Indiana Pacers Draft Profile: Auburn PG Sharife Cooper
By Luke Parrish
What does Sharife Cooper do well?
Sharife Cooper is an excellent ball-handler and shot-creator out of the backcourt and forces issues at the rim. His ability to put his head down and get to the rack for easy buckets cannot be overstated. Nobody who shoots as poorly as Cooper did from the perimeter should average 20 points per game but he did it.
A big part of his success at the rim was his knack for drawing contact. He attempted 8.6 free throws per game at Auburn and knocked down over 82 percent of his attempts, good for 7.1 points per game at the foul line.
When he does attack the rim, Cooper flashes touch and finishing with both hands, making him a reliable scorer. Similar to Aaron Holiday as an undersized guard who can score with either hand, Cooper is a very fun player to watch.
His ball-handling is top-notch in space. He uses a variety of dribbling moves to separate from his man and find passing lanes. His spin and in-and-out moves both popped on tape.
As an attacker in the open floor, Cooper shows off his speed and athleticism. He can get out in front of the pack or use his change of pace to create open looks for himself or others. Adding a player with that kind of package makes things a lot easier for everyone else in the offense.
The real bread and butter of Cooper’s game is his vision and passing ability. He sees the floor extremely well for a guy with questions surrounding his lack of size. Cooper seeks open teammates all over the floor and does a great job of making the right pass, which helped him get 8.1 assists per contest.
His touch on lobs near the rim is also worth noting. Not many players are as nifty around the rim as Sharife Cooper and his stock is rising as a result.
There is some upside defensively with Cooper given his lateral quickness which he flashed quite a bit at Auburn. His size will cause him to struggle at times on that end but he has done a good job of managing those struggles with quick hands and feet as an on-ball defender.