Scouting Report: Elijah Stewart
Another player that is having a great season and could jump to a higher level is Elijah Stewart. He is playing in Poland for Slask Wroclaw and averaging 15 points per game and shooting 42 % for three on a decent sample size.
BACKGROUND INFO
Position: SG/SF
Height: 196 cm (6 ft 5 in)
Date of Birth: 14/11/1995
Nationality: American
Previous clubs:
2018–19 Fort Wayne Mad Ants
2019 Wisconsin Herd
2019 Stockton Kings
2019–20 Helsinki Seagulls
Played for USC Trojans and averaged 10.1 points in his four years in NCAA. He left the school as the all time leader with 245 three pointers made but last year Jonah Mathews passed him with 247 threes made. But Stewart is still holding one record — he played the most games for the Trojans so far (138). He went undrafted in the 2018 NBA Draft, played for Forte Wayne Mad Ants and Wisconsin Herd in the G League and last season played in Finland for Helsinki Seagulls.
VIDEO REPORT:
OFFENSE
Shooting: Stewart is a 6’5” guard/forward that mostly plays off ball and makes those open corner shots. Has a nice release with a high shot arc and the most important thing, the shooting percentages are great. He can sink the shots from all positions but is most efficient in corners in spot up situations where he makes the majority of his attempts.
Moves good without the ball and knows how to get open. He reads the defender well and gets an open look but the percentages on off screen shots are way lower than in spot up situations.
Isolation: His isolation game could be better. His efficiency in isolation is way lower than on spot up shots. His handles are average and sometimes struggles to beat the defense and get by them or create a big amount of separation. Even though he is a very good athlete his first step is not the most explosive and has room for improvements in this area. Also not a player that would create a lot of points out of pick & rolls.
Transition: Another area where he could use his athleticism better is in transition. Should run more often and look for easy points in transition. He would be really hard to stop if he would go full speed down the lane but so far looking mostly for open three point shots in transition and early offense. He should attack the rim more often in those situations even though open three point shots are statistically a very good shot for him.
Cutting: He has a great feel and usually recognizes the situation when there is enough space around the rim to make a cut. Stewart being a great shooting threat from the corners and also having this kind of awareness when to cut makes him a really dangerous player on the wing and defense needs to always have a pair of eyes on him.
DEFENSE
Perimeter defense: Knows how to slide his feet on the perimeter and his reactions are pretty good. Can recover after he is beaten and get his body in front of the offensive player. Defends cleanly and doesn’t go for many steal attempts. Occasionally he could be more aggressive and put more pressure on the ball handler but he is still a good perimeter defender in my opinion.
Pick & Roll defense: His pick & roll defense has some minor areas that should improve. He is not the best at maneuvering around screens in pick & rolls. He is usually a little too late at positioning his feet and leaves a little too much time to the operator. On higher level players can punish that easily. Also likes to go under the screen and gamble on shots from distance.
Rotations/Closeouts: Another area where some minor improvements are possible are his rotations and closeouts. He is sometimes a little out of position and a step too late on closeouts. Can contest the shots with his athleticism and explosiveness but his court awareness could be better and better shooters can punish these late closeouts. Otherwise his reactions on closeouts are solid and reads the offense well.
Rebounding: Good and active rebounder for his size and position. Definitely has the athleticism and vertical pop to compete for rebounds even against bigger players. Showing some good feel where the ball is going and can also grab some offensive rebounds after his own missed shots. It’s always useful to have a wing player help in rebounding and Stewart has the tools to help in rebounding on most levels.
SUMMARY
Stewart is definitely one of the best spot up shooters in Europe. You can’t leave him open behind the three point arc for a second because he will punish that quickly. His on-ball skills are limited and needs players that can pass him the ball so he can sink those open shots.
In basketball being elite in something and not so good in other things is definitely better than being average in everything and Stewart is definitely elite level in shooting.
He can also bring some athleticism, rebounding and perimeter defense to the team and he could be a potential target for some teams that play in international competitions in the offseason.
