Analysis: Donavan Yap coming to UNLV with gunslinger attitude

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Wednesday, June 3, 2020 | 2 a.m.

How you answer this question will go a long way toward determining how excited you’ll be about incoming recruit Donavan Yap. Okay, here goes:

Did you enjoy the Jovan Mooring experience?

If you answered “Yes” because you appreciated Mooring’s extended, extended range and his lack of a conscience when it came to taking big shots, then you’re going to like Yap. If you answered “No” because you weren’t a fan of Mooring’s tendency to shoot the Rebels out of games on nights when his touch went cold, then Yap may induce some unpleasant flashbacks.

The comparison isn’t perfect, but after watching a handful of Yap’s high-school games from the 2019-20 season it’s hard not to see him as the second coming of Jojo.

It starts with the outside shot. Yap is a fearless shooter, and he is willing to pull up from absolutely anywhere on the floor. As a senior at Arbor View he averaged 5.8 long-range attempts per game and connected on 31.4 percent, and the way he arrived at that percentage was very Mooring-like.

Yap suffered through icy cold spells — games where he went 0-of-6, 1-of-6, 0-of-6, 2-of-9, 2-of-9 (again), 1-of-8 and 0-of-7 from deep — but made up for it by catching fire, too, like when he hit 7-of-14 from 3-point range in an epic overtime loss to Faith Lutheran in the playoffs.

Like Mooring, Yap is extremely comfortable shooting from well beyond the arc, and like Mooring he prefers to let it fly off the dribble.

Look at some of these heaves:

I don’t care what the percentages say, that’s a kid who can shoot the ball. The form is a little funky, but he is confident from every spot on the floor and made some ridiculous shots in the games I watched. His accuracy took a ding because Arbor View leaned on him to create so many of his own scoring opportunities, but Yap seems to be the type of player who isn’t so concerned with percentages.

The vast majority of Yap’s 3’s came off the dribble, but he is quick to let it fly on the catch, too. In the games I watched, he made 3-of-7 catch-and-shoot attempts:

He’s also not shy about rising up and launching from the mid-range area. Yap possesses the full arsenal of ball-handling and footwork tricks required to get his shot off in that part of the floor. He uses pump fakes, step-backs and hesitation dribbles to create space against man defense.

It’s not en vogue in today’s game, but in a pinch Yap is capable of scoring from the in-between area:

If you’re offering Yap a scholarship, those clips are why. His upside as a shooter is worth taking a swing on him, especially for a coach who values spacing as much as T.J. Otzelberger.

The rest of Yap’s offensive game isn’t as intriguing. He dominated the ball at Arbor View but didn’t play the role of a traditional point guard. His ball-handling can get loose at times, and forays to the basket tended to get a little wild.

Yap is a stringy 6-foot-3, so defenses were able to knock him off-balance around the rim. If Yap is going to be able to attack the basket occasionally at the college level, he’s going to have to become a stronger finisher:

There’s a question of whether Yap has the natural instincts to play the point because he didn't play like a true point guard in high school. In a vacuum, his handle looks okay and he possesses adequate quickness to match up with other points, but there just aren't many examples of him running plays like a point guard.

There were instances where he drove into traffic too casually, resulting in loose balls and turnovers:

Yap also put the ball in jeopardy too often as a passer in the games I saw. Too many of his passes were deflected or just off target:

Not all of that is Yap’s fault. Arbor View asked him to carry so much of the offense that it’s difficult to evaluate how he might transition to more involved sets. For instance, UNLV will ask Yap to move and cut and re-position himself away from the ball, but in high school he didn’t play off the ball at all. We have no idea how he'll handle that aspect of the game. 

The ball was either in Yap’s hands, or he was standing outside the arc, waiting for a potential kick-out pass:

Compared to someone like fellow UNLV recruit Devin Tillis, who directed and thrived in a more complicated offensive system in high school, Yap has almost no tape that could be used to project him into the Rebels’ offense. It's up to the UNLV coaches to project that part of Yap's game based on the information they have, and they must believe they can teach him to play without the ball in his hands at time.

On the other end of the floor, Yap has potential but will need to learn how to play defense. He has some natural tools — he’s long, quick and has a nose for the ball — but the fundamentals aren’t there yet.

When engaged in 1-on-1 situations or when attacking a ball-handler, Yap’s energy spikes and he does a good job of cutting off driving lanes and checking opposing dribblers. He gambles a bit too much, however, and can lose sight of his man when defending away from the ball:

He made some impressive individual defensive plays, using his length and instincts to create turnovers:

I’m not sure the “big-play defender” thing is going to fly at the college level, as Otzelberger really hammers his players to give maximum effort on that end of the floor at all times. If Yap tries to take a couple plays off and then ramp it up again for one play, he won't get the opportunity to make a big play because he'll be on the bench after the first two possessions.

Another thing Yap may have to tweak is his is his body language. He was asked to do a lot at Arbor View, and he sometimes let his emotions show in a negative way when his teammates came up short.

Yap did a lot of eye-rolling and shoulder-slumping when someone let him down:

There’s a lot of rawness to Yap’s game. He’s a 1-on-1 player at heart, at both ends of the floor. When the ball is in his hands he can be electric, especially creating for himself from beyond the arc. And when his opponent has the ball Yap is generally more interested and exerts himself to rise to the challenge.

There are flaws, though. He’s a ball stopper of the highest degree, which doesn’t work in UNLV’s offense. And when Yap is away from the action, he doesn’t bring the same energy as when he’s got the ball. That’s the biggest thing he’ll have to improve if he wants to make an impact beyond being a designated shooter.

But that jumper is very, very intriguing. Yap is a high-volume, highly productive player at the aspect of the game that offers the most value, so if he comes in and knocks down a ton of 3’s I’m sure Otzelberger will find a way to get him onto the court.

Yap is an upside play. Like Mooring, he can swing a game with a barrage of outrageous 3-pointers. The rest of his game remains a question mark.

Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.