interiors are located on the green cross, which leaves nobody to defend in the paint and deny the drive.
Number 15 therefore has to stay out of the way to avoid a kick out. Fleming drives on Dixon and uses his wide wingspan to finish in the hoop. One of the most important things to take away from this matchup with Eric Dixon is physicality. While Dixon sometimes had the upper hand, Fleming didn't seem to struggle when it came to matching Dixon's physical intensity and muscularity.
More and more, he offers solutions on Roll (especially when Brown or Reynolds get trap/hedge). He's still struggling with his understanding of the body and how it should or shouldn't turn.
But in his reading of the two-man game, he often turns to the ball handler for the right timing and visual communication to roll in the right timing of the pass. His screen sets requires even more reps and he often splits the screen to force a mismatch with St Joseph's two heliocentric guards (Reynolds and Brown) or to spread the court, offering spacing for long-range shooting.
As we can see on this play, when he split the screen and rotate his hips quickly to be in the right position in the roll action.
The spacing of St Joseph’s offer enough room for him to gets a free dunk in the paint.
I'm still a little sceptical about his layups.
The numbers are good, even pretty good, but I think the volume could increase even more with a bigger role in the St Joseph's offense (at least more than a floor spacer).
He always makes good use of his big wingspan by extending his arm to often avoid being blocked when he attacks the basket.
That said, I find that he sometimes avoids contact too easily or explodes on contact when he deploys his arms.
He has good physical power, but it's more in the coordination of body control / touch that he still has room for improvement.
Despite this, the numbers are excellent because he is often well placed near the rim, either by good off-ball cuts in transition (he is faster than the opposing bigs) or layups at the dunker spot - backdoor cuts the bottom line.
Whether it's his shooting or his attack of the paint, Fleming is a player who manages to shine away from the ball.
But, especially this season, there are also some very promising drives.
The handle is still a bit stiff, however for a player of his size (6'9), it's still very intriguing to be able to attack the rim like this, especially after a strong closeout (as his main quality is long-range shooting).
His flashes are still pretty weak, but if he can exploit his mobility and power when he drives, then he can become a very interesting half-court prospect.
In my opinion, without having a lot of volume but with interesting sequences on the drive, he can still unlock his offense to make him a real offensive machine off ball but also on ball in sequences.
But for that to happen, he needs more on-ball repetitions, something he often refuses to do, not because of a lack of confidence but because it's not his “role” in the team, or because when he loses his dribbling touch on the drive, he'll get the ball out straight away without trying to linger.
As I said earlier, Fleming's best quality is his outside shooting, and all his offense is based on that today.
However, his shooting shows a rather strange progression.
Over his first 3 seasons, his FT percentage hasn't changed, always fluctuating between 60-70% (0.9 to 2.6 this season).
Whereas long-distance shooting has risen from 29% to 39% this season, with a much greater volume: 2.4 to 4.4 attempts per game.
As you can see from the videos, Fleming is a C&S player with literally 100% of his 3-pointers assisted.
Most of his 3 points come from a situation where he's often stationary, when he's on the wings/corner (often between 0 and 45 degrees).
Few sequences where he shoots after a Pick and Pop, the PnP shot isn't the first option and he'll take the shot if he's really alone.
I really like this Fleming action with good information gathering and good proprioception on the court.
As soon as he realizes that he's not offering anything close to the dunker spot (Princeton was in 1-3-1 zone), he relocates to hits an long-distance shot as the defense is sliding, the help comes too late and it's an open 3-pointer in the corner.
In all the games I've seen Fleming play this season, I've only seen one interesting passing sequence.
A missed assist that went from 5% to 8% between his first and current seasons.
The lack of passing game is an element that may determine his place on NBA scouts' boards, i.e. whether we can project on a player who can't pass or one who has tunnel vision.
DEFENSE
If there's one sequence that sums up Fleming's quality, it's this one.
Saint Joseph's is in a 1-3-1 zone against Texas in a hyper-tight momentum game.
Fleming is positioned at the head of the racquet and his role is to slide as much as possible to cover as much ground as possible and prevent any rhythm in the opposing attack.
On both occasions, Fleming's mobility breaks the flow of the Texas offense, providing good defense for the St Joseph's Hawks.
With 1.5 BLKS per game, Fleming is excellent at covering large areas of the floor with long runs to protect the rim.
More than a shot blocker, Fleming excels in many defensive schemes and is St Joseph's true defensive anchor.
He's effective when it comes to stunts and rotations, but also when he's defending on the perimeter, and equally at ease when it comes to defending backwards on drop sequences.
Fleming is capable of defending many positions and coverages.As you can see just below, Fleming's ability to be effective in drop coverage, but also on late switch, with his vertical mobility / screening navigation he's just as at ease out wide as he is close to the hoop.
Fleming's other strength, which I haven't mentioned yet, is his power and broad shoulders, which means he can defend against bigger players.
A lot of Centers have fallen flat on their faces trying to take on the forward in the post.
And that's why he's so good on the switch, because we know his mobility out wide and his power, which enables him to defend against taller players (thanks in particular to his good verticality), is very effective for defending in several positions.
With almost 2 interceptions per game (8% HAKEEM - STL% + BLK%), Fleming is often alert to jump into passing lines, but also when it comes to defensive playmaking by disrupting opponents' drives off the ball.
With 23% Defensive Rebounds, and 8 rebounds on average Fleming has made great strides in the science of boxing out, perhaps the aspect in which he has made the most progress, and he already brings confidence in protecting and catching defensive rebounds (+ physical impact which is often underestimated).
By making good use of his athletic verticality and broad shoulders, he's able to grab rebounds that are quite difficult to defend, and then hold on to them.
Rasheer Fleming's combination of shooting, cutting are appealing. But the flashs of driving are his upside on offense imo. I definitely need to watch him more involve with on ball sequence such as PnP or systems design for him.
The St Joseph’s overall offense system doesn’t make him shine but he does a great job at being the 4 or the 5, in five out or playing with a Rim Runner.
However, his lack of passing flash may be a hindrance to NBA teams and could explain his lack of ball-in-hand sequences. The mystery surrounding his progress in shooting, except free throws, remains inexplicable as the mechanics seem so clean and unchanged. This is an area where he clearly needs to improve, as his rim pressure has increased this season.
With good defensive sequences and numbers, Fleming has all the tools to defend effectively in the NBA.
Efficient in a roamer role thanks to his mobility, and just as effective on switch thanks to his lateral speed and physical power, Rasheer Fleming is an interesting asset to integrate into many defensive schemes.
Even better, his screen navigation and flashes of off-ball anticipation make him an intriguing prospect for defensive playmaking as well as rim protection.
In my opinion, his physical tools, his defensive versatility, his offensive background and his progression since his first year with the St Joseph's Hawks make him a prospect between the end of the lottery and the middle of the first round.