Breaking Down Basketball Signee Layden Blocker

What are the absolutes and questions in his game, plus his reasons for signing with the Arkansas Razorbacks

Author:
Kent Smith
Publish date:
Nov 14, 2022 9:56 PM EST

In this story:

Over the weekend, amid the haze of the heart-breaking defeat of the football team at the hands of LSU, Sunrise Christian Academy guard Layden Blocker brought a bit of positivity to the state by adding his name to the growing list of consecutive Top 100 players reeled in by Arkansas men's basketball coach Eric Musselman.

So now that Blocker is officially signed, what did Arkansas get?

The best way to describe Blocker is a thinner Ricky Council without the definite signs of a midrange game.

The former Little Rock Christian star is highly aggressive on dribble penetration, which is a common trait for top level AAU players. Blocker is lightning quick with the ball in his hands and appears to have little to no fear regardless of who steps into his path.

While shooting on the perimeter clearly is a part of the game Blocker appears to not love, he has the ability to be a quality catch and shoot guy from behind the arc.

The only elephant in the room when it comes to Blocker's numerous highlight reels is a glaring omission of the ability to stop and bury a pull-up jumper off the drive.

That doesn't mean he can't do it. It's just a portion of his game that he prefers to not put on tape.

"What set [Arkansas] apart was when I went on a visit they showed me this chart of things I could get better at and things I need to work on," Blocker told KARK this past summer. "They said they would help me work on that. Once I saw that in-depth chart, I knew this was the place.

Musselman's evaluation gave Blocker two distinct areas to work in his game.

"Playing with pace," Blocker said. "I'm so fast, sometimes I go too fast. I need to learn how to slow myself down. Also, free throws. My free throw attempt percentage is very high, but I don't really convert on the free throws."

The other portion of his offensive game that isn't evident from the highlight film is the ability back a defender down and create off the dribble in that scenario by either getting to the block for a lay-up or spinning free for a turn around jumper.

Again, that doesn't mean he can't. It's just not in the highlight reels and may very well be added as he progresses through his senior season.

Defense is a strong suit for Blocker, which is to be expected both because of the name and the fact Musselman is bringing him on. He has quick hands and great vision for openings that allow him to generate steals.

Once the ball is free, Blocker has a natural explosion that allows him to turn defense into fast breaks in the blink of an eye. He gets separation quickly and has a sharp eye for the assist should he run into a defender.

With the Council comparison, it should come as no surprise to anyone that Blocker has great athleticism and good vertical ability. He can appear out of nowhere to block shots.

Again, much like in his offensive highlights, there appear to be no highlights of him playing defense on a player trying to back him down. Therefore, it's hard to gauge his footwork and natural strength when he needs to gain leverage and hold his ground.

Even if it is an area where Blocker needs to improve, he has indicated he trusts Musselman to bring it out of him at a high level.

"I really chose Arkansas for my own set of reasons," Blocker said. "[Musselman] has an NBA style of coaching. He coaches with a lot of energy. I love a coach with energy. Not only him, but his staff, they do a great job of developing players and getting them to the league. That's really why I chose Arkansas."

As Council said in his postgame interview last Friday, Musselman wants players who can move between numerous positions.

At the moment, Blocker's tape indicates he can move between all the variations of guard play. Whether his game extends into other areas remains to be seen.

In the end, despite playing in Kansas the last two years and expressing NBA aspirations as his top reason for choosing Arkansas, there was still one additional reason Musselman was able to land another big fish.

"Being from Arkansas it means a lot," Blocker said. "Everybody here, really Arkansas fans, everybody supported me wanting to go to Arkansas. I'm not saying that's why I made my decision, but everybody loves Arkansas here, and just to be able to come back and commit here at my old school, it feels good."