What a Couple of Up-and-Down Games Means for Hunter Sallis' Draft Stock

Was Hunter Sallis simply experiencing a "hangover" game against Notre Dame on Tuesday night after his Duke performance, or did Micah Shrewsberry expose legitimate flaws in his game?

A dynamic scorer with limitless range, Hunter Sallis is a superstar guard for Wake Forest in the Atlantic Coast Conference, the team's undeniable leader, and a rightful candidate for ACC Player of the Year. 

He's a "walking bucket" as the kids say, a guy that can score in a multitude of ways using his point guard skills and 6-foot-4 frame to get to the rim. 

He can shoot the ball on or off the bounce, he can pressure the rim with good downhill ability and really fluid handles, and overall, he's just a really skilled offensive player. 

A transfer from Gonzaga, Sallis has taken the reins as the leader of the Demon Deacons, averaging an eye-popping 18.3 points per game on a very efficient 61.3% true shooting. 

After dominating Saturday afternoon in an emotional home upset over Duke, Sallis turned around and seriously struggled against Micah Shrewsberry's Fighting Irish. 

Wake Forest, a bubble team, lost a game it really couldn't afford to lose against a Notre Dame team that had just 10 wins on the season coming into the game. 

How did this happen?

When evaluating a prospect, it's every bit as crucial to watch the poor outings as it is to watch the good ones. Knowing how a player can impact the game when playing poorly from a scoring perspective is important when understanding a player's role. 

Sallis flat-out struggled against Notre Dame; there's no way around that. He shot just 2-for-11 from the field and 1-for-5 from three, scoring a total of seven points. 

While he recorded four assists, he too recorded four turnovers. Overall, the Irish were able to completely disrupt any kind of rhythm for which Sallis might have been striving throughout the game. Give them credit – the pressure was clearly effective. 

The key in particular to stopping Sallis in this game was Notre Dame's ability to keep him away from the paint, or if he got there with the ball, doubling him and making sure he can't pull-up from short or midrange. 

They employed a trap or double team every time that Sallis got near the paint with a live dribble, and it was very effective in making him turn the ball over and take bad shots. 

The Irish defense would swarm to him as soon as he crossed the nail of the free-throw line, either forcing him to cough it up, take a bad shot, or pass out of the situation. 

No matter what happened throughout the night, it seemed Sallis simply could not get a clean look off, which was reflected in the box score. 

The most important thing to note when trying to extrapolate upon this data is how NBA schemes aren't super similar to the college counterpart from a strategy perspective. 

While he won't experience double teams this way in the pros, it is good to know that he's a capable scorer and ball handler, even is he does struggle against physical defense.

---

Want to join the discussion? Like Draft Digest on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest NBA Draft news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.