Joe Ingles is a '6"8 southpaw from Adelaide, Australia who is playing for the South Dragons, a new franchise this year in the NBL. Ingles refined his craft at the Australian Institute of Sports, which has helped produce the likes of Andrew Bogut, Brad Newley and pretty much every player that has gone onto play for the country. Is a similar player to Newley in that he is a slasher and streak shooter. Having a couple of inches on his countryman has some people arguing that he is the #1 draft prospect in the country.
Has impressive basketball smarts, regularly making the right decisions and creating plays, looking very much like a veteran player on the court. Has played a bit of point forward this season, but projects to be a SF/SG at the NBA level. National coach Brian Goorjian has compared him to Toni Kukoc. His footwork on the perimeter reminds me quite a bit of Carmelo Anthony, however.
Currently at #38 in DraftExpress' 2008 mock draft.
My 10 favourite players: 1. Andrew Bogut 2. Leandro Barbosa 3. Dwight Howard 4. Brandon Roy 5. Ray Allen 6. Andrea Bargnani 7. Kevin Garnett 8. Steve Nash 9. Michael Redd 10. Deron Williams
Last edited by Greg Ostertag! : 12-03-2006 at 10:26 PM.
My 10 favourite players: 1. Andrew Bogut 2. Leandro Barbosa 3. Dwight Howard 4. Brandon Roy 5. Ray Allen 6. Andrea Bargnani 7. Kevin Garnett 8. Steve Nash 9. Michael Redd 10. Deron Williams
The 20-year-old is a legitimate 6-8, but projects strictly as a wing prospect. This versatility begins to explain why he has attracted the attention of the NBA. Ingles was eligible for the 2007 draft, but chose to stay in Australia and continue to play for the Melbourne based South Dragons of the National Basketball League.
Ingles was named the 2007 NBL Rookie of the Year and was the high school teammate of Brad Newley, the 2005 NBL Rookie of the Year and second round draft pick of the Houston Rockets this year. He set the NBL record for most points by a player in their first game, scoring 29 on 11 of 15 shooting. He averaged 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists --mostly coming off the bench for the Dragons for the year.
Ingles has an exceptionally high basketball IQ, and excellent fundamentals—a testament to the coaching he received in high school at the AIS, essentially an academy for promising athletes in different sports from all over Australia. He has range out to the international three point range with his smooth left handed jump shot, and has recently begun to improve the quickness of his release to compliment his already excellent shooting mechanics. Because of his sweet stroke, his feel for the game, as well as his notable athleticism (especially relative to the league he plays in), he is able to put the ball on the floor effectively to get past defenders. As of now, he doesn’t have the strength to finish all of his drives, but that will probably come with age and maturity. His frame is currently not at a point that would allow him to take the pounding he would get playing in the NBA, though.
To counter whatever shortcomings he may have getting into the teeth of the defense and finishing, Ingles has begun to develop a very solid mid-range game. A natural lefty, he dribbles well enough with his this hand to play off the dribble when the situation calls for it, which would allow him to avoid grinding in the post. His length allows him to rebound the ball at the NBL level, but against an increased level of competition, he will clearly need some additional bulk. Ingles can be aggressive on the boards at times, and is quite productive when doing so.
He is also a terrific passer at this point in his development, and his 3 assists a game last year would have been higher had his teammates been able to finish on a consistent basis. Just last week, he showed his potential in this area by dishing out 10 assists in a game against Adelaide for example. This all bodes well for his chances of being projected as a legit rotation player at the swing position in the NBA, however he will have to improve his lateral quickness in order to defend the more athletic players he will encounter while manning the wing. This will be one of the first question marks NBA decision makers will bring up when evaluating his play in the Australian league, figuring out whether he’ll be able to defend his position at the NBA level. In a recent game we took in from just two weeks ago, he played heavy minutes at the power forward spot.
Another weakness we observed from breaking down his game footage is that he clearly isn’t as strong a ball-handler with his right hand as he is with his left. Even though he can handle with this hand, and even create his own shot at times with one or two straight-line dribbles, he hesitates to do so because he of his average ball-control. It is obvious that he favors his left hand, and defenders now often dare him to go right.
Ingles, as mentioned, has good form on his shot, but isn’t always as consistent as you might like from behind the arc—shooting just 32% last year from that range. He has a very deliberate follow through, which could cause him problems in the NBA, since he won’t have as much time to get his shot off.
Im from Adelaide originally, I played against Joe Ingles in a game during School State Championships back in 2004. He was about 6'6-6'7 then, he only scored 27 though and he was by far the tallest dude on the court. I mean, our center was 6'4"...
Still - hes a much improved player from 4 years ago, hes good attacking the basket and is a good shooter from deep. Needs to develop that midrange game a little, but hes a very nice prospect in the Toni Kukoc mold.
Joe Ingles
Linear Mode
