Is Tyler Ulis too small for the NBA?

Kentucky is a team that is always in the national media's attention, year in and year out, and rightly so, but what comes with that is a lot of criticism. Unless you're new to watching college basketball, you're more than likely aware of Kentucky's tall teams, and even taller expectations. Every season UK are challenging for the NCAA title deep into March. During the 2014-2015 season the Wildcats' average height for their starting 5 was 6'7", to put that into perspective there was only one team in America who were taller, and that was the Minnesota Timberwolves of the NBA. That's 29 NBA teams, and another measly 346 teams spreading across all 32 conferences of D1 collegiate basketball.

Image via The New York Times

They're not as big this year, but that was fully expected with the summer departures of Karl-Anthony Towns (7'0"), Willie Cauley-Stein (7'0"), Dakari Johnson (7'0"), Trey Lyles (6'10"), Devin Booker (6'6") and twins Andrew and Aaron Harrison (6'5"). 6 of the 7 getting picked in the 2015 NBA draft, but all 7 ended up on NBA rosters by the time the season started. Returning from last season's roster who went a remarkable 38 wins, 1 loss for the season, is 6'8" senior, Alex Poythress. 7'0" junior, Marcus Lee. 6'9" junior, Derek Willis. Last, but certainly not least is 5'9" sophomore, Tyler Ulis. This article is going to breakdown my thoughts on whether Tyler Ulis is 'too small' to play in the NBA.

Size matters. Or at least that's what we're made to believe. In the NBA the average player height is 6'7", a whopping 10 inches taller than Ulis. Granted, he is a point guard, which tends to be the smallest player on the team, but the average height for point guards in the league is still 6'2", 5 inches taller than Ulis. Weighing only 160lbs Tyler will have to rely on his agility, quickness and pesky defence to get in minutes at the next level, at least for a while. Something I feel he must do to remain in the NBA is work on his strength, he can hold his own against 6'0" players in the SEC but when it comes to the pros he'll be riddled with the task of handling elite, explosive point guards like the Oklahoma City Thunder star Russell Westbrook, who's known for being a fierce competitor, Westbrook has a tendency to post up smaller or weaker guards, then there's the likes of the savvy Golden State Warriors point guard Shaun Livingston, standing at 6'7" Livingston has made his career by shooting over smaller guards. If Ulis works hard and gains the strength needed to be able to front these players, or just become able to body them up and move them off the block his value would go up a lot. Another thing NBA GMs will like about this kid is the level of maturity he shows on the court, it's rare for his age. He's not flashy, he looks after the ball, he's a willing passer who can still score at a high clip, he's ready to get down and fight for his team, he's the motor of the Wildcats'. Coming off of the bench last year he was very much an energy guy, brought into the game with the second 'platoon', as Kentucky Head Coach John Calipari so eloquently named it, after 5-7 minutes of the game to wear the other team down physically and apply heavy full-court pressure.

Image via Vicky Graff 

 Although we've seen less of it this year now that his minutes  have spiked and gone up, Ulis is very capable of picking up the opposing team's point guard 94 feet away from his own basket, this is where his size favours him. His agility and quickness allow him to gamble for loose balls and attempt steals whilst still be able to recover before the opponent gets into a threatening position.  He's an underrated half-court defender, he understands where and when to front the player he's guarding, the reason for this is because Ulis is very vocal on defence, constantly letting his team mates know where he is so they can play help defence, when necessary. He plays defence with a chip on his shoulder,  he understands players on the other team are going to try and exploit him because of his size but he holds his own well. Scoring is something that Kentucky didn't look to Ulis for last season, this season, however, the Wildcats have relied on him to run their offence for 32 minutes a game. Ulis is a cerebral leader, by definition a 'true point guard', the quarterback of his team. Throw whichever cliché you'd prefer at him, he fits the mould of a prototypical point guard. He doesn't force the issue of scoring on offence, he dictates the speed and the flow of the game and in turn acts accordingly. Has the ability to penetrate the defence and make it collapse, then in turn find an open shooter, or a player cutting to the rim. If the ball gets swung to him on the perimeter he's more than capable of making an open 3, or throwing the extra pass to an open shooter. He's selfless on offence, will push the ball in transition and throw good outlet passes to players who've leaked out. His assist-to-turnover ratio is astounding, as a true freshman last season he recorded just 1 turnover in over 23.8 minutes per game. This season he's asked to create a lot more for his team and his minutes have gone up considerably, so for most players their turnover stats would go up too, and rightly so, but not Tyler's this season he has a 3.4 assist-to-turnover ratio in the half-court, along with a ridiculously good 4.9 assist-to-turnover ratio in transition. Long story short, Tyler looks after the ball. Unlike most small point guards that play division 1 basketball Ulis isn't  a flashy player, he doesn't do behind the back passes or try and break his opponents ankles every possession, but what he does do is make excellent decisions, and that's what makes him one of the toughest guards to stop in the country. His ability to use on-ball screens so well to create separation for his deadly mid-range jump shot makes it hard for the player guarding him to decide whether to go under the screen or try and go over it, if you go under as a defender Ulis will have enough room for his mid-range jump shot, but in turn if you go over the screen and follow him you have to make sure your help defence is in the right place because if he turns the corner to the basketball and the help is late he'll finish at the rim or hit a little floater anywhere from the 8-12 foot range.

Image via nicekicks.com

I racked my brain to try and think of a player to compare Tyler Ulis to, obviously players like Nate Robinson, Earl Boykins, Spud Webb and Calvin Murphy all sprung to mind because of their height, or lack there of, but to be honest if I were asked to compare Ulis' style of play to a current NBA player's I'd have to say Chris Paul. A true leader, that's how I'd describe both Ulis and Paul, they're both an extension of their coaches when they're on the floor. They don't need to look over at the coaching staff, they know all the plays inside out and have every confidence in running them. Ulis is averaging 14.2 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per game through his sophomore season, Paul averaged 15.0 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 6.3 assists per game during his 2 year college career at Wake Forest. The stats are similar, but not only that, their pre-draft measurements are eerily similar. Both recorded 32" on no-step vertical jump testing, Paul recorded 38" max vertical, whilst Ulis went one notch higher and recorded a 39" on his. Paul managed 10 repetitions on the bench press (195lbs), Ulis managed to push out an impressive 8. On the 3/4 court sprint (75ft) Paul finished in 3.22 seconds, Ulis came in with a faster 3.11 seconds. Paul completed the lane agility in 11.08 seconds, Ulis recorded a scorching 10.29 seconds. So from those measurements we can deduce that what Ulis may lack in strength he more than makes up for with his speed and agility.

In summary; obviously with his lack of elite height there will be doubters at the next level, the same goes with players who are 'too heavy', or not athletic 'enough' but I think the upside to Ulis' game outweighs to negatives, my prediction is that Ulis will be taken mid second round on draft night. I don't see his career panning out like Chris Paul's, I see more of a mixture between Patrick Beverly, a tough hard-nosed defensive guard of the Houston Rockets, and Isaiah Thomas, the dynamic scoring guard from the Boston Celtics. If he finds a team that allows him to learn from an experienced guard, and also gives him the time to put on some more muscle there's no reason Ulis couldn't come off of the bench and win a sixth-man of the year award at some point during his career.


Sources

https://sports.yahoo.com/

https://www.draftexpress.com/

https://espn.go.com/

https://www.basketball-reference.com/

Matthew Lindley 04/02/2016