The second in a nine-part series reviewing Arkansas basketball in 2018-19.
ISAIAH JOE
Position: Guard
Class: Freshman
Height: 6-5
Weight: 167
Stats: 13.9 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.5 steals, 1.2 turnovers
41.3 percent FG, 41.2 percent 2-point FG, 41.4 percent 3-point FG, 75.6 percent free throws
Per 40: 18.4 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 2.0 steals, 1.6 turnovers
SEC stats: 13.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.4 steals, 1.1 turnovers
42.9 percent FG, 44.2 percent 2-point FG, 42.6 percent 3-point FG, 75.9 percent free throws
Best month: December - 18.0 points, 2.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.7 steals, 1.1 turnovers
46.3 percent FG, 27.8 perent 2-point FG, 51.6 percent 3-point FG, 77 percent free throws
Worst month: March - 12.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.7 steals, 1.2 turnovers
35 percent FG, 35.5 percent 2-point FG, 34.9 percent 3-point FG, 75 percent free throws
Strengths
• Elite 3-point shooter. It didn't take Arkansas fans very long to understand what they would be getting from Joe. He knocked down 5-of-8 3-point attempts in his Razorbacks debut against Texas in El Paso, and three weeks later he hit 10 3s in Arkansas' rout of Florida International on 13 shots. The FIU game was the genesis of an unbelievable month from distance for Joe, who wound up shooting 51.6 percent on his 62 3s in December. The 62 3s were the second-most Joe attempted in a month this season. He went on to break the program's single-season record for 3s made in a season in Arkansas' win over Vanderbilt in March and finished the season with 113 - tying the SEC freshman record set by Kentucky's Jamal Murray.
According to shot chart data collected throughout the season with the exception of the Texas-San Antonio game in North Little Rock, Joe shot the ball best from 3-point range when on the right side of the floor - 45 percent. For the season, he knocked down 62 percent of his right-corner 3s, too. Joe also made nearly 39 percent of his 3s on the left side of the floor and 37 percent from deep between the elbows.
He was especially good from the left wing as well. He made 19-of-40 3-point attempts from that spot, and 14-of-31 in the same area on the right side of the floor.
• Underrated as a passer. One of the best on the team at looking for and hitting the roller in pick-and-roll actions.
• Quality shot-taker. Only a handful of times this season can I vividly remember thinking Joe probably shouldn't have pulled the trigger on a jumpshot. Now, I had that thought perhaps a bit more often when he drove the ball to the rim amongst the trees. However, it is impressive that Joe, who led the Razorbacks in field goal attempts this season, was one of the team's most efficient scorers. He averaged 1.3 points per shot during the regular season, which ranks third among guards behind Mason Jones and Desi Sills. Joe, though, played nearly twice as many minutes per game and took almost three times the shots Sills did.
Joe finished with a true shooting percentage of 59.3, per KenPom. That figure is second only to Daniel Gafford. And Joe's TS% of 60.7 ranked in the top 10 among 93 SEC players. All of that to say he took quality shots and was pretty good - especially as a first-year player - at knocking them down.
I recall Joe having a couple of his 3-point attempts blocked this season, whether it be a come-from-behind block or misjudging the space between he and defender, but it was very rare. The best example of a bad shot taken by Joe this season is late against Georgia Tech when he pulled from the snout of the Razorbacks' midcourt logo. The miss led to a runout and the Yellow Jackets sealed the deal in the final minute in Bud Walton Arena. But if a jumper in mid-December is as bad as it got during his first season then he had a very solid year.
• Unselfish. Joe has always been a team-first player. He carried himself that way when I covered him as a sophomore at Fort Smith Northside and hasn't changed. He would rather the team win than capture the program's single-season 3-point record in a loss. That selfless demeanor also extended to the defensive end of the floor when it came to sacrificing his body for the betterment of the team. Joe - at 167 pounds - led the Razorbacks in charges taken this season, entering the Indiana game with 26.
• Sneaky good defensively. One of the first things Mike Anderson always said when asked about Joe was he possessed a very high basketball IQ. Those basketball smarts are what freed him up for uncontested 3s in transition that you could almost assuredly take to the bank. They also benefitted him on the other end in playing passing lanes and coming up with steals. Joe led the team in steals this season with 51 - 13 more than Jalen Harris, who finished second - and his 2.8 percent steal rate ranked in the top 20 among 93 SEC players. He still has a ways to go in becoming a consistently good defender, but he wasn't a defensive liability by any stretch.
Weaknesses
• Strength. Adding any kind of bulk is likely priority No. 1 for Joe this offseason. He was the second-lightest player on the roster this season behind Jalen Harris, but Joe has three inches on Harris. Gaining some upper-body strength would do wonders, particularly in adding a more fine tuned dribble-drive game to his bag and creating separation on his jumper off the bounce. According to shot chart data, Joe finished 50 percent of his shots at the rim this season and just 41.7 percent of his looks in the painted area.
Some added weight would also help him on the defensive end.
• Developing middle game. I'm not certain this is even a weakness of Joe's, but it could definitely use a little work. A vast majority of Joe's 3s were spot-ups, and as the year wore on, teams aimed to run him off the line and make him put the ball on the floor if he wanted to get a shot off. Joe showed off a nice perimeter shot fake at times this season, often sidestepping into a 3, but he did a decent job, particularly late in the year, of taking the midrange jumper when available. He even hit defenders with a nice stepback, too. Joe shot 75 percent between the elbows on midrange jumpers and hit 48.6 percent of his 2-point jumpers.
• Handle could be a little tighter. As a high school senior, Joe was charged with running the point for Northside and did so admirably. I thought that season went a very long way in his development as a ballhandler and would definitely serve him well once he got to college. He did not commit more than three turnovers in any game this season, but some of those miscues came when he was a bit too loose with the ball.
Joe struggled at times when defenders pressed into him high on the perimeter and he couldn't always escape it because of a lack of upper-body strength. Perfect example is when he had the ball ripped away from him at Indiana to close the season. He'll progress here. Just about every step in the development in his game now comes down to filling his frame.
Extra points
Best Joe quote: "When I hit it at the time, I really wasn't thinking about it. When I'm out on the court, I'm just playing to win the game, but when we called a timeout everybody on the bench was saying, 'Yeah, you beat the record with that one shot.' It's definitely a great honor." - Joe after breaking Scotty Thurman's school record for 3s made in a season
Best quote on Joe: "Our scouting report was what he did tonight. He’s got incredible shot fakes, steps to the side and make 3s. You give that kind of caliber player open looks and he sees that ball go in, you can be in for a long night and we were certainly in for a long night." - FIU coach Jeremy Ballard after Joe dropped 34 points on 10 3-pointers
On floor: Offense - 1.07 PPP, 17.6 percent TO rate; Defense - 0.99 PPP, 22.3 percent TO rate
Off floor: Offense - 0.96 PPP, 20.6 percent TO rate; Defense - 1.03 PPP, 23.3 percent TO rate
Part 1: Jalen Harris