“Big hill to climb” for the newest New Orleans Pelican member Tony Carr
By Gene Henley
With no guarantees he’ll be around once the season begins, Tony Carr’s path to the NBA already appears to be an uphill one.Yet if he continues to improve the same way he did during his college career, he’ll have a chance.
The Pelicans made Tony Carr the 51st pick in Thursday’s NBA Draft, with the hopes that he duplicate the playmaking and scoring abilities he exhibited during his two seasons at Penn State. The 6-foot-5, 204-pounder averaged 19.6 points and a hair over five assists a game for the Nittany Lions, who won the National Invitational Tournament title.
The 20-year old was named to both the All-Big 10 and All-Big 10 tournament teams. He also made the all-NIT team after averaging 17.4 points, 7.0 assists and 6.2 rebounds during the tournament.
Where the Philadelphia native excelled was from downtown. Carr made 43 percent of his 203 attempts during his junior year. It was an 11 percent growth from his freshman to sophomore season, after making only 32 percent of his 103 attempts in his first season on campus. He’s also a solid distributor, with at least five assists in 20 games as the primary ball-handler.
"“I can excel shooting (3-pointers). I can excel getting my teammates the ball.” Carr continued “I just have to play my game.”"
He had 15 points and a career-high 14 assists in the Nittany Lions’ NIT championship win over Utah. A good decision-maker, Carr had only one turnover in the game.
Where he struggled was with his efficiency. He shot only 41 percent from the field, 40 percent on 2-pointers alone as he proved to be a poor finisher in close at the college level. Lacking the athleticism to finish at the basket, he settled a lot for contested midrange jump shots. If he’s going to be able to stick at the next level, that’ll have to improve.
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He didn’t do himself any favors at the combine either, testing horribly in the agility drills. Because of this, it dropped him from being a fringe first-round pick to being predicted somewhere in the 40s or 50’s. And he’s joining an organization that has had only one second-rounder — Darius Miller — suit up in a game for New Orleans in the past 10 seasons.
But he’s confident in his ability to improve, and blessed with a bigger build than current Pelicans E’Twaun Moore and Frank Jackson, Carr will have an opportunity to become a “3 and D” guy. If he can add his playmaking abilities, he’ll have chances to affect the game on both ends of the floor. It’s something he wants to do, telling reporters he feels he could impact the game the same way Jrue Holiday and the Houston Rockets’ Chris Paul already do.
He’ll join the team next week and will have a couple of weeks to prepare for the Las Vegas Summer League, which begins on July 6. And with Moore, Holiday and Jackson under contract next season, and the expectation of the Pelicans to work out a deal with Rajon Rondo, Carr will have to show his worth quickly.
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“He’s got a big hill to climb,” Pelicans general manager Dell Demps said on a conference call Thursday night. “Maybe he’s on our roster next year, maybe he’s not; I’m not sure. I think the most important thing is to not get ahead of it and see what he looks like when he comes in here.”