Who Is Utah Jazz Rookie Rodney Hood?
By Spencer
Sep 29, 2014; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Jazz shooting guard Rodney Hood (5) and head coach Quin Snyder during Media Day at Zions Bank Basketball Center. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports
Tonight’s match-up with the Clippers will likely bring us our first preseason look at Rodney Hood. So, let’s dive into who our rookie from Duke really is.
Who is Hood?
Rodney Hood is from the Meridian, Mississippi. For comparisons sake, Meridian is slightly smaller than Logan, Utah. Hood was an absolute high school star. He led his high school team to a state championships. His senior year Hood averaged 24.8 points. 8.6 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 3.1 steals, and 2.0 blocks per game! He was the Mississippi Gatorade Player of the Year in both his senior and junior campaigns. During this time he was often quoted saying he tried to model his game after that of Jalen Rose.
ESPN had Rodney as the 8th best high school SF prospect, and best 31st prospect overall. He was deemed a four-star recruit and signed with Mississippi State after being recruited by Alabama, Florida State, Louisville, and Marquette. One has to believe that the fact that his father also played basketball for Mississippi State weight down on his decision.
During his freshman campaign at MSU, Rodney Hood played in 32 games and average 10.3 points 4.8 rebounds, and 2.0 assists. He showed tons of potential and was named to the All-Freshman SEC team. Things looked good for Hood until the head coach he committed with decided to retire. At this point, Rodney Hood become the hottest transfer prospect out on the market. His decisions came down to Duke and Ohio State, and we all know how that ended. Rodney was quoted by Dave Telep of ESPN on his decision to leave, “I feel like coach (Mike Krzyzewski) and the staff can get the most out of me as a player and academically…. I liked the teammates and felt like we have a good chance to compete for a championship.”
Because Rodney Hood transferred, he had to redshirt the 2012-2013 season. He had an interesting quote to NBCSports.com saying “The year I sat out was great for me. A lot of people back home say, ‘why did you do that? You could have been a star at State,’ but I wanted more for myself and sitting out gave me a chance to learn a lot from the seniors we had. I learned a lot and got a lot stronger, stayed in the gym and it carried over to the next season because I think I had a really good season.”
Whatever he did during that year, it was enough to persuade the most respected college coach, Coach K, to select him as the captain of the team. Coach K later would reveal part of the reason why he liked Rodney Hood so much when he talked about him leaving for the draft by saying “I wish we had him for more than one year, because the growth that he’s had in this year is terrific, and it’s because he wants to be coached and he takes responsibility,” Krzyzewski said. “Anybody’s who’s willing to take responsibility for his or her actions usually does better, and that’s what Rodney does.”
How did he perform in college?
During his time at Duke, Rodney was often over shadowed by the bigger name of Jabari Parker. There is no doubt Jazz fans watched Hood this year in many Duke games because of his teammate. I myself am guilty of turning on the game solely to watch Jabari. However, I quickly began to notice that while I went to watch Jabari, I was ended up focusing in on Hood. Parker forced so many shots what I was shocked they weren’t giving Hood a bigger part of the offense. I became convinced that he would be the first option on just about every other team in the NCAA.
Rodney Hood is a solid athlete and used that throughout the year. He often had a team’s second best defender on him, and he took advantage of it! Rodney also has very impressive handles, as he played a large majority of his High School minutes at point guard his freshman year. Using those tools, this lefty became an electric scorer from anywhere on the court. While thought of primarily as a 3-point threat, when you look at his shot chart (courtesy of Kirk Goldsberry at Grantland), you quickly see he was deadly from everywhere. He shot above average from just about anywhere on the court!
His athleticism was underrated. Hood has decent hops and actually gets extremely high on his jump shot. Rodney is going to be able to shoot over most defenders in the NBA. He showed a decent first step that complemented his lethal shooting. Standing at 6’8.5” and weighing 215 pounds, Rodney had the body of an NBA wing. The one aspect that his body lacks slightly is that his wingspan is dead even with his height.
As proof of his immense trust in Rodney Hood, Coach K played him 76 minutes more than Jabari Parker in the same number of games. His stat line for the year was impressive to say the least. The advanced statistics also boded very well for Rodney. With a PER of 20.1, TS% of 59.0% and an ORtg of 122.5, Rodney truly showed he can be a very effective offensive player. In fact, his eFG% was the best in all of the ACC.
Which NBA Player Is Hood Most Similar To?
Everyone loves a player comparison, so let’s take a crack at it. While no two players are ever the same, the player he reminds me the most of is fellow Dukie, J.J. Reddick. This comparison comes from a statistical backing. Take a look at their first years at Duke compared side by side, they are about as similar as they come. Hood plays similar to Reddick, but that is not his ceiling. Hood is more athletic and has a better body. Imagine a 6’8” version of J.J. Reddick? This guy will be lethal in the NBA. Other comparisons I have seen thrown out are Trevor Ariza, Tim Hardaway Jr., Rashard Lewis, and even Jalen Rose.
How will Rodney fit with the Jazz?
The fact that Hood fell to 23 in the draft was a huge win for the Jazz. Many had the Rodney as a lottery pick, and in fact some reported the Jazz had him as high as 10th on their big board. In fact the Jazz said they thought of moving up to get Rodney. Lucky of them, they did not have to. Rodney could not have landed in a spot that fits him better. Quin’s system needs shooters, and that is something the Jazz lack. Besides Novak, there isn’t a better shooter on our roster than Rodney Hood. Rodney’s shooting alone will get him at least 15 minutes per night on this roster. You all may remember this stroke being on display in the Summer League game against Milwaukee where Hood dropped 29 points, while going 7-of-10 from 3. I dare you to watch these highlights and not smile.
Shooting is not the only thing this Dukie has going for him coming in to this offense. Hood’s a wonderful ball hander for a wing. The Jazz want to play with pace this year. Hood’s handle allows him to grab a rebound and instantly go with the ball to set up the offense. He’s a lethal pick and roll player. He can handle and easily dish the ball during a pick and roll, or he can lift above everyone and pop it.
Besides Trey Burke, Rodney Hood will be our best pick and pop option this year. This is something that will allow him to steal some minutes at the SG position, as Dante Exum and Alec Burks do not have that weapon in their arsenals. Hood runs the pick and roll smarter than the previously mentioned SGs. In fact, watching Hood in person at Summer League I remember thinking “This guy always makes the right play”. Offensively, Hood couldn’t have found a better system and situation to be in.
The portion of his game that may cause him to struggle throughout the year is defense. Quin will not allow him to slack off on defense. While he doesn’t have a defensive reputation, I don’t think he is a bad defender. Watching a lot of his college minutes what I saw was simply a lack of intensity. He had lock down moments as a defender, but took a lot of plays off on that side of the ball. This is something that I do not think Quin will tolerate, and if he doesn’t learn to defend every play, he will likely see some time riding the pine. He will never be a shut down defender, but he needs to learn to be a solid team defender. I think he will figure it out, and project he will average around 20 minutes per game this year. His time will be split between the SG and SF spots.
All in all, Rodney Hood is an exciting prospect. I actually think the causal Jazz fan will be shocked that Hood was picked so much later behind that Exum in the draft. At 23, the Jazz may have walked away with a steal. A steal that I believe will be a big part of the future of the Utah Jazz.