Hawks announcement video with highlights:



ESPN stats

Suggestion seems to be that he went for the draft too early and missed.

Said ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla, who coached Carson in summer camps: "He's one of the quickest guys in the draft, he's as sturdy as a fire hydrant and he has a great competitive spirit."

Strengths: Ultrafast, ultra-quick, scoring point guard, who averaged 21 points per 40 minutes this past season for the Sun Devils ... His speed and quickness, combined with his tremendous vertical leap, make him one of the best pound-for-pound athletes in the 2014 draft ... Has a very good handle, and excels at penetrating. Can go behind the back, crossover, spin, and stop/start at great speeds with relative ease ... When his floater is working for him, he is very difficult to stop… Gets to the line with regularity (7.5 times per 40 min.) … Effective at drive and dish. Averaged 5.2 assists per 40 minutes this past season at ASU ... Incredibly explosive, had a 43.5 inch maximum vertical at the 2014 combine, one of the top verticals over the past 10 years ...

Weaknesses: Inconsistent shooter -– shot 43% from the field, 39% from three-point land (solid), and 72% from the foul line this past season. The 39% was a significant improvement over the 32% that he shot as a freshman, but only 19% of his 2013-14 shot attempts were threes … He is fairly effective shooting off screens from mid-range, but his step-back, fade-away, and spin jumpers could use refinement… Often gets swallowed up under the basket and struggles to finish through the contact. According to Hoop-Math.com, 43 percent Carson's shots came at the rim, but he converted a less-than-stellar 52 percent of those attempts … Averaged 4 turnovers per 40 min. The turnovers are usually due to driving out of control or lapses in attention –– he'll occasionally have his pocket picked or have a lazy pass intercepted ... His lack of height also contributes to his turnover woes, as he is easily smothered by double-teams … Greatly limited by his lack of size on the defensive side of the ball. Opposing guards can easily shoot over him or post him up … Considering his speed and quickness, he gets beat off the dribble more than you would think he would, and he often gets caught up in screens. Not an overly aggressive defender, seemingly disinterested at times, and his theft numbers (.8 steals per 40 min.) are well below average for a guard with his physical skills ...

Dude looks nice. No big Childress signing, but i have a feeling there will be a lot of happy supporters in the Gong this season!

its never been claimed this guy is a marquee.

Sounds a lot like Gary Ervin which should make the Hawks a bit entertaining to watch with two potentially streaky, undersized but angry ball-dominant guards...

this kid can fly and so FAST

watched this clip 3 times already ... can't wait to see him play

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=DL9S3HQJIdA

love the music too :)

I don't think its in the rules that teams must have a marquee signing.

Great if you can afford it.

it sort of breaks my head how high he can jump given his size, for someone 5'11" he gets his head above the rim in a few of the videos ...

going to be fun to watch and other teams are going to really struggle to defend him with that speed

And in true NBL form, they only show the dodgy highlightys.. here are the GOOD ones https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DL9S3HQJIdA

"going to be fun to watch and other teams are going to really struggle to defend him with that speed"

or he'll get trapped a lot like Kerron Johnson last season or guys like Cedric Jackson will just post him up everytime

Great signing for the Hawks.

GWb aren't those "good" ones years old against high schoolers?

Spot on Mystro...

The talent for imports this year is crazy
Wilbekin
Conklin
Gladness
Childress
Carson
Ervin
Dennis
Jackson
Beal
Daniels

Look at it a guy like Conklin is about average for an import this year!

There some great imports with a lot of promise for the NBL this coming season!

No letdown for 'marquee' NBL after successful 2013/14

Article up on PnR about the 'Gong's latest signing...

In yet another major addition to the upcoming NBL season, the Wollongong Hawks have grabbed the super quick Jahii Carson to booster their squad.

Wollongong Add Arizona State PG Jahii Carson

Mystro, dare I say Geordie won't be putting Carson and Ervin in situations defensively where their lack of size could be exploited by a simple post up. I can't even remember the last time the Hawks were a traditional half court man-to-man side.

Up-tempo will certainly be on the cards for the hawks with athletic guards, shooters and a lack of rebounders beyond Gruber. Expect some combination of traps, presses, delayed presses and probably Geordie's favored matchup zone.

The Hawks expect to be exciting if nothing else.

OK, maybe Hawks won't miss Martin so much...

I like him, though the choices seem strange for Gordie, he may have a hard time keeping Carson and Ervin on the same page as everyone.

Will definitely cause problems with that speed, but potentially more with the drive and dish given the team-oriented defense of the NBL. You would want to be very aware of where players like Oscar Forman are when he is driving.

Why am I excited about signings for almost every other NBL team but my own this year thus far :-

It doesn't feel right and makes me sad.

ShaneD

36ers imports are bargain bin, we are now the ONLY team without a particularly notable import. I do hope CJ Leslie talk is true and that Jamar naturalises.

Sorry, it says on the pick and roll article that hawks are set to announce their biggest coup ever?

Is it this Jahii guy?

Do they have room for a big time aussie in their cap?

I am thinking... David Anderson?

This is a good signing but how the owner 'could not sleep it was so big' is beyond me- I was expecting an NBA player. I repeat, still a good signing but they need another big as small ball won't work in this years NBL.

Congrats to hawks on signing all they need is an Aussie big like aj oligvy heard some news from someone in united camp there are close to signing 2nd import from the Philly 76ers deal is getting done between anstey and brown united getting either 1 of these 4 players 1 jordan mcrea 2 Ronald Roberts jnr 3 jerami grant 4 k.j mcdaniels don't no who it will be but will be 1 of these players

I'm not sure about how he'll go in a pure win/loss sense, but you can tell why the owner was excited, because the kid has speed and athleticism and can get upstairs. He could prove to be an absolute live-wire in terms of entertainment, the sort of person that will bring members through the door.

Exciting season ahead with United still to add a stud import. Looks like every team minus Adelaide has taken steps to improve.

you know the kid is a big and popular signing when his youtube highlights have 200,000 and 650,000 views

Wow Vic if you're right and United are getting one of those four that's another big time athlete for the league. Mcrae was pretty dominant in Summer League so it'd be a bit of a surprise if he came here though.

The other three all being forwards makes me wonder however if United might lack an extra ball-handler. If one of Dennis or Tomlinson is not on the floor opposing teams may be able to successfully pressure them full court.

Way to go Gong!

"you know the kid is a big and popular signing when his youtube highlights have 200,000 and 650,000 views"

That's spot on, regardless of actual production, he'll raise their profile & play some entertaining ball, he's not a guy you recruit to bring you a championship.

"he's not a guy you recruit to bring you a championship."

The theory is right, no argument.

However if he is as good as the reports and was, as some suggested a contender for a 1st round pick, you couldn't rule it out.