Let’s watch film with NBA draft prospect Ricky Council IV

The 2023 NBA Draft is now just days away. And to prepare for the NBA’s version of a midsummer classic, we sat down with NBA draft prospect Ricky Council IV to break down some tape and learn more about the soon-to-be rookie’s mental process.

After earning American Athletic Conference (AAC) Sixth Man of the Year (6MOY) honors in 2021-22, Council joined forces with head coach Eric Musselman and the Arkansas Razorbacks in 2022-23. Since then, Council produced a monster junior year that has seen him soar up the ranks of NBA draft boards (currently ranking 37th on Switch Theory’s 2023 NBA Draft Big Board).

One of the most noticeable areas of improvement for Council between his sophomore and junior campaign was the improvement in his drive game. As Stephen Shea noted in his book, “Basketball Analytics: Spatial Tracking,” team driving efficiency is one of the most important indicators for team-wide offensive efficiency. So, this facet of the game should be an integral part of the calculus when projecting a prospect’s NBA success.

As a sophomore, Council was strong, but not yet strong enough to always be able to move defenders as he was going downhill. And his balance and control while navigating through traffic in the lane left something to be desired. As a result (as you will see in the first two clips of the montage below), many of his drives ended with pilfers or off-balance finishes.

However, despite spacing conditions worsening at Arkansas (they were 317th out of 358 teams in 3-point percentage this past season), Council managed to significantly level up his drive game by adding strength and improving the reactivity of his handle.

“We worked a lot on high and low pick-ups this year,” Council explained in an interview with SB Nation. “That really helped me a lot. Plus, I got stronger, even stronger than I was at Wichita State. I knew I had to work on the skills of a high and low pickup because I knew I was the team’s leading scorer, and there was going to be a lot of defenses collapsing on my drives. I had to work on those skills, or else I was going to get ripped a ton or called for a lot of charges.”

In that last clip in the montage above, you really get a sense of how much the game is slowing down in Council’s mind and how he’s able to adapt his behavior to his specific opponent.

“I tried doing a straight line drive early in this game, but Texas A&M does a really good job of collapsing in the paint on drives,” Council explained. “So, this time, I just tried my best to get to the middle because I’m really comfortable from that part of the floor. I used my left-to-right crossover to get to the middle. From there, I knew the low man was going to step up for the charge – Texas A&M likes to try and draw a ton of charges – so the dump-off to Jordan [Walsh] was wide-open.”

Speaking of driving, another essential part of the game of basketball is the ability to extend/capitalize on offensive advantages. This often comes in the form of driving closeouts. And this past season, Council was one of the leading experts in the nation in this practice.

“When I get the ball, the floor looks pretty wide-open. The spacing would be even better if Walsh was in the dunker spot on the opposite corner. In my head, I’m thinking, ‘I know I have a one-dribble pull-up if I want it. I could snake-dribble and get into my floater. I could drive straight into the empty space and attack.’”

Council continued, “I end up driving the ball. I was able to drop the ball off to Makhel [Mitchell], but I noticed two people running to Mitchell and Davonte Davis wide-open out of the corner of my eye. So, I just kicked it to him and hoped for the best.”

Council credits his ability to make these split-second decisions to two things: 1) the jump pass (remember, those are cool!) and 2) knowing where everyone is on the floor at all times.

“I’ve always heard that jump passing is bad,” Council said during a Zoom interview with SB Nation. “And to be honest, early in my career, it was bad for me. I had a lot of turnovers from trying to jump pass. But it’s something I’ve worked on, and as bad as some people say it can be, it is very helpful for times like this. In this situation, if I didn’t jump pass, I probably would have traveled.”

“It’s also about keeping my eyes open while I drive and making sure I know where all my teammates are on the floor at all times, even if our spacing was bad at times. In this situation, I just read where everybody was. Two defenders ran to one guy, so I just kicked the ball to the guy who was wide-open.”

Along with attacking in the halfcourt, Council is a force in transition (both as a scorer and facilitator).

“I love these kinds of situations where I see an open floor and I know I can attack the rim and make some type of play. That’s my boy Bobby [Pettiford] standing in front of me, so I wanted to attack him,” Council joked. “I noticed that the left side was completely empty in front of me and that there were only two smaller guys back in transition for Kansas, so I knew I had to make a play.”

As we’ve established, Council is an avid jump pass enthusiast, and he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to point out how helpful that tool was during this sequence.

“This play is another example of why jump passing can be good. It gives you time to see what the defense is going to do. Here, I used my in-and-out behind-the-back dribble to manipulate the defense. If [Joseph] Yesufu would have slid in to help on Walsh, I would have kicked the ball over to [Anthony] Black in the corner for the wide-open three. But he didn’t. So instead, Walsh was wide-open under the rim. He was so wide-open he probably could have just stood there a second before dunking it. Like I said, jump passing – not all coaches like it – but it really helps at times!”

At the NBA Draft Combine, Council measured in with a 6’9 wingspan and posted a 37-inch max vertical leap. His combination of length and verticality, coupled with his strong understanding of defensive positioning, makes him an impactful rim protector/off-ball presence for his position.

“[In the first clip,] I knew I was guarding McCullar – who is a pretty good shooter, but not Gradey Dick level. So, I was determined to help all the way at the rim. Plus, I trusted that Black was going to rotate to McCullar in the corner if the pass came there. I overhelped because I knew it was an organized scramble situation, which is something we work on all the time in practice.”

“[In the second clip,] if I was guarding a bigger guy, I probably wouldn’t have committed so much to overhelping because that leaves me vulnerable to the dump-off pass under the rim. But I knew that [Dajuan] Harris – who is such a smart/intelligent point guard – knew that dumping the ball off to Yesufu – who is six foot – wouldn’t have been a good situation in the paint for them. So, I fully committed to helping there, using my length to bother a potential layup or pass to the corner.”

Being able to get some paint protection from your non-centers is a huge value add for any team, especially those who field a starting big man who doesn’t provide much vertical resistance on their own. It’s also a wonderful sign for his team defense moving forward that he is comfortable trusting his teammates to make the proper rotations behind him. However, the real hallmark of Council’s defense is his knack for keeping the ball in front of him.

Along with the physical tools we’ve already highlighted, Council is equipped with fluid hips and quick feet, which enables him to tango with most perimeter players. The last clip we looked at with him is the perfect illustration of those features, as well as a declaration of the fearlessness he possesses when defending the point of attack.

“Tristen Newton was their best player. I think he was their leading scorer last year. He was at the top of our scouting report. I never really had the chance to guard the other team’s best player because Dexter Dennis – 2021-22 American Athletic Conference DPOY – was our best defender. So, I just wanted to show I could guard him. I saw my coach over there [Isaac Brown], and I think he was kind of nervous like, ‘Don’t pick up a foul. Don’t pick up a foul.’ I just wanted to show him I could do it.”

Council surely showed him what he was capable of with his defense on that possession. And he intends to do the same thing at the next level, with whatever team ends up selecting him this Thursday.